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HISTORY 



♦ • 



OF 



/ 



/ 



SANGAMON COUNTY, 



ILLIlsrOIS; 



TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF ITS CITIES, VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS, EDUCATIONAL, 

RELIGIOUS, CIVIL, MILITARY, AND POLITICAL HISTORY ; PORTRAITS 

OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF 

REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS. 



History of Illinois, 



EMBRACING ACCOUNTS OF THE PRE-HISTORIC RACES, ABORIGINES, WINNEBAGO AND 
BLACK HAWK WARS, AND A BRIEF REVIEW OF ITS CIVIL. 
POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 



ii_.i_.xjst:e?...^teid. 



CHICAGO : 
INTER-STATE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

1881. 







SPKIXGKIEI.U JOUKXAI. CO., 

I'KINTEKS. 

Sl'liLNGFlKUi ILL. 



To THE Pioneers 

— OF— 

Sangamon County 



THIS VOLUME 18 



I\ESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

With tiik HorE that Your Viktxjes may be Emulated, 
AND Your Toius and Sacrifices duly appre- 
ciated P.Y Coming Generations. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



INTRODUCTORY 17 

The Moanrt Builders 17 

Other Races 18 

lodiaos— Illinois Confederacy — Starved Rock 21 

Early Discoveries— First Settlements 22 

Engiinh Rule 23 

General Clark's Exploits— County of Illinois 24 

Northwestern Territory — Ordinance of 1787 25 

IlliQois Territory— State Organization— First Constitu- 
tion — The Winnebago War 26 

Black Hawk War— Internal Improvements 27 



Stupendous System of Improvements Inaugurated — Illi- 
nois and Michigan Canal— Panic— Repudiation Advocated 28 

Mormon War '29 

The Battle of Nauvoo 30 

Mexican War 31 

The War for the Union 32 

Governors of Illinois 33 

Lieutsiiant Governors — Other State OflScers 37 

United States Senators 38 

Representatives in Congress 43 

Then and Now 29 



HISTORY OF SANGVMON COUNTY. 



CHAPTER I. 

IN THE BEGINNING 45 

The Garden Spot 45 

First White Men in Sangamon County 4ti 

First Sottlement 46 

Other Early Settlers.. 47 

Area and Position of the County 47 

Organization of the County 47 

Acta of the County Commissioners 48 

County Comminsioners from 1S21 to 1849 50 

Board of .Justices 50 

Township Organization 50 

Rivers and Creeks 51 

Navigation of the Sangamon River 51 

Creeks 5< 



CHAPTER n 



GEOLOGY. 



55 

CHAPTER III. 

PIONEERLIFE 60 

Early Manners and Customs 60 

Character of the Pioneers 62 

Clothing 62 

Weddings 65 

Shakes 66 

Wolf Hunting 67 

Bee Hunting 67 

Snakes 67 

Agriculture 67 

Religion 68 

CHAPTER IV. 

JUDICrAL 70 

Probate and County Courts 74 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BAR OF SANGAMON COUNTY 76 

FiR.sT Decade 77 

James Adams 77 

Jonathan H Pugh 77 

Thomas M Neale 77 

James M. Strode 77 

Williams. Hamilton : 78 

Thomas Mofifett 78 

William Mendel 78 

Samuel McRoberts 78 

Alfred W. Cavarly 79 

Benjamin Mills 79 

John Reynolds 80 

James Turney 80 



Henry Starr 80 

George Forquer 80 

Second Decaue 84 

Edward J. Phillips 86 

Edward Jones 86 

Henry E. Dummer 87 

Stephen T. Logan 87 

David Prickett ,.. 91 

William L. May 91 

Dan StO'ne 91 

Josephus Hewett 92 

David B.Campbell 92 

Antrim Campbell 92 

A. T, Bledsoe 92 

Charles R. Wells 93 

Schuyler Strong 93 

Ninian W.Edwards 93 

Cyrus Walker 93 

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A.Douglas 93 

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr 96 

E. D Biker 90 

JohnD. Urquhart 98 

JohnC. Doremus 93 

Till UL> Decade 98 

General Shields 98 

Silas W.Robbins 102 

Justin Butterfield 103 

U. F. Linder 104 

Josiah Lambom 104 

Levi Davis 105 

A. K. Scuede 105 

David Logan 105 

William 1. P'ereuson 105 

Archiba'd WilUams i05 

O. H Browning 106 

William A. Miuskall 106 

Benjamin West 106 

Israel Crosby 186 

William Walker 106 

Elliott B. Herndon lOd 

ForiiTH Decade 107 

Thomas Lewis 108 

J. France 108 

U. McWilliams 108 

A. McWilliams 108 

C. M. Morrison 108 

William Prescott 108 

L. F. McCrillis 108 

H G.Reynolds 168 

A W.Hayes 108 

S. S Whitehurst 108 

Fii rii Decadb 108 

Si xrii Decade 10(> 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THEBAROF SANGAMON COUNTY (continued) 110 

Seventh Decaue 110 

John T. Stuait 110 

Samuel H. Treat 114 

Benjaiuiu S.Edwards 115 

Jaines C. Conkling 116 

James H. Matheuy 116 

William H. Herndon lUi 

Noimau M Broadwell 119 

William J. Coukliug 119 

John E. Rosetto 120 

Charles S. Zaiie laO 

* John Alexander McClernand 121 

Charles A. Keyes 1-"- 

Christopher C. Brown 12-i 

EugeneL Gross lS.i 

Milton Hay 12:J 

W^illiam M Springer 124 

William E. Shutt 125 

Robert L. McGuire 125 

Leonidas H. Bradley 125 

Isaac K. Bradley 125 

Thomas G. Prickett 125 

Norman L. Freeman 12(i 

Richmond Wolcott 120 

Thomas C. Mather 126 

Clinton L. Conkling 126 

Lloyd F. Hamilton 127 

James W. Pattou 127 

Samuel D. Scholes, 127 

Alfred Orendorflf. 127 

Henry S. Greene 128 

A. N.J.Crook 128 

James C. Ruliinson 12!) 

James A. Jiennedy 129 

Charles Philo Kane 129 

John C. Lanphier 129 

Henry H.Rogers 130 

John C. Snigg 130 

Robert H. Hazlttt 130 

William L. Gross 130 

John M. Palmer 130 

John Mayo Palmer 132 

George W. Murrav 133 

Robert W Maxwell 133 

George A. Sanders 133 

James H. Matheny, Jr 133 

Henry A.Stevens 133 

James E. Dowling 133 

James A. Creighton 134 

John M. Creighton 134 

George A. "Wood 134 

Thomas Sterling 134 

Joseph M Grout 134 

William Henry Colby 134 

William F. Herndon 137 

Henry B. Kane 137 

Frank U.Jones 137 

John A. Chestnut 137 

Thomas J. Thompson 137 

W'infield S. Collins 13d 

AVilliam A. Vincent 138 

Larue Vredenburgh 138 

Alexander H Robertson 138 

William T. Houston .^ 138 

Albert Salzenstein 138 

Frank R. Williams 138 

Noah H. Turner 139 

Edwin C. Haynie 139 

Walter B. Wines 139 

CHAPTER Vn. 
THE FISHER MURDER CASE 



140 

CHAPTER VHL 

RAILROADS 144 

Wabash, St. Louis fe Pacific 114 

First Locomotive in Springfield 145 

Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 146 

Ohio & Mississippi 147 

Illinois Central 147 

Springfield & Northwestern 147 

Contemplated Roads 148 

CHAPTER IX. 

WARS 149 

The Winnebago War 149 

The Black Hawk AVar 14i) 



List of Soldiers in Black Hawk War... 
Reminiscence of the Black Hawk War. 

The Mexican War 

Roster of Mexican War Soldiers 



CHAPTER X. 
REMINISCENCES 

Cotton Picking 

By G eorge Brunk 

Auburn and Viucinity Forty Years Ago, by M. G. Wads- 
worth 

By S. C. Hampton 

ByR. W. Diller 

By James J. Megredy.. 

By E. H. Beach 

By John S. Condell, Sr 

By John H. Hariison 

By W. T. Bennett 

By George P. Weber 

Pioneer Women 

By Mrs. James Parkinson and Mrs. Sarah King 

By Mrs. Charlotte Jacobs 

By Elizabeth Harbour 

By Eliza Headley 

By Mrs. John Lock 

By Mrs. Robert Burns 

By Mrs. Sarah P. Husband 

By Mrs. Ann H. McCormack 

old Settlers of Sangamon, by John T. Stuart 

By Dr. Alexander thields 

PioLcersand Pioneering, by W. H. Herndon 

CHAPTER XI. 
THE PRESS 

Illinois State Journal 

Simeon Francis 

Josiah Francis 

Allen Francis 

W. H. Bailhache 

Edward L. Baker 

David L. Phillips 

Paul Selby 

Horace Chapin 

Milton F. Simmons 

The Daily Journal 

The Illinois Republican 

George R. Weber 

Illinois State Register 

George Walker 

Charles H. Lanphier 

John W Merritt 

Edward L. Merritt 

George W and J. R. Weber 

George Smith 

H W. Clendenin 

Thomas Rees 

D Ai LY Illinois State Registek 

Sangamo Monitor 

Sasgamo Daily Monitor 

Thomas W. S. Kidd 

The Si'kingiteld Tijies 

S. S Brooks 

The Masonic Trowel 

H.G.Reynolds 

Illinois St.\te Democrat 

The Sunday Mail 

Illinois Freie Press 

Freileiick Gebring 

STAA is WOCHENliLATT 

H. Schlange 

Ai'iiuHN Citizen 

A. B. Stover 

Moses G Wadsworth 

The Evenin(; Post ,. 

F. H. B. McDowell 

S. P. V. Arnold 

Campaign PArEns 

CHAPTER XIL 

THE REED AND DONNER PARTY iMl 

CHAPTER XIIL 

POLITICAL 249 

Official VoteofEvery General Election 272 

CHAPTER XIV. 
NATIONAL, STATE AND COUNTY REPRESENTATION 278 

National Rei'iiesentation 278 

President of the United States 278 

United States Consuls 278 



162 
165 
167 
168 

170 
170 
173 

174 
179 
180 
181 

182 
183 
185 
185 
186 
187 
187 
188 
191 
191 
192 
193 
193 
191 
194 
201 
206 

213 
214 
216 
217 
217 
218 
218 
219 
220 
223 
223 
224 
224 
225 
225 
226 
227 
228 
229 
229 
230 
230 
230 
232 
232 
235 
236 
237 
237 
2;t7 
237 
237 
237 
237 
238 
238 
238 
238 
238 
239 
239 
239 
240 
240 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



United States Assessor 278 

Cougi'essioiial 218 

Shelby M. Cullom 27j 

Si ate Eei'resentation 280 

Governor 280 

Secretary of State 280 

State Auditors '-iSO 

State Treasurers 280 

Superintendents of Public Instruction 280 

Attorney Geueials 280 

State Geologists 280 

Adjutant Generals. 280 

Senatorial and Representative 280 

County Okficees 282 

County Clerks 2tf2 

Circuit Clerks 282 

Recorders 28-2 

Probate Judges 282 

County Judges 282 

Sheriffs 282 

Coroners 28;:; 

Surveyors 283 

Schooi Commissioners 283 

Superintendents of Schools 28S 

Prosecuting Attorneys 282 

Treasurers 283 

CHAPTER XY. 

REMOVAL OF THE STATE CAPITAL 984 

Building of a new State House 287 

Law providine for building a new Capitol 288 

Efforts to nullify the law and their failure 289 

Laying the corner stone 289 

Description of the new State House 2!-0 

Work completed 292 

Epitome of the legislation for the new State House 292 

CHAPTER XYI. 

TEMPERANCE 29fi 

Early Temperance movements 298 

The 'Waahingtonians 298 

Constitutiou of the Springfield Washington Temperance 

Society 299 

Washington Song 300 

Sons of Temperance -JOO 

A Grand Jury's Certificate 300 

Temple of Honor 303 

The Maine Law 303 

Good Templars 303 

Women's Temperance Crusade 303 

Red and Blue Ribbon Movement 304 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION 305 

Departure of Mr. Lincoln 306 

Maior General John A McClernand 318 

The Beginning of the End, 352 

Assassination of President Lincoln 353 

The End 360 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, Continued 362 

Seventh Infantry 362 

Ninth Infantry 367 

Tenth Infantry 367 

Eleventh Infantry 371 

Twelfth Infantry 371 

Fourteenth Infantry 372 

Eighteenth Infantry 374 

Nineteenth Infantry 374 

Twentieth Infantry 374 

Twenty -first Infantry 374 

Twenty-second Infantry 375 

Twenty third Infantry 375 

Twenty fourth Infantrj- 375 

Twenty-seventh Infantry 378 

Twenty-eighth Infantry 378 

Twenty ninth Infantry 378 

Thirtieth Infantry 382 

Thirty-spcoad Infantry 382 

Thirty- third Infantry 383 

Thirty- fourth Infantry 38 4 

Thirty-fifth Infantry 384 

Thirty sixth Infantry 384 

Thirty-eighth Infantry 384 

Thirty-ninth Infantry 387 

Foi-ty-first Infantry 387 

Forty-fourth Infantry 38( 

2— 



Forty-sixth Infantry ^87 

Forty-eighth Infantry ^87 

Forty -ninth Infantry 387 

Fiftieth Infantry 387 

Fifty-first Infantry 3i^7 

Fifty -second Infantry 387 

Fifty-third Infantry 367 

Fifty-fourth Infantry 337 

Fifty-seventh Inlanfry 387 

Fifty-eighth Infantry 387 

Sixtieth Infantry 388 

Sixty-second Infantry 388 

Sixty-third Infantry 388 

Sixty fourth Infantry 388 

Sixty -eighth Infantry 3?8 

Seventy -second Infantry 389 

Seventy- third Infantry 389 

heventy -sixth Infantry 390 

Sovunty-seveuth Infantry 390 

Se.veatj' eighth Infantry 390 

Eighty : fourth lufantry 390 

Ninetieth Infaiitry 1 3'JO 

Ninety-first Infantry 3!IU 

Ninety-second In*autry 390 

Ninety fourth Infantry 390 

Ninety-fifth Infantry 390 

Ninety-seventh Infantry 390 

One Hundred and First Infantry 390 

One Hundred aiid Sixth Infantry 391 

One Hundred and Seventh Infantry 391 

One Hundred and Eighth Infantry 392 

One Hundred and Thirteenth Infantry 392 

One Hundred and Fourteenth Infantry 392 

One Hundred and Filteenth Infantry 399 

One Hundred and Sixteenth Infantry 399 

One Hundred and Seventeenth Infantry 399 

One Hundred and Twentieth Infantry 399 

One HundredandTwenty second Infantry 399 

One Hnn(<red and Twenty-thiid Infantry 399 

One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Infantry 399 

One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Inf^intry 401 

One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Infantry 401 

One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Infantry 401 

One Hundred and Thirtieth Infantry 401 

One Hundred and Thirty- third Infantry 402 

One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Infantry 403 

One Hundred and Forty-fourth Infantry 403 

One Hundred and Forty-fifth Infantry 403 

One Hundred and Fiftieth Infantry 4t)4 

One Hundred and Fifty-second Infantry 404 

One Hundred and Fifty-fourth lufantry 404 

One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Infantry 404 

First Cavalry 404 

Second Cavalry 40o 

Third Cavalry - 40o 

Fourth Cavalry 407 

Fifth Cavalry *07 

Sixth Cavalry. 408 

Seventh Cavalry 408 

Eighth Cavalry 408 

Ninth Cavalry 409 

Tenth Cavalry 409 

Eleventh Cavalry 4J2 

Twelfth Cavalry 412 

Thirteenth Cavalry 412 

Fifteenth Cavalry 413 

Sixteenth Cavalry 413 

First Artillery 413 

Second Artillery 414 

Chicago Board of Trade Battery 414 

Chicago Mercantile Battery 414 

Springfield Light Artillery 414 

Twenty ninth Colored Infantry 41o 

Recruitsfor Regular Army 415 

Nineteenth United States Infantry 41b 

Roll of Honor 416 

Transfer of Battle Flags 422 

CHAPTER XIX. 

OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY 431 

Constitution of Old Settlers' Society 431 

First Annual Celebration 43v 

Addre.ssof James H. Ma theny 43'- 

Re-organization of the Society 43.t 

First Annual Meeting 440 

Second Annual Meeting 441 

Members of the Society — 441 

Third Annual Meeting **'■' 



10 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Address of Samuel "Williams 442 

Fouvth Annual Meeting 448 

Address of Governor Palmer 451 

Fifth Annual Meeting 451 

Sixtli Annual Meeting 452 

Adrtiess of Governor Palmer 452 

Address of I). L Phillips 453 

Seventh Annual Meeting 454 

Eighth Annual Meeting 454 

Is'inth Annual Meet in g 455 

Address of William H. Herndon 455 

Tenth Annual Meeting 457 

I'resent to John Carroll Power 457 

Eleventh Annual Meeting. 458 

Address of Kev. John Slater.. 459 

Address of Kev. W. H. Milhurn 45!) 

Address ot Kev. Mr, Short 459 

Twelfth Annual Meeting 4()1 

Address of Hon. Milton Hay 462 

Thirteenth Annua' Meeting 465 

Address of Judge Vandever 466 

Remarks by Hon. James C. Rohinson 467 

Fourteenth Annual Meeting 467 

Address of Welcome by John B. Miller 468 

Response by Mr. I>iller 468 

Address byOovernor S. M. Cullom 468 

CHAPTER XX, 

EDUCATIOXAL 474 

Educatn)nal Convention 4".4 

Biographical sketch of James P. Slade 477 

Common Schools 479 

Illinois State University 479 

Rev. Francis M. Springer 481 

German Evangelical Lutheran Concordia Seminary 482 

Rev. Mr. Wvneken .• 482 

Prof. II. C. "Wynekeu 483 

Prof G. Kroening 483 

Bettie Stuart l4]stitute 383 

St. Agatha's School 484 

CHAPTER XXI. 

ILLUSTRIOUS AND PROMINENT DEAD 487 

Abraham Lincoln 487 

Stephen A. Douglas .501 

William H Bissell 505 

Governor Matteson 506 

Richard Yates 5(7 

James D. Henry 508 

Andrew McCormack 509 

Robert L. Wilson 509 

AVilliamF. Elkin 510 

John Calhoun. 511 

General E. B. Harlan 512 

General I. N. Haynie 512 

Thomas H. Campbell 513 

Erastus "Wright 514 

Rev. John G.Bergen, D. D 515 

Orlin H. Miner 519 

Archer G Herndon 519 

William Butler .520 

Dr. Gershom Jayne 521 

Keiiben F. Ruth .521 

Charles R. Hurst .522 

Dr. John Todd 522 

J. K. Dubois 522 

CHAPTER XXII. 

DARK DEEDS 524 

Murder of Mrs. Van Noy 524 

Killing of Dr. Early 525 

Fatal affray 525 

Murder of George Anderson 525 

"Murder at Mechanicsburg 525 

Murder of an Infant Child 525 

Homicide in Chatham 526 

Tragedy near Camp Butler 526 

Fatal A ffray 526 

Shocking Murder 526 

Tragedy at Camp Butler 526 

Killing'of Wesley Pileher 526 

Soldier Shot 526 

Robbcrv and Murder at Pawnee 527 

Found bead 527 

Killing of Joseph Ward 528 

Murder of William Mortar 528 

Doings of a Desperado 528 

Murder of Sharon Tyndale 528 



Killing of William Kelley 529 

Murder of Henry Stay 529 

Riot at lUiopolis 529 

Murder and Suicide 530 

Uxoricide and Suicide 530 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

AUTHORS AND ARTISTS 531 

John Carroll Power 53t 

Joseph Wallace 533 

E. L. Gross 533 

W.L. Gross 5:W 

Alexander Davidson 533 

Dennis Williams 533 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

MISCELLANEOUS 535 

The Mormons 535 

Shoot irg Stars 535 

County Jail 535 

Poe- 1 ry 536 

California Emigrants 536 

How Mill Privileges were secured 536 

The Weather 537 

Mild Winter 537 

The Sudden Change 537 

Snow Blockade 538 

Almost a Tornado 538 

Rain Storm.. 538 

Heavy Storm of Wind and Rain 538 

Storm at Williamsville 539 

Tornado on Sugar Creek 539 

Cholera 539 

Shoemaking 539 

Matrimonial 540 

Rendition of a Fugitive Slave 541 

First Entries of Land 541 

Death of a Cetenarian 542 

Sangamon County Bible Society 542 

CHAPTER XXV. 

AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.... 543 

Agricultural Societies 543 

The First County Fair 544 

Sangamon County Agricultural and Mechanical Associa- 
tion 545 

Sangamon County Agricultural Board 545 

State Fairs 5."0 

The Ameiican Berkshire Association 550 

CHAPTER XXVL 

VARIOUS THINGS 551 

The Deep Snow 551 

Railroaa Villages 552 

Hard Times 553 

The First Court House 554 

The Second Court House 555 

The Third Court House 555 

The Fourth Court House 555 

The Fifth Court House 556 

Villages and Stations in the County 556 

Table of Distances 5f6 

Railroad Accident « 556 

Teriible Accident 557 

Feaiful Railioad Accident 557 

Steam Boiler Explosion 557 

Census Reports 557 

Our Legislators 558 

Assessments for 1881 558 

Distressing Accident 558 

Two Children Killed by Lightning 55» 

Terrific Explosion 561 

Withey <fe 1 ro.'s Carriage and Wagon Manufactory 576 

Sash Manufactory 576 

Globe Spice Mills 576 

Springfield Paper Company •.. 576 

"Wagons and Carriages 576 

Machine Works 576 

Elevator Milling Company 576 

Excelsior Mills 577 

Home Mills 577 

Piiutirg and Binding 577 

Boiler a^ul Sheet Iron Works 578 

Springfield Trunk Manufactory 578 

Springfield Woolen Mills 578 

1'he Portuguese 578 

RemiuiRcence of Elijah lies 580 

Springfield Home for the Friendless 583 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



11 



■Western Union Telegraph 584 

United States Express Company 584 

American Express Cempany 585 

Schools 585 

Public Schools 5s7 

A Retrospect 5til 

Sangamon County of To-day 5(i'2 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

CITY OF SPRINGFIELD 563 

Incorporation 565 

Town Officers 565 

City Charter 565 

CityOfficers 566 

Removal of the Capital 568 

Speculation and Hard Times 569 

Healthfulness of Springtield 570 

Springfield to a Stranger 570 

Change of Xame 571 

Growth of the Citv 571 

The Post Office 571 

Springfield as a Manufacturing Point 573 

Illinois Watch Company — 574 

^Etna Iron Works '. : 575 

Ide's Machine Works 575 

The Excelsior Foundry 575 

Booth & McCosker's Carriage and Wagon Manufactory... 575 

Teachers' Institutes 594 

Graduates of the High School 595 

Rev. Jchn F. Brooks 597 

Ursuline Convent 5*^9 

Religious 61 

First Methodist Episcopal 600 

Second Methodist Episcopal, <i03 

First Presbyterian fi04 

Second Presbyterian 605 

Third Presbyterian 606 

Central Baptist - 606 

German Baptist 608 

C'>lored Baptist SOS' 

Christian fiOS 

Church of the Immaculate Conception 608 

German Catholic 609 



St. Joseph's Church 609 

English Lutheran fioa 

German Luth/ran Trinity 610 

First Portuguese Presbyterian.. 610 

Second Portuguese Presbyterian 610 

German Methodist 610 

Colored Methodist 610 

Plymouth Brethren 610 

St. Paul's Episcopal 610 

Congregational 611 

Hebrew Temple 611 

Young Men's Christian Aasociaiion 611 

In Honor of the Dead 612 

First Decoration of Graves 613 

Decoration Day, 1881 614 

Addiess of Rev T.A.Parker 616 

Masonic 621 

Odd.Fellow.ship 022 

Hebrew Societies 623 

Knights of Honor 623 

United Workmen 623 

Royal Arcanum 624 

American Legion of Honor 624 

Other Societies 624 

Ne w.spapers 624 

The Capital Railway 625 

Springfield City Railway 525 

Citizen's Street Railway 62B 

Springtield Library Association 626 

Illinois State Library 626 

Banks '. 627 

Ridgely Kational Bank 627 

Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company 627 

First ^S'ational Bank 627 

State National Bank 627 

Board of Trade 638 

Fires and Fire Department 628 

The Citv of the Dead 629 

Springfield Waterworks 631 

Artesian Well . 633 

Amusements 63.3 

Biographical - 635 

The Colored People 736 



TOWNSHIP HISTORIES. 



Auburn 745 

Ball 784 

Buffalo Hart ^02 

Cartwright 813 

Chatham 827 

Clear Lake 851 

Cotton Hill 873 

Cooper 862 

Curran 883 

Fancy Creek ^97 

Gardner ^ 913 

lUiopolis 919 



Island Grove 931 

Loami 938 

Mechanicsburg 953 

New Berlin 963 

Pawnee 974 

Rochester 9S7 

Salisbury 1011 

Spri n gfield 1022 

Talkihgton 1028 

Wheatfleld 1040 

Williams 10 »5 

Woodside 1059 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Bettie Stnart Institute 485 

Sangamon County Fair Grounds 546 

State Capitol 35 

Map of Illinois 735 



Starved Rock 19 

Map of Sangamon County 15 and 16 

National Lincoln Monument 630 



PORTRAITS. 



Breckeuridge, Preston 259 

Buck, Dr. H. B ... 397 

Bergen, Kev. Geo 517 

Carpenter, William. 475 

Cartwright, Peter 601 

Constant. J. T 805 

Caldwell, Ben. P tOl 

Davis, Dr. W. H 345 

Diller R. W 63 

Foutch, Thcs 643 

Fullinwider, J. N 951 

Irwin.Alex.B 779 

lies, Elijah 117 

Irwin, Robert 301 

Keyes, J. W 135 

Loose, J. G 423 

Lowder, Geo. W 103o 

Lincoln, Abraham Frontispiece 

Logan, Steplien T fl 



Lamb, .Tames ~07 

Lanphier, Chas. H 233 

McClernand. GeneralJ. A 319 

McCoy, M. D 9»3 

McConnell. E. F 753 

North, Robert 85 f 

Power, Gen<rge 449 

Power, William I) JJ9 

Robinson, Henson -'^S 

Ruth,R. F 362 

Shepherd, Thomas C , 925 

Saunder.s, J. R 711 

Shields, Alexander 189 

Tracy.FrankW 6(7 

VanDeren, Cyrus W 831 

Williams, Co'lonelJohn f' 

Williams, Samuel... 1 ' ^ 

Wohlgemuth, Dr. Henry 1" 



ly O & A y 




JX,LIlS^OIS 



U 



31 



History of Illinois 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Illinoifs, the fourth State in the Union in 
wealth, population and political })ower, lies in the 
very heart ol" the up})er valley of tlie Missis.si})i)i. 
Stretching over five degrees of latitude, from 
•'i74 to 42^=, it has considerable diversity, both of 
soil and climate. The boundary line of the State 
is about twelve hundred miles. From the point 
where it joins the Wisconsin dine on the north- 
east, Lake Michigan bounds it on the east for 
fifty miles to the northeast corner of Indiana; 
liience a line is drawn due south one hundred 
and sixty-eight miles to the Wabash river. 
The Wabash and the Ohio rivers constitute the 
remainder of the eastern and southern boundary, 
while the lordly Mississippi washes its entire 
western border. The extreme length of the 
State is three hundred and seventy-eight miles; 
ihe extrei. „ breadth, in the latitude of Danville 
and Kushville, is two hundred and ten miles, 
and the average l»readth is about one hundred 
and fifty miles. 

Illinois contains 55,405 square miles, or more 
than 35,UiJU,().'0 acres of land. Fully two-thirds 
of this is prairie, and nearly all of it is suscepti- 
ble of proper cultivation. The State has ten 
thousand more square miles than New York or 
Ohio, and is larger than Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey cond)ined, and is almost as large as all 
the New England States taken together. 

THE MOUNIJ-BUILDKKS. 

That Illinois was inhabited by a race of men 
prior to the present Indian race that yet inhabit 
a ])ortion of the Union hardly adjnits of a doubt. 
It is clearly demonstrated by the well authenti- 
cated accounts of discoveries made tliat a civil- 
i/cod ])eo])le, and one highly cultivated, once 
occupied the great prairie State and various }»arts 
of the country now constituting the American 
Union, but the date <>f their rule ill the western 



world is so remole that all traces of this history, 
progress and decay, lie buried in the deepest 
obscurity. This [tre-historic I'ace ii» known as* 
the Mound-IJuilders, from the numeious large 
mounds of earth-works left by them. Their char- 
acter can be but partially gleaned from the inter- 
nal evidences and peculiarities of all that remains 
of them — the mounds. Remains of what were 
apparently villages, altars, tem]>les, idols, ceme- 
teries, monuments, cam})s, fortifications, and 
pleasure grounds, have been found, but nothing 
showing of what material were their habitations. 

The question as to the origin of the Mound- 
Builders is an interesting one. If thev were 
not the ancestors of tlie Indians, who were they? 
Those who do not believe in the common ]tarent- 
age of mankind contend that they were an 
indigenous race of the western hemisphere ; 
others think they came from the East, and 
imagine they are coincident with the religion 
of ^he Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the 
supjjosed theology of the MoundvHuilders. 
They were, no doubt, idolaters, and it has been 
conjectured that the sun was the object of their 
adoration. The mounds were generally built in 
a situation affording a view of the rising sun; 
when enclosed in walls their gateways were 
toward the east; the caves in which their dead 
were occasionally buried always opened in the 
same direction ; whenever a nn»uMd was par- 
tially enclosed by a semi-ciicular pavement, it 
was on the east side; when bodies were buried 
in gi'aves, as was fre<|uently the case, they were 
laid in a direction east and west; and, finally, 
medals have ])een found re])resenting the sun 
and his rays of light. 

At what periotl they came to this country, is 
likewise a matter of speculatitni. From the 
com]»aratively rude state of the arts among 
them, it has been inferred that the time was 



IS 



TITSTOIIV OF ILLINOIS. 



very remote. Their ajes were of stone. Their 
raiment, judging from fragment.^ wliich have 
been diseovered, consisted of tlie bark of trees, 
interwoven with feathers; and their military 
w uiks wei'e sucli as a people would erect Avho 
had just ])assed tn the })astoral state of society 
from that dependent alone u])on hunting and 
lishiiig. 

The mounds aiul other ancient earth-works 
constructed by this people are far more abund- 
ant tlian generally supposed, from the fact that 
while sduie a)'e (juite large, the greater part of 
thein ;ii-(' small and inconspicuous. Along 
nearly all our water courses that are large 
enough to be navigated with a canoe, the 
mounds ww almost invariably found, covering 
the \)i\sv points and headlands of the bluifs 
which boiilei- the narrower valleys; so that when 
one finds himself in such positions as to com- 
n\and the grandest views for river scenery, he 
may almost always discover that he is standing 
upon, oi- in close proximity to, some one or 
more of these traces of the labors of an ancient 
people. 

One of the most singular eaith-works in the 
State was found on the top of a ridge near the 
east bank of the Sinsinawa creek in the lead 
region. It resembled some huge animal, the 
head, ears, nose, legs and tail, and general out- 
line of which being as perfect as if made by 
men versed in modern art. The ridge on which 
it was situated stands on the prairie, -iOo yards 
wide, 100 feet in height, and rounded on the 
to|> by a dee]) deposit of clay. Centrally, along 
the line of its summit, and thrown u}) in the 
form of an embankment three feet high, ex- 
tended the outline of a ([uadruped measui-ing 
I'oO feet from the tip of the nose to the end of 
I he tail, and having a width of 18 feet at the 
center of the body. The head was :).5 feet in 
length, the ears lo'feet, legs (50 and tail 7.5. The 
curvature in both the fore and liind legs was 
u'ltural to an animal lying on its side. The 
general outline of the ligure most nearly resem- 
bled the extinct animal knowi' to geologists as 
the .^[eg•atherium. The (pustion naturally 
arises, by Avhom and for what purpose was this 
earth figure raised? Some have conjectured 
that numbers of \his now extinct aninial lived 
and roamed ovei- the prairies of Illitu>is when 
the Mound-IJuilders first made thtir appearance 
on the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and 
that the wonder and admiration, excited by 
the colossal dimensions of these huge creatures, 
found some expression in the erection of this 
tigurc. The bones of some similar gigantic 



! animals were exhumed on this stream about 
t*iree miles from the same place. 

Mr, lireckenridge, who examined the anticpii- 
ties of the Western country in ]si7, sjteaking 
of the mounds in the Amei'ican Bottom, says: 
"The great number and extremely large si/e of 
some of them may be regarded as furnisliing, 
with other circumstances, evidences of their 
anticjuity, I have sometimes been induced to 
think that at the period when they were con- 
structed there was a poj)ulation here as numer- 
ous as that which once animated the bordei's of 
the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico. The most 
numerous, as well as considerable, of these 
remains are found in precisely those j)arts of 
the country where the traces of a numerous 
population might be looked for, luxmely, from 
the mouth of the Oiiio on the east side of the 
Mississipi»i, to the Illinois river, and on the west 
from the St. Fi-ancis to the Missouri. I am 
perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of 
ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand 
souls, have existed in tiiis country." 

OTlIKli KACES. 

Following the Mound-Builders as inhabitants 
of Noi'th America, were as it is suj)[tosed, the 
peoj^le who reared the magnificent cities the 
ruins of which are found in Central Ameriea. 
This people was far more civilized and advanced 
■in the arts than were the Mound-Builders. The 
cities built by them, judging from the ruins of 
broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling 
walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which 
in some places for miles bestrew the gi'ound, 
must have been of great extent, magnificent and 
very populous. AVhen we consider the vast 
]>eriod of time necessary to ei'cct such colossal 
structures, and, again, the tinu' re<iuired to 
reduce them to their present ruined state, we 
can conceive something of their antitpiity. 
These cities must have been old when many of 
the ancient cities of the Orient were being built. 

The third race inhabiting North America dis- 
tinct from the former two in every ]»articular, 
is the present Indians. Thev Mere, when visited 
by the early discoverers, without cultivation, 
refinement or literatui-e, and fai' behind the 
Mound-Builders in the km)wledge of the arts. 
The question of their origin has long interested 
arclueologists, aad is the most difficult they have 
been called u)>on to ansAver. Of their prede- 
cess()i-s the Indian tribes knew nothing; they 
even had no •traditions respecting them. It is 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



21 



i|iiite certain tliat they were the fsuccessors of a 
race which had entirely passed away ages before 
the discovery of tlie New World. One hypo- 
thesis is that the Anierican Indians are an origi- 
nal race indigenous to the Western hemisphere. 
Tiiose who entertain this view think theii" pecu- 
liarities of jiliysical structure preclude the possi- 
bility of a coninion parentage with the rest of 
mankind. Prominent among those distinctive 
traits is the hair, which in the red nian is round, 
in the white man oval, and in the black man Hat. 
A more common supj>ositi<)n, however, is that 
they are a derivative race, and s])rang fiom one 
or more of the ancient ])eoples of Asia. This 
last is doubtless the true theory. 



When Christopher C-olumbus had finally suc- 
ceeded in demonstrating the truth of his theory 
that by sailing westward from P^iirope land 
would be discovered, landing on the island of 
Bermuda he su|)posed that he had reached the 
East Indies. This was an error, but it led to 
the ado]»tion of the name of "Indians" for the 
iidiabitants of the newly discovered country, by 
which name the I'ed men of America have ever 
since been known. 

At the time of the discovery of America the 
Algonquins, one of the most powerful tribes of 
Itidians, occupied the seaboard, while the Iro- 
((uois, another gi'eat tribe, inhabited the country 
almost surrounded by them. The Algonquins 
spread over vast territory, and various tribes of 
Algonquin lineage sprung up over the country, 
in Unxa adopting distijtct tribal customs and 
laws. An almost continuous warfare was car- 
i-ied on between tribes, but when the white men 
came a confederacy of Indian tribes were 
formed and every foot of territory was fiercely 
disputed. The Algonijuins formed the most 
extensive alliance to resist the encroachment of 
the whites, especially the English. Such was 
the nature of King Philip's war. This King, 
with his AlgoiKpiin braves, spread t<M-ror and 
desolation throughout New England. With the 
Algonquins as the controlling spirit, a confed- 
era<;y of continental proportions was the result, 
embracing in its alliance the tribes of every 
name and lineage from the northern lakes to the 
gulf, Pontiac, liaving breathed into them his 
iuiplacable hate of the English intruders, 
ordered the contlict to commence, and all the 
British colonies trembled before the desolating 
fury of Indian vengeance. 



ILLINOIS CONFKDERACV. 

'J'he Illinois confederacy, the various tribes of 
which comprised most of the Indians of Illinois 
at one time, was composed of five tribes: the 
Tamaroas, Michigans, Kaskaskias, C'ahokas, and 
Peorias. The Illinois, Miamis and Delawares 
were of the same stock. As early as 107U, the 
priest. Father Mar(piette, mentions frequent 
visits made by individuals of this confederacy 
to the missionary station at St Esprit, near the 
western extremity of Lake Sujjerior. At that 
time they lived west of the Mississippi, in eight 
villages, whither they had been driven from the 
shores of Lake Michigan by the Iroquois. 
Shortly afterward they l)egan to return to 
their old hunting ground, and most of them 
finally settled in Illinois. Joliet and Marquette, 
in 1()73, met with a band of them on their 
famous voyage of discovery down the Missis- 
sippi. They were treated with the greatest 
hospitality by the principal chief. On their 
retui'n voyage up the Illinois river they stopped 
at the principal town of the confederacy, situ- 
ated on the banks of the river seven miles below 
the present town of Ottaw^a. It was then called 
Kaskaskia. Manpiette returned to the village in 
1675 and established the mission of the Immac- 
ulate Conception, the oldest in Illinois. When, 
in 167n, LaSalle visited the town, it had greatly 
increased, numljering 400 lodges, and at the an- 
nual assembly of the difi^erent tribes, from (i,(K)u 
to 8,(100 souls. In common with other western 
tribes, they became involved in the conspiracy 
of Pontiac, although displaying no Aery great 
warlike spirit. Pontiac lost his life by the 
hands of one of the braves of the Illinois tribe, 
which so enraged the nations that ha<l followed 
him as their leader that they fell upon the Illi- 
nois 'to avenge his death, and almost annihilated 
them. 

STARVED KO(nv. 

Tradition states' that a band of this tribe, in 
order to escaj)e the general slaughter, took 
refuge ujion the high rock on the Illinois river 
known as Starved Rock. Nature has made this 
one of the most formidable military fortresses 
in the world. From the waters which wash its 
base it rises to an altitude of one hundred and 
twenty-five feet. Three of its sides it is impos- 
sible to scale, M'hile the other may be climbed 
with difticulty.. E^"om its summit, almost as 
inaccessible as an eagle's nest, the valley of the 
Illinois is seen as a landscape of exquisite 
beauty. The river near by struggles between a 



92 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



number of wooded isliinds, wliile further below 
it (juietly meanders tliroufjli vast meadows till it 
disappears like a thread of liglit in the dim 
distance. On the summit of this rock the Illi- 
nois were besieged by a superior force of the 
Pottawattomies whom the great strength of 
tlieir natural fortress enabled them to keep at bay. 
Hunger and thirst, however, soon accomplished 
what the army was unable to effect. Surrounde<l 
by a relentless foe, without food or water, they 
took a last look at Iheir beautiful huntiiig 
grounds, and with true Indian fortitude laid 
down and died fro7n starvation. Years after- 
wards tlieii- bones were seen whitening in that 
])lace. 

At the beginning of the present century the 
remnants of this once powerful confederacy 
were forced into a smaller compass around Kas- 
kaskia. A few years later they emigrated to 
the soutliwest, and in 1850 they were in the 
Indian Territory, and numbered but eighty-foui- 
persons. 

KAULY DISCOVERIES. 

Nicholas Perrot, a Frenchman, was the first 
Avhite man to visit the present great State of 
Illinois. In the year IHVl he was sent to (Chi- 
cago by M. 'I'alou, Intendant of Canada, for the 
pui'pose of inviting the Indians to a ])eace con- 
vention, to be held at Green J>ay. The object 
of this convention was the formation of a ])lan 
for the exploration of the Mississippi River. 
De Soto, the Spanish explorer, had discovered 
the river neai-ly one hundred and fifty years 
previously, luit did not effect a settlement or 
explore the country any further. It remained 
as it was until the French determined to visit 
it, for which purpose it was deemed a wise ]h)\- 
icy, as far as ])ossible, to secure the i'riendship 
and (•o-o])eration of the Indians before ventur- 
ing upon an enterprise which their hostility 
might render disastrous. A ])lan was accord- 
ingly arranged, and Louis .loliet joined Father 
.fac(pies Manpiette, at the .lesui't Mission, on 
the Strait of Mackinaw, and, with five other 
Frenchmen and a simple outfit, the daring 
explorers on the 1 7th of May, ](u-), set out on 
their ])ei-ilous voyage to discover the Missis- 
sip])!. Coasting along the northern shore of 
Lake Michigan, they entered Green Bay, and 
passed thence up Fox River and Lake Win- 
nebago to a village of the Muscatines and 
Miamis, where great interest was taken in the 
expedition by the natives. With guides they 
proceeded down the river. Arriving at the 
portage, they soon carried tlieir light canoes 



and scanty baggage to the Wisconsin, about 
three miles distant. Their guides now refused 
to accomj)any them further, and endeavored, by 
reciting the dangers incident to the voyage, to 
induce them to return. They stated that huge 
demons dwelt in the great river, whose voices 
could be heard a long distance, and who 
engulfed in the raging waters all Avho came 
within their reach. They also represented that 
if any of them should escar)e the dangers of 
the river, tierce tribes of Indians dwelt upon its 
Ijanks ready to complete the work of destruc- 
tion. They proceeded on their journey, hoAv- 
ever, and on the iVth of .June pushed their 
frail barks on the bosom of the stately Missis- 
sippi, down which they smoothly glided for 
nearly a hundred miles. Here Joliet and Mar- 
(juette, leaving their canoes in charge of their 
men, went on the western shore, where they dis- 
covered an Indian village, and were kindly 
treated. They journeyed on down the un- 
known river, passing the mouth of the Illi- 
nois, then running into the current of the 
muddy Missouri, and afterwards the waters of 
the Ohio joined with them on their journey 
southward. Near the mouth of the Arkansas, 
tbey discovered Indians who showed signs of 
hostility; but when Mar(piette''s mission of 
peace was made known to them, they were 
kindly received. After ])roceeding up the 
Arkansas a short distance, at the advice of the 
natives they turned their faces northward to 
retrace their steps. After sevei'al Aveeks of hard 
toil they reached the Illinois, up Avhich stream 
they jjroceeded to Lake Michigan. Following 
the western shore of the lake, thev entered 
Green Hay the latter part of Sei)teinber, having 
traAcled a distance of 2, ;")()(» miles. 

FIRST SETTLKMKNTS. 

On his way up the Illinois, Mar(piette \'isited 
the Kaskaskias, near Avhat is iiow Utica, in 
LaSalle county. The following year he 
returned, and establishetl among them the mis- 
sion of the Immaculate (\tnception. Th'is was 
the last act of his life. He died in Michigan, 
May IS, 16'75. The town was named Kaskas- 
kia by Manpiette. 

The first military occupation of the count rv 
Avas at Fort Crevec(eur, erected in KiSO; but 
there is no evidence that a settlement was com- 
menced there, or at Peoria, on the lake above, 
at that early date. The first settlement of 
which there is any authentic account was com- 
menced with the building of Fort St. Louis, on 
the Illinois river, in 1682; but this Avas soon 



IllSTOKV OK ILLINOIS. 



•2:i 



altamloiicd. Tlu' oldest iKM'inanent settlenient, 
not only ill Illinois, hut in tlie valley of the 
.Mississippi, is at Kaskaskia, situated six miles 
above the mouth of the Kaskaskia viver. This 
was settled in IGiU) by the removal of the mis- 
sion from old Kaskaskia, or Ft. St. Louis, on 
tiic Illinois river, (-ahokia was settled about 
tlic same time. 1'he reason for the removal of 
I he old Kaskaskia settlement and mission was 
jirohahly because the danti;erous and dittieult 
route by Lake .Michigan and the ('hicago poi't- 
age had been almost abandoned, and travelers 
and traders traveled down and up the Missis- 
sippi by the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. It was 
removed to the vicinity of the Mississipi)i in 
order to be in the line of travel from Canada to 
FiOuisiana, that is, the lower part of it, for it 
was all Louisiana then south of the lakes. 
Illinois came into possession of the French in 
UiS-i, and was a dejiendency of Canada and a 
])art of Louisiana. During the ])eriod of 
French rule in Louisiana, the population prob- 
ably never exceeded ten thousand. To the year 
IToO the following five distinct settlements 
were imide in the territory of Illinois, number- 
ing, in population, 140 French families, about 
()(iO "converted" Indians, and many traders; 
( 'ahokia, near the mouth of Cahokia creek, and 
al)out Hve miles below the present city of St. 
Louis; St. Philip, about forty-tive miles below 
(aliokia; Fort (Jhartres, tAvelve miles above 
Ivaskaskia; Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskas- 
kia river six miles above its confluence with the 
Mississippi, and Prairie dii Rocher, near Fort 
Chartres. Fort Chartres was built under the 
direction of the Mississipj)i Company in 1718, 
and was for a time the headcpiarters of the mil- 
itary commandants of the district of Illinois, 
and the most impregnable fortress in North 
America. Tl was also the center of wealth and 
fasliion in the West. For about eighty years 
the French retained peaceable ])ossession of 
Illinois. Their amiable disposition and tact of 
ingratiating themselves with the Lidians ena- 
bled them to escai)e almost entirely the broils 
which weakened and destroyed other colonies 
Whether exi)loring remote rivers or traversing 
hunling grounds in ])ursuit of game, in the 
social circle or as ))articipants in the religious 
exercises of the church, the red men became 
their associates, and w(M'(^ treated with the kind- 
ness and consideration of brothers. For more 
than a hundred years |)eace between the white 
man and Uie red was unbroken, and when at 
last this reign of hai'mony terminated it was 
not caused by the conciliatory Frenchman, but 



by the blunt and stui'dy Anglo-Saxon. During 
this century, or until the country was occupied 
bv the English, no regular court was ever held. 
When, in 1705, the country passed into the 
hands of the English, many of the French, 
rather than submit to a change in their institu- 
tions, preferred to leave their homes and seek a 
new abode. There are, however, at the ])resent 
time, a few remnants of the old French stock 
in the State, who still retain to a great extent 
the ancient habits and customs of their fathers. 

ENGLISH RILE. 

In 1750 France claimed the whole valley of 
the Mississippi, and England the light to extend 
her possessions westward as far as she miglit 
desire. Through colonial controversies, the two 
mother countries were precipitated into a bloody 
war within the Northwestern Territory, (4eorgv 
Washington tiring the first gun of the military 
struggle which resulted in the overthrow of tiie 
French not only in Illinois, but in Nortli Amer- 
ica. The French evinced a determination to 
retain control of the territory bordering the 
Oliio and Mississippi from Canada to the (tuII, 
and so long as the English colonies were con- 
fined to the sea-coast there was little reason for 
controversy. As the English, however, became 
acquainted with this beautiful and fertile por- 
tion of our country, they not only learned the 
value of the vast territory, but also resolved to 
set up a counter claim to the soil. The French 
established numerous military and trading posts 
from the frontiers of Canada to New Oi-leans. 
and in order to establish also their claims to 
jurisdiction over the country, they carve(l the 
lilies of France on the forest trees, or sunk 
plates of metal in the ground. These measures 
did not, however, deter the English from going 
on witli tlu^r explorations; and though neither 
party resorted to arms, yet the conflict wa.-< 
gathering, and it was only a (|uestion of time 
when the storm should burst upon the frontier 
settlement. The French based tiieir claims upon 
discoveries, the English on grants of territory 
extending from ocean to ocean, but neither 
partv j)aid the least attention to the prior claims 
of tiie Lidians. From tbis position of affairs, it 
was evident that actual collision between the 
contending )»arties would not much longer be 
deferred. 'I'he English Government, in antici- 
pation of a war, urged tiie (Tovernor of ^'irginia 
to lose no time in building two forts, which were 
eipupped by arms from England. The French 
anticipated the English, and gathered a consid- 
erable force to defend tlieir possessions. The 



24 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



(ioviTiKir (Ictei'iniiKMl to st'iid a messenger to 
tlie nearest Freneli post and demand an explana- 
tion. This resolution of the Governor brought 
into the history of our country for the Krst time 
tlie man of all othei's whom America most loves 
to honor, namely, George Washington. He was 
chosen, aitliough not yet twenty-one years of 
age, as the one to perfoi'm this delicate and 
difficult mission. With five companions, he set 
out on November Id, 175.!, and after a perilous 
journey returned January 6, l7o4. 'IMie sti'ug- 
gie commenced, and continued long, and was 
l)h)ody and fierce; hut on the 1 0th of October, 
170"), the ensign of France was replaced on the 
ramparts of Fort C^hartres by the Hag of Great 
Britain. This fort was the dei)ot of supplies 
and the place of rendezvous for the united forces 
of tiie French. At this time the colonies of the 
Atlantic seaboard were assembled in prelimin- 
ary congress at New \'()rk. dreaming of liberty 
and independence foi' tlie continent; and Wash- 
ington, who led the expedition against the 
French for the English king, in less than ten 
yeai's was commanding the forces opposed to 
the Knglish tyrant. Illinois, besides being con- 
structively a part of Florida for over one hun- 
died years, during which time no Spaniard set 
foot upon her soil or rested his eyes upon her 
beautifiU plains, for nearly ninety years had 
been in the actual occupation of the French, 
their puny settlements slumbering quietly in 
colonial dependence on the distant waters of the 
Kaskas'kia, Illinois and Wabash. 

<:ex. ci.ark's ]':.vi'I-()Its. 

The Northwest Territoi-y was now entirely 
under Knglish rule, and on the breaking out of 
the Kevolutionar\ war the IJritish held every 
post of importance in the West. While the 
colonists of tlu' Fast were maintaining a fierce 
struggle with the armies of England, their west- 
ern frontiers were ravaged by merciless l>iil('h- 
eries of Indian warfare. The jealousy of the 
savage was aroused to action by the rapid exten- 
sion of Anieri(!an settlement westward and the 
improper influence exerted by a number of mili- 
tary posts garrisoned by British troops. To 
prevent indiscriminate slaughter arising from 
these causes, Illinois became the theater of some 
of the most daring exploits connected with 
American history. Tiu' hei-o of the achieve- 
ments by which t'liis beautiful land was siuitched 
as a gem from the British crown, was George 
Rogers Clark, of N'irginia. He had closely 
watched the movements of the iiritish through- 
out the Noi'thwest, and understood their whole 



plan; he also knew the Indians were not unani- 
mously in a(^cord with the English, and tiiere- 
fore was convinced that if the British could be 
defeated and expelled from tlie Northwest, the 
natives might be easily awed into neutrality. 
Having convinced himself that the enter]»rise 
against the Illinois settlement might easily suc- 
ceed, he repaired to the capital of V^ii-ginia, 
arriving November 5, 1777. While he was on 
his way, fortunately, Burgoyne was defeated 
(October 17), and the spirits of the colonists 
were thereby greatly encouragecL Patrictk 
Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at once 
entered heartily into Clark's plans. After satis- 
fying the \'irginia leaders of the feasibility of 
his project, he received two sets of instructions, 
— one secret, the other open. The latter author- 
ized him to enlist seven companies to go to Ken- 
tucky, and serve three months after their arrixal 
in the West. The secret order authorized hiiu 
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and 
lead of (ileneral Hand, at Pittsburg, and to pro- 
ceed at once to subjugate the country. 

With these instructions General Clark repaired 
to Pittsburg, choosing rather to raise his men 
west of the mountains, as he well knew all were 
needed in the colonies for the conflict there. 
Enlisting his men, he at once proceeded to carry 
out his instructions. His plan was to go by 
water as far as Fort Massac, and thence march 
direct to Kaskaskia. Here he intended to sur- 
prise the garrison, aiul after its capture go to 
Cahokia, then to \'incennes, and lastly to 
Detroit. Each of these posts were in turn cap- 
tured. 

The services of Clark proved of essential 
advantage to his countrymen. They discon- 
certed the plans of Hamilton, the Governor of 
Detroit, who was intending to make a vigorous 
and concerted attack u])on the frontier, and not 
only saved the western frontier from depreda- 
tions by the savages, but also greatly cooled the 
ardor of the Indians for carrying on a contest 
in which they were not likely to be tlie gainers. 
Had it not been for this small army, a union of 
all the tribes from Maine to Georgia against the 
colonies might have been effected, and the whole 
current of oui- history changed. 

COUNTV OK J'J^MNOIS. 

In October, 1778, after the successful campaign 
of Colonel Clark, the assembly of Virginia 
erected the conquered country, embracing all 
the territory northwest of the Ohio river, into 
the county of Illinois, which was doubtless the 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



25 



largest county in the W(-»i"ld, exceeding in its 
dimensions the whole of Great Britian and Ire- 
land. To speak more definitely, it contained 
the territory now embraced in the great States 
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Mich- 
ican. On the l:.'th of December, 177S; John 
Todd was apiJointed Lieutenant Commandant of 
this county by l*atrick Henry, then Governor of 
Virginia, and accordingly, also, the first of Illi- 
nois county. 

NORTH \\ESTEJ{JM TEKRITOKY. 

Illinois continued to form a part of Virginia 
until March I, 17s4, when that State ceded all 
the territory north of the Ohio to tlie United 
States. Immediately the general gov^ernment 
proceeded to establish a form of government for 
the settlers in the territories thus ceded. This 
form continued until the passage of the ordi- 
nance of 17S7, for the government of the North- 
western Territory. No man can study tlie secret 
history of this ordinance and not feel that Pro v- 
iilence was guiding with sleepless eye the des- 
tinies of these unborn States. American legis- 
lation has never achieved anything more admii'- 
able, as an internal government, than this com- 
{)rehensive ordinance. Its provisions concern- 
ing the distribution of property, the principles 
of civil and religious liberty Avhich it laid at the 
foundation of the cotnmunities since established, 
and the efficient and simple organization by 
which it created the first machinery of civil so- 
ciety, are worthy of all the praise that has ever 
been given them. 

ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

For some years Thomas Jeffei"son had vainly 
tried to secure a system of government for tiie 
Northwestern Territory. He was an emanci]»a- 
tionist and favored the exclusion of slavery from 
the territory, and in this he was opposed by al- 
most the entire soutli. In July, 17S7, Manasseh 
Cutler a[)peared in New York to lobby on the 
question of organization of the Northwestern 
Territory. He was a courtly gentleman of the old 
style, a man of commanding presence and of in- 
viting face. He came representing a Massachu- 
setts company that desired to purchase a tract of 
land, now included in Ohio, for the purpose of 
planting a colony. This com|)any, together with 
certain speculators in New York, enabled him to 
represent a demand for 5, 500, ()()() acres. The 
amount thus received from the sale of this land 
would apply towards reducing the National 
<lebt, which Jefferson was anxious should be [»aid 
as soon as possible. 



Massachusetts tlicn owned the territory of 
Maine, whit-h she was crowding on the market. 
She was op})osed to opening the northwestern 
region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The 
South caught the inspiration, and all exalted 
Dr. Cutler. The entire South rallied around 
him. Massacliusetts could not vote against him, 
because many of the constituents of lier mem- 
bers were interested personally in the Western 
speculation. Thus Cutler, making friends in 
I the South, and doubtless using all the arts of the 
lobby, was enabled to command the situation. 
True to dee})er convictions, he dictated one of 
the most compact and finished docunients of 
wise statesmanship that has ever adorned any 
human law book. He borrowed from Jefferson 
the term "Articles of Compact," which, pre- 
ceding the federal constitution, rose into the 
most sacred character. He then followed verj-^ 
closely the constitution of Massachusetts, 
ado])ted three years l)efore. Its most ])rominent 
points were : 

t. The exclusion of slavery from the terri- 
tory forever. 

2. Provision for ])ul)lic schools, giving one 
township for a seminary and every section 
numbered 1(5 in each township; that is, one 
thirty-sixth of all the land for public schools. 

•"!. A provision prohibiting the adoption of 
any constitution or the enactment of any law 
that should nullify pre-existing contracts. 

Be it forever rememljered that this compact 
declared that "religion, morality, and knowl- 
edge being necessary to good government and 
the happiness of mankind, schools and the 
means of education shall always be encour- 
aged." Dr. Cutler planted himself on this plat- 
form and would not yield, (nriving his unquali- 
fied declaration that it Avas that or nothing, — 
that unless they could make the land desirable 
they did not want it, — he took liis horse and 
buggy and started for the constitutional conven- 
tion at Philadelphia, On July 1"5, J7s7, the bill 
was put upon its passage, and was unanimously 
adopted. Thus the gi'eat States of Ohio, In- 
diana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, a vast 
emj)ire, were consecrated to freedom, intelli- 
gence, and morality. Thus tlie great heart of 
the nation was })repai'ed to save the Union of 
States, for it was this act that was the salvation 
of the re})ublic and the destruction of slavery. 
Soon the South saw their great Idunder and 
tried to have the compact repealed. In ISO"! 
Congress referred it to a committee, of which 
John Randolph was chairman. He reported 
that this ordinance whs a compact and opposed 



26 



IIISTOIJY OF ILLINOIS. 



repeal. Thus it stood, a rock in tl>e way ol' tlie 
<>ii-nisliiiin' sea of slavery. 

Gen. .Vrlhui' St. Clair was, Uy Congress, 
elected (-Jovenior of this vast territory. 

ILLINOIS TBKRn'GKY. 

After the tlivision of the Northwestern Terri- 
lorv, Illinois became one of the counties of the 
Ten-itorx- of Indiana, from which it was sejia- 
i-ated by an act of Conj^ress February •!, 1S09, 
liirminn' the Territory of IHinois, with a popula- 
tion estimated at '.),0UU, and tlien included the 
present State of Wisconsin. It was divided, at 
the tim.e, into two counties — St. Clair and Ran- 
dolph. John J>oyle, of Kentucky, was ai)pointed 
(Tovernor, b)' the President, James Madison, 
but declinin<j;-, Ninian Edwards, of the same 
Stale, was then appointed and served with dis- 
tinction; and after the organization of Illinois 
as a State he served in the same capacity, being 
its third Governor. 

During Governor Edwards' administration 
the wai of 1812 commenced, and the few whites 
in the State liad to contend against a savage foe 
inciteil on iv deeds of violence by the British 
otiicers sent out for that purpose. The massacre 
at Fort Dearborn, of helpless jirisoners, by the 
infuriated Indians, forms a black page in the 
history of Illinois. Several expeditions were 
put on foot by Governor Edwards against the 
Indians, and in the various cami)aigns the Gov- 
ernor bore an honorable and heroic part. Peace 
canu' at last, the Indian de})redations ceased, 
and the 'JYu'ritory of Illinois was again on the 
foad to [)rosperity. 

si'A'rE oK(;.\Ni/,A'nox. 

In January of 1^18 tlie Territiu-ial Legislature 
forwarde(l U) Nathaniel Pope, delegate in Con- 
gress from Illinois, a ])etition ])raying for admis- 
sion into the National Union as a State. On 
April istli of the same year C^ongress passed 
the enabling act, and December 3, after the 
Stale governiueiit liad l)een organized ;ind Gov- 
ernor IJond had signed the C'onstitution, Con- 
gress by a resolution declared Illinois to be 
"one ol' the United States of America, and 
admitti'd into the Union on an cipial footing 
with the original States in all respects." 

FIRST (ONSTITUTIOX. 

In July and August of 1S18 a convention was 
held at Kaskaskia for the purpose of di'afting 
a constitution. This constitution was not sidj- 
niittcd to a xoteof tlic people for their ap[)roval 
Ol' rcjecLion, it being well known that they 
would ap))rove it. It was about the first or- 



ganic law of any State in the l^nion to abolish 
imprisonment for debt. The first election under 
the constitution was held on the third Thursday 
and the two succeeding days in September, 1818. 
Shadrach Bond was elected Goveriior, and Pierre 
Menard Lieutenant Governor. Tlieir term of 
office extended four years. At this time the 
State was divided into fifteen counties, the pop- 
ulation being about -KJ,OUO. Of this number by 
far the larger portion were from the Southern 
States. The salary of the Governor Avas !)!!],<H)U, 
while that of the Treasurer was l^oUtJ. The 
legislature re-(.'nacted, verbatim, the Teri'itoiial 
Code, the penalties of which were unnecessarily 
severe. Whi})ping, stocks and pillory were 
used for minor offenses, and for arson, rape, 
lioi'se stealing, etc., death by hanging was the 
penalty. These laws, however, were modified 
in 1S21. 

The legislature first convened at Kaskaskia, 
the ancient seat of empire for more Uian one 
hundred and fifty years, botli for th^ French 
and Americans. Provisions were made, how- 
ever, for the removal of the seat of government 
by this legislature. A place in the wilderness 
on the Kaskaskia river was selected and uamed 
Vandalia. Froui Vandalia it was renu»ved to 
Springfield in the year 18.''»0. 

THE WlXNEUACiO WAK. 

The liulians, Avho for some years were on 
[)eacefid terms with the whites, became trouble- 
some in 1827. The Winnebagoes, Sacs and 
Foxes and other tribes had l)een at war more 
than a hundred years. In the summer of 1827 a 
war party of the Winnebagoes surprised a j)arty 
of Chipj)ewas and killed eight of them. Four 
of the murderers were arrested and delivered to 
the Chi])pewas, by whom theyAvere immediately 
shot. This was the first irritation of the Win- 
nebagoes. lied Bird, a chief of this tribe, in 
order to avenge the execution of the four war- 
riors of his own people, attacked the Chippewas, 
but was defeated ; and being determined to sat- 
isfy his thirst for revenge by some means sur- 
l»rised and killed several white men. irpon re- 
ceiving intelligence of these murders, the whites 
who were working the lead mines in the vicinity 
of Gakiui formed a body of volunteers, and, 
re-inforced by a company of United States 
troops, marched into the coiuitry of the Win- 
nebagoes. To sa\e their nation from the mis- 
eries of war, Re<l Bird and six other men of his 
nation voluntarily surrendered themselves. 
Some of the number were executed, some of 
them imprisoiu'd and destined, like lied Bird, 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



2Y 



iiiU'loriuiisiy lo piiic ;iway witliiii tlie narrow cuii- 
liiK's ol' a jail, when fornierly the vast foi-ests 
liad proven too limited for them. 

I!].A('K 11A\\ K WAll. 

Li the year of J NU4 a treaty was concluded 
hetwi'en the United States and tlie chiefs of the 
Sac and Fox rations. One old chief of the 
Sacs, however, called lilack -Hawk, who had 
fouiiht with great bravery in the service of Great 
Hritain diirin5:;the war of 181:4, had always taken 
exceptions to this treaty, pronouncing it void. 
In ls:]i lie established himself, with a chosen 
band of warriors, upon the disputed territory, 
ordering the whites to leave the country at once. 
The settlers complaining, Govern(»r Reynolds 
dispatched General Gaines, with a company of 
regulars and l,50o volunteers, to tlie scene of 
action. Taking the Indians by surprise, the 
troops burnt their villages and forced them to 
conclude a treats^, by which they ceded all lands 
east of the Mississipjn, and agreed to remain on 
the western side of the river. Necessity forced 
tlie [)roud spirit of IJlack Hawk into submission, 
which made him more than ever determined to 
be avenged upon his enemies. Having rallied 
around him the warlike braves of the Sac and 
I'\)x nations, he crossed the Mississippi in the 
spring of 18:]2. Upon learning of this invasion. 
Governor Reynolds hastily collected a body of 
I, NUO volunteers, placing them under command 
of IJrigadier General Whiteside. The army 
marched to the Mississippi, and having reduced 
to ashes the Indian village known as "Prophet's 
Town," proceeded several miles up the river to 
Dixon to join the regular forces under General 
Atkinson. They found at J>ixon two companies 
of volunteers, Mdio, sighing for glory, Avere dis- 
])atched to reconnoitre the enemy. They ad- 
vanced under command of Major Stillnian to a 
small creek, afterwards known as "Stillman's 
Run," and while there encamped saw a party of 
mounted Indians at a distance of a mile. Sev- 
eral of Stillman's party mounted their horsesand 
charged the Indians, killing three of them, but 
being attacked by the main body, under Black 
Hawk, tlujy were routed, and by their })recii)i- 
lated flight spread such a panic through the 
camp that the whole company ran ofl' to Dixon 
as fast as possil)le. On their arrival it was found 
that eleven of their number were killed. 

In .June, 1S32, Black Hawk, with a band of 
one hundred and Hlty warriors, attacked A])i)le 
River Fort, near Galena, defended by twi'nty- 
tive men. This fort, a mere palisade of logs, 
Avas erected to afford protection to the piiners. 

4- 



For fifteen consecutive hours tlie garrison had 
to sustain the assault of the savage enemy; but 
knowing very well that no iiuartei- would be 
given them, they fought with such fury and des- 
peration that the Indians, after losing many of 
their best warriors, were compelled to retreat. 

New forces being sworn into the service, Gen- 
erals Atkinson and Henry determined to jjursue 
the retreating foe. 'J'liey followed them into 
Wisconsin, and hearing that Black Hawk was 
encamped at Rock river, at the Manitou village, 
issued orders to continue the i)ursuit. The offi- 
cers of^^Genentf+Ienry handed to him a written 
protest; but he, a nuiu evpial to any emergency, 
ordered the officers to be arrested and escorted 
to General Atkinson. Within a few minutes 
after the order was given the officers all collect- 
ed around tIie_Genjjmr!>i^ tiart - er^ y pledged them- 
selves that ifTorgtrrrinhey would return to duty 
and never do the like again. 

The battle of Bad Axe immediately followed, 
resulting in a loss to the Indians of three hun- 
dred, besides lifty prisoners. The whites had 
but seventeen killed and twelve wounded. 
Black Hawk, with twenty of his braves, es- 
caped, retreating up the Wisconsin river. Tiie 
Winnebagoes, desiring to secure the friendship 
of the whites, went in pursuit and captured and 
delivered them to General Street, the United 
States Indian Agent. Among the ]jrisoners 
were the son of Black Hawk and the prophet of 
the tribe. These, with Black Hawk, were taken 
to Washington, D. C, and were soon confined 
as prisoners at Fortress Monroe. Thus ended 
the Black Hawk war 

INTKUXAL IMI'JCOVEMKNTS. 

At the general election in 18.U Joseph Duncan 
was chosen Governor by a handsome majority. 
A reckless and uncontrollable desire for internal " 
public improvements seized tlie minds of the 
people. In his message to the legislature, in 
1835, Governor Duncan said: "When we look 
abroad and see the extensive lines of intei'-com- 
munication i)enetrating almost every section of 
our sister States; when we see the canal-boat 
and the locomotive V)caring with seemijig 
triumph the rich ])roductions of the interior to 
the rivers, lakes and ocean, almost annihilating 
time, Imrthen and s}»ace, what ])atriotic l)osoin 
does not beat high with a laudable and)iti<)n to 
give Illinois her full share of those advantages 
which are adorning her sister Slates, and which 
a magnilicent Providence seems t<> invite by a 
wonderful a<laptation of our whole country to 
such improveinenlsV" 



28 



HISTORY OF ILLIXOIS. 



STUTENDOUS SYSTEM OF nMVROVRMENTS INAUCU- 
RATEI). 

The l(\Li;islaturc' responded to the ai'di'iit words 
of the Governor, and enacted a system of inter- 
nal improvements without a paralU'l in the gran- 
deur of its concej)tion. They or<lered the con- 
struction of 1,300 n\iles of railroad, crossing the 
State in all directions. '^I'his was surpassed by 
the river and canal improvements. There were 
a few counties not touched by the railroad, 
river or canal, and they were to be comforted 
and compensated by the free distribution of 
$200,000 among them. To inHate this balloon 
beyond credence, it was ordered that work 
should commence on both ends of each of these 
railroads and rivers, and at each river crossing, 
all at the same time. This provision, which has 
been called the crowning folly of the entire sys- 
tem, was the result of those jealous com])ina- 
tions emanating from the fear that advantages 
might accrue to one section over another in the 
commencement and completion of the works. 
We can appreciate l>etter, perhai)s, the magni- 
tude of this grand system by reviewing a few 
figures. The debt authorized for these improve- 
ments in the first instance was |1(),2.'50,000. But 
this, as it was soon found, was based upon esti- 
mates at least too low by half. This, as we 
readily see, committed the State to a liability of 
over $20,000,000, equivalent to 1^^00,000,000 at 
the present time, with over ten times the i)opu- 
lation and more than ten times the wealth. 

Such stupendous undertakings by the State 
naturally engendered the fever of speculation 
among individuals. That juirticular form known 
as the town-lot fever assumed tlu; malignant 
type at first in Chicago, from whence it spread 
over the entire State and adjoining States. It 
was an epidemit;. It cut up men's farms with- 
out regard to locality, and cut up the purses of 
the purchasers without regard to consequences. 
It was estimated that building lots enough were 
sold in Indiana alone to accommodate eveiy 
citizen then in the United States. 

Chicago, which in 1880 was a small trading- 
post, had within a few years grown into a city. 
I'his was the starting point of the wonderful 
and marvelous career of that city. Improve- 
ments, unsurpassed by individual efi'orts in the 
annals of the world, were then l)egun and have 
been maintained to this day. Though visited 
by the terrible fire fiend and the accunVulation of 
years swept away in a night, yet she has arisen, 
and to-day is the best built city in the world. 
Reports of the rapid advance of property in 



Chicago spread to the east, and thousands poured 
into her liorders, bringing money, enterprise 
and industry. Every ship that left her port car- 
ried with it maps of s2)lendidly situated towns 
and additions, and every vessel that returned 
was laden with immigrants. It was sai<l at the 
tinu^ that the staple articles of Illinois export 
were town plats, and that there was danger of 
crowding the State with towns to the exclusion 
of land for agriculture. 

ir-LINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 

The Illinois and Michigan canal again re- 
ceived attention. This enterprise is one of the 
most important in the early develojtment of 
Illinois, on account of its magnitude and cost, 
and forming as it does the connecting link be- 
tween the great chain of lakes and the Illinois 
and Mississip))i rivers. (4overnor Bond, the 
first Governor, recommended in his first mes- 
sage the binlding of the canal. In is21 the 
legislature appropriated ^10,000 for surveying 
the route. This work was performed l)y two 
young men, who estimated the cost at •t()00,000 
or !i!<7O0,0oo. It cost, however, when completed, 
^8,000,000. In 1825 a law was passed to incor- 
porate the Canal 'Company, but no stock was 
sold. In 1826, upon the solicitation of Daniel 
P. Cook, Congressman from this State, Congress 
gave 800,000 acres of land on the line of the 
work."* In 182s commissioners were ai)i)ointed, 
and Avork commenced Avith a new survey and 
new estimates. In 1834-5 the work was again 
]»ushed forward, and continued until IS48, when 
it was comj)leted. 

VANIC KKPITDIATION ADVOCATED. 

Bonds of the State were recklessly disposed 
of both in the East and in Europe. Work was 
commenced on various lines of i-ailroad, but 
none Avere ever completed. On the Northern 
Cross Railroad, from Meredosia east eight miles, 
the first locomotive that ever turned a wheel in 
the great valley of the Mississip|)i was run 
'IMie date of this remarkable event was Novem- 
l»er s, ]838. Large sums of money Avere being 
expended with no assurance of a rcA'cnue, an<l 
consequently, in l.s40, the legislature repealed 
the improvement laws passed three years pre- 
viously, not, however, until the State had accu- 
mulated a debt of nearly 115,000,000. Thus 
fell the most stupendous, extravagant and almost 
ruinous folly of a grand system of internal im- 
provements that any civil community, j)erhaps, 
eA^er engaged in. The State banks failed, specie 
was scarce, an enormous debt was accumulated^ 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



llie interest of wliicli eoiiM not be paid, people 
were disappointed in the aecunmlatioii of wealth, 
and real estate was wortldess. All this liad a 
tendency to create a desire to tlirow off the 
heavy biinlen of State del)t by repudiation. 
This was boldly advocated by some leading 
men. The fair fame and name, however, of the 
State was not tarnished by repudiation. Men, 
triui, honest and able, were placed at tlie head of 
affaii's; and though The liours were dark and 
gloomy, and the times most trying, yet our 
grand State was brought through and ])ros]>ered, 
until to-day, after the expenditure of millions 
for public improvements and for canying on 
the late war, it has, at present, no ]»ublic debt 
whatever. 

^roKMo^' wak. 
Tu April, 1840, the " Latter-Day Saints," or 
Mormons, came in large numbers to Illinois, 
and purchased a tract of land on the east side 
of the Mississippi river, a1)out ten miles above 
Keokuk. Here they commenced building the 
city of Nauvoo. A more picturesque or eligi- 
ble site for a city could not have been selected. 

The origin, rapid development, and pi'osper- 
ity of this i-eligious sect are the most remark- 
able and instructive historical events of the 
present century. That an obscure individual, 
without money, education, or respectability, 
should persuade hundreds of thousands of peo- 
ple to believe him ins{)ired of (lod, and cause a 
book, contemptible as a literary production, to 
be received as a continuation .of the sacred rev- 
elation, appears almost incredible ; yet in less 
than half a century, the discij)les of this ob- 
scure individual have increased to hundreds of 
tliousands; have fouiuled a State in the distant 
wilderness, and compelled the government of 
the United States to practically recognize them 
as an inde])endent people. 

The founder of Mormonism was Joseph 
Smith, a native of Vermont, who emigrated 
while quite young with his father's family to 
western New York. Here his youth was spent 
in idle, vagabond life, roaming the woods, 
dreaming of buried treasures, and in endeavor- 
ing to learn the art of tlnding them by the 
twisting of a forked stick in his hands or by 
looking through enchanted stones. Botli he 
and his father became famous as "water wiz- 
ards," always ready to point out the s])Ot wliere 
wells might be dug and w^ater found. Such was 
the character of the young protligate when he 
made the acquaintance of Sidney Higdon, a per- 
son of considerable talent and information, who 



had conceived the design of founding a new 
religion. A religious romance, written by Mr. 
Spaulding, a Presbyterian preacher of Ohio, 
then dead, suggested the idea, and tinding in 
Smith the requisite duplicity and cunning to re- 
duce it to practice, it was agreed that he should 
act as prophet; and the two devised a story 
that gold plates had been found buried in tlie 
earth containing a record ijiscribed on them in 
unknown characters, which, when deciphered 
l)y the power of inspiration, gave the history of 
the ten lost tribes of Israel. 

After their settlement in and about Nauvoo, 
in Hancock county, great depreilations were 
connnitted by them on the " (Gentiles." The 
Mormons had b(!en received from Missouri with 
great kindness V)y the people of this State, and 
every possible aid granted them. The depreda- 
tions committed, however, soon made them odi- 
ous, when the <|uestion of getting rid of them 
was agitated. Jn the fall of 1841, the Governor 
of Missouri made a demand on Governor Carlin 
for the arrest and delivery of Joe Smith as a 
fugitive of justice. Smith was subsequently 
arrested, but was released by Judge Douglas, 
upon the ground that the writ had once been re- 
turned before it had been executed. In 1842, 
he was again arrested, and again escaped. Em- 
boldened by success, the Mormons became 
more arrogant and overbearing. Many people 
began to believe they were about to set up a 
government for themselves in defiance oi the 
laws of the State. Owners of })roperty stolen 
in other counties made pursuit into Nauvoo, 
and were fined by the Mormon courts for dar- 
ing to seek their property in the holy city. 
Altoutthis time they petitioned Congress to es- 
tablish a territorial government for them in 
Nauvoo. 

Smith soon began to play the tyrant over his 
people. Ainong the first acts of this sort was 
an attempt to take the wife of William Law, 
one of his most talented disciples, and /nake 
her his spiritual wife. He established, without 
authority, a recorder's office, and an office to 
issue marriage licenses. He proclaimed that 
none could deal in real estate or sell liquor but 
himself. He ordered a printing oflice demol- 
ished, and in numy ways controlled the free- 
dom and l)usiness of the Mormons. Not only 
did he stir up some of the Mormons, i»ut by his 
reckless disregard for the law^s of the land 
raised up opposition on eveiy hand. It was b<?- 
lieved that he instructed the Danite band, 
which he had chosen as the ministers of his 
vengeance, that no blood, except that of the 



30 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



i-liiii-cli, was to be regarded as sacred, if it coii- 
iraveiied tiu' accomplishment of liis object. It 
was asserted that he inculcated the legality of 
[»erjury and other (;rimes, if committed U> ad- 
vance the cause of true believers; that (rod had 
given the world and all it contained to his 
saints, and since they were ke])t out of their 
rightful inheritance by force, it was no moral 
offense to get possession of it by stealing. It 
was I'eported that an establishment existed in 
Xauvoo for the manufacture of counterfeit 
money, and that a set of outlaws was main- 
lainecl for the purpose of putting it in circula- 
tion. Statements were circulated to the effect 
tliat a reward was offered for the destruction of 
the Warsaw Signal, an anti-Mormon paper, 
and that Mormons dispersed over the country 
tlireatened all persons who offered to assist the 
e,onstable in the e.vecntion of tlie law, with the 
destruction of their property and tlie murder of 
their families. There were rumors also afloat 
that an alliance had been formed with the 
western Indians, and in case of war they would 
be used in murdering tlieir enemies. In short, 
if only one-half of these reports were true, the 
Mormons must have been the most infamous 
people tliat ever existed. 

VVilliam Law, one of the jtroprietors of the 
l»rinting otiice destroyed by Smith, went to Car- 
thage an<l procured a writ for theari'estof Smith 
and others in the deed. The prophet, his 
brother Jfyrum, and others, surrendered them- 
selves at (Jarthage June 24, 1844, on a cliarge of 
riot, and all entered into recognizance before a 
justice of the peace for their appearance at 
court. They were again arrested and thrown 
into prison at Carthage. The citizens of Han- 
i-()(;k, McDonougli and Schuyler counties had 
assembhid, armed and ready to avenge the out- 
rages that liad been committed by the Mormons, 
(ireat excitement i)revailed. All were anxious 
to march into Nauvoo. The 27th of June was 
apl)()inted for the mardi, but Governor Ford, 
who at the time was in Cartilage, ap|)reliended 
trouble if tlie militia should attempt to invade 
Nauvoo, disl)anded the troops, retaining only a 
guard for the jail. 

(rovernor Ford went to Nauvoo on tlie STth. 
The same morning about two hundred men from 
Warsaw, many being disguised, hastened to 
Carthage. On learning that one of ihe com- 
panies left as a guard liad disbanded, and the 
other stationed one hundred and fifty yards from 
the jail while eight raen were left to guard the 
prisoners, a communication was soon estal)- 
lished b(!tween the Warsaw troops ami the 



guard; and it was arranged that the guard 
should have their guns charged with bhiiik cart- 
ridges and fire at the assailants wlien they 
attempted to enter the jail. The conspii-ators 
came uj), jiu-njiedthe fence around the jail, were 
fired upon by the guard, which, according to 
arrangement, was over])Owered, and the assail- 
ants entered the prison to tlie door of the room 
where the two prisoners were confined. An 
attempt was made to break o})en the door; but 
Joe Smith, being armed with a })istol, fired sev- 
eral times as the door was bursted open, and 
three of the assailants were wounded. At the 
same time several shots were fired into the room 
by some of which John Taylor, a friend of the 
Smiths, received four wounds, and Ilyruni Smith 
was instantly killed. Joe Smith, severely 
wounded, attempted to escape by jumping out 
of a second-story window, but was so stunned 
by the fall that he was unable to rise. In this 
position he was dis])atclied by balls shot through 
his body. Thus fell Joe Smith, the most suc- 
cessful iraposter of modern times. Totally 
ignorant of almost every fact in science, as well 
as in law, he made up in constructiveness and 
natural cunning whatever in him was wanting 
of instruction. 

Many feared the Mormons would assemble 
in force and attack Carthage for the purpose of 
avenging the death of tlie prophet. l>ut this 
was never done. In the fall of 1S4.T a conven- 
tion, consisting of delegates from eight of the 
adjoining counties assembled to concert meas- 
ures for the expulsion of tlie ]\[ormons from the 
State. The Mornioiis seriously contemplated 
emigration westward, believing the times fore- 
bode evil for them. Accordingly, during the 
winter of l.S4.5-'4(), the most stupendous prej^ara- 
tions were made bj' the Mormons for removal. 
All the princijial dwellings, and even the tem- 
ple, were converted into work-shops, and before 
spring, 12,000 wagons were in readiness; and 
by the middle of February the leaders, with 
2,000 of their followers, had crossed the Missis- 
sippi on the ice. 

J>efore the spring of IS4() the majority of 
Mormons had left Nauvoo, but still a large 
number remained. 

TUB IJATTI.E OF NAUVOO. 

In September a writ was issued against se\'- 
eral prominent Mormons, and placed in the 
hands of John Carlin, of Carthage, for execu- 
tion. Carlin called out a posse to hel|) make the 
arrest, which bi-ought together (piite a lai-ge 
force in the neiiihborhood of Nauvoo. Carlin, 



ILlSTOliV OF ILLINOIS. 



.".1 



not being a military man, placed in command oi' 
the posse, iirst, General Singleton, and after- 
ward Colonel Jirockman, who proceeded to in- 
vest the city, erecting breastworks, and taking 
other means for defensive as well as offensive 
operations. What was then ternied a battle 
next took place, resnlting in the death of one 
.Mormon and the wounding of several others, 
and loss to the anti-iNIormons of three killed and 
four wounded. At last, through the interven- 
li(»n of an anti-Mormon committee of one hun- 
dred, from (^uincy, the Mormons and their allies 
were induced to submit to such terms as the 
posse chose to dictate, which were that the Mor- 
irions should immediately give up their arms to 
the C^uincy conimittee, and remove from the 
State. The trustees of the church and five of 
their clerks were permitted to remain for tlie 
sale of Mormon property, and the posse were to 
marcli in unmolested, and leave a sufH(^ient force 
to guarantee the performance of their stipula- 
tions. Accordingly, the constable's posse 
marched in with Brockman at their head. It 
consisted of about 800 armed men and BOO or 
700 unarmed, who had assembled from all the 
country around, througli nu)tives of curiosity, to 
see the once proud city of.Nauvoo humbled and 
delivered up to its enemies They proceeded 
into the city slowly and carefully, examining the 
w.iy for fear of the explosion of a mine, many of 
which bad been made by the Mormons, by hur- 
rying kegs of powder in the ground, with a man 
stationed at a distance to ])ull a string commu- 
nicating with the trigger of a percussion lock 
atlixed to the keg. This kind of a contrivance 
was called by the Mormons "hell's half-acre." 
When the posse arrived in the city tlie leaders 
of it elected themselves into a tribunal to decide 
who should l)e forced away and who remain. 
Parties were dis])atched to hunt for tire-arms, 
and for Mormons, and to bring them to judg- 
ment. When brought, they received their doom 
from the mouth of J3rockman, who sat a grim 
and unawed tyrant for the time. As a general 
rule, the Mormons were ordered to leave within 
an hour or two, and by rare grace aome of them 
were allowed until next day, and in a few cases 
longer time was granted. 

j[kxi(;ax war. 

Li 18-Ki, when the war with Mexico com- 
menced, Illinois sent her cpu)ta of six regiments 
to the tented field. More men were offered, but 
only the six regiments could be accej)te(L These 
six shed imperishable honors, not only u])on the 
State, but upon the American Union. N'eterans 



never fought more nobly and eflFectively than 
did the volunteers fi'om Illinois. At the battle 
of Buena Vista, by the coolness and bravery of 
the gallant Second regiment, under Colonel liis- 
sell, the day was saved. Tlie conflict began 
early on the morning of Fel)ruary li-J, 1S47, and 
was continued till nightfall of the next day. 
The solid columns of the enemy were liurled 
against our forces all day long, but wen; met 
and held in check by the unerring fire of our mus- 
ketry and artillery. A ))Ortion of General Lane's 
division was driven l)ack by the enemy, who ap- 
peared in such formidable numbers as to be 
almost irresistil)le. At this time the Sec-ond 
Illinois, under Colonel Bissell, with a squadron 
of cavalry and a few pieces of artillery, came 
handsomely into action and gallantly received 
th(; concentrated fire of the enemy, which they 
returned with deliV)erate aim and terrible effect; 
every discharge of the artillery seemed to tear a 
bloody path through the heavy columns of the 
enemy. Says a writer: "The rapid musketry 
of the gallant troops from Illinois ])Oured a 
storm of lead into their serried ranks, which lit- 
erally strewed the ground with the (h^ad and 
dying." l>ut, notwithstanding his losses, the 
enemy steadily advanced until our gallant i-egi- 
ment received fire from three sides. Still ihey 
maintained their position for a time with un- 
fiinching firmness against that immense host. 
At length, perceiving the danger of being en- 
tirely surrounded, it was determined to fall 
back to a ravine. Colonel Bissell, with the cool- 
ness of ordinary drill, ordered the signal "cease 
firing" to be made; he then, with the same de- 
lil)eration, gave the command, "Face to the 
rear, battalion about face; forward march," 
which was executed with the regularity of vet- 
erans to a point beyond the ])eril of l)eing out- 
flanked. Again, in obedience to command, 
these brave men halted, faced about, and under 
a murderous tempest of l>ullets from the foe, re- 
sumed their well-directed fire. The conduct of 
no troops could have been more admirable; and, 
too, until that day they had never l)een under 
fire, when, within less than half an hour eighty 
of their comrades dropped l)y their sides. 

From Colton's History of the battle of Buena 
Vista the following extract is taken: "As the 
enemy on our left was moving in retreat along 
the head of the ])lateau, our artillery was ad- 
vanced until within range, and opened a heavy 
fire upon him, while Colonels Ilardin, Bissell, 
and McKee, with thi'ir Illinois an<l Kentucky 
troojts, (hished gallantly forward in hot pursuit. 
A [lowerful reserve of the Mexican army wa^ 



32 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tlicii just ('iiior«;iiig iVoui tlu' ravine, where it 
liad been oro-anized, and advanced on tlie 
|)lateaii, opposite tlie liead of" the soutliernmost 
goi-o-e. Those who were giving way rallied 
fjiiickly upon it; when the wliole force, thus in- 
<-rcased to over 12,000 men, came forward in a 
perfect blaze of lire. It was a single column, 
comjjosed of the best soldiers of the repuhlic, 
liaving for its advanced battalions tlie veteran 
regiments. The Kentucky and Illinois troops 
were soon ol)liged to give ground hefore it and 
seek the shelter of the second gorge. The 
enemy pressed on, arriving opposite the head of 
the secoiid gorge. One-half of thQ column sud- 
denly enveloped it, Avhile the other half pressed 
on across tlie plateau, having for the moment 
nothing to resist them hut the three guns in 
tlieir front. The portion that was immediately 
opposed to the Kentucky and Illinois troops, 
ran down along each side of the gorge, in which 
they had sought shelter, and also circled around 
its head, leaving no possible way of escape for 
1 hem except by its mouth, which opened u])on 
tlie road. Its sides, which were steep, — at least 
an angle of forty-five degrees, — were covered 
with loose pehbles and stones, and converged to 
a point at the bottom. Down there were our 
poor fellows, nearly three regiments of them 
(First and Second Illinois and Second Ken- 
tucky), with but little opportunity to load or fire 
a gun, being hardly a])le to kee\> their feet. 
Above the whole edge of the gorge, all tlie way 
around, was darkened by the serried masses of 
the enemy, and was bristling with muskets di- 
rcctcil on the crowd l)eneath. It was no time to 
pause. Those who were not immediately shot 
down ruslied on toward the road, their number 
growing less and less as they went, Kentuckians 
and Illinoisans, officers and men, all mixed up 
ill c;oiifusion, and all pressing on over the loose 
pebbles and rolling stones of those shelving, 
preci]»itous b inks, and having lines and lines of 
the enemy liring down from each side and rear 
as tiiey went. Just then the enemy's cavalry, 
whicli had gone to the left of the reserve, had 
come over the spur that divides the mouth of 
tlie second gorge from that of the third, and 
were now closing up the only door through 
which there was the least shadow of a chance 
for their lives. Many of those ahead endeavored 
t(» force their way out, but few succeeded. The 
lancers were fully six to one, and their long 
weapons were already reeking with blood. It 
was at this time that tliose who were still back 
in that dreadful gorge heard, above the din of 
the musketry and the shouts of the enemy 



around them, the roar of Washington's Battery. 
No music could have been more grateful to 
their ears. A moment only, and the whole 
opening, where the lancers were busy, rang with 
the repeated explosions of spherical-case shot. 
They gave way. The gate, as it were, was clear, 
andoutu])on the road a stream of our poor fellows 
issued. They ran ]»antingdown toward the l»at- 
tery, and directly under the flight of iron then 
passing over their heads, into the retreating 
cavalry. Hardin, Clay, McKee, Willis, Zabris- 
kie, Houghton, — but why go on? It would be a 
sad task indeed to name over all who fell during 
this twenty minutes' slaughter. The whole 
gorge, from the })lateau to its mouth, Avas 
strewed with our dead. All dead! Nf) wounded 
there — not a man; for the infantry had rushed 
down the si<les and completed the work with the 
bayonet." 

After a hard fight at night both armies laid 
down upon their arms in much the same posi- 
tion as in the morning. However, early on the 
following morning, the glad tidings were heard 
amidst our army tiiat the enemy had retreated, 
thus again crowning the American banners with 
victory. 

In addition to Colonel Bissel, other names 
that shine as stars in tliis war are Shields, Baker, 
Harris, Hardin, CoflFee — all from Illinois. Such 
indeed were the intrepid valor and daring cour- 
age exhibited by Illinois volunteers during the 
Mexican war that their deeds should live m the 
memory of their countrymen while time shall 
last. 

THE WAK fob a^HE UNION. 

In the war for the Union n© State can show a 
more glorious record than that of Illinois. Sump- 
ter was fired upon April 12, 1S(>1. Two days af- 
ter President Jjincoln issued his first call for vol- 
unteers — 7.5,000 in numbers. On the 15th (tov- 
ernor Yates issued his proclamation convening 
the leglislature, and ordering the enlistment of 
six regiments, the (juota assigned the State. The 
call was no sooner made than Hlled. Patriotism 
filled every heart. The farm, the workshop, the 
office, the ])ul])it, the bar, the bench, every voca- 
tion in life offered its best men. • On assembling, 
the legislature authorized the raising of ten ad- 
ditional regiments, antici])ating another call. 
At the close of 18()1, Illinois had sent to the 
field nearly ;)(),000 men, and. had 1*7,000 in camp 
awaiting marching orders, thus exceeding its full 
quota by 15,000. 

In July and August of 18(J2, the President 
called for 600,000 men — the quota of Illinois 
being 52,296 — and gave until August 18th as the 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



33 



limits in which the number migl\t be raised by 
volunteering, after which a draft would be or- 
dered. The State had already furnished 17,000 
in excess of her quota, and it was first thought 
this number would be deducted from the present 
reijuisition, but that could not ])e done. IJut 
thirteen days were granted to enlist this vast 
army, which had to come from the farmers and 
meclianics. The former were in the midst of 
harvest, but, inspired by love <d" country, over 
50,(M)() of them left their luirvest ungathered, 
their tools and their benches, the plows in their 
furrows, turning their backs on their homes, 
and V)efore eleven days had expired the demands 
of the Government were met and both <piotas 
Hlled. 

The war went on, and call followed call, until 
it began to look as if there would not be men 
enough in all the Free States to crush out and 
subdue the monstrous war traitors liad inaugura- 
ted. But to every call for either men or nnjney 
there was a willing and ready response. And it 
is a boast of the people that, had the su})ply of 
men fallen short, there were women brave 
enough, daring enough, patriotic enough, to have 
ofTered themselves as sacrifices on their country's 
altar. On the 21st of December, 18(34, the last 
call for troo})s was made. It was for 800,000. 
In consequence of an imperfect enrollment of 
the men subject to military duty, it became evi- 
dent, ere this call was made, that Illinois was 
furnishing thousands of men more than what her 
quota would have been, had it been correct. So 
glaring had this disi>roportion become, that un- 
der tliis call the ({uota of some districts exceed- 
ed the number of able-bodied men in them. 

No troops ever fought more heroically, stub- 
bornly, and with better effect, than did the boys 
from the "Prairie State." At Pea Kidge, l)on- 
elson, I*ittsburg Landing, luka, Corinth, Stone 
River, Holly Springs, .fackson, Vicksbrirg, Chic- 
anuxuga. Lookout Mountain, Murfreesboro, At- 
lanta, Franklin, Nashville, Chattanooga, and on 
every other field where the clasli of arms was 
heard, her sons were foremost. 

The ))eople were liberal as well as patriotic; 
and while the men were busy enlisting, organiz- 
ing, and ecpiipping companies, tly.^ ladies were 
no less active, and the noble, generous work 
performed by their tender, loving hands de- 
serves mention along with the biavery, devo- 
tion, and patriotism of their Itrothers upon the 
southern fields of carnage. 

The continued need of money to obtain the 
comforts and necessaries for the sick and 
wounded of our army suggested to the loyal 



women of the North many and various devices 
for the raising of funds. Every city, town, and 
village had its fair, festival, picnic, excursion, 
concert, which netted niore or less to the cause 
of hospital relief, according to the population 
of the place and the amount of energy and jiat- 
riotism displayed on such occasions. Ks- 
j)ccially was this characteristic of our own fair 
State, and scarcely a hamlet within its b(»nlers 
which did not send something fi-om its st(»res 
to hospital or battlefield, and in the larger 
towns and cities were well organized sohlic'r>' 
aid societies, working systematically and contin- 
uously from the beginning of the war till its 
close. The great State Fair held in Chicago in 
May, 1865, netted .t250,000. Homes for travel- 
ing soldiers were established all over the State, 
in which were furnished lodging for (iOO.OOO 
men, and meals valued at !||'2,500,000. Food, 
clothing, medicine, hos}>ital delicacies, reading 
matter, and thousands of other articles, were 
sent to the boys at the front. 

The rebellion ended with the surrender of 
Lee and Johnson, in April, 1805, and as soon as 
possible the troops were di>ban(led. The fol- 
lowing is a summary of trooi)s furnished by the 
State: 

lufantrv is."), '.Ml 

Cavaliv ;{2,0H-^ 

Artillciy 7,277 

Total 225,800 

(iOVEKXORS OK IL7.1XOIS. 

ShadracJt JJond — Was the first (4overnor of 
Illinois He was a native of jMaryland and 
born in 177"!; was raised on a farm; received a 
common English eibication, and came to Hlinois 
in 1794. He served as a delegate in Congress 
from 1811 to 1S15, where he procured the right 
of pre-emption of public land. He was elected 
Governor in 1818; was beaten iov Congress in 
1824 by Daniel P. Cook. He died at Kaskas- 
kia, April II, 1830. 

EiJirard Coles — Was born December 15, ITsfi, 
in Virginia. IFis father was a slave-holder; gave 
his son a collegiate education, and left to him a 
large number of slaves. Tliese he liberateil, 
giving each head of a family J 60 acres of land 
and a considerable sum of nn)ney. He was 
President Madison's private secretary. He 
came to Illinois in 181i), Avas elected Governor 
in 1822, on the anti-slavery ticket; moved to 
Philadelphia in 18;}y, and died in 1868. 

]Vi>}ii/u JiJdii'ards. — In 1800, on the formation 
of the Territory of Illinois, Mr. Edwauls was 



34 



HISTORY OF ILLIXOTS. 



aitpoiiiU'il Governor, whicli position he retained 
until llie organization of tlie State, wlien he was 
seiii In tiie United States Senate. He was 
eleeli'd (Tovernorin lS-2(i. He was a native of 
^Maryland and born in 1775; received a colle- 
giate education; was Cliief Justice of Kentucky, 
ami a Republican in ])oIitics. 

Jo/in Rti/nolih — Wat* born in Pennsylvania 
in I TSS, and came with liis parents to Illinois in 
isoo, and in is:iu was elected (4(jvernor on the 
Democratic ticket, and afterwards served three 
teiiiis in Congress. He received a classical edu- 
cation, yet was not polished. He was an ultra 
Deiudcrat; attended the Charleston Convention 
in l.^()(), and ui'ged the seizure of United States 
arsenals by the South. He died in 18(55 at 
HelU'ville, childless. 

Joseph JJaitain. — In 1S34 Joseph Duncan was 
elected Governor by the Whigs, although for- 
merly a Democrat. He had previously served 
four terms in Congress. He was born in Ken- 
tuGk^• in 17'.t4; had but a limited education; 
served with distinction in the war of 1812; con- 
(hu'ted the campaign of 1882 against Black 
Hawk, lie came to Illinois when quite young. 

'rii<iin<(s (\irlhi — Was elected as a Democrat 
in ]s:i,s. He had but a meagre education; held 
many minor otHces, and Avas active both in. the 
war of J 812 and the Black Hawk war. He was 
born in Kentucky in 1780; came to Illinois in 
1812, and died at CarroUton, February 14, 1852. 

77i(>//(as Ford — Was born in Pennsylvania in 
the year I8U0; Avas brought by his widowed 
mother to Missouri in 18U4, and shortly after- 
wards to Illinois. He received a good educa- 
tion, studied law; was elected four times Judge, 
twice as Circuit Judge, Judge of Chicago and 
Judge of Supreme Court. He was elected Gov- 
ernor l)y the Democratic party in 1842; wrote 
his history of Illinois in 1847, and died in 
1S5(). 

AiKjutituii V. French — Was born in New 
Hampshire in 1808; was admitted to the bar in 
is:;i, and shortly afterwards moved to Illinois, 
when in 184() he was elected (Governor. On the 
aihiption of the Constitution of 1848 he was 
again chosen, serving until 185.3. He was a 
Democrat in politics. 

Jod A. 3I((tteson — Was born in Jefferson 
county, New York, in isos. His father was a 
farmer, and gave his son only a common school 
education. He first entered upon active life as 
a small tradesman, but subse(piently l>ecame a 
large contractor and juanufacturer. He was a 



heavy contractor in building the canal. He Avas 
elected Governor in 1852 u]jon the Democratic 
ticket. 

William H. liissell — \Vas electetl by the Re- 
publican party in 185G. He had previously 
served two terms in Congress; was colonel in 
the Mexican war, and has held minoi- official 
l)Ositions. He was born in New York State in 
1811; received a common education; came to 
Illinois early in life and engaged in the medical 
profession. This he changed for the law, and 
became a noted orator, and the standard-bearer 
of the Re])ublican party in Illinois. He died 
in 186U, while Governor. 

llichard Yates — "The war (nrovernor of Illi- 
nois," was born in Warsaw, Kentucky, in isjs; 
came to Illinois in 1831; served two terms in 
Congress; in 1800 was elected Governor, and in 
1865 United States Senator. He was a college 
graduate, and read law under J. J. Hardin. He 
rapidly rose in his chosen profession and charmed 
the people Avitli oratory Refilled the guberna- 
torial chair during the trying days of the Re- 
bellion, and by his energy and devotion won 
the title of " War Governor." He died iii St. 
Louis after the expiration of his term as Senator. 

llichard J. Oglci^by — Was born in 1824, in 
Kentucky; an orphan at the age of eight, came 
to Illinois when only twelve years old. He was 
apprenticed to learn the carjjenter's trade; 
worked some at farming, and read law occasion- 
ally. He enlisted in the Mexican war and was 
chosen F'irst Lieutenant. After his return he 
again took up the law, but during the gold fever 
of 1849 went to California; soon returned, and, 
in 1852, entered upon his illustrious political 
career. He raised the second regiment in the 
State, to suppress the Rebellion, and for gal- 
lantry was promoted to Major-General. In 1864 
he was elected Governor, and re-elected in 1872, 
and resigned for a seat in the LTnited States 
Senate. He is a staunch Re])ublican, and re- 
sides at Decatur. 

JoJi)i 31. Palmer — Was born in Kentucky in 
1817, and came to Illinois in 1831. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 183'.>. He was elected to 
the office of Probate Judge of Macoupin county, 
in 1843; was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention in 1847, County Judge in 1849 ; elec- 
ted to the State Senate in 1851 ; member of the 
Peace Confereiu-e in 1861. He was Colonel of 
the 14th Illinois Iid'antiy, and rose by successive 
promotions to Major General, commander of the 
14th Army Corps, and afterwards of the De])art- 
ment of Kentucky. W^as Governor from De- 
cember 1808 to January, IS 73, 



HISTOUY OF ILJ.INOIS. 



37 



Shelby M. Cidlom — Was born in Kentucky in 
1828; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and 
coranieiiced the practice ol" his profession in 
1818; was elected to the State Legislature iji 
J85(j, and again in 1860. Served on the war 
commission at Cairo, 1862, and was a member 
of the 'JDth, -tOth and 41st Congress, in all of 
which he served with credit to his State. He 
was agaiu elected to the State Legislature in 
1872, and re-elected in 1874, and was elected 
Governor of Illinois in 1876, and re-elected in 
1880, which office he still holds, and has admin- 
istered with marked ability. 

LIKUTBNANT GOVERNORS. 

Pierre Menard — Was the first Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor of Illinois. He was born in Quebec, Cana- 
da, in 1767. He came to Illinois in 1790, where 
he engaged in the Indian trade and b*came 
wealthy. He died in 1844. Menard county was 
named in his honor. 

Adolphns F. Hubbard — Was elected Lieuten- 
ant Governor in 1822. Four years later he ran 
for Governor against Edwards, but was beaten. 

William Kinney — Was elected in 1826. He 
was a Baptist clergyman ; was born in Kentucky 
in 1781, und came to Illinois in 1793. 

Zadock Casey — Although on the opposition 
ticket to Governor Reynolds, the successful 
Gubernatorial candidate, yet Casey was elected 
Lieutenant Governor in 1830. He subsequently 
served several terms in Congress. 

Alexander M. Jenkins — Was elected on ticket 
with Governor Duncan, in 1834, by a liandsome 
majority. 

S. II. Anderson — Lieutenant (Tovernor under 
Governor Carlin, was chosen in 1838. He was 
a native of Tennessee. 

John Moore — Was born in England in 1793; 
came to Illinois in 1830 ; was elected Lieuten- 
ant Governor in 1842. He won the name of 
"Honest John Moore." 

Joseph B. Wells — Was chosen with Governor 
French, at his first election in 1846. 

William, McMartry — In 1848, when Governor 
French was again chosen Governor, William 
McMurtry, of Knox county, was elected Lieuten- 
ant Governor, 

Gustavus P. Kaerner — Was elected in 1852. 
He was born in Germany in 1809. At the age 
of 22 came to Illinois. 1872 he was a candidate 
for Governor on Liberal ticket, but was defeated. 

John Wood — Was elected in 1856, and on the 
death of Governor Bissell became Governor. 

Francis A. Hoffman — Was chosen with Gov- 



ernor Yates, in 1860. He was born in Prussia 
in 1822, and came to Illinois in 1840. 

William Bross — Was born in New Jersey, 
came to Illinois in 1848, was elected to office in 
18^4. 

John JJoiigherty — Was elected in ] 868. 

John Jj. BeDeridye — Was chosen Lieutenant- 
Governor in 1872. In 1873 Oglesby was elected 
to the U. S. Senate, when Beveridge became 
Govenor. 

Andrew Shtiinan — Was elected November 7, 
18'. 6. 

John M. Hamilton — Was elected in 1880, and 
is the present incumbent. , 

SUPERINTENDENT OK I'UBLIC INSTRUCTION. 

Ninian W. Edwards 185-1-56 

AV. H. Pow ell 1857-58 

Newton Bateraan. 1859-75 

Samuel M. Etter 1870-80 

James P. Slade .' 1880 

ATTORNEY GENERALS. 

Daniel P. Cook 1819 

William Mears 1820 

Samuel D. Lockwood 1821-22 

James Turney 1823-28 

George Forquer 1829-32 

James Semple 1833-34 

Niuian W. Edwards 1834-35 

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr 1835 

Walter B. Scales 1836 

Asher F. Linder 1837 

Geori;e W. Olney 1838 

Wickliffe Kitchell 1839 

Josiali Laniborn 1841-42 

James A. McDouijall 1843-46 

David B. Campbell 1846 

[Office abolished and re-created in 1867.] 

Robert G.Iuo-ersolI 1867-68 

Wathinston Bushnell.... 1869-72 

James K. Edsall 1872-80 

James McCartney 1880 

TREASURERS. 

John Thomas 1818-19 

R. K. McLauifhlin 1819-22 

Ebner Field: 1823-26 

James Hall , 1827-30 

John Dement 1831-36 

(Charles Greaiory 1836 

John D. Whiteside 1837-40 

M. Carpenter 1841-48 

John Moore 1848-56 

James Miller 1857-60 

William Butler 1861-62 

Alexander Slarne 1863-64 

James H. Beveridge 1865-66 

George W. Smith 1867-68 

Erastus N. Bates 1869-73 

Edward Rutz. 1873-75 

Thomas S. Hidgeway 1876-77 

Edward Rutz..' 1878=^79 

John C. Smith 1879-81 

Edward Rutz 1881 



38 



IIISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



SECRETARIES OF STATE. 

Elias K Kane 1818-22 

Sanmel D. Loekwood 1822-23 

David BlarkwL'll 1823-24 

3IoiTis Biikheck 1824 

George Farquer 1825-28 

Alexander P. Field 182S)-40 

Stephen A. Douglas 1840 

Lyman Trumbull 1841-42 

Thompson Campbell 1843-4G 

Horace S. Cooloy 1846-49 

David L. Gregg 1850-52 

Alexander Starue 1853-5(5 

Ozias M. Hatch. . 1857-60 

Sharon Tyndale 1865-68 

Edward Riimmel 1869-72 

George H Harlow 1873-79 

Henry D. Dement 1881 

AUDITORS. 

Elijah C. Berry 1818-31 

I. T. B Stapp 1831-35 

Levi Davis 1835-4J 

.James Siiiclds 1841-42 

W L. D. Kwiug 1843-45 

Thompson Campbell 1846 

Jesse K. Dubois 1857-64 

Orlin H. IVIiner 1865-68 

Charles E. Lippincott 1869-76 

Thonuis B. Needles 1877-79 

Charles P. S wigert 1881 

UNITED STATES SENATORS. 

Niiiiwt Edmirds — On the organization of the 
State in 1818, Edwards, the popnlar Territorial 
Governor, was chosen Senator for the short term 
and in 1819 re-elected for full term. 

JesHe B. Tliomus — One of the Federal Judges 
during the entire Territoral existence was chosen 
Senator on organization of the State, and re- 
elected in 1823, and served till 1829. 

John McLean— \w 1824 Edwards resigned, 
and McLean was elected to fill his unexpired 
term. He was born in North Carolina in 1791, 
and came to Illinois in 1815 ; served one term in 
Congress, and in 1S29 was elected to the United 
States Senate, but the following year died. He 
IS said to have been the most gifted man of his 
])eriod in Illinois. 

Ellas Kent KaneSN^a. elected November 
30, 1824, for the term beginning March 4, 1825. 
In 1830 he was re-electe"d, but\lied before the 
expiration of his term. He was a native of 
New York, and in 1814 came to Illinois. He 
was first Secretary of State, and afterward State 
Senator. 

David Jewett Ba/cer—Wa» appointed to fill 
the unexpired term of John McLean, in 1830, 
November 12, but the legislature refused to 
endorse the choice. Baker was a native of Con- 
necticut, born in 1792, and died in Alton in 
1869. 



John M. JRohinson. — Instead of Baker, the 
Governor's appointee, the legislature chose 
Robinson, and in 1834 he was re-elected. In 
1843 was elected Supreme Judge of the State, 
but Avithin two months died. He was a native 
of Kentucky, and came to Illinois while quite 
young. 

William i. D. Evying — Was elected in 1835, 
to till the vacancy occasioned by the death of 
Kane. He was a Kentuckian. 

liichard M. Yotmg — Was elected in 1836y 
and held his seat from March 4, 1837, to March 
4, 1843, a full term. He Avas a native of Ken- 
tucky; was a Circuit Judge before his election 
to the Senate, and Supreme Judge in 1842. He 
died in an insane asylum at Washington. 

Sanmel McRoberts — The first native Illinois- 
ian ever elevated to the high office of U. S. 
Senator from this State was born in 1799, and 
died in 1843 on his return home from Washing- 
ton. He was elected Circuit Judge in 1824, ami 
March 4, 1841, took his seat in theU. S. Senate. 

Sid7iey JBreese — Was elected to the U. S. Sen- 
ate, Dec. 17, 1842, and served a full term. He 
was born in Oneida county, N. Y. He was 
Major in the Black Hawk war; Circuit Judge, 
and in 1841 was elected Supreme Judge. He 
served a full term in the U. S. Senate, begin- 
ning March 4, 1843, after which he was elected 
to the legislature, again Circuit Judge, and, in 
1857, to the Supreme Court, which position he 
held until his death in 1878. 

James Setnple — Was the successor of Samuel 
McRoberts, and was appointed by Gov. Ford in 
1843. He was afterwards elected Judge of the 
Supreme Court. 

Stephen A. Douglas — Was elected Dec. 14,, 
1846. He had previously served three terms as 
Congressman. He became his own successor in 
1853, and again in 1859. From his lirst entrance 
in the Senate he was acknowledged the peer of 
Clay, Webster and Calhoun, with whom he 
served his first term. His famous contest with 
Abraham Lincoln for the Senate in 1858 is the 
most memorable in the annals of our country. 
It was called the battle of the giants, and re- 
sulted in Douglas' election to the Senate, and 
Lincoln to the Presidency. He was born in 
Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813, and came to 
Illinois in 1833, and died in 1861. He was ap- 
pointed Secretary of State by Gov. Carlin in 
1840, and shortly afterward to the Supreme 
Bench. 

James Shields — VVas elected and assumed his 
seat in the U. g. Senate in 1849, March 4. He 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



39 



was bom in Ireland in ISIO, and came to the 
United States in 1827. He served in the Mexi- 
can army, was elected Senator from Wisconsin, 
and in 1879 from Missonri for a short term. 

Lyman Trumbull — Took liis seat in the U. S. 
Senate March 4, 18.55, and became his own suc- 
cessor in 1801. He had previously served one 
term in the Lower House of Congress, and 
served on the Supreme Bench. He was born in 
Connecticut; studied law, and came to Illinois 
early in life, where for years he was actively en- 
gaged in politics. He resides in Chicago. 

Orvill H. Brovming — Was appointed U. S. 
Senator in 1861, to till the seat made vacant by 
the death of Stephen A. Douglas, until a Sena- 
tor could be regularly elected. Mr. Browning 
was born in Harrison county, Kentucky; was 
admitted to the bar in 1831, and settled in 
Quincy, Illinois, whei'e he engaged in the prac- 
tice of law, and was instrumental, with his 
friend, Abraham Lincoln, in forming the Re- 
publican party of Illinois at the Bloomington 
Convention. He entered Johnson's cabinet as 
Secretary of the Interior, and in March, 1868, 
Avas designated by the President to perform the 
duties of Attorney General, in addition to his 
own as Secretary of the Interior Department. 

Wdliarn A. liichardson — W"as elected to the 
U. S. Senate in 186:3, to fill the unexpired term 
of his friend, Stephen A. Douglas. He was 
born in Fayette county, Ky., about 1810, studied 
law, and settled in Illinois; served as captain in 
the Mexican war, and, on the battle-field of 
Buena Vista, was promoted for bravery, by a 
unanimous vote of his regiment. He sei'ved. in 
the Lower House of Congress from 1847 to 
18,56, continually. 

llichard Yates — Was elected to the U. S. 
Senate in 1865, serving a full term of six years. 
He died iu St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 27, 1873. 

John A. Logan — Was elected to the U. S. 
Senate in 1871. He was born in .Jackson 
county, 111., Feb. 9, 1826, received a common 
school education, and enlisted as a private in 
the Mexican war, where he rose to the rank of 
Regimental Quartermaster. On retiirning home 
he studied law, and came to the bar in 1852; 
was elected in 1858 a Representative to the 
:56th Congress and re-elected to the 37th Con- 
gress, resigning in 1861 to take part in the sup- 
pression of the Rebellion; served as Colonel 
and subsequently as a Major General, and com- 
manded, with distinction, the armies of the 
Tennessee. He was again elected to the U. S. 
Senate in 1879 for six years. 



Darld Darin — Was elected to the U. S. Sen- 
ate in 1877 for a term of six years. He was 
born in Cecil county, Md., March 9, 1815, grad- 
uated at Kenyon College, Ohio, studied law, 
and removed to Illinois in 1835; was admitted 
to the bar and settled in Bloomington, where he 
has since resided and amassed a large fortune. 
He was for many years the intimate friend and 
associate of Abraham Lincoln, rode the circuit 
with him each year, and after Lincoln's election 
to the Presidency was appointed by him to fill 
the position of .Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the United States. 

REPRESENTATIVES IX COiSTGRESS. 
FIFTEENTH CONGRESS. 

.John McLean 1818 

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS. 

Daniel P. Cook 1819-20 

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS. 

Daniel P. Cook 1821-22 

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS. 

Daniel P. Cook 1823-24 

NINETEENTH CONGRESS. 

Daniel P. Cook 1825-26 

TWENTIETH CONGRESS. 

.Joseph Duncan 1827-28 

TWENTY-FIRST CONGRESS. 

Joseph Duncan 1829-30 

TWENTT-SECOND CONGRESS. 

•Joseph Duncan 1831-32 

TWENTT-THIRD CONGRESS, 

Joseph Duncan 1833-34 

Zadock Casey 1833-:M 

TWENTT-FOURTH CONGRESS 

Zadock Casey 1835-36 

.John Reynolds 18;3;)-36 

William L. May 1835-36 

TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. 

Zadock Casey ^ool'lo 

John Uevnolds 183<-38 

Willium'L. May 1837-38 

TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. 

Zadock Casey 1839-10 

John lleynolds 1839-40 

.John T. Stuart 1839-40 

TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. 

Zadock Casev 1841-42 

.John Reynolds ^^iHo 

John T/Stuart 1841-42 

TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. 

Robert Smith ^^!'^"ff 

Orlimdo E. Ficklin 1843-44 



40 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Steoheu A. Douglas 1843-44 

John A. McClernand 1843-44 

Joseph P. Hone 1843-44 

John J. Hardm 1843-44 

John Wentvvorth 1843-44 

TWENTY-XINTH COXGRESS. 

Robert Smith 1845-46 

Stephen A. Douglas 1845-46 

Orlando B. Ficklin 1845-46 

John J. Hardin 1845 

Joseph P. Hoo-e 1845-46 

John A. McCrernaud 1845-46 

John Wentworth 1845-46 

THIRTIETH CONGRESS. 

John Wentworth 1847-48 

Thomas J. Turner 1847 

Abraham Lincoln 1847-48 

John A McClernand 1847-48 

Orlando B. Ficklin 1847-48 

Robert Smith "..... 1847-48 

William A. Richardson 1847-48 

THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS. 

John A. McClernand 1849-50 

John Wentworth l84!)-50 

Timothy R- Youns; 1849-50 

William A. Richardson 1849-50 

Edward D. Baker 1849-50 

William H. Bissell 1849-50 

Thomas L. Harris 1849 

THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS. 

William A. Richardson 1851-52 

Thompson Campbell 1851-52 

Orlando B. Ficklin 1851-52 

John Wentworth 1851- 

Richard Yates 1851- 

Richard S. Maloney 1851- 

VVillis 1851- 



William II. Bissell 1851- 

THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS. 

William H. Bissell 1853-54 

John C. Allen 1853-54 

Willis 1853-54 

Elihu B. Washburne 1853-54 

Richard Yates 1853-54 

Thomi>son Campbell 1853-54 

James Knox 1853-54 

Jesse O. Norton 1853-54 

William A. Richardson , 1853-54 

THIRTY-EOLRTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburn 1855- 

Lynian Trumbull 1855- 

Jan\es II. Woodworth 1855- 

James Knox 1855- 

Thompson Campbell 1855- 

Samuel S. Marshall 1855- 

J . L. D. Morrison 1,sr)5- 

John C . Allen 1 855 

Jesse O. Norton 1855- 

William A. Richardson 1855- 



56 
56 
■56 
56 
56 
-56 
-56 
5() 
56 
■56 

THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburne 1857-58 

Charles D. Hodges 1857-58 



William Kellogg -. 1857-58 

Thompson Campbell 1857-58 

.John F. Farnsworth 1857-58 

Owen Lovejoy 1857-58 

Samuel S. Marshall 1857-58 

Isaac N. Morris 1857-58 

Aaron Shaw 1857-58 

Robert Smith 1857-58 

Thomas L. Harris 1857-58 

THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburne 1859-60 

John A. Logan 1859-60 

Owen Lovejoy 1859-60 

John A . McClernand 1859-60 

Isaac N. Morris 1859-60 

John F. Farnsworth 1859-60 

Philip B. Fouke 1859-60 

Thomas L. Harris 1859-60 

William Kellogg 1859-60 

James C. Robertson 1859-60 

THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburne 1861-62 

James C . Robinson 1861-62 

John A. Logan 1861-62 

Owen Loveioy 1861-63 

John A . McClernand 1861-62 

Isaac N. Arnold 1861-62 

Philip B . F(mke 1861-62 

William Kellogg 1861-62 

Anthony L . Knajjp 1861-62 

William A. Richardson 1861-62 

THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburn 1863-64 

Jesse O. Norton 1863-64 

James C. Robinson 1863-64 

William J. Allen 1863-64 

Isaac N. Arnold 1863-64 

John R. Eden 1863-64 

Lewis W. Ross 1863-64 

John T. Stuart 1863-64 

Owen Lovejoy 1863-64 

William R.' Morrison 1863-64 

John C. Allen 1863-64 

John F. Farnsworth 1863-64 

Charles W. Morris 1863-64 

Eben C. IngersoU 1863-64 

Anthony L." Knapp 1863-64 

THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburne 1865-66 

Anthony B. Thornton 1865-66 

John Went worth 1865-66 

Abner C. Hardin 1865-66 

Eben C. IngersoU 1865-66 

Barton Q\ Cook 1865-66 

Shelby M. Cullom 1865-66 

John F. Farnsworth 1865-66 

Jehu Baker 1865-66 

Henry P. II. Bromwell 18(i5-66 

Andrew Z. Kuvkcndall 1865-66 

Samuel S. INIarshall ^ 1865-66 

Samuel W. Moulton 1865-66 

Lewis W. Ross 1865-66 

FORTIETH CONGRESS. 

Elihu B. Washburne 1867-68 

Abner C. Hardin 1867-68 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



41 



Eben C. lugersoll 1867-68 

Norman B. Judcl 1867-68 

Albert G. Burr 1867-68 

Burton C. Cook 1867-68 

Shel])v M Cullom 1867-68 

John F. Farnswortli 1867-68 

Jehu BaN er 1867-68 

Henry P. H. Broniwell 1867-68 

John A. Loii-an 1867-68 

Samuel S. Marshall 1867-68 

Green B. Raum 1867-68 

Lewis W. Ross 1867-68 

FORTY-FIRST CONORESS. 

Norman B. Judd 1869-70 

John F. Farnsworth 1869-70 

H. C. Burchard 1869-70 

John B. Hawley 1869-70 

EbeuC. lugersoll 1869-70 

Barton C. Cook 1869-70 

Jesse H. :\I().)re 1869-70 

Shelby M. Cullom 1869-70 

Thomas W. McNeely 1869-70 

Albert G. Burr 1869-70 

Samuel 8. Marshall 1869-70 

John B. Hay 1869-70 

John M. Crebs 1869-70 

John A. Logan 1869-70 

FORTY-SECOND COXiiRESS. 

Charles B. Farwell 1871-72 

John F. Farnsworth 1871-72 

Horatio C. Burchard 1871-72 

John B. Hawley 1871-72 

Bradford N. Stevens 1871-72 

Henry Suapp 1871-72 

Jesse'H. Moore 1871-72 

James C . Robinson 187.-72 

Thomas W. McNeely 1871-72 

Edward Y. Rice. . . ." 1871-72 

Samuel S. Marshall 1871-72 

John B Hay 1871-72 

John M. Crebs 1871-72 

John S. Beveridge 1871-72 

FORTY-THIRD OON(;KKSS. 

John B. Rice 1873-74 

Jasper D. Ward 1873-74 

Charles B. Farwell 1873-74 

Stephen A. Hurlbut 1873-74 

Horatio C. Burchard 1873-74 

John B. Hawley 1873-74 

Franklin Corwin 1873-74 

Robert M. Knapp 1873-74 

Jauu's C. Robinson 1873-74 

John B.McNulta 1873-74 

Joseph G. Cannon 1873-74 

John R. Eden 1873-74 

James S. Martin 1873-74 

AVilliam R. Morrison 1873-74 

(Jreeubury L. Fort 1873-74 

Granville Barrere 1873-74 

William H. Ray i 1873-74 

Isaac Clements 1873-74 

Samuel S. Marshall. 1873-74 

FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. 

Bernard G. Caulfield ^'^Vl'l^ 

Carter H . Harrison 187r)-76 



Charles B. Farwell 187.1-76 

Stephen A. Hurlbut 1870-76 

Horatio C. Bm-cJiard 187r)-76 

Thomas J . Henderson 1870-76 

Alexander Campbell 1875-76 

Greenbury L. Fort 1875-76 

Richard H. Whiting l^p^i'^ 

John C . Bagljy 1875-76 

Scott Wike 1875-76 

William M. Springer 1875-76 

Adlai E. Stevenson 1875-76 

Joseph G. Cannon 1875-76 

John R. Eden 1875-76 

W. A. J. Sparks 1875-76 

William R. Morrison 1875-76 

William Hartzell ^^IH'! 

William B. Anderson 1875-76 

FORTY -FIFTH CONGRESS. 

William Aldrich ^^Irii^ 

Carter H . Harrison 1877-78 

Lorenzo B'reutano ^'^I^"!^ 

William Lathrop ^'^II"!^ 

Horatio C . Burchard ^'^II~I^ 

Thomas J. Henderson - 877-78 

Philip C. Hayes ^^11"!'^ 

Greenbury L. Fort ^^II"I^ 

Thcnnas A. Boyd 1877-78 

Benjamin F. Marsh ^^H"^*^ 

Robert M. Knapp ^'^Jil"!'^ 

William M. Springer 1877-78 

Thomas F. Tipton ^''*II"I'^ 

Joseph G. Cannon 1877-78 

John P.. Eden 1877-78 

W. A. J. Sparks ^^Jrl^ 

William R. Morrison 1877-78 

William Hartzell ^^'^I'l^ 

Richard W. Townsheud v'. 1877-78 

. FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. 

William Aldrich 1879-80 

George R. Davis 1879-80 

Hiram Barber 1879-80 

John C. Sherwin 1879-80 

R. M. A. Hawk 1879-80 

Thomas J. Henderson 1879-80 

Philip C. Hayes 1879-80 

Greenbury L. Fort 1879-80 

Thomas A. Boyd 1879-80 

Benjamin F. xNlarsh 1879-80 

James W. Singleton 1879-80 

William M. Springer 18.9-80 

A. E. Stevenson 1879-S() 

Joseph G. Cannon 1879-80 

Albert P. Forsythe 1879-80 

W. A. J. Si^arks 1879-80 

William R. Morrison 1H79-80 

John R. Thomas 1879-80 

R. W. Townshend 1879-80 

I'ORTV-SEVENTH CONGRESS. 

William Aldrich 18,sl-82 

George R . 1 )avis 1H81-82 

Charles B Farwell ^^^^"^^ 

John C. Sherwin ^°o! "S. 

Robert M. A. Hawk. ., ^^^^^i 

Thomas J. Henderson ^ o ui 

William Cullen u^oi 

Lewis E. Paysou 1881-82 



49 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



John H. Lewis 1881-82 

Bciij.iuiiu F. Maisli 1881-82 

James AV. Singleton 1881-82 

William M. Springer 1881-82 

Dietrich C. Smith. 1881-82 

Joseph G Cannon 1881 -S2 

Samuel W. Moulton 1881-82 

William A. J. Sparks 1881-82 

William R. Morrison 1881-82 

John R. Thomas 1881-82 

R. W. Townshend 1881-82 

TIIBX AND jSTOW. 

Less than three-fourths of a century ago the 
Tei'ritory of Illinois was organized, with a pop- 
ulation estimated at 9,000; to-day it numbers 
not less than three and one-half millions — a 
greater number than in all the colonies during 
the Revolution. When organized, steamboats 
had never travei'sed its waters; railroads, tele- 
graphs and telephones were unknown; to-day 
every navigable stream is alive with vessels cai-- 
rying her products to other lands; while rail- 
roads traverse every county and almost every 
township in the State; while the number of 
miles of telegraph wire would probably encircle 
the globe, and the telephone is placed in thous- 
ands of homes, enabling their inmates to con- 
verse intelligibly with parties at a distance of 



several miles. Tlien the light that shone out 
of darkness was only the tallow-dip, or that 
furnished from blazing logs in the old-fashioned 
fire-places; to-day, after having displaced the 
tallow-dip, the candle and the common house- 
lamp, the darkness of night is penetrated by 
the glare of gas and the bright rays of the elec- 
tric light, rivaling the light of day. Then agri- 
culture was in its infancy, it being 2)0ssible with 
the machinery then used only to raise sufficient 
crops to supply the wants of those living within 
its boundary; to-day, with the improved plows, 
the self-binding reaper, the steam thresher, and 
other improved machinery, Illinois can feed a 
nation of 50,000,000 of people. Then the 
newspaper was a rare visitor in the household; 
to-day the humblest citizen can hardly exist 
without his daily and weekly paper. Then 
knowledge was possessed by few; to-day, by 
means of free schools, well endowed colleges 
and other inHuences, there is no excuse for 
being ignorant. But time would fail to com- 
pare the advantages of to-day over that of the 
first decade of the present century, and the stu- 
dent of history, as he reads of the progress 
made, can only wonder what the future will 
reveal. 





t//Zayr7Lkf 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter I. 



IN^ THE BEGINNING. 

When the Territory of Illinois was organized 
that part now comprising the county of Sanga- 
mon was an unknown wilderness inhabited only 
by the wild beasts of the forest, wild birds of 
the air, and no less wild red men, who roamed 
at will over the broad prairies and through the 
heavy forests ; fishing in the Sangamo, or hunt- 
ing the game that everywhere abounded, seem- 
ingly caring nothing for the morrow, and only 
living in the ever present. The thought of the 
" pale-faces " penetrating this beautiful country 
had not yet disturbed them, and so they contin- 
ued on in their daily life of hunting and fishing, 
with occasionally a short Avar between tribes to 
relieve the monotony of their lives. But the 
time was soon to come when they were to sur- 
render up the lands and move on tOAvard the 
setting sun. The time Avas soon to come when 
all nature must be changed. The fair prairies 
Avith their beautiful floAvei's, painted only by the 
hand of God, must be broken up by the husband- 
man, and grain fit for the use of ciA'ilized man 
sown therein; forests were to be felled and clear- 
ings made that the art of man could be exercised 
in the building and adornment of homes. Thus 
it Avas in ISlV when Robert PuUiam erected his 
cabin upon section , in the present town- 
ship of Ball. Previous to this time the soil had 
been unvexed by the plow and the Avoodman's 
axe had never been heard. The cabin of the 
settler, Avith its smoke curling heaveuAvard, and 
with an air iuAdting the Aveary traveler to come 
and rest, Avas not to be seen, nor even the faint- 
est trace of civilization ; but instead, boundless 
emerald seas and luxuriant grasses. 

These the gardens of the deserts — these 

The unshoru fields, boundless and beauiiful. 

And fresh us the young earth, ere man had sinned. 

Lo ! they stretch 
In airy undulations far away 
As if theofcan in the gentlest sw'ell 
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed, ^ 
And motionless forever. 



THE GARDEN SPOT. 

That it was a beautiful country is the testi- 
mony of every one who visited it at an early 
day. In proof of this a local paper on one oc- 
casion inserted the following: 

"Some sixty years ago, before the first mile of 
railroad was made, Avhile the Indian still lin- 
gered in Central Illinois — Avhen the turnpike 
road from Baltimore and Washington, oAer the 
mountains to the OhioriA^er, was the great nation- 
al higliAvay from the Eastern to the infant West- 
ern States, andAvhen four-horse stage-coaches for 
carrying the United States mails and passengers 
Avere the best facilities afl:"orded for travel, was 
the time the facts Ave record occurred. 

"Mercantile agents, or drummers, at that early 
day Avere unknoAAai. Twice a year Western 
merchants Avent East to replenish their stock of 
goods. The stage-coaches were run night and 
clay, traveling about one hundred miles in twenty- 
four hours. About the time Ave speak of one of 
these elegant stages left Baltimore crowded Avith 
Western passengers, mostly merchants, for 
Wheeling, on the Ohio river. Having traveled 
one day and night, they Avere crossing the mount- 
ains slowly, tired and sleepy. Discussions on 
various topics Avere often encouraged to enliven 
the otherwise tedious hours. On this occasion 
three of the passengers Avere discussing the 
claims of scA'eral of the States to the ' Garden 
Spot of America,' Avhile others listened or slept. 

" One of the three presented the claim of Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, in its then highly 
cultivated condition; its rich limestone soil, its 
beautiful rolling surface, its never failing har- 
vests, its immense barns, etc. 

"The second, in elegant terms, portrayed the 
region round about Frankfort, Kentucky, for 
beauty and climate, and for fertility of soil and 
elegant improvements, as the 'Garden Spot.' 

"And the third gentleman |)reseiited and ui-ged 
the claim of the Shenandoah Valley, of Virginia, 



46 



HISTORY OF SANGAMOX COUNTY 



surrounded by the mountains and watered by ten 
tliousand never failing springs gushing from the 
mountains; its golden harvests of grains and 
luscious fruits, and its blooded flocks upon a 
thousand hills. 

"This interesting discussion was suddenly 
stopped by a roughly dressed j^assenger, in a 
jeans hunting suit, fringed, who had been sleep- 
ing and snoring for an hour or more. With an 
expression of terror in his face, he declared that 
something serious was going to happen the stage. 
I've had a remarkable dream, and with a serious 
earnestness ©omnienced telling his dream to the 
anxious passengers: 

'"I dreamed that the horses became unman- 
ageable and plunged over one of these mountain 
precipices, and we fell and rolled several hun- 
dred feet. I found myself struggling in a very 
cold stream of water, but gained the opposite 
shore. I looked, and behold, I seemed to be in 
a paradise — the precincts of Heaven — the trees, 
and tiovvers and birds, were exceedingly beautiful, 
and at a little distance there was a high wall, as 
if built of precious stones or rocks, and a golden 
door in the wall. The knob of the door seemed 
to be a very large diamond, glittering as a star. 
I concluded I was in the spirit world, and that 
the golden door was the entrance to Heaven. 
While thus bewildered this gentleman (pointing 
to one of the trio disputants) appeared and walked 
to the golden door. He knocked. The door open- 
ed, and a glorious personage appeared, whom I 
was impressed to think was St. Peter. ' Whence 
comestthou';" he said to this gentleman; and you 
answered 'from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
and he said, 'enter.' Then came this other gentle- 
man and knocked, St. Peter opened and in<pured 
from whence he came. He replied, 'from Frank- 
fort, Kentucky.' He was invited to enter. And, 
after a long while, this gentleman (pointing to 
the third of the trio) hastened to the door and 
rapped. The door was opened again, and St. 
Peter appeared for the third time, and inquired 
from what part of the earth he came. He said: 
'From the Valley of Virginia.' And he was per- 
mitted to enter. 

'"The morel looked about me the more I 
became enchanted. I heard the sweetest music 
that ever fell on mortal ears, sounding as if from 
over the wall, and I passed on to the door and 
rapped with a small silver mallet, that seemed 
there for the purpose. St. Peter appeared. 
When he saw me, he said, in sweetest tones: 
'Whence comest thou?' I said, ' from the San- 
gamo country, Illinois. I shall never forget the 
candid and kind manner St. Peter said: 'Mv 



friend, I advise you to go back, as there is no such 
beautiful land in Heaven as the valley drained by 
the Sangamo river. By nature it is the Garden 
Spot of America, and by the art of man is des- 
tined to become the Paradise of the New World 
— a land of corn and wine, and though the first 
several generations of settlers may have to toil, 
yet before the tenth generation shall appear, this 
wilderness will be made to blossom as the rose.' 
"The early settler of Sangamo was so in- 
genious in presenting the claim of Illinois as 
containing the 'Garden Spot,' that it was unani- 
monsly awarded to it. And at the next stopping 
place the trio treated to the wine." 

FIRST WHITE MEN IN SANGAMON COUNTY. 

History and tradition are both silent as to 
who was the first white man to visit this country. 
The early French explorers came within a few 
miles of its border, but it is doubtful if they 
set foot within it. Following only the courses 
of the great rivers, and penetrating inland Init 
a short distance, the beautiful Sangamo country 
was unperceived by them. From the time of 
their visit to the Mississippi in 1673, a century 
and a half passed before Robert Pulliam in his 
wanderings came upon the scene, followed 
closely by Henry Fund'erburk, William Dren- 
nan, Joseph Dodds, James McCoy and others. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT. 

In 1858, on the organization of the Old Set- 
tlers' Society, it was determined to have the 
first annual celebration on or near the site of 
the first cabin erected in the county. To this 
end, a committee was appointed to investigate 
the claims of all parties to the honor of being 
the first settler. After much investigation that 
committee decided, on the evidence of the fam- 
ily and some others, that Robert Pulliam 
erected a cabin in the fall of 1S16, which, with- 
out doubt, was the first built in the county. 
Accordingly, the celebration was here held. So 
far as is known, no one at that time disputed 
the claim. 

It is now claimed by the descendants of 
Henry Funderburk that he was the first settler 
in the county; that he arrived in the spring of 
1817, and raised that year a small quantity of 
corn, and that Pulliam was not then here. 
Their claim is supported by Jacob Hinkle, of 
Pawnee, who says that he was six years old 
when his father arrived in the county in the 
spring of 1818; that he well remembers seeing 
shocks of corn on Mr. Funderburk's place which 
must have been raised the year previous. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



47 



Sixty-four years have now passed since the 
first settlement was made, and there is not liv- 
ing in all Sangamon county one who came dur- 
ing the years 1817 or 1818 who was a man or 
woman grown at that time. Evidence must 
now be taken second-hand, or from those who 
were very small when brought by their parents 
to this county. It cannot, then, be wondered 
at that there is a disagreement upon this and 
many other points. In the history of the town- 
ship of Ball will be found all the evidence now 
attainable with reference to the claims of Fui- 
liam, and in the history of Cotton Hill town- 
ship the Funderburk claim is set forth. The 
attention of the reader is called to these chap- 
ters. 

OTHER EAKLY SETTLERS. 

In the spring of 1818, William Drennan, Jo- 
seph Drennan, Joseph Dodds, Mr. Vancil and 
George Cox settled in township 14, north of 
range 5, west, in what is now Ball township. 

James McCoy and Levi W. Goodin, in the 
fall of 1818, settled in township 14, range 4, 
but moved to township 15, range 4, what is now 
known as Rochester township. Mr. McCoy and 
Mr. Goodin brought their wives, who were the 
first white women to come to the county for the 
purpose of making it their home. It is said 
that but six women came that year, the other 
four being wives of William and Joseph Dren- 
nan, Mr. Vancil and Joseph Dodds. 

In what is now Auburn township, Jacob Ellis, 
James Black, Samuel Vancil, and John Wallace 
settled in 1818. In other parts of the county 
were Zachariah Peter, Justice Hinkle, William 
Nelson, Mason Fowler, Joseph Dixon, Joseph 
Neeley, and others. 

AREA AND POSITION OF THE COUNTY. 

Sangamon county is centrally situated, north 
and south, in the State and is bounded on the 
north by Menard and Logan counties, on the 
south by Macoupin, Montgomery and Christian 
counties, on the east by Macon county and on 
the west by Morgan county. It contains an 
area of 875 square miles, or 550,000 acres of 
land. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 

Sangamon county was created by an act of 
the legislature, approved January 30, 1821. The 
following is the act in question: 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the 
State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, 
That all that tract of country within the follow- 
ing boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the aorth- 



east corner of township twelve north, on the 
third principal meridian, thence north with said 
meridian to the Illinois river, thence down the middle 
of said river to llie mouth of Balance or Negro creek, 
thence up said creek to its head, thence through the 
middle of the prairie which divides the waters of the 
Sangamon and Mauves Terre to the northwest corner 
of township twelve north, range seven west, of the 
third principal meridian, thence east along the north 
boundary of township twelve to the place of begin- 
ning, shall constitute a separate county to be called 
iSangamon. 

fc>K(;TiON 2. Be it further enacted. That so soon 
as the county commissioners of said county shall 
be elected and duly qualitied into office, they shall meet 
at some convenient place in said county as circum- 
stances will admit, and such place where selected by 
said county commissioners, shall be the temporary seat 
of justice for said county, until otherwise provided 
by law: Provided, howecer, that if any settler or set- 
tlers, owner or owners, of the place so selected as afore- 
said, shall refuse to have the temporary seat of justice 
fixed on his or her or their improvements, then the 
said commissioners may determine on such other place 
contiguous thereto as they may deem proper. 

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That said county 
commissioners shall be allowed the same compensa- 
tion for the time necessarily employed in fixing the 
temporary seat of justice as in other cases. 

Section 4. Be it further enacted, That the citizens 
of Sangamon county are hereby declared in all res- 
pects entitled to the same rights and privileges as are 
allowed in general to other counties in this State. 

Provided, always, That in all cases where freehold- 
ers only are capable of performing any duty, or are en- 
titled to any privilege ; housekeepers shall for all such 
purposes, be considered as freeholders in the said San- 
gamon county, and shall and may do all duties ap- 
pertaining to the difterent oflices in the county. 

Sections. Be it farther enacted. That the county 
of Sangamon shall compose a part of the first judicial 
circuit of the State. 

The following is the original boundary of the 
county as thus created : Commencing at the 
northeast corner of Locust township, in Christ- 
ian county, thence north to a point on the Illi- 
nois river about two miles west of the city of 
Peru, thence down the middle of said river to 
what is now the boundary line between Cass 
and Morgan counties, thence west to the north- 
east corner of Morgan county, thence south 
on the line between Morgan and Sangamon 
counties to the northwest corner of Otter town- 
ship in Macoupin county ; thence east to the 
place of beginning. It will be seen that the 
boundaries between this county and Morgan, 
Macoupin and Montgomery, are unchanged. 
The original metes and bounds of Sangamon 
county, as given, embraced the following coun- 
ties and parts of counties as at present constitu- 
ted : Part of Christian, a small part of Macon 
all of Logan part of McLean, all of Tazewell, ))art 
of Woodford, part of Marshall, part of Putnam, 
all of Mason, all of Menard and all of Cass, 



48 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



The territory then constituting the county was 
thus set apart by law. An election for county 
officers was held Monday, April 2, 18:^1. At 
this election William Drennan, Zachariah Peter 
and Rivers Corniack were elected County Com- 
missioners, met the next day and took the oath 
of office. 

ACTS OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

The first meeting of the County Commission- 
er's Court was held at the house of John Kelley, 
on Tuesday, April :], 1821 ; there being present 
all the members elect — William Drennan, Zach- 
ariah Peter and Rivers Cormack. After taking 
the oath of office prescribed by law, the lirst 
business was the appointment of a clerk, Cliarles 
R. Matheny being honored with the position. 
Mr. Matheny took the oath of office and entered 
into bond with James Latham as security for 
the faithful performance of his duties. ^ No 
further business was transacted at this time and 
the court adjourned. 

The second special term was held at the same 
place, on the 10th day of April, 1821, Zachariah 
Peter and William Drennan being present 

John Spillers was allowed the sum of ten dol- 
lars for carrying the election returns to Vanda- 
lia, then the capital of the State. 

John Linsey, Stephen Stillman and John 
Rol)inson were nominated to the Governor as 
proper persons to hll the office of Justices of the 
Peace. 

James Simms was appointed County Treas- 
urer. 

The Commissioners who were appointed by 
the act creating the county to select a temporary 
county-seat, reported as follows : 

" Whereas, The act of the General Assembly, en- 
titled, 'an act establishini-- the County of Sanganio' 
requires of the County Connnissioners when elected 
and quahlied into office, to fix a temporary seat of jus- 
tice for said county ; therefore, we, the undersigned. 
County Commissioners of said county, do certify that 
we, atter full examination of the situation of the popu- 
lation ol said county, have fixed and designated a cer- 
tain point in tlie prairie near .John Kelley 's field on 
the waters of Snring creek, at a stake marked Z. D., as 
tlie temporary seat of justice for said county, and do 
turther agree that the said county-seat be called and 
known by the name of Springfield. 

•' Given under our hand this 10th day of April, 1821 . 
Zachariah Peter, 
William Drennan . " 

The next meeting of the board of County 
Commissioners was held at the court house in 
Springfield, June 4, 1821, all the members being 
present, with Charles R. Matheny, Clerk, and 
John Taylor, Sheriff, 



From the records the folloAving is extracted: 

"The court, pursuant to public notice given, 
proceeded to let out the building of a jail to the 
lowest bidder, which was cryed off to Robert 
Ilambleton, at ^84.7 5, who thereupon entered 
into an agreement with the aforesaid Commis- 
sioners to have the same completed by the first 
Monday in September next. 

"• Ordered, that William Drennan be appointed 
guardian for George Cox, an infant under the 
age of fourteen years, and that he enter into 
bond in one hundred dollars, with Rivers Cor- 
mack as security." 

Several public roads were ordered laid out at 
this session, and John Hamblin and David 
Black were appointed constables. 

James Simms refusing to qualify for the office 
of treasurer, George Haworth was appointed, 
and was duly (pialified, presenting Zachariah 
Peter and Robert Pulliam as security. 

In order to defray the necessary expenses of 
the county, it was ordered by the County Com- 
missioners that "the Assessor, in assessing the 
taxable property, assess the following property, 
to-wit : Horses, neat cattle, wheel-carriages, 
stock in trade and distillery. 

The county was divided into two battalion 
districts of four companies each, and an elec- 
tion ordered for militia officers in each district. 

A special term was next held July 16, 1821, 
the members of the court all being present. 
The only business transacted being the levying 
of one-half of one per cent, upon all taxable 
property "for the purpose of procuring public 
buildings and other necessary expenses for the 
year 18"21." 

On the first Monday in September, 1821, the 
Commissioners again met for the transaction of 
business. 

Jacob Ellis was allowed the sum of 14.50 for 
a judge's seat and bar in the court-house. 

Andrew Orr, Matthew Higgins, Norris A, 
Thomas, Jacob A. Millei and Robert Hamilton 
were appointed constables, each of whom quali- 
fied in open court. 

John Taylor was allow-ed $-30. 75 for book and 
stationery furnished the clerk of the court. 

At a term held December 3, 1821, Robert 
Hamilton was allowed the sum of I84.V5 for the 
jail built by him for the use of the county. 
J hn Taylor, sheriff of the county, protested 
against receiving the jail as not suitable; but his 
protest was not heeded. 

Charles R. Matheny was allowed $87.50 for 
salary as clerk o ' the Circuit Court, and for sta- 
tionery furnished for the year 1821; Rivers Cor-< 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



49 



mack was allowed '^■2d for seivices as C'onmiis- 
sioner; William Drennan and Zacbariah Peter 
each $30 for services as Commissioners; John 
Taylor was allowed $50 as salary for the year 
1821. 

The first tavern license granted by the board 
was at this term, Robert Pulliambeingjtermitted 
to engage in the business for the sum of $'3 per 
year. He was permitted to charge the following 
rates: 

Meal victuals 25 cents. 

Bed, per night 12^ " 

Feed for horse 12| " 

Keeping horse over night 37i " 

Whisky, per half -pint 12| " 

On the first Monday in March, 1822, the court 
licensed Elijah Slater to " keep a tavern or pub- 
lic house of entertainment in the town of Spring- 
field." Whether provisions were scarce, or 
whatever the cause, he was permitted to charge 
a higher rate than Mr. Pulliam, the court fixing 
the following prices: 

Meal victuals 37^ cents. 

Lodging 12+ " 

Brandy, per half-pint 25 " 

Wine, " " , 25 

Rum, " " 25 

Gin, ^" " 18| " 

Horse, p*er night 50 " 

Horse feed 12+ " 

Whisky, per half-pint . 12| " 

Tuesday, March 5, 1822, the board was again 
in session, at which time it was "ordered by the 
( ourt that the treasurer, in assessing the prop- 
erty for taxation for the year 1822, take and 
include all personal property, goods and chattels 
of whatsoever kind or nature the same may be, 
including all the personal estate, in addition to 
the real estate made taxable by law." 

Charles R. Matheny was instructed to con- 
tract for county seals, weights and measures for 
the use of the county. 

Erastus Wright was authorized to keep a ferry 
on the Illinois river at Fort (-lark (Peoria), and 
was permitted to charge the following rates: 

For man and liorse. or single person or horse, 25 cents. 

For man or other person 12.} " 

For eacli ox, bull, cow, steer or heifer 12+ " 

For each calf, sheep or hog l>i " 

For each wagon cart, sleigh, sled or vehicle 

di'awn by two horses or two oxen 50 " 

For each additional span or yoke of horses or 

oxen 25 " 

All other less or greater number of persons or yokes 
or parts thereof, in the same proportion as above 
allowed. 

Thomas Price was authorized to keep tavern 
with rates as already given. 

Robert Hamilton was appointed treasurer and 



entered into bond with John Scott and George 
Hayworth as securities, which bond was ap- 
proved. 

At the June term, 1822, Aaron and Gideon 
Hawley were authorized to keep a ferry across 
the south fork of the Sangamo river, at what 
was know^n as Jarvis' Ford. The following 
rates were established: 

Each man or other person (ii cents. 

For man and horse 12+ " 

Lead horse or gelding di " 

Bull, cow or steer fij " 

Calf, sheep or hog H " 

"W agon and two horses or oxen 37+ " 

Vehicle drawn by one horse 25 " 

Extra teams charged in proportion to the foregoing 
rates . 

The sum of |12 was allowed Thomas Smith 
for a stray found in Springfield, for the use of 
the county, and Andrew Orr w^as appointed to 
take charge of the same. 

In July the Commissioners were again in 
session. 

The treasurer was authorized and ordered to 
extend a tax of .374^ cents on the §100 on all 
taxable property. 

At the annual election held in 1822, William 
Morgan and Samuel Lee were elected members 
of the board vice William Drennan and Rivers 
C'orraack. 

The first session of the new board was held 
on the second day of September, 1822. No 
btisiness of any special importance was tran- 
sacted, and the court adjourned till court in 
course. 

The next meeting of the court was held in 
December, at which time Charles R. Matheny 
was allowed |94 for stationery furnished the 
county. 

Jacob Ellis was allowed §1 for hinges and 
hanging the court house door. 

A't the March term, 1824, the first allowance 
for paupers was made. John Orendorff was 
allowed §51.50 for keeping two paupers for six 
months, and Nathan llussey §20 for keeping one 
pauper six months. 

In 1825, specie must have been scarce, judg- 
ing from the fact that at the June term of that 
year all allowances were made "in specie or its 
equivalent." 

At the July term, 1825, the board met to let 
the building of a new brick court house, but the 
records are" silent as to any action on the sub- 
ject. 

At the September term, same year, Thornas 
Clark was appointed to superintend the opening 
and improvment of the navigation of the San- 



50 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



gaiuua river, a subscription being raised for that 
purpose. Subscribers to the fund were allowed 
to pay their subscription in labor at the rate of 
$1 per day. 

The last meeting of the County Commis- 
sioners' Court was held November 5, 1849. But 
little business was transacted. Their term of 
office was about at an end, being succeeded by 
the board of justices. 

Tlie following named served as County Com- 
missioners for the years named, and is a com- 
plete list from the organization of the county : 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

1821 — William Drennan, Zachariah Peter and Rivers 
Cormack. 

1823— William Morgan, Zachariah Peter and Samuel 
Lee. 

1823 — Same as above. 

1824— William Morgan, Harry Riggin and Zachariah 
Peter. 

1825— Same. 

1826 — Samuel Lee, William Strawbridge and Bowling 
Green. 

1827— Same. 

1828— Asa S. Shaw, Zachariah Peter and Josiah B. 
Smith. 

1829— Same. 

1830— Same. Asa A. Shaw resigning, Garret Elkin 
was elected to fill vacancy. 

1831— Same '' 

1832— Josiah B. Smith, Thomas Moftett and Reuben 
Harrison. 

1833— Same. 

1834— Thomas Moftett, Bartlett Haley and Samuel 
Berry . 

1835— Thomas Moftett, Samuel Berry and William 
G. Cantrall. 

1836— Zachariah Peter, William G. Cantrall and 
William Hickman. 

1837— Same. 

1838— John Cooper, Thomas Sackett and Thomas 
Simpson. 

1839— Same. 

1840— Thomas Simpson, John Cooper and Zachariah 
Peter. 

1841— John Cooper, Zachariah Peter and Samuel 
Wyckoft". 

1842— Zachariah Peter, Samuel Wyckoft" and Willis 
H. Groves. 

1843— Same. 

1844— Zachariah Peter, Abram Foutch and John 
Dawson . 

1845— Same. 

1 46— Abram Foutch, Thomas Shepherd and John 
Dawson. 

1847 — Same. 

1848— William F. Elkin, Thomas Shepherd and 
Abram Foutch. 

1849— Same. 

BOARD OF JUSTICES. 

In 1849, the county government was vested 
in a Board of Justices, consisting of a county 
judge and two asssociate justices, all the powers 
previously held by the County Commissioners 



being transferred to them. The tirst meeting of 
the Board of Justices was held at the court house 
in Springfield, Monday, December 8, 1849. 
There were present, Thomas Moffett, county 
judge; Cyrus W. Vanderen and William F. El- 
kin, associate justices. The unfinished business 
of the County Commissioners' court was first 
taken up, and then the new board proceeded to 
the transaction of all business brought before 
them. 

In 1861 the county adopted the township or- 
ganization law, and the last meeting of the 
Board of Justices was held Thursday, March 
14, 1861. 

The following named composed the Board of 
Justices, each serving the term of four years. 

1849— Thomas Moftett, County Judge; William F. 
Elkin, Cyrus W. Vanderen, Associate Justices. 

1853— John W. Taylor, County Judge ; Samuel K. 
Swingley, William Armstrong, Associate Justices. 

1857 — William D. Power, County Judge ; Moses K. 
Anderson, J. A. Bell, Associate Justices. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

A petition was presented to the Board of Jus- 
tices June 5, 1860, praying the board to submit 
the question to a vote of the people for the 
adoption of township organization. The prayer 
of the petitioners was granted, and the subject 
was ordered submitted to the people at the 
next general election, held Tuesday, November 
6, 1860. The vote was canvassed by the board 
in December following, when it w^as ascertained 
there was a majority of 859 votes in its favor, 
out of a total vote of 7,241. The board there- 
upon appointed John S. Biadford, Jolin Gard- 
ner, Sen., and Joseph Campbell, commissioners 
to divide the county into towns, in accordance 
with the general law relating to township organ- 
izations. At a meeting of the Board, held 
March 1, 1861, the commissioners submitted 
their report, by which the county was divided 
into twenty-two townships under the following- 
names: 

Auburn, Island Grove, 

Ball, Loami, 

Buffalo Hart, Mechanicsburg, 

Campbell, Power, 

Cartwright, Pawnee, 

Clear Lake, Rochester, 

Cooper, Sackett, 

Cotton Hill, Springfield, 

Curran, Talkington, 

Gardner, Williams, 

Illiopolis, Woodside. 

New Berlin has since been formed from part 
of Island Grove, Wheatfield from part of Illiop- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



61 



olis, and Capital from part of Springfield, mak- 
ing a total of twenty-tive towns, as follows: 

Auburn, embracing all of township 13, north 
of range 6 west of the third principal meridian, 
and part of township 18, north of range 5 west. 

Ball, all of township 14, north of range 5 
west. 

Buffalo Hart, all of township 17, north of 
range 3 west. 

Chatham, all of township 14, north of range 

6 west, and a small portion of township 14, 
north of range 5 west. 

Vartioright, all of township 16, north of range 

7 west, and fractional parts of township 16 and 
17, range 8 west. 

Clear Lake, all of township 16 north of range 
4 w^est. 

Cooper, parts of township 14 and 15, range 3 
west. 

Cotton Hill, all of township 14 north of range 
4 west. 

Curran, all of township 15 north of range 6 
west. 

Gardner, all of township 16 north of range 6 
west. 

Illiopolis, parts of townships 16 and 17, range 
1 and 2 west. 

Islaiid Grove, part of township 15, and pans 
of ranges of 7 and 8 west. 

Loami, part of township 14 north, and parts 
of ranges 7 and 8 west. 

Meclianicsburg, all of township 16, north of 
range 3 west. 

Fancy Creek, parts of townships 17 and 18, 
north of range 5 west 

Pavynee, township 13 north, and parts of 
ranges 4 and 5 west. 

Rochester, township 15, north of range 4 west. 

Salisbury, a part of township 17, north of 
range 6 west. 

Spriyigjield. township 16 north of range 5 
west, except the territory comprising the city of 
the same name, which is made a town under 
the name of Capital. 

Talkington, township 13 north, and parts of 
ranges 7 and 8 west. 

Williams, parts of townships 17 and 18, north 
of range 4 west. 

Woodside, township 15, north of range 5 
west. 

Wheatfield, parts of townships 15, 16 and 17, 
north of range 2 west. 

New Berlin, townships 14 and 15, and parts 
of ranges 7 and 8. 

Capital, all the territory lying within the city 
of Springfield. 



RIVER AND CRKEKS. 

Sangamon county is well supplied with 
streams of living water, the most important of 
which is the Sangamon river, the north fork of 
which takes its rise in McLean county, and pur- 
suing a tortuous course, forms the southern 
boundary line of Sangamon along lUiojtolis 
and part of Cooper township, entering the 
county on section 15 of the last named town- 
ship, passing through it and Rochester into 
Clear Lake township, where it is joined, on sec- 
tion 27, with the south fork, which heads in 
Shelby county, entering Sangamon on section 
12, Cotton Hill township, and passing througli 
Rochester into Clear Lake. The two forks 
uniting as stated, pass into and through Spring- 
field, Gardner and Salisbury townships, from 
which it enters Menard county from section 22. 

For many years the river retained its old In- 
dian name of the Sangamo, but it was finally 
dropped, and the modern name adopted. 

NAVIGATION OF THE SANOAMO RIVER. 

The boys that play upon the banks of the 
Sangamo river in this year of our Lord one 
thousand, eight hundred and eighty-one little 
dream that it was ever thought by anyone that 
the river was a navigable stream, much less that 
an attempt was ever made to run a steamer on 
its sluggish waters. But such was the case. 

Before the days of the iron horse, when rail- 
roads were comparatively unknown, many at- 
tempts were made at the navigation of insig- 
nificent streams, in order to cheapen transporta- 
tion. Especially was this true in new countries. 

The Sangamo Journal, January 19, 1832, after 
speaking of the signs of an early spring and 
the prei)aration for improvement going on, says: 

"And last, not least, it is seriously projected 
by our fellow-citizen, V. A. Bogue, to introduce 
to the good people of Springfield, within a 
month or so, by way of the Sangamo river, a 
steaml)oat, which will be laden with goods for 
our merchants. We have strong confidence that 
the undertaking will succeed. We will not 
now undertake to state the results that would 
benefit to this village and county from the com- 
plete success of this experiment. It would be 
worth more to us than a dozen railroads — in the 
new^spapers. Wasn't our inimitable bard pro- 
phetic when he said: — 

" Ami I will make our Sangiimo 
Outshine ia verse, the famous PoV" 

In the Journal of the 26th of January, 1832, 
appears a letter from Mr. Bogue in reference to 



62 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the proposed trip oi' the steainei- up tlie Saii- 
gamo. He says: — 

"I am well aware that the undertaking is dan- 
gerous, difficult and expensive — still I am will- 
ing to risk my all upon it. All I ask is the 
cheerful and hearty concurrence of those gen- 
tlemen who must be more interested in the suc- 
cess than I am or can be. If I am unfortunate, 
I will cheerfully bear the loss; if I am success- 
ful, which, God willing, I have little doubt every 
individual in that tine section of country must 
feel the beneficial effects of it. The concur- 
rence I allude to is to advise me immediately on 
receipt, and keep me advised of the state of the 
river — what probable rise may be expected 
above low-water mark — that I should be met at 
the mouth of the river by ten or twelve men, 
having axes witii long handles, under the direc- 
tion of some experienced man, and that one of 
the men should be one of those who has most 
often descended the river with fiatboats (to show 
the course of the stream). I shall deliver freight 
from St. Louis at the landing on Sangamo river, 
opposite the town of Springfield, for thirty- 
seven-and-a-half cents per hundred pounds 

The Journal was an enthusiastic friend of the 
project of the navigation of the river, but tem- 
pers its enthusiasm by saying: "It would be 
folly, perha})s, ever to anticipate for our village 
advantages from steamboat navigation equal to 
those which St. Louis has derived from that 
source; yet such anticipation cannot be more 
chimerical than was the project of running 
steamboats from the mouth of the Ohio to St. 
Louis in 1817." 

In the Journal of February 10, 1832, appears 
the following paragraph: 

"We find the following advertisement in the 
Cincinnati Gazette of the 19th ult. We hope 
such notices w'lW soon cease to be such novelties. 
We seriously believe that the Sangamo river can 
be made navigable for steamboats for several 
months in the year. Here is the advertisement: 

X^OIi SANGAMO RIVEK. ILLINOIS— The splendid upper- 
-^ cabin ateainer, TALISMAN, J M. Pollock, Master, will 
leave for Portl.ind, Springtield, on the Sangamo river, and all inter- 
mediate ports and landings, say Beardst'>wn, Naides, St. Loiii.s, 
Louisville, on Thursday, Feltniary 2. For freight or passage 
apply to Captain Viucent A. Bogue, at the Broadway Hotel, or to 
Allison Owi-n. 

After the foregoing notices appeared in the 
Journal, a public meeting of citizens of Spring- 
field was held February 14, 1832, to take into 
consideration what measures should be ado])ted 
to assist Mr. Bogue in his enterprise. Elijah 
lies was elected chairman, and William Porter 
secretary. On motion of Dr. Todd, the follow- 
ing preamble and resolution was adopted: 



AVhkkeas, We have learned with great plta.sure that 
our towusman, Mr. Bogue, is aboiit lo uavigate the 
Sangamo river in a steamboat. 

Resolced, That a committee of three citizens be 
appointed to meet him, with a suitable number of 
hands, and render him all the assistance we are capa- 
ble of, or on the failure of Mr. Bogue, that assistance 
be afforded to any other boat wishing to engage in the 
enteri)rise. 

E. I). Taylor, Washington lies and T. M. 
Neale were appointed that committee. T. Moff- 
ett, G. Jayne, and D, Dickerson were appointed 
a committee to solicit funds to carry out the 
foregoing resolution. 

According to announcement the Talisman 
started on its journey from Cincinnati, and after 
various trials succeeded in accomplishing its 
object. The Journal of March 8, announces the 
arrival of the steamer at Meredosia, when its 
further progress was obstructed by ice. In its 
issue of March 29th, it says : 

" On Saturday last the citizens of this place 
(Springfield) were gratified by the arrival of the 
steamboat Talisman, J. W. Pollock, master, of 
15U tons burthens, at the Portland landing, 
opposite this town. (Portland was at the south 
side of the Sangamon river, between where the 
bridges of the Chicago &, Alton and the Gilman, 
Clinton & Springfield railroads now stand). The 
safe arrival of a boat the size of the Talisman, 
on a river never before navigated by steam, had 
created much solicitude, and the shores for miles 
were crowded by our citizens. Her arrival at 
her destined port was hailed with loud acclama- 
tions and full demonstrations of pleasure. When 
Capt. ])Ogue located his steam mill on Sanga- 
mo river, twelve months ago, and asserted his 
determination to land a steamboat there within 
a year, the idea was considered chimerical by 
some, and utterly impracticable by others. The 
experiment has been made, and the result has 
been as successful as the most enthusiastic could 
expect ; and this county owes a deep debt of 
gratitude to Captain Bogue for getting up the 
expedition, and his never tiring and unceasing 
efforts until the end was accomplished. Capt. 
Pollock, who is naturally warm and enthusiastic, 
entered fully into the feeling of our citizens, 
who visited the mouth of the river to render 
any and every assistance in their power; and 
much credit is due him for his perseverance and 
success. The boat experienced some difficulty 
from drifts, and leaning timber on shore, which 
made her trip somewhat tedious. The result 
has clearly demonstrated the practicability of 
navigating the river by steamboats of proper 
size ; and by the expenditure of |2,00U in remov- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



53 



ing logs and drifts and standing timber, a steam 
boat of 80 tons burthen will make a trip in two 
days from Beardstown to this place. The citi- 
zens of Beardstown manifested great interest 
for the success of the enterprise, and some of 
them accompanied the boat until the I'esult was 
no longer doubtful. They proposed the cutting 
of a communication or canal from the bluffs 
to their landing — about five miles — whereby 
seventy-five miles of navigation may be saved, 
and offered one thousand dollars to assist in 
completing it. It is to be hoped that the next 
legislature will afford some aid in making the 
river safe and pleasant in its navigation. Spring- 
field can no longer be considered an inland 
town. We have no doubt but within a few 
months a boat will be constructed for the special 
purpose of navigating the Sangamo river. The 
result which must follow the succesful termina- 
tion of this enterprise to our county, and tw 
those counties lying in its neighborhood, it 
would be impossible to calculate. Here is now 
open a most promising field for the exercise of 
every branch of honest industry. We congratu- 
late our farmers, our mechanics, our merchants 
and professional men, for the rich harvest in 
prospect, and we cordially invite emigrating citi- 
zens from other states, whether rich or poor, if 
so be they are industrious and honest, to come 
hither and partake of the good things of San- 
gamo." 

The poets of the day immortalized the occa- 
sion in verse, while the ladies gave a grand ball 
in honor of the occasion. The Journal's poet, 
in speaking of the appearance of the steamer, 
says: 

Say ye, bold Springfield men. the sight — 

Did it not give you vast deliglitV 

And you, fair dames, your comments on it, 

It almost equalled a new bonnet. 

Could anything be so bewitching — 

Lord, Lord, to think on't sets me itching — 

That is in rhyme, my pretty dears, 

As some one says some other wheres. 

Both town and county went to see 

What this strange animal could be ; 

But cautious first, and by degrees. 

The suckers peeped behind tlie trees, 

'Till more familiar grown, tliey chase 

And boldly stare her in the face. 

One thought it might be Noah's ark — 

No, no, another did remark, 

'Tis only Bogue's, his luck to try. 

Nor need he here a dove let fly ; 

He only fears it should be dry! 

The news to Springfield quickly flew. 

And all the folks went out to view 

So strange a sight, to them so new ; 

Some thought the world was at an end, 

And Heaven in mercy did this send 



To save the chosen people in. 

Who never yet committed sin. 

Or Only now and then got f ri.sky 

Wh('n broached an extra tub of whisky. 

In speaking of the general rejoicing and the 
ball in the evening, the bard continues: 

Heigh, sn-s, but I forgot to tell 

That great rejoicings here befell. 

Such stuffing — all the eggs in town 

I do believe were there crammed down, 

And the next morn old Ned quite high, 

Had risen in price, and none to buy. 

There was a ball at night, I guess, 

For th' ladie's sakes it couldn't be less — 

And twenty l)achelors they say. 

Were strung on Hymen's noose that day. 

Notwithstanding all this general rejoicing 
the navigation of the Sangamon was a failure. 
The Talisman, on account of low water, was 
unable to turn around, and was compelled to 
back out of the stream. Her first trip was her 
last. She was burned to the water's edge oppo- 
site St. Louis, in the latter part of April, 18:52. 

Even as late as 1853 a small steamer came up 
the river to Petersburg, which caused Simeon 
Francis, who felt bound to make the Sangamon 
river navigable, write as follows, under date of 
April 25, 1853: 

"It has long been a conceded fact by those 
who have the best knowledge on the subject, 
that the Sangamon river can be made navigable 
for a small class of steamers five or six months 
in the year. Some days ago the steamer Wave, 
Captain Monroe, arrived at Petersburg. He 
found no difliculty in navigating the river for 
want of water. There was a depth of four feet, 
but there were obstructions from drifts and nar- 
row turns that could readily be obviated. He 
supposes the distance by the Sangamon river to 
the Illinois from Petersburg is about ninety 
miles, thirty miles of which will need improve- 
ment. This improvement should be done, if not 
by the State, by a company, who should be au- 
thorized to receive tolls for boats. We believe 
the legislature has authorized a com])any to 
improve the Kaskaskia river, and to charge tolls. 
Captain Moore has navigated the last mentioned 
river, and he expresses himself decidedly of the 
opinion that the Sangamon is a better river for 
navigation than the Kaskaskia. 

"We learn that so thoroughly satisfied are the 
property holders and business men of Petersburg 
of the feasibility of navigating the Sangamon by 
steamboats, and the great benefit that would re- 
sult to that section of country from a steam- 
boat connection with other navigable streams, 
that a subscription of some five thousand dollars 
has already been raised to biiild and ec^uip a 



54 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



steaml)oat for the especial navigation of the 
Sangamon. The attempts made years ago for 
the same purpose were not made in a way to se- 
cure success. The company will be able to avoid 
the obstacles which defeated the project on a 
former occasion. As one of the means for de- 
veloping the rich resources of the country on the 
Sangamon, we most fervently desire that the 
enterprise may be successful." 

This was the last attempt at the navigation 
of the river, and a look at the stream in 



this year, 1881, will convince one that it was 
wise. 

CREEKS. 

Sangamon county is well watered by many 
living streams, after the Sangamon river the 
most important being Sugar creek, Lick creek, 
Horse creek. Brush creek, Clear creek. Fancy 
creek, Cantrall creek, Prairie creek, Richland 
creek. Wolf creek, and Spring creek, an account 
of each being found in the township history of 
the townships through which the flow. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



55 



Chapter IL 



GEOLOGY. — BY A. H. WORTHEN. 



The Sangamon river traverses the entire ex- 
tent of the county from east to west, and with 
its tributaries furnishes a reasonable supply of 
water in ordinary seasons. 

This stream, as well as its main affluents, are 
skirted with belts of excellent timber, which 
make this one of the best timbered counties in 
the central portion of the State. About one- 
third of the county was originally covered with 
timl>er, but much of the timbered land has been 
cleared up and brought under cultivation. 

The principal varieties of timber observed in 
this county are the following; and it will be 
seen that the list embraces nearly every variety 
of forest tree that is to be found in the central 
portion of the State: sugar and white maple, 
buckeye, shellbark hickory, swamp hickory, 
mocher nut and thick shellbark hickory, horn- 
beam, serviceberry, backberry, red bud, dog- 
wood, red thorn, black thorn, persimmon, 
waahoo, white, blue and black ash, coffee nut, 
white and black walnut, mulberry, sycamore, 
Cottonwood, wild plum, wild cherry, crab apple, 
white oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, laurel oak, 
red oak, pin oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, 
sumac, elder, sassafras, linden, willow, Ameri- 
can elm, slippery elm, prickly ash, pawpaw, red 
birch, hazel, spiceberry, and honey locust. 

The superficial deposits in this county com- 
prise the three principal divisions of the Quat- 
truary: alluvium, leoss and drift. Narrow belts 
of alluvial bottom skirt the Sangamon through 
a large part of its course in this county, but 
they are subject to be annually overflowed by 
the river floods, and are most valuable for the 
heavy growth of timber they sustain. 

The leoss covers a large part of the uplands 
to the depth of from six to twenty feet, and is 
composed of the usual marly beds of buff and 
gray sands and sandy clays, Underneath the 

7— 



surface soil at Springfield we usually meet the 
following successions of beds: — 

No. 1, soil, 1 to 2 feet 

No, 2, buff colored silicious clay, 2^ to 3 feet 

No. 3, very fine gray marly sand, 3 to 4 feet 
No. 4, brown drift clays, usually 

extending down to the bed rock, 30 to 40 feet 

Nos. 2 and 3 of the above section may prop- 
erly be referred to the leoss, and at several 
points, in the vicinity of the city, it has been 
found to contain the characteristic shells usually 
found in it. 

We are indebted to Mr. Joseph Mitchell, who 
has dug many wells in the northwest part of 
Sangamon county and in the adjoining portions 
of Menard, for the following sections of the 
beds usually passed through by him: 

No. 1, soil, 1 to 2^ feet 

No. 2, yellow clay, 3 feet 

No. 3, whitish (gray) jointed 

clay with shells, 5 to 8 feet 

No. 4, black muck, with frag- 
ments of wood, 3 to 8 feet 

No. 5, bluish colored boulder 

clay, 8 to 10 feet 

No. 6,gray hard-pan](very hard), 2 feet 

No. 7, soft blue clay, without 

boulders, 20 to 40 feet 

No. 3 of this section is undoubtedly leoss, 
and he affirms that this order of succession was 
invariably observed) at many different localities 
in that portion of the county, the black mucky 
soil always appearing immediately below the 
leoss, and varying from three to eight feet in 
thickness, and always overlaying the true drift 
or boulder clay. This old soil is probably the 
equivalent of a chocolate-colored band a foot 
or more in thickness, which lies at the base of 
the leoss in the bluffs at Quincy. 



5M 



HISTORY OF SAN(4AIVI()N COUNTY. 



In my report on Adams county, pul)lishcd in 
Vol. IV, i)age 45, I suggested that the layers of 
chocolate colored soil at the base of the leoss 
might be the equivalent of the old post ter- 
tiary soil penetrated in the shaft at Coatsburg, 
and in consequence of the absence of true drift 
deposits at Quincy, it was difficult to iix the 
relation which this chocolate-colored soil might 
hold to the boulder clays, but the occurrence of 
a similar deposit at so many different localities 
in this county, and at the base of the leoss and 
always above the boulder clays seem to indicate 
{)retty conclusively that the stratum of Quincy 
also belongs above the true drift and to a more 
recent period than that penetrated at Coatsburg. 

These two ancient soils, the one at the base 
of the leoss, and the other beloAV the boulder 
clay, belong to distinct and widely separated 
periods and indicates two distinct emergencies 
of the surfaces during the Quarternary period 
and the prevalence of conditions suitable for 
the growth of an arboreal vegetation. 

The boulder clays, or true drift, consists for 
the most })art of brown, gravelly clay with small 
boulders. Occasionally a boulder, two feet or 
more in diameter, is met with in the beds of the 
ravines, but they are not common. In the vicin- 
ity of Springfield, this division of the quarter- 
nary ranges from twenty to forty feet in thick- 
ness, and this is probably not far from its average 
thickness throughout the county; but at some 
localities there is a blue clay or hard pan below 
the brown clays, which attains about the same 
thickness as the former, making the aggregate 
thickness of the drift where fully developed from 
fiftyto eighty feet. No fossils have as yet been 
obtained from the drift in this county, so far as 
I am aware, though the tooth of a mammoth was 
found some years ago in the bluff's of the Sanga- 
mon, and near the surface, and probably came 
from beds not older than leoss. 

The discovery of the Niantic mastodon, some 
three years since, between Illiopolis and Nian- 
tic, and just over the Macon county line, excited 
considerable interest when the discovery Avas 
first announced, and I visited the locality, and 
was present when a part of the bones were taken 
out. The discovery was made on the farm of 
William F. Correll, in sinking a stock well in a 
wet, spongy piece of ground, located in a swale 
or depression of the surface that had evidently 
once been a pond of water, and had been filled 
up by the wash from the surrounding highland, 
until it formed a morass or quagmire "in dry 
weather. 



The bones were about foiir feet below the 
surface and partly imbedded in a light, gray 
quicksand filled with fresh water shells, J^lass- 
orbis, Oyclas, Physa, etc. Above this quicksand 
there was four feet of black, peaty soil, so soft 
that a common fence rail could be easily pushed 
down through it. The quicksand had evidently 
once formed the bottom of a fresh water pond, 
fed probably by springs and was the resort of 
the animals whose bones were found here. The 
first bone met with in sinking the well was one 
of the tusks, and supposing it to be a small tree 
it was cut in two with an axe before its true char- 
acter was suspected. The other tusk was taken 
out whole, and measured nine feet in length 
around the curve, and about two feet in circum- 
ference where it "svas inserted in the skull. 
The lower jaw, with the teeth in place, and the 
teeth of the upper jaw" and some of the smaller 
bones were also found in a good state of preser- 
vation. 

A fine pair of antlers of the elk, with some 
other bones of the same animal, and bones of 
the buffalo and deer were found in the position 
as the bones of the mastodon, but the bones of 
the smaller animals, although imbedded at the 
same depth, were lighter colored, less decayed, 
and appeared to have been buried at a more re- 
cent period. 

The depth of the quicksand was not fully as- 
certained, but it was probed to the dej^th of two 
feet or more without reaching a solid bottom. 

STRATIFIED KOCKS. 

The stratified rocks, outcroj^ping at the sur- 
face in this county, all belong to the upper coal 
measures, and overline all the main coal seams 
worked in the State. The lowest beds exposed 
in the county, are found on the Sangamon river, 
near the Menard line, and on Richland creek, 
one of the southern affluents of the Sangamon, 
in the western part of the county. 

They consist mainly of sandstones and shales, 
including the horizon of the Rock creek lime- 
stone, although w^e have not, as yet, seen any 
out-crop of this limestone in Sangamon county. 

A vertical seciion of all the beds exposed on 
the Sangamon and its tributaries, in the central 
and western portions of the county, would show 
the following relative position and thickness of 
strata: — 

No. 1, sandy shales and soft sand- 
stone, 15^ feet 

No. 2, hard gray limestone, part- 
ly bleached, 10 to 12 feet 

No. 3, black, slaty shale, 2 to 3 feet 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



No. 4, clay shale, 4 to feet 

No. 5, brown, calcareous sand- 
stone, passing into ferrugin- 
ous limestone, 4 to 5 feet 

No. 6, clay shales, partly bitu- 
minous, 4 to 6 feet 

No. 7, hard gray limestone (Car- 

linville limestone), 6 to 8 feet 

No. 8, sandy shales and soft sand- 
stone, 30 to 40 feet 

No. 9, argillaceous limestone 

and calcareous shales, 2 to 3 feet 

No 10, bituminous shales, 1 foot 

No. 11, coal No. 8, 1 to 2 feet 

No. 12, lire clay, 2 to 3 feet 

No. 13, impure limestone, 2 to 3 feet 

No. 14, sandy shale and soft sand- 
stones, with local bands of ar- 
gillaceousandbituminoussbale, 50 to 60 feet 

No. 15, hard gray limestone, ... 2 to 6 feet 

No. 16, sliales — sandy, argillace- 
ous and bituminous, with thin 
seam of coal, 30 to 60 feet 

The beds numbered from one to seven, inclus- 
ive, of the above section, are well exposed on 
Sugar creek, two miles north of Virden, and 
thence down the creek to the crossing of the 
St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad, between 
whicli points all the beds included in these num- 
bers outcrop in succession, the eastward dip of 
the strata being somewhat less than the fall of 
the stream. 

The upper limestone No. 2, of the above sec- 
tion is well exposed near the bridge on the 
main road north of Virden, and has been quar- 
ried both for lime and building stone. The 
upper part of the bed is a nodular, unevenly- 
bedded rock, partly brecciated, while the lower 
portion is more evenly bedded, affording a tol- 
erably good building stone, iu layers from four 
inches to a foot or more in thickness. 

A little farther up the creek the whole mass 
becomes brecciated and fragmentary, and quar- 
ries in pebbly fragments suitable for macadam- 
izing material. 

The brown ferruginous bed, No. 5, of the fore- 
going section is a hard, massive rock, resem- 
bling tlie limestone at Crow's mill, on Sugar 
creek, six miles south of Springlield, of which 
it is probably the equivalent. 

It contains numerous fossils, amongwhich are 
Productus costcUus, P. JVebrasce?isis, jP' Fratten- 
innus, Spirifer ccmieratus^ Athyris subtiliia, 
Yerehrat'ida bovidejis. Pinna per-acjita., and My- 
alina mnpla? 



The limestone No. 7, of the foregoing section 
is not fully exposed, but the upper layers out- 
crop in the bed of the creek just above the rail- 
road bridge, in pebbly layers not unlike the 
upper layers of No. 2; as they appear above the 
bridge on the main road north of Virden. This 
out-crop is very similar in appearance to the 
upper layers of the Carlinville limestone, just 
below Carr's mill on Macoupin creek, northeast 
of Carlinville, and I have no doubt but this 
limestone on Sugar creek is the equivalent of 
that. Below the railroad bridge the shale un- 
derlying these limestones are the only beds 
exposed for some distance, but east of Auburn the 
limestones are again met witli, and are found in 
outcrops from this point to Crow's mill, seven 
miles south of Springfield, where the rock for 
the old State House was obtained. At Pedde- 
cord's quarries, on Sugar creek, the State House 
rock is well exposed, affording the following 
section : 

No. 1. Thin bedded ferruginous 

limestone, 2 to 3 feet. 

No. 2. Massive, coarse-grained 

limestone, • 4 feet. 

No. 3. Clay shale, partly bitumi- 
nous, 6 feet. 

No. 4. Thin bedded limestone, . 3 to 4 feet. 
No. 5. Sandy shale, 10 to 12 feet. 

The material for the old State House was ob- 
tained mainly from No. 2 of the foregoing sec- 
tion, and there is a nearly continuous outcrop of 
these beds from this point to Crow's mill, two 
miles below, where the old State-House quarries 
were located. 

This rock is a coarse-grained, brownish-gray, 
crinoidal limestone, almost entirely composed of 
crinoidal joints and tlie calcareous remains of 
marine mollusca, cemented together by calca- 
reous and ferruginous sediment. 

In addition to the fossils already enumerated 
as occurring in this limestone at tlie locality 
north of Virden, the quarries here afford numer- 
ous specimens of syrinf/ojyora mtdtatJiennata, 
which seem to belong in the clay shale under the 
limestone No. 2 of the foregoing section, and, so 
far as I am aware, has been found nowhere else 
but in this shale in Sangamon and Macoupin 
counties. 

Some of the masses obtained on Sugar creek 
are nearly a foot in diameter. Tliis limestone 
lias also afforded fine specimens of Cladodus 
mortifer, Petalodus destructor, and Cyathocri- 
mts 'Sangamonensis. This rock possesses the 
same lith'ological characters, and affords exactly 



58 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the same group of fossils as the upper division of 
the main limestone at La Salle, and I have no 
doubt they are stratigraphical equivalents. Be- 
low Crow's mill to the outlet of Sugar creek 
into the Sangamon river, the sandy shales and 
sandstones intervening between this limestone 
and the coal outcroppings at Howlett, are the 
only beds to be seen. This coal seam, numbered 
11, in the general section, given on a preceding 
page, ranges in thickness from eighteen inches 
to two feet, and is coal No. 8, of our general sec- 
tion of the Coal Measures, given in Vol. Ill, 
page 5, of these reports. It outcrops in the 
bank of the Sangamon river at Howlett, and on 
Spring creek and its branches north and west of 
Springfield; and previous to the discovery of 
the heavy beds below this, it was extensively 
worked in strip banks, and by tunnels along its 
line of outcrop. It is overlaid by a calcareous 
shale, and argillaceous limestone, which are 
wonderfully rich in fossils, and have afforded 
more than sixty species of shells, corals and 
crinoidia characteristic of the upper coal meas- 
ures. The coal is underlaid with a dark bluish- 
gray fire-clay two or three feet in depth, below 
which an impure nodular limestone is some- 
times found, but more frequently the fire-clay 
rests directly upon the sandy shales and sand- 
stones below. 

At Howlett, the argillaceous limestone over- 
laying this coal seam, is succeeded by sandy 
shales, passing upward into soft mucacous sand- 
stones, which outcrop along the railroad grades 
just beyond Camp Butler, and contain an inter- 
calaled seam of poor coal only a few inches 
thick. 

The limestones of Sugar creek, which prop- 
erly overlay this sandstone, are not found in the 
vicinity of Howlett, having been probably re- 
moved in the erasion of the Sangamon valley. 

Below this coal, where it out-crops west of 
the city, we find a bed of sandy shale and sand- 
stone, from thirty to forty feet thick, that lo- 
cally furnishes some building stone of fair 
quality, the thickly bedded portions being partly 
concretionary in structure, the concretions often 
attaining a diameter of five or six feet or more. 
They are exceedingly hard, but may be split 
into blocks of suitable size, and made a very 
durable building stone. 

At Carpenter's mill, five miles north of 
Springfield, a fine exposure of the sandstone 
underlaying this coal may be seen on the north 
bank of the Sangamon, where it forms a perpen- 
dicular cliff' more than fifty feet in height. The 
upper and lower portions of the formations are 



thin V)edded and shaly, but the middle pcjrliuus, 
nearly twenty-five feet in thickness, is in tol- 
erably heavy and evenly stratified beds, ranging 
from six inches to two feet or more in thick- 
ness. These layers seem to harden on expos- 
ure, and afford a very good building stone. 

In a ravine, a little to the west of the mill, 
on the north side of the road, the coal No. 11, 
of the foregoing section, and overlaying argil- 
laceous limestone, Here found well up towards 
the top of the hill, and apparently above the 
sandstone exposure at the bridge. The lime- 
stone here contains the same species of fossils 
so abundant in the roof of this coal in the vi- 
cinity of Springfield. 

The coal was not well exposed, but does not 
appear to be more than a few inches in thick- 
ness, and this exposure is probably on or near 
the most westerly outcrop of the seam on the 
north side of the river. Among the fossils com- 
mon in the limestone and shales over this coal, 
the Lophophyllu7n prolifervnn is very abundant, 
and is associated with Astartella vera, Pleauro- 
tomaria sphceomlata, P. Grayville7isis P. carbon- 
aria, Bellerophon carbonaria, B. Montfortianus, 
B. percarinatus, B. Stevensiamis, Leda bella-ru- 
gosa, Nticula ventricoso, Polyphenropsis p)er- 
acuta, P. nitidula, Soleniscus typicus, Loxo- 
nema rugosa, L. cerithiformis, MacrocJieilus 
inhabilis, M. pondero&us, M. medialis, M. inter- 
calaris, 31. ptdchella, M. ventricosiis,Enomphcdus 
rugosus, Productus longisjnnus, P. JVebrascetisis, 
P. Prattenianus, Spirifer cameratvs, S. Ken- 
taickensis, Athyris, subtilita, etc. 

The Rock creek limestone of Menard county, 
if it extends this far to the eastward, should out- 
crop on the Sangamon not very far below Car- 
penter's mill, as its place in the vertical section 
is between coals Nos. T and 8; but all these coal 
measure limestones are somewhat local in their 
development, and this bed has not been met with, 
so far as I know, in any of the coal shafts sunk 
in this vicinity. 

The main coal No. 5, of the general section of 
the coal measures in the central and western 
portions of the State, lies about one hundred 
and seventy-five feet below coal No. 8, in the 
vicinity of Springfield, and two hundred to two 
hundred and ten below the general surface level. 
A boring for artesian water was made at Spring- 
field in 1858, and was carried down to the depth 
of nearly twelve hundred feet without finding 
water that would rise to the surface, and the 
parties having the work in charge reported no 
coal below the small seam thirty or forty feet 
below the surface, though it was evident, from 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



59 



the character of the material brought up with 
the sand-pump, that they must have passed 
through from four or live hundred feet of coal 
measure strata. Subsequently, in a boring at 
Howlett, a six-foot seam of coal was found, at a 
depth of about two hundred feet. A shaft was 
immediately sunk, and extensive mining opera- 
tions have been carried on there to the present 
time. The boring at Springfield not only passed 
through this seam, but all those underlaying it, 
of which two or three will probably be found of 
workable thickness, the men in charge of the 



work being apparently entirely unconscious of 
the true character of the strata through which 
their drill passed. If this work had been placed 
in the hands of competent men, and an accurate 
journal of the boring kept, we should now know 
exactly what our coal resources are, whereas 
nothing was known in regard to the develop- 
ment of the lower coals, except from the exami- 
nations of their outcrops along the Illinois river 
bluffs, until borings at Jacksonville and Chapin 
showed the existence of a seam at those points 
between three and four feet in thickness. 



60 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter III 



PIONEER LIFE. 



One of the most interesting phases of national 
or local history is that of the settlement of a 
new country. What was the original state in 
which the pioneer found the country, and how 
was it made to blossom as the rose ? 

Pioneer life in Sangamon county finds its 
parallel in almost every county in the State, and 
throughout the entire West. When Robert Pul- 
liam and others of that noble band of pioneers 
settled here, they found an unbroken wilderness. 
Wild beasts and but little less wild savages, 
roamed at will over the prairies, through the for- 
ests, and along the waters of the "Sain-quee- 
mon" and its numerovis tributaries. Forests 
were to be felled, cabins erected, mills built, and 
the river and creeks made to labor for the bene- 
fit of mankind. The beautiful prairies were to 
1)6 robbed of their natural ornaments and the 
hand of art was to assist in their decoration. 
Who was to undertake this work '? Are they 
qualified for the task ? What will be the effect 
of their labors upon future generations ? 

The Sangamon county pioneers had many dif- 
ficulties to contend with, not the least of which 
was the journe}^ from civilization to their forest 
homes. The route lay for the most part through 
a rough country ; swamps and marshes were 
crossed with great exertion and fatigue ; rivers 
Avere forded with difficulty and danger ; nights 
were passed on open prairies, with the sod for a 
coucli and the heavens for a shelter; long, weary 
'lays and weeks of travel were endured, biit 
finally " the promised land" was reached. 

EAKtLT MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 

The young men and women of to-day have 
little conception of the mode of life among the 
early settlers of the country. One can hardly 
conceive how great a change has taken place in 
so short a time. In no respects are the habits 
and manners of the people similar to those of 
sixty years ago. The clothing, the dwellings, 
the diet, the social customs, have undergone a 



total revolution, as though a new race had taken 
possession of the land. 

In a new country, far removed from the con- 
veniences of civilization, where all are com- 
pelled to build their own houses, make their 
own clothing and procure for themselves the 
means of subsistence, it is to be expected that 
their dwellings and garments will be rude. 
These Avere matters controlled by surrounding 
circumstances and the means at their disposal. 
The earliest settlers constructed what were 
termed "three-faced camps," or, in other words, 
three walls, leaving one side open. They are 
described as follows: The walls were built 
about seven feet high, when poles were laid 
across at a distance of about three feet apart, 
and on these a roof of clapboards was laid, 
which were kept in place by weight poles placed 
on them. The clapboards were about four feet 
in length and from eight inches to tw^elve inches 
in width, split out of white oak timber. No 
floor was laid in the "camp." The structure re- 
quired neither door, window, or chimney. The 
one side left out of the cabin answered all these 
purposes. In front of the open side was built a 
large log heap, which served for warmth in cold 
weather and for cooking purposes in all seasons. 
Of course there was an abundance of light, and, 
on either side of the fire, space to enter in and 
out. These "three-faced camps" were proba- 
bly more easily constructed than the ordinary 
cabin, and was not the usual style of dwelling 
house. 

' The cabiii was considered a material advance 
for comfort and home life. This was, in almost 
every case, built of logs, the spaces between the 
logs being filled in with split sticks of wood, 
called " chinks," and then daubed over, both 
inside and outside, with mortar made of clay. 
The floor, sometimes, was nothing more than 
earth ti'amped hai'd and smooth, but commonly 
made of "i)uncheons," or split logs, with the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



()1 



split side turned upward. The roof was made 
by gradually drawing in the top to the ridge- 
pole, and, on cross pieces, laying the "clap- 
hoards," which, being several feet in length, in- 
stead of being nailed, were held in place by 
poles laid on them, called ''weight poles," 
reaching the length of the cabin. For a lire- 
place, a space was cut out of the logs on one 
side *of the room, usually about six feet in 
length, and three sides were built up of logs, 
making an offset in the wall. This Avas lined 
with stone, if convenient; if not, then earth. 
The flue, or upper part of the chimney, was 
built of small split sticks, two and a half or 
three feet in length, carried a little space above 
the roof, and plastered over with clay, and 
when finished was called a "cat-and-clay" chim- 
ney. The door space was also made by cutting 
an aj^erture in one side of the room of the re- 
quired size, the door itself being made of clap- 
boai'ds secured by wooden pins to two cross- 
pieces. The hinges were also of wood, while 
the fastening consisted of a wooden latch catch- 
ing on a hook of the same material. To open 
the door from the outside, a strip of buckskin 
was tied to the latch and drawn through a 
hole a few inches above the latch-bar, so that 
on pulling the string the latch was lifted 
from the catch or hook, and the door was 
opened without further trouble. To lock the 
door, it was only necessary to pull the string 
through the hole to the inside. Here the family 
lived, and here the guest and wayfarer were made 
welcome. The living room was of good size, 
but to a large extent it Avas all — kitchen, bed- 
room, parlor and arsenal, with flitches of bacon 
and rings of dried pumpkin suspended from the 
rafters. In one corner were the loom and other 
implements used in the manufacture of cloth- 
ing, and around the ample fireplace were col- 
lected the kitchen furniture. The clothing lined 
one side of the sleeping apartment, suspended 
from pegs driven in the logs. Hemp and flax 
were generally raised, and a few sheep kept. 
Out of these the clothing for the family and 
the sheets and coverlets Avere made by the 
females of the house. Over the door was placed 
the trusty rifle, and just back of it hung the 
powder horn and hunting pouch. In the well- 
to-do families, or when crowded on the 
ground floor, a loft was sometimes made to 
the cabin for a sleeping place and the storage 
of "traps" and articles not in common use. 
The loft was reached by a ladder secured to 
the Avall. (renerally the bedrooms were sep- 
arated from the living-room by sheets and 



coverlets suspended from the rafters, but 
until the means of making these partition walls 
were ample, they lived and slept in the same 
room. 

Familiarity with this mode of living did away 
with much of the discomfort, but as soon as the 
improvement could be made, there was added to 
the cabin an additional room, or a " double log 
cabin" being substantially a "three-faced camp," 
with a log room on each end and containing a 
loft. The furniture in the cabin corresponded 
with the house itself. The articles used in the 
kitchen were as few and simple as can be imag- 
ined A 'Dutch oven" or skillet, a long-handled 
frying pan, an iron pot or kettle, and sometimes 
a coffee-pot, constituted the utensils of the best 
furnished kitchen. A little later, when a stone 
wall formed the base of the chimney, a long 
iron '' crane " swung in the chimney place, Avliich 
on its "pot-hook" carried the boiling kettle or 
heavy iron pot. The cooking was all done on 
the fire-place and at the fire, and the style of 
cooking was as simple as the utensils. Indian, 
or corn meal, Avas the common flour, which Avas 
made into "pone" or "corn-dodger," or "hoe- 
cake," as the occasion or Aariety demanded. 
The "pone" and the "dodger" was baked in 
the Dutch oven, Avhich was first set on a bed of 
g'loAving coals. When the OA^en Avas filled Avith 
the dough, the lid, already heated on the fire, 
Avas placed on the oven and coAered with hot 
embers and ashes. When the bread Avas done 
it Avas taken from the OA'en and placed near the 
fire to keep Avarm Avhile some other food Avas 
being prepared in the same oven for the forth- 
coming meal. The "hoe-cake" was prepared 
in the same Avay as the dodger — that is, a stiff" 
dough Avas made of the meal and Avater, and, 
taking as much as could conveniently be held 
in both hands, it was molded into the desired 
shape by being tossed from band to hand, then 
laid on a board or flat stone placed at an angle 
before the fire and ]iatted down to the required 
thickness. In the fall and early Avinter, cooked 
pumpkin was added to the meal dough, giving 
a flavor and richness to the l)read not attained 
by the modern methods. In the oven from 
which the bread Avas taken, the venison or ham 
was then fried, and, in the Avinter, lye hominy, 
made from the unbroken grains of corn, added 
to the frugal meal. The woods abounded in 
honey, and of this the early settlers had an 
abundance the year round. For some years 
after settlements Avere made, the corn meal 
formed the .staple commodity for bread. 

These simple cabins were inhabited by a kind 



62 



IIISTOKY OF SANGA^ION COUNTY 



and true-hearted people. They were strangers 
to mock-modesty, and the traveler seeking h>dg- 
ings for tlie night, or desirous of spending a 
few days in the community, if willing to accept 
the rude offering, was always w^elcome, although 
how they were disposed of at night the reader 
may not easily imagine; for, as described, often 
a single room would be made to serve the pur- 
pose of kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room and 
parlor, and many families consisted of six or 
eight persons. 

CHAKACTEK OF THE PIONEERS. 

The character of the pioneers of Sangamon 
county falls properly within the range of the 
historian. They lived in a region of exuberance 
and fertility, where Nature had scattered her 
blessings with a liberal hand. The Sangamon 
river, with its numerous tributaries, the inex- 
haustible forest supply, the fertile prairie, and 
the many improvements constantly going for- 
ward, with the bright prospect for a glorious 
future in everything that renders life pleasant, 
combined to deeply impress their character, to 
give them a spirit of enterprise, an independence 
of feeling, and a joyousness of hope. They were 
a thorough admixture of many nations, charac- 
ters, languages, conditions and opinions. There 
was scarcely a State in the Union that was not 
represented among the early settlers. All the 
various religious sects had their advocates. All 
now form one society. Says an early writer : 
" Men must cleave to their kind, and must be 
dependent upon each other. Pride and jealousy 
give way to the natural yearnings of the human 
heart for society. They begin to rub off the 
neutral prejudices ; one takes a step and then 
the other ; they meet half way and embrace ; 
and the society thus newly organized and con- 
stituted is more liberal, enlarged, unprejudiced, 
and of course more affectionate, than a societ}' 
of people of like birth and character, Avho bring 
all their early prejudices as a common stock, to 
be transmitted as an inheritance to jjosterity." 

CLOTHING. 

The clothing of the early pioneers was as 
plain and simple as their houses. Necessity com- 
pelled it to be in conformity to the strictest 
economy. The clothing taken to the new coun- 
try was made to render a vast deal of service 
until a crop of ffax or hemp could be grown, out 
of which to make the household apparel. The 
prairie wolves made it difficult to take sheep 
into the settlements, but after the sheep had 



been introduced and flax and hemp raised in 
sufficient quantities, it still remained an arduous 
task to spin, weave and make the wearing 
apparel for an entire family. In summer, nearly 
all persons, both male and female, went bare- 
footed. Buckskin moccasins were much worn. 
Boys of twelve and fffteen years of age never 
thought of wearing anything on their feet, ex- 
cept during three or four months of the coldest 
weather in winter. Boots were unknown until 
a later generation. After flax was raised in suf- 
ficient quantities, and sheep could be protected 
from the wolves, a better and more comfortable 
style of clothing prevailed. Mannel and linsey 
were woven and made into garments for the 
women and children, and jeans for the men. 
The wool for the jeans was colored from the 
bark of the walnut, and from this came the term 
"butternut," still common throughout the West. 
The black and white wool mixed, varied the 
color, and gave the name "pepper-and-salt." 
As a matter of course every family did its own 
spinning, weaving and sewing, and for years all 
the wool had to be carded by hand on cards 
from four inches broad to eight and ten inches 
long. The picking of the wool and carding was 
work to which the little folks could help, and at 
the proper season all the little hands were en- 
listed in the business. Every household had its 
big and little spinning-wheels, winding-blades, 
reel, warping-bars and loom. The articles were 
iujdispensible in every family. In many of the 
households of Sangamon county, stowed away 
in empty garrets and out-of-the-way 2:)laces, may 
still be found some of these almost forgotten 
relics. 

The preparations for the family clothing usu- 
ally began in the early fall, and the work was 
continued on into the winter mouths, when the 
whirr of the wheels and the regular stroke of 
the loom could be heard until a late hour of the 
night. No scene can well be imagined so 
abounding in contentment and domestic happi- 
ness. Strips of bark, of the shell-bark hickory, 
thrown from time to time in the ample fire- 
place, cast a ruddy, flickering light over the 
room. In one corner, within range of the re- 
flected light, the father is cobbling a well-worn 
pair of shoes, or trying his skill at making new 
ones. Hard by, the youngones are shellingcorn 
for the next grist. The oldest daughter whirls 
the large spinning-wheel, and with its hum and 
whirr trips to the far side of the room, drawing 
out the thread, while the mother, with the click 
of the shuttle and the measured thump of the 
loom, fills up the hours — the whole a scene of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



65 



domestic industry and happiness rarely elsewhere 
to he ound. 

It is well for '' Young America" to look back on 
those early days. It involved a life of toil, hard- 
ship, and the lack of many comforts, but it was 
the life that made men of character. Sangamon 
county to-day has no better men than the imme- 
tliate tlescendants of those who built their cabins 
in t e forest, and by patient endurance v» rought 
out of the wilderness the landmarks for a pros- 
perous commonwealth. One of these writes that 
"the boys were required to do their share of the 
hard labor of clearing up the farm, for much of 
the country now under the plow was at one time 
heavily timbered, or was covered with a dense 
thicket of hazel and young timber. Our visits 
were made with ox teams, and we walked, or 
rode on horseback, or in wagons to 'meeting.' 
The boys 'pulled,' 'broke' and 'hackled' flax, 
wore tow shirts, and indulged aristocratic feel- 
ings in fringed 'hunting-shirts' and 'coon-skin 
caps, 'picked' and ' carded' wool by hand, and 
'spooled' and 'quilled' yarn for the weaving till 
the back ached." 

Industry such as this, supported by an econ- 
omy and frugality from which there was then no 
escape, necessarily brought its own reward. The 
hard toil made men old before their time, but 
beneath their sturdy blo>*s they saw not only 
the forest pass away, but the fields white with 
the grain. Change and alterations were to be 
expected, but the reality has distanced the wild- 
est conjecture; and, stranger still, multitudes 
are still living who witnessed not only the face 
of nature undergoing a change about them, but 
the manners, customs and industries of a whole 
people almost wholly changed. Many an old 
pioneer sets by his fireside in his easy chair, 
with closed eyes, dreams of the scenes of the 
long ago. 

"The voice of Nature's very self drops low, 

As though she whispered of the long ago, 

When down the wandering stream the rude canoe 

Of some lone trapper glided into view, 

And loitered down the watery pat ■ that led 

Thro' forest depths, that only knew the tread 

Of savage beasts, and wild barbarians, 

That skulked about with blood upon their hands 

And murder in their hearts. The light of day 

Might barely pierce the gloominess That lay 

Like some dark pall across the water's face, 

And folded all the laud in its embrace; 

The panther's screaming, and the bear's low growl, 

The snake's sharp rattle, and the wolf's wild howl, 

The owl's grim chuckle, as it rose and fell 

In alternation with the Indian's j^ell. 

Made titting prelude for the gory plays 

That were enacted in the early days. 



" Now, o'er the vision, like a mirage, falls 

The old log cabin with its dingy walls. 

And crippled chimney, with the crutcli-like prop 

Beneath, a sagging shoulder at the top. 

The 'coonskin, battened fast on either side. 

The wisps of leaf tobacco, cut and dried; 

The yellow strands of quartered apples hung 

In rich festoons that tangle in among 

The morning-glory vines that clamber o'er 

The little clapboard roof above the door ; 

Again, thro' mists of memory arise 

The simple scenes of home before the fiyes ; 

The happy mother humming with her wheel, 

The dear old melodies that used to steal 

So drowsily upon the summer air. 

The house dog hid his bone, forgot his care, 

And nestled at her feet, to dream, perchance. 

Some cooling dream of winter-time romance. 

The square of sunshine through the open door 

That notched its edge across the puncheon floor. 

And made a golden coverlet whereon 

The god of slumber had a picture drawn 

Of babyhood, in all the loveliness 

Of dimpled cheek, and hmb, and linsey dress. 

The bough-tilled fireplace and the mantle wide, 

Its fire-scorched ankles stretched on either side, 

'W'^here, perchance upon its shoulders 'neath the joists, 

The old clock hiccoughed, harsh and husky-voiced; 

Tomatoes, red and yellow, in a row. 

Preserved not then for diet but for show ; 

The jars of jelly, with their dainty tops ; 

Bunches of pennyroyal and cordial drops, 

The flask of camphor and vial of squills. 

The box of buttons, garden seeds and pills. 

And thus the pioneer and helpsome aged wife 

Reflectively reviews the scenes of early life." 

WEDDINGS. 

The wedding was an attractive feature of 
pioneer life. There was no distinction of life 
and very little of fortune. On these accounts 
the first impressions of love generally resulted 
in marriage. The family establishment cost but 
little labor — nothing more. The marriage was 
always celebrated at the house of the bride, and 
she was generally left to c'loose the officiating 
clergyman. A wedding, however, engaged the 
attention of the whole neighborhood. It was 
anticipated by both old and young with eager 
expectation. In the morning of the wedding- 
day the groom and his intimate friends assem- 
bled at the house of his father, and after due 
preparation, departed, oi masse, for the "man- 
sion" of his bride. The journey was some- 
times made on horseback, sometimes on foot, 
and sometimes in farm wagons and carts. It 
was always a merry journey; and to insure mer- 
riment, the bottle was always taken along. On 
reaching the house of the bride, the marriage 
ceremony took place, and then dinner or supper 
was served. After the meal the dancing com- 
menced, and generally lasted until the follow- 
ing morning. " The figures of the dances were 



66 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



three and four-handed reels, or square sets and 
jigs. The commencement was always a square 
tour, which was followed by what pioneers 
called "jigging;" that is, two of the four would 
single out for a jig, and were followed by the 
remaining couple. The jigs were often accom- 
panied with what was called "cutting out," that 
is, when either of the parties be-ame tired of 
the dance, on intimation, the place was siip- 
plied by some one of the company, without in- 
terruption of the dance. In this way the reel 
was often continued until the musician was ex- 
hausted. About nine or ten o'clock in the even- 
ing a deputation of young ladies stole off the 
bride and put her to bed. In doing this, they 
had to ascend a ladder from the kitchen to the 
upper fioor, which was composed of loose 
boai'ds. Here, in the pioneer bridal chamber, 
the young, simple-hearted girl was put to bed 
by her enthusiastic friends. This done, a dep- 
utation of young men escorted the groom to the 
same department, and placed him snugly by the 
side of his bride. The dance still continued, 
and if the seats were scarce, which was gener- 
ally the case, says a local witness, every young 
man, when not engaged in the dance, was 
obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the 
girls; and the offer was sure to be accepted. 
During the night's festivities spirits were freely 
used, but seldom to excess. The infair was held 
on the following evening, where the same order 
of exercises was observed. 

SHAKES. 

Another feature of pioneer life which every 
old settler will vividly recall was the "chills and 
fever," "fever and ague," or "shakes," as it was 
variously called. It was a terror to new-C(»mers, 
for in the fall of the year almost everybody was 
afflicted with it. It was no respector of per- 
sons ; everybody looked pale and sallow as 
though frost-bitten. It was not contagious, but 
derived from impure water and air, which was 
always developed in the opening up of a new 
country of rank soil like that of Sangamon 
county. The impurities continued to absorb 
from day to day, and from week to week, until 
the whole corporate body becomes saturated 
with it as with electricity, an<i then the shock 
came ; and the shock was a regular shake, with 
a fixed beginning and ending, coming on in 
some cases each day, but generally on alternate 
days, with a regularity that was surprising. 
After the shakes came the fever, and this " last 
estate was worse than first ;" it was a burning 
hot fever and lasted for hours, When you had 



the chill you couldn't get wariA, and when you 
had the fever you couldn't get cool. It was 
exceedingly awkward in this respect — indeed 
it was. Nor would it stop for any contin- 
gency — not even a wedding in the family would 
stop it. It was imperative and tyranical. When 
the appointed time came around, everything 
else had to be stoj)ped to attend to its demands. 
It didn't even have any Sundays or holidays. 
After the fever went down you still didn't feel 
much better, you felt as though you had gone 
through some sort of a collision, threshing 
machine, or jarring machine, and came out not 
killed, but next thing to it. You felt weak, as 
thougb you had run too far after something, 
and then didn't catch it. You felt languid, 
stupid and sore, and was down in the mouth 
and heel and partially raveled out. Your back 
was out of fix, your head ached and your appe- 
tite crazy. Your eyes had too much white in 
them; your ears, especially after taking (piinine, 
had too much roar in them, and your Avhole 
body and soul were entirely woe-begone, discon- 
solate, sad, poor and good for nothing. You 
didn't think much of yourself and didn't believe 
that other people did either; and you didn't 
care. You didn't quite make up your mind to 
commit suicide, but sometimes wished some 
accident would happen to knock either the mal- 
ady or yourself out of existence. You imag- 
ined even the dogs looked at you with a sort of 
self-complacency. You thought the sun had a 
sort of sickly shine about it. About this time 
you came to the conclusion that you would not 
take the whole State as a gift; and if you had 
the strength and means you would pick up Han- 
nah and the baby, and your traps, and go back 
"yander" to "Old Virginny," the "Jarseys," 
Maryland, or "Pennsylvany." 

"And to-day, llie swallows Hitting 
Round my cabin, sec nic sitting 
Moodily witiiin the sunshine, 

•Tust inside my silent door. 
Waiting for the ' ager,' seeming 
Like a man forever dreaming ; 
And the sunlight on me streaming 

Throws no shadow on the floor ; 
For 1 am too thin and sallow 
To make shadows on the floor — 

Nary shadow any more ! " 

The foregoing is not a mere picture of the 
imagination. It is simply recounting in quaint 
phrase what actually occurred in hundreds of 
cases. Whole families would sometimes be 
sick at one time, and not one member scarcely 
able to wait upon another. Labor or exercise 
always aggravated the malady, and it took Gen- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



61 



eral Laziness a long time to thrash the enemy 
out. These were the days for swallowing all 
sorts of roots and "yaibs" and whisky straight, 
with some faint hope of relief. Finally, when 
the case wore out, the last remedy got the credit 
of the cure. 

WOLF HUNTING. 

In early days more mischief was done by 
wolves than by any other wild animal, and no 
small part of their mischief consisted in their 
almost constant barking at night, which always 
seemed menacing and frightful to the settlers. 
Like mosquitos, the noise they made appeared 
to be about as dreadful as the real depredations 
they committed. The most effectual, as well as 
the most exciting, method of ridding the coun- 
try of these hateful i)ests, was that known as 
the "circular wolf hunt," by which all the men 
and boys would turn out on an appointed day, 
in a kind of circle comprising many square 
miles of territory, with horses and dogs, and 
then close up toward the center field of opera- 
tion, gathering, not only wolves, but also deer 
and many smaller "varmint." Five, ten, or 
more wolves, by this means, would be killed in 
a single day. The men would be organized 
with as much system as a small army, everyone 
Ix'ing posted in the meaning of every signal 
and the application of every rule. Guns were 
scarcely ever allowed to be brought on such 
occasions, as their use would be unavoidably 
dangerous. Tlie dogs were depended upon for 
the final slaughter. The dogs, by the way, had 
all to be held in check by a cord in the hands 
of their keepers until the final signal was given 
to let them loose, when away they would all go 
to the center of battle, and a more exciting 
scene would follow than can easily be described. 

BEE HUNTING. 

This wild recreation was a peculiar one, and 
many sturdy backwoodsmen gloried in excelling 
in this art. He would carefully watch a bee as 
it filled itself with the product of some sweet 
fiower or leaf bud, and notice particularly the 
direction taken by it as it struck a "bee-line" 
for its home, which, when found, would gener- 
ally be high up in the hollow of some tree. The 
tree would be marked, and in the fall a party 
would go and cut down the tree and capture the 
honey as cpiick as they could before it wasted 
away through the broken walls in Avliich it had 
been so carefully stowed by the busy little bee. 
Several oallons would often be taken from a 



single tree, and by a very little work, and pleas- 
ant at that, the early settlers could keep them- 
selves in honey the year round. By the time 
the honey was a year old it would turn white 
and granulate, yet be as good and healthful as 
when fresh. This was called by some "can- 
died" honey. 

SNAKES. 

In pioneer times snakes were numerous, such 
as the rattlesnake, viper, adder, bloodsnake, and 
many varieties of large blue and green snakes, 
milksnake, garter and watersnakes, and others. 
If, on meeting one of these, you would retreat, 
they would chase you very fiercely; but if you 
would turn and give them battle, they would 
immediately turn and crawl away with all possi- 
ble speed, hide in the grass and weeds and wait 
for a "greener " customer. These reall}' harm- 
less snakes served to put people on their guard 
against the more dangerous and venomous kind. 
It was a common practice, in order to extermi- 
nate them, for the men to turn out in companies, 
with spades, mattocks and crowbars, attack the 
principal snake dens and slay large numbers of 
them. In early spring the snakes were some- 
what torpid, and easily captured. Scores of 
rattlesnakes were sometimes frightened out of a 
single den, which, as soon as they showed their 
heads through the crevices of the rocks, were 
dispatched, and left to be devoured by the nu- 
merous wild hogs of that day. Some of the 
fattest of these snakes were taken to the house 
and oil extracted from them, and their glitter- 
ing skins were saved as specific for rheumatism. 
Another method for the destruction was to fix a 
heavy stick over the door of their dens, with a 
long grapevine attached, so that one at a dis- 
tance could plug the entrance to the den when 
the snakes were all out sunning themselves. 
Then a large company of citizens, on hand by 
appointment, could kill scores of the reptiles in 
a few minutes. 

AGRICULTURE. 

In tl.e earlier settlements of this section, 
ponds, marshes and swamps abounded where 
to-day are found cultivated and fertile fields. 
The low and flat places were avoided for the 
higher grounds, not only on account of the wet- 
ness, but for sanitary reasons. Agricultural 
implements were necessarily rude, and the agri- 
culture of a corresponding character. The plow 
used was called a "bar-share" plow, the iron 
point of which consisted of a bar of iron about 



68 



HISTORY OK SANGAMON COUNTY. 



two feet long, and a broad share of iron welded 
to it. At the extreme point was a coulter that 
passed through abeam six or seven feet long, to 
which was attached handles of corresponding 
length. The mold-board was a wooden one split 
out of winding timber, or hewed into a winding 
shape, in order to turn the soil over. In the 
spring time, when the ground was to be prepared 
for the seed, the father would take his post at 
the plow, and the daughter possession of the 
reins. This is a grand scene — one full of grace 
and beauty. The pioneer girl thinks but little 
of fine dress; knows less of the fashions; has 
probably heard of the opera, but does not under- 
stand its meaning; has been told of the piano, 
but has never seen one ; wears a dress " buttoned 
up behind ;" has on " leather boots," and " drives 
plow " for father. In the planting of corn, which 
was always done by hand, the girls always took 
a part, usually dropping the corn^ but many of 
them covering it with the hand-hoe. 

In the cultivation of wheat, the land was 
plowed the same as for corn, and harrowed with 
a wooden- toothed harrow, or smoothed by drag- 
ging over the ground a heavy brush, weighed 
down, if necessary, with a stick of timber. It 
was then sown broadcast by hand at the rate of 
about a bushel and a quarter to the acre, and har- 
rowed in with the brush. The implement used 
to cut the wheat was either the sickle or the 
cradle. The sickle was almost identical with 
the "grass hook" in use, and the cradle was a 
scythe fastened to a frame of wood with long, 
bending teeth or strips of wood, for cutting and 
laying the grain in swaths. There were few 
farmers who did not know how to swing the 
scythe or cradle, and there was no more pleasant 
picture on a farm than a gang of workmen in the 
harvest field, nor a more hilarious crowed. Three 
cradlers would cut about ten acres a day. One 
binder was expected to keep up with the cradle. 
Barns for the storage of the unthreshed grain 
are comparatively a " modern invention," and as 
soon as the shock was supposed to be suflaciently 
cured, it was hauled to some place on the farm 
convenient for threshing, and there put in stack. 
The threshing was performed in one of two ways, 
by flail or tramping with horses, generally the 
latter. The flail was used in stormy weather, on 
the sheltered floor, or when the farm work was 
not pressing; the threshing by tramping com- 
monly in clear weather, on a level and well 
tramped clay floor. The bundles were piled in a 
circle of about fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, 
and four to six horses ridden over the straw. 
One or two hands turned over and kept the straw 



in place. When sufliciently trampled, the straw 
was thrown into a rick or stack, and the wheat 
cleared by a "fanning-miil," or sometimes, be- 
fore fanning-mills were introduced, by letting it 
fall from the height of ten or twelve feet, sub- 
jected to the action of the wind, when it was 
supposed to be ready for the mill or market. 

RELIGION. 

The religious element in the life of the pio- 
neer was such as to attract the attention of 
those living in more favored places. The pioneer 
was no hypocrite. If he believed in horse-rac- 
ing, whisky-drinking, card-playing, or anything 
of like character, he practiced them openly and 
above board. If he was of a religious turn of 
mind he was not ashamed to own it. He could 
truthfully sing 

" I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, 
Or bhish to speak his name." 

But the pioneer clung to the faith of his 
fathers, for a time, at least. If he was a Pres- 
byterian he was not ashamed of it, but rather 
prided himself on being one of the elect. If a 
Methodist, he was one to the fullest extent. He 
prayed long and loud if the spirit moved him, 
and cared nothing for the empty forms of re- 
ligion. 

A traveling Presbyterian minister, visiting 
this region of country at a very early day, thus 
speaks of the sectarian feeling which then ex- 
isted : 

"In these new religions, too, of the most 
absolute independence, you see all the wander- 
ings of human thought, every shade of faith, 
every degree of the most persevering attach- 
ments to preconceived opinions. You see, too, 
all degrees of pretension in religion, followed by 
unhappy manifestations of the hollowness of 
such pretensions. You meet, it is true, with 
more cheering circumstances, and we sometimes 
are able to see that which we strongly wish to see. 
At one point you meet with a respectable Meth- 
odist and begin to feel an attachment to the 
profession. He next meets you with harmony 
and co-operation on his lips, and the next thing 
which you hear is you are being charged of 
being a fierce Calvinist, and that you have 
preached that "hell is paved with infants' 
skulls." While, perhaps, the society with which 
you are connected hear from an opposite quar- 
ter, and from a pretended friend, that in such a 
sermon you departed from the dicta of the Great 
Master and are leading the people to the gulf of 
Armenianism. The Baptists are as exclusive as 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



69 



in the older regions. Even among our own 
brethren, it is well known, that there is some 
feeling of a questionable nature, some rivalry 
between the pupils, the doctors and schools of 
Andoverand Princeton. The Cumberland Pres- 
byterians, with all the freshness of a new sect, 
are not found lacking in this order of things. 
Lastly, there are the Catholics, abundantly more 
united in faith, in spirit, and in purpose than we 
are — who claim a kind of proscriptive right to 
the ground, on the pretext of prior possession. 
Add to these the followers of Elias Smith, and 
the multitudes of men who would be founders 
of new sects, and vou will have some idea of 



the sectarian feelings that you will have to 
encounter." 

But these sectarian feelings were not to last. 
Separated from the religious influences of the 
land of their birth, and seldom hearing the gos- 
pel message, they were literally starving for the 
"bread of life," and the worthy minister of 
whatever denomination that chanced to call re- 
ceived a cordial welcome. The best the early 
pioneers had to give was at their service. 
All they required was that the ministers 
be a true and faithful follower of Christ, 
and preach to them of a common salva- 
tion. 



vo 



HiSTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter IV 



JUDICIAL. 



When the Lord placed Adam and Eve in the 
garden of Eden he gave unto them a law, requir- 
ing implicit obedience, on pain of punishment 
for transgression. As the human race increased, 
other laws in addition to those given in the 
beginning became necessary. The formation of 
laws implies there shall be a judge and a place 
where justice shall be administered. In accord- 
ance with this fact our legislators, on the forma- 
tion of the State Government, enacted certain 
laws, and ordained means by which those laws 
shoiild be executed. 

The first Constitution of the State declared 
that the judicial powers of the State should be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior 
courts as the General Assembly should from time 
to time ordain and establish. This Supreme 
Court consisted of a chief justice and three 
associates. They were appointed by joint ballot 
in both branches of the General Assembly, and 
commissioned by the Governor, and held their 
offices during good behavior, until the ti)»st 
session of the legislature in 1824. They were 
required to hold the circuit courts in the several 
counties in each month, and at such times as the 
General Assembly should by law prescribe. The 
State was accoi-dingly divided into four districts, 
and by an act approved February 11, 1821, San- 
gamon County, together with St. Clair, Madison, 
Greene, Pike and Montgomery were constituted 
the First Judicial, Circuit, and John Reynolds, 
Associate .Justice, assigned to it. 

The first terra of the Sangamon County Cir- 
cuit Court was held at the house of John Kelly, 
on Monday, May 7, 1821. There were present 
John Reynolds, judge; Charles R. Matheny, 
clerk; John Taylor, sheriff; Henry Starr, prose- 
cuting attorney, jtyro tern. 

The following list of grand jurors were em- 
panneled and sworn: Daniel Parkinson, foreman; 
Claybourn James, Henry Brown, John Darneille, 
Archibald Turner, William Davis, Abraham 



Ritchey, Abraham Carlock, Levi Harbour, 
George Hayworth, William Eads, Thomas 
Knotts, James McCoy, James Tweddel, Aaron 
Hawley, Field James, Mason Fowler, Isaac 
Keyes and Elias Williams. 

Charles R. Matheny presented his bond and 
security as clerk, which was approved by the 
court. 

John Taylor presented his bond as sheriff, 
with security, which was approved by the court. 

Suit was commenced by Samuel L. Irwin 
against Roland Shepherd, for trespass, and dis- 
missed at plaintiff's cost. 

Three indictments were found by the grand 
jury, two for assault and battery and one for 
riot, trials of which were deferred until the next 
term of court. 

This completed the business of this term of 
court, and judge, lawyers and spectators all ad- 
journed. 

John Reynolds, who presided at this terra of 
court, and who was chief justice of the State at 
the time, was afterwards Governor of the State, 
and is farailiarly known as the "Old Ranger." 
He was a man of strong mind and strong will 
power, although inclined to yield somewhat to 
make himself popular with the people. In the 
history of the bar is given an anecdote showing 
to what extent he would go to keep the good 
will of another. Judge Reynolds was a schol- 
arly man, understanding the Latin and Greek 
languages perfectly. He is the author of a his- 
tory of Illinois. 

An act of the legislature was passed and ap- 
proved by the Governor February IV, 182o, by 
which Montgomery was detached from, and 
Morgan and Fulton added to, the First Judicial 
Circuit, and this was further changed December 
29,. 1824, by which the district was formed of 
Sangamon, Pike, Fulton, Morgan, Greene and 
Montgomery counties. At this time the State 
was divided into five circuits. John York Saw- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



yer was appointed to the first circuit composed 
of the counties named. 

John York Sawyer was a remarkable man, re- 
markable at least for weight, DaA'id Davis being 
a common sized man bj^ iiis side. He was an 
ill-tempered man, too, notwithstanding his size. 
While he was on the circuit the law provided 
for whipping men for petit larceny. Sawyer, 
says Linder, was a terror to all such offenders, 
and was fond of snapping up the lawyers who 
defended them. A fellow was once tried before 
him for petit larceny and convicted. He was 
defended by Alfred W. Cavarly, who moved an 
arrest of judgment and a ncAV trial, and begged 
his honor to allow him to go over to his office 
and get some authorities Avhich lie wished to read 
in support of his motion. 

" Oh, certainly, certainly," said Sawyer to him, 
assuming one of the blandest looks i)0ssible, 
" The court vrill wait with the greatest pleasure 
on you, Mr. Cavarly." 

Cavarly made one of his profoundest bows 
and retired. Scarcely had he left the court 
house when Sawyer said to the sheriff : 

" Mr. Sheriff, take the prisoner out to yonder 
white oak tree (pointing to one through a win- 
dow which was back of him, and about fifty 
yards off), strip him to the skin, and give him 
thirty-nine lashes on his back, well laid on." 

The sheriff executed the sentence of the court 
with great speed. Sawyer turned around and 
looked out of the window while it was being ex- 
ecuted, and in a loud voice, while the blood was 
streaming down the culprit's back, counted the 
number of strokes on his fingers — one, two, three, 
and so on up to thirty-nine. The sheriff washed 
the back of the prisoner, reclothed him, and 
brought him into court. 

He was scarcely seated when Cavarly made 
his appearance wi h his arm full of law books, 
and with great confidence said to the court: 

" May it please your Honor, 1 am now pre- 
pared to show beyond a doubt that my client 
has been wrongfully convicted, and is entitled 
to a new trial." 

"Very well, Mr. Cavarly, go on; the court 
will hear you with great pleasure." 

Sawyer had the malice to let Cavarly proceed 
and read authorities for some time, but at last 
interposed and said: 

"Mr. Cavarly, you have satisfied the court, 
and if you desire it I shall grant you a new 
trial." 

But at this point his client whispered in his 
car: 



"Don't take it, Mr. Cavarly, or they will whij) 
me again." ■« 

The court went on to finish his remarks: 

"But I will inform you that your client has 
been whipped, and received thirty-nine lashes 
on his ba-e back, well laid on, for I saw and 
counted them." 

Cavarly exclaimed with great indignation: 

"This is an outrage, and I protest against 
such conduct on the part of a court." 

''Oh, Mr. Cavarly, you have a right to pro- 
test. Clerk, enter Mr. Cavarly's protest on the 
record;" and turning to Mr. Cavarly, said: 
"Now, Mr. Cavarly, bring on your corn mer- 
chant (meaning a client of Cavarly's, who was 
charged with stealing corn), and we will dispose 
of him as we have with your hog merchant" — 
the man who had been whipped. 

Judge Sawyer has long since been dead. 

A change was again made in the circuit by 
an act approved January 12, 1827, it now em- 
bracing Peoria, Fulton, Schuyler, Adams, Pike, 
Calhoun, Greene, Morgan and Sangamon; Sam- 
uel D. Lockwood being Judge of the Circuit. 

In January, 1829, Sangamon county still 
formed part of the first circuit, together with 
the counties of Pike, Calhoun, Greene, Macou- 
pin, Morgan, Macon, and Tazewell. Two years 
later McLean was added to the circuit. No fur- 
ther change was then made until 18:35, when 
there was a general reorganization, this district 
remaining the same, with the exception that 
Pike county was taken from it. Stephen T. 
Logan was elected this year, and served with 
great credit to himself and the district for two 
years. On the 20th day of March, 18:^7, Wil- 
liam Brown was commissioned, and served four 
months, when Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., was duly 
commissioned. Judge Thomas, of whom men- 
tion is made in the history of the Bar, resigned 
in 18:B9. 

In 1839, a new Judicial Cii'cuit, numbered the 
eighth, was formed, comprising the counties of 
Sangamon, McLean, Macon, Tazewell, Menard, 
Logan, Dane (now Christian) and Livingston. 
This circuit was formed by act of the legisla- 
ture approved February 23, 1839. Stephen T. 
Logan, a few days sul)sequently, received a com- 
mission as judge of the circuit, but resigned 
the office in about three months, and Samuel H. 
Tre;et was commissioned to fill the vacancy. 
Judge Treat was elected and recommissioned 
January 30, 1840, and held the office up to the 
time of the adoption of the new constitution in 
1848. A sketch of Judge Treat will be found 
in (u)nnecti()n with the bar history. 



12 



HISTORY OF SANGAIMON COUNTY. 



By the constitution of ]S48, the State was di- 
vided into nine judi(?.ial circuits, in each of 
which a jiulge was elected September, 1848. 
The legislature was authorized to increase the 
number of cii'cuits as might be required. No 
change was made in the Eighth Circuit, of which 
Sangamon county was a part. 

David Davis was the tirst judge elected in 
this circuit under the new constitution. Judge 
Davis is a native of Maryland. After graduat- 
ing at a New England college, and having 
studied law with a noted barrister, he came to 
Illinois when quite a young man and settled in 
Pekin, where he remained about one year and 
then moved to Bloomington. Here he opened 
a law office, and by his sagacity, economy and 
industry, he soon won his way to respectable in- 
dependence. In his Reminiscences of the Bar, 
General Linder has this to say of Judge Davis: 

"For his promotion to the circuit judgeship, 
Mr. Davis was largely indebted to his old and 
tried friend, Abraham Lincoln, and to the eter- 
nal credit of Judge Davis, be it said, he never 
forgot it. When a member of the convention 
in 1860, that nominated the Republican candi- 
date for President, Judge Davis had as large, if 
not a larger share in bringing about the nomi- 
nation of Mr. Lincoln than any other member 
of that convention, and when Mr. Lincoln was 
elected, Davis was invited to accompany him to 
Washington as one of his suite. Mr. Davis is 
a large man — about six feet high, very corpulent, 
and weighing some three hundred and fifty 
pounds. He accepted Mr. Lincoln's invitation, 
and being somewhat conspicuous for his size, 
and for wearing a white silk hat, the aspirants 
for office perceived by the attentions paid him 
by Mr. Lincoln that he had no small iniiuence 
with the President-elect, and they paid about as 
much court to the man with the white hat as 
to Mr. Lincoln himself. 

" But I wish to go back to the time when he 
was circuit judge of the State of Illinois, and 
Mr. Lincoln and myself both practiced in his 
circuit — Mr. Lincoln in the whole of it, and I 
in the counties of Vermilion, Edgar and Shelby, 
and occasionally in Champaign. Judge Davis 
was a very impartial judge, and though not in- 
tending to show a preference for one of his 
lawyers over another, such was the marked dif- 
ference he showed to Mr. Lincoln, that Lincoln 
threw the rest of us in the shade. But as Mr. 
Lincoln could not take both sides of a case, An- 
thony Thornton, myself and other prominent 
lawyers, were employed on the opposite side of 
cases in which Mr. Lincoln was engaged on one 



side or the other. Judge Davis always treated 
me with great kindness and consideration, and 
I wish to state here, before going further, lest 
the reader should think that my practice was 
confined to cases in which I was opposed to Mr. 
Lincoln, that in weighty and hotly contested 
cases we were often associated together, so that 
I cannot say that I was at all damaged by the 
friendship shown for him by his Honor, Judge 
Davis. I think it quite likely that had I been 
placed in the same relation to Mr. Lincoln that 
Judge Davis was, I should have shown to him 
the same consideration as was shown him by his 
Honor, Judge Davis. 

" Lincoln and myself generally put up at the 
same hotel, and frequently slept in the same 
room, and not unfrequently Lincoln and I 
occupied the same bed. Judge Davis was too 
large to take either of us for a bed-fellow. 

"Among the most pleasant days of my life I 
recall those when we three traveled together 
from Danville to Paris, and from there to 
Shelbyville. The courts of those three places 
lasting on an average from two to three weeks 
each. Ah! what glorious fun we had some- 
times! 

" I will give a little incident here to show 
the eccentricity of Judge Davis, which occurred 
at the Paris Circuit Court. Judge Harlan, 
who was then judge on the circuit south of 
here, came up to Paris on some special busi- 
ness of his, and Judge Davis, observing him 
in the court house, invited him to come up 
and take a seat on the bench beside him, 
which Judge Harlan did; and while there a 
little appeal came up, in which there was only 
about three dollars in controversy, in which I 
was engaged. I read a decision of the Supreme 
Court which I thought, and which was decis- 
ive of the case. Judge Davis turned to Harlan 
and whispered in his ear, as I afterwards 
learned from Judge Harlan, 'Great God!' 
said he, ' for a lawyer of Linder's age and 
standing to read a decision of the Supreme 
Court in a little appeal case where there are 
only three dollars in dispute!' He neverthe- 
less gave a decision in favor of my client. 

"Another little circumstance I will relate, 
going further to show his eccentricity and his 
friendship for me. Some time in the year, I 
think of 1850, I went up to Springfield, either 
on a visit or on some business or other, when 
Judge Davis was holding his court there; and 
I had landed but about an hour when the 
prosecuting attorney, hearing that I was in 
town, came and employed me to assist him in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



73 



the prosecution of a woman and her paramour 
for the murder of her husband by the admin- 
istration of poison. As I entered the court 
room, Judge Davis being on the bench, and 
perceiving me to enter the room with my pipe 
in my mouth, said in an audible voice: 

'Mr. Sheriff, you will permit no one to 
smoke in this room while court is in session 
except General Linder.' 

'' It created quite a laugh over the house, and 
you may rest assured I was not so modest or 
self-denying as to refuse to take advantage of 
the permission thus given me to smoke my 
pipe during the progress of the trial. 

,"I have already stated that Davis, by invita- 
tion of Mr. Lincoln, went v/ith him to Wash- 
ington, and was present fit his inauguration, 
and I was informed remained there for some 
considerable time. And although he held no 
cabinet office under Mr. Lincoln, yet it was 
pretty well known that Mr. Lincoln had great 
confidence in Judge Davis, and consulted him 
on public affairs frequently during those dark 
and perilous days just before and after the 
war commenced. I am inclined to think that 
Mr. Lincoln tendered him a place in his cabi- 
net, but Judge Davis waited for a safer and 
more permanent place. His ambition was to 
reach the Supreme Bench of the United States, 
and after a while, a vacancy occurring. Judge 
Davis was appointed to fill the place, over the 
heads of such men as Salmon P. Chase and 
other formidable aspirants. His nomination 
was confirmed by the Senate of the United 
States. He has made a most excellent judge, 
and has delivered some opinions on constitu- 
tional questions which have given him a national 
reputation. 

In 1877, Judge Davis was elected to the 
United States Senate for the term of six years. 
In the Senate he has occupied an independent 
position, though generally acting with the Demo- 
cratic members of that body. 

By an act approved February 3, 1853, the 
Eighth Circuit was composed of the following 
counties: Sangamon, Logan, McLean, Wood- 
ford,'Tazewell, DeWitt, Champaign and Vermil- 
ion. As thus constituted it remained unchanged 
until 1857. By an act approved February 11, 
1857, Sangamon county was made part of the 
Eighteenth Circuit, together with the counties of 
Macoupin, Montgomery and Christian. 

On the organization of this new circuit, Ed- 
ward Y. Rice was elected and served as judge of 
the circuit until 1870. Judge Rice was elected 
to this office from Montgomerv county, and 

9— ' ' 



served acceptably during the continuance of the 
circuit. He is a man of clear mind, a good judge 
of law, his judgment rarely being reversed. He 
was appreciated by the entire bar, not only of 
Sangamon county, but of the circuit. 

In 1869, Sangamon county, together, wutli Ma- 
coupin, embraced the Thirtieth Judicial Circuit. 
Benjamin S. Edwards was commissioned judge 
of the circuit, and held the office about fifteen 
months and then resigned. While on the bench 
he was quite popular with bar and people. (See 
sketch in connection with the history of the 
bar.) 

John A. McClernand w^as elected to fill the 
vacancy, and was commissioned July 12,1870. 
He remained in the office until the expiration of 
the term. A sketch of Judge McClernand ap- 
pears in connection with the bar history. 

The General Assembly, by an act approved 
March 28, 1873, divided the State into twenty- 
six judicial circuits, Sangamon county, together 
with the counties ol Macoupin, Shelby, Chris- 
tian, Fayette and Montgomery, comprising the 
nineteenth. Charles S. Zane, of Springfield, 
was the first elected judge of this new circuit. 

In 1877, the State was divided into thirteen 
judicial circuits, with three judges in each cir- 
cuit. Horatio M. Vandeveer, of Taylorville, 
Charles S. Zane, of Springfield, and William R. 
Welch, of Carlinville, were the three elected for 
the Fifth Judicial Circuit, embracing the coun- 
ties of Sangamon, Christian, Macoupin, Shelby, 
Montgomery. 

Horatio M. Vandeveer was raised in Sangamon 
county, but removed to Christian county when 
a young man, and there studied law and was 
admitted to the bar. He was elected judge of 
the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in 1873, and re- 
tained as one of the three judges of the newly 
organized Fifth Circuit. Judge Vandeveer was 
highly esteemed by the bar, and made an excel- 
lent judge. Before being elected to this office 
he served a term in^he legislature very accept- 
ably. He declined a re-election on the expira- 
tion of his term, and is now engaged in banking 
and in the practice of law in Taylorville. 

William R. Welch is from Carlinville, and is 
recognized by the bar and people as above the 
average ability as a judge. 

Jesse J. Phillips was elected in 1879, and is a 
citizen of Ilillsboro. He has had but a short 
experience as judge, but has served very accept- 
ably. During the war he was recognized as a 
brave and gallant officer, the Colonel in com- 
mand of one of our Illinois regiments, and was 
wounded two or three times during the service. 



74 



HISTORY OF SAKGAMON C'OUKTY. 



TROBATE AND COUNTY COUETS, 

Agreeable to an act of the legislature, ap- 
proved February 10, 1821, aCourtof Probate was 
established in this county and James Latham 
was duly commissioned Probate Judge, and held 
the first terra of court June 4, 1881. Tlie only 
business transacted this day was to issue letters 
of alministration to Randolph Wills on the 
estate of Daniel Martin, deceased. 

Court met and adjourned tiiree times, after 
its first meeting, without transacting any busi- 
ness, until August 26, 1821, when the filing and 
recording the will of Peter Lanterman occupied 
the attention of the court one entire day. The 
following is a copy of the first will given in the 
records of the court: 

"Before the witnesses now present, Louis Bennett, 
in perfect memory, does give to the daughters of 
Kakau()(iui, Josett'Kakanoqui, and Lizett Kakanoqui, 
two thousand livres each, and six hundred livres for 
prayes for his father; also, six hundred livres for him, 
if for prayes, and thirty dollars for prayes promised, 
and one hundred dollars for Kakanoqui, the rest of his 
money to be given to his brothers and sisters of Louis 
Bennett. After duly hearing read over before the wit- 
nesses now present, and signing the same will, he does 
voluntarily appoint Joseph D. Portecherou and Louis 
Pencoune.iu, Sr., as exacquators of his will. 

his 

Louis y, Bennett . 

mark 

Joseph D. Poktecheron, ) 
Joseph Duttle, j 

his ^Witnesses." 

Francois X Barbonais, | 
mark J 

James Latham, the first Probate Judge of 
Sangamon county, was born in Loudon county, 
Virginia, October 25, 1*768. He emigrated when 
a young man to Kentucky, and was there mar- 
ried to Mary Briggs in 1792. In 1819, with his 
family, he removed to Illinois, and settled at 
Elkhart Grove, then a part of Sangamon, but 
now of Logan county. As already intimated, 
on the organization of the county he was ap- 
pointed Probate Judge. He held the office but 
a few months and then resigned, having received 
the appointment of Superintendent of the In- 
dians around Fort Clark. Soon after receiving 
this appointment he removed his family to that 
place, and died there December 4, 1826. 

Zachariah Peter was appointed to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by Judge Latham's resigna- 
tion, and served about one year. Zachariah 
Peter was a Virginian by birth, but was raised 
in Kentucky, where he was married to Nancy 
Spaulding. In September, 1818, Mr. Peter ar- 
rived in Sangamon county, and finding an empty 
cabin in what is now Ball township, he moved 



his family into it, remaining there until the fol- 
lowing spring, when he erected a cabin for him- 
self about three miles north. Mr. Peter was one 
of the three commissioners appointed to locate 
the temporary seat of justice for Sangamon 
county, and filled several important county 
offices, serving for several years as one of the 
board of County Commissioners. He died in 
Springfield, August 5, 1864. 

Charles R. Matheny succeeded to the ottice of 
Probate Judge in 1822, and held the oftice for 
three years. Charles R. Matheny was born in 
Loudon county, Virginia, March 6, 1786. When 
a young man he went on a visit to a brother in 
Kentucky, and was there licensed to preach by 
the proper authorities in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. In 1805 he was appointed by that 
body as missionary to a portion of the Illinois, 
but then known as the Indiana Territory. He 
settled in what is now St. Clair county, and 
continued for some years to preach the gospel. 
While engaged in ministerial duties, he read 
law and was admitted to the bar. In 1817 he 
was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Ter- 
ritory. In 1821, he was induced by the tender 
of the office of County Clerk, County Auditor and 
Circuit Clerk, and other prospective advantages, 
to come to Sangamon county, arriving at Spring- 
field in the spring of 1821. In Springfield and 
throughout the county he was very popular, and 
received many favors from the people. He was 
for several years president of the Board of Trus- 
tees of the village of Springfield, and held the 
office of County Clerk until his death, which oc- 
curred October 10, 1839. 

James Adams, of whom mention is made in 
the history of the bar, was the next to fill the 
oflace of Probate Judge, his commission bearing 
date August, 1825. Judge Adams held the 
office until 1843. 

Thomas Moffett was elected in 1843, and 
served until 1849. 

By the Constitution of 1848, counties not or- 
ganized under the Township Organization Law 
were governed by a Board of Justices, consist- 
ing of a County Judge and two associates. The 
County Judge performed under this law all the 
duties formerly devolving upon the Probate 
Judge. Under this act, Thomas Mofl[ett was 
elected to the office of County Judge, and served 
four years. (See sketch of Judge Moflfett in bar 
history.) 

John Wickliife Taylor was elected to succeed 
Judge Moflfett, and commenced his official life 
in December, 1853. Judge Taylor was a native 
of Kentucky, and after his marriage, in 1833, he 



HISTORY OF SANOAMON COUNTY 



moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he re- 
mained one year, and then settled on a farm in 
Cartwright township, where he was living at the 
time of his ele(aion. 

William D. I'ower was elected as the successor 
of Judge Taylur, in 1857. Judge Power was 
born in Bath county, Kentucky, May 2, 1821, 
and was brought by his parents to Sangamon 
county the same year. Here he grew to man- 
hood, and so lived as to merit the esteem of all 
who knew him. In 1861 he was re-elected 
County Judge, and died in office March 2, 1863. 

Noiman M. Broadwell was elected to fill the 
vacancy caused by the death of Judge Power. 
He served out the term. (See sketch in bar 
history.) 

William Prescott was the successor of Judge 
Broadwell, and served from 1865 to 1869. (See 
sketch in bar history.) 

A. N. J. Crook was the next to fill the office of 
County Judge. He was elected in 1869, and 



served four years. He is a member of the bar 
of Sangamon county, and a further notice of him 
appears in that connection. 

James H. Matheny was first elected county 
judge in 18*73, and re-elected in 1877. He has 
made an extremely popular judge. (See 
sketch in connection with the history of the 
bar.) 

When the county adopted the township or- 
ganization law the office of Associate Justice was 
abolished, and the legislative duties performed 
by the County Judge and associates were vested 
in a Board of Supervisors. The County Judge 
was still retained in office as Judge of Probate. 

By the Constitution of 1870 county courts 
were created having original jurisdiction in all 
matters of probate, and made a court of record. 
By an act of the legislature it has been given 
common law jurisdiction to the amount of 
$1,000. A. N. J. Crook was the first County 
Judge under the new law. 



76 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter V. 



THE BAR OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



The Bar of Sangamon county has ever been a 
subject of ])i-ide among her citizens. Some of 
the best legal minds, fairest logicians and finest 
orators of the age have practiced before her 
courts, many of whom have claimed a residence 
in the county. In reviewing the history of the 
Bar, it must be born, in mind that as the pros- 
perity and well-being of every community de- 
pends upon the wise interpretation, as well as 
upon the judicious framing of its laws, it must 
Follow that a record of the members of the Bar 
must form no unimportant part in the county's 
history. Upon a few principles of natural jus- 
tice is erected the whole superstructure of civil 
law, tending to relieve the wants and meet tlie 
desires of all alike. The business of the lawyer 
is not to make the laws, but to apply them to 
the daily affairs of men. But the interests of 
men are diversified, and where so many inter- 
ests and counter interests are to be protected 
and adjusted, to the lawyer and the judge are 
presented many interesting and complex prob- 
lems. 

Change is everywhere imminent The laws 
of yesterday do not meet the wants and neces- 
sities of the people of to-day, for the old rela- 
tions do not exist. New and satisfactory laws 
must be established. The discoveries in the 
arts and sciences, the invention of new contri- 
vances for labor, the enlargement of industrial 
pursuits, and the increase and development of 
commerce are without precedence, and the science 
of law must keep pace Avith them all, nay, 
it must even forecast the event, and so frame its 
laws as will most adequately subserve the wants 
and provide for the necessities of the new con- 
ditions. Hence the lawyer is a man of to-day. 
The exigencies he must meet are those of his 
own time. His capital is his ability and indi- 
viduality. He cannot bequeath to his successors 
the characteristics that distinguished him, and at 
his going, as a general thing, the very evidences 
of his A\ork disappears. Anthony Thornton, 



Presidentof the State Bar Association, in l.s78,in 
an address before the association, thus speaks of 
the lawyer: "In the American State the great 
and good lawyer must always be prominent, for 
he is one of the forces which move and control 
society. Public confidence has generally been 
reposed in the legal profession. It has exer 
been the defender of popular rights, the cham- 
pion of freedom, regulated by law, the firm sup- 
port of good government. In times of danger 
it has stood like a rock and breasted the mad 
passions of the hour, and firmly resisted tumult 
and faction. No political preferment — no 
mere place — can add to the power or increase 
the honor which belong to the pure and edu- 
cated lawyer. The fame of Mansfield and Mar- 
shall and Story can never die. 'Time's iron 
feet can print no ruin-trace' upon their charac- 
ter. Their learning and luminous exposition of 
our jurisprudence will always light our path- 
way. It is our duty to preserve the prestige of 
the profession. The past, at least, is secure; the 
present and future summon us to action. With 
the progress of society, and the increase of 
population, wealth and trade, varied interests 
arise, and novel questions, requiring more 
thought, confront us. A disregard of the law 
has been developed, crime meets us unabashed, 
and corruption stands unmasked in the high 
places of the land. It is no fancy picture that 
the law has, to some extent, lost its authority, 
and it is onl)' the shade of that which once was 
great. Hence, new duties are imi)osed. and a 
firmer courage is required. '-^ * * The exal- 
tation of the profession is a duty enjoined upon 
us. It is a debt which only death can discharge. 
Lord Bacon has said, 'every man is a debtor to 
his profession; from the which, as men of 
course do seek to receive countenance and 
profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor, them- 
selves, by waj* of amends, to be a help and 
ornament thereto.' Every lawyer is a debtor to 
his profession. If worthy, it gives him an hon- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



77 



orable character and high position. The lawyer 
should prize and love his profession. He should 
value its past renown, and cherish the memory 
of great men whose gigantic shadows walk by 
us still. He should love it for the intrinsic 
worth and innate truth of the fundamental 
truths which adorn it." 

In compiling a history of the Bar one is as- 
tonished at the small amount of material for a 
memoir of those w ho have been so intimately 
connected with and exerted such influence upon 
the country's welfare and progress. Aside from 
the few who have become great, whose names 
are emblazoned on history's page, but little is 
known of many who at one time were very 
prominent in the legal profession in the county. 
But the names of Lincoln, Douglas, Shields, 
Baker, Logan, Trumbull, Hardin, Breese, Lock- 
wood, Linder and scores of others tiientioned in 
these pages Avill always And a place in their 
country's history, and Sangamon county has 
reason to be proud, not only of so many distin- 
guished sons, but of the many others who have 
practiced in her courts. 

FIRST DECADE. 

Sangamon county was organized in 1821, and 
in the decade following, the names of Henry 
Starr, John Reynolds, Sidney McRoberts, Al- 
fred Cavarly, William Thomas, Benjamin Mills, 
William A. Hamilton, William Mendel, James 
Adams, Thomas M. Neale, James M. Strode, 
Jonathan H. Pugh, Thomas Moffett, John T. 
Stuart, S. D. Lockwood, Judge Smith, Alfred 
Coles, Mr. Rogers, James Turney, John L. 
Bogardus, David Prickett and George Forquer 
appeared upon the dockets of^ the court — an 
array of distinguished names which would be 
an honor even to the Bar of to-day, many of 
whom have since become distinguished, and few 
of Avhom are now living. 

James Adams is the pioneer attorney of San- 
gamon county, having settled in Springfield in 
1821, shortly after the county was organized. 
Mr. Adams was born in Hartford, Connecticut, 
January 26, 1S03, from which place he removed 
to Oswego county, New York, in 1809, and from 
thence to Sangamon county as already stated. 
For several years he had quite an extensive 
practice, being careful and painstaking in work- 
ing up his cases and in his clients' interests. In 
1823 he was appointed justice of the peace, and 
was elected successively for many years. He 
took part in the Winnebago and Black Hawk 
wars. After an exciting personal canvass, he 



was elected Probate Judge in 1841, and died in 
office on August 11, 1843. 

Jonathan H. Pugh was the second attorney 
to make Sangamon county his home. He ar- 
rived in Springfield early in the year 1823, and 
at once secured a good practice for that day. 
In the first decade of the Bar of this county, 
his name probably appears oftener on the 
docket than any other attorney. Mr. Pugh was 
from Bath county, Kentucky, and was a man of 
brilliant talents, a good lawyer for that time, 
and one whose wit never failed him on any 
occasion. Before a jury he was almost invinci- 
ble. In society he was a prime favorite, having 
remarkably fine conversational powers. Before 
coming to Sangamon he located for a time in 
Bond county, and was there elected to the legis- 
lature. He also served Sangamon county in 
the Assembly after his removal here. In 1831 
he was nominated -for Congress, and made the 
race in opposition to ex-Governor Duncan. At 
this time the question of internal improvements 
was being agitated, especially the building of a 
canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river. 
Governor Duncan was a strong advocate of the 
canal, while Mr. Pugh advocated the building 
of a railroad, and was probably the first man in 
the State to advocate this measure. His views 
upon this question were doubtless one cause of 
his defeat. In 1833, while in the prime of life, 
Mr. Pugh "laid down life's burden and passed 
over to the other side." 

Thomas M. Neale was born in Fauquier 
county, Virginia, in 1796. When a mere child, 
he was taken by his parents to Bowling Green, 
Kentucky. On the breaking out of the war of 
1812, he enlisted and served his country faith- 
fully as a common soldier. He studied law and 
was admitted to the bar in Bowling Green. In 
the fall of 1824 Mr. Neale arrived in Spring- 
field, and at once commeeced the practice of 
law. For some three or four years his practice 
was good. In the campaign against the Winne- 
bago Indians in 1S27, he was the colonel in com- 
mand of all the infantry companies. After the 
Black Hawk war, Col. Neale was elected sur- 
veyor of the county, and one of his first acts 
was the appointment of Abraham Lincoln his 
deputy. He was also a justice of the peace for 
many years, and as such uniting many cou]>le in 
marriage, some times receiving as his fee only a 
saddle of venison. Mr. Neale died August 7. 
1840. 

James M. Strode was from Kentucky, and 
made his first appearance before the Sangamon 
County Courts in 1823. He was then a young 



78 



HISTORY OF SANGAIMON COUNTV. 



man of fair talents, rather showy in dress and 
manners, a good story teller, and for many years 
was quite prominent in the courts of the 
State. Leaving Springfield he settled in Galena, 
where he died. 

William S. Hamilton was a son of the noted 
Alexander Hamilton, of New York. He first 
^gured in the courts of this county in 1825, 
though he was probably here the previous year. 
He was a man of great intellectual powers, but 
was unsteady in his habits. He served the 
county one year in the legislatui'e. 

Thomas Moffett was from Bath county, Ken- 
tucky, and came to Springfield in 182f5, where 
he engaged in teaching school and devoting his 
leisure hours to the study of law. He was 
admitted to the Bar in 1828, and was the first in 
the county to receive a license to practice. Mr. 
Moffett was orderly sergeant of a company in 
the Winnebago war, and captain of a company 
in the Black Hawk war. He served two years 
as County Commissioner, and from 1843 served 
as Judge of the Probate Court. Under the 
constitution of 1848 he was elected County Judge 
for four years. While not taking high rank as 
a lawyer, Mr. Moffett was a man of excellent 
judgment, and made an excellent justice of 
the peace. Probate Judge and County Judge. 
He died in 1877, at a very advanced age. He 
was many years a ruling elder in the Second 
Presbyterian Church. 

William Mendel was a queer genius, not much 
of a lawyer, and good for little else, unless it 
should be for being very witty. He occasion- 
ally failed to behave himself in court with that 
decorum demanded of the profession, and con- 
sequently was punished therefor by the presid- 
ing judge. He once appeared before Judge 
Sawyer and behaved himself in an unbecoming 
manner. The judge sentenced him to jail for 
the night. The nex1i> morning on going to the 
court house a calf was discovered in the judge's 
stand and a lot of geese in the jury-box, with 
Mendall addressing them in an impassioned 
manner. The judge took no notice of the indig- 
nity. 

Samuel McRoberts was one of the best law- 
yers that followed the circuit and making Spring- 
field a point. He was afterwards Circuit Judge, 
and also U. S. Senator from this State. He 
died before the expiration of his term. He was 
an excellent man to be with on the circuit, serv- 
ing to beguile the weary hours in traveling from 
place to place. U. F.Linder, whose reminiscen- 
ces are often quoted in this work, says he could 
give the heartiest laugh when amused, of any man 



he ever saw. He relates the following incident 
that transpired on one occasion: ''Nearly all the 
lawyers of Judge Harlan's circuit met at the Ed- 
gar County Circuit Court, among the rest, Judge 
McKobertsand myself. In those days we nearly 
all roomed together. There was a man by the 
name of Lodge, who was a bricklayer by trade, 
but who had arisen to be superintendent of a 
large farm. Lodge was in the habit of seeking 
every o2:>portunity to talk with the judge and 
lawyers, and would generally seize and nin away 
with the conversation. One day he came in 
where we were all talking, and with great pom- 
posity and egotism told us that he had a water- 
melon-]3atch adjoining the road from Danville to 
Paris; that he was one day sitting on his piazza, 
which overlooked this melon-patch. While sit- 
ting there he saw a gentleman coming along in 
his buggy, and when he got opposite the melon- 
patch he jumped out, got over the fence, pulled 
one of his finest melons, of which he had several 
thousand, and deliberately commenced eating it. 
He said he concluded he would go down and 
have a talk with the gentleman. He edified and 
regaled us with a fine moral lecture Avhich he 
delivered to the stranger, and said he told him 
that if he had come and asked for the melon he 
would have given it to him; and said that he 
ended by walking up to him and deliberately 
knocking the melon out of his hand. He said 
the man seemed greatly mortified, aud said to 
him: 'Sir, I am a gentleman; my name is 
Bishop, a commission merchant at Evansville, 
Indiana. In my native State, where we raise 
vast quantities of melons, it is not thought to be 
a serious matter or a crime for a man to help 
himself to a melon by the wayside, and if you 
feel very much concerned about it here is the 
pay for it,' pulling out his purse. Lodge refused, 
as he told us, and went on to deliver a lecture 
to Mr. Bishop on the rights of equality of riien, 
saying that he did not consider that it conferred 
an honor on him, that a commission merchant 
or anyone else should take one of his melons 
Avithout leave. Here McRoberts burst out in 
one of his great ' horse laughs,' which, to ap- 
preciate, should be heard: 

" ' Ha ! ha! ha ! ' says he, ' that reminds me of 
a story I once heard of William the Fourth, when 
he was Prince of Wales. He was traveling in 
cog. through Canada, and at Montreal he strayed 
into a tailor shop, where the tailor and his wife 
were both sitting on the counter at work ; the 
tailor with crossed legs pressing a seam with 
his hot goose, and his wife sewing away at some 
garment with nimble fingers. Neither seemed 



TUSTOHV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



79 



to pay much attention to the disguised royal 
stranger, when William, stepping up to where 
the woman was sitting, turning his head, asked 
the tailor if that was his wife. ' She is a very 
pretty woman,' said the Prince, and pulling her 
head down toward him, he deliberately kissed 
her, and turning to the tailor very patronizingly 
said, 'Now, sir, you will have the honor of tell- 
ing your children that your wife was kissed by 
the King of England. I am William, the Prince 
of Wales, and heir-apparent to the throne.' The 
tailor laid down his goose, put on his slippers, 
jumped otf the counter, and catching William 
by the shoulders pushed him to the door and 
gave him two or three lusty kicks on the seat of 
honor, and said, 'Now, sir, you will have the 
honor of telling your subjects that in one of 
your Majesty's Provinces you had your jwsterior 
kicked by a tailor.' ' Lodge looked like he 
could have crawled through an auger hole, and 
said : ' Judge McRoberts, I hope you don't 
mean to say there is the same disparity between 
Bishop and myself as existed between the 
Prince and the tailor!' Whereupon we all 
burst into a most uproarious lit of laughter, 
when Lodge left, and never visited us again." 

Alfred W. Cavarly is a man well known by 
the elder members of the Bar. He lived in 
Greene county and rode the circuit of which 
Sangamon formed a part for many years. He 
was considered a good lawyer, though a little 
egotistic. He always rode a good horse in his 
travels. On one occasion he interj^osed a gen- 
eral demurrer to one of Mills' pleadings, and 
sought thus to take advantage of some matter 
which could only be reached by special demur- 
rer. When Cavarly discovered that he could 
only reach the defect by special demurrer, he 
insisted that his was a special demurrer be- 
cause he had underscored part of it. Judge 
Lockwood decided against him. At dinner the 
same day at which the Judge and members of 
the Bar were present, Cavarly sent his plate to 
Mills to be furnished with what he thought was 
a cut of venison. Mills sent him a piece which 
Cavarly discovered was beef, and he remarked, 
"Brother Mills, I wanted venison, and you sent 
me beef." "Oh," said Mills, "underscore it, 
Brother Cavarly, and that will make it venison." 

Benjamin Mills was one of the ablest, most 
learned and accomplished lawyers of the early 
Bar of this State. He was from Massachusetts, 
highly educated, and a man of a rare style of 
oratory, through which there ran a rich vein of 
wit and irony. It was a talent he often indulged 
in in conversation. He rode the circuit in com- 



pany with several others who have since become 
prominent, and had few equals to contend with. 
As illustrative of his wit it is related that one 
day when he was in his cups at his hotel, he was 
sitting about half asleep, when Cavarly stepped 
up to where he was sitting and laid his hand on 
Mills' bald head and remarked: "Friend Mills, 
you have quite a prairie on your head." " Yes, 
Cavarly," he said, " and do you know the differ- 
ence between you and me?" "By no means, 
Brother Mills," said he, in quite a patronizing 
manner. " Well, Til tell you," said Mills, " my 
prairie is on my head, but yours is inside your 
head." 

Mills was the son of a New England Presby- 
terian minister, and came to Illinois at an early 
day, when there was a law authorizing a justice 
of the peace, if he heard a man swear, even 
upon the streets, to go to his office and enter up 
a fine of one dollar against him. Ben was a 
justice of the peace, and was one day taking 
his glass with another justice of the peace at his 
hotel in Greenville, Illinois, when he happened 
to let slip about a half dozen oaths. His 
brother justice said nothing about it at the time. 
This was in the morning. They met again at 
the same place in the evening and were taking 
another social glass together, when his friend 
remarked : 

" Brother Mills, you swore sereral oaths this 
morning, and you know the law makes it my 
duty to enter a fine against you of a dollar for 
each oath." 

" I know it, my brother," said Mills, " and 
thought of it as I went to my office, and being 
a justice of the peace myself, I entered upon 
my docket a fine of one dollar for each oath I 
swore." 

"Oh, well," said his friend, " that will do. 
Come, Brother Mills, let us have another glass." 
And when they were about to drink it. Mills 
remarked: "But you know, my brother, that 
the policy of the law is reformation and not 
vengeance, and feeling that object has been 
thoroughly accomplished in my case, by the fine, 
I am now considering the question of remitting 
it." After their glass and a hearty laugh they 
parted. 

Mr. Mills was a powerful prosecutor. At 
Edwardsville, a lawyer named Winchester, killed 
a man named Smith, or at least was charged 
with the crime. Mills was his prosecutor. Felix 
Grundy, of Tennessee, then one of the greatest 
criminal lawyers in the southwest, was sent for 
to defend Winchester. The prosecution is said 
to have been one of the ablest, most fearful and 



80 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



terrible ever heard, and it required all the talent 
and oratory of Grundy, assisted by the presence 
and countenance of many of the leading attor- 
neys and men of the place to prevent a con- 
viction. 

Mr. Mills died about 1850. 

John Reynolds is well known to every student 
of the history of Illinois, having been Governor 
of the State, member of Congress, and Judge of 
the Supreme Court of Illinois. He was a ripe 
scholar, a man of great natural ability, yet withal 
modest, seeming more disposed to conceal than 
to blazon forth his accomplishments to the world. 
An amusing story is told of the Governor which 
occurred while holding a term of the circuit 
court at Edwardsville. At that term a man 
named Green was tried before him on the charge 
of murder, and was convicted. Reynolds, who 
was always seeking popularity, desired the ill 
will of no one, even of a murderer, and after the 
verdict of guilty had been read by the clerk in 
open court, turned to Green, his face all beam- 
ing Avith sympathy, said: 

" Mr. Green, I am truly sorry for you; the jury 
have found you guilty of murder, and I suppose 
you know you have got to be hung." 

" Yes, your Honor," said Green. 

"Mr. Green, I want you to understand that 
this is none of my work, but of a jury of your 
own selection. I would take it as a favor of you 
if you would communicate this fact to your 
friends and relatives. The law makes it my 
duty to pass sentence upon you and carry out 
the verdict of the jury. It is a mere matter of 
form, Mr. Green, so far as I am concerned, and 
your death can in no way be imputed to me. 
Mr. Green, when would you like to be hung?" 

" Your Honor," said Green, " if I had any 
choice in the matter, I should not like to be 
hung at all; but as it seems I have not, I have 
no preference of one time over another." 

Reynolds then turned to the clerk and said: 

"Mr. Conway, look at the almanac and see if 
the fourth Friday in December comes on Sun- 
day." 

Conway, being a man of considerable humor, 
gravely turned to the almanac, and then looking 
up, said: 

" I find, your Honor, to my utter astonish- 
ment, that that day comes upon Friday!" 

" So it does, so it does," said Reynolds. Turn- 
ing to Green, he said: 

"Mr. Green, the sentence of the court is that 
on the fourth Friday in December, between the 
hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and four 



o'clock in the afternoon, the sheriff of Madison 
county will take you from the jail to the place of 
execution, and there, Mr. Green, I am sorry to 
say, he will hang you till you are dead, dead, 
dead, and may the Lord have mercy upon your 
soul. And don't you forget it, Mr. Green, that 
it is not my work, but that of the jury which 
tried you." 

James Turney's name appears upon the rec- 
ords of the Sangamon Circuit Court for several 
years, beginning in 1824. He was aTennessean 
by birth, but at this time lived in Carrollton. 
He was a man of fine personal appearance, of 
great natural, with but little acquired ability. 
When Attorney-General of the State, it is said, 
that such was the reputation which had preceded 
him when traveling the circuits, that many men 
indicted, came into court and confessed guilty 
rather than stand a trial with him as prosecutor. 
He was a natural orator, and always commanded 
the most profound attention. No one could fail 
to recognize in a moment, when hearing him 
speak, that he was a man of considerable genius 
and talent. He served the State as Attorney- 
General and as Commissioner of the Illinois and 
Michigan Canal. He was also State Senator 
from Greene county. 

Henry Starr, at a very early day, left his na- 
tive State of New Hampshire and settled in Ken- 
tucky, where he taught school and studied law. 
After being admitted to the Bar, he removed to 
Edwardsville, Illinois, from which place he made 
his semi-annual trips around the circuit, his name 
appearing on the docket of Sangamon Circuit 
Court in 1822. He remained in the State but a 
few years when he removed to Cincinnati, and 
soon was recognized as a leading lawyer of that 
metropolis. 

George Forquer,a half-brother of ex-Governor 
Ford, was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 
1794. With his mother and half-brother he 
moved to Monroe county, Illinois, at an early 
day, from which place he was elected a member 
of a legislature. In 1825 he was appointed by 
Governor Coles, Secretary of State, and went to 
Vandalia in the discharge of the duties of that 
office. In December, 1828, he resigned the posi- 
tion, and in January following was appointed 
Attorney-General by Governor Edwards. Re- 
signing this latter office the same year, he re- 
moved to Springfield. He afterwards repre- 
sented Sangamon county in the State Senate, 
and was at one time register of the land office in 
Springfield. He was considered by his contem- 
poraries a fair lawyer and had a good business. 
He died September 12, 18:38. 




3?^^;/^^ (7^ oCo-c^ 



^^^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



83 



A sketch of John T. Stuart, who had his first 
casein the April term, 1829, of the Circuit Court, 
and who is at present actively engaged in busi- 
ness in Springfield, appears in connection with 
the seventh decade. 

As illustrative of the way the lawyers followed 
the circuit, the following reminiscence by Judge 
William Thomas, of Jacksonville, is here given: 

"My Kentucky law license is dated July 5, 
182;3 (granted before I was twenty-one). My 
Illinois license is dated October, 1826. The 
first court that I attended in Illinois was held in 
this place, November, 1826; John York Sawyer 
was Circuit Judge. The attorneys in attend- 
ance were, John Reynolds, Belleville; James 
Turney, Attorney General, and Alfred W. Cav- 
arly, of Carrollton; William H. Brown, Benja- 
min Mills and George Forquer, of Vandalia; 
David Prickett, Edwardsville; Murray McCon- 
nell, John Turney and Benjamin Cox, of thi^ 
place; Jonathan H. Pugh, Thomas M. Neale 
and James M. Strode, of Springfield. The bus- 
iness of the court was finished in less than a 
week, and the next and last court held by Judge 
Sawyer was in Springfield in the same month. 
With two exceptions, McConnell and Cox, the 
same attorneys were in attendance at Spring- 
field, with the addition of William S. Hamil- 
ton, General James Adams, Thomas Mofl^ett, of 
Springfield, and John L. Bogardus, of Peoria. 

" The First Judicial Circuit at that time was 
composed of the counties of Greene, Morgan, 
Sangamon, Peoria, Fulton, Schuyler, Adams, 
Pike and Calhoun. A week was allowed to each 
term of the court in Greene, Morgan and San- 
gamon, and half a week in each of the other 
counties. From December, 1826, to March, 
1827, I was employed as village schoolmaster in 
this place. In the sjjring of 1827, I attended 
all the courts in this circuit. S. J. Lockwood, 
of the Supreme Coui't, was required to hold the 
courts in this circuit — Greene, Morgan and San- 
gamon, with the resident attorneys — Reynolds, 
Turney, Pugh, Strode and Cavarly from other 
counties being in attendance. From Sangamon 
we went to Peoria, Bogardus resided there and 
kept the tavern. There was another attorney 
there who resided on the lake some distance 
above Peoria, his name I have forgotten. The 
Attorney General being absent, I was appointed 
to represent the people. Jacob Funk and one 
Ogee, having been indicted for an affray, to the 
"terror of the people," confessed guilty, were 
fined a small sura, and each paid my fee of $5, 
with which I paid my traveling expenses around 
the circuit. The attorneys present at this court 

10— 



from other counties were, John Turney, James 
M. Strode, Jonathan H. Pugh and General 
James Adams. 

" From Peoria the court Avent to Fulton 
county, Pugh, Turney, Adams and myself being 
the only attorneys, besides a resident attorney 
whose name I have forgotton. Judge Phelps 
entertained the judge and Bar, and refused pay. 
Here I was employed in an appeal case, which I 
gained, and received -$5 for my fee. John Tur- 
ney was appointed to rej)resent the people. 
There was no criminal case for trial. From 
there we went to Schuyler county, our horses 
swimming Spoon river, and we crossed in a 
canoe. There we found at the county seat but 
two families — Hart Fellows, clerk, and Terry, 
recorder. Pugh was appointed to prosecute, 
but there was no criminal case on the docket — 
the grand jury found no bills — and after the 
trial of a few appeal cases the court adjourned 
on the second day. 

"From that county we went to Quincy, trav- 
eling through the j^raii-ie in a day, distance 
sixty miles, with no roads. I think there was 
no resident attorney at Quincy. We met there 
General Hanson, J. W. Whitney and J. I. Ross, 
of Atlas, Pike county. Here I was appointed 
to prosecute. There was but one criminal case 
tried, the party was convicted, and paid my fee 
of $5. From that county we went to Pike. 
There we met the Attorney General and Mr. 
Cavarly fi'om Carrollton, and Colonel Jenkins 
from Calhoun county. Captain Leonard Ross, 
then sheriff of the county, entertained the court 
and Bar, refusing pay. He was one of nature's 
noblemen, from Massachusetts. 

"Three days were occupied with the business 
of the court, and then we went to Gilead, 
county seat of Calhoun county, where I was era- 
ployed to defend a doctor, indicted for murder 
— a case of supposed malpractice, but, in fact, a 
case of ignorance and malice. In employing 
me he said that |20 was all he had, that he was 
in feeble health, had a sick family, and was in 
destitute circumstances. I agreed to defend 
him for the $20, being satisfied of his inno- 
cence and of his extreme poverty. Upon the 
trial of the case and the charge of the court, 
the jury found him not guilty. More than 
twenty years after I met this doctor at Spring- 
field, a member of the legislature. He was still 
in feeble health, remembered and recognized 
me, but I did not him, until he made himself 
known. There the circuit ended. 

"The resident and non-resident attorneys 
who practiced in this circuit, say in May, 1827, 



84 



HISTORY OK SANGAMON COUNTY. 



were, John Reynolds, Belleville; James Turney 
and Alfred W. Cavarly, Carrollton; Benjamin 
Mills, Yandalia; Samuel McRoberts, Edwards- 
ville; Murray McConnell, John Turney, Benja- 
min Cox and William Thomas, Jacksonville; 
Jonathan H. Pugh, William S. Hamilton, James 
M. Strode, Thomas M. Neale, General James 
Adams and Thomas Moffett, Springfield; John 
L. Bogardus, Peoria; General N. Hanson, James 
W, Whitney and John I Ross, Pike county; 
Colonel Jenkins, of Calhoun, brother of Lieu- 
tenant Governor Jenkins. Of all these attor- 
neys I am the sole survivor." 

SECOND DECADE. 

In the second decade, from IS-Sl to 1841, an 
ai'raj' of names appear, some of whom have 
made a reputation tliat is world-wide. For char- 
acter, learning and ability the Bar during this 
decade has never been surpassed either in San- 
gamon county or in any county in the State, and 
perhaps not in the Union. At what Bar will be 
found the superior, or even the equal of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, James 
Shields, Stephen T. Logan, John T. Stuart, Ed- 
ward Jones, Dan Stone, Samuel H. Treat 
Ninian W. Edwards, E. D. Baker, Cyrus Walker, 
Jesse B Thomas, and A. T. Bledsoe, all of 
whom engaged in practice and often appeared 
before the courts of Sangamon county during 
this time? Not alone as attorneys, but as states- 
men, the greater number of the foregoing were 
prominent in after years. James C. Conkling, 
who was cotemporarj' with those named gays 
this of law and lawyers at that time: 

'" Forty years ago, business was not so great 
in extent as to occupy the full time of the law- 
yer. Suits were not so numerous, or so impor- 
tant, as to afford a support for himself and fam- 
ily. He engaged in political life as an employ- 
ment, and solicited office to improve his slender 
income. A much larger number of the promi- 
nent membei's of the legal profession then 
became members of the State Legislature or of 
Congress than at present. The people demanded 
their political services, and they were happy 
and anxious to accommodate the people. A 
political contest gave them notoriety among the 
masses, and afforded them an opportunity to 
display their abilities. A reputation for elo- 
quence and skill in debate was a recommenda- 
tion as lawyers in the practice of their profes- 
sion. Hence we find the names of Reynolds, 
Edwards, Cook, Casey, Breese, Browning, Har- 
din, Baker, Williams, Shields, Douglas, Trum- 
bull, Lincoln, McClernand and numerous others 



almost as frequently, in the political annals of 
our State, as upon the records of our courts. 
As lawyers they were eminent; as statesmen 
many of them became illustrious." 

In addition to those named, the records of the 
courts show the following named as practicing 
here between the years 1831 to 1841: Edward 
J. Phillips, Henry E. Dummer, William L. 
May, Josephus Hewitt, Chp,rles Emerson, David 
Prickett, Jesse B. Thomas, D. B. Campbell, 
Justin Butterfield, Antrim Campbell, John D. 
Urquhart, John C. Doremus, James C. Conkling, 
Charles R. Wells, Schuyler Strong, B. S. Ed- 
wards, and W. J. Gatewood, a list of which the 
Bar of any county might be proud. 

During the latter part of this decade, the 
United States Circuit Court and the Supreme 
Court of Illinois were removed from Vandalia 
to Springfield. Isaac N. Arnold, in an address 
delivered before the Illinois State Bar Associa- 
tion, at Springfield, January Y, 1881, says: 

" I wish, with the graphic power, of Sir Walter 
Scott, I could call up a picture of the United States 
Circuit Court and the Supreme Court of Illinois, 
and the lawyers then practicing before them, as 
they were in 1839, and on during the following 
years. If we could, in fancy, enter the United 
States Circuit Court room in this city, in June, 
1839, we should be impressed with the majestic 
figure, imposing presence and dignified bearing 
of the presiding judge, John McLean, a Justice 
of the Supi'eme Court of the United States. His 
person and face were often compared to Wash- 
ington's — whom he is said to have strikingly re- 
sembled," 

"Nathaniel Pope, the District Judge, was 
shorter and stouter in person, more blunt and 
sturdy in manner, and not so familiar with the 
law books, the cases, and literature of the law, 
but of a most clear, vigorous and logical mind. 
If we enter their court, then held, if 1 am not 
mistaken, in one of the churches in this city, we 
should find Ferris Foreman, then United States 
District Attorney, prosecuting the case of " The 
United States vs. Gratiot,'''' then a historic name 
in Missouri and the Northwest, in a case arising 
under a lease, by the Government, of a portion 
of the lead mines of Galena. AVe should hear 
the late Judge Breese making a very learned 
argument for the defense. If we lingered until 
the next case was called, we should hear the 
sharp, clear, ringing voice of Stephen T. Logan 
opening his case. If we remained until the trial 
ended, we should concur in the remark that this 
small, red-haired man, inferior in person, but 
with an eye whose keenness indicated his sharp 



HISTORY OF SANOAMON COUNTY. 



85 



and incisive intellect; this little man, take him 
all in all, was then the best nisip7-k(s lawyer in 
the State, and it would be diflicult to find his 
superior anywhere. Among the leading practi- 
tioners in the court in Springfield in 1839, were 
Logan, Lincoln, Baker, Trumbull, Butterfield & 
Collins, Spring & Goodrich, Cowles & Krum, 
Davis, Hardin, Browning, and Archy V\"illiams." 
"To a contemporary of those early members of 
the Bar, the roll of attorneys admitted in those 
days bring up sad and pleasant memories. On 
that roll, in 1836, you find the name of Thomas 
Drummond, now a venerable Judge of the North- 
ern District of our State; David Davis, late 
Judge, and now Senator; Archy Williams and 
Anthony Thornton. In 1837 I find the names 
of Abraham Lincoln, William A. Richardson, 
Lyman Trumbull, Mahlon D. Ogden, Joseph 
Gillespie; and in 1838, Justin Butterfield, James 
A. McDougall, Hugh T. Dickey, Schuyler Strong, 
John J. Harviin, Judge E. Peck, J. Young Scam- 
mon, and others, and from that time on, the 
names become more numerous." 

Continuing his reminiscenses, Mr. Arnold said: 
" In those early days it was my habit, and that, 
also, of those practicing in the United States 
Court, to come to Springfield twice each year, to 
attend the semi-annual terms of court held in 
June and December. We made our trips in 
Frink & Walker's coaches, and I have known 
the December trip to take five days and nights, 
dragging drearily through the mud and sleet, 
and there was an amount of discomfort, vexa- 
tion and annoyance about it sufficient to exhaust 
the patience of the most amiable. I think I 
have noticed that some of my impulsive brethren 
of the Chicago Bar have become less profane 
since the rail-cars have been substituted for the 
stage-coaches. But the June journey was as 
agreeable as the December trip was repulsive. 
A four-in-hand with splendid horses, the best of 
Troy coaches, good company, the exhilaration of 
great speed over an elastic road, much of it a 
turf of grass, often crushing under our wheels 
the most beautiful wild flowers, every grove 
fragrant with blossoms, framed in the richest 
green, our roads not fenced in by narrow lanes, 
but with freedom to choose our route; here and 
there a picturesque log-cabin, covered with 
vines; the boys and girls on their way to the 
log-schools, and the lusty farmer digging his 
fortune out of the rich earth. Everything fresh 
and new, full of young life and enthusiasm, 
these June trips to Springfield would, I think, 
compare favorably even with those we made 
to-day in a luxurious Pullman car. But there 



were exceptions to these enjoyments; sometimes 
a torrent of rain would in a few hours so swell 
the streams that the log bridges and banks 
would be entirely submerged, and a stream which 
a few hours before was nearly dry, became a 
foaming torrent. Fording, at such times, was 
never agreeable, and sometimes a little dan- 
gerous. 

FOEDINfi SALT CREEK. 

"I recall a ludicrous incident on our way to 
Springfield, I think, in June, 1842, We had a 
coach, crowded with passengers, most of us 
lawyers, on our way to the United States Court. 
In passing from Peoria to Springfield, we 
attempted to ford one of these streams which 
had been lately raised so that its banks were 
nearly a quarter of a mile apart. When we had 
driven half across the horses left the track, got 
into a bad slough, and were stalled. All efforts 
to extricate the coach failed, and, at length, the 
driver gave up the attempt in despair; said he 
must take off the horses and go to the next sta- 
tion for help; those who chose might mount a 
horse and ride ashore; or, if they preferred, 
might wade ashore or stay in the coach until he 
returned, or wait until another coach, which was 
behind, should come up; we might wait for it, 
provided we were not carried down the stream 
by the current. Some decided to try their for- 
tunes on a stage horse; others stripped off 
trousers, boots ond stockings, and taking their 
coat-tails under ther arms, started to wade ashore. 
Old Dr. Maxwell was of our party, a very stout 
gentleman, with short legs, and weighing near 
three hundred pounds. The doctor sat by the 
window of the coach, grimly watching the 
various groups, and turning his eyes now to the 
equestrians, and now to those buffeting the cur- 
rent on foot, and envying some of the long- 
legged gentlemen who were struggling towards 
the shore. Seeing the doctor unusually grave, a 
friend called to him: 

" What is the matter, doctor? " " Why don't 
you come on? " 

"1 don't like the aspect." said he. "The 
diagnosis is threatening. My legs are too short 
to wade, and there is not a horse in the team that 
can carry my weight through this current. Sink 
or swim; survive or perish; I shall stick to the 
ship." 

" Well," replied an irreverent and saucy young 
lawyer, " if you are washed away and cast ashore 
by the current, 1 should like to have the opinion 
of Judge Dickey (not the present Chief Justice) 
whether you would not be flotsam and Jetsam, 



86 



IlISTOliY^ OF SANGA.MON COUXIV. 



and belong, medicine and all, to the sovereign 
people of Illinois'?" 

"Fortunately, our driver soon returned and res- 
cued our genial doctor. 

"I must not omit to mention the old-fashioned, 
generous hospitality of Springfield — hospitality 
proverbial to this day throughout the State. 
Among others, I recall, with a sad pleasure, the 
dinners and evening parties given by Mrs. Lin- 
coln. In her modest and simple home, everything 
orderly and refined, there was always, on the part 
of both host and hostess, a cordial and hearty Wes 
tern welcome, which ])ut every guest perfectly 
at ease. Mrs. Lincoln's table was famed for the 
excellence of many rare Kentucky dishes, and in 
season, it was loaded with venison, wild turkeys, 
prairie chickens, quail and other game, which 
was then abundant. Yet it was her genial man- 
ners and ever-lcind welcome, and Mr. Lincoln's 
wit and humor, anecdote and unrivalled conver- 
sation, which formed the chief attraction. We 
read much of " merrie England," but I doubt if 
there was ever anything more "merrie" than 
Springiield in those days. As, to-day, I walk your 
streets, and visit the capital, and your court 
rooms, as I ent^r the old home of Lincoln, for 
ihe first time since 1860, memories of the past 
come thronging back; I see his tall form, his 
merry laugh breaks upon my ear; I seem to hear 
the voice of Douglas, of Baker, of Hardin, and 
of Logan! 

'• How are we startled in the wind's low tones 
Bj voices that are gone." 

"Nor, in recalling the past, must I forget the 
hospitable home of Judge Treat, who, to-day, as 
then, in his ample library, may well say: 

" That place that does contain, 
My books, the best companions, is to me 
A glorious court, where hourly I converse 
With the old sages and philosophers.'" 

At this time the Supreme Court of the State 
was com])osed of four judges, three of whom 
were Whigs, and the fourth a Democrat. When 
Governor Carlin came into office in 1838, he 
claimed the right to appoint a new secretary 
before any vacancy existed. He nominated 
John A. McClernand; but the Senate, by a vote 
of twenty-two to eighteen, declared that the ex- 
ecutive did not possess the power to nominate a 
secretary, except in case of vacancy, and they 
therefore rejected the nomination. After the 
adjournment of the legislature he undertook to 
appoint McClernand as secretary, who thereupon 
demanded possession of the office, but was re- 
fused. McClernand then filed an information, 



in the nature of a quo warranto^ before Judge 
Breese, in the Circuit Court of Fayette county, 
who decided in his favor. Field took an appeal 
to the Supreme Court, where the decision was 
reversed. Aside from the political questions 
involved, the case was of considerable import- 
ance. Able counsel appeared on each side. 
For the appellant, were Cyrus Walker, Justin 
Butterticld and Levi Davis. For the appellee, 
Steplien A. Douglas, James Shields and Wick- 
liffe Kitchell, the Attorney-General. Wilson 
and Lockwood, the Whig judges, concurred, 
and Smith dissented. Brown being connected 
with the relator, declined to sit in the cause. 
The court decided that the Governor did not 
possess the power to remove the Secretary of 
State at his pleasure; that when that officer Avas 
once appointed, he continued in office during 
good behavior, or until the legislature limited 
the term or authorized some public functionary 
to remove him. The decision caused great ex- 
citement in political circles against the "Whig- 
Court," because it prevented the Democrats 
from occupying one of the principal offices of 
the government; and it had a considerable influ- 
ence in causing the reorganization of that tri- 
bunal. 

Edward J. Phillips, one of the first to com- 
mence here the practice of law in the second 
decade, was a man of fine personal appearance, 
above the average in scholarship, and a fine 
business man. He continued the practice of his 
profession but a short time, and then secured a 
position in the State bank, and as an officer of 
that institution was exceedingly popular as he 
was also in social life. 

Edward Jones commenced the practice of law 
in Springtield as a partner of George Forquer. 
Edward Jones was born at Georgetown, D. C, 
May 8, 1811. He commenced his education at 
a classical academy in his native town, and made 
good progress in his studies, but having a strong 
predilection for military life, he entered a select 
military school at the seat of the National Gov- 
ernment. After completing his academic studies, 
he commenced reading law in the office of John 
Marbury, and afterwards attended the Virginia 
Law School at Winchester. He was admitted to 
practice at the Bar in March, 1830, just two 
months before he was nineteen years of age. 
Being of an active and energetic temperament, 
he turned his face to the great West, and, in the 
following May, settled in Illinois, fixing his 
residence at Springfield. 

During the troubles of the frontier growing 
out of the Black Hawk war, he exhibited his 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



87 



natural fondness for military life, by serving in 
the campaigns of 1831 and 1832. 

In the spring of 1834, Judge Lockwood ten- 
dered him the appointment of Clerk of the Cir- 
cuit Court of Tazewell county, and he removed 
to Pekin, the county seat of that county. After 
holding the office about three years and a half, 
he resigned and resumed the practice of law. 
This he continued to do honoi'ably and success- 
fully until the call for volunteers in the Mexi- 
can war in June, 1846, aroused his patriotic feel- 
ings. He at once raised a company, which 
became Company F, of Colonel Baker's regi- 
ment. He first served with liis regiment under 
General Taylor and then under General Scott. 
He was engaged in the storming of Vera Cruz 
and the memorable battle of Cerro Gordo. The 
term of service of his regiment having expired, 
he was reluctantly compelled to return home. 
The remaining volunteers of that regiment have 
a vivid recollection of his bravery, fortitude, gen- 
erosity and kindness, as well as military skill. 

For some years after his return from Mexico, 
and until his health failed him, he was a success- 
ful practitioner. Mr. Jones had the reputation, 
which he richly deserved, as one of the finest 
men in his profession. He had a purely legal 
mind, and this natural aptitude he had diligently 
improved by his professional studies. His 
knowledge of the principals and practice of law 
was so intimate and thorough that he could give 
an extemjDoraneous opinion upon any case sub- 
mitted to him, and it was very seldom that an 
after consultation of authorities made a change 
of opinion necessary. His fame as a special 
pleader was wide-spread. He was considered a 
Fabius in defense — being remarkably successful 
in delaying the contest till the most j^ropitious 
moment. 

Edward Jones was eminently social in his na- 
ture, and was surrounded by hosts of friends 
who prized his society to the last. Even after 
his health had so far failed him as to render him 
unfit for his professional duties, his friends still 
crowded their business upon him. His attach- 
ment to the community in which he lived was 
ardent and unchanging. Whoever traduced it 
might expect to meet him as its defender, 

Edward Jones died December 20, 1857, and 
was buried in Pekin, Tazewell county. The 
estimation in which he was held by the Bar in 
that place was embodied in a series of resolu- 
tions, one of which said : "We have found him 
a noble and powerful advocate, scorning to 
do anything unprofessional — eloquent, profound 
in argument, unanswerable in reasoning, and 



ever successful in the fierce conflict of intellect 
with intellect." 

Henry E. Dummer was a man of superior 
talents, a fine lawyer and scholar, and exceed- 
ingly refined in manner. He was a native of 
Maine, and had drifted West in 1832. In the 
spring of this year he was in Cincinnati, and 
noticing the advertisement of a boat going 
up the Sangamon river, determined to take 
passage to the new countr3^ Arriving here in 
due time, he soon formed a partnership with 
John T. Stuart, this relation continuing but a 
short time. After dissolution of the co-partner- 
ship, Mr. Dummer went to Jacksonville, where 
he remained a short time, and then drifted on to 
Beardstown. In this latter city he married, set- 
tled down and became eminently successful in 
the i^ractice of his profession. From Beards- 
town he returned to Jacksonville and became 
a member of the firm of Dummer, Brown & 
Kirby. He died about 1877. 

Stephen T. Logan. — This celebrated lawyer 
and jurist, who long stood at the head of the 
Illinois Bai", was born in Franklin county, Ken- 
tucky, on February 24, 1800, and was descended 
from a good family of Scotch-Irish origin. He 
H-as the eldest, and, we believe, the only son of 
David Logan — a man of sti'ong sense and ster- 
ling integrity, who died about the year 1821. 
His grandfather, Colonel John Logan, was one 
of the leading pioneers of Kentucky, who fig- 
ured prominently in the Indian wars of the 
period, was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of 1799, and held, during several 
years, the important office of State Treasurer. 
His mother, Mary Trigg, was the daughter of 
Colonel Stephen Trigg (a native of Virginia), 
who was killed at the memorable battle of the 
Blue Licks, in August, 1782. 

When Stephen Trigg Logan was two years 
old, his parents removed to Lincoln county, 
where his mother died a few years later, leaving 
him a half orphan at a tender age. He received 
his early education in Frankfort, Kentucky, 
where he was also employed as a clerk in the 
office of the Secretary of that Commonwealth, 
under Martin D. Hardin, father to Colonel John 
J. Hardin, of Illinois. In 1817 young Logan 
went to Glasgow, the seat of justice of Barren 
county, and studied law under the tuition of 
his uncle, Judge Christopher Tompkins. About 
two years afterward, and before attaining his 
majority, he was admitted to the Bar, but did 
not immediately commence practice. 

On June 25, 1823, Mr. Logan was married to 
America T. Bush, daughter of William Bush, 



88 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Esq., of Glasgow, by whom he had eight chil- 
dren — four sons and fonr daughters — only two 
of whom survive, namely: Sarah (Mrs. Lamon), 
and Jennie (Mrs. Coleman), About the time of 
his marriage he was appointed Commonwealth's 
Attorney for the Glasgow Circuit, and discharged 
the responsible duties of his position with 
marked fidelity and ability. 

In May, 1832, he removed with his family to 
Illinois, and settled at Springfield, where he 
ever afterward resided. Here he first formed a 
co-partnership with the Hon. William S. May, 
and resumed the active practice of his profes- 
sion in the spring of 18-33, Subsequently, at 
different times, he was associated with E. D. 
Bakei, Abraham Lincoln, and Milton Hay. 

In 1885 Logan was elected to the office of Cir- 
cuit Judge, and remained on the bench two 
years, when he resigned and resumed legal prac- 
tice. In 1839 he was again elected judge, but 
declined to serve. In 1842 he was elected a 
representative from Sangamon county in the 
Illinois Legislature, and re elected in 1844 and 
1846, serving throughout with great credit and 
success. In 184*7 he was a leading member of 
the convention which formed tbe State Consti- 
tution, popularly known as the Constitution of 
1848. During the latter year he became a can- 
didate for Congress in the Springfield district, 
in oi^position to the late Hon. T. L. Harris. In 
18.54 Judge Logan was again returned to the 
legislature; and in 1860 he ^ as a delegate from 
the State at large to the Chicago Republican 
Convention, which nominated Mr. Lincoln for 
the Presidency. In February 1861, he was one 
of the five Commissioners from Illinois to the 
National Peace Congress at Washington city, 
and distinguished himself by his eloquence and 
patriotism in that historic assembly. 

Subsequent to 1861, Judge Logan, having 
acquired both fame and fortune, withdrew from 
political and professional life, and passed the 
evening of his days in dignified retirement. 
His death occurred after a brief illness, at his 
residence in Springfield, on July 11, 1880, in the 
81st year of his age. His obsequies were appro- 
propriately celebrated (the religious services 
being conducted by the Eeverend J. B. Allen 
of the Christian Church ), and his mortal re- 
mains were followed to their last resting place 
in Oak Ridge Cemetery, by a large concourse of 
sorrowing friends and legal associates, including 
many of the most distinguished men of the 
State. 

Irom a number of able and eloquent memor- 
ial addresses, delivered by representative mem- 



bers of the Bar and judiciary on the occasion of 
his decease, we have selected that of Joseph 
Wallace, Esq., made before the Common Coun- 
cil of Springfield, which presents, perhaps, the 
most elaborate and comprehensive analysis of 
Logan's character: 

Mr. W. said: — " Sir, an old and eminent citi- 
zen, a great lawyer, one whose name fills a large 
space in the earlier judicial and legislative 
annals of our State, has gone from the Sanga- 
mon County Bar to the Bar of God. This re- 
gretful event was not wholly unexpected by his 
family and most intimate friends, and yet it is 
difficult to realize that he is indeed no more. In 
the language of the lamented E. D. Baker, 'It 
is not fit that such a man should pass unher- 
alded to the tomb ; it is not fit that such a life 
should steal unnoticed to its close; it is not fit 
that such a death should call forth no public 
lamentation.' Nor is it so. The public press of 
our own and other cities have already published 
eloquent and appreciative notices of the distin- 
guished dead; the members of our Bar have met 
in solemn conclave and placed upon record their 
high estimate of his public and private worth, 
and now we, the members of this Council, rep- 
resenting the Capital City of Illinois, wherein he 
made his home for nearly fifty years, and with 
whose history and growth he was prominently 
identified, woixld add our brief yet sincere tribute 
to his memory. 

" I shall not enter here upon any recital of the 
events of Stephen T. Logan's long and honorable 
life, which opened February 24, 1800, and closed 
July 17, 1880; but I may be permitted to oifer a 
hasty review of his personal and professional 
character, and to cast a flower on his bier, even 
though it has to-day been borne in sad array 
through the portals of the tomb. 

"Whenever called upon to serve his fellow 
citizens in any public capacity, he responded to 
that call in a manner Avell calculated to reflect 
honor upon himself and conserve the public 
weal ; but at no time in his history was he a pro- 
fessed politician or office seeker. He never 
wrote out his speeches for publication, and in- 
terspersed them at intervals with the words 
' cheers ' and ' applause.' He never acquired the 
modern art of manipulating ' primaries ' and ' cau- 
cuses.' He had ' no hired retainers, no paid letter- 
writers, no array of college companions to quote, 
commend and herald his fame to the world.' 
He had little taste and less aptitude for the ' out 
of doors management, the electioneering leger- 
demain, and the wearisome correspondence with 
local great men' — all of which, at this day, are 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



89 



deemed requisite to political preferment aud 
success. Nevertheless, his name and his deeds 
are inscribed in legible characters upon the offi- 
cial records of two States, and the inscriptions 
will not altogether fade. 

" The controlling attachment of Judge Logan, 
however, was centered in the law; his mind was 
pre-eminently a legal one, and his political ambi- 
tion was rendered subordinate to his love for this 
science. His active forensic career extended 
over a period of nearly half a century, the larger 
part of which was passed in the State of Illinois, 
and in this city. But those who saw him only 
as ' an old man broken by the storms of state,' 
can form no just idea of his appearance when, in 
the plenitude of his physical and intellectual 
powers, he stood forth the facile princep&^ the 
acknowledged leader of the Illinois Bar. 

"A celebrated English critic (Hazlitt) has 
said, that ' great natural advantages are seldom 
combined with great acquired ones, because they 
render the labor requisite to attain the last, super- 
fluous and irksome.' This remark is not inappli- 
cable to Logan, since he made no pretensions to 
scholarship in any pedantic sense of the term. 
He never collected a library worthy of the name, 
and garnished it with rare and costly works. 
His reading was neither very varied nor classical; 
his researches were chiefly in the line of his pro- 
fession, ' but therein they were thorough.' His 
superior mental endowments enabled him to 
comprehend on a cursory examination what 
would require ordinary minds protracted labor 
to master. His intellect was not only capacious 
and vigorous, but it was emphatically quick, 
keen and subtle, and having been early accus- 
tomed to habits of close investigation, he could 
seize upon the knottiest problems of law and un- 
ravel them with the greatest facility. Under 
his magic touch ' all doubt and difficulty were 
at once dispelled^ and the naked truth stood forth 
plainly and palpably defined.' 

"In a court of justice, and especially a nisi 
prius court, Logan seemed most at home. In- 
deed, there was something exhilarating to him 
in the very atmosphere of the place. Here his 
exceptional talents were displayed in their best 
light, and here he might be studied to the best 
advantage. Entertaining and instructive it was 
to observe him before a jury engaged in the 
argument of some important cause. Resting 
one foot upon a chair, he begins with a few com- 
monplace remarks, uttered in a clear and con- 
versational tone. He then takes up the leading- 
facts and strong points of his case, states them 
with singular perspicuity and force, dwells on 



tLiem at length, and presents them fi-om every 
standpoint favorable to his client. As he pro- 
gresses he warms to his work. His small frame 
insensibly assumes a more erect and impressive 
attitude; his gestures become more frequent; his 
shrill voice is pitched to a higher key; his gray 
eyes glow with animation; every muscle is at 
play and every energy of his nature is aroused, 
while words, arguments, illustrations, appeals 
flow in torrents from his lips. At the conclu- 
sion of his speech he sinks into his seat in a pro- 
fuse perspiration and well nigh exhausted. He 
leaves little else to be said on his side of the 
case, for he has covered the whole ground. 

" Some French writer has observed that 'noth- 
ing is beautiful but what is natural.' This may 
well apply to Logan's style of speaking, which 
was formed after no modsl except his own, yet 
was beautiful because it was natural. He was 
accounted an eloquent speaker, though his elo- 
quence was of a peculiar kind and difficult to 
describe. He seemed to have adopted Chief 
Justice Marshall's maxim, and 'always aimed at 
strength.' His forte was reassuring, but it was 
reason imbued with intense animation; and he 
drove his juries to conviction as much by the 
resistless energy of his style as by the lucidity 
and compactness of his logic. His temperament 
was strongly emotional; and in the defense of 
persons arraigned for high crimes and misde- 
meanors, he sometimes touched with a master- 
hand those secret springs of feeling and passion 
that lie in the recesses of every human breast. 
Whenever he addressed the court upon any ques- 
tions of law, pleading or practice, he Avas heard 
with eager attention by his brethren of the Bar, 
because he threw a flood of light upon every 
legal principle he discussed. 

"It might be objected to Logan's forensic 
efforts, particularly his jury efforts, that they 
were too replete with iteration, though this is a 
fault common to most lawyers, and arises partly 
from the nature of the calling itself. More- 
over, juries, as a rule, are not composed of a 
trained order of intellects, and hence it seems 
necessary for the skillful advocate to repeat 
over and re-combine the same facts and argu- 
ments in a variety of forms, so as to impress 
them indelibly upon the minds of those ad- 
dressed, and thus secure the desired verdict. 
One secret of his uniform success as a practi- 
tioner was due to the fact that, like Choate, he 
exerted himself to the utmost in almost every 
suit in which he was employed. No matter 
what the tribunal, the party or the fee, he put 
forth his whole strength, summoning to his aid 



90 



HISTORY OF SANGA:\iON COUNTY 



the resources of his legal learning, his logic, his 
wit and knowledge of men, and struggled as for 
life for the mastery. 

"It is a quality of superior and dominating 
minds to rely upon themselves, and to take the 
lead in whatsoever enterprise they may engage. 
Such was true of Logan. It mattered not what 
was the character and standing of the counsel 
associated with him in a given lawsuit, he occu- 
ined the foreground, and on him rested the 
chief burden of the controversy. To his clients 
he was faithful to a degree that knew no 
bounds, except the bounds of honor. He iden- 
tified himself for the time with them, made 
their ( ause his cause, and their interests his 
own. It would be hard to determine in what 
particular branch of jurisprudence he was most 
proficient — whether as a criminal, a common 
law, or a chancery lawyer — for he seemed alike 
at home in all, and in all he shone without a 
peer. But few men in this country have ever 
brought to the profession of the Bar so many 
(ptalifications to ensure sxtccess as he. 'Logan 
is the best natural lawyer I ever knew,' said the 
late Judge McLean, of the U. S. Circuit Court, 
himself a jurist of the soundest judgment and 
ripest experience; and such is the concurring 
testimony of all his immediate contemporaries. 

''His demeanor at the Bar was neither opin- 
ionative nor arrogant, but was characterized by 
a proper respect for the rulings of the court, 
and by an obliging disposition toward his pro- 
fessional associates. Still, his temper was nat- 
urally choleric, and quick to resent invidious re- 
marks and unprofessional conduct on the part 
of opposing counsel. At such times they were 
certain to feel the sting of his retorts, keen and 
pungent as the rapier's thrust. 

" The life of the lawyer in full practice is any- 
thing but a life of ease. It is rather one of 
excitement and anxiety, of patient investigation 
and unremitting toil, spent in the perusal of 
authorities, the preparation of pleas and briefs, 
and in the trial or adjustment of vexatious and 
complicated causes. Hence, in time be becomes 
worn out with the corroding ca^es of his clients; 
and when the silver thread of life is at last sun- 
dered forever, only a scanty and fragmentary 
record remains of his history. ' Probably in no 
department of life,' says an able writer, ' is there 
displayed so much talent which leaves no lasting 
record. The shrewd management and ready 
wit, the keen retort, the deep learning, and the 
impassioned eloquence of the accomplished law- 
yer, all come in play and tell strongly on the 
result, bnt they do their work and are seen no 



more; felt and admired at the time, they go to 
make up the contemporaneous estimate living at 
the place, but not to be reproduced for other 
times and other admirers.' How next to impos- 
sible, then, in a mere skeleton sketch like the 
present, to recall and portray those ' nice shades 
of character and talent, of thought and feeling, 
of look and gesture, of wit and pathos, that went 
to form the sum total of Stephen Trigg Logan's 
greatness and fame as a lawyer. 

"During the first year of the troubled admin- 
istration of the late President Lincoln, a vacancy 
occurred on the Supreme Bench of the United 
States, to be filled by a Western jurist. Where- 
upon, the special friends of Judge Logan recom- 
mended him as eminently qualified for the place; 
but the President, for reasons satisfactory to 
himself, ignored the claims of his old-time friend 
and law partner, and appointed another to the 
judgeship. Some have thought that Logan 
would not have accepted the office if it had been 
tendered him, but this is improbable. Conscious 
of the possession of superior abilities, it was but 
natural for him to be ambitious, and to aspire to 
some commanding height, whence he could 
make his influence felt and his power known to 
the whole country. Had he been raised to a 
seat in that august tribunal, he would doubtless 
have shone as a star of the first magnitude in 
our judicial constellation, and his recorded opin- 
ions have enriched the judicial literature of the 
land. But the sister Fates decreed for him a 
less conspicuous, though scarcely less useful 
destiny. 

"In private life Logan was one of the most 
exemplary of men. Simple in his tastes, regu- 
lar in his habits, unpretentious in his manners, 
and careless of his attire, he lived, moved and 
acted as if he were one of the least infiuential 
and observed of mankind. He was punctual 
and exact in all his business transactions. His 
maxim was to 'owe no man anything,' and to 
pay as he went — a most excellent Scriptural 
rule, but one more honored in the breach than 
the observance. He was also a man of unusually 
strong local and domestic attachments, and, 
while given to hospitality, preferred the quiet 
of his own fireside, and the society of his own 
family to that of all others; and, as a corrollary 
to this, he w^as one of the kindest of husbands 
and most indulgent of fathers. 

" In conclusion it may be proper to say, that 
in his riper and declining years he experienced 
many severe afflictions. He outlived the major 
portion of his immediate family and kindred. 
He lost, in succession, all four of his sons, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



91 



whom be had doubtless hoped would have per- 
petuated his name and fame to other genera- 
tions. He saw his loved comi)anion, the mother 
of his children, borne from his bouse of mourn- 
ing 'to the house appointed for all living;' he 
followed two of his amiable daughters in sor- 
row to the tomb; but amid all these domestic 
trials, Logan was Logan still; and, at length, 
Avorn out by the trials and cares and conflicts of 
this sublunary life, he bowed his withered head 
in submission to the will of his Creator, and 
slept with his fathers. No more shall we see 
his slight form and sharply chiseled features on 
the busy thoroughfares; no more shall we meet 
him in the bustling courts of law, so long the 
theatre of his intellectual struggles and tri- 
umphs; and nevermore shall the temples of jus- 
tice reverberate with the tones of his shrill, 
clear voice; for that heart once so fiery, and 
that tongue once so impassioned, now lie pulse- 
less and still in death. 

"Thus one after another these relics of the 
past, these tottering monuments of a former and 
perhaps better generation, are going home to 
the silent land — 'to that shore from whose 
sands is never heard the echo of retreating foot- 
steps.' 'Thus,' says Irving, 'man passes away; 
his name gradually perishes from record and 
recollection; his history is a tale that is told, 
and his very monument becomes a ruin.' But, 
sir, I will 

'No farther seek his merits to disclose. 
Nor draw his frailties from their dread abode; 

There they alike in trembling hopes repose. 
The bosom of his Father and his God.' " 

Hon. David Prickett, prominently identified 
with the early history of Illinois and Sangamon 
county, was born in Franklin county, Georgia, 
September 21, 1800. In early childhood he went 
with his parents to Kentucky, and a few yeai's 
later to Edwardsville, Illinois, then a j^rominent 
town of this State. He graduated from the law 
department of Transylvania University, in Lex- 
ington, Kentucky, and was admitted to practice 
at Edwardsville, Illinois, November 15, 1821. 
Mr. Prickett served as the first Supreme Court 
Reporter of Illinois, was for a time Judge of 
Probate Court of Madison county; was elected 
a member of the State Legislature in 1826, when 
the Capitol was at Vandalia. He served as aide- 
de-camp to General John D. Whiteside in the 
Black Hawk war in 1831; was elected State At- 
torney in 1837 for the First Judicial Circuit of 
Illinois, composed of Pike, Calhoun, Greene, 
Morgan, Sangamon, Tazewell, McLean, Macon 
11— 



and Macoupin counties. He served as Treasurer 
of the Board of Canal Commissioners during the 
construction of the Michigan and LaSalle canal 
in 1840; in 1842 was appointed Director, in be- 
half of the State, of the State Bank of Illinois; 
was Clerk of the House of Representatives ten 
sessions; and was serving as Assistant Clerk of 
the House of Representatives at the time of his 
death, March 1, 1847. He dealt considerably in 
real estate, especially city pi'operty, and was 
joint proprietor in laying out additions to sev- 
eral cities in Illinois. Mr. Prickett married 
Charlotte, daughter of Thomas and Christiana 
Grifiith, of Tazewell county, on January 24,1834. 
She was born March 9, 1806. Their marital 
union resulted in five children, Christiana G., 
Thomas G., Gibson R., Hannah O., living, and 
Susan, deceased. Mrs. Prickett died November 
2, 1876. Her father, Dr. Thomas Gritiith, was 
one of the original proprietors of Pekin, Taze- 
well county. 

William L. May is a Kentuckian by birth, re- 
moving from that State to Edwardsville, Illinois, 
from thence to Jacksonville, and from there to 
Springfield, in 1829, having received the ap- 
pointment of Receiver of the Land Office in the 
latter place. Here in 1838 he formed a partner- 
ship with Stephen T. Logan. Mr. May was 
much more of a politician than a lawyer, and 
was a man of good address and a capital stump- 
speaker. In 1834 he was elected to Congress, 
and again in 1836. In 1838 he failed of receiv- 
ing the nomination, which went to Stephen A. 
Douglas. In the course of time Mr. May re- 
moved to Peoria, and from thence to California, 
where he died. 

Dan. Stone became a member of the Bar of 
Sangamon county in 1833. He was a n3tive of 
Vermont and a graduate of Middlebury College, 
in his native State. He afterwards went to Cin- 
cinnati, studied law with his uncle, Ethan Stone, 
and practiced in that city for several years, and 
during that time was a member of the legisla- 
ture, and also a member of the city council. 
On his removal to Springfield he at once took 
rank with the best lawyers. He was elected a 
member of the legislature in 1836, and was one 
of the famous "long nine" members of that body 
from this county. "While a member of the legis- 
lature he received the appointment of Judge of 
the Circuit Court, and was assigned to duty in 
the northern part of the State and moved to 
Galena. In 1838 he rendered a decision with 
reference to the vote of an alien, which so dis- 
pleased the party in power that the courts were 
reorganized by the legislature, and Judge Stone 



92 



JIISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Icgishicutl uui of uttice. He soon alter left the 
State, and a few years later died in Elssex county, 
New Jersey. 

Josephus Ilewett came to Springfield al)Out 
ls:30, at which time he was a Christian preacher, 
an eloquent "defender of the faith once deliv- 
ered to the Saints." He read law with Judge 
Logan, and was admitted to the I>ar al)out 183 4. 
In 183 3 he formed a partnership witli Cyi"»s 
Walker, of Macomb, Mr. Hewett remaining in 
Springiield and Mr. Walker in Macomb, but 
practicing together in the various courts of the 
State. Mr. Hewett became one of the most 
noted lawyers of that day, and is spoken of by 
the older members of the profession as a man of 
strong mind and very eloquent in his pleadings. 
He removed from Springfield to Mississippi, 
where he died since the war. 

David B. Campbell came to Springfield in 
1838, from New Jersey, his native State. He 
was a fair lawyer and a good prosecutor, serving 
as Prosecuting Attorney from 1848 to 1856, dy- 
ing in office in the latter year. He was a fair- 
minded man, and while Prosecuting Attorney 
would never prosecute one charged with crime 
unless thoroughly convinced of his guilt. 

Dave Campbell was quite a joker, and a good 
story is told of him and one Benedict, of which 
he is responsible, it appearing in his "Reminis- 
cences" as follows: 

The hotels, in those days, I remember, being 
scarce of beds, used frequently to put two of us 
lawyers in one bed; and it frequently fell to the 
lot of Campbell and Benedict to occupy the bed 
between them. One day I heard Campbell say 
to Benedict, with a smirk on his face: 

" Benedict, you must get the landlord to fur- 
nish you a bed to yourself." 

"Well, suppose he hasn't got one," said 
Benedict. 

" Then you must sleep on the floor, or get the 
landlord to furnish you a berth up in his hay- 
mow." 

" What is your objections to sleeping with 
me, General David Campbell?" 

" Confound you," replied Campbell, " I never 
did sleep with you, but I have lain with you. To 
sleep with you would be impossible. You snore 
like a cyclops, and your breath smells so of mean 
whisky that I would as soon breathe the air of a 
charnel house and live in reach of its eternal 
stench." 

"Well," said Benedict, "General Campbell, I 
will show you that you shall sleep with me, and 
if either of us has to sleep on the floor or go to 
the hay-mow, it will be you and not me." 



"Well, well," responded Campbell, with a 
sinister smile on his face, "we will see about it." 

So that night Dave Campbell -went to bed 
earlier than usual, and so about twelve o'clock at 
night along comes Benedict, pretty much " how- 
come-you-so." Addressing himself to Campbell, 
who feigned to be half asleep, he said: 

"Hello, there! Dave, lay over to the back of 
the bed, and give me room in front." 

Before going to bed that evening Dave had 
armed his heel by buckling on it one of his 
spurs. When Benedict got undressed, even to 
the taking off of his drawers, he jumped into 
bed and began to fondle on Campbell. Dave 
quietly drew up his heel that had the spur on 
and planted it about six inches above Benedict's 
knee, and gave it a turn downwards, crying, 
" Get up there 1 get up there! " as though he was 
speaking to his horse. Benedict gave a sudden 
leap and landed about the middle of the floor, 
crying out in great agony: 

"Jesus! the fellow has got the nightmare or 
delirium tremens, and has taken me for his 
blamed old horse." 

Judge Davis and Lincoln, who were sleeping 
in the same room, could stand this no longer. 
They burst out into the most uproarious laughter. 

Antrim Campbell, a brother of David, was 
born in New Jersey in 1814. He came to 
Springfield in 1838, and entered upon the prac- 
tice of his profession. In 1849, he was appointed 
Master in Chancery for the Circuit Court of 
Sangamon county, and resigned the same in 
1861, when he received the appointment of Mas- 
ter in Chancery for the United States Cii'cuit 
Court for the Southern District of Illinois. 
While never taking high rank as an attorney, 
he Avas recognized as a good Master in Chan- 
cery and an excellent business man. He died 
August 11, 1868. 

A. T. Bledsoe was a worthy member of the 
Sangamon County Bar during the last year of 
its Second Decade and extending nearly through 
the third. He came to Springfield from Greene 
county in 1840. While a young man he grad- 
uated from West Point, and shortly after re- 
signed his position in the army, studied for the 
ministry, was ordained a minister in the Episco- 
palian Chui'ch. BecoTiiing disatisfied, he resigned 
his charge, studied law and was admitted to the 
Bar before coming to Springfield. On his ar- 
rival here he formed a partnership with Jesse 
B. Thomas, which continued about a year, when 
he became a partner of E. D. Baker. Major 
Stuart says that for real logic he was the strong- 
est man at this Bar at that time. But content- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



93 



ment was not w ith him a cardinal virtue. He 
could remain in one position but a short time. 
He was an author of several scientific works, 
which were well received by the learned. Mr. 
Bledsoe about 1850 drifted South, was President 
of a college in Mississippi for a time, and at the 
breaking out of the war was professor of mathe- 
matics in a college at Charlotteville, Virginia. 
Espousing the Southern side, he was made 
Assistant Secretary of War, but becoming con- 
vinced that the Southern Confederacy was about 
to collapse, shortly before the close of the war, 
it is said that he applied to his old friend Abra- 
ham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
for a pass through the lines, receiving which he 
came within the Union lines and soon embarked 
t"or Europe, where he remained until the close 
of the war. Returning, he visited his old friends 
in Springfield, then again went South, and has 
since died. 

Charles R. Willis was from Connecticut, was 
Avell educated, but done little business in law. 
Soon after coming to Springfield he engaged in 
the real estate business, in which he accumulated 
a large fortune. He died many years ago. 

Schuyler Strong was from New York, and 
well advanced in years before coming to Spring- 
field. In his native State he was regarded as 
no ordinary lawyer, and was recognized as the 
peer of any when he arrived here. If it had 
not been for one grevious faidt, so common, suc- 
cess would have crowned his every effort. He 
died about 1845. 

Ninian W. Edwards is the son of Ninian 
Edwards, the first and only Territorial Gover- 
nor of Illinois. He was born April 15, 1809, 
near Frankfort, Kentucky. His father at that 
time was Chief Justice of the Court of Ap- 
peals of Kentucky, but, receiving the appoint- 
ment of Governor of the Territory of Illinois, 
he removed with his family in June following, 
to Kaskaskia, its capital. When the proper age, 
Ninian W. Avas sent to Transylvania University, 
and graduated in the law department of that 
institution in 1833. Previous to his graduation, 
and in 1832, he was married to Miss Elizabeth 
P. Todd, in Lexington, Kentucky. Returning 
home after his graduation, he commenced the 
practice of law. In 1834, he was appointed by 
Governor Reynolds, Attorney General of the 
State, and was shortly afterwards elected by the 
legislature. The law requiring the Attorney 
General to reside at the capital, and Mr. Ed- 
wards not liking a residence in Vandalia, he 
resigned the office in February, 1835, and 
shortly afterwards removed to Springfield. In 



1836, Mr. Edwards was elected one of the Rep- 
resentatives in the legislature, and was also one 
of the "Long Nine," and is now, in 188 1, the only 
one living of the number. From 1836 to 1852, 
Mr. Edwards served in the legislature, either in 
the Senate or House of Representatives, being 
a very efficient member. He was also a mem- 
ber of the Constitutional Convention which 
formed the constitution of 1848. In 1852 he 
was appointed Attorney before the Board of 
Commissioners to investigate the claims of 
canal contractors against the State, amounting 
to over #1,500,000. In 1854 he received the ap- 
pointment of State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction by Governor Matteson, and was the 
first incumbent of that office. He was retained 
in this office by the legislature until 1857. Mr. 
Edwards has always been a champion of free 
schools, and drafted the law in regard to them 
which was first adopted in the State. In 1862, 
he was appointed by President Lincoln, United 
States Commissary. Aside from his official 
duties, Mr. Edwards has found time to prepare 
a history of the State of Illinois, including the 
Life and Times of Governor Edwards, written 
on the invitation of the Illinois State Histori- 
cal Society. It is a valuable work, and is re- 
garded as a standard on the subject on which it 
treats. As a lawyer, Mr. Edwards ranked high 
while an active member of the Bar, and even at 
this day on some subjects his views are often 
sought by the fraternity. 

Cyrus Walker was a Kentuckian by birth; 
studied law and was admitted to the Bar in his 
native State, where he became very prominent, 
especially as a criminal lawyer. On account of 
his defense of a murderer, and his acquittal, 
whom the people generally thought should have 
been hung, Kentucky became uncomfortably 
warm for him, so that he came to Illinois and 
settled in Macomb, in 1833. He was a man of 
strong mind, an excellent lawyer, and withfil 
very conscientious. In 1835 he was a partner of 
Josephus Hewitt, and in 1839 with James C. 
Conkling. His business was very extensive for 
many years in the various courts of Illinois. He 
died near Macomb, in 1876. 

In 1837, Abraham Lincoln was admitted to 
the Bar, and for the first time wrote in connec- 
tion with his name, "Attorney and Counselor- 
at-Law." While living in Salem, he had bor- 
rowed books from the law library of John T, 
Stuart, which he read and returned as the 
opportunity occurred. When convinced that he 
could stand an examination, he presented him- 
self for that purpose, and was duly licensed to 



94 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



practice his profession. He immediately formed 
a partnership with Mr. Stuart, which relation 
continued about two years. During this same 
year, Stephen A. Douglas became a citizen of 
Springfield, having received the appointment of 
Register in the Land Office. He soon afterwards 
formed a partnership with John D. TTrquhart 
for the practice of law, and here commenced the 
rivalry of these two great men — Abraham Lin- 
coln and Stephen A. Douglas — men whom the 
world delights to honor. In the address already 
quoted, by Isaac N. Arnold, he says: 

"When, forty years ago, the Bar used to meet 
here at the capitol, in the Supreme and United 
States Courts, and ride the circuit in our differ- 
ent sections of the State, Lincoln and Douglas 
did not occupy a position of such overshadowing 
importance as they do to-day. They did not 
beat us in our cases when law and justice were 
with us, and we did not realize that they were so 
greatly our superiors. But these two men have 
passed into history, and justly, as our great rep- 
resentative men. These are the two most promi- 
nent figures, not only in the history of Illinois, 
but of the Mississippi Valley, and their promi- 
nence, certainly that of Mr. Lincoln, will be in- 
creased as time passes on. I will, therefore, en- 
deavor to give such rough and imperfect outlines 
of them as lawyers, and advocates, and public 
speakers, as I can. We, who knew them person- 
ally, who tried causes with them and against 
them, ought, I think, to aid those who shall come 
after us, to understand them, and to determine 
what manner of men they were. In the first 
place, no two men could be found more unlike, 
physically and intellectually, in manners and in 
appearance, than they. 

"Lincoln was a very tall, spare man, six feet 
four inches in height, and would be instantly 
recognized as belonging to that type of tall, 
large-boned men produced in the northern part 
of the Mississippi Valley, and exhibiting its 
peculiar characteristics in the most marked de- 
gree in Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. 

" In any court room in the United States he 
would have been instantly picked out as a West- 
ern man. His stature, figure, dress, manner, 
voice and accent indicated that he was of the 
Northwest. 

"In manner he was always cordial and frank, 
and although not without dignity, he made 
every person feel quite at his ease. I think the 
first impression a stranger would get of him, 
whether in conversation or by hearing him speak, 
was, that this is a kind, frank, sincere, genuine 
man, of transparent truthfulness and integrity; 



and before Lincoln had uttered many vi^ords, he 
would be impressed with his clear good sense, 
his remarkably simple, homely, but expressive 
Saxon laTiguage, and next his wonderful wit and 
humor. Lincoln was more familiar with the 
Bible than with any other book in the language, 
and this was apparent, both from his style and 
illustrations, so often taken from that Book. He 
verified the maxim, that it is better to know 
thoroughly a few good books than to read many. 

"Douglas was little more than five feet high, 
with a strong, broad chest, and strongly marked 
features; his manners, also, Avere cordial, frank 
and hearty. The poorest and humblest found 
him friendly. He was, in his earlier years, hale 
fellow well met with the rudest and poorest 
man in the court room. 

"Those of you who practiced law M'ith him, 
or tried causes before him when on the bench, 
will remember that it was not unusual to see 
him come off the bench, or leave his chair at 
the Bar, and take a seat on the knee of a friend, 
and with one arm thrown familiarly around his 
friend's neck, have a friendly talk, or a legal or 
political consultation. Such familiarity Avould 
have shocked our English cousins, and disgusted 
our Boston brothers, and it has, I think, disap- 
peared. In contrast with this familiarity of 
Douglas, I remember an anecdote illustrating 
Colonel Benton's ideas of his own personal dig- 
nity. A distinguished member of Congress, 
who was a great admirer of Benton, one day 
approached and slapped him familiarly and 
rudely on the shoulder. The Senator haughtily 
drew himself up, and said, 'That is a familiar- 
ity, sir, I never permit my friends, much less a 
comparative stranger. Sir, it must not be re- 
jicated.' 

"Lincoln and Douglas were, as we know, 
both self-educated, aud each the builder of his 
own fortune. Each became, very early, the 
recognized leader of the political party to which 
he belonged. Douglas was bold, uiifiinching, 
impetuous, denunciatory and determined. He 
possessed, in an eminent degree, the qualities 
which create personal popularity, and he was 
the idol of his friends. Both Lincoln and 
Douglas were strong jury-lawyers. Lincoln, on 
the whole, was the strongest jur^^-lawyer we 
ever had in Illinois. Both were distinguished 
for their ability in seizing and bringing out, 
distinctly and clearly, the real points in a case. 
]5oth were very happy in the examination of 
witnesses; I think Lincoln the stronger of the 
two in cross-examination. He could compel a 
witness to tell the truth when he meant to lie. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



He could make a jury laugh, and, generally, 
weep, at his pleasure. Lincoln on the right 
side, and especially when injustice or fraud 
were to be exposed, was the strongest advocate. 
On the wrong side, or on the defense, where 
the accused was really guilty, the client with 
Douglas for his advocate would be more fortu- 
nate than with Lincoln. 

"Lincoln studied his cases thoroughly and 
exhaustively. Douglas had a wonderful faculty 
of extracting from his associates, from experts 
and others, by conversation, all they knew of a 
subject he was to discuss, and then making it so 
thoroughly his that all seemed to have oi'igi- 
nat>ed with himself. He so perfectly assimi- 
lated the ideas and knowledge of others that all 
seemed to be his own, and all that went into his 
mind came out improved. 

" The ablest argument I ever heard him make 
was in the case of Daniel Brainar vs. The Canal 
Trustees, argued at Ottawa, June, 1850, reported 
in 12 111. Reports, 488. The question involved 
the extent of the right of pre-emption by set- 
tlers upon canal lands, within the city of Chi- 
cago. The judofes were Treat, Trumbull and 
Caton. Judges Treat and Trumbull concurred 
in deciding the case against Douglas, Judge 
Caton dissenting. He made, in this case, one 
of the ablest arguments I ever heard at any 
Bar. 

"In 1841, Mr. Douglas, being then not quite 
twenty-eight years old, w^as elected one of the 
Judges of the Supreme Court. He was not a 
profound lawyer, but with his clear common 
sense and incisive mind, alter a case was well 
argued, he always knew how to decide it. He 
held the position of Judge for about two years, 
and was then, after a very active canvas, elected 
to Congress by a small majority over O. H. 
Browning. From this time until his death, in 
the early summer of 1861, he remained in Con- 
gress, serving in the House until 1846, when he 
was elected to the Senate, of which he continued 
a member to the time of his death. His ablest 
speech in tbe House was made on the 'Zth of 
January, 1 844, on a bill to refund to General 
Jackson the fine imposed upon him by Judge 
Hall, during the defense of New Orleans. In 
this masterly argument he took the then bold 
and novel ground that the fine was imposed in 
violation of law. It is a carious fact that, in this 
speech, Douglas claimed for General Jackson 
many of the war-powers exercised by President 
Lincoln and his generals during the rebellion, 
and for which the President was so bitterly de- 
nounced by his political opponents. This speech 



gave him a national reputation. After the death 
of the hero of New Orleans a pamphlet copy of 
this speech was found among his papers, with 
an endorsement in Jackson's hand-writing, and 
signed by him, in these words: ^'This speech 
constitutes my defense. Hay it aside as an in- 
heritance for my grand-children.'''' . 

" Mr. Lincoln remained in active practice at the 
Bar until his nomination for the Presidency in 
1 860. His reputation as a lawyer and advocate 
was rising higher and higher. He had a large 
practice on the circuit all over the central part 
of this State, and he was employed in most of 
the important cases in the Federal and Supreme 
Courts. He went on special retainers all over 
Illinois, and occasionally to St. Louis, Cincin- 
nati, and Indiana. His law arguments ad- 
dressed to the judges were always clear, vigor- 
ous, and logical; seeking to convince rather by 
the application of principle than by the cita- 
tion of authorities and cases. On the whole, I 
always thought him relatively stronger before a 
jury than with the court. He was a quick and 
accurate reader of character, and understood, 
almost intuitively, the jury, witnesses, parties, 
and judges, and how best to address, con- 
vince, and influence them. He had a power 
of conciliating and impressing everyone in his 
favor. A stranger coming into court, not know- 
ing him, or anything about his case, listening 
to Lincoln a few moments, would find himself 
involuntarily on his side, and wishing him suc- 
cess. His manner was so candid, so direct, the 
spectator was impressed that he was seeking 
only truth and justice. He excelled all I ever 
heard in the statement of his case. However 
complicated, he would disentangle it, and j^re- 
sent the turning point in a way so simple and 
clear that all could understand. Indeed, his 
statement often rendered argument unnecessary, 
and often the court would stop him and say, "If 
that is the case, we will hear the other side." 
He had in the highest possible degree the art of 
persuasion and the power of conviction. His 
illustrations were often quaint and homely, but 
always clear and apt, and generally conclusive. 
He never misstated evidence, but stated clearly, 
and met fairly and squarely his opponent's case. 
His wit and humor and inexhaustible stores of 
anecdote, always to the point, added immensely 
to his power as a jury advocate. 

The last case Mr. Lincoln ever tried was that 
of Jones vs. Johnson, tried in April and May, 
1860, in the United States Circuit Court, at 
Chicago. The case involved the title to land of 
very great value, the accretion on the shores of 



96 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Lake Michigan. During the trial, Judge Drum- 
mond and all the counsel on both sides, including 
Mr. Lincoln, dined together at my house. Doug- 
las and Lincoln were at the time both candi- 
dates for the nomination for President. There 
were active and ardent political friends of each 
at the table, and when the sentiment was pro- 
posed, "May Illinois furnish the next Presi- 
dent," it was, as you imagine, drank with en- 
thusiasm by the friends of both Lincoln and 
Douglas. 

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., was a nephew of the 
eminent statesman of that name, a former United 
States Senator, and well known in the early 
day. He was an attorney of more than ordinary 
ability, and succeeded Ninian W. Edwards as 
Attorney General of the State in 1885. In 1837 
he was appointed Circuit Judge, but resigned 
after the expiration of two years. He was at 
one time a partner of David Prickett, in Spring- 
field, and afterwards of William L May. He 
finally went to Chicago and died there. 

E. D. Baker came to Springfield in 1835, from 
Greene county, Illinois. He was born in London, 
England, February 24, 1811, and emigrated with 
his parents to America shortly after the close of 
our late war with England, and after remaining 
for a time in Philadelphia he came west and 
settled in Indiana, and from thence to Illinois. 
He early manifested a strong passion for books, 
reading with avidity everything on which he 
could lay his hands, particularly history, biogra- 
phy and poetry. Possessing a rare aptitude for 
acquiring information, a ready and highly reten- 
tive memory, his mind soon became stored with 
the rich treasures of literary lore, from which, 
in after years, he drew copiously as from a per- 
ennial fount. At Carrollton, Greene county, Mr. 
Baker studied law in the office of A. W. Cavarly, 
serving at the same time as deputy in the office of 
the County Clerk. As soon as he gained a super- 
ficial knowledge of the science of law, spurred 
on by necessity, he procured a license and com- 
menced practice. Owing, however, to his youth, 
limited legal attainments and the absence of in- 
fluential friends, during the first years of his 
professional life, he met with indifferent success. 

While in Carrollton, Mr. Baker was married 
to Mrs. Mary A. Lee. Soon after marriage he 
united with the Christian Church, and being 
naturally of an impulsive and enthusiastic tem- 
perament, he was very zealous in the discharge 
of his religious duties, became an able exhorter, 
and began to entertain serious thoughts of en- 
gaging in regular ministerial work. As time 
passed, his mind becoming occupied with poli- 



tics, he finally ceased his connection with the 
religious body. While an active member of the 
church, he first discovered that boldness of 
thought, that opulence of expression, that grace- 
ful and persuasive manner of speaking, for which 
he became so justly celebrated in after life. 

Shortly after coming to Springfield, Mr. Baker 
associated himself in the practice of law with 
Josephus Hewett. Subsequently, he entered 
into partnership with Stephen T. Logan, and 
for a short time with Albert T. Bledsoe. It was 
here that Baker first applied himself seriously 
to the duties of his profession, and here he won 
his first laurels as an advocate. Surrounded by 
the great men already mentioned as comprising 
the Sangamon County Bar during this Decade, 
Baker was compelled to struggle for that emi- 
nence in his profession which he rapidly at- 
tained. Although disinclined to close, continu- 
ous study, and often negligent in the preparation 
of his cases, he had sufficiently mastered the 
principles and intricacies of the law, as to meet 
the ordinary requirements of practice, and his 
native genius supplied any deficiency. His con- 
fident, self-possessed air amidst the bustle of a 
court of law, his quickness of perception, ready 
wit, fertility in resources and ardent eloquence, 
enabled him to achieve the victory in spite of 
the most determined opposition from older or 
more experienced antagonists. In jury cases he 
was especially successful, for in these he was less 
fettered by the legal forms and technicalities 
which ordinarily curb the reins of youthful im- 
agination. Indeed, a jury to him was butja mini- 
ature popular assembly, before which he could 
pour out his argument and invective at will, or 
indulge in those exquisite touches of pathos, 
which failed not to awaken the sympathy and 
move the hearts of his auditors. Enterprising 
and ambitious, Mr. Baker early directed his 
attention to politics as opening the shortest road 
to preferment. In 183*7 he was elected to the 
General Assembly from Sangamon county to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 
Dan Stone. In the following year he was 
re-elected. In the campaign of 1840 he 
took an active part in the support of General 
Harrison. In 1844 he was elected to Congress, 
and was a member of that body when the war 
with Mexico broke out. Returning home from 
Washington, he raised a regiment and was com- 
missioned colonel. In this war he earned a 
reputation as a brave and gallant commander. 

On his return from Mexico he removed to 
Galena and was there re-elected to Congress. 
He took his seat the second time in December, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



07 



1849. He bore an active if not a conspicuous 
part in the debates upon those grave National 
issues, which formed so prominent a feature in 
the tirst session of the 3 1st Congress. He 
favored some, but not all the compromise meas- 
ures passed at that session. The annexed para- 
graph, taken from a speech made by him on 
these historic questions, was prophetic of his 
future fate: 

" I have only to say that if the time should 
come when dissension rules the hour, and dis- 
cord reigns supreme, I shall be ready to give the 
best blood in my veins to my country's cause. 
I shall be prepared to meet all antagonists, with 
lance in rest, to do battle in every land, in de- 
fense of the constitution of the country, which 
I have sworn to support to the last extremity, 
against disunionists and all its enemies, whether 
North or South — to meet them everywhere, at 
all times, with speech or hand, with word or 
blow, until thought or being shall be mine no 
longer." 

In 1852 Colonel Baker emigrated with his 
family to California Establishing himself in 
San Francisco, he once more commenced the 
practice of law. His fame as an advocate and 
orator had preceded him, so that he soon found 
himself in the midst of an extensive business. 
Almost at one bound, and with apparently little 
effort, he rose to the summit of his profession, 
and to a share in the best practice of the courts 
of that youthful commercial meti-opolis. Here 
it was that he achieved his highest reputation 
as a lawyer, and perhaps his most brilliant 
renown as an orator. 

While living in California, he early identified 
himself with the Free Soil movement. When 
Senator Broderick, the chief of the Douglas 
Democracy in that State was killed in a duel 
with Judge Terry, it was Colonel Baker that 
was called upon to deliver the funeral oration, 
and right royally did he perform that sad duty. 
The oration has seldom, if ever, been surpassed. 
S^jace forbids even a quotation in this place. 

Shortly after the unhappy death of Broder- 
ick, Colonel Baker removed to Oregon. Here 
he was soon after elected to the United States 
Senate. Returning to San Francisco, on his 
way to the East, he was the recipient of a public 
ovation. In his speech ujion the occasion, he 
said: 

"As for me, I dare not, will not, be false to 
freedom. Where the feet of my youth were 
planted, there by freedom my feet shall ever 
stand. I will walk beneath her banner. I will 
glory in her strength. I have seen her in his- 



tory struck down on a hundred fields of battle. 
I have seen her friends fly from her, her foes 
gather around her. I have seen her bound to a 
stake. I have seen them give her ashes to the 
winds. But when they turned to exult, I have 
seen her again meet them face to face, resplend- 
ent in comp ete steel, brandishing in her strong, 
right hand a flaming sword, red with insuff- 
erable light. I take courage. The people 
gather around her. The genius of America 
will yet lead her sons to freedom." 

In December, 1860, while en route to Wash- 
ington, Colonel Baker paid a hasty visit to 
Springfield, where he was honored with a public 
reception. On behalf of the citizens, J. C. 
Conkling, in a neat and tasty speech, formally 
welcomed him to the scenes of his early labors 
and triumphs. The Senator elect responded in 
characteristic style. He expressed the liviliest 
gratitude at the heartiness and enthusiasm with 
which he had been received by his old friends, 
without distinction of party; referring in touch- 
ing language to his previous history; alluded to 
the wonderful growth and prosperity of Illinois, 
and of the great West; and spoke with solici- 
tude of our National difliculties and the impend- 
ing civil war. 

On taking his seat in the Senate, Colonel 
Baker entered industriously upon the discharge 
of the responsible duties of his station, and 
ranked from the outset among the foremost 
orators and debaters in that dignified body. 
His addresses on the 2d and 3d days of January, 
1861, in reply to Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisi- 
ana, was one of the most eloquent delivered 
during that storm period. 

On the 20th day of April, a few days after 
the fall of Fort Sumter, Colonel Baker spoke in 
New York City to one of the largest assem- 
blages ever enchained by the eloquence of a sin- 
gle man. In closing his address, he dedicated 
himself anew to the service of his country 
in these gi'andly eloquent words, which were 
greeted with tremendous applause: 

"And if, from the far Pacific, a voice feebler 
than the feeblest murmur on its shores, may be 
heard to give you courage and hope in this con- 
test, that voice is yours to-day. And if a man 
whose hair is gray, who is well nigh worn out 
in the battle and toil of life, may pledge him- 
self on such an occasion, and to such an audience, 
let me say, as my last word, that as when amid 
sheeted fire and flame, I saw and led the hosts 
of New York, as they charged in contest upon 
a foreign soil for the honor of your flag, so, 
again, if Providence shall will it, this feeble 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



hand .shall draw a «wui'd never yet dishonored — 
not to hght for distant honor in a foreign land — 
but to hght for country, for government, for 
Constitution, for law, for right, for freedom, for 
humanity; and in the hope that the banner of 
our country may advance, and wheresoever that 
banner waves, there may glory pursue and free- 
dom be established." 

Colonel Baker at once raised a regiment, 
known as the California regiment, and entered 
the service. At Ball's Bluff, on the 20th day of 
October, 1861, he fell in battle, pierced by eight 
leaden messengers freighted with death, from 
the guns of the advancing foe. Thus heroically 
the grand and gifted Baker fell. 

John D.Urquhartwas from Virginia, and came 
to Springfield about 1832. He was well read in 
the law and in the general literature of the day. 
He Avas a gentleman of the old school, with too 
much refinement to adapt himself to Western 
methods, and tlierefore achieved no success as a 
lawyer at the Bar of Sangamon county. 

John C. Doremus was from New Jersey, and 
first practiced in the courts of this county in 
1838. In 1840 he formed a partnership with 
Schuyler Strong, which continued but a few 
montns. He never attained any distinction as a 
lawyer, and early in 1840 went South, studied 
theology, and became minister in the Presby- 
terian Church and received the degree of D.D. 
He died some years ago. 

THIRD DECADE. 

The Third Decade shows in addition to the 
greater number of those of the Second, the 
names of Silas W. Robbins, Charles R. Welles, 
Benjamin W^est, James Shields, William A. 
Minshall, Justice Butterfield, Justice Butterfield, 
Jr., Levi Davis, A. K.Smede, James H.Matheny, 
David Logan, E. B Herndon, A. Parker, Wil- 
liam I. Ferguson, William Walker. William H. 
Herndon, Vincent Ridgely, U. F. Linder, Josiah 
Lamborn, Archibald W^illiams, O. H. Browning, 
Israel Crosby, Lyman Trumbull. 

What Bar in all the Union can show a greater 
array of distinguished names than the foregoing, 
in addition to the best of the Second Decade 
who still continued to practice before the courts 
of the county. For great learning, for oratorical 
ability, and for unsurpassed statesmanship, the 
Bar during this Decade has never been surpassed. 
From its ranks were furnished a President of 
the United States, a distinguished candidate for 
the Presidency whose memory will always be 
kept green by lovers of the Union, several 
United States Senators, one Cabinet Officer, 
several members of Congress, several disting- 



uished officers in the United States Army — all 
of whom were honorable men reflecting great 
credit upon the profession of law and upon the 
Bar of Sangamon county. 

A large and interesting volume could be writ- 
ten of the Bar of this Decade, but in this volume 
space forbids more than such individual mention 
as will show the character of those composing it. 

General Shields.* — Among the men who have 
conferred lasting celebrity upon the Capital 
City of Illinois, by making it the place of their 
temporary or permanent abode, one of the most 
remarkable and distinguished was the late Gen- 
eral Shields — the man of two nationalities, the 
^ eteran of two wars, and the Senator from 
three States. 

James Shields was born at a place called Dun- 
ganon, county of Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 
1819. Of his family and early domestic history, 
little or nothing is certainly known; though he 
appears to have enjoyed fair educational advan- 
tages. W^ith that inbred and irrepressible spirit 
of adventure, which formed the ruling charac- 
teristic of his life, he emigrated to the United 
States while still in his minority, and, propably, 
first landed at New Orleans. This Avas in 1826, 
or thereabouts; and in no long time afterward, 
we find him located in Randolph county, Illi- 
nois, engaged in the vocation of teaching. Sub- 
seqtiently, he read law, wasadmittted to the Bar 
in 1832, and began the practice of that profes- 
sion in Kaskaskia — the ancient "seat of empire" 
of Illinois under the French Dominion. 

Gifted from the outset with a talent for pub- 
lic speaking, and all the elements of personal 
popularity, we next find our young adventurer 
at Vandalia (then the State Capital), represent- 
ing the county of Randolph in the lower branch 
of the General Assembly. Here, during the 
memorable session of 1836-37, he first met Lin- 
coln, Dotiglas, Hardin, and other rising politi- 
cians of the i^eriod, with whom he was after- 
wards to become so prominently associated. 

In March, 1841, Mr. Shields was made Au- 
ditor of the State of Illinois, and took up his 
residence in Springfield, to which place the seat 
of government had been removed from Vanda- 
lia by act of the legislature. This was the era 
of general financial depression, of depreciated 
paper money, and of slow recovery from panic; 
and Shields is said to have run the Auditor's 
office almost entirely on scrip. It was during 
his incumbency of this office that he became in- 
volved in the personal difficulty with Abraham 

* Prepared by Joseph Wallace. 




^Mc'cu^S)^^ 



^i^^-e^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



101 



Lincoln, which led to his challenging the latter 
to mortal combat. Lincoln accepted the chal- 
lenge, and under the advice of his friend and 
second. Dr. Merriman, selected cavalry broad 
swords as the weapons with which to light. 
Such a choice necessarily gave to Lincoln, who 
was much the tallest and longest armed man of 
the two, greatly the advantage. But our chiv- 
alrous son of the Emerald Isle was not disposed 
to shrink from the encounter, whatever might 
be the advantage of his antagonist in point of 
stature, or in the choice of weapons. The par- 
ties accordingly repaired to Alton, accompanied 
by their respective seconds, intending to fight 
the duel on the narrow tongue of land between 
the confluence of the Mississippi and the Mis- 
souri rivers. But through the timely interven- 
tion of common friends, the difiiculty was at 
last amicably adjusted, without the shedding of 
human gore. 

On August 16, 1843, Shields was commis- 
sioned by Governor Ford one of the associated 
justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois, but 
did not long retain his seat upon the bench; 
and, in Apiil, 1845, the ermine for the oiRce of 
Commissioner of the General Land Oftice, 
which post he held for nearly two years. 

The outbreak of hostilities with Mexico, in 
1846, afforded the long-wished-for opportunity 
of gratifying his martial tastes and ambition, 
and constituted the turning point, so to speak, 
in his checkered career. Having announced his 
intention of taking part in the war, he was, upon 
the recommendation of the Illinois delegation in 
Congress, commissioned Brigadier General by 
President Polk. Taking the field under General 
Scott, Shields led the Illinois brigade in the vic- 
torious march on the City of Mexico. In the 
battle of Cerro Gordo, on April 18, 1847, he was 
seriously wounded by a ball which passed 
through one of his lungs. For a while, it was 
doubtful if he could survive; but he did recover 
so as to resume his former command, and served 
till the end of the campaign. At the sanguinary 
battle of Cherubusco, fought on the 20th of 
August, in the vicinity of the City of Mexico, 
General Shields led the Illinois and New Eng- 
land brigades, and the Palmetto regiment, in the 
attack upon the Mexican reserve, and drove the 
enemy from their entrenched position back into 
the capital. He also fought at the storming of 
Chapultepec, where he is said to have been again 
wounded. For his gallantry in these several 
engagements, he was brevetted a Major-General. 
Upon the conclusion of the war, he was honor- 
ably mustered out of service, and returned home 

12— 



to receive the plaudits and rewards of his country- 
men for his valorous and patriotic services. 

Declining the appointment of Governor for 
the Territory of Oregon, General Shields, during 
the wintei of 1848-49, was elected by the Illinois 
Legislature to a seat in the United Slates Senate, 
which he held for the full term of six years from 
the 4th of March, 1849. His career in the Sen- 
ate, though not so brilliant as it had been on the 
" tented field," was creditable to himself and to 
the party that elected him. During this term, 
he voted for the Compromise measures of 1850, 
and also for the Nebraska Bill. 

In 1855, he was a candidate for re-election, 
but his Democratic friends in the legislature 
found it necessary to concentrate their strength 
upon Governor Matteson, in order to defeat the 
candidacy of Mr. Lincoln, and the latter, seeing 
that he could not succeed, finally withdrew in 
favor of Lyman Trumbull, who was thereupon 
elected by the fusion majority. 

Soon after this defeat (about the first he had 
sustained). General Shields transferred his resi- 
dence to the State of Minnesota, by the legisla- 
tui'e of which he was sent to the United States 
Senate to fill a vacancy, and occupied his seat 
from May 12, 1858, to March 3, 1859. He then 
went to California, where he remained for a year 
or tAVO. What were his motives in going to the 
Pacific coast, or his occupation while there, do 
not clearly appear. 

When the long threatened civil war broke 
out. General Shields' martial spirit Avas again 
fully aroused, and having tendered his services 
to President Lincoln they were accepted, and he 
was made a Brigadier, his commission dating 
August 19, 1861. Early in 1862, he was assigned 
to the command of a division of General Bank's 
army, operating in the Shenandoah Valley, Va., 
and commanded at the battles of Port Republic 
and Winchester. Some time in 1863, General 
Shields, owing in part to disability consequent 
upon the wounds he had received in former 
campaigns, and partly to his having been over- 
looked \n the matter of promotion by the mili- 
tary authorities at Washington, resigned his 
commission in the army, and settled upon a 
small farm in Carroll county, Missouri. About 
this tinie, he appears to have married a woman 
of Irish parentage; but the union was not pro- 
ductive of any addition to his slender fortune. 
His experience as a tiller of the soil was not 
particularly encouraging. In the course of a 
public lecture in one of our eastern cities, he 
referred to himself as one of the " poorest farm- 



102 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNT V. 



ers in Carroll county," and he doubtless told the 
simple truth. 

During the stormy administration of Presi- 
dent Johnson, Shields was elected to Congress 
from one of the Missouri districts, but was not 
allowed to take his seat by the party then domi- 
nant in the House of Representatives. In 1877, 
he was elected a member of the Missouri Legis- 
lature, and about the same time was appointed 
Adjutant General of that State. 

In 18 78 he was brought forward in connection 
with the office of doorkeeper of the National 
House of Representatives; and the Democratic 
majority. of that body (as a mark of respect for 
his distinguished services, and to relieve his ne- 
cessities) \'oted to increase his pension to one 
hundred dollars per month. 

During the winter of 1878-79, General Shields 
was elected by the Missouri Legislature to com- 
plete the unexpired portion of the late Senator 
Bogy's term in the IJnited States Senate. The 
term was quite short, (not exceeding six weeks), 
but it conferred upon him the rare honor of hav- 
ing been a Senator from three States; an honor 
such as, perhaps, was never before vouchsafed to 
any citizen of our republic. In these latter years 
of his life, he traveled more or less extensively 
through the country, lecturing on his "Reminis- 
cences of the Mexican war," and also upon 'his 
" recollections " of the eminent statesmen with 
whom he had associated in the Senate in ante- 
bellum days. 

At length, however, after a singularly event- 
ful and romantic career of nearly three score 
and ten years. General Shields was called to 
meet his last enemy — death. On the night of 
the tirst of June, 1879, he died suddenly and 
peacefully in Ottumwa, Iowa, while on a visit 
to relatives in that city. It was the opinion of 
those best qualified to judge, that his old wound 
in the chest, received in the Mexican war, was 
the primary cause of his unexpected decease. 
His remains were subsequently removed to his 
home at Carrollton, Missouri, where they were 
interred with appropriate civic and military 
honors. 

James Shields, strictly speaking, was neither 
a great nor a learned man, yet his abilities were 
far above the average, and no one ever made a 
better display than himself, of those talents 
with which the Creator had endowed him. He 
was, in a certain sense, his own ancestor, and 
not for him was intended the Latin maxims, 
Mvito viret honora. 

In stature he was of the middle size, trim 
built, raw-boned, and dark complected, with 



black hairand eyes, and prominent, yet regular, 
featui'es. His carriage was at all times erect 
and soldier-like, while his manners were pleas- 
ing and "taking" in the extreme. As a speaker, 
he was graceful, liuent, witty and eloquent, and 
his fine voice had just enough of the Irish 
brogue to give it flavor and richness of tone. 
No more captivating speaker, for the masses, 
ever mounted the stump in Illinois, unless it 
may have been the lamented Colonel Baker. 

Shields was also a vain man — especially of 
his martial record — but his vanity was of the 
innocent and amiable kind, and never took the 
form of oflfensive and overbearing egotism. He 
could hardly be called a man of business (being 
as improvident as Oliver Goldsmith), and was 
not unfrequently indebted to his personal or 
political friends for pecuniary aid. Careless of 
his private affairs, he went up and down the 
land, like a knight errant of old, seeking re- 
nown, and finding it, in diverse ways, and in 
widely dissimilar spheres of human endeavor. 

In party politics, he was a life-long Democrat, 
but he ever so bore himself, amid the fiercest 
partisan contests, as to command the respect, if 
not admiration, of his political foes. His amor 
loatriae was unbounded, and no truer patriot 
ever raised his voice in the Amei'ican Senate, or 
unsheathed his sword upon the blood-stained 
field of battle. His influence over his fellow- 
citizens of Celtic birth was great and durable, 
and was always wielded for good, since in all 
matters of public policy he was discreet in 
council, and never permitted his feelings or im- 
agination to transcend his judgment. 

As a politician, jurist, warrior, orator, and 
Senator, he jjossessed many useful, many noble, 
and many brilliant qualities; and, despite the 
transitory nature of that which we call fame, 
his name and exploits will not soon be forgotten 
by his admiring countrymen. But the valiant 
and generous hearted Shields is in his grave; 
after life's fitful fever, "he sleeps well." He 
has "passed into that still country where the 
heaviest-laden wayfarer at length lays down his 
load." 

" Loug shall we seek his likeness — long in vain — 
And turn to all of him which maj' remain, 
Sighing that Nature formed but one such man, 
And broke the die in moulding — " 

Silas W.Robbins immigrated from Massachu- 
setts to Kentucky as early as 1825, and succeeded 
admirably as an attorney in that commonwealth, 
serving some years as a Judge of one of the 
courts. There being a strong prejudice in that 
State against Yankees, he left about 1841 and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



108 



came to Illinois and settled in Springfield, form- 
ing one of that strong force of attorneys com- 
posing the Bar of that period. He was an ex- 
cellent lawyer, and soon succeeded in obtaining 
a lucrative practice, which continued until his 
retirement in 1852. Judge Robbins was a man 
of high temper and of a very beligerent disposi- 
tion, never seeming happy or contented without 
a "wee bit of a row" on his hands. He could 
brook no restraints, and would be imposed on 
by no one, large or small. In 1855 he removed 
to a farm a short distance from Springfield, and 
there died about 18*70. 

Justin Butterfield was a citizen of Chicago, 
and often appeared in the Springfield courts. He 
was one of the most learned, talented and distin- 
guished members of the Bar during this Decade. 
A case in which Mr. Butterfield partici^^ated is 
thus described by Isaac N. Arnold: 

"In December, 1842, Governor Ford, on the 
application of the Executive of Missouri, issued 
a warrant for the arrest of Joseph Smith, the 
Apostle of Mormonisra, then residing at Nauvoo, 
in this State, as a fugitive from justice. He w^as 
charged with having instigated the attempt, by 
some Mormons, to assassinate Governor Bogg, of 
Missouri. Mr. Butterfield, in behalf of Smith, 
sued out, from Judge Pope, a writ of habeas 
cor2nis,2iYi<\ Smith was brought before the United 
States District Court. On the hearing it clearly 
appeared that he had not been in Missouri, nor 
out of Illinois, within the time in which the 
crime had been committed, and if he had any 
connection with the offense the acts were done 
in Illinois. Was he, then, a fugitiv,e from jus- 
tice? It was pretty clear that, if allowed to be 
taken into Missouri, means would have been 
found to condemn and execute him. The Attor- 
ney-General of Illinois, Mr. Lamborn, appeared 
to sustain the warrant. Mr. Butterfield, aided 
by B. S. Edwards, appeared for Smith, and 
moved for his discharge. The Prophet (so- 
called) was attended by his twelve Apostles and 
a large number of his followers, and the case at- 
tracted great interest. The court-room was 
thronged with prominent members of the Bar 
and public men. Judge Pope was a gallantgen- 
tleman of the old school, and loved nothing 
better than to be in the midst of youth and 
beauty. Seats were crow^ded on the Judge's 
platform, on both sides and behind the Judge, 
and an array of brilliant and beautiful ladies al- 
most encircled the court. Mr. Butterfield, 
dressed a la Webster, in blue dress-coat and 
metal buttons, with buff vest, rose with dignity 
and amidst the most profound silence. Pausing, 



and running his eyes admiringly from the cen- 
tral figure of Judge Pope, along the rows of 
lovely women on each side of him, he said: 

"May it please the Court: 

"I appear before you to-day under circum- 
stances most novel and peculiar. I am to ad- 
dress the 'Pope' (bowing to the Judge) sur- 
rounded by angels (bowing still lower to the 
ladies), in the presence of the Holy Apostles, in 
behalf of the Prophet of the Lord." 

"Among the most lovely and attractive of 
these 'angels' were the daughters of Judge 
Pope, a daughter of Mr. Butterfield, Mrs. Lin- 
coln, Miss Dunlap, afterwards Mrs. General John 
A. McClernand, and others, some of whom still 
live, and the tradition of their youthful beauty 
is verified by their lovely daughters and grand- 
children. 

" But the chief actors in that drama, on the 
issue of which hung, not only the life of Smith, 
the Prophet, but of his followers, and perhapsthe 
peace of two States, the dramatis persoa- have all, 
or nearly all passed away. The genial and learned 
Judge, the prisoner and his able counselor, so 
full of wit and humor, the eloquent Attorney- 
General, the Governors of both States, the Mar- 
shal and Clerk, and nearly all of the distin- 
guished lawyers and public men — have each paid 
the debt of nature." 

Mr. Butterfield was a native of the State of 
New York, and at the breaking out of the war 
of 1812, he was in some office in that State, and 
opposing the w'ar it destroyed his popularity. 
When the war broke out between this country 
and Mexico, some jDerson asked him if he was 
opposed to it. "No," said he, "I oppose no wars. 
I opposed one war and it ruined me, and hence- 
forth I am for icar, 2)estilence and faminey 

During the contest between Harrison and Van 
Buren in 1840, some Federal ofiice-holder met 
Butterfield in debate. The latter charged the 
hard times that then afflicted the country to the 
course pursued by the Administration. The 
ofiice-holder replied, denying that there was 
hard times, and declared that he never saw bet- 
ter times in his life. Butterfield, in his rejoinder, 
used the following language: "Fellow-citizens, 
I believe, in my soul, that if it rained fire and 
brimstone, as it did at Sodom and Gomorrah, 
these locofocos would exclaim, 'What a refresh- 
ing shower I'" 

Mr. Butterfield was perfectly familiar with the 
Scriptures and used Scriptural quotations and 
illustrations with great effect. While he was 
District Attorney, Ben Bond was United States 
Marshal, and as two of his brothers were depu- 



104 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



ties, and were quite annoying to him, his patience 
at one time being tried beyond endurance. He 
remarked to some one: "I would to God tliat 
not only Thou, but also all that hear me this day, 
were both almost and altogether, such as I am, 
except these Jionds.'''' 

David A. Smith, of Jacksonville, who had in 
some way incurred the displeasure of Butterfield, 
was sitting one day in the United States Court 
room, sleeping, the sun shining upon his bald, 
slick head. Some one directed Butteriield's at- 
tention to him, when he instantly exclaimed, in 
his gruff voice: "The light shineth upon dark- 
ness, but the darkness comprehended it not." 

The best Scriptural illustration made by But- 
terfield was when he was defending the consti- 
tutionality of the Shawneetown Bank. The 
Constitution of Illinois of 1818, provided that 
there should be no bank exce}»t the State Bank 
and its branches, and also the banks tbat were 
then in existence. The Shawneetown Bank was 
chartered before that time, but in 1835 its char- 
ter was extended. A writ of quo 'warranto was 
sued out against the bank, and in the argument 
it was contended by counsel who sued out the 
writ, that the extension of the charter was in fact 
the creation of a new bank. Butterfield was 
restive while this line of argument was being 
pursued, and he arose to reply with an expres- 
sion of contempt upon his face. He said he 
would like to be informed by the gentlemen, if 
they had met with it in their reading, which he 
very much, doubted, however, whether when the 
Lord lengthened out the life of Hezekiah fifteen 
years he had made a new man, or was he the 
same old Hezekiah ! 

Of Justin Butterfield, Jr., but little can be 
said. He came to Springfield in 1842, a young 
man of great promise, formed a partnership with 
B. S. Edwards, which continued about one year. 
He returned to Chicago on the dissolution of the 
co-partnership, and soon afterwards died. 

U. F. Binder was a native of Kentucky, and 
born within ten miles of the place whei'e Abra- 
ham Lincoln first saw the light of day. He 
came to Illinois in 1835, and settled in Coles 
county, but, like all other lawyers of that day, 
traveled the circuit. He was one of the most 
eminent lawyers of this Decade, and the party 
securing his legal services was fortunate indeed. 
As an orator he had few equals. He was quick 
iu repartee, and few cared to encounter him in 
debate. He was withal a trifle vain, but just 
enough to spur him on to action. 

Josiah Lamborn was one of the best lawyers 
that figured in the courts of Sangamon county. 



Linder says of him: " Intellectually, I know no 
man of his day who was his superior. He was 
considered by all the lawyers who knew him as 
a man of the tersest logic. He couid see the 
point in a case as clear as any man I ever knew, 
and could elucidate it as ably, never using a word 
too much or one too few. He was exceedingly 
happy in his conceptions, and always traveled 
the shortest route to reach his conclusions. He 
was a terror to his legal opponents, especially to 
those diffusive, wordy lawyers who had more 
words than arguments. I heard Judge Smith, 
of the Supreme Court, say that he knew of no 
lawyer who was his equal in strength and force 
of argument." Lamborn was a native of Ken- 
tucky, and received a liberal education. He 
possessed high social qualities, and his conversa- 
tional powers were of the very highest order. 
As a prosecutor he was a terror to criminals. 
He was inclined to be vindictive, and very resent- 
ful of any slight offered him by an opposing 
attorney. On one occasion he was prosecuting 
a man for murder in Christian county. E. D. 
Baker was defending. In the course of the 
trial Lamborn asked Baker tc yield some point. 
Baker refusing, he turned to him and said, 
"Baker, I'll hang your man." In his speech at 
the close of the testimony, Baker made one of 
his most powerful pleas, exciting the jury, spec- 
tators, and even the judge to tears. He closed 
with a brilliant peroration, such as he only could 
make. When he sat down it was about time to 
adjourn for supper, and Lamborn asked an ad- 
journment until after supper, before beginning 
his closing speech for the prosecution. His re- 
quest was granted. After supper he went to the 
sheriff and told him he only desired one candle 
to be placed in the court room, and that in a 
position that would place the jury in the shade. 
If the Judge said anything about the matter, the 
sheriff was to inform him that all was done at 
Lamborn's request. At the hour for court to 
convene the court room was filled to hear the 
prosecutor's speech. Lamborn, who was slightly 
lame, hobbled into the room, slowly and pain- 
fully, coughing meanwhile as if half gone with 
consumption, thus exciting the pity of both the 
jury and spectators. On the call to order he 
passed in front of the jury, who could but dimly 
witness his movements, and, placing his lame 
foot upon a chair, in a hollow sepulchre tone of 
voice said: " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
man shall his blood be shed." He then stopped 
for some moments, while a cold chill passed over 
every individual in the audience. Slowly and 
painfully, apparently, he resumed his speech, 



HISTOHY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



105 



taking up and reviewing the points in the case, 
and with so much effect that at its close the 
jury, after being out but a few moments, brought 
in a verdict of guilty, and the man was con- 
demned to be hung. 

Laniborn was once prosecuting an old and 
gray-haired man for stealing hogs. Stephen T. 
Logan was defending him, and made a powerful 
plea in his behalf, describing the accused as a 
man with hair blossoming for the eternal world, 
with one foot in the grave and the other totter- 
ing upon the brink. The illustration was so apt 
that it had a wonderful effect upon the jury 
which was quickly dispelled when Lamborn rose 
to reply. "Yes, gentlemen of the jury," said 
he, "his hair is whitening for that place which 
burns with liquid fire; one foot is in the grave, 
and the other is in his neighbor's hog pen." 

Levi Davis came to Springfield in 1839 as 
Auditor of the State and served until 1841, when 
he commenced the practice of law, having been 
admitted to the Bar before his appointment as 
Auditor. He was a good lawyer, a fine business 
man, courteous and affable to all whom he met. 
He removed from here to Alton, where he now 
resides. 

A. K. Smede was a young but highly educated 
man from Mississippi who practiced law here 
between 1843 and 1845. He never met with 
much success and returned to his native State. 

David Logan, while a youth, came with his 
father to Springfield, here studied law and was 
admitted to the Bar in 1843. He was the son of 
Judge Logan and inherited many of the bril- 
liant qualities of his father. He was a man of 
very superior talents. He practiced law in this 
circuit until 1847, when he went to Oregon 
where he took high rank as a criminal lawyer, 
obtaining a large and lucrative practice. It is 
related that after he had become well estab- 
lished in Oregon his father was desirous of his 
returning home, and as an inducement wrote 
him that if he would come he would take him 
into partnership. The young man answered the 
letter, thanking his father very kindly for his 
generous offer, and closed by inviting him to 
Oregon, and as an inducement offered to take 
him into partnei'ship. In 1860 on the election 
of United States Senator, he secured the major- 
ity of the Republican members of the legisla- 
ture in his interest, but the party not having a 
majority, the Republicans united with the Doug- 
las Democrats and elected E. D. Baker, the 
Democrats of that wing feeling favorably dis- 
posed to Colonel Baker for his gallant defense 



of Broderick. Mr. Logan died in Oregon in 
1874. 

William I. Ferguson was a Pennsylvanian by 
birth, and came to Springfield when a mere 
child, afterwards studied law and was admitted 
to the Bar in 1843. He was a very brilliant 
young man, and a first-class forensic lawyer. 
After his admission to the Bar, he soon secured 
a good practice, and for some time held the office 
of attorney for the city of Springfield. About 
the year 1850 he went to Memphis, Tennessee, 
where he remained one year, and then returned 
to Springfield and resumed the practice of law. 
Becoming dissatisfied he emigrated to Texas in 
1853, from which place he drifted on to Cali- 
fornia. In politics Mr. Ferguson was originally 
a Whig, and afterwards became a Democrat. In 
California he took an active part in politics and 
was elected to the State Senate, and was a candi- 
date for the United States Senate in 1855, but 
failed of an election. In the exciting canvass 
growing out of the differences between the Ad- 
ministration and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, 
Senator Broderick was the leader of the Douglas 
faction, and Mr. Ferguson was a staunch adher- 
ent and defender of Broderick and Douglas. In 
his defense of the latter he incurred the dis- 
pleasure of a man named Johnson, who chal- 
lenged him to fight a duel. The challenge was 
accepted and Ferguson was slain. Colonel 
Baker delivered a funeral oration over his dead 
body, which was only equalled, a few months 
later, by delivering the oration on the death of 
Senator Broderick, who fell in the same cow- 
ardly and disgraceful manner. 

Archibald Williams, of Quincy, was fre- 
quently in attendance on the Springfield courts 
at this time, and his honest, homely features 
once seen were never forgotten. He was one of 
the most profound lawyers that ever practiced 
in the courts of the State. Linder, in his " Re- 
miniscences of the Bar," has this to say of 
Williams: 

" He was a member of the Illinois Legislature 
in 1836 and 1837, and of the same House with 
Lincoln, Douglas and myself. He was over six 
feet high, and as angular and ungainly in his 
form as Mr. Lincoln himself; and for homeliness 
of face and feature surpassed Mr. Lincoln. I 
think I never saw but one man uglier than 
Archie, and that was Patrick H. Darbey, of 
Kentucky, also a very great lawyer, who once 
had a brace of pistols presented to him by a 
traveler he met upon the road, both being on 
horseback, who suddenley stopped, and asked 
Darbey to stop also, and said to the latter gen- 



106 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tleman: "Here is a brace of pistols which be- 
long to you." " How do you make that out? " 
said Darbey. " They were given to me a long 
time ago by a stranger, who requested me to 
keep them until I met an uglier man than myself, 
and I have carried them for over twenty years ; 
and I had begun to think they would go to my 
heirs when I died, but you are the rightful 
owner of the pistols. I give them to you as 
they were given to me, to be kept until you meet 
an uglier man than you are, and then you will 
present them to him; but you will die the owner 
of the property, for I am confident there is not 
an uglier man than you in the world, and the 
Lord did his everlasting best when he created 
you." 

"Darbey accepted the pistols, and I never 
heard of them passing out of his hands. I 
know not what might have occurred had he and 
Archie \Villiams ever met. If there had been 
a jury trial of the right of property between 
them, I think it altogether likely it might have 
resiilted in a 'hung jury.' 

"Archie Williams sat near Mr. Lincoln in the 
southeast corner of the old State House in Van- 
dalia, on his left, and I remember one day of a 
friend of mine asking me 'who in the world 
those two ugly men were.' Archie and Mr. 
Lincoln were great friends. I recollect Mr. Lin- 
coln asking me on one occasion if I didn't think 
Archie Williams was one of the strongest- 
minded, clearest headed men in Illinois. I 
don't know what reply I made at the time, but 
I know 3Ir. Lincoln said that he thought him 
the strongest-minded and clearest headed man 
he ever saw." 

Archie Williams has long since passed to his 
reward, but he has left a noble record, and one 
of which his descendants will always be proud. 
He made the race for Congress in 1854 as a Free 
Soil candidate, but failed of election. When 
Lincoln was elected, he appointed him one of 
the Federal Judges of Kansas. 

O. H. Browning is another Quincy lawyer 
that was often seen before the courts of Sanga- 
mon Covmty. He came to this State from Ken- 
tucky. As a lawyer and a statesman he ob- 
tained a high and enviable distinction. He was 
often employed in the largest cases before the 
Supreme Court of the State and the United 
States Courts. He w^as ajDj^ointed to fill the va- 
cancy in the United States Senate, caused by the 
death of Senator Douglas, and served as Secre- 
tary of the Interior under President Johnson. 

William A. Minshall, of Schuyler county, 
first figures in this Bar in 1841. He was a very 



able lawyer and at one time was Judge of the 
Circuit of which Schuyler county formed a part. 
Linder says of him: 

"Minshall, I believe, was a native of OhiOy 
and studied law with Judge McLean. In his 
early days he was given to dissipation. He 
courted a most beautiful woman, and on propos- 
ing marriage to her, she promptly rejected him, 
on the strength of which he got most gloriously 
drunk, and in his crazy mood put on seven clean 
shirts, and in that condition went over to see 
her again, letting her know that it was impossi- 
ble for him to live without her. The young 
lady, being far from indifferent to the suit of 
Minshall, finally concluded that she would try 
and make a man of him, so she said to him: 
'Mr. Minshall, I will never marry a drunkard, 
and if I had a husband and he should become 
one, I would leave him on the instant, if I loved 
him as I loved my life, but I have come 
to the conclusion I will marry you on one 
condition : If you will reform your habits, and 
give me satisfactory proof of the same, and 
make a solemn vow that you will never drink 
again. So, now, you go home and divest your- 
self of all those shirts but one, and come back 
in a month from now, and we will consummate 
this agreement.' Minshall gladly took her at 
her word, and after a month's probation he re- 
turned, took the vow, and they were married, 
and he religiously lived ujj to his pledge to the 
day of his death; and I know of no happier 
couple than they were in the whole circle of my 
acqiiaintance. He had a reputation of being 
one. of the kindest." 

Benjamin West came to Sangamon county in 
1841, and settled in the village of Rochester. 
He was a man of fair talents, and was a good 
lawyer. In 1846 he was elected to the legisla- 
ture, and died before the expiration of his term. 

Israel Crosby figured here during this Decade, 
but did more in the real estate business than in 
law. 

William Walker studied law, and was here 
admitted to the Bar. He soon afterwards went 
to Camden, and from thence to Havana, Mason 
county. From the latter place he emigrated 
to Missouri, where he was afterwards elected 
Circuit Judge. He was regarded as above the 
average in ability. 

Elliott B. Herndon was born on Silver creek, 
Madison county, Illinois, in 1820. In company 
wnth his parents, he came to Sangamon county 
in the spring of 1821. His parents first settled 
about four miles northeast of Springfield, and 
in 1823 erected a cabin on the lot where Mr. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



107 



Herndon now resides, where they lived the re- 
mainder of their lives. Elliott B. read law in 
Springtield, and was admitted to the Bar in the 
winter of 1842-3, and was one of the three first 
young men admitted in the county. He at 
once commenced an active practice, which con- 
tinued until 1868, when he retired, but resumed 
practice in 1873, continuing until 1878, when he 
permanently retired. Joseph Wallace, in a local 
paper issued February, 1880, thus speaks of Mr. 
Herndon: 

"At present he belongs to the retired list of 
our barristers, and enjoys his othmi cum cligni- 
tate; but still appears in court in special cases, 
and his opinion is often sought upon difficult 
and abstruse questions of law. He has always 
been recognized as the possessor of one of the 
soundest legal minds at our Bar, and if he had 
been prompted more by the spur of necessity, 
would have risen to yet higher rank as a lawyer. 

"Though not a classical scholar, Mr. Herndon 
is a person of wide reading and multifarious 
knowledge. He is fond of philosophizing, that 
is, of penetrating beneath the surface of things 
to ascertain their hidden origin and bearing. 
To illustrate, he tells us that he read through 
Don Quixote three times; first, for the story or 
stories; secondly, for the humor and pathos; 
and, thirdly, for the deep philosophy and in- 
sight into human nature contained in that in- 
comparable production. He is also an earnest 
admirer of Shakespeare's inimitable creations, 
but does not approve of the lengths to which 
some ingenious commentators go in searching 
after new and far-fetched interpretations to the 
text of that author, such as the great bard him- 
self never dreamed of. Among his other ac- 
quirements, Mr. Herndon is no bad judge of 
horses and dogs, and he is (or at least affects to 
be) skilled in gardening and horticulture." 

Politically, Mr. Herndon is a Democrat " of 
the strictest sect of our religion." For many 
yeai's he was engaged in the promulgation of 
Democratic doctrines, both from the stump and 
through the press. From 1857 to 1860 he edited 
the Illinois State Democrat, J. J. Clarkson, pro- 
prietor, a paper started to contend for Demo- 
cratic doctrine, " pure and undetiled," in opposi- 
tion to what he regarded as heresies in the 
Douglas wing of that party. 

Mr. Herndon has held several very important 
offices, both elective and appointed. He has 
served as City and County Attorney, United 
States Attorney for the Southern District of 
Illinois. In 1858 he was appointed Disbursing 
Agent by the General Government for Illinois. 



In 1876 Mr. Herndon was married to Jerusha 
Palmer, in Springfield, Illinois. In the same 
article already quoted Mr. Wallace further 
speaks of Mr. Herndon: 

" Physically and intellectually he is quite un- 
like his brother, William H. — the one inheriting 
the characteristics of the mother, while the other 
more nearlj'^ resembles the father. In person, 
Elliot B. is of medium height, broad shouldered 
and heavy set, with a tendency, of late years, to 
obesity. His cranium is massive and finely de- 
veloped, and his face square rather than oval. 
His style of speaking is deliberate and senten- 
tious, his jestures few, and his voice keen and 
penetrating rather than ore rotimdo. 

"In manner or demeanor, he is not always the 
same, being subject to moods. Sometimes he is 
taciturn and morose; at other times talkative, 
jovial and full of anecdote, yet always more or 
less sarcastic. Upon the whole, he is a man of 
marked ability, of striking individuality, of pro- 
nounced likes and dislikes, and of sterling integ- 
rity — in a word, he is one whose place at the Bar 
and in general society, if once made vacant, 
could hardly be supplied." 

FOURTH DECADE. 

As Springfield and Sangamon county increased 
in population, and as the business before the 
Supreme Court of the State and the United 
States District Courts inci'eased, the resident 
members of the Bar became more numerous. It 
will therefore be seen that between the years of 
1851 and 1861, the distinctive local Bar was 
quite large. Many who had been following the 
Circuit had ceased their attendance, and only 
appeared before the courts here on special occa- 
sions. The greater number of those heretofore 
mentioned as making a residence in Springfield, 
yet remained at the beginning of this Decade, 
and few left during the time. The Bar was 
therefore a strong one. Among those who fig- 
ured during this time whose names have not 
alreadv been given are John A. McClernand, L. 
B. Adams, N. M. Broadwell, D. A. Brown, W. 
J. Black, W. J. Conkling, Primm & Gibson, J. 
E. Rosette, J. B. White, G. W. Shutt, Thomas 
Lewis, J. France, D. Mc Williams, Charles W. 
Keyes, Shelby M. Cullom, L. Rosette, A. Mc- 
Williams, J. R. Thompson, Charles S. Zane, 
William Campbell, J. D. Bail, G. W. Besore, 
Christopher C. Brown, John E. Denny, Milton 
Hay, L. F. McCrillis, J. W. Moffett, Charles B. 
Brown, S. C. Gibson, T. S. Mather, J.R.Mather, 
H. G. Reynolds, E. L. Gross, L. C. Boynton, A. 
B. Ives, C. M. Morrison, Joseph Wallace, Speed 
Butler, E. F. Leonard, William Prescott. 



108 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Among the number comprising the Bar of this 
Decade will be noticed the names of some who 
have since become distinguished as statesmen 
and others whose names have become so famil- 
iar to every reader of history as among the brave 
men who responded to their country's call when 
traitors sought to destroy the Union, and who 
became as adept in the art of war as in the 
intricacies of the law. Sangamon County fur- 
nished the Commander-in-Chief of all the armies, 
one of whom the Bar of the county may well be 
proud, one of its brightest ornaments, the great 
and noble Abraham Lincoln. From the Bar of 
Sangamon County went General John A. Mc- 
Clernand, a brave and skillful General who rose 
to the rank of a Division Commander, Colonel 
James II. Matheny, Colonel L. F. McCrillis and 
others. Of the Bar of this period much can be 
said and only that which is good. 

Thomas Lewis, — everybody that lived in 
Springfield during this Decade knew Tom, — was 
a character in his way. Originally a shoe- 
maker by trade, he accummulated some money, 
engaged in banking, and then studied law; was 
admitted to the Bar, and practiced for a time, 
though he secured but little business. To crown 
all he became a newspaper man and was editor 
and publisher of the Illinois Atlas until its in- 
corporation with the Political Crisis, in 1871. 
He now resides in Cairo. 

J. France was a man well advanced in years 
when he came to Springfield. He was a fair 
lawyer and had a good practice for a time. 

D. McWilliams was a young man and had 
been admitted to the Bar but a short time when 
he came here. He succeeded in securing a fair 
practice, but after a time he left and is now re- 
siding in Piatt, and is one of the leading mem- 
bers of the Bar of that county. 

A. McWilliams, came here from Bloomington 
where he was regarded as a very talented law- 
yer, and had fine success in all his professional 
engagements. The same success attended him 
here, and had it not been for an unfortunate 
temper he would have left a highly honorable 
and proud record. He was States Attorney one 
term.' He died in 1862, near St. Louis. 

C. M. Morrison was one of the most talented 
young men that have practiced in the court of 
Sangamon County. He was from Kentucky and 
came to Springfield about 1856. He very soon 
secured a lucrative practice and was for several 
years Prosecuting Attorney for this distinct. As 
a prosecutor he had few superiors. He had a 
frail body but a strong mind. He died in the 
prime of life. 



William Prescott was from Wales, read law 
in Springfield and was admitted to the Bar 
about 1860. When the war broke out he laid 
down his law books and took up the sword. He 
served as Captain in one of the companies of 
the 130th regiment. While in the service, he 
was captured and held a prisoner of war for 
fourteen months. On his return to this county 
he was elected Coimty Judge and was the im- 
mediate predecessor of Judge Matheny. He re- 
moved to Chicago about 1879. 

L. F. McCrillis came to this county from Cal- 
houn. While a resident of the latter county he 
served a term in the legislature. He was re- 
garded as a good lawyer. On the breaking out 
of the war he offered his services to the Gov- 
ernor and was commissioned Colonel of one of 
the Illinois regiments, and served with credit in 
the defense of his country. After the war closed 
he returned to Springfield and shortly after 
made a business trip to Washington, and while 
in that city he died very suddenly. 

H. G. Reynolds was better known as a Mason 
than an attorney. He was for some years pub- 
lisher of the Masonic Trowel, an account of which 
is given under the head of "The Press." 

A. W. Hayes was here but a short time, and 
obtained no special standing as an attorney. He 
now resides in Kansas. 

S. S. Whitehurst was a fai» lawyer and a good 
business man. He was clerk of the Circuit Court 
for some years. He is now dead. 

Lawrence Weldon was a good lawyer, and was 
from Bloomington. 

L. M. Phillips came from Southern Illinois, 
and remained but a few years, and then returned 
to his old home. He was a fair lawyer, and 
secured a good practice while here. 

C. D. Harvey was a good bankrupt lawyer, 
and had a good practice in the bankrupt courts. 
He only remained a short time, when he re- 
moved to California, and now resides there. 

Primm & Gibson were young and vigorous 
men, who turned their attention principally to 
the land business. They are both now dead. 

William Campbell was Irish by birth, inherit- 
ing the social qualities of that fun-loving race. 
He was strong before a jury, having the natural 
eloquence of the Irish. He died some years ago. 

J. D. Bail was more of a poet than a lawyer, 
and in the profession was scarcely knowD. 

FIFTH DECADE. 

Whatever may be said of the Bar of Sanga- 
mon county, it cannot be said that it has ever 
deteriorated. It has always maintained a high 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



109 



Standard of excellence. "While it may be true 
that through political intiiience some of those of 
one Decade may have become more noted, yet 
as regards standing before the courts, it will be 
seen no comparison can be made that would de- 
tract from the good name of either. The Fifth 
Decade, embracing the years 1861 to 1871, shows 
a list of names alike creditable to the period and 
to the excellent standing of the Sangamon 
County Bar. 

Some of the familiar names of the pre- 
vious Decade have disappeared, of which it 
might be said that some bearing them have re- 
moved to other points, some have retired from 
active practice, while others still are now prac- 
ticing before a higher court and before the Bar 
of Almighty God. Among the new members of 
the Bar of Sangamon county during this Decade 
were William M. Springer, J. K. W. Bradley, 
W. P. Olden, A. N. J. Crook, James E. Dow- 
ling, A. W. Hayes, Richard Wolcott, L. H. 



Bradley, J. A. Chesnut, J. C. Crowley, William 
Fowler, James M. Mason, James W. Patton, 
Lawrence Weldon, L. M. Phillips, George C. 
Marcy, William E. Shutt, A. Orendorff. 



SIXTH DECADE. 



During this Decade the Bar of Sangamon 
County was increased in number by the follow- 
ing named: D. T. Littler, J. A. Kennedy, L. F. 
Hamilton, James C. Robinson, A. L. Knapp, 
Bernard Stuve, Bluford Wilson, Loren Hasson, 
Robert Allen, Thomas C. Austin, John F. Bar- 
row, S. D. Scholes, W. P. Emery, Charles H. 
Rice, Charles D. Harvey, Robert H. Hazlett, 
Robert L. McGuire, John M. Palmer, John 
Mayo Palmer, Alonzo W. Wood, Charles 
W. Brown, Clinton L. Conkling, Enoch Har- 
pole, W. L. Gross, E. D. Matheny, J. C. 
Lanphier, Henry H. Rogers, George A. Sanders, 
J. C. Snigg, Ezra W. White, Charles P. Kane, 
Henry Kane. 



13— 



110 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNrV. 



Chapter VI 



THE BAR OF SANGAMON COUNTY— Continued. 



SEVENTH DECADE. 

The year 1881 is the beginning of the Seventh 
Decade, and only of this year can anything he 
said as a matter of history, of the Bar of San- 
gamon. The following named firms now con- 
stitute the resident Bar of the county: L. B. 
Adams, John F. Barrow, Bradley & Bi-adley, 
N. M. Broadwell, Frank W. Burnett, James C. 
Conkling, \V. J. Conkling, Collins & Sprague, 
A. N. J.'Crook, J. E. Dowling, Ninian W. "Ed- 
wards, W. P. Emery, Joseph A. Gill, H. S. 
Greene, Gi-oss & Conkling, John H. Gunn, Mil- 
ton Hay, Ralph W. Ilaynes, FJazlett & Kane, 
Hern don & Colby, W. F. Houston, Frank H 
Jones, James A.Kennedy, J. R. H. King, David 
T. Littler, Webber E. Loomis, Jas. H. Matheny, 
Jas. H Matheny, Jr., McClernand & Keyes, Mc- 
Guire, Hamilton & Saltzenstein, Murray & Tur- 
ner, Orendorff & Creighton, Palmers, Robinson 
&Shutt, Patton & Lan])hier, Rice & Trapp, Rob- 
ertson & Maxwell, John E. Rosette, Louis 
Rosette, Sanders & Williams, Scholes & Mather, 
J. B. Scott, Ired E. Smith, John C. Snigg, Ster- 
ling & Grout, H. A. Stevens, Stuart, Edwards & 
Brown, T. J. Thompson, William A. Vincent, 
La Rue Vredenburg, Joseph Wallace, E. VV. 
White, ]31uford Wilson, Wines & Wickersham, 
Richmond Wolcott, Rogers & Kane. 

In reviewing the history of the Bar of to-day, 
it must be born in mind that the historian is 
speaking of those who are yet living and in 
active practice, and therefore he labors under 
an embarrassment that does not exist when 
writing of parties that have passed away. 
"Words of praise, by envious ones, are apt to be 
construed into words of fiattery, for which 
reason many things are left unsaid which are 
rightfully due the parties of whom the historian 
is writing. In the following sketches care has 
been taken against such use of terms as Avill 
lead to even a thought of fiattery, or stating an 
untruth, with the idea that it will please the one 



of whom it is written, even if it does not off^end 
others. But whatever is written is the o})inion 
of the historian, who reserves the right to speak 
as he may think best of each individual. The 
members are introduced in chronological order, 
as they appeared at the courts, so far as it is 
really known. 

John T. Stuart, the senior member of the 
firm of Stuart, Edwards & Browai, was born 
November 10, 1807, in Fayette county, about 
seven miles east of Lexington. Kentucky. He 
comes of good old Scotch-Irish stock and has 
inherited many of the peculiarities and fine 
qualities of that hardy race. Robert Stuart, the 
father of the subject of this sketch was born in 
Rockbridge county, Virginia, and early in life 
adopted the pi'ofession of the Christian minis- 
try. He removed from Virginia to Lexington, 
Kentucky, and became a jjrofessor of languages 
in Transylvania University. While a professor 
in this institution, he was there married to Han- 
nah Todd, daughter of General Levi Todd. 

During the earlier years of his life John T. 
Stuart remained with his parents upon a farm, 
attending the common schools in winter and 
assisting his parents in the summer in cultivat- 
ing the soil. While yet young he entered Cen- 
tre College, at Danville, Kentucky, pursuing a 
regular classical course, and graduating from 
that institution when but nineteen years of age. 
Immediately upon graduating, Mr. Stuart en- 
tered the law office of Judge Breck, in Rich- 
mond, Kentucky, and for two years pursued his 
studies under that eminent barrister. Having 
heard much of the "beautiful country of the 
Sangamo," and having relatives living in that 
favored region, he determined to emigrate there. 
Starting on horseback, he first made his way to 
Frankfort, Kentucky, and by the Supreme Court 
of that Sta'e was licensed as an "Attorney and 
Counselor at Law." In ten days he arrived in 
Springfield, weary and worn. A heavy rain had 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Ill 



fallen the morning of hi.san-ival which had given 
to the houses of the village, Avhich were gener- 
ally of logs daubed with mud, a dreary look, 
making him feel a little blue. His mind reverted 
to the pleasant home which he had left, sur- 
rounded by all the comforts of a civilized life, 
and he could but ^Yonder what the future would 
have in store for him, and whether the joys of 
the future would compensate for the pleasures 
left behind. 

At this time Mr. Stuart had barely attained 
his majority, and in looks and actions had re- 
tained much of the boy about him. He was 
kindly received by the generous, open-hearted 
people, then living in Si)ringfield, but he tells a 
good story upon himself Avhich goes to shoM^ 
man's judgment is not always infallible. Billy 
Fagin, a shrewd, witty Irishman, as all Irishmen 
are, met him a few days after his arrival, and as 
common in that day, began to question him as 
to his past and future. He was asked where he 
was from, what he was here for, and what were 
his expectations. The questions were all an- 
swered as well as pos8iV)le, considering the sur- 
prise manifested at being thus quizzed by an 
entire stranger. "Noav," says Mr. Fagin, "would 
you like to know my opinion of you? " Mr. 
Stuart replied that he would not object to know- 
ing it. " Well," says he, "it is my oj^inion you 
may be a j^retty fine man, but you stand a 
mighty poor show of meeting with success as a 
lawyer." Mr. Stuart laughed, but said nothing 
in reply. 

The attorneys Mr. Stuart found at the Bar on 
his arrival, were James Adams, Thomas M. 
Neale, James Strode, Thomas Moffett and Jona- 
than H. Pugh, men of mark then, but all of 
whom have since died and have almost been for- 
gotten, they being overshadowed by that bril- 
liant galaxy of lawyers that came a few years 
after. 

Hon. Joseph Gillespie was asked to give his 
opinion of Mr. Stuart as an attorney. The fol- 
lowing was his reply: 

" Colonel John T. Stuart may be emphatically 
denominated the Nestor of the Bar of Spring- 
field, Illinois, a body of men without superiors, 
if equals, in any State in the Union. We be- 
lieve there is but one man now living in Illinois, 
who ante-dates him as a practitioner, and that 
man is William Thomas, of Jacksonville. John 
T. Stuart is a native of Kentucky, from whence 
he emigrated to Illinois in 1828, and located in 
the future capital. After the manner of the 
Kentucky school, he was thoroughly grounded 
in the history and elementary principles of the 



law, whereby he was enabled to elucidate and 
apply it to the cases which might arise on the 
circuit, with the aid of such authorities as one 
could carry in his head and saddle-bags. John 
T. Stuart is pre-eminently a man of reason, and 
if he be tried by the maxim, ' By their works 
shall ye know them,' he will come out all right. 
He was the tutor of one of the greatest men who 
ever lived, Abraham Lincoln, who imbibed his 
precepts, principles and methods. An important 
part of Lincoln's great character was the work of 
John T. Stuart. The leading traits of the sub- 
ject may be summed up in the attributes of ster- 
ling integrity, great forecast, and strong will. 
In the management of professional business, he 
seeks first to understand his own side of the case, 
and next to penetrate the designs of his adver- 
sary, in which he never fails. He keeps his own 
batteries effectually masked, while those of the 
opposite side are closely scrutinized. He knows 
their calibre and position completely. It was 
this quality which made him so eminently suc- 
cessful as a politician. Such was his adroitness 
and sagacity that bis adversaries could never 
comprehend how he could obtain a knowledge 
of their plans; therefore they dubbed him " Jerry 
Sly." No one, however, ever suspected him of 
even the slightest breach of faith or dishonor- 
able dealing. He was fastidiously sincere in all 
his professions and engagements. There wa,8 
no trouble in discerning the attitude of John T. 
Stuart, but in regard to his plans, either political 
or professional, he was perfectly inscrutable. 
Whatever you had a right to know he would 
communicate with the greatest cheerfulness; but 
whatever he had a right to conceal, no man could 
find out. Stuart always believed in the efiicacy 
of labor, and worked his cases well. He was 
eminently conscientious with his clients, and 
never allowed them, if he could prevent it, to go 
to law for a profitable wrong or an unprofitable 
right. He has done more than any other man 
in the State to discourage frivolous litigation. 
He has always taken a great interest in assisting 
young men, aiding them by his counsel in the 
management of their cases, and by inspiring 
them with confidence and laudable ambition. 
His veneration for the profession of the law is 
very great, and anything like unworthy conduct, 
tending to lower it in the estimation of honor- 
able men, calls out his prompt and decided ani- 
madversion. There is not a particle of envy in 
his composition. He deals out equal and im- 
partial justice to all men. He scorns everything 
like ostentation or display, and desires to gain 
his cases upon their merits, and not otherwise. 



112 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



His character for honesty and fair dealing gave 
him a })ower few hold upon courts and juries, 
and made him almost invincible. He has passed 
now into the sere and yellow leaf, and, of course, 
seldom engages in the active duties of the pro- 
fession; Ijiit his old clients and friends cannot 
be induced to dispense with his counsel and 
advice, and he has not yet been permitted to doif 
the harness he has so long and honorably worn. 
It would, perhaps, be enough to establish the 
fame of John T. Stuart upon a solid and endur- 
ing basis, to say, as can be truthfully said of 
him, that throughout all those long years he 
practiced with and was the recognized peer of 
such men as Stephen T. Logan, Abraham Lin- 
coln, Milton Hay, John M. Palmer, and a host of 
others whose lives will adorn the pages of our 
judicial history so long as talent and worth shall 
be appreciated." 

In politics, Mr. Stuart is a disciple of Henrj- 
Clay, and therefore a Whig of the old school. 
He loved the old Whig party as- he loved his 
life, and has scarcely yet realized that the party 
is dead. In 1832, when but twenty-five years 
of age, he was elected for the first time a mem- 
ber of the legislature, and re-elected in 1834. 
In the House he made a useful member, ever 
at his post, and ever looking forward to advance 
the interests of his constituents. In those days 
the question of internal improvements was the 
leading issue before the people, and JVIr. Stuart 
strongly advocated every measure, that in his 
opinion, would tend to develo}) the indus- 
tries of the country. It may be well to remark 
here, that in these views Mr. Stuart has always 
been consistent, there hardly being a measure 
proposed for the advancement of public inter- 
ests but what has found in him a strong advo- 
cate. More enterprises of a public character will 
be found in which he has figured than any other 
man in the county. 

In 1836, Mr. Stuart was nominated by his 
party for Representative in Congress, and made 
the race against VVilliam L. May, of Springfield. 
In this race Mr. Stuart was beaten, as he reall)' 
expected to be, he making the race with a view 
of solidifying his party, which was in a large 
minority in the district, and doubtless with the 
hope that it w^ould benefit him in future cam- 
paigns, in 1838, he was again nominated in op- 
position to Stephen A. Douglas, w^ho was even 
then developing the poM^ers which afterwards 
made him so famous, and the leader of a great 
party. In this campaign Mr. Stuart was success- 
ful, and therefore became a member of the 
Twenty-fifth Congress. In 1840, he was again 



a candidate, and again elected. In Congress, 
Mr. Stuart made no special effort to become 
prominent, being content to be recognized as 
one of the working members of that body, but 
that he was not without influence is illustrated 
in the fact that he secured the passage of an 
appropriation for a harbor at Chicago, the first 
appropriation, it is thought, ever passed for that 
purpose. The member from Detroit, Michigan, 
and Mr. Stuart were the only w^estern members 
securing an appropriation that session. 

In 1842, Mr. Stuart declined a re-election to 
Congress and again resumed the active practice 
of law; but in 1848, he was prevailed upon to 
accept the nomination for State Senator in the 
district composed of the counties of Sangamon, 
Mason and Menard. He served the term of 
four years for w^hich he was elected, with 
marked ability, but from that time until 1862 he 
was virtually out of politics, though a firm sup- 
porter of Millard Fillmore, in 1856, and Joliii 
Bell, in 1860, for the Presidency. Fillmore and 
Bell were both old Whigs, and while represent- 
ing other parties and running upon other issues, 
he yet believed them to be sufficiently imbued 
with the Whig leaven as to merit his earnest 
support. 

Mr. Stuart is by nature a conservative man 
and a believer in the Constitution of our fathers. 
While being j^rogressive in matters affecting 
business interests, in political affairs he has been 
favorable to no change that would violently 
affect the convictions of a lifetime. During the 
dark days of the war, it was always his earnest 
hope that President Lincoln would pursue a 
conservative course. He believed in subduing 
the rebellion, and in a vigorous prosecution of 
the war, but desired nothing should be done by 
the Union authorities that would disarrange the 
existing order of things — the war must be car- 
ried on in a Constitutional way; that institution 
must be kept inviolate by all -Aho had swoi'n to 
protect it. In 1862, Mr. Stuart announced him- 
self a candidate for Congress in a circular ad- 
dressed '■ To the Voters of the Eighth Congres- 
sional District," in the following terms: 

" Fellow Citizens: I announce myself a can- 
didate to represent you in the next Congress. If 
any apology is needed for my mode of doing so, 
I offer it in the following facts: My political life 
dates back to a time anterior to party conventions, 
to a time when it was the practice of myself and 
others to come before you for your suffrages 
self-nominated. I am only doing now what I 
have repeatedly done before, when I announced 
myself a candidate for your suffrages, tbree 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



113 



times for Cong-ress and as often for the legisla- 
ture. Again, I ever, during its existence, be- 
longed to the Whig party. Since the dissolu- 
tion of that party, I have attached myself to no 
^other; I, therefore, can appeal to no party con- 
vention, and nothing is left to me but to declare 
myself a candidate independent of any i^arty 
organization, and free to serve my country in such 
manner as duty to her interests may dictate. 
Frankness further requires me to say, that I be- 
come a candidate not because any friends have 
pressed me to do so, but because ray own incli- 
nations have so prompted, stimulated by the 
hope that the contingency has now arisen, or 
soon will arise, when I may be of service to our 
beloved country in her hour of trial, and aid in 
preserving that glorious Union which our fathers 
formed. I aim thus to discharge the obligations 
which I owe to the country, in the circumstan- 
ces in which it is placed. Whether you will 
consider it to be your duty to vote for or against 
me, is a question for you to decide. Your confi- 
dence would be a source of great gratification 
to me. 

"I am for 'the Union, the Constitution and 
the enforcement of the laws.' This creed ex- 
presses my views in the briefest manner. It is 
appropriate to the circumstances of the country. 
I believe in it as a whole, and in every part, 
without qualification or condition, and to it I 
pledge myself with every faculty of ray nature. 
I believe the Union which our fathers formed 
was designed by them to be perpetual. It owes 
its origin to a patriotism, statesmanship and 
wise forecast, of which the world furnishes few, 
if any, parallels; it has been most benificient in 
its results; it has secured to us, as a nation, in a 
most remarkable degree, the blessings of civil 
liberty, domestic tranquility and safety from 
foreign aggression. In that Union has been our 
strength. The advantages flowing from that 
Union, coupled with our great natural gifts, has 
Secured to us a growth, as a nation, without a 
parallel in the history of the world. \Yith this 
Union preserved we might hope to transmit all 
these blessings and continued prosperity, to the 
reraotest generations of our posterity. With 
the Union dissevered our hopes can linger on no 
such glorious vision. After so sad a catastro- 
phe the future presents our once united and 
happy country, divided into two, perhaps raany 
parts, discordant, warring, drenched in fraternal 
blood, and finally seeking the strong arm of the 
despot to save her from anarchy. Such has been 
the fate of other republics. God grant that 
such may not be ours, or that of our children. 



Need I add that I regard it to be my duty, as it 
is that of every other citizen, to maintain and 
preserve it. How is that Union to be maintained 
and preserved? I answer, by the use, if neces- 
sary, of all the ample powers vested by the Con- 
stitution in the General Government. Our 
Union is based upon a written Constitution, 
embodying the contract by which the people 
formed a perpetual Union and erected a govern- 
ment limited in power as to the subject matter 
for its exercise, but supreme wherever given. 
It is only by virtue of that Constitution that the 
General Government can claim and enforce the 
obedience of all the parts and sections of the 
Union, to such laws and acts as are made and 
done in pursuance of that Constitution. These 
powers are ample, if wisely used. Indeed, we 
have a strong government. That Constitution 
provides no mode of dissolving the Union. It 
has no sanction for secession. When, therefore, 
the people of the South make the effort, by 
force, to free themselves from the obligations 
which they owe under the Constitution to the 
Union, they become rebels and traitors, seeking 
by revolution to destroy the Union, and it is the 
right and becomes the duty of the General Gov- 
ernment, to put down that rebellion and stay 
that revolution by the use, for that purpose, of 
all its constitutional powers. Were it to resort 
to any other powers, or to means outside of the 
Constitution, the Government would itself inau- 
gurate a revolution. The Southern revolution 
threatens us with anarchy; such a revolution by 
the Government, would lead to a military des- 
potism. I refrain from the discussion of past 
questions, the tendency of which would be to 
irritate, and shed no light upon any future duty. 

" Whatever may have been our differences of 
opinion upon such past questions, the one great 
question which now presses upon us ought to 
admit of no differences of opinion. In the 
deadly struggle now existing between the Gov- 
ernment and armed rebellion there can be no 
other alternative left to all such as would pre- 
serve the Union, maintain the Constitution, and 
enforce the laws, but to fight it out to the bitter 
end — fight, not to gratify a long pent-up hatred 
and desire for revenge — fight, not as a means of 
accomplishing some object which cannot be 
done under the Constitution, but fight to 
conquer a peace — such a pe.-ice as will preserve 
the integrity of the Union and the majesty of 
the Constitution and the law — such a peace as 
will degrade no section of the Union. 

"In conclusion, therefore, if I should become 
your representative, I would feel it to be my 



114 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



duty, so far as that position would give me the 
power, to place at the disposal of the Executive, 
all the resources of the Government, required to 
enable him to exercise his constitutional powers 
and perform his duty under the Constitution, or 
to add to the comfort or efficiency of our gallant 
soldiers while fighting the battles of the Union. 

"One thing further I would add, not neces- 
sary, perhaps, in this connection, but I wish to 
say it, and the occasion is at least not unfit. 
jNlr. Lincoln and myself, as most of you know, 
have been closely connected for more than a 
quarter of a century, by many ties, the recollec- 
tion of which is very dear to me. Difference 
in political opinion since 1856, has in no wise 
diminished my respect for the man, or the un- 
bounded confidence I have ever bad in his per- 
sonal integrity. I believe he entertains an 
ardent desire, and is struggling to preserve the 
Union and Constitution as our fathers made 
them; and, as a matter of feeling, as well as 
duty, I would rather aid than embarrass him in 
all such efforts. If my voice could now reach 
his ear, I would be glad to say to him: Follow 
the dictates of your own clear head and pat- 
riotic heart, and preserve the Union by the 
ample powers conferred upon you by the Con- 
stitution, and repulse from you any faction, if 
such there be, which would goad you into a 
resort to revolutionary means; and for a Union 
and a Constitution so preserved, history will 
erect monuments for you by the side of Wash- 
ington. Your obedient servant, 

" John T. Stuart. 

"AuCxUST 30, 18(32." 

Mr. Stuart was triumphantly elected, receiv- 
ing the entire Democratic vote, and that of hun- 
dreds of Republicans. In Sangamon county, 
where he was personally known by every voter, 
he ran far ahead of his ticket. The people be- 
lieved in him, trusted in him. In Congress he 
endeavored to act faithfully to his convictions. 
The Emancipation Proclamation of President 
Lincoln he o^^posed, for the reason he believed it 
unnecessary, and the objects for which it was 
issued could more readily be attained in other 
ways. It is due to him to say that he now be- 
lieves that " all was for the best." 

In 1864, Mr Stuart received the Democratic 
nomination for Congress, but was defeated by 
Shelby M. Cullom, From that time he has 
ceased to take an active part in political life. 

It may truly be said of him that he never was 
a politician in the commonly accepted definition 
of the term. Politics with him is the science of 
government, and in his entire political career he 



has endeavored to act for the interests of the 
people rather than that of party. 

As already stated, Mr. Stuart has always taken 
an active part in all matters of public interest. 
No man in Sangamon county is entitled to more 
credit for the excellent railroad system of this 
county. He has been prominently identified 
with each, and has served as President of one or 
more, Director and Attorney of several of them. 
In 1866, he was elected President of the Spring- 
field City Railway Company, President of the 
Springfield Watch Company and President of 
the Bettie Stuart Boai'd of Trustees. He was 
one of the three Commissioners for building of 
the new State House. As Chairman of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the National Lincoln 
Monument Association, it devolved upon him to 
do more than any other one man in suj^erintend- 
ing the erection of that monument to the mem- 
ory of his life-long friend, Abraham Lincoln, 

In educational matters Mr. Stuart has likewise 
been prominently identified. The old Illinois 
State University, the predecessor of the German 
Lutheran Concordia College, took much of his 
time, and in the Bettie Stuart Institute he has 
ever felt great interest. 

John T. Stuart and Mary V. Nash, a daiaghter 
of General Frank Nash, and niece of Judge 
Lockwood, were united in marriage at Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, October 25, 1887. The union has 
been a happy one. Six children were born unto 
them — Bettie, afterwards the wife of C. C. 
Brown, and for whom the Bettie Stuart Insti- 
tute is named, since deceased; John T., Frank 
N., Virginia L., Hannah and Robert. 

Socially, there is nothing to be said of Mr. 
Stuart but what is good. As a husband and 
father, he is kind and affectionate; as a neigh- 
bor, he is friendly and accommodating; as a 
citizen, he is public spirited and helpful. The 
poor in him have always found a friend, the cry 
of distress from the unfortunate always touches 
his heart, and he is ever ready to hearken unto 
their cry and minister to their w^ants. The 
young love him; the middle aged trust him; 
the old lean upon him as a friend; and all trust 
him. The golden rule has always been the rule 
of his life. He has shown his love to God by 
his love of his fellow-man. John T. Stuart is a 
grand, good man, and when called upon by the 
Judge of the Universe to a higher court, his 
place here will remain vacant; it cannot be filled 
and he will not be forgotten. 

Samuel H. Treat, Judge of the United States 
Court for the Southern District of Illinois, is a 
native of Otsego county, New York, and was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



115 



born in 1812. He read law and was admitted to 
practice in his native State; came to Illinois and 
settled in Springfield in 1834, and has been a 
resident of the city ever since. In 1838 he was 
appointed Circuit Judge, and filled the office 
until 1841. He was then elected Judge of the 
Supreme Court of Illinois, serving till 1855, 
when he was chosen to the Bench of the United 
States District Court, which position he has filled 
with distinguished ability for more than a quar- 
ter of a century. Judge Treat is admirably 
adapted, both by nature and education, for the 
bench, and has few equals in the judiciary of 
this country. 

Benjamin S. Edwards, for forty years an hon- 
ored member of the Sangamon County Bar, is 
the youngest son of Hon. Ninian Edwards, the 
first Governor of the Territory of Illinois, after- 
wards United States Senator and Governor of 
the State, was born June 3, 1818, in Edwards- 
ville, Madison county, Illinois. He graduated 
from Yale College in the class of 1838, studied 
law at the law school connected with that college, 
in 1839, completed his preparatory studies for 
the profession with Hon. Stephen T. Logan, de- 
ceased, of Springfield, and began practicing in 
March, 1840, with such competitors as Abraham 
Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, S. T. Logan, E. D. 
Baker, Jesse B. Thomas, Mr. Mcr)ougal, Mr. 
Lamborn, and other legal lights. In 1843, Mr. 
Edwards entered into partnership with Hon. 
John T. Stuart, in Springfield, which still exists, 
having continued thirty-eight years. He has 
studiously and zealously applied himself to the 
profession, paying little attention to politics. 
He was chosen a member of the Constitutional 
Convention in 1862, representing Sangamon 
county. He was, without his knowledge or con- 
sent, nominated for Congress on the Democratic 
ticket, in 1868, and greatly reduced the ordinary 
Republican majority, though opposed to Gover- 
nor CuUom in the contest. At the solicitation 
of the Bar and the people, Mr. Edwards became 
a candidate for Judge of the Circuit Court, in 
1869; was elected, and discharged the judicial 
duties with satisfaction to lawyers and litigants. 
When the circuit was enlarged. Judge Edwards 
retired from the bench, and has since devoted 
himself entirely to legal labors. Judge Edwards 
honors the profession he has faithfully repre- 
sented, for more than forty years, and has won an 
enviable reputation, both as a superior lawyer 
and a thorough gentleman. 

James C. Conkling was born in New York 
City, October 13, 1816. At the age of thirteen, 
he entered the academy at Morristown, New 



Jersey, and prepared for college. He entered 
Princeton in 1833, and graduated in 1835. He 
then entered the law office of Henry A. Ford, 
and read law for three years. In the fall of 1838, 
he came to Springfield, Illinois, was licensed by 
the Supreme Court of the State the following 
winter, and at once commenced the practice of 
law. Soon thereafter he formed a partnership 
with Cyrus A. Walker, then one of the leading 
attorneys of the State, and who, though living 
at Macomb, in McDonough county, practiced in 
the courts of Springfield. This arrangement 
continued for about two years, when he formed 
a partnership with General James A, Shields, of 
Mexican war fame, and who subsequently, at 
intervals, represented three States in the United 
States Senate. 

In 1845 Mr. Conkling was elected Mayor of 
Springfield and served one term. In 1851 he 
was elected a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives of tlje General Assembly of the State, 
and again in 1866. His object in accepting the 
nomination was for the purpose of securing an ap- 
propriation for the building of a new State House, 
and by that means forever to secure Springfield as 
the permanent seat of government of the State. 
It will be remembered that at this time the ques- 
tion of removal Avas being agitated by the press 
and people throughout the State. Peoria, Bloom- 
ington, Decatur, Chicago and other places were 
anxious to secure its location. A new State 
House had become an absolute necessity, the 
old having become too small for the proper 
transaction of business of the State. At the ses- 
sion of the legislature, in the winter of 1866-67, 
Mr. Conkling was made a member of the com- 
mittee on ])ublic buildings, and also chairman 
of the Judiciary committee. As a member of 
the former he drew a bill for an appropriation, 
which after considerable delay was reported to 
the House. Here the fight raged furiou>ly be- 
tween friends and opponents of the measure. 
Several days were spent in discussion, and while 
one of the opponents of the measure, who had 
been selected to close the debate, was making 
his speech, Mr. Conkling learned tbe bill had no 
enacting clause, the engrossing clerk having left 
it off the bill as presented. Calling Isaac Keys. 
Mr. Conkling proceeded to the office of the en- 
grossing clerk and compelled him to restore the 
enacting clause, and supply words that had been 
omitted or changed from the original bill. Re- 
turning to the House with the true copy, it was 
given to the clerk and the vote taken. A major- 
ity of two votes was obtained for the bill. Mr. 
Conkling deserves great credit for his efforts in 



116 



HISTORY OF SANGAAION COUNTY. 



tKis connection. He had to tight against great 
odds. Leading men in Springfield who had 
been working for months to the same end, be- 
fore the bill was put upon its passage, became 
discouraged and abandoned the field. 

In 1863 Mr. Conkling was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Y^ates, State Agent to settle the claims of 
the State against the general government for 
equipments furnished volunteers. The duty was 
performed to the satisfaction of the State. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Conkling ranks among the 
ablest. He is regarded by many as the most 
eloquent member of the Bar at the present time, 
and some of his oratical efforts are considered 
equal to any of the productions of Edward 
Everett. 

James C. Conkling and Mercy A. Lovering 
were united in marriage September 21, 1841, in 
Baltimore, Maryland. Five children were born 
unto them — Clinton L., Charles, James, Annie 
v., and Alice. 

James C. Conkling is a man of great enter- 
prise and business activity. He has used much 
of his wealth in building enterprises and for the 
encouragement of manufactures. He is a mem- 
ber of the Second Presbyterian Church of 
Springfield, and for many years has been a rul- 
ing elder in that body. 

James H. Matheny, the present County Judge 
was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, October 
30, 1818. In the spring of 1821 he was brought 
by his parents, Charles R., and Jemima Ma- 
theny, to Springfield, w^here he has since contin- 
ued to reside. He now lays claim to be the old- 
est living resident of the city. Judge Mathe- 
ny's life has been an active one. At fifteen years 
of age he was employed as clerk in the Post- 
oflice and the Recorder's oflice, transacting the 
entire business of each, and probably having a 
little leisure to engage in such sports as were 
common to the youths of that age. It is well 
known that he enjoyed a little fun when a boy, 
and now that time has sprinkled his hair with 
gi'ay he still enjoys a good joke. In 1839 he 
was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Supreme 
Court and served for a time. In 1841 he en- 
tered the office of Baker & Bledsoe as a law 
student, and for two years pursued his studies, 
being admitted to the Bar in 1843. Instead of 
seeking a country where he was not known, he 
"hung out his shingle" in Springfield, where he 
was raised and where he was known by almost 
every one. He soon secured a good practice, 
and from that time to the present, he has never 
lacked for clients. As a jury-lawyer, he ranks 
high, and has been retained in many of the most 



prominent cases before the courts of Sangamon 
and adjoining counties. He is an effective 
speaker, with power to move a jury at will. 
His perceptive faculties are large, and he can 
quick,ly grasp a point or penetrate the aims of 
an adversary. 

In 1845 he was united in marriage with Maria 
L. Lee, and by her had seven children — Lee, 
Edward Dow, Lucy, Nora, James H., Jr., Ralph 
C, and Robert W. 

Judge Matheny has held many important 
public positions, and has always discharged his 
trusts in a faithful manner. In addition to 
those already mentioned, he was a member of 
the Constitutional Convention of 1848, and was 
elected Clerk o^ the Circuit Court, in 1852, and 
served one term of four years. During* the war 
he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 
130th Regiment Illinois Infantry. After the 
capture of Yicksburg he was on detached duty, 
holding military courts until 1864, when his reg- 
iment was consolidated with another, and he 
resigned. In November, 1873, he was elected 
Judge of the County Court of Sangamon 
County, and re-elected in 18*77, without opposi- 
tion. 

In the "good old days of the Whig party" 
Judge Matheny was an earnest defender of its 
principles, his first Presidential vote being given 
for William Henry Harrison in the campaign 
of 1840. During that campaign, in company 
with nine other young men, he made a trip to 
Nashville, Tennessee, to hear Henry Clay speak. 
This journey required about five weeks, as the 
party went in their own private conveyance and 
camped out of nights. On the dissolution of 
the Whig party, Judge Matheny acted for a 
short time with the American and Republican 
parties, but on account of the conservative ten- 
dency of his mind, he finally drifted into the 
Democratic ranks, and usually votes that ticket. 
He is not a modern politician by any means, and 
never has antagonized the better element of 
opposing parties. When running for office, he 
invariably leads his ticket, in consequence of 
personal popularity, and for the reason he does 
not antagonize. 

In the meetings of the Old Settlers' Society 
he has always taken a deep interest, and was 
selected to make the first annual address. This 
address will be found elsewhere in this work. 
For several years he has held the position of 
Secretary of the Society, and no man would be 
missed more in its meetings. 

William H. Herndon was born in Greensburg, 
Kentucky, December 25, 1818, and came to Illi- 







O^-J^ cZ/eo 



HISTOllY OF SANGAMON COUNTY, 



119 



nois in 1820, and Sangamon County in 182], in 
company with his parents. The schools of 
Springtiehl he attended, as the opportunity of- 
fered, until 1830, when he entered Illinois Col- 
lege, at Jacksonville, but only attended one 
year, being removed by his father in conse- 
ipience of the Abolition excitement then pend- 
ing, and which resulted in the death of Lovejoy, 
at Alton. The elder Herndon was inclined to 
be pro-slavery in his views, and did not care to 
have his son have Abolition sentiments instilled 
in his mind by the professors in the Jackson- 
ville institution. It is probable, judging from 
later events, that the removal was accomplished 
when it was too late. After his removal from 
the college, iie clerked in a store for several 
years, and in 1842 entered the law office of Lin- 
coln cfc Logan, where he read two years and was 
admitted to the Bar in 1844. The partnership 
of Lincoln & Logan now being dissolved, Mr. 
Lincoln and Mr. Herndon became partners, a 
relation which was never formally dissolved, 
and which existed mitil the death of Mr. Lin- 
coln, though other temporary arrangements 
were effected,by Mr. Herndon after Mr. Lincoln 
entered upon the duties of the Presidency. Tbe 
tirst arrangement was a partnershij) with Chas. S. 
Zane, which continued until Mr. Zane's eleva- 
tion to the Bench, when a partnership was en- 
tered into with A. Orendorff, which continued 
until Mr. Herndon's removal to the country in 
March, 186V. Before he left the city, he wrote 
and delivered four lectures on the character and 
life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Mr. Herndon has always been a great reader, 
and the questions of political economy and the 
science of mind have ever been with him fa- 
vorite studies. The science of law has also 
been an interesting study to him. He always 
desires to go to the bottom of every subject, 
and wishes to reach it the quickest way possi- 
ble. The little quibbles of the shyster disgusts 
him, and the red tapeism of the law affords him 
no pleasure. 

In the days of the old Whig party, Mr. Hern- 
don was an advocate of its principles, and the 
" hard cider campaign" of 1840, was the first in 
w^iich he participated. He was always an op- 
ponent of slavery, and on the organization of 
the Republican party he became one of its 
strongest advocates. 

Mr. Herndon has never been an office-seeker, 
and the public positions that he has held have 
come to him unsought. He has held the offices 
of City Attorney, Mayor of Springfield, Bank 
Commissioner for the State, under Governors 

14— 



Bissell, Yatesj and Oglesby, besides other minor 
offices. 

William H. Herndon and Mary J. Maxcy was 
married in Sangamon County March 26, 1840. 
'1 hey have had six children. Mrs. Herndon 
died August 18, 1860, and Mr. Herndon was 
married July 31, 1861, to Anna Miles, by whom 
he has had two children. 

Personally, Mr. Herndon has the good will of 
everyone with whom he is acquainted In his 
life he endeavors to follow the golden rule. 

Norman M. Broadwell, attorney-at-law, was 
born in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1825. Bax- 
ter Broadwell, his father, and Mary Lindley, 
both New Jersey people by birth, married near 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and were among the first set- 
tlers in Morgan county, where they died a num- 
ber of years ago. Judge Broadwell received his 
chief literary education in his native county; 
came to Springfield and commenced reading law 
with Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon, 
in 1851, and was admitted near the close of the 
same year. He had begun the study of medi- 
cine and continued it some months previously, 
but not liking it, abandoned the idea. Upon 
being admitted to the Bar, Mr. Broadwell at once 
entered upon practice, which he has zealously 
and successfully prosecuted, with but slight 
interruptions, nearly a third of a century. He 
has had several law partners during these years, 
among them such eminent attorneys as Gov- 
ernor S. M. CuUom, General John A. McClernand 
and Hon. William M. Springer. The first cause 
he ever tried in a court of record, Abraham Lin- 
coln was opposed to him as counsel, and the last 
cause Mr. Lincoln ever tried in the Springfield 
counts, Mr. Broadwell was his associate counsel. 
Judge Broadwell has ever been an ardent de- 
votee of his profession, which he honors, and 
paid little attention to politics. He was, how- 
ever, elected to the State Legislature in the fall 
of 1860, from the Sangamon county district, on 
the Democratic ticket, being the only successful 
candidate of his party in the county that year. 
In 1862 he was elected County Judge, served 
three years, and was chosen Mayor of Spring- 
field in 1867, and re-elected in 1869. Judge 
Broadwell was united in marriage to Virginia 
lies, in Springfield, in 1856. She is a native of 
Sangamon county, Illinois, and is the mother of 
four daughters and one son. Judge Broadwell 
is a PastMaster in the Masonic Order. 

William J. Conkling was born in New York 
City in 1826; emigrated to Ohio in 18-31 and to 
McLean county, Illinois, in 1839. Attended 
Oberlin College for a time, but left in his junior 



120 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



year. Came to Springfield in 1853, read law for 
two years and was admitted to the Bar. For 
some years he had a lucrative practice, but of 
late years he has devoted himself more to the 
real estate business. 

John E. Rosette, lawyer, is a native of Dela- 
ware, Ohio, born in 1823. He was educated in 
that city, and read law there with Hon. Charles 
Sweetzer, an ex-member of the United States 
Congress; was admitted to the Bar in Columbus, 
Ohio, in 1850, and located in practice in Find- 
lay, Hancock county, Ohio. During the several 
years of professional life in that place he M'as 
twice elected Prosecuting Attorney of the 
county. From thence he returned to Delaware; 
lived there nearly three years, w^as appointed 
Probate Judge of the county, and served the un- 
expired term of Judge Fuller, deceased. In 
1855. upon the invitation of Abraham Lincoln, 
Mr. Rosette removed to Springfield, Illinois, and 
has been an active and prominent member of 
Sangamon County Bar for twenty-six years. He 
came to this county a Democrat in politics ; but 
from 1856 has been identitied with the Republi- 
can party. 

Mr. Rosette w^as united in marriage with Miss 
Mary Taylor, in Findlay, Ohio. She was born 
in Salem that State, and educated there in a 
convent. They have four daughters ; two mar 
ried to Captains in the United States regular 
army ; the eldest, the wife of Captain L. H. 
Rucker ; the second the wife of Captain F. T. 
Bennett, from Toledo, Ohio, who has also been 
Indian Agent at Fort Defiance, for several years, 
the only instance of a regular army officer hold- 
ing that office at the same time. 

Charles S. Zane, Judge of tlie Nineteenth Ju- 
dicial Circuit of Illinois, is a native of Cumber- 
land county. New Jersey, born March 2,1831. 
Andrew Zane, bis father, was a farmer, and mar- 
ried Mary Franklin, whose father was a relative 
of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Zane's paternal 
grandfather, with two brothers, emigrated from 
England in early life. Mr. Zane's boyhood 
and youth were passed on his father's farm, 
the time being divided between labor and attend- 
ance at the district school. In April, 1850, he 
came to Sangamon County, Illinois, and in the 
employ of Rev. Peter Cartwright, engaged in 
brickmaking and farming, at 113 a month. In 
the winter of 1852 he rode to Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, on horseback; returned the fol- 
lowing spring, purchased a team, and spent the 
summer in breaking prairie. In the autumn of 
1852 he entered McKendree College, and pur- 
sued a course of study for three years, passing 



the vacations in teaching, which he continued 
after leaving college while reading law. Mr. 
Zane entered the law olfice of Hon. J. C. Conk- 
ling in July, 1856; completed the course and 
was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1857, 
and opened an ofiice. He was elected City At- 
torney in the spring of 1858, and re elected in 
1860 and 1865, each term being one year. In 
the spring of 1861 Mr. Zane formed a partner- 
ship with William H. Herndon, former law part- 
ner of Abraham Lincoln, and did a successful 
business until 1869, when the firm was dissolved 
and he associated himself with Hon. Shelby M. 
CuUom and George O. Marcy. Tliis relation 
was continueduntil Mr. Zane was elected Circuit 
Judge in 1873, since which time he has worn 
the judicial ermine with distinguished ability. 
He rendered a famous decision in May, 1874, in 
the cause of The Peovle vs. The Chicago 
and Alton Railroad Company^ in which it 
was sought to recover certain penalties in- 
curred by a breach of the law of the State, au- 
thorizing Railroad and Warehouse Commission- 
ers to fix maximum rates of freight and passenger 
tariffs, in which the attorneys for the defense 
made an effort to transfer the case to the United 
States Court, claiming lack of jurisdiction in the 
State courts, and in which he ruled that it was 
not the province of the Federal Courts to inter- 
fere with the inherent judicial rights of the 
State, and that in assuming to take control of 
such causes it transcended its constitutional au- 
thority, and held that the rights and powers of 
the States and the people, not transferred by 
the Constitution to the United States, are just as 
sovereign and sacred as are those of the United 
States. Judge Zane refused to order the papers 
certified to the Federal court, and proceeded to 
try the cause, by jury, who rendered a verdict 
of ^400 against the defendant. 

Judge Zane's religious views are liberal and 
tolerant, nearly identical with the doctrines of 
the Unitarian Society. He is a great admirer 
of the school of philosophy of which Herbert 
Spencer and Mr. Tyndall are able exponents. 
Politically, the Judge favors a bi-metalic money 
standard, a free banking system, and a tariff 
upon the luxuries for revenue. 

Judge Zane married Miss Margaret Maxcy in 
the spring of 1859. She is of Kentucky parent- 
age, born in Springfield in 1835. They are the 
parents of eight children, six living. The eldest 
daughter, Mary Farnetta, is the wife of William 
Hinkle, chief clerk in the State Auditor's office. 
The eldest of their four sons, Charles W., is 
preparing for the legal profession, as is also the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



121 



second son, John Maxcy Zane, now in Michigan 
University. 

John Alexander McClernand is the only child 
of Dr. John and Fatiraa McClernand, and was 
born in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, in 1812. 
Four years later his father died, and young Mc- 
Clernand, being made of that stern stuff that 
overcomes difficulties and surmounts obstacles, 
had succeeded in placing himself in a respect- 
able position and practice in the legal profession, 
at the early age of twenty. Meantime, in 1830, 
he had moved with the family to Shawneetown, 
Illinois. In 1832, before attaining his majority, 
he volunteered as a private in the Black Hawk 
war, and served honorably to its close. This 
service kindled a taste for, and gave him a knowl- 
edge of military tactics, and of the character of 
men, which proved important factors in his later 
career. 

In 1835 Mr. McClernand established the first 
Democratic journal ever jDublished in Shawnee- 
town; and the same year re-commenced the 
practice of law, which continued with success 
until he was elected to U. S. Congress in 1843. 
In 1836 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature 
from Gallatin county. During this session he 
successfully vindicated President Jackson from 
charges brought against him by Governor Dun- 
can; and also advocated that mode of con- 
structing the Illinois & Michigan Canal known 
as the "Deep Cut" plan, which was finally 
adopted. Mr. McClernand was chosen, by the 
legislature as commissioner and treasurer, which 
duties he so faithfully discharged that compli- 
mentary resolutions respecting his services were 
passed in a number of publ c meetings held at 
different points. In 1838 he was urged to be- 
come a nominee for Lieutenant Governor, but 
declined because under the Constitutional age — 
thirty years. At the same Democratic conven- 
tion which offered him the nomination Mr. Mc- 
Clernand prepared and offered the following 
resolutions: 

^'- Hesolved, That the Democratic principle is 
founded on an imperishable basis of truth and 
justice, and perpetually striving to sustain soci- 
ety in the exercise of every pow'er which can 
promote human happiness and elevate our con- 
dition; that, instead of warring against order 
and encroaching on the j^rivileges of others, the 
spirit of Democracy maintains an active prin- 
ciple of hope and virtue. 

^^ Mesolved, That we recognize no power but 
that which yields to the restraints of duty and 
is guided by mind; that we only seek to obtain 
influence by means of free conviction; that we 



condemn all appeals to brute force and the ex- 
ercise of violence; and that our only means of 
persuasion are reason and truth. 

'■'■ liesolved, That our just claim is to connect 
our party with the cause of intelligence and 
morality; to seek the protection of every rierht 
consistent with the genius of our Constitution 
and the spirit of the age. We desire to extend 
moral culture, and to remove, as far as possible, 
all inequalities in our human conditions by em- 
bracing all improvements which can ameliorate 
our moral and political state." 

In 1840 Mr. McClernand was again returned 
to the legislature from Gallatin county; was re- 
elected in 1842; and as Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Finance introduced several measures 
to alleviate the existing financial troubles of 
the State, which he attributed to the defect- 
ive banking system. These measures were all 
adopted. In 1843, while still a member of the 
legislature, he was chosen Representative to the 
Twenty-eighth Congress. The first speech he 
made in that body was on the bill to refund the 
fine imposed upon Gen. Jackson by Judge Hall. 
During the same session he delivered a speech 
on the Rock Island controversy, which was ex- 
tensively published. In the second session of 
the same Congress, as a member of the Com- 
mittee on Public Lands, he brought forward a 
comprehensive report, accompanied with a bill 
for a grant of land to aid in the completion of 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 

By an act of the legislature, the time for hold- 
ing elections had been changed, and Mr. McCler- 
nand was re-elected to Congress in 1844. He 
was one of the members who insisted with vehe- 
mence on the maintenance of the claim to fifty- 
four degrees, forty minutes in the Oregon con- 
troversy with Great Britain. He voted to 
sustain the President in the prosecution of the 
Mexican war, by granting the requisite men and 
means; and portrayed the beneficial results of 
that war in a speech delivered in Congress in 
June, 1846. In the first session of the Twenty- 
ninth Congress he prepared with great labor and 
introduced a bill to reduce and regulate the price 
of public lands. In the ensuing session, as 
chairman of the same committee, he introduced 
a bill, which became a law, to bring into market 
the mineral lands, lying around Lake Superior. 
During the same session he was called upon by 
the Jackson Monument committee to present 
their memorial, which he did, and his eulogium 
upon Jackson was highly esteemed. In 1848 
Mr. McClernand was again elected to Congress, 
but not without opposition. In 1849, as a mem- 



1:^2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ber of a select committee on certain charges 
preferred against President Polk, for having 
established a tariff of duties in the ports of 
the Mexican Republic, Mr. McClernand de- 
fended the President in an able argument. 
In 1850, at the instance of other leading men, 
he prepared and offered the first draft of the 
famous Compromise measures of that year. But 
the same subject being taken up in the Senate 
by the committee of which Mr. Clay was chair- 
man, he prepared the bill which passed both 
houses, Mr. McClernand being chairman ot the 
committee of the whole during its passage 
through the House. He delivered an elaborate 
speech on the subject during that session. He 
also during that session drafted the bill granting 
a quantity of land in aid of the construction of 
the Illinois Central Railroad and its Chicago 
branch. His colleague. Senator Douglas, being 
furnished a copy, introduced it in the Senate, 
and, with amendments, it passed both houses 
and became a law. During the same session he, 
as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Af- 
fairs, introduced a paper for the regulation of 
the State Department. In 1851, declining re- 
election, he retired from Congress, after a flat- 
tering career of eight years, and moved to Jack- 
sonville, Illinois. The following year he was 
chosen Presidential Elector for the second time 
in his life, and supported Pierce and King. In 
1856 he made a powerful speech at Alton, de- 
precating the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 
and predicting danger to the country as the con- 
sequence. In 1856 he removed to Springfield, 
Illinois, where he soon gained a prominent po- 
sition as a lawyer in the State and F'ederal Courts. 
In 1859 he was elected Representative to Con- 
gress, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of 
Major T. L. Harris. In 1860 he introduced a 
bill repealing the law organizing the Territory of 
Utah and merging that Territory into others. 
This being his plan for overcoming the ascend" 
ancy of the Mormons, and the evils of polygamy- 
On the 14th of January, 1861, Mr. McCler- 
nand delivered a speech in the House, on the 
Union and the phantom, "No Coercion," that 
for historical research, comprehensiveness and 
exhaustive argument, has few equals in the 
.annals of parliamentary literature. 

In 1843, after his first election to Congress, 
^nd before taking his seat, Mr. McClernand 
married Miss Sarah, daughter of Colonel Dun- 
lap, of Jacksonville, Illinois. 

A sketch of the emminent services lendered 
the Government by General McClernand during 



the war for the Union will ap}.t'ar in the military 
chaj^ter. 

Charles A. Keyes, Attorney and Counselor-at- 
Law, of the firm of McClernand & Keyes, South- 
west corner Fifth and Washington streets, is a 
native of Springfield, Illinois, l>orn in 1832 His 
parents, James W. and Lydia (Spickard) Keyes, 
were natives of Virginia, and came to Sangamon 
County, Illinois, in 1831, and are both living on 
their farm, four miles northwest of the City of 
SjDringfield. Charles attended the city schools, 
and graduated from Illinois College, Jackson- 
ville, in the class of 1854 ; read law with Elliott 
B. Herndon, and was admitted to the Bar in 

1856. They were partners at one time for two 
years. With that exception Mr. Keyes practiced 
alone until the present co-partnership was form- 
ed about eight years ago. In the spring of 1856 
he was elected City Attorney and re-elected in 

1857. In 1862-3 he served as Representative in 
the legislature, from Sangamon and Logan 
counties. He was appointed Master in Chan- 
cery by Judge E. Y. Rice, in 1867, and was 
twice re-appointed by Judge B. S. Edwards and 
Judge J. A. McClernand, serving in all seven 
years He was a delegate to the National Dem- 
ocratic Convention that nominated Seymour for 
President, in 1868. Mr. Keyes was united in 
marriage with Elizabeth Lauman, of Xenia, 
Ohio, in 1868. Her parents were early settlers 
in that city. The fruit of this union is two 
daughters and one son. 

Christopher C. Brown, Attorney-at-Law, of 
the firm of Stuart, Edwards & Brown, the oldest 
law firm in Illinois, was born in Sangamon 
county, now a part of Menard county, Illinois, 
on the 21st of October, 1834. His father, Wil- 
liam B. Brown, came from Kentucky and set- 
tled in Sangamon cotmty in 1832. He died in 
1850. C. C. Brown attended the Springfield 
schools, and at Greensburg, and the Lutheran 
College at Hillsboro. He read law with his 
brother, David A. Brown, in Springfield, then 
attended the Transylvania Law School in Lex- 
ington, Kentucky, was admitted to the Bar in 

1858. and in January, 1860, became a partner in 
the present firm, having been active in the pro- 
fession until now. While he has been an earn- 
est worker in the Democratic party, he has been 
a candidate for no political favor. Mr. Brown 
was united in marriage with Miss Bettie, daugh- 
ter of Major J. T. Stuart, of Springfield, in Octo- 
ber, 1859. She died in March, 1869, having been 
the mother of three children, one deceased. Mr. 
Brown married Carrie, daughter of John E 
Owsley, of Chicago, in 1872, by Avhom he has a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



123 



son and daughter. His eldest son, Stuart Brown, 
was graduated from Princeton College, in June, 

1881. 

Eugene L. Gross Avas born December 25, 1836, 
in Starkville, Herkimer county, New York, and 
came to Illinois Avith his parents in 1844. He 
received an academical education, and subse- 
quently read law in the office of H. G. Reynolds, 
in Knoxville, Illinois, and was admitted to the 
Bar in 1857. In that year he formed a partner- 
ship with Mr. Reynolds, which continued but a 
a few months. In 1858 he came to Springfield 
and opened an office, and here practiced his pro- 
fession until his death. As a lawyer, he was 
regarded by both the members of the Bar and 
the public, as one of more than ordinary ability. 
His legal attainments were quite diversified, 
and whether pleading before a jury, or present- 
ing his case for the consideration of the learned 
judge, he alike usually convinced both that his 
position was right. He Avas logical in his rea- 
sonings and drove home his ideas with great 
force. 

In 1865 he revised the City Ordinances of the 
city of Springfield, by direction of the Common 
Council. This Avas his first literary Avork. In 
1868, in connection with his brother. Colonel 
William L. Gross, with whom he had formed a 
laAv partnership, he compiled and published the 
General Statutes of the State, then in force. In 
January, 1868, they compiled and published a 
Digest of the Criminal LaAvs of the State. In 
1869 a new edition of the General Statutes, in- 
cluding the laws of 1869, were published. Dur- 
ing this year they also compiled and published 
an index to the Private and Special LaAvs of 
Illinois. In 1872 they compiled and published 
the second A'olume of Gross' Statutes. This 
ended the literary labors of Mr. Gross. 

Eugene L. Gross and Susan L. Zimmerman 
Avere united in marriage April 17, 1860. Four 
children were born to them — Leighla, Fred, 
Susie, and Bessie. 

In June, 1873, finding his health impaired, 
Mr. Gross started on horseback from Springfield 
and traveled through the Indian Nation, thence 
to NcAV Mexico and Texas, and returned by 
railroad in December of the same year. The 
trip failed to be of that benefit it Avas hoped. 
That relentless destroyer, consumption, had 
fixed its hold upon him, and on the 4th day of 
June, 1874, he breathed his last. 

Mr. Gross was never an aspirant to public of- 
fice, being contented to folloAv the profession he 
had selected for a life work. In politics he was 



always a thorough-going Republican, and an 
earnest advocate of the principles of that party. 

Milton Hay Avas born in Fayette county, Ken- 
tucky, July 3, 1817, and emigrated Avith his 
father's family to Springfield, Illinois, in the 
year 1832. Until arriving at age, he labored at 
different avocations for his father, attending the 
common schools at intervals, and receiving such 
education as such schools afforded at that day. 
He was fond of reading, and devoted the inter- 
vals of time when not at school or at labor, to 
the reading of such books as the scanty libraries 
of the time afforded. With James H. Mathenj^ 
(noAV Judge Matheny) and others, he aided in 
forming the first society of a literary charac- 
ter ever formed in Springfield, the Springfield 
Lyceum, which Avas devoted to debating dis- 
puted questions and the reading of original 
essays. He studied law in the office of Stuart 
& Lincoln, and was licensed to practice in 184U. 
He begun practice at Pittsfield, Pike ocunty, 
Illinois, and there practiced his profession until 
the year 1858, Avhen he returned to Springfield, 
continuing the practice of his profession until 
January, 1881, when he retired fiom the actiA^e 
practice of his profession. 

He was twice married. His first wife, Cath- 
erine, the daughter of James Forbes, of Pitts- 
field, died in 1857, leaving two children, both 
of whom died in infancy. In 1861, he married 
Mary Logan, eldest daughter of Judge Stephen 
T. Logan. She died in 1874. Tavo children 
survi\'e, born of this marriage, Kate and Logan 
Hay. 

He was elected to the Constitutional CouA'en- 
tion of 1872, from the district composed of the 
counties of Logan and Sangamon, and, although 
not of the dominant party in the CouA^ention, 
Avas made Chairman of the Committee on ReA'- 
enue, and served on the Judiciary Committee. 
He actively participated in all the proceedings 
of that body, and in forming the new Constitu- 
tion, which was subsequently adopted by the 
people. In 1874 he Avas elected as a Represent- 
ative of Sangamon county to the legislature, 
and acted (after the death of Mr. Bushnell) both 
as Chairman of the Judiciary and Revenue 
Committees of that body. He AA-as one of the 
committee of five appointed by the legislature, 
to reA^ise, in conjunction Avith Mr. Hurd, the laws 
of the State, and this Avork was adopted at an 
adjourned session of the legislature. Other 
than as here stated he has never held office, pre- 
ferring the practice of his profession to the 
pursuit of oflfice. In politics he is a Republi- 
can. 



124 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Hon. William M. Springer, present member 
of Congress from the Twelfth District of Illi- 
nois, was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, 30th 
of May, 1836. When twelve years old he moved 
with his parents to Jacksonville, Illinois. There 
William prepared for college under the instruc- 
tions of Dr. NeAvton Bateman, then teaching in 
the West District school of that city. He en- 
tered Illinois College, but owing to some diffi- 
culty with the faculty was dismissed from the 
institution, and went thence in the spring of 
1856, to the State University of Indiana. In 
1858 Mr. Springer returned to Illinois, and after 
studying law nearly three years in Lincoln, was 
admitted to the Bar in 1860. The same year he 
was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for 
Representative in the State Legislature, for the 
district com})Osed of Logan and Mason counties, 
but was defeated by Colonel Robert B. Latham. 
In 1861 he settled in Springfield, and soon 
formed a law partnership with Hon. N. M. 
Broadwell, and Gen. John A. McClernand, the 
latter of whom retiring some years after, the 
firm continued as Broadwell & Springer. Re- 
turning home in 1870 at the close of a two-year's 
tour in Europe, for pleasure and the improve- 
ment of his wife's feeble health, Mr. Springer 
was elected to represent Sangamon County in 
the legislature. That being the first after the 
formation of a new Constitution. Several ses- 
sions were held during 1870-71 and 1871-72, 
and a complete revision of the Statutes of Illi- 
nois was made while he served in that body. 

In 1874, Mr. Springer was elected Represent- 
ative to Congress for the Twelfth District, com- 
posed of the counties of Cass, Christian, Menard, 
Morgan, Sangamon and Scott, and re-elected in 
1876, 1878 and 1880, being nominated the first 
time on the first ballot, and each subsequent 
time by acclamation, the delegations from each 
county being instructed to support him. This, 
in the face of the fact that Sangamon county has 
furnished the Representative from this district 
for twenty years consecutively, speaks well for 
the popularity of the present incumbent. In the 
Forty-fourth Congress, Mr. Springer was a mem- 
ber of several important committees. When the 
bill was introduced, in that session, to grant a 
million and a half dollars by the Government 
to the Centennial Commissioners, Mr. Springer 
offered an amendment, that upon the close of 
the Exposition and the sale of the property, the 
Government should be reimbursed by that 
amount from the proceeds before any dividend 
could be made to the stockholders. The bill 
became a law, as amended. The Centennial 



Board attempted to evade the payment of the 
money into the United States Treasury, through 
a supposed defect in Mr. Springer's amendment 
clause, but he, being selected by the Attorney- 
General to prosecute the cause, fought it through 
the United States Supreme Court, and obtained 
a verdict sustaining the act, and recovering to 
the Government fifteen hundred thousand dol- 
lars. For this valuable labor he has not, as yet, 
received a dollar compensation, though he has 
asked Congress to allow him to go before the 
Court of Claims and prove the value of his ser- 
vices. 

In the Forty-fifth Congress Mr. Springer 
served on several prominent committees, among 
them the Potter Election Committee and the 
committee to investigate Mr. Seward's official 
records while Minister to China, and which re- 
ported twelve articles of impeachment against 
him. In the same Congress Mr. Springer bolted 
the caucus nomination of his party and supported 
General Shields against Mr. Field, the party 
nominee. 

He was the only Democratic member from the 
Northwest who voted against the Birchard and 
Hardridge resolutions, declaring that neither the 
courts nor Congress possessed the power to dis- 
turb Mr. Hayes' Presidential title, his action 
creating great excitement at the time. Mr. 
Springer believed that a wrong had been done 
in giving Mr. Haj^es the Presidency, while he 
opposed all revolutionary measures, thought the 
Government had the power to right that wrong. 
Mr. Springer was the Chairman of the Commit- 
tee on Elections in the Forty-sixth Congress, 
and opposed the majority of his party in their 
effort to unseat Representative W. D. Wash 
burne, of Minnesota, and substitute Ignatius 
Donnelly in his stead. Lie thought the claim of 
Mr. Donnelly unjust and the proceedings dis- 
honest; and although great pressure was brought 
to bear, through threats and slanderous charges 
of bribery, from which he was triumphantly vin- 
dicated, to coerce him to support the measure, 
he persistently opposed it, and was conspicuous 
in its defeat. The object of the movement was 
to secure a Democratic majority in the House, 
so that the party could elect the President in 
1880, in case it shoi;ld be thrown into the House 
of Representatives. 

Mr. Springer married the daughter of Rev. 
Calvin W. Ruter, a prominent Methodist clergy- 
man of Indiana. They have but one child, Wil- 
liam Ruter Springer, aged eighteen years, who 
was graduated from a private military academy 
in Virginia in 1880. Notwithstanding her deli- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



125 



cate health, Mrs. Springer is an author of recog- 
nized ability. The most noted productions of 
her pen are "Beech Wood," which appeared 
several years ago, and "Self," published in 1881, 
both fropi the press of Lippincott, of Philadel- 
phia. She has also contributed a number of 
jjoems to the columns of current magazines. 

William E. Shutt, Attorney, of the law firm of 
Palmers, Robinson & Shutt, was born in Water- 
ford, Louden county, Virginia, May 5, 1840. 
His parents, Jacob and Caroline (Leslie) Shutt, 
moved to the city of Springfield in November, 
1842, They were natives of Louden county, 
Virginia. Father died here in 1866, mother in 
in 1865. Mr. Shutt was educated in the city 
schools, and read law with Judge James H. Ma- 
theny, and was admitted to the Bar in 1862, 
commencing practice immediately. In 1864 he 
was elected City Attorney on the Democratic 
ticket; was chosen Mayor of the city in 1868, by 
the same party In 1874 he was elected to the 
State Senate, for four years ; and was re-elected 
in 1878, his official term expiring in 1882. The 
law firm of Robinson, Knapp & Shutt was formed 
July 1, 1869, composed of Hon. James C. Rob- 
inson, Anthony L. Knapp and Mr. Shutt; and has 
existed until the death of Mr. Knapp, in May, 
1881, after which Robinson & Shutt formed a part- 
nership with J. M. and J. Mayo Palmer, under 
the firm name of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt. 

Robert L. McGuire of the firm of McGuire, 
Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a native of Missouri, 
and was born in 1833. He graduated from the 
Missouri University at Columbia, in the class of 
1857. Subsequently he followed the calling of 
a teacher. In 1861 he came to Springfield, read 
law and was admitted to the Bar in 1862. He 
formed a partnership with James H. Matheny 
in 1866, previous to which time he practiced 
law alone. This partnership continued until 
1874. In May, 1878, he formed a partnership 
with L. F. Hamilton, and later Mr. Salzenstein 
was admitted, forming the present firm. 

Leonidas H. Bradley, of the firm of Bradley 
& Bradley, Lawyers, 117^ South Fifth street, 
was born in Galia county, Ohio, July 23, 1841. 
He is one of a family of four sons and a daugh- 
ter, of Lewis and Nancy C. Bradley nee Knox, of 
New Y^ork, and the State of Delaware, respec- 
tively. In 1852 they moved to Clark county, 
Illinois, where the senior Bradley died in March, 
1880, and where the widow and several of the 
family now reside. Leonidas was educated at 
Marshall, Illinois, and Ohio Wesleyan Univer- 
sity, in Delaware, from which he was graduated 
in the classical coui'se in 1861, being less than 



twenty years of age. He at once commenced the 
study of law with Judge Charles H. Constable, 
in Marshall, Illinois; in August, 1862, enlisted as 
a pi-ivate in the 130th Illinois Infantry. Upon 
the consolidation with the 77th regiment he was 
made Quartermaster Sergeant and filled that 
oftice till discharged after the close of the war. 
In October, 1865, Mr. Bradley married Miss Abi- 
gal L., daughter of Hon. Uri Manley, an early 
settler and prominent lawyer of Marshall. Soon 
after retiring from the army Mr. Bradley w^as ad- 
mitted to the Bar, settled in Springfield and 
formed a partnership with W. P. Olden, which 
continued till June, 1872, when Mr. Olden retired 
and Isaac K. Bradley took his place. Mr. Bradley 
has been ai-dently devoted to his profession, 
paying little attention to politics, but was elected 
a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1871, 
and in 1872 chosen to the City Council; was 
a candidate, against his wish, for County Judge 
on the Republican, ticket, but the county being 
strongly Democratic, was beaten. He was ap- 
pointed Assistant United States District Attor- 
ney in 1869, did efficient service in prosecuting 
fraudulent distillers in this district; resigned in 
1S71. He enjoys an extensive practice in the 
Chancery and LTnited States Courts. His mar- 
riage with Miss Manley has resulted in a family 
of three sons and three daughters, one of the 
latter deceased. 

Isaac K. Bradley was also born in Galia county, 
Ohio, and is a little more than thirty-two years 
old. He attended school at Marshall and at Leb- 
anon, Illinois, completing the classical course in 
1869; read law with Messrs. Bradley & Olden, 
in Springfield; was admitted in May, 1870; be- 
gan practice as a member of the law firm of 
Bradley, Olden & Bradley, in 1871. Since Mr. 
Olden's retirement, the following year, the 
brothers have continued under the present firm 
title, and have a large law business in the several 
courts. 

Thomas G. Prickett, lawyer, is the second of 
five children of Hon. David and Charlotte G. 
Prickett, and was born in Springfield, December 
23, 1837. He was educated at Charlottsville 
Seminary, from which he graduated in 1858; 
entered the army with the rank of Captain, in 
1862; served about two and one-half years on 
General McClernand's staff; read law under the 
preceptorship of General John A. McClernand; 
graduated with the title of Bachelor of Laws, 
from the law department of Michigan State LTni- 
versity, in 1865; was admitted to the Bar in 
March, 1865; was elected City Attorney in 1866, 
and again in 1868. Mr. Prickett was elected 



126 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Alderman from the Third ward in 1874, and 
again in 1876, serving four yeais in all. 

The two brothers and two sisters own and re- 
side in the old homestead, opposite the Slate 
Capitol, erected by Hon. George Forquer over 
fifty years ago. The premises include three acres 
of land, beautifully situated on the corner of 
Capitol avenue and Second street. 

Norman L. Freeman is the present Reporter 
of the Supreme Court of Illinois, which office 
he has held, by appointment from that court, 
since April, 1863, 

He is a native of Livingston county. New 
York, and was born May 9, 1823. His parents, 
Truman Freeman and Hannah Down, were na- 
tives of New Hampshire, and prior to their re- 
moval to the State of New York, had for many 
years been residents of the city of Concord. 
After the death of the father, in 1824, the 
mother, with the younger members of her 
family, moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where 
she resided many years. While a mere boy, 
young Norman entered the store of David 
Cooper, a leading merchant of Detroit, where he 
remained about three years. Leaving Detroit, 
he spent a few months in Cleveland, as a clerk, 
and then entered an academy near that city, 
from which he passed to Ohio University, at 
Athens, at which institution he completed his 
literary education. Upon leaving the university, 
he went to Kentucky, and for several years 
taught school in the vicinity of Lexington. 
While still a teacher he pursued his law studies, 
and in the winter of 1845-6 entered the law 
office of Kirtland & Seymour, at Waterford, 
New York, and in the spring of 1846 returned 
to Kentucky, was admitted to the Bar at Lex- 
ington, and began practicing his profession in 
Morganfield, Union county, in that State. In 
1849 he was married to Miss Tranquilla Riche- 
son, daughter of Alfred Richeson and Elizabeth 
Dabney Williamson. To them were born five 
children, four of whom survive, three daughters 
and one son. In 1851 we find him practicing 
his profession at Shawneetown, Illinois, where 
he remained until his removal to Springfield in 
1864. In 1855 he published his Digest of the 
Illinois Reports, in two volumes, a work which 
went far to establish his reputation as a lawyer 
and law writer. During the time he has held 
his present office, he has issued sixty-six volumes 
of reports — a greater number, it is believed, than 
has been issued by any other American reporter. 

Until the disorganization of that party, Mr. 
Freeman was a Henry Clay Whig, but since that 
time his political affiliations have been with the 



Democracy. Modest, genial, erudite — a good 
lawyer, an excellent Court Reporter, and a wor- 
thy citizen, 

Richmond Wolcott is a native of Illinois, and 
was born in Morgan county, January 10, 1840. 
He was educated at Jacksonville, where his par- 
ents moved at an early day, and graduated from 
Illinois College in the Class of 1859. In 1861, 
he enlisted as a private in the Tenth Illinois 
Infantry; was promoted to First Lieutenant, and 
then Captain. He served until September, 1864, 
when he resigned and returned to Jacksonville, 
and resumed the study of law, which he com- 
menced before he entered the army. In June, 
1865, he was admitted to practice, and at once 
located in Springfield, since which time he has 
actively engaged in the practice of his profession. 
He married Jennie Salter, July ll, 1865, by 
whom he has had two daughters. In politics, 
Mr. Wolcott is a Republican. 

Thomas C. Mather, of Scholes & Mather, has 
been practicing law in Springfield since the 
spring of 1865, and has been a member of the 
present firm since 1871. He first read law with 
Hay, Cullom & Campbell, and then attended the 
law department of Michigan State University, 
where he completed the course of studies in that 
institution, in the spring of 1864. He then en- 
tered the office of a law firm in Chicago, where 
he remained until the spring of 1865, when he 
was admitted to practice in the courts of this 
State, and at once returned to Springfield. Mr. 
Mather received his literary education in the 
schools of Springfield, and a partial course in 
Illinois College, at Jacksonville. His parents 
dying in his infancy, he was reared by Colonel 
Mather, since deceased. He is now thirty-nine 
years of age, and since infancy his home has 
been in Sangamon county, 

Clinton L. Conkling, Attorney and Counselor 
at law, is a native of Springfield, Illinois, born 
October 16, 1843. He was educated in Yale 
College, from which he was graduated in the 
class of 1864. Clinton studied law in the office 
of his father, Hon. James C. Conkling, of 
Springfield, and was licensed to practice in the 
courts of Illinois, November 23, 1866, and the 
United States in January, 1867. After practic- 
ing a few years he turned his attention to the 
manufacturing business, but in 1877 resumed 
the duties of his profession to which he now 
gives his whole time, devoting special attention 
to chancery and real estate law, and to the set- 
tlement of estates. For some years Mr. Conk- 
ling was secretary of the Lincoln Monument 
Association, and has been an active member of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COITNTY. 



127 



the fraternity of (Jdd Fellows in Central Illi- 
nois, besides being identified with other and 
similar benevolent societies. He has also been 
a member of the Board of Su|)ervisors of the 
county, two terms. In his real estate practice he 
represents large land interests in this and other 
States. 

In 18G7 Mr. Conkling united in marriage with 
Miss Georgie Barrell, and they now have a 
family of two daughters, Georgie B. Conkling, 
and Kate Conkling, aged eight and six years re- 
spectively. 

Lloyd F. Hamilton, of the firm of McGuire, 
Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a Kentuckian by 
birth, but was raised in Tazewell county, Illi- 
nois, his mother having emigrated to that county 
while he was yet an infant. His father died 
before they came to this State. He began to 
study law in 1864, with Judge Schotield,of Mar- 
shall, Illinois, and the following year entered 
the Law Department of Michigan University, 
where he remained one year. He then entered 
the Law Department of the Chicago University, 
wdiere he graduated in 1866. During the same 
year he passed a successful examination before 
the Supreme Court of Illinois and was admitted 
to practice. Selecting Springfield as a home, he 
moved to that city and opened an office 
and has since continued to practice here. In 
1872 he was elected States' Attorney and served 
four years, and was highly successful as a pros- 
ecutor. Previous to this, during the municipal 
year of 1869-70, he wasCit)^ Attorney of Spring- 
field. Mr. Hamilton has studiously devoted 
himself to the practice of his profession and 
stands well with the Bar. 

James W. Patton was born February 1.5, 1840, 
near Auburn, Sangamon county, Illinois. "When 
but eight years old his father died, leaving his 
mother with two other children younger than 
himself. His mother's maiden name was Eliza- 
beth A. Moore, and she now resides upon the 
family homestead near the place of his birtli. 
His grandfather, James Patton, was among the 
first settlers of Sangamon county, having emi- 
grated from Christian county, Kentucky, in the 
spring of 1820. 

Mr. Patton remained with his mother on the 
farm until he was sixteen, when he spent two or 
three years away from home at school. Upon 
his return he was engaged in teaching for a 
while. In 1860 he entered the law firm of 
Messrs. Hay & CuUora, of Springfield, with 
whom he studied until admitted to the Bar. 
After that he was engaged with his brother, 
Matthew Patton in merchandising at Auburn. 

15— 



At the Presidential election of 1864, he was 
elected one of the Representatives of Sangamon 
and Lfjgan counties to the legislature. In^April 
1866, he located in Springfield, and commenced 
the practice of his profession. 

December 9, 1869, he was married to Francine 
E. daughter of Hon. Charles H. Lanphier, of 
Springfield. Mr. Patton has devoted himself to 
the practice of his chosen profession, in which 
he has been successful. 

Samuel D. Scholes, of the firm of Scholes & 
Mather, is a native of Peoria county, Illinois, 
and was born in 1841. He was educated in 
Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, and 
began reading law with Johnson & Hopkins, of 
Peoria. When the war commenced he enlisted 
and served as Orderly Sergeant in the three 
months' service, and afterwards as First Lieu- 
tenant in the three years' service, in the 1-Jth 
Illinois Infantry. At the close of the war, in 
1865, he again returned to his law books, and in 
January, 1866, was admitted to the Bar, and 
commenced practice in Springfield. In 1875 he 
received the appointment of Master in Chan- 
cery, which oflftce he continues to hold. Since 
1871 the present law firm has been in existence. 
Politically, Mr. Scholes is a Republican, but he 
has never been actively engaged in politics. 

Alfred Oi-endorif, Attorney-at-law, was born 
in Logan count}^, Illinois, 29th July, 1845. 
Joseph Orendorff, his father, was a North Caro- 
linian by birth, but came to Illinois with his 
parents about 1819. Christopher Orendorfl^, his 
father, settled on Sugar creek, north of Spring- 
field, in what was then Sangamon, now Logan 
county, and built the first water-power grist- 
mill in that part of the country, making the 
burrs of boulders obtained in the vicinity of 
the mill. Joseph Orendorff married Elizabeth 
Stevens, a native of Henderson county, Ken- 
tucky. He died when the subject of this biog- 
raphy was a lad of ten summers, and his widow 
removed to Lincoln, Logan county. ' Alfred 
enjoyed the common schools, and subsequently 
attended the Wesleyau University at Lincoln, a 
year, and the military school at Fulton, Illinois, 
a short time. In the spring of 1866 he gradu- 
ated from the Albany Law School, and spent 
the succeeding winter in Texas. Returning to 
Springfield in tlie autumn of 1867, he engaged 
in the practice of law in the oftice of Herndon 
& Zane; and u])on the retirement of Judge 
Zane from tbe firm, the law partnership of 
Herndon & Orendorff was formed, and con- 
tinued for a number of years. June 22, 1870, 
Mr. Orendorff united in marriage with Miss 



128 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Julia, daughter of Colonel John Williams, an 
early settler and pronainent l)usiness man of 
Springfield. In 1870 Mr. Orendorff was nomi- 
nated by the Republicans for the State Senate, 
but the "Democrats being largely in the majority, 
he was beaten by their candidate, lion. Alexan- 
der Starne. In 1872, he was a delegate to the 
National Democratic Convention, and supported 
Hon. Lyman Trumbull for the Presidency. In 
1873 he was chosen by the Liberals as candidate 
for Representative to the General Assembly of 
Illinois. The choice being ratified by the Dem- 
ocrats, he was elected, and was made a member 
of the Judiciary Committee in that body, and 
took an active part in framing the Revised Stat- 
utes, made necessary by the adoption of the 
new Constitution. Mr. Orendortf joined the 
Odd Fellows in 1874; has filled the various 
offices in the subordinate lodge; was chosen Rep 
resentative of No. 465 to the Grand Lodge, held 
in Peoria in 1875; was elected Grand Master of 
the State in 1878, and is now Representative to 
the Sovereign Grand Lodge I. O. O. F. of the 
World. 

The law firm of Orendorff & Creighton was 
formed in 1879. It has an extensive business, 
and its members are recognized as among the 
most successful practitioners at the Springfield 
Bar. 

Henry S. Greene, Attorney for the Wabash, 
St Louis and Pacific Railway Company, and 
member of the late prominent law firm of Hay, 
Greene & Littler, was born in Ireland in 1833. 
At six years of age he crossed the Atlantic, and 
grew to manhood on the shore of Lake Ontario 
in the Dominion of Canada. In 1857 he came 
to Illinois, read law in the office of Lawrence 
Weldon, at Clinton, and was admitted to the 
Bar in January, 1860. Having previously ar- 
ranged to become a law partner with Hon. C .H. 
Moore, of Clinton, Mr. Greene entered into and 
remained in that relation six years. Three 
years after his admission he was appointed At- 
torney for the Chicago and Alton Railroad Com- 
pany for the counties of Logan and McLean, 
which position he resigned upon moving to 
Springfield in 1868, since which time, his law 
firm has been counsel for the company in San- 
gamon county, he still retaining that relation. 
Ill 1860 Mr. Greene associated himself with Mr. 
D. T. Littler in the practice of law, and upon 
the dissolution of the firm of Hay cfe Palmer by 
the election of the latter to be Governor, Hon. 
Milton Hay became a partner, the firm title 
changing to Hay, Greene & Littler. This part- 
nership ceased by dissolution January 1, 1881. 



For a number of years this firm has had charge 
of the legal business of the Wabash Railway 
Company in this part of the State. Some time 
previously, and since their separation, Mr. Greene 
has been the General Counselor for the Wabash, 
St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company for Illi- 
nois, where it owns and controls by lease 1,300 
miles of railroad lines, and Consulting Counsel 
for the outside business of the company, con- 
trolling in all 3,000 miles of road. 

During the last two years of its existence, he 
was retained as counsel for the American Union 
Telegraph Company in its extensive litigation 
with the Western Union Company, previous to 
their consolidation. In none of the large legal 
business which Mr. Greene has done for corpora- 
tions, has he received a stated salary, but simply 
a fee for the professional labor performed. In 
view of the great demand upon his time and en- 
ergies in attending to the legal matters of these 
companies, he has withdrawn almost entirely, of 
late years, from general court practice at the Bar. 
The rapid growth of the Wabash, St. Louis & 
Pacific Company's, by absorption and construc- 
tion, in the last few years, has created a large 
volume of legal business, and ext^ended his duties 
until they are larger outside of the State than 
in it. 

In 1863, Mr. Greene was appointed District 
Attorney, by Governor Yates, for the Eighth 
Judicial District, composed of the counties of 
DeWitt, Logan and McLean, and was subse- 
quently elected to the same position, but re- 
signed to take his seat in the legislature, in 1867, 
in which he served one regular and two special 
sessions; and upon moving from the district, re- 
signed before the close of his term of ofiice. 

In the fall of 1854, before leaving Canada, Mr. 
Greene married Miss Elizabeth Ilogle, born in 
that country, of New Hampshire parentage. 
Their family consists of one daughter and one 
son. In politics, Mr. Greene has always been a 
firm and active, but not radical. Republican. 

A. N. J. Crook is a native of Tennessee, but 
was reared in Indiana, his parents removing to 
that State in his childhood. In 1856 he came 
to Peoria county, Illinois, and from there to 
Sangamon county in 1862. He spent two years 
in Pike's Peak, Colorado. After reading la-w 
for a time with Herndon & Zane, he was admit- 
ted to the Bar and commenced practice in 
Springfield. In 1869 he was elected County 
Judge and served four years. He also served 
as a member of the 32d General Assembly from 
Sangamon county. He is a staunch Democrat 
and an active worker in its interests. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



129 



James C. Uobinson, of the lirm of Palmers, 
Robinson & Shutt is a native of Edgar county 
Illinois, where he was born in 1824. Jlis father, 
Richard Robinson was a North Carolinian, and 
married Sally Dixon, and moved to Clark 
county, Illinois, in 18l!0, but removed to Edgar 
county shortly after. Subsequently he returned 
to Clark county where James was brought up 
and educated. Mr. Robinson read law in Clark 
county, and was admitted to practice about 1850, 
and followed his chosen profession in that 
county until 1869, when he settled in Spring- 
field. 

Like many other lawyers, of a past Decade, 
Mr. Robinson became somewhat of a politician, 
and in 1858 was elected from the Clark county 
District, a member of Congress. He was re- 
elected in 1860 and 1862. In 1868, he was 
placed in nomination by liis party, the Demo- 
cratic, for the office of Governor, in opposition 
to his present law partner — John M. Palmer, 
but was defeated. In 1870 he was nominated 
for Congress from the Springfield District and 
triumphantly elected, and re-elected in 1872. 

Soon after his settlement in Springfield, Mr. 
Robinson formed a partnership with A. L. 
Knapp, and subsequently William L. Shutt was 
admitted a member of the firm. The firm con- 
tinued in existence until the death of Mr. 
Knapp in the summer of 1881. Soon after this 
a partnership was effected with John M. and 
John Mayo Palmer, under the firm name of 
Palmers, Robinson & Shutt, the firm being one 
of the strongest in the State. The new firm 
now enjoys, as the old one did for many years, 
an extensive practice, especially in the upper 
courts. Mr. Robinson is recognized as an excel- 
lent jury-lawyer, and as a stump sj^eaker has 
few equals. 

James A. Kennedy, attorney at law, is a na- 
tive of Huntingdon — now Blair — county, Penn- 
sylvania; was born in 1833. David Kennedy 
and Mary A. Miller, his parents, w^ere also of 
that State. They came to Illinois about 1840, 
and settled in Calhoun county, where Mr. Ken- 
nedy died soon after. They had three children, 
of whom James is the only one alive. Soon 
after his father's death, the family moved to St 
Louis, Missouri, and he was tliere reared and 
educated, completing a course in the St. Louis 
LTniversity in 1852. He then went south and 
engaged in teaching school in New Orleans and 
interior Louisiana, until 1857. Returning, he 
remained in St. Louis till the following year, 
then located in Waterloo, Monroe county, Illi- 
nois: read law Avith Hon. William R. Morrison, 



and was admitted to })ractice in 1859. He was 
elected (.-ounty Superintendent of schools in 
1860, and filled the office by successive elections, 
eight yeffrs. He was appointed jNIaster in Chan- 
cery about the same time, and held that position 
till he moved to Sangamon county in 1870. 
Here he taught the first year as assistant in the 
city high school, at the close of which he opened 
a law office; was elected city attorney on the 
Democratic ticket in 1874; the following year 
was chosen Justice of the Peace to fill a va- 
cancy, was re-elected in 1877, and served till 
May, 1881. Upon retiring he resumed the prac- 
tice of law. Mr. Kennedy is now serving his 
second term as supervisor from Capitol town- 
ship; was chairman of the Judiciary Com- 
mittee, first term, is now at the head of Com- 
mittee on Pauper and Poor Accounts. In Jan- 
uary, 1879, he, with several others, printers, is- 
sued the "Catholic News," a weekly publication, 
which was suspended about six months later, 
from lack of proper support. In 1858 he mar- 
ried Miss Clara Vanderburgt, a native of Bel- 
gium, Europe, but came to America at ten years 
of age. They haA^e two adult daughters, Mary 
E. and Emma. Mr. Kennedy is a member, and 
for several years was successively President 
and Secretary of the Union of the Irish Catho- 
lic Benevolent Societies, of Springfield. 

Charles Philo Kane, late of the firm of Haz- 
lett & Kane, is the son of Rev. Andrew J. Kane, 
who came to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1830, 
and Caroline M. Beers, Avhose parents, Philo 
Beers and Martha Stillman, settled in this 
county in 1820, and are believed to have been 
the second couple married in Sangamon county. 
Charles was born in Springfield, December 25, 
1850, graduated from the city high school in 

1868, commenced the study of law in August, 

1869, with Messrs. Hay, Greene & Littler, and 
was admitted to the Bar, June 13, 1871. May 1, 
1874, he opened a law office in company with 
his late partner, Robert H. Hazlett. In the 
spring of 1878, Mr. Kane was elected to the 
office of City Attorney, and re-elected in 1879 
and i 880, retiring from the oftice May 1, 1881. 
He is a Mason, a Past Master in St. Paul's lodge. 
No. 500, is a member of Springfield Chapter No. 
1, Royal Arch Masons, and has been tAvo years 
Hecorderof EhvoodCommandery No. 6, Knights 
Templar. 

His ]»arents reside in Springfield; father was 
born in 1818, mother in 1827. 

John C. Lanphier, second son of Hon. Charles 
H. Lanphier. Born October 19, 1850, in Spring- 
field, Illinois ;. graduate of class of 1866, of 



130 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Springfield High Scliool. Studied law with 
Robinson, Knapp & Shutt and with Morrison & 
Patton. Admitted to the Bar July 4, 1871. 
Practiced in Chicago three years. Went into 
partnership with James W. Patton in January, 
1875, firm of Patton & Lanphier. Mai'ried 
April 11, 1877, to Miss Susie C. Young, at St. 
Louis, Missouri. 

Henry H. Rogers is a native of Ohio. He 
came to Illinois in 1869, and settled in Lawrence 
county. In 1872 he was admitted to the Bar, 
and commenced practice. In 1875 he caire to 
Springfield and opened an office. For about 
two years he was a partner of Henry B. Kane, 
the partnership being dissolved on the election 
of Mr. Kane to the office of Justice of the Peace 
in the spring of 1881. 

John C. Snigg, lawyer, 220 South Sixth street, 
was born in New Hampshire in November, 1849; 
came to Springfield, Illinois, in the fall of 1850. 
His parents were Edward Snigg and Margaret 
Murphy. His education was chiefly attained in 
the printing office, he having never attended 
school more than six months in his life. Mr. 
Snigg entered the office of the SpringfiekVReg- 
ister as an apprentice boy in 18(52, and worked 
in that and the Journal office until 1871. He 
began reading law in May of that year, in the 
office of Robinson, Knapp & Shutt, and carried 
newspapers meantime to defray current expenses. 
Passed his first examination in Michigan, in 
1873, and received license to practice law; 
passed another examination before the Supreme 
Court of Illinois in June of the same year, and 
commenced practice in Springfield. He was 
elected (^ity Attorney in 1875, and re-elected in 
1876 and 1877. During the last term he revised 
the city ordinances, after thirteen years without 
revision. In the fall of 1878, Mr. Snigg was 
elected Representative to the legislature on the 
Democratic ticket, for its thirty-first session. 

Robert li. Hazlett, State's Attorney for San- 
gamon county, Illinois, late senior member of the 
law firm of Hazlett tfe Kane, is the second child 
and eldest son of a family of six children — 
three of each sex — of William P. and Zerelda 
Hazlett, nee Haggard, and was born in Christian 
county, Illinois. His grandfather Hazlett came 
from Western Virginia, and settled in Spryig- 
field in 1828, his father being then but seven 
years of age. Some years later the family 
removed to Christian county. There his parents 
married and remained until 1860, when they 
returned to Sangamon county and settled where 
they now reside, four miles west of Springfield. 
Robert labored on the farm until twenty^ years 



old, enjoying the educational advantages of the 
city schools andtwoyears attendance at the State 
Industrial L^niversity at Champaign, Illinois. 
He read law in the ()ffice of Herndon & Oren- 
dorfi^ in Springfield, and was admitted to the 
Bar, March 6, 1873. He served as Deputy Clerk 
in the office of the Supreme Court for a time; 
and in May, 1874, he formed a law partnership 
with Charles P. Kane, and opened an office for 
practice. In 1876, Mr. Hazlett was elected 
State's Attorney for Sangamon county, and re- 
elected in 1880. In politics he is Democratic, 
and was elected on that ticket. 

William L. Gross is an Attorney-atLaw, in the 
active practice of his profession in the city of 
Springfield, Illinois, in conjunction with Clinton 
L. Conkling, under the firm of Gross & 
Conkling. Mr. (iross is a native of the State of 
New York, and Avas born in Fairfield, Herkimer 
county, on the 21st of February, 1839. His fa- 
ther, Rev. Alba Gross, a minister in the Baptist 
Church, and his mother Alathea Smith Gross, 
were born in Courtland county, New York. 
Ti e family came to Illinois in the spring of 
1844, making the journey in a movers' covered 
wagon. They first settled in Canton, Fulton 
county, and afterwards, in 1848, moved upon a 
farm in Knox county. 

At the age of seventeen years, William, the 
subject of this sketch, having passed through the 
public schools and the Academ}', engaged in 
teaching, and while so engaged he prosecuted 
his law studies. He was admitted to the Bar in 
Springfield on June 27, 1862, and at once enter- 
ed into pratice in that city in co-partnership with 
his brother, Eugene L. Gross, Esq. 

In August, 1862, Mr. Gross entered the ser- 
vice of the Government, and in September, 
1863, was appointed Superintendent of Military 
Telegraphs in the Department of the Ohio. Im- 
mediately following this appointment, on Octo- 
ber 27, 1863, he was appointed l)y President 
Lincoln, a Captain and Assistant (Quartermaster 
of Volunteers, and, under command of General 
Anson Stager, was assigned to duty in the De- 
partment of the Ohio, as Military Superintend- 
ent Telegra])hs. In the discharge of this duty 
he was engaged till Johnston's surrender in 
the spring of 1865, when he was transferred to 
the Department of the Gulf, relieving Colonel 
W. G. Fuller, and took control of Military Tele- 
graphs in that entire department. While in 
this latter department he was a member of Gen- 
eral Phil H. Sheridan's military family, and a 
member of his staff. He was twice breveted, 
once as major and afterwards as lieutenant colo- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1 :'. 1 



, I 



nel, and was honorably discharged in August, 
1866. 

From that time till February, 1868, he was 
engaged in the civil telegraphic service, succes- 
ively as Auditor of the Southwestern Telegraph 
Company, at Louisville, Kentucky, as financial 
agent of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany for the district west of the Missouri, and 
as Superintendent of the Tariff Bureau of that 
company in New York City. 

Resigning that position in February, 1868, he 
returned to Springfield, and, resuming his busi- 
ness relations with his brother, E. L. Gross, 
became an active member of the Law and Law 
Publishing firm of E. L. & W. L. Gross, so well 
known throughout this State. In 1868 the firm 
issued the first volume of Gross' Statxxtes of 
Illinois, a work accepted by the courts and Bar 
as authority, and specially legalized by an act of 
the legislature. The following year a second 
edition was issued, including the laws of 1869; 
and the firm also issued an Index to all the Laws 
of Illinois, a work of gi'eat research, minute 
detail and merit. In 18'72 the second volume of 
Gross' Statutes appeared, and the following year 
the firm was dissolved by the retirement of the 
elder brother on account of ill healtli. The 
publications of the firm were continued by the 
subject of this sketch, and in 1874 appeared the 
third volume of Gross' Statutes. Of these pub- 
lications it is not too much to say that they 
were acceptable alike to the courts, the Bar, and 
the people, and will long remain models of their 
kind. 

Since 1874 Mr. Gross has been actively en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession in this 
city. 

He was elected Representative from Sanga- 
mon county to the Thirty-First General Assem- 
bly, upon the Republican ticket, and served dur- 
ing that session. 

In January 1881 he formed the law partner- 
ship now existing, with Mr. Clinton L. Conk- 
ling, one of the leading law firms of Sangamon 
county. 

Upon the organization, in January 1877, of 
the Illinois State Bar Association, Mr. Gross was 
elected its Secretary, and by successive elections 
still holds that important position. 

In 1864 Mr. Gross Avas married to Miss Althea 
Livingstone, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and 
to them have been born two children, Edgar S. 
and Louise. 

John McAuley Palmer was born in Scott 
county, Kentucky, September 13, 1817. While 
yet in his infancy, he was taken by his parents 



to Christian county, Kentucky, Avhere he re- 
mained until 1831, when, in company with his 
parents, he came to Illinois and settled in Madi- 
son county. At this time he was in his four- 
teenth year, with but little education, and only 
such as was derived from the common country 
schools of that day. About two years after, his 
mother died and the family was broken up. The 
old college at Alton, commenced on the manual 
labor plan, was started at this time, and he de- 
termined to avail himself of its privilegeu. For 
one year he arose at daylight, built the fires, 
swept the floors, and did other chores until 
school hours, when he prosecuted his studies. 

Some four years after (in 1838), while travel- 
ing as a clock peddler, he stopped all night at a 
hotel in Carthage, Hancock county. A friend 
accompanied him to the hotel, and the two were 
assigned a room with two beds. Late in the 
night they were aroused by the landlord, who 
ushered in two strangers. "Sorry to waken 
you, gentlemen," said he, "but here are two 
strangers who want a bed. You two must sleep 
together, or share your beds with them." Palmer 
turned over, rubbed his eyes, and saw before 
him a short, spare man, with broad, expansive 
forehead, and large, luminous eyes. The other 
was taller, fine-looking, and had the appearance 
of being a college professor. The tab man in- 
quired about their politics. "Well," replied 
Palmer, " My friend's a Whig, and I am a Demo- 
crat." "You take the Whig, and I'll take the 
Democrat," said the short man. They got into 
bed, and all were soon sound asleep. The next 
morning Palmer inquired the name of his bed- 
fellow. It was Stephen A. Douglas, the Little 
Giant of the West. His fellow-traveler was 
John T. Stuart. 

In 1839, Mr. Palmer went to Carlinville, and 
entered the law office of John S. Greathouse, 
and commenced the study of law. In Decem- 
ber of the same year he went to Springfield to 
apply for license to practice. The court appoint- 
ed Judge Douglas and J. Young Scammon to 
examine him. His examination was satisfac- 
tory, Mr. Douglas remarking, "You may not 
now be able to take charge of important law 
cases, but from the cut of your features and set 
of your clothes, you soon will be." In the even- 
ing Mr. Palmer took a stroll around town, and 
into a church used as a State House, where a tall, 
long, bony man was entertaining a crowd with a 
speech that was full of anecdote, logic and com- 
mon sense. He inquired his name, and was in- 
formed that it was Abe Lincoln. The next day 
he was introduced to Mr. Lincoln, and from that 



1:52 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



day to the death of Lincoln they were warm 
personal friends. 

Retuniing to Carlinville, he at once com- 
menced the practice of law, and, although he 
was not a g'ood speaker, he soon commanded a 
lucrative practice. In 1840 he supported Van 
Buren for the Presidency, taking an active part 
in the canvass. 

On the 20th of December, 1842, he was united 
in marriage to MelindaAnn Neeley. Two weeks 
after marriage the couple went to housekeeping. 
The wliole cost of furniture and everything nec- 
essary to go to housekeeping, was less than fifty 
dollars. 

While a strong Democrat, Mr. Palmer was 
always an anti-slavery man, and when the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska act of 1854 became the issue, he 
sided with the Anti-Nebraska Democrats. He 
was elected to the State Senate this year, which 
contained four Anti-Nebraska Democrats. A 
United States Senator was to be elected in place 
of General Shields. The Anti-Nebraska Demo- 
crats held the balance of power. Palmer offered 
to go into the Democratic caucus, provided fealty 
to the Kansas-Nebraska act was withdrawn. 
His offer was refused. Shields was nominated 
by the Democrats, Lincoln by the Whigs, and 
Palmer ]>ut Lyman Trumbull in nomination as 
the representative of the Anti-Nebraska Demo- 
crats. Trumbull was elected. Douglas labored 
hard with Palmer to get him to vote for Shields, 
and both in the wordy contest lost control of 
their temper. Doug as taunted him with going- 
over to the Abolitionists, and said he could titl 
his place with plenty of good Whigs. Palmer 
grew hot and retorted, " So help me God, I'll 
never vote for Shields. You know how warmly 
I have supported you. You now tell me you are 
willing to part with me, and that you can fill my 
place with your life-long enemies. You demand 
that I shall surrender my personal independence 
and manhood, and threaten me if I refuse. From 
this time forward I will fight you, and will never 
speak to you until you are beaten, and lose your 
power to make and unmake men." The friend- 
ship was severed and not renewed until 18(31, 
when the Governor of Illinois sent Palmer to 
Washington as a member of the Peace Confer- 
ence. The morning after his arrival Douglas 
sent a card to his room requesting an interview. 
The great statesman came in, and, offering his 
hand, said: "Well, Palmer, the time has come 
when, by your own limitation, we are to be 
friends. I beat you a long time ago, but it has 
taken you a long time to beat me. I'm glad to 
see you." "Yes, Judge," said Palmer, "You 



were a thundering hard man to beat." Doiiglas 
then said: "You have always misunderstood me. 
Years ago I saw that Davis and others meant 
disuni'n. I sought to force the issue upon them 
in the Lecompton controversy, and would have 
done so if Buchanan had not proven false. 
Then, there was Union feeling enough even in the 
South to crush them. They have since had two 
years to educate the South into secession." 
Then rising, and, in a solemn, prophetic voice, 
he said: "And now you will see millions of men, 
in arms before the question is settled." 

The campaign of 1856 was the first in which 
figured the newly organized Eepiiblican party. 
Palmer gave his adhesion to that party. In 
i 860 he did much service in the election of 
Lincoln to the Presidency. When the war broke 
out. Palmer raised the 14th Illinois Infantry, and 
by brave and gallant deeds was promoted to 
Major General, given command of a corjjs, and 
afterwards a department. 

After the close of the war he returned to the 
practice of law, and in 1868 was elected Gov- 
ernor of the State, serving four years with 
marked ability. On the expiration of his term 
of office, he located permanently in Springfield, 
and is now an active, honorable member of the 
Sangamon County Bar. 

John Mayo Palmer, of the firm of Palmers, 
Robinson & Shutt, was born in Carlinville, Illi- 
nois, March 10, 1848. He is the son of John 
M. and Melinda A. (Neeley) Palmer. Young 
Palmer, preparatory to his collegiate course, at- 
tended the public schools of his native city. He 
then entered Blackburn University, and subse- 
quently Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, Illinois, 
where be remained four years. Desiring to be 
with his father during the war, he left college 
before graduating, and never returned. After, 
the close of the war he read law with his father, 
and was admitted to the Bar in the summer of 
1867, He then entered the law department of 
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
and in June, 1868, graduated with the degree of 
LL B. He next returned home and commenced 
the practice of law in Carlinville, where he re- 
mained until September, 1872, when he moved 
to Springfield and formed a partnership with 
his father, and has since been an active member 
of the Sangamon County Bar. During his legal 
practice in Carlinville he served as City Attor- 
ney one year. After his removal to Springfield 
he served as a member of the City Council, from 
1874 to 1877. At the general election in 1876, 
he was elected a member of the Illinois Legis- 
lature by the Democratic party, with which he 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



133 



affiliates. John Mayo Palmer and Eilen Rob- 
ertson, daughter of Dr. W. A. and Nannette 
{Holliday) Robertson, were united in marriage 
in Carlinville, Illinois, July 7, 1869. Three 
children have resulted from this union — John 
McAuley, born in Carlinville, April 23, 1870; 
Robertson, born in Carlinville, July 5, 1872; 
Oeorge Thomas, born in Springfield, March 5, 
]875. Mrs. Palmer completed her education at 
Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Illinois. She is 
an active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

George W. Murray, attorney-at-law, was born 
at Covington, Miami county, Ohio, July 7, 1839. 
David Murray, his father, was a farmer, residing 
near Dayton. George was educated in the city, 
and taught school four years before beginning 
the pursuit of law. He read law in the office of 
General Moses B. Walker, in Dayton, in 1859 
and 1860; was admitted in June, 1861, and com- 
menced practice in that city. Was several years 
a member of the City Council while there. In 
1874 Mr. Murray moved to Springfield, Illinois, 
and has since been an active member of the 
Sangamon County Bar. In April, 1881, he en- 
tered into co-partnership with Noah H. Turner, 
which relation still exists. At the age of twenty- 
one, in October, 1860, he married Miss Emma 
Neisbert, of Dayton, Ohio. 

Robert W. Maxwell was born in Springfield, 
Illitiois, December 13, 1845. He read law and 
graduated from the law department of Michi- 
gan University, in March, 1874. In June fol- 
lowing he was licensed to practice in the courts 
of Illinois. In 1875 he vs^ent to Decatur and 
remained over three years in the practice of his 
profession. Returning to Springfield, he opened 
an office, and in June, 1879, formed a partner- 
shi|f with Judge Robertson. He affiliates with 
ttie Democratic party, and has been somewhat 
active in local politics, but was never a candi- 
date for office save that of City Attorney in 1881, 
but was beaten by a combination of Republicans 
and citizens. 

George A. Sanders, Attorney-at-law, of the 
firm of Sanders & Williams, National Bank 
building, was born in Berkshire county, Mass., 
July 4, 1836; graduated from Williams College 
in 1861; came to Illinois; read law with Messrs. 
Sweet & Orme in Bloomington, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar in 1864. He practiced his 
profession five years in Centralia, Illinois. In 
1868 he was chosen one of the Electors 
for General Grant for the Presidency. In the 
winter of 1869-70 Mr. Sanders became Assistant 
State Treasurer, which position he filled six 



yeai-s; and since retiring from that dcparLinent, 
he has been in active law practice in Spring- 
field. He entered into co-partnership with 
Frank P. Williams, January 1, 1881. Mr. San- 
ders has always affiiliated with the Republican 
party and been an active worker in its interests, 

James H. Matheny, Jr., is a "native to the 
manor born." He was born in Springfield, Illi- 
nois, in 1856, and is the third son of James H. 
Matheny, the present County Judge of Sanga- 
mon county. He was educated in the city; read 
law from 1874 to 1876, and was then admitted 
to the Bar. In 1877 he opened an office in 
Springfield, and has since devoted himself 
closely to his profession. 

Henry A. Stevens, Lawyer, office 110 North 
Sixth street ; was born in Shefford county, in the 
Dominion of Canada, July 17, 1847. John M. 
Stevens was a native of New Brunswick, and 
married Sibyl Goddard, a Canadian lady The 
subject of this sketch is one of their family of 
ten living children, five of each sex. Three of 
the sons are lawyers, and one a physician b}' 
profession. Henry was educated in C-anada and 
Vermont. Came to the United States in 1865, 
to Logansport, Indiana, in 1868, and to Spring- 
field in 1869. The next four years he spent in 
teaching school and reading law. From the fall 
of 1873 till 1877, he practiced law in Monona 
county, Iowa, and since that time has been an 
active member of the Springfield Bar. In the 
spring of 1870, Mr. Stevens was made a Mason, 
in Williamsville, Sangamon county, and is noAv 
a member of that fraternity. He married Miss 
Laura South wick, m Springfield, in the spring 
of 1873. Her parents, William and Louvicy 
South wick, settled in Sangamon county, in 1819, 
and still live on the old homestead, entered by 
his father, Jessie, in Woodside township, about 
seven miles southeast of the city. Mr. and; Mrs. 
StcA^ens have one daughter, aged seven years, and 
a son five years old. Mr. Stevens' parens immi- 
grated to Illinois in 1866, and now reside in 
Shelby county. 

James E. Dowling, Attorney at Law, was 
born in Pine Grove near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
in April, 1844, and is the only living son of a 
family of three boys and five girls, of Patrick 
J., and Ann Dowling, who were born and married 
in Ireland, and crossed the Atlantic when Mr. 
Dowling was twenty-three years of age. When 
James Avas thirteen years old, the family moved 
to Freeport, Stephenson county, Illinois, where 
he was chiefly educated, graduating from tiie 
high school in that place in I860. After reading 
law with Thomas J. Turner, of Freeport, 



134 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



two years, he attended the Albany Law 
School, New York, from which he was graduated 
May 20, 1864. He located in practice in Peters- 
burg, Illinois, was chosen Secretary of the State 
Senate for tbe session of 1865-6, at the close of 
which he moved to Athens, Menard, county, and 
there practiced law eleven years, in 1877 he re- 
moved to Springfield where he has been active in 
the profession since. In politics Mr. Dowling is 
Republican, and A^as quite active in the canvass 
in Menard county, previous to General Grant's 
last election to the Presidency. He married 
Miss Savilia, daughter of James G. Davis, one 
of the early settlers of Menard county, in Octo- 
ber, 1865. They have a family of three sons 
and six daughters. Mr. Dowling is a member 
of Capital City Lodge No. 38, of Ancient Order 
of United Workmen. 

James A. Creighton, lawyer, of Orendorff & 
C'reighton, northeast corner Washington and 
Fifth streets, was born in White county, Illinois, 
and is thirty-five years of age. He was graduated 
from Southern Illinois College, at Salem, in June, 
1868; read law w^ith C. A. Beecher, in Fairfield, 
Illinois, and was admitted to the Bar in March, 
1870. After practicing law in Fairfield until 
April, 1877, he located in Springfield, forming a 
co-partnership with Mr. A. Orendorff, wdiich 
still exists. The firm has a fine legal business. 

John M. Creighton, Mr. C.'s father, was also 
a native of White county, Illinois, born in 1821; 
passed his whole life in this State, and died in 
1869. His mother was born in Illinois in 1824, 
and is still living. His paternal ancestors were 
North Carolinians, and his maternal ancestors 
from Virginia. 

George A. Wood, lawyer, office corner Wash- 
ington and Sixth streets, is the youngest of a 
family of six children, three of each sex, of 
Adolphus Wood and Catharine Carpenter, and 
was born in January, 1858, in Springfield, San- 
gamon county, Illinois. Adolphus Wood was a 
native of York State, came to Sangamon county 
in an early day, married Miss Carpenter, who 
was born in Sangamon county iu 1820 — her 
parents, William and Margaret Carpenter having 
settled here that year. Mr. Wood died January 
12,1861. His widow still survives and resides 
in Springfield. The subject of this article hav- 
ing completed a course in the city schools, at- 
tended the law department of Michigan State 
University, from which he graduated in 1877, 
and was admitted to practice in that State the 
same year. Spent a year in Chicago, was ad- 
mitted to the Bar of Illinois in 1878, and at 
once opened a law office in Springfield where he 



has since been actively engaged in his pio- 
fession. 

Thomas Sterling, City Attorney, and member 
of the law firm of Sterling & Grout, was born 
in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, February 
21, 1851; is the son of Charles and Anna (Kes- 
lar) Sterling, natives of Ohio. They moved to 
McLean county, Illinois, in 1855, which is still 
their home. Thomas was graduated from Wes- 
leyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, in 
June, 1875. While teaching as Principal of the 
schools of Bement, Illinois, in 1875-6, he read 
law in the office of Judge W. G. Cloyd; came 
to Springfield, June 1, 1877, and entered the law 
oflftce of Hay, Greene & Littler; was admitted 
June 11, 1878, and commenced practice of his 
profession in company with his present partner, 
J. M. Grout. In April, 1881, Mr. Sterling was 
elected City Attorney on the Republican and 
Citizens' tickets. He married Miss Anna Dunn, 
of Bement, Illinois, in October, 1877. He is a 
Master Mason in St. Paul's Lodge No. 500. 

Joseph M. Grout, Attorney and Counselor at 
Law, corner Washington and Sixth streets, is 
one of two sons of Joseph M. Grout, a native of 
Massachusetts, and Priscilla Thompson of Ken- 
tucky, and was born near Mechanicsburg, San- 
gamon county, Illinois, in 1855. Joseph M. 
Grout, Sr., was one of the pioneer Presbyterian 
clergymen in Sangamon county, and died of the 
cholera in 1855, before the subject of this sketch 
was born, and his mother died when he was but 
ten weeks old. He was taken by an uncle to 
Massachusetts, where the first eight years of his 
life were passed. Returning to Illinois, he was 
graduated from Illinois College, in Jacksonville, 
in the class of 1876; came immediately to 
Springfield and commenced the study of law in 
the office of Hay, Green & Littler; was admflted 
to the Bar in 1878, and in the fall of that year 
entered into co-partnership with Thomas Ster- 
ling, his present partner, with whom he read 
law, and was admitted in the same c'ass. Mr. 
Grout is Republican in politics, but has never 
been a candidate for any office. He was united 
in matrimony with Miss Flora Grubb, of Spring- 
field, in 1879. 

William Henry Colby, Lawyer, of the firm of 
Herndon & Colby, was born in Orange county, 
New York, September 14, 1849. James Colby, 
his father, moved his family to Illinois and 
settled near Chicago the same year of William's 
birth. His father died there in 1858, and his 
mother in 186:i. William cqme to Springfield 
in March, 1863, with a single suit of clothes and 
twenty-five cents in his pocket, which he paid 



,-^' 



**>< " 





HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



137 



for his night's lodging, retiring supperless. He 
sought and obtained employment witli George 
Bergen, a farmer near the city, for whom he 
worked nine years, the first eight months at $6 
per month, which was increased in after years to 
$■25 per month. Prior to beginning the practice 
of law, he leased and carried on a part of Mr. 
Bergen's farm. At the age of twenty-tive years, he 
married Henrietta Cantrall, of Sangamon county. 
He commenced reading law in the otRce of Pat- 
ton & Lanphier in January, 1876, and was 
admitted in January, 1878, in the class with his 
present j^artner, William F. Herndon. They 
were schoolmates and law students together. 
Mr. and Mrs. Colby have two children, Charles 
P., five years of age, and Henrietta, three years 
old. 

William F. Herndon was born in DeWitt 
county, Illinois, in 1848; is the eldest of three 
sons and five daughters of Archer G. Herndon; 
was educated chieiiy in Springfield; taught 
school about ten years; read law in the office of 
CuUom, Scholes & Mather in 1875 and 1876; was 
admitted to the Bar in January, 1878, and has 
since been in practice in Springfield. 

In September, 1871, he married Mary H. 
Bryant, of Sangamon county, who has borne him 
one son, Edgar B. Mr. Uerndon's parents have 
resided in Rochester township, Sangamon 
county, many years. 

Henry B. Kane was born in Springfield, Illi- 
nois, January 17, 1855. His father. Elder A. 
J. Kane, is one of the oldest ministers of the 
Christian Church, in this county. His mother is 
the daughter of Philo and Martha (Stillman) 
Beers, supposed to be the first couple married in 
the county. Mr. Kane graduated in the Spring- 
field High School, in 1872. In 1873, he was ap- 
pointed one of the mail carriers in the city, and 
served three and a half years, and on account of 
ill-health resigned. He read law during that 
time, utilizing his spare hours for that purpose, 
and in January, 1878, was admitted to the Bar. 
He then entered the office of N. W. Branson, 
Register in Bankruptcy, as his deputy, and re- 
mained with him until the law was repealed 
about a year after. ■ Subsequently he formed a 
partnership with H. H. Rogers, in the practiiie 
of law, which continued until he was elected 
Justice of the Peace, in 1881. 

Frank H. Jones was born in Pike county, Illi- 
nois, in 1854, and is the son of George M.Jones, 
Clerk of the Appellate Court, in Springtield. He 
entered Yale College in 1871 and graduated in 
the class of 1875. Returning to Pike county, he 
read law one vear in Pittsfield, then spent a 

' 16— 



year in the Law Department of Columbia Col- 
lege, and a year in tne Chicago Law School. He 
was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1878, 
and immediately opened an office in Pittsfield, 
where he remained one year, and then came to 
Springtield. 

John A. Chestnut, attorney and Justice of the 
Peace, was born in Kentucky, in January, 1816. 
James Chestnut, his father, was a native of 
South Carolina, of Irish descent, and married 
Elizabeth Stevenson, a North Carolina lady. 
They settled near Waverly, Morgan county, 
Illinois, in 1826, where Mr. Chestnut died in 

1849, and his widow in 1833. John was princi- 
pally educated in the common schools of Ken- 
tucky; read law in the office of P. H. W^inchester, 
Carlinville, Illinois, and was admitted in Decem- 
ber, 1837, to practice in the Illinois Supreme 
Court, and in 1841, to the United States Courts. 
He practiced in Carlinville from 1837 till 1855, 
Governor John M. Palmer being his chief com- 
petitor. He then abandoned the law, and en- 
gaged in the real estate and banking business in 
that place, which proved so successful that he 
retired in a few years with a comfortable com- 
petence, and came to Springfield. Here Mr. 
Chestnut made some investments in real estate 
that proved unprofitable, and he lost consider- 
able. In 1867, he was made cashier of the 
Springfield Savings Bank, holding the position 
till May, 1872. After spending a year in the 
office of Stuart, Edwards & Brown, he opened a 
law office and resumed practice in 1879. In the 
spring of 18sl, he was elected Justice on the 
Republican and Reform tickets. From 1838 to 

1850, he filled the office of County Clerk in Ma- 
coupin county; was three times nominated on 
the old AYhig ticket for the legislature, but the 
party being in the minority, failed to elect their 
candidate. He declined the nomination for Con- 
gress in 1860. Mr. Chestnut has been twice 
married, first to Sarah A. Blair, of Greene county, 
Illinois, in 1844, who died; and in 1854 he mar- 
ried Kate N. Corbett, of Jersey county. He has 
one daughter, Leonora, by the first marriage, 
now Mrs. Tingley S. Wood, of Leadville, Colo- 
rado. Mr. C. is a member of the M. E. Church. 

Thomas J. Thompson, Justice of the Peace 
and Attorney-at-law, is the son of John and 
Margaret Thomjison, nee Coleman, of Irish 
nativity, and was born in Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1853. During his childhood they 
moved to Dayton, Ohio, where Thomas at- 
tended the public school, after which he took a 
course in Williams College, Massachusetts, grad- 
uating in the class of 1874. He tauffht as Prin- 



138 



niSTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



cipa,! uf ihe V\ liliaiustowu Academy one year; 
then returning to Oliio, read law in the office of 
Samuel A. Brown, of Springfield. He came to 
Springfield, Illinois, in December 1878, and was 
admitted to the Bar in tlie spring of 18 79, since 
which time he has divided his attention between 
professional practice and stenographic reporting 
of court proceedings, until elected Justice in the 
spring of 1881, on the combined vote of the Citi- 
zen's and Democratic tickets. Mr. Thompson 
served as Secretary of the Democratic State 
Central Committee during the political cam- 
paign of 1880. When a lad in school, young 
Thompson received an injurv through the rough 
conduct of a fellow pupil, which rendered him 
a permanent cripple, resulting in the shortening 
of the right leg some three inches. He posseses 
adaptation both by nature and culture for the 
legal profession, and gives promise of a snccess- 
ful career at the Bar. 

Winfield S. Collins, lawyer, is the son of 
Horace W. Collins, a native of Champaign 
county, Ohio, and .Julia E. Sattley, born in San- 
gamon county, Illinois. Her father, Robert H. 
Sattley, settled in the count}^ in a very early day. 
The subject of this sketch was born in Cham- 
paign county, Ohio, March 30, 1848. In 1855 
his parents moved to Johnson county, Iowa, 
where he labored on the farm till twenty one 
years of age, then set about earning means with 
which to obtain a more complete education. 
He taught school twelve terms: took a course in 
Iowa Agricultural College, from which he was 
graduated in civil engineering in theclassof 1876, 
with distinguished honors as a draughtsman, 
having won the prize for the finest i^iece of me- 
chanical drawing at a State exhibition. In the 
spring of 1877, Mr. Collins came to Springfield, 
Illinois, read law with Robert L. McGuire and 
was admitted to practice in the courts, in May, 
1879. He immediately opened an office in the 
city, and began the business of his profession. 
June 1, 1881, he formed a partnership with 
Martin Sprague, which still continues. 

William A. Vincent is a native of West Vir- 
ginia, and came to Sangamon county with his 
parents in 1868. He received a literary educa- 
tion in the Ohio Wesleyan University, and grad- 
uated from the Law Department of Columbia 
College, New Jersey, in May, 1879. Returning 
to Springfield the same month, he passed an ex- 
amination before the Supreme Court of this 
State, and at once commenced the practice of 
his profession in Springfield. 

Larue Vredenburgh was born in Springfield 
in 1855, graduated from Rutger's College,"New 



Jersey, in 1877; read law in Chicago, and was 
admitted to the J3ar in the fall of 1879, and has 
since been in active practice in Springfield. 

Alexander II. Robertson is a native of Ken- 
tucky and a graduate in both the Literary and 
Law Departments of Transylvania University, 
in that State. His father was George Robert- 
son, for many years Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court of Kentucky, and Professor in the 
Law Department of Transylvania University, 
and acknowledged as one of the ablest lawyers 
of his time in that State. In 1853 Alexander 
came to Illinois and located in Jacksonville, in 
the practice of his profession. Subsequently he 
returned to Kentucky, where he remained until 
1862, during that time serving as Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, of Lexington, to which 
office he was elected shortly after his return. 
Coming back to Illinois, he remained for a time 
and again returned to Kentucky to look after 
his interests in that State. In 1879 he came to 
Springfield, and at once became an active mem- 
ber of the Sangamon County Bar. Judge Rob- 
ertson, during the civil war, was a decided 
Union man, and incurred many of the perils and 
disadvantages without any of its benefits. His 
father was also outspoken, with tongue and pen, 
in defense of the Union against secession. On 
coming to Springfield, Judge Robertson formed 
a partnership with R. W. Maxwell, which still 
continues. 

William T. Houston was born in Sangamon 
county, his parents moving here in 1828. He 
read law with John B. Jones, Taylorville, Chris- 
tian county, and was admitted to the Bar in 
1878. In the fall of 1880, he came to Springfield 
and opened an office. He served in the army as 
a member of the 114th Illinois Infantry. 

Albert Salzenstein, of the firm of McGuire, 
Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a native of Sanga- 
mon county. After graduating in the Spring- 
field High School in 1876, he was Assistant Clerk 
of the Supreme Court about eighteen months, 
at the same time pursuing the reading of law. 
He then entered the office of L. F. Hamilton, 
and continued his studies. He passed examina- 
tion before the Supreme Court in July, 1880, but 
being a minor, he could not be admitted. In 
September following, he attained his majority, 
and opened an office in Springfield. In April, 
1881, he was admitted a member of the present 
firm. 

Frank R. Williams, of the firm of Sanders & 
Williams, is a native of New York, and was 
educated in Cazinovia Seminary, in that State. 
He afterwards entered the law department of 



PIISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



139 



Michigan University, and graduated in 1880. 
He was admitted to the Bar the previous Janu- 
ary, and came to Springtield and commenced 
practice. The firm was formed January 1, 1881. 

Noah II. Turner comes of good old Irish an- 
cestry and a long-lived race, and was born in 
Sangamon county. He read law with L. F. 
Hamilton, and was admitted to the Bar in 1880. 
He formed his present partnership with George 
W. Murray in April, 1881. 

Edwin C. Haynie, son of the late Adjutant- 
General Haynie and Elizabeth (Cooper) Haynie, 
was born in Salem, Marion county, Illinois, June 
27, 1856. He is a graduate of the Springfield 
High School, of the class of 1873; Phillips' 
Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, with the 
class of 1875; Yale College, New Haven, Con- 
necticut, in the class of 1879; Yale Lavv^ School, 
in 1881. On graduating, he secured a license to 
practice, and is now a member of the Bar of 
Sangamon county. Mr. Haynie was married in 
New Haven, Connecticut, September 14, 1881, 
to Minnie Pierpont Hall, daughter of Lucius W. 
Hall, a prominent merchant of that city, and 
Elizabeth (Shepherd) Hall, both natives of Con- 
necticut. Mrs. Haynie is a graduate of a class- 
ical institute of Philadelphia, in the class of 
1877. 



Walter B. Wines was born in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, October 10, 1848. He is the son of 
Enoch C. and Emma S. Wines, natives of New 
Jersey and New York respectively. He entered 
Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachu- 
setts, at an early age, preparatory to a course in 
Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, in 
which institution he graduated in the classical 
course. After graduating at Middlebury Col- 
lege, he entered the Law Department of Colum- 
bia College, in New York, and graduated in the 
class of 1871. In March, 1871, he was admitted 
to the Bar, and commenced practice in New York 
city, whei'e he continued until March, 1879, 
when he moved to Springfield and became iden- 
tified with the Bar of Sangamon county. At 
present he is the Special Agent of the United 
States Census Oftice. 

Walter B. Wines and Annie E. Thornton, of 
New York, were married March 16, 1869. Mrs. 
Wines is the daughter of Isaac and Bridget 
(Harrington) Thornton, the foi-mer a native of 
England and the latter of Ireland. Three 
children have been born unto them — Annie Ger- 
trude, Walter Enoch and Edith Mary. Mrs. 
Wines was educated in the convent in Burling- 
ton, Vermont. Mr, and Mrs. Wines are mem- 
bers of the Catholic Church. 



140 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter VII 



THE FISHER MURDER CASE. 



It has become a proverb that "truth is stran- 
ger than fiction." This was never more fully 
verified than in the events here related, concern- 
ing three brothers, who became victims to one 
of the most remarkable cases of circumstantial 
evidence on record. William, Henry and Archi- 
bald Trayler, were each born in Greene county, 
Kentucky, and who came to Illinois about the 
year 1829. William settled near Greenbush, 
Warren county, about one hundred miles north- 
west of Springfield. Henry settled at Clary's 
Grove, Menard county, but which was then a 
part of Sangamon county. Archibald settled in 
Springfield, and engaged in business as a car 
penter and builder. He owned a lot on the cor- 
ner of Adams and Third streets, and built thereon 
a dwelling house. Being a bachelor, he rented 
the house to his partner, Mr. Myers, and boarded 
with him. The three brothers were each sober, 
industrioufi and retiring men, there being noth- 
ing in their actions that would give rise to any 
remarks, or a suspicion that they would be guilty 
of any wrong-doing. 

Archibald Fisher, a man about fifty years of 
age; taughtschool in Monmouth, Warren county, 
and vicinity. When not regularly employed in 
teaching, he worked at odd jobs, living in the 
families of those who employed him. He was 
unmarried, economical, and had saved up a few 
hundred dollars, and, at the beginning of the 
events here related, he was boarding at the house 
of William Trayler. 

Desiring to enter some land, Mr. Fisher, in 
company with Mr. Trayler, started together for 
Springfield, arriving at the house of Henry 
Trayler on Sunday evening. The next morning, 
all three came to Springfield, arriving there 
about noon, Monday, June 1, 1841, and stopped 
at the house where Archibald Trayler boarded. 
After dinner the three brothers and Fisher left 
the boarding house, in company, lor the purpose 
of looking about the town. At supper time the 



three brothers returned, but Fisher, having step- 
ped aside as they were passing along a foot-path 
among the trees in the northwestern part of the 
city, did not appear. After supper, all the oth- 
ers went in search of him. One by one they 
returned as night approached, but with no 
tidings of Fisher. The next morning the search 
was continued, but up to noon was still unsuc- 
cessful. 

William and Henry, having expected to leave 
early that morning, expressed their intention 
of abandoning the search and returning home. 
This was objected to by Archibald and those 
boarding with him at Mrs. Myers', as it would 
leave Fisher without any means of conveyance. 
They, therefore, continued the search the re- 
mainder of the day; but at night, William, who 
evidently was greatly disappointed at being de- 
tained so long, unknown to Archibald, hitched 
up his buggy and started home. Missing him, 
and learning what had been done, Archibald 
followed him on foot, and over<.ook him just as 
he was entering the water at Hickox's mill, on 
Spring creek, near where the Ohio & Mississippi 
railroad now crosses. Remonstrating with him 
against going home before the mystery was 
cleared up, William turned 'round in the water, 
and they both returned to Springfield. Noiwith- 
standing all this, William and Henry started 
home the next day. 

Up to this time, the mysterious disappearance 
had attracted but little attention. Three or four 
days later, Henry returned to Springfield for the 
purpose of continuing the search, and with his 
brother Archibald, and some of the boarders, 
another day was spent in the search, but with- 
out avail, when Henry concluded to cease fur- 
ther efforts. 

On Friday, June 12, James W. Keyes, the 
Postmaster at Springfield, received a letter from 
Mr. Tice, postmaster at Greenbush, Warren 
county, stating that William Trayler had re- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



141 



turned home, and was circulating the report that 
Fisher was dead, and boasting that he had 
willed his money to him, and that he had gained 
about fifteen hundred dollars by it — a much 
larger sum than Fisher was supposed to possess. 
Mr. Tice requested the Springfield postmaster 
to give him all the information on the subject 
that he could. The contents of that letter were 
made public, and the excitement became wide- 
spread and intense. Springfield had now a pop- 
ulation of about two thousand, and had the year 
previous adopted a city charter. William L. 
May was Mayor, and together with Josiah Lam- 
born, Attorney-General of the State, headed 
the movement to ferret out the mystery, A 
large company was raised and formed into 
squads and marched about in every direction, so 
as to leave no spot unsearehed. Examinations 
were made of wells and every conceivable place 
where a body might be concealed. 

In the search, a club was found with some hair 
attached to it. and it was confidently believed 
that the murder had been committed with that 
weapon, but it was afterwards demonstrated 
that the hair was from a cow. This seai'ch was 
continued until Saturday afternoon, when it was 
determined to arrest William and Henry Tray- 
ler, and officers started for them on Sunday 
7iiorning. Henry, being nearest, was brought 
to Springfield on Monday. The Mayor and 
Attorney-General took him in hand, and used 
every device to elicit information of the sup- 
posed murder, but he protested his innocence of 
any knowledge on the subject. He was re- 
minded that the circumstantial evidence was so 
strong that he, with his two brothers, would 
certainly all be hung, and that the only chance 
to save his own life was for him to become a 
witness on the part of the State. He withstood 
all the pressure until Wednesday, the seven- 
teenth of the month, when, protesting his own 
innocence, he stated that his brothers, William 
and Archibald, without bis knowledge at the 
time, had murdered Fisher, by hanging him to 
a tree; that they had temporarily concealed the 
body; that immediately preceding the departure 
of himself and William from Springfield, on 
the second or third of June, William and Archie 
communicated the fact to him, and engaged his 
assistance in making a permanent concealment 
of the body; that at the time he and William 
left, ostensibly for home, they did not take the 
direct road, but, wending their way through the 
streets, entered the woods at the northwest of 
the city, and that on approaching, where the 
body was concealed, he was placed as a sentinel. 



He then entered into a minute description of 
the murder, going into the smallest details. 
He said that his brothers entered a thicket 
of underbrush, where the body was concealed, 
placed it in the buggy, moved off with it in the 
direction of Hickox mill-pond on Spring creek, 
and soon after returned, saying they had put it 
in a safe place; that Archibald went back to 
town, and that William and himself found their 
way to the road, and proceeded to their homes. 

Until that disclosure was made, the character 
of Archibald was such as to repel all suspicion 
of his complicity in the matter, but he was at 
once arrested and hurried to jail, which was 
probably the best thing that could have been 
done for him, for he was in great personal 
danger from the infuriated populace. Search 
then commenced anew for the body. The thicket 
was found, and indications of a struggle under 
a small tree, bent over as though the hanging 
might have been done there. A trail was also 
visible, as though a body had been draigged to 
where the tracks of a buggy were to be seen, 
tending in the direction of the mill pond, pre- 
viously spoken of, but could not be traced all 
the way. At the pond, however, it was found 
that a buggy had been down into the water and 
came out again. Hundreds of men were en- 
gaged in dragging and fishing for the body. 
Becoming impatient, the dam was cut down on 
Thursday morning, the eighteenth of June, and 
the water drawn off, but no body found. 

About noon that day the officers, who had 
gone to arrest William Trayler, returned with 
him in custody, accompanied by a gentleman 
who called himself Dr. Gilmore. Then it was 
ascertained that William Trayler had been ar- 
rested at his own house, on Thursriay the six- 
teenth of the month, and started for Springfield, 
stopping at Lewiston, Fulton county, for the 
night. Late in the night Dr. Gilmore arrived 
there and told the officers that Fisher was alive 
and at his house; that he had followed them to 
give the information so that the prisoner might 
be released without further trouble. The deputy 
sheriff — James Maxcy — very properly refused 
to release him on the word of an entire stranger, 
and they continued their journey to Springfield. 

Dr. Gilmore told the officers that when he 
heard of the arrest of William Trayler for the 
murder of Fisher, he w^as a few miles from 
home; that when he returned to his own house 
he found Hisher there; that he would have taken 
Fisher with him in pursuit of the officers with 
the prisoner, but that the state of Fisher's 
health would not admit of it. The doctor fur- 



142 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ther said that lie had known Fisher for several 
years, and that he was subject to fits of tempo- 
rary derangement of mind, in consequence of 
an injury to his head, received in early life. 
The doctor still further stated that Fisher told 
him that the first he knew after visiting Spring- 
field, he found himself in the vicinity of Peoria. 
Being nearer to his home than to Springfield, he 
proceeded at once to Warren county, without 
the slightest thought of his acts leading to the 
injury of any other person. 

On their arrival at Springfield, Dr. Gilmore's 
statement was made public, and at first the peo- 
ple seemed to be struck dumb with astonish- 
ment. When the news was communicated to 
Henry Trayler, in the jail, he, without faltering, 
re-attirmed his own story about the murder of 
Fisher. The idea was at once taken up by the 
crowd that Dr. Gil more was in collusion with 
the murderers, and that he had invented that 
story as a ruse to secure their release and escape. 
While the doctor was permitted to remain at 
liberty, he was regarded with strong suspicion. 
About 3 o'clock that afternoon, Mr. Myers, the 
partner of Archibald Trayler, started with a 
two-horse carriage, accompanied by Egbert M. 
Mallory, to ascertain whether Fisher was alive 
or not, and if so, to bring him back to Spring- 
field. 

Without waiting for the return of Myers and 
Mallory, the Traylers were brought before the 
proper officers for preliminary examination, on 
the charge of the murder of Archibald Fisher. 
Henry Trayler was introduced on the part of 
the State, and on oath testified that his brothers, 
William and Arichibald, had murdered Archi- 
bald Fisher, re-affirming all the minutia of his 
former statements, and at the close bore a rigid 
cross-examination without faltering or exposure. 
It was also proven by a respectable lady, who 
was well acquainted with Archibald, that on 
the Monday afternoon of Fisher's disappear- 
ance, she saw Archibald Trayler and another 
man, who she identified as William Trayler, — 
then present — and still another, answering the 
description of Fisher, all enter the timber at the 
northwest of town, and an hour or two later, 
saw the two former return alone. Many other 
witnesses were examined, giving a combination 
of testimony that seemed to weave a net-work 
of circumstances about the prisoners, from 
which it would appear to any other than a legal 
mind, to be utterly impossible to extricate them. 
It was also proven that Archibald Trayler had 
passed an unusual number of pieces of gold 
coin. The buggy tracks in the mill pond were 



unexplained, as the prisoners were the only per- 
sons who could give any light upon that subject. 
The evidence of a struggle in the thicket, under 
the bending tree, where the hanging was sup- 
posed to have taken place, was unexplained, 
although it was afterwards proven that school 
children had been using the tree as a support to 
a swing. These and many other points of evi- 
dence, the intricacies of which space forbids 
that I should follow out, were before the courts. 

When the prosecution had introduced all 
their evidence and rested the case, one of the 
attorneys for the defense, Hon. Stej^hen T. 
Logan, arose, and with every eye turned toward 
him, said that on the part of the defendants, he 
would introduce a single witness only. 

Archibald Fisher, in full life and proper per- 
son, was then conducted slowly into the presence 
of the court. Messrs. Myers and Mallory had 
returned late in the evening before — June 21st 
— with Fisher, and the friends of the prisoners 
kept him secreted until the proper time. The 
effect may be imagined, but can not be describ- 
ed. A gentleman who was cognizant of the 
proceedings from beginning to end, and who is 
now a Judge of one of the courts of Illinois, de- 
scribing the appearance of one of the prisoners 
in the court room, says: "Archibald Trayler 
was as fine looking a man as I ever saw. When 
his own brother was testifying that he was a 
murderer, he stared at him with a look of aston- 
ishment, settling into an appearance of stoical 
indifference, that seemed to say, 'there is no hope 
of relief, therefore I must calmly endure the 
worst;' but when the man he was accused of hav- 
ing murdered, was lead into his presence, he 
broke down and gave vent to his feelings in a 
flood of tears, followed by uncontrollable fits of 
sobbing and moaning." 

By this time it began to dawn on the minds of 
the people that the threats of death to all three 
of the brothers had so wrought on the mind of 
Henry Trayler as to destroy his competency as 
a witness. A feeling of indignation immediately 
sprang up against May and Lamborn, who had 
led in the prosecution, and it only lacked a bold 
leader to mob and hang them. The feeling was 
so intense that Judge Logan, who had defended 
the prisoners, felt it his duty to come to the res- 
cue of their prosecutors. He made a pacific 
speech, in which he exhorted all to abide by the 
laws. It had the desired effect, and all dispersed 
without violence. 

A public meeting of the citizens of Springfield 
Avas held on the evening of June 22, 1841, to ex- 
press sympathy with the brothers, who had 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



143 



passed through that fiery ordeal, and particular- 
ly with their fellow citizen, Archibald Trayler, 
whose character had never been tarnished with 
the slightest shadow of reproach. That sympa- 
thy was of little avail. His line, manly counte- 
nance was never again lighted up with a smile. 
He made some feeble attempt at business, but 
generally wandered about, avoiding all society, 
pined away, and died in less than two years. 
One who knew him well said: "If ever a man 
died of a broken heart it was Archibald Tray- 
ler." William Trayler died in less than a year 
after the trial. Henry Trayler lived several 
years after the death of his brother, but was 
never known to speak of the mournful event af- 
ter his departure from Springfield at the close of 
the trial. He died in Menard county. It is said 
that the three brothers never met after they 
passed out of the court room. 



If the unhappy and afflicted being who was 
the innocent cause of all the trouble, had wan- 
dered away and died on the open prairie, much 
of which had not then been trod by the foot of 
man, William and Archibald Taylor would, be- 
yond a reasonable doubt, have been executed as 
his murderers, and that upon the force of sur- 
rounding circumstances and the testimony of 
their own brother, who would doubtlessly have 
become hopelessly insane, caused by threats to 
make him confess a crime never committed, and 
afterwards by the appalling effects of his own 
testimony. The world would probably have 
looked on and called it retributive justice. Such 
may, and doubtless has been, the effect of cir- 
cumstantial evidence in cases where the truth 
was never known. 

Thus ended one of the most remarkable affairs 
of its kind on record. 



144 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter VIII. 



RAILROADS. 



Sangamon county is traversed by one hundred 
and fifty-four miles of railroad, represented by 
six lines. The citizens of no county in the State 
have manifested more interest in the subject, 
from the beginning of the agitation to the pres- 
ent time. The news of a successful construction 
of a road in the East had no sooner become 
known in this section of country, before it was 
boldly advocated by Jonathan H. Pugh and 
others, as the only means of solving the trans- 
portation problem. Of course the advocates of 
such a scheme were I'egarded by some, as pos- 
sessing an unbalanced mind, still they did not 
waver, and as the opportunity presented itself, it 
was foi'ced upon the attention of the people. 

As early as 1833, the subject of railroad build- 
ing was introduced into the General Assembly, 
but no laws were enacted at that time. In the 
winter of 1835-G acts were passed incorporating 
a large number of railroads, as well as for the 
building of canals and other internal improve- 
ments. Capital stock amounting to -tl 2,450,000 
was authorized, chiefly to railroad companies. 
The internal improvement act of 1837,appro2jri- 
ated 110,200,000 directly from the State Treas- 
ury. More than 19,000,000 of this sum was for 
railroads. At this same session, jjrivate laws 
were enacted, chartering joint stock comj^anies 
with authorized capital stock to the amount of 
nearly 18,000,000, making an aggregate of about 
$30,000,000, involved in efi^orts to legislate rail- 
roads into existence in the State of Illinois at 
that early day. This gigantic system of inter- 
nal improvement was inaugurated when the 
country was but sparsely settled, and before it 
was in a condition to export anything that would 
command money. The people imagined them- 
selves rich, because the whole United States, 
east, west, north and south, M^as flooded with irre- 
deemable j)aper currency. It was thought there 
would be no difticulty in negotiating loans to 
carry forward the public works. 



Soon after the law was enacted, certificates of 
internal improvement stock was readily taken, 
contracts let, and work commenced at various 
points in all parts of the State. Millions of dol- 
lars were squandered in this way before the au- 
tumn of 1837, when the great financial crash, 
which commenced in the eastern cities, swept 
over the whole United States, and the internal 
improvement system of Illinois went down, leav- 
ing the State in what was thought at the time, to 
be hopeless bankruptcy. 

WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

Among the first lines upon which work was 
commenced under the internal improvement 
system, was the Northern Cross Railroad. The 
first ground was broken between Jacksonville 
and Meredosia, on what was called Wolf Run. 
It was about six miles east of the Illinois river. 
This was early in the spring of 1837. James 
Dunlap and T. T. January were the contractors. 
In the spring of 1838, the first locomotive ever 
brought to the State, came up the Illinois river 
on a steamboat, and was landed at Meredosia. 
It was used for running construction trains from 
that time forward. This engine was built by 
Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor, of Patterson, 
New .Jersey, and was called the "Superior." 
The road was so far advanced that the loca- 
motive run into Jacksonville in the latter part 
of 1838, or early in 1339. 

The work on the Northern Cross Railroad 
struggled along, after the internal improvement 
system had ceased in nearly every other part of 
the State. After it was put in running order 
from Meredosia to Jacksonville, some work was 
done between the latter place and Springfield, 
but for a year or two it moved slowly. In some 
way the canal fund became indebted to the in- 
ternal improvement fund. On the 26th day of 
February, 1841, an act of the General Assembly 
was approved, providing for the completion of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



145 



the Northern Cross Railroad from Springfield to 
Jacksonville. To liquidate the indebtedness of 
the canal fund to the internal improvement fund, 
$100,000 of canal bonds were appropriated to 
defray the expense of completing that part of 
the road. The Fund Commissioner was author- 
ized and instructed to enter into contracts for 
the work, to be paid for with the canal bonds, 
and to be completed in one year. On the day 
following — February 27, 1841 — a law was enact- 
ed requiring the Fund Commissioner to advertise 
for proposals to do the work. He was, by the 
same law, directed to take charge of all the work 
between Springfield and the Illinois river. 

FIRST LOCOMOTIVE IN SPRINGFIELD. 

Before the road was completed to Springfield, 
another locomotive was brought on, from the 
works of M. W. Baldwin, of Philadelphia. It 
was called the "Illinois." The track was so far 
completed that on the 15th of February, 1842, it 
entered Springfield, being the first one to arrive 
in the city. George Gregory was the engineer, 
and T. M. Averitt the fireman. The track was 
laid along Tenth street to the crossing of Adams. 
The last half or three-fourths of a mile of the 
track was only the wooden stringers, the iron 
not yet having been spiked. The newspapers 
were not very enterprising, with reference to the 
latest news, especially when it is considered how 
wild they were on the subject of railroads only 
two or three years before. 

Ten days after the event, February 25, the 
following item appeared in the Sangamo Jour- 
nal: 

" The railroad is so far finished that the locomotive 
occasionally runs upon it, and has drawn at least one 
heavy load of produce to the river. Under the circum- 
stances of the times, the contractors, Messrs. Dutf, 
Calhoun & Company have done well to complete it thus 
early. We anticipate that much business Avill be done 
on this road in the spring." 

Again, from the Journal of March 11: 

'• Northern Cross Railroad. — We have neglected to 
notice that the railroad from this place to Meredosia, 
on the Illinois river, has been completed for a couple 
of weeks so far as to permit the passage of trains of 
cars through the whole line. The locomotive has now 
commenced trips between this city and the Illinois 
river; and, for the present, we understand it is arranged 
that the locomotive will leare this city every Monday, 
Wednesday and Friday, and Meredosia every Tuesday, 
Thursday and Saturday. We also learn that the 
steamer "Mungo Park" will run regularly between 
Meredosia and St. Louis, going and returning three 
times a week, so as to connect regularly with the train 
of cars. This arrangement will be of immense utility 
to our citizens and the traveling community, and will 
furnish the easy means of conveying to market the 

17— 



produce of a largo and r.:ost productive roffion of 
country." 

A contrast in the rate of speed then and 
now will be shown from the followino- item 
from Journal, March 1 8, 1842: '^ 

"On Saturday last, March 11, the ears ran from 
.Jacksonville, thirty three and ^i-half miles, in two 
hours and eight; minutes, including stoppages. It is 
believed that the distance can be passed over in one 
hour and a half. Trii)s continue to be made three 
times per week." 

On the 25th of March, the following appeared 
in the Journal: 

"Pleasure trip.— On Monday, March 21, a large party 
left this city for Jacksonville, filling two pa.ssenger 
cars and another fitted up temporarily for the band of 
music. They speak in high terms of the hospitality 
and kindness of the citizens of Jacksonville, of the 
party there, and the pleasure of the trip." 

In that paper of the same date is found the 
following item: 

" During the few days the Springfield and Meredosia 
railroad has been in operation, and before the public 
generally were aware of the running of the cars, the 
receipts from passengers alone have amounted to about 
seven hundred dollars. " 

This road was all made by laying long pieces 
of timber lengthwise with the track — cross 
pieces were placed six or eight feet apart, to 
keep the stringers from spreading — flat iron 
rails were spiked on to the pieces of timber, and 
then it was ready to receive the locomotive and 
cars. 

After running awhile the engines needed re- 
pairing, and the track became uneven, so that 
the cars ceased to be run by steam. The road 
was then leased, and mule teams took the place 
of the locomotives. William D. Baxter <fe Co. 
were the lessees. 

In May, 1844, in the Springfield papers ap- 
peared the following advertisement of the road: 
NORTHERN CROSS RAILROAD. 

PROM MEREDOSIA TO JACKSONVILLE AND SPRINGFIELD. 



The subscribers, having leased the 
Illinois Northern Cross Railway, are 



to j n -^ - - r: £^^^ prepared to transport produce, mer 

"^SE^ WW chandise, furniture, etc., to and from 

the above mentioned places, on terms as reasonable as 
can be desired, and by the employment of faithful and 
experienced agents, and the occupancy of safe and com- 
modious depots, can insure all requisite care and atten- 
tion to whatever may be entrusted to their commission 
WM. D. BAXTER & CO., 

Receiving, Forwarding and Commission Merchants. 

Meredosia, Mav 10, 1844, 

Refer to S. M. finsley & Co., Mr. J. Bunn, Spring- 
field ; Mr. J. G. Lamb, Alton ; Collier & Morrison, Mr. 
J. Simonds. St. Louis, Mo ; Small & McGill, New 
Orleans. 



146 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



After becoming quite dilapidated, a law was 
enacted authorizing the sale of the entire road. 
The sale was effected for a mere trifle, with the 
stipulation that the parties coming in possession 
of it, sl:ould put it in running, order, for the ac- 
commodation of the public. The road was sold 
in 1847, and was afterwards known as the San- 
gamon & Morgan Railroad. Other changes fol- 
lowed until it became part of the Toledo, Wabash 
& Western Railroad, and as such, many im- 
provements were made by the company in the 
operation of the road. In 1858 the company 
located their repair shops in Springfield, thus 
giving employment to a large number of em- 
ployes, who made here their home, and conse- 
quently added much to the trade of the city. 
In ]869 new buildings were erected for their 
rapidly increasing machine works, at a cost of 
$7.^,000. 

In 1870 a fine passenger depot was erected in 
Springfield, at a cost of 136,000. In this build- 
ing are the offices of the Division Superintend- 
ent and other ofiicers of the road located here. 
A freight house was also erected the same year. 

In 1879, the Toledo, Wabash & Western, the 
Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw and several other 
roads were consolidated under the name of the 
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company. 
Although the details of the consolidation were 
agreed upon by the stockholders in November, 
1879, the business of the new company did not 
begin until January 1, 1880. The company now 
own, in 1881, 3,000 miles of railway, and expect 
to secure other roads, having entered into con- 
tracts by which they will soon come into their 
jjosses^ion. 

CHICAGO, ALTON & ST. LOUIS. 

The present Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Rail- 
road was built from Alton to Springfield under 
an act of the legislature, passed in 1847. By 
this act, and an amendment to it, the line of the 
road was intended to run by way of Waverly, 
in Morgan county, and New Berlin, in Sanga- 
mon county. John T. Stuart, while a member 
of the State Senate, feeling it for the best in- 
terest of the road, as well as for the general 
public, introduced an amendment, which be- 
came a law January 29, 1851, by which the 
company was authorized to build direct from 
Carlinville to Springfield. 

During the session of the legislature in 1848 
and 1849, Mr. Stuart introduced the first bill to 
build a road from Springfield to Chicago, and 
which passed ihe Senate and was then sent to 
the House. The morning after its passage, Mr. 
Smith, representing Macon in the Senate, moved 



to recall the bill from the House, assigning as a 
reason that it was passed in his absence and was 
interfering Avith the building of the Great 
Western and the proposed Illinois Central 
Railroad. The aiotion of Mr Smith prevailed 
and the bill was recalled and laid upon the 
table. 

At the next session of the Senate in 1850-51, 
it was thought prudent to pass the measure, not 
as a whole, but in sections, owing to the oppo- 
sition manifested the previous session; there- 
fore, Mr. Stuart introduced "An act to extend 
the Alton & Sangamon Railroad Company, in- 
corporated February 27, 1847, which was passed 
and became a law February 11, 1851, and by 
which, authority was given to extend the road 
from Springfield to Bloomington. and under 
which that part of the road was built. 

At the session of the Senate in 1852, Mr. 
Gridley, representing McLean county in that 
body, introduced a bill, the object of which was 
to further extend the road from Bloomington to 
Joliet, and which became a law on the 19th of 
June, 1852, and under which that part of the 
road was built. By further legislation it was 
afterwards extended from Joliet to Chicago. By 
still another act, authority was given to extend 
the road from Alton to East St. Louis, which, in 
due time, was built, and which different sec- 
tions now compose the Chicago, Alton & St. 
Louis Railroad. 

The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, or the Alton 
& Sangamon Railroad, by which it was then 
known, was completed to Springfield in 1853, 
and an entertainment was given in that city by 
the railroad company, to a party of excursionists 
from St. Louis and Alton. The steamboat Cor- 
nelia left St. Louis for Alton with the excur- 
sionists from that city, at six o'clock on the 
morning of Thursday, October 6, and being 
joined by the Alton people, proceeded by rail to 
Springfield, arriving at two o'clock p. m., where 
a sumptuous dinner awaited them, in a building 
erected for a machine shop. Benjamin Godfrey, 
of Alton, was introduced by Virgil Hickox,as 
one through whose exertions the road was 
chiefly built. After a brief address from Mr*. 
Godfrey, and speeches from some others of the 
party, and dinner had been partaken of by all, 
the train moved away with its four hundred pas- 
sengers on the return trip. This w^as an import- 
ant event in the history of Springfield, as it 
opened direct communications with Springfield 
and the South. 

On the 18th of October, 1853, the road was 
completed to Normal, forming a junction with 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



14- 



the Illinois Central, by which passengers could 
go to La Salle, and from there to Chicago by 
the Chicago & Rock Island Road. This opened 
up the first communication from New York city 
to the Mississippi river. On the 4th of August, 
1854, the present road was completed through 
to Joliet. 

By an act of the General Assembly, approved 
February 14, 1855, the name of the company 
was changed to Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, and 
on the 21st of January, 1857, another act was 
passed, changing it to the St. Louis, Alton & 
Chicago Railroad Company. February 19, 1859, 
the name was changed from St. Louis, Alton & 
Chicago, to Alton, Chicago & St. Louis. On the 
18th of February, 1861, it was again changed, 
making it the Chicago & Alton. 

Coming from Chicago to St. Louis, the road 
enters Sangamon cuunty on section 34, township 
18, range 4 west, Williams township, and taking 
nearly a southwestern course, passing through 
the townships of Williams, Springfield, Wood- 
side, Ball, Chatham, and Auburn, passes into 
Macoupin county from section 34, the latter 
township. The company have seven stations in 
this county — Williamsville, Sherman, Spring- 
field, lies Junction, Woodside, Chatham, and 
Auburn. 

OHIO & MISSISSIPPI. 

A charter was granted to the Springfield and 
Pana Railroad Company, February 16, 1857, but 
no road was ever built under that charter. The 
hard times, beginning in 1857, followed closely 
by the war, prevented the prosecution of the 
work. On the 16th of February, 1865, another 
charter was granted to cover the same ground, 
but extending further, under the title of the 
Pana, Springfield and Northwestern Railroad 
Company. Forty miles of this road — from 
Springfield to Pana — was completed and opened 
for business in March, 1870. During the sum- 
mer of 1870, it was put under contract to Pjeards- 
town, with the intention of extending it to 
Keokuk, Iowa. The extension was never under- 
taken. 

By an act of the General Assembly, approved 
March 5, 1867, a charter was granted to the Illi- 
nois and Southeastern Railroad Company. This 
company became possessed of the Pana, Spring- 
field and Northwestern Railroad, giving it a line 
from Shawneetown, on the Ohio, to Beardstown, 
on the Illinois river. On the 28th day of March, 
1872, through trains commenced running from 
Shawneetown to Beardstown. Subsequently, the 
road came into possession of the Ohio and Miss- 



issippi Railroad Company, as the Springfield, 
Division of the Ohio and Mississipp^by which it 
is now operated. The headquarters of' the com- 
pany are at Cincinnati, but having a Division 
office at Springfield, with C. M. Stanton, Division 
Superintendent. 

The Ohio and Mississippi enters Sangamon 
county on section 4, township 14, north of" range 
3 west, Cooper township, and passes through the 
townships of Cooper, Rochester, Springfield, 
Gardner and Cartwright, passing into Cass 
county from section 27, township 17, range 8 
west, Cartwright township. The road has eight 
stations in the county — Breckenridge, lierry, 
Rochester, Springfield, Bradford, Farmingdale, 
Richland, and Pleasant Plains. 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL. 

The Oilman, Clinton & Springfield Railroad 
Company was incorporated by an act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, March 4, 1807. An organization 
was effected at Clinton, April 21, 1869. Grad- 
ing was commenced near Clinton, July 4, 1870, 
and from that time until the close of the work- 
ing season, from fifteen to eighteen hundred 
men were employed along the line. Track lay- 
ing was commenced at Oilman, February 19, 
1871. The entire line was completed, and an 
excursion train, extemporized at Springfield, vis- 
ited the ruins of Chicago, starting from Spring- 
field, Saturday evening, October 21, but the road 
was not regularly opened for business until De- 
cember 3, 1871. Subsequently the road passed 
into the hands of the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company, and is now operated by them under 
the name of the Springfield Division of the Illi- 
nois Central. 

Entering the county on section fifteen, Buffalo 
Hart township, the road runs southwest through 
the townships of Buffalo Hart, Williams, Clear 
Lake and Springfield. It has bu*, two stations in 
the county outside of Springfield, in Buffalo 
Hart township and Barclay. 

SPRINGFIELD & NORTHWESTERN. 

In 1869 a charter was secured for a new road, 
under the name of the Springfield & North- 
western, running from Springfield to Rock 
Island. A contract was let early in the year 
1871 from Havana to Springfield, and work was 
immediately commenced, and continued until 
some time duringthe following year, completing 
a track from Havana to Petersburg, Menard 
county, a distance of twenty-five miles. The 
contractors then failed, and other parties entered 
into contract to continue and complete the woi'k 
to Springfield. This last party, in consequence 



148 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of the hard times, also failed in the fall of 1873, 
having completed the road to Cantrall. John 
Williams, of Springfield, then took charge of 
the road, and in 1874 had the cars running into 
the city of Springfield. In 1875 the road was 
placed in the hands of a Receiver and subse- 
quently sold under mortgage, and purchased by 
Colonel Williams for the benefit of the bond- 
holders. In 1878 a new company was formed 
which jjurchascd the road from Williams and 
electing new otticers, undertook its management. 
John Williams was the first President of the 
new company and was succeeded by John T. 
Stuart. Subsequently Charles Ridgely became 
the owner of the principal part of the stock, and 
in August, 1881, he sold to the Wabash Com- 
pany, and it is now a part of that system. 

CONTEMPLATED ROADS. 

The Peoria & Springfield railroad was char- 
tered in 1871, and the entire line was let under 
contract for grading of the road, in 1872. Grad- 
ing was commenced at the Peoria end of the 
road and it was completed to Pekin in 1873. 
The hard times of that year caused the suspen- 
sion of all work, and it has since been entirely 



abandoned. George N. Black, John Williams, 
John T. Stuart and James C. Conkling, were 
among the directors on its organization. 

The Springfield & St. Louis Railroad was 
projected about the same time of the Peoria & 
Springfield road. The same cause is given for 
the failure of both enterprises — hard times. 

The Springfield, Carrollton & St. Louis Rail- 
road Company, and the St. Louis, Jerseyville & 
Springfield Railroad Company were each organ- 
ized March 1, 1872. Befoi-e work was com- 
menced on either road the hard times of 1873 
set in, and all efforts to build the road were 
abandoned. In 1880 a new company was organ- 
ized, taking the old name of St. Louis, Jersey- 
ville & Springfield Railroad Company, and began 
the construction of a line upon the old route. 
In 1881 the road fell into the hands of the 
Wabash Company, and was made a part of their 
system. 

The Springfield Southern Railroad Company 
was organized March 25, 1872, and the Spring- 
field, Macon & Wabash Railroad Company, 
March 1, to take effect April 4, 1872. No effort 
was made to build the roads in consequence of 
the depression in money matters. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



149 



Chapter IX 



WARS. 



Since the organization of the county, its citi- 
zens have been called upon, and promptly re- 
sponded, in two Indian wars, the Mormon and 
Mexican wars, and the war for the Union. 

THE WINNEBAGO WAR. 

When lead was discovered in the region of 
Galena, and it was found profitable to mine it, 
the white people flocked there in large numbers. 
For some years previous, the different Indian 
tribes inhabiting the northern part of Illinois 
and Wisconsin had been at war among them- 
selves, and in the spring of 1827, a small party of 
Winnebagoes surprised a party of twenty-four 
Ohippewas, and killed eight of them. The 
United States commander at Fort Snelling caused 
four of the offending Winnebagoes to be arrested, 
and delivered to the Chippewas, by whom they 
were punished. Red Bird, the Chief of the 
Sioux, while acting with the Winnebagoes, in an 
attempt to obtain revenge for the killing of the 
four members of their tribe, was defeated by the 
Chippewas. He then determined to wreak his 
vengeance on the white people, who had assisted 
his enemies and invaded his country. On the 
27th of June, 1827, two white men were killed 
near Prairie DuChien, and on the 30th of July, 
two keel boats, carrying supplies to Fort Snell- 
ing, were attacked, and two of the crew killed. 
The news soon spread among the settlers, and 
upon a call from Governor Edwards, four com- 
panies of infantry and one of cavalry were made 
up in Sangamon county. The cavalry company 
was commanded by Edward Mitchell, and the 
four infantry companies by Captains Thomas 
Constant, Reuben Brown, Achilles Morris and 
Bowling Green. The whole, under command 
of Colonel Thomas M. Neale, with James 
D. Henry, as Adjutant, marched to Peoria, 
where the regiment was more fully organized, 
and continued on to Galena. Before their ar- 



rival in the Indian country. Red Bird, with six 
of his warriors, voluntarily gave themselves up 
to the United States forces, under General Atkin- 
son, to save their tribe from the miseries of war. 
Thus ended the campaign, and the troops from 
Sangamon county were ordered home. 

THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 

In 1804, a treaty was made with certain of the 
Sac and Fox Indians by General Harrison, at 
St. Louis, by which they ceded to the United 
States all their lands on Rock river, and much 
more elsewhere. This treaty was confirmed by a 
part of the tribe, in a treaty with Governor 
Edwards and Augustus Chouteau, in September, 
1815, and by another part, in a treaty with the 
same commissioners, in May, 1816. These treat- 
ies were never considered binding by Black 
Hawk and other chiefs of his tribe In this con- 
nection it will be well to give an account of 
Black Hawk, and what he says of the treaty of 
1804. From a work published by J. B. Patter- 
son, of Oquawka, on the Black Hawk war the 
following extract is taken: 

" Black Hawk, whose Indian name was Muck- 
a-tan-wish-e-ke-ack-ke-ak (meaning a black hawk) 
was born at the Sac village ( the site of this vil- 
lage was at the present village of Camden, at 
the Rock river crossing of the Peoria and Rock 
Island Railroad), on Rock river, in Illinois, in 
the year of 1767. His father's name was Py-esa. 
His great-grandfather, Na-na-ma-kee (Thunder) 
was born near Montreal, Canada, and was placed 
at the head of the Sac nation by a Frenchman 
who claimed to be the son of the King of 
France. 

"He gave them many presents, such as guns, 
powder, lead, spears, and lances, and showed 
them how to use them in peace and war; and 
also cooking utensils, and many other presents 
of different kinds. He afterwards sailed for 



3 50 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



France, promising to return at the end of the 
twelfth moon. 

" They continued to trade with the French for 
a long time, and until the latter were overpow- 
ered by the British. After that event several 
tribes united and drove the Sacs from Montreal 
to Mackinac, and thence to Green I^ay, where 
they formed an alliance with the Fox nation, 
and then retreated to the Wisconsin, and finally 
to Rock river, from which they drove the Kas- 
kaskias and commenced the erection of their 
village. 

" Py-e-sa succeeded Na-na-ma-kee as war 
chief, and was killed in an engagement with the 
Cherokees, who largely out-numbered the Sacs 
and Foxes. On seeing him fall. Black Hawk 
assumed command and fought desperately until 
the enemy retreated. In this battle, he killed 
three men and wounded several with his own 
hand, the enemies loss being twenty-eight and 
Black Hawk's being only seven. After this en- 
gagement, he fell heir to the great medicine bag 
of his tribe, and, after a season of five years 
mourning, with blackened faces, they deter- 
mined on avenging the death of Py-e-sa, by the 
annihilation if possible of the whole Cherokee 
tribe, and took out a strong army for that pur- 
pose. 

"Black Hawk succeeded in killing many of 
them and in finally driving them to tiieir own 
country. 

"His next movement v\ as against the Chippe- 
was, Kaskaskias and Osages, with whom he had 
seven regular engagements, with a loss of two or 
three hundred. The enemy retired and Black 
Hawk and his band returned to their village. 

"Spain was then in possession of St. Louisand 
all the country south and west. The Indians 
congregated at St. Louis every spring for many 
years to do their trading. After the Louisiana 
purchase, the Spanish withdrew from St. Louis 
and the Americans took possession. Soon after 
Lieutenant (subsequently Genoal) Zebulon JM. 
Pike, with an escort of soldiers, went up the Mis- 
sissi})pi river, calling on the chiefs of the various 
tribes that dwelt along the banks of the Father 
of Waters, and made them many presents in the 
name of their Great Father, the President of the 
United States, who he told them would always 
treat them well if they would listen to his ad- 
vice. A few moons later a Sac Indian killed an 
American, for which offence he was arrested and 
confined in the prison at St Louis. As soon as 
intelligence of the murderer's arrest and impris- 
onment reached Black Hawk, be called a council 
of the head men of his tribe at the Sac village 



to talk the matter over and consider what was 
best to be done. 

"They resolved to send four of their braves to 
St. Louis to compromise with the authorities by 
paying the relatives for the man killed — the only 
way with them for saving one person who had 
killed another. Quash-qua-me and three other 
men of the tribe were chosen to go on this mis- 
sion, the result of which was thus related by 
Black Hawk. 

"Quash-qua-me and his party remained a long 
time absent. They finally returned dressed in 
fine coats and wearing medals and encamped 
near the village. 

"Early the next morning the council was con- 
vened and Quash-qua-me and party came in and 
reported the result of their mission. 

"On their arrival at St. Louis, they reported to 
the American chief and urged the release of 
their friend. The American chief said his gov- 
ernment wanted more land, and if the Sacs and 
Foxes would give him some in Illinois, opposite 
Jefferson (barracks), they would release the im- 
prisoned Sac. 

"Quash-qua-me and his party assented to this, 
and signed a paper by making their marks. 
When they were ready to leave, their friend was 
released, but as he was let out of the prison he 
was shot dead. This was the treaty of 1804, in 
which all their country in Illinois was ceded to 
the United States, for one thousand dollars a 
year, and was the cause of the Black Hawk war, 
as the chiefs claimed that no one but themselves 
and head men had authority to make a treaty." 

LTnder this treaty, it was agreed that the In- 
dians should retain possession of the country 
until it was wanted for white occupancy. 

Black Hawk and his people remained in 
peaceful possession of the country along Rook 
river, until 1830, when they were notified that 
they must move across the Mississippi river. 
They complied with the "notice to quit," and 
crossed over the Father of Waters and took up 
their abode on the eastern slope of Iowa, in what 
came in after years to be known as the Black 
Hawk purchase, or forty-mile strip. 

Rankling under what Black Hawk believed 
to be a wrongful dispossession of their homes 
along Rock river, and hunger and want coming 
to his people in their new homes, they re-crossed 
the Mississippi in the spring of 1831, and took 
possession of the site of their old village and 
corn fields. This movement of Black Hawk ex- 
cited alarm among the white people who had 
settled in that part of Illinois, and complaint 
was made to Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



151 



against their presence. The comphimts lepre- 
sented that the Indians were insolent, and had 
committed many acts of violence. Governor 
Ford says the Indians ordered the white settlers 
away, threw down their fences, unroofed their 
houses, cut up their grain, drove oft" and killed 
their cattle, and threatened the people with 
death if tliey remained. 'Ihese acts of the In- 
dians were considered by Governor Reynolds to 
bean invasion of the State. He immediately 
addressed letters to General Gaines, of the 
United States army, and to General Clark, the 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, calling upon 
them to use the influence of the Government to 
procure the peaceful removal of the Indians, if 
possible: at all events, to protect the American 
citizens who had purchased those lands from 
the United States, and were now about to be 
ejected by the Indians. General Gaines repaired 
to Rock Island, and becoming convinced the 
Indians were intent upon war, he called upon 
Governor Reynolds for seven hundred mounted 
volunteers. The Governor obeyed the requisi- 
tion, and issued a call upon the northern and 
central counties, in obedience to which fifteen 
hundred volunteers rushed to his standard at 
Beardstown, and about the 1 0th of June were 
organized and ready to be marched to the seat 
of war. The whole force was divided into two 
regiments, an odd battalion, and a spy battalion. 
The First Regiment was commanded by Colonel 
James D. Henry, of Springfield. 

Black Hawk, becoming convinced that he 
could do nothing against the force sent against 
liim, retreated across the river, and fearing pur- 
suit from General Gaines, returned with his 
chiefs and braves to Fort Armstrong, and sued 
for peace. A treaty was here formed with them, 
by which they agreed forever to remain on the 
west side of the river, and never to re-cross it 
without the permission of the President or the 
Governor of the State. The treaty of 1804 was 
thus at last ratified by these Indians. Notwith- 
standing this treaty, early in the spring of 1832, 
Black Hawk and the disaffected Indians pre- 
pared to re-assert their right to the disputed 
territory. 

Governor Reynolds, as soon as informed of 
the action of Black Hawk, issued another call 
for volunteers. General Thomas M. Neale, of 
the State militia, received the following order: 

To General T. M. Neale: — You are hereby 
commanded to cause six hundred men of your 
command to meet at Beardstown, on the 22d 
inst., without fail. I have ordered the Colonels 



of your brigade to furnish their proportion of 
men out of their respective regiments, for fear 
you might not be at home. You will call on 
the militia nearest the rendezvous. Each com- 
pany to be composed of fifty men and to elect 
its own officers. Mounted volunteers are pre- 
ferred. If none such will offer their services, 
then you are to draft, which I hope will not be 
the case. John Reynolds, 

Commander in Chief. 

April 1(5, 1832. 

The Sangamo Journal of this period contained 
many articles recounting the atrocities commits 
ted by the Indians. The excitement ran high 
and every able-bodied man was ready to volun- 
teer. The quota of this county was easily 
raised. As a specimen of the war poetry of the 
period we quote the following, appearing as 
original in the Journal: 

SONG 

For the Second Expedition against Black Hawk. 

Brave Sangamon hath armed, 
All to defend her right — 
Arouse, ye bold Kentucky boys, 
The foremost in the fight! 

Away I away! away! 

The flames of war are burning red, 
The naked frontier needs j^our aid! 
Huzza for old Kentuckl 

Away! away! away! 

Virginia and fair Tennessee, 
From danger never known to flee, 
Show Sangamo 5^our pluck! 

Away! away! away! 

Now old Virginia's hearts of fire. 
Who in the battle never tire. 
Remember Washington, your sire! 
Away! away! away! 

Ye Yankee boj's of courage tnie. 
Now show the world what ye can do! 
And make the Black Hawk tremble, too! 
Away! away! away! 

Our answer is the rolling drum — 
We come! we come! we come! 
Forward! our course is to the West — 
The war-path is no place of rest! 
Away! away! away! 

The Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and the 
few "Yankee boys" then living here, nobly re- 
sponded, causing grief to some loving wives, 
whose husbands were thus to be taken from 
them, probably never to return. Some one 
whose wife was thus grieving, relates his experi- 
ence through the columns of his weekly paper, 
as follows: 



152 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Have e're you seen, when you've been called 

To scenes of arms and strife, 
The tear stand trembling in the eyes 

Of your beloved wife? 

Have you seen this, then heard her say 

With faltering voice — "My dear, 
(Then pausing and embracing you) 

" My dear — don't go — I fear!" 

Ah, have you seen and have you heard 

Her urge her moving plea — 
"I fear you'll ne'er come back, my love, 

To these sweet babes and me." 

Then you have felt w^hat I have felt, 

My resolution tried — 
But bracing up my nerves, I said, 

" Dear wife don't be afraid. 

" We've heard of fearful massacres 

Of fathers — mothers slain — 
And little babes — as small as ours 

All mangled on the plain! 

" Then ought I not, with sword in hand. 

Go quickly to defend 
Those little babes and women, who 

May meet such direful end?" 

She nothing said — but while I spoke 

She gently pressed my hand. 
And ever since her actions say 

Go now — defend our land. 

Speaking of the Black Hawk war, Ford, in 
his "History of Illinois," says: 

"The united Sacs and Fox nations were di- 
vided into two parties. Black Hawk commanded 
the warlike band, and Keokuk, another chief, 
headed the band which was in favor of peace. 

"Keokuk was a bold, sagacious leader of his 
people; was gifted with a wild and stirring elo- 
quence, sure to be found, even among Indians, 
by means of which he retained a greater part of 
his nation in amity with the white people. 

"But nearly all the bold, turbulent spirits, 
who delighted in mischief, arranged themselves 
nnder the banner of his rival. Black Hawk had 
wath him the chivalry of his nation, with which 
he re-crossed the Mississippi in the spring of 
1832. 

"He directed his march to Rock river in the 
spring of 1832. 

"He directed his march to the Rock country, 
and this time aimed, by marching up the river 
into the countries of the Pottawottomies and 
Winnebagoes, to make them his allies. Gover- 
nor Reynolds, upon being informed of the facts, 
made another call for volunteers. In a few days 
eighteen hundred men rallied under his banner 
at Beardstown. This force was organized into 
four regiments and a spy battalion. Colonel 



Dewit commanded the First Regiment, Colonel 
Fry the Second, Colonel Thompson the Fourth, 
and Colonel James D. Henry commanded the 
spy battalion. The whole brigade was put 
under the command of Brigadier General Sam- 
uel Whiteside, of the State militia, who had 
commanded the spy battalion in the first cam- 
paign. 

"On the a'Zth of April, General Whiteside, 
accompanied by Governor Reynolds, took up 
his line of march. The army proceeded by the 
way of Oquawka,onthe Mississippi, to the mouth 
of Rock river, and here it was agreed between 
General Whiteside and General Atkinson, of 
the regulars, that the volunteers should march 
up Rock river about fifty miles, to the Prophet's 
town, and there encamp, to feed tind rest their 
horses, and await the arrival of the regular 
troops in keel boats, with their provisions. 
Judge William Thomas, who again acttd as 
quartermaster to the volunteers, made an esti- 
mate of the amount of provisions required until 
the boats could arrive, which were supplied, and 
then General Whiteside took up his line of 
march. 

"But when he arrived at the Prophet's town, 
instead of remaining there, his men set fire to 
the village, which was entirely consumed, and 
the brigade marched on in the direction of 
Dixon, forty miles higher up the river. 

" When the volunteers had arrived within a 
short distance of Dixon, orders were given to 
leave the baggage wagons behind, so as to reach 
there by a forced march. And for the relief of 
the horses, the men left large quantities of pro- 
visions behind with the wagons. 

"At Dixon,]General Whiteside came to a halt, 
to await a junction with General Atkinson, with 
provisions and the regular forces; and from here 
parties were sent out to reconnoitre the enemy 
and ascertain his position. The army here 
found upon its arrival, two battalions of 
mounted volunteers, consisting of 275 men, 
from the counties of McLean, Tazewell, Peoria, 
and Fulton, under the command of Majors Still- 
man and Bailey. 'J he oflicers of this force 
begged to be put forward upon some dangerous 
service in which they could distinguish them- 
selves. 

"To gratify them they were ordered up Rock 
river to spy out the Indians. Major Stillraan 
began his march on the 12fh of May, and pur- 
suing his way on the southeast side, he came to 
''Old Man's" creek, since called "Stillman's 
Run," a small stream which rises in White Rock 
Grove, in Ogle county, and falls into the river 





~.y^S^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTV. 



155 



near Bloomingville. Here he encamped just 
before night; and in a short time a party of In- 
dians on horseback were discovered on a rising 
ground about a mile distant from the encamp- 
ment. A party of Stillman's men mounted 
tlieir horses without orders or commander, and 
were soon followed by others, stringing along 
for a cpxarter of a mile, to pursue the Indians 
and attack them. 

"The Indians retreated after displaying a red 
flag, the emblem of defiance and war, but were 
overtaken and three of them slain. 

"Here Major Hackelton, being dismounted in 
the engagement, distinguished himself by a com- 
bat with one of the Indians in which the Indian 
was killed, and Major Hackelton afterwards 
made his way on foot to the camp of General 
Whiteside. 

'•Black Hawk was nearby with his main force, 
and being prompt to repel an assault, soon ral- 
lied his men, amounting then to about seven hun- 
dred warriors, and moved down upon Major 
Stillman's camp, driving the disorderly rabble, 
the lecent pursuers before him. These valorous 
gentlemen, lately so hot in pursuit, when the 
enemy were few, were no less hasty in their i-e- 
treat, when coming in contact with superior 
numbers. They came with their horses in a full 
run, and in this manner broke through the camp 
of Major Stillman, spreading dismay and terror 
among the rest of his men, who immediately 
began to join in the flight, so that no effort to 
rally them could possibly have succeeded. Major 
Stillman, now too late to remedy the evils of in- 
subordination and disorder in his command, did 
all that was practicable, by ordering his men to 
fall back in order, and form on higher ground ; 
but as the praii'ie rose behind them for more 
than a mile, the ground for a rally was never 
discovered ; and besides this, when the men once 
got their backs to the enemy, they commenced a 
retreat, without one thought of making a further 
stand. 

"A retreat of undisciplined militia from the at- 
tack of a superior, is apt to be a disorderly and 
inglorious flight ; and so it was here, each man 
sought his own individual safety, and in the 
twinkling of an eye the whole detachment was 
in utter confusion. They were pursued in their 
flight by thirty or forty Indians, for ten or 
twelve miles, the fugitives in the rear keeping 
up a flying fire as they ran, until the Indians 
ceased pursuing. 

" But there were some good soldiers and brave 
men in Stillman's detachment, whose individual 
efforts succeeded in checking the career of the 

18— 



Indians, whereby many escaped that night who 
would otherwise have been easy victims of the 
enemy. 

"Among these were Major Perkins and Captain 
Adams, who fell in the rear, bravely fighting to 
cover the retreat of their fugitive friends. 

"But Major Stillman and his men pursued 
their flight without looking to the right or left 
until they were safely landed at Dixon. 

"The party came straggling into camp all night 
long, four or five at a time, each fresh arrival 
confident that all who had been left behind had 
been massacred by the Indians. 

"The enemy was stated to be just behind in 
full pursuit, and their arrival was looked for 
every moment. Eleven of Stillman's men were 
killed, and it is only astonishing that the num- 
ber was so few. 

" It is said that a big, tall Kentuckian, with a 
loud voice, who was a colonel of the militia, but 
a private with Stillman, upon his arrival in 
camp, gave to General Whiteside and the won- 
der struck multitude, the following glowing and 
bombastic account of the battle: 'Sirs,' said 
he, ' our detachment was encamped among some 
scattering timber on the north side of Old Man's 
creek, with the prairie from the north gently 
sloping down toward our encampment. It was 
just after twilight, in the gloaming of the even- 
ing, when we discovered Black Hawk's army 
coming down upon us in solid column; they 
displayed in the form of a crescent upon the 
brow of the prairie, and such accuracy and pre- 
cision of military movements were never wit- 
nessed by man; they were equal to the best 
troops of Wellington, in Spain. I have said that 
the Indians came down in solid columns, and 
displayed in the form of a crescent; and what 
was most wonderful, there were large squares of 
cavalry resting upon the points of the curve, 
which squares were supported agsin by other 
columns fifteen deep, extending back through 
the woods and over a swamp three-quarters of 
a mile, which again rested on the main body of 
Black Hawk's army, bivouacked upon the banks 
of the Kishwakee. It was a terrible and a 
glorious sight to see the tawny warriors as they 
rode along our flanks attempting to outflank us, 
with the glittering moonbeams glistening from 
their polished blades and burnished spears. It 
was a sight well calculated to strike consterna- 
tion in the stoutest and boldest heart; and ac- 
cordingly our men soon began to break in small 
scpiads, for tall timber. In a very little time the 
rout became general, the Indians were soon 
upon our flanks and threatened the- destruction 



156 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



of our entire detachment. About this time, 
Major Stillman, Colonel Stephenson, Major 
Perkins, Captain Adams, Mr. Hackleton, and 
myself, with some others, threw ourselves into 
the rear to rally the fugitives and protect the 
retreat. But in a short time all my companions 
fell bravely, lighting hand-to-hand with the sav- 
age enemy, and I alone was left upon the field 
of battle. About this time I discovered not far 
to the left, a corps of horsemen which seemed 
to be in tolerable order. I immediately deployed 
to the left, when, leaning down and placing my 
body in a recumbent posture upon the mane of 
my horse, so as to bring the heads of the horse- 
men between my eye and the horizon, I discov- 
ered by the light, of the moon that they were 
gentlemen who did not wear hats, by which 
token I knew tliey were no friends of mine. I 
therefore made a retrograde movement and 
recovered my position, where I remained some 
time meditating what further I could do in the 
service of my country, when a random ball came 
whistling by my ear and plainly Avhispered to 
me. ' Stranger, you have no further business 
here.' Upon hearing this I followed the exam- 
ple of my companion in arms, and broke for the 
tall timber, and the way I ran was not a lit'le'." 

On the arrival of Major Stillman's command, 
at Dixon, a council of war was held, in which it 
was agreed to march early the next morning to 
tlie fatal field of that evening's disaster. For 
some time the soldiers had been living without 
any regular supplies, but Quartermaster Thomas, 
anticipating the action of the council, went out 
in search of cattle and hogs, and before daylight 
the next morning the army was supplied with 
some fresh beef, which they ate without bread. 
When the volunteers arrived upon the battle 
field they found the Indians gone, a party of 
seventy of them soon being heard of as having 
made a descent upon a small settlement on Indian 
creek, a tributary of Fox river, and within 
fifteen miles of Ottawa, they massacred fifteen 
persons, taking two young ladies — Sylvia and 
Rachel Hall — prisoners. The young prisoners 
were hurried by forced marches, beyond the reach 
of pursuit. 'J'hey were afterwards purchased 
from their captors. 

Returning to Dixon, General Whiteside, the 
next day, was joined by General Atkinson, biat 
the time of many of the volunteers having ex- 
pired, no further advance could then be made. 
The Governor had previously issued orders for 
raising two thousand additional volunteers, to 
rendezvous at Beardstown and Hennepin. A 
volunteer regiment of those just discharged, was 



organized to remain in defense of the country 
until the new troops arrived. 

On the ] 5th of June, the new levies had ar- 
rived at the place of rendezvous, and were 
formed into three brigades — General Alexander 
Posey commanding the first, General Milton K. 
Alexander the second, and General James D. 
Henry the third. On the march each brigade 
was preceded by a battalion of spies, commanded 
by a major. The whole volunteer force at this 
time amounted to three thousand two hundred 
men, besides three companies of rangers, under 
the command of Major Bogart, left behind to 
guard the frontier settlements. The object in 
calling out so large a force was to overawe the 
Pottawatamie and Winnebago Indians, who 
were hostile in their feelings towards the whites, 
and much disposed to join Black Hawk's party. 

Before the new army could be brought into 
the field the Indians had committed several mur- 
ders. One man was killed on Bureau creek, 
some seven or eight miles above Princeton; one 
in Buffalo Grove; one between the Fox river 
and the Illinois; two about six miles northwest 
of Oltawa. On the 22d of. May, General At- 
water had dispatched Mr. St. Vrain, the Indian 
agent for the Sacs and Foxes, at Rock Island, 
with a few men as an express, to Fort Armstrong, 
On their way thither, they fell in with a party of 
Indians, led by a chief well known to the agent. 
This chief was called "The Little Bear." He 
had been a particular friend of the agent, and 
had adopted him as a brother. Mr. St. Vrain 
felt no fear of one who was his friend, and who 
had been an inmate of his house, and who had 
adopted him as a brother, and therefore ap- 
proached the Indian with the greatest confi- 
dence and security. The treacherous Indian, 
untrue in war to the claims of gratitude, friend- 
shij) and brotherhood, no sooner got him in his 
power than he murdered and scalped him and 
all his party, with as little compassion as though 
he had never known him or professed to be his 
friend. 

Not long after the new forces were organized 
on the Illinois river. Black Hawk, with a hund- 
red and fifty warriors, made an attack on Apple 
River Fort, within twelve miles of Galena, and 
defended by about twenty-five men, under com- 
mand of Captain Stone. This fort was a stock- 
ade of logs stuck in the ground, with block- 
houses at the corners of the square, by way of 
towers and bastions. It was made for the pro- 
tection of a scattering village of miners, who 
lived in their houses in the vicinity during the 
day, and retired into the fort for protection at 



IIIS'I'OTJY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



loT 



night. The women and children, as usual in 
the day-time, were abroad in the village, when 
three men, on an express from Galena to Dixon, 
were tired upon by the Indians, lurking in 
ambush within half a mile of the village, and 
retreated into the fort. One of them was wound- 
ed, but his companions stood by him nobly, re- 
treating behind him, and keeping the Indians at 
bay by pointing their guns first at one and then 
at anotlier of those who were readiest to advance. 
The alarm was heard at the fort in time to rally 
the scattered inhabitants. 

The Indians soon came up within firing dis- 
tance, and then commenced a fearful struggle 
between the small party in the fort, against six 
times their number of the enemy. The Indians 
took possession of the log houses, knocked holes 
in the walls, through which to fire at the fort 
Avith greater security to themselves; and while 
some were firing at the fort, others broke the 
fui'niture, destroyed the provisions, and cut open 
the beds and scattered the feathers found in the 
houses. The men in the fort were excited to 
the highest pitch of desperation. They believed 
that they were contending with an enemy who 
never made a prisoner, and that the result of the 
contest must be victory or death to them and 
their families. The women and children mould- 
ed the bullets and loaded the guns for the men, 
who fought with a fury caused by desperation 
itself. The loss in the fort was one man killed 
and one wounded. Owe of the men who first 
retreated to the fort, immediately passed on to 
Galena, and there gave the alarm. Colonel 
Strode, who commanded in Galena, lost no time 
in marching to the assistance of the fort, but be- 
fore his arrival the Indians had raised the siege 
and departed. 

About the time of the siege of the fort, a 
party of Indians made an attack on three men 
near Fort Hamilton, in the lead mines. Two of 
the men were killed, while the other escaped. 
General Dodge, of Wisconsin, Avho happened 
to arrive at the fort soon after wnth twenty men 
under his command, made quick pursuit after 
these Indians, who w ere chased to the Pekaton- 
ica, and there took shelter under the high bank 
of the river. General Dodge and his party 
charged upon tKem in their place of conceal- 
ment, and killed the whole party, eleven in num- 
ber, with the loss of three of his own men, 
mortally wounded, and one who afterwards re- 
covered. 

The Indians had now shown themselves to be 
a courageous, active, and enterprising enemy. 
They had scattered their war parties all over the 



North, from Chicago to Galena, and from the 
Illinois river into the Territory of Wisconsin. 
They occupied every grove, waylaid every road, 
hung around every settlement, and attacked 
every party of white men that attempted to 
penetrate the country. Their supremacy in the 
field, however, was of short duration, for on the 
20th, 21st, and 22d of June, the new forces as- 
sembled on the Illinois river, were put in motion 
by General Atkinson, of the regular army, who 
now assumed command of the whole. 

General Atkinson, having heard that Black 
Hawk had concentrated his forces at the four 
lakes in Wisconsin, and fortified his position, 
with the intention of deciding the fate of war 
by a general battle, marched with as much haste 
as prudence would warrant, when invading a 
hostile and wilderness country with undisci- 
plined forces, where there was no means of pro- 
curing intelligence of the numbers or where- 
abouts of the enemy. 

Eight weeks were now spent in a fruit- 
search of the enemy, by which time the volun- 
teer force through one cause or another, had 
been reduced nearly one-half, and such was the 
wastefulness of the volunteers, that they were 
frequently one or two days short of provisions 
before new supplies could be obtained. At this 
time there were not more than four days' ra- 
tions in the hands of the commissary; the enemy 
might be weeks in advance; the volunteers were 
fast melting away; and General Atkinson found 
it necessary to disperse his command for the 
purpose of procuring supplies. Colonel Ewing's 
regiment was sent back to Dixon; General Po- 
sey marched to Fort Hamilton as a guard to the 
frontier country; Henry, Alexander and Dodge, 
with their commands were sent to Fort Winne- 
bago; while (-Jeneral Atkinson himself fell back 
with the regular forces to Lake Koshkenong, 
where he proposed to remain until the volunteer 
generals could return Avith supplies. Henry and 
Alexander made Fort Winnebago in three days. 
Major Dodge having preceded them a few hours 
by a forced march, which so crippled his horses 
that many of them were unable to continue the 
campaign. 

Two days were occupied at the fort in getting 
provisions, on the last of which the Winnebago 
chiefs there reported that Black Hawk and his 
forces were encamped at the Manitou village, 
thirty-five miles above General Atkinson, on the 
Rock river. In a council held between Henry, 
Alexander and Dodge, it was determined to vio- 
late orders by marching directly to the enemy, 
with the hope of taking him by surprise. 



158 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Twelve o'clock, on the ]5tli of July, was ap- 
pointed as the hour to march. General Henry 
proceeded at once to re-organize his brigade, 
with a view to dis-encumber himself of his sick 
and dismounted men, that he might have as lit- 
tle as possible to impede the celerity of his 
march. General Alexander soon announced 
that his men were unwilling and had refused to 
follow, while Major Dodge reported his horses 
so much disabled by their late march that he 
could not muster a force worth taking along. 
General Henry was justly indignant at the in- 
subordination and defection of his com- 
l^anions in arms, and announced his pur- 
pose of marching in pursuit of the enemy alone, 
if he could prevail upon but fifty men to follow 
him. Directly after this a company of mounted 
volunteers, with fresh horses arrived to^ join 
Major Dodge, then making his force of men and 
horses one hundred and twenty in number. 
General Henry's brigade, exclusive of Dodge's 
battalion, numbered between five and six hun- 
dred, but not more than four hundred and fifty 
had horses fit for service. On returning to his 
own brigade, General Henry discovered that his 
own men, infected by association with those of 
General Alexander, were on the point of open 
mutiny. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, of Fry's regiment, 
presented to General Henry a written protest, 
signed by all the officers of the regiment, except 
the Colonel, against the intended expedition; 
but these officers had to deal with an officer of 
rare abilities as a commander of militia. Gen- 
eral Henry was a complete soldier; he was gifted 
with uncommon talent of commanding with 
sternness, without giving offense; of forcing 
men to obey without degrading them in their 
own estimation. He was brave without rash- 
ness, and gave his orders with firmness and 
authority, without any appearance of bluster. 
In his mere person he looked the commander. 
In a word, he was one of those very rare men 
who are gifted by nature with the power to 
command militia — to be at the same time loved 
and feared, and with the capacity of inspiring 
the soldiery with the ardor, impetuosity, and 
honorable impulses of their commander. Gen- 
eral Henry made no other reply to this protest 
than to order the officers under arrest for mutiny, 
appointing at the same time Collins' regiment as 
a guard to escort them to General Atkinson. 
Colonel Smith, in great trepidation, protested 
that he did not know what the paper contained 
when he signed it, and implored the General's 
permission to consult a few moments with the 



officers before further steps were taken. This 
being accorded, in less than ten minutes they 
were all collected at the General's quarters, mani- 
festing the utmost contrition, and pledging 
themselves, if forgiven, to return to their duty, 
and never be guilty of the like offense again. 
The General, than whom none better understood 
human nature, made them a few remarks, tem- 
pered with dignity and kindness. The officers 
returned to their duty, and it is but just to say, 
that from that hour no men ever behaved better. 

General Henry took up his line of march on 
the 15th of July, accompanied by Poquette, a 
half-breed, and the "White Pa-vnee," a Winne- 
bago chief, as guides, in hunt of the Indians. 
After three days' hard marching, the troops 
reached the Rock river, and on the morning of 
the ]9th, everything was placed in readiness for 
a forced march. The fresh trail of the enemy 
had been struck, and the men now felt in better 
spirits, and were inspired with a lively hope of 
bringing the war to a speedy close. In the after- 
noon of the 19th, the command was overtaken 
with one of those storms common on the prai- 
ries, which lasted until two o'clock the next 
morning. The men, exhausted with fatigue, 
threw themselves, supperless, upon the muddy 
earth, covered with water, for a little rest. The 
rain made it impossible to kindle a fire or to 
cook, so that both officers and men contented 
themselves with eating some raw meat and some 
wet flour, which was converted into a soft dough 
by the drenching rain. 

All were on the march by daylight on the 
morning of the 20th, and after a hard march, 
encamped at nigh": upon one of the banks of the 
four lakes, near where the Indians had encamped 
the previous night. At this place the men were 
able to make fires and cook their suppers, and 
this they did with a hearty good will, having 
traveled about one hundred miles without tasting 
anything but raw food, and without having seen 
a spark of fire. That night they lay upon the 
ground, many of them with nothing but the sky 
for a covering, and slept soundly and sweetly. 
All were in tine spirits and high expectations of 
overtaking the enemy the next day, and putting 
an end to the war by a general battle. The 
march was continued on the morning of the 21st. 
Major William Lee D. Ewing commanded the 
spy battalion, and with him was joined the bat- 
talion of Major Dodge, of Wisconsin. These 
two oflicers, with their commands, were in ad- 
vance, but with all their ardor, were never able 
to get out of sight of the main body. About 
noon of this day the advance guard was close 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



159 



upon the rear guard of the retreating enemy. 
For many miles before they were overtaken their 
broad trail was strewn with camp kettles and 
baggage of various kinds, which they had 
thrown away in the hurrj' uf their flight. By 
faint attacks the Indians kept their pursuei's in 
check until they reached the broken grounds on 
the bluffs of the Wisconsin river. 

^ About four o'clock on the afternoon of the 
21st, while the advance guard was passing over 
some uneven ground, through the high grass 
and low timber, they were suddenly fired upon 
by a body of Indians, who had here secreted 
themselves. In an instant Major Ewing's bat- 
talion dismounted and formed in front, their 
horses being removed to the rear. The Indians 
kept up a fire from behind fallen trees, and none 
of them could be discovered except by the flash 
and report of their guns. In a few minutes 
General Henry arrived with the main body, 
when the order of battle was formed. Colonel 
Jones' regiment was placed on the right. Colonel 
Collins' on the left, and Colonel Fry's in the 
rear, to acta s a reserve. Major Ewing's battal- 
ion was placed in front of the line, and Major 
Dodge on the extreme right. In this order the 
forces marched into battle. An order was given 
to charge upon the enemy, which M^as promptly 
obeyed by Ewing's battalion and by Jones' and 
Collins' regiments. 

The Indians retreated before this charge ob- 
liquely to the right, and concentrated their main 
force in front of Dodge's battalion, showing a 
design to turn his flank. General Henry sent 
an order by Major McConnell to INIajor Dodge, 
to advance to the charge; but this officer being 
of the opinion that the foe was too strong for 
him, requested a reinforcement. Colonel Fry's 
regiment was ordered to his aid, and formed on 
his right, when a vigorous charge was made 
from one end of the line to the other. 

Colonel Fry's regiment made a charge into 
the bush and high grass, where the Indians were 
concealed, and received the fire of the whole 
body. This fire was briskly returned by the 
forces under Fry and Dodge, Avho continiied to 
advance, the Indians standing their ground until 
the men came within reach of them, then fell 
back to the west, along the high, broken bluffs 
of the Wisconsin, only to take a new position 
amongst the thickest timber and tall grass in 
the head of a hollow, leading to the Wisconsin 
river bottom. Here it seemed they were deter- 
mined to make a firm stand; but, l)eing charged 
upon in their new position, by Ewing's bat- 
talion, and by Collins' and Jones' regiments, 



they were driven out of it, some of them being 
pursued down the hollow, and others again to 
the west, along the Wisconsin heights, until 
they descended the bluffs to the Wisconsin 
bottom, which was here about a mile wide and 
very swampy, covered with a thick, tall grass, 
above the men on horseback. It now being 
dark, further pursuit was stopped, and General 
Henry and his forces lay upon the field of 
battle. 

Early next morning, General Henry advanced 
to the W^isconsin river, and ascertained that the 
Indians had all crossed it,and made their escape 
into the mountains between that and the Missis- 
sippi. The Indian loss in this battle of the 
Wisconsin, as it is known in histoiy, was sixty- 
eight left dead on the field, and a large number 
wounded, of whom twenty-five were afterwards 
found dead along the Indian ti'ail leading to the 
Mississippi. General Henry lost one man killed 
and eight wounded. The small loss of General 
Henry is accounted for from the fact that the 
Indians had been trained to fire at an elevation 
to hit men on horseback, but as General Henry 
had dismounted his forces, the Indians overshot 
them. 

In the various histories of this campaign, 
Major Dodge is given all credit for the success 
attained, being spoken of as General Dodge, 
when it is well known that he only commanded 
a battalion, and was ranked by several officers, 
the whole force being under command of Gen- 
eral Henry. The reason of this is that all the 
war news was first published in the Galenian, 
then the only newspaper published north of 
Springfield, either in Illinois or Wisconsin, the 
editor of which, Dr. Philleo, was a member of 
Dodge's battalion. When he wrote home the 
news to be published in his paper, he never men- 
tioned Henry, except as a subordinate, or any 
other officer excejst Dodge. His letters chroni- 
cled the deeds of Major Dodge only, and by 
calling him General Dodge it was made to 
appear that he was the commander of the whole 
brigade, instead of a single battalion attached 
to it. These letters were copied into every 
newspaper throughout the Union, and have 
formed the basis of all the histories of the war, 
the people abroad being thus deluded into the 
belief that Dodge was the great hero of the 
war. Henry was lost sight of, and now in some 
histories. Dodge is spoken of as the commander 
in that war, thus throwing out of sight both 
General Henry and Atkinson, as well as General 
Zachary Taylor, who, as Colonel, commanded 
the regular forces. 



160 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



The day after the battle of the Wisconsin, 
for want of provisions, it was determined to fall 
back to the Blue Mounds. Here General Henry 
Avas joined by General Atkinson and the regu- 
lars, and General Alexander's and Posey's bri- 
gades. 

After spending two days in jireparation the 
whole force, now under command of General 
Atkinson, was again on the march in pursuit of 
the Indians. About ten o'clock the morning of 
the fourth day after crossing the Wisconsin, 
General Atkinson's advance reached the b uffs 
on the east side of the Mississippi. The Indians 
had reached the bank of the river some time 
before. Some had crossed, and others weie 
making preparations to cross it. The steamboat 
Warrior, Captain Throckmorton, descended to 
the place the day before. As the steamboat 
neared the camp of the Indians, they raised a 
white Hag, but Captain Throckmorton, believing 
this to be treacherously intended, ordered them 
to send a boat on board, which they declined 
doing. Allowing them iifteen minutes time in 
which to remove their squaws and children, he 
fired upon tiiem with a six-pounder, and contin- 
ued the "fight" about one hour, with a loss to 
the Indians of twenty-three killed and a large 
number wounded. The boat then fell down the 
river to Prairie DuChien, and before it could 
return the next morning, the land forces, under 
General Atkinson, had come up and commenced 
a general battle. 

The Indians were encamped on the banks of 
the Mississippi, some distance below the mouth 
of Bad-Axe river. Being aware that General 
Atkinson was in close pursuit, and to gain time 
for crossing into the Indian country, west of the 
Mississippi, they sent back about twenty men to 
meet him, with instructions to commence an at- 
tack, and then to retreat to the river, three miles 
above this camp. Accordingly, when General 
Atkinson came within three or four miles of the 
river, he was suddenly fired upon from behind 
trees and logs, the very tall grass aiding the con- 
cealment of the attacking party. General At- 
kinson rode immediately to the scene of action, 
and in person formed his lines and directed a 
charge. The Indians gave way, and were pur- 
sued by General Atkinson and all the army, ex- 
cept Henry's brigade, which was in the rear, 
and in the hurry of jjursuit left without orders. 
When Henry came up to the place where the 
attack had been made, he saw clearly that the 
wily stratagem of the untutored savage had tri- 
umphed over the science of a veteran General. 
The main trail of the Indians was plainly to be 



seen leading to the river lower down. He called 
a hasty council of his principal officers, and by 
tbeir advice, marched right forward upon the 
main trail. At the foot of the high bluff bor- 
dering the river valley, on the edge of a swamp, 
densely covered with timber, driftwood and un- 
derbrush, through which the trail led fresh and 
broad, he halted his command and left his horses. 
The men were formed on foot and thus advanc- 
ed to the attack. They were preceded by an ad- 
vance guard of eight men, who were sent for- 
ward as a forlorn hope, and were intended to 
draw the first fire of the Indians, and to disclose 
thereby to the main body where the enemy was 
to be found, preparatory to' a general charge. 
These eight men boldly advanced some distance, 
until they came within sight of the river, where 
they were fired upon by about fifty Indians, and 
five of the eight instantly fell dead or wounded. 
The other three, protected behind trees, stood 
their ground until the arrival of the main body 
under General Henry, which deployed to the 
right and left from the centre. Immediately the 
bugle sounded a charge, every man rushed for- 
ward, and the battle became general along the 
whole line. These fifty Indians had retreated 
upon the main body, amounting to about three 
hundred warriors, a force equal, if not superior, 
to those contending against them. It was soon 
apparent that they had been taken by surjjrise. 
They fought bravely and desperately, but seem- 
ed without any plan or concert of action. The 
bugle again sounded a charge. The Indians 
were driven from tree to tree, and from one hid- 
ing place to another. In this manner they 
receded step by step, driven by the advancing 
foe, until they reached the bank of the river. 
Here a desperate struggle ensued, but it was of 
short duration. The bloody bayonet, in the 
hands of excited and daring men, drove them 
into the river, some of them trying to swim it, 
while others took shelter on a small willow 
island near the shore. 

About this time General Atkinson, with the 
regulars, and Dodge's battalion, arrived, followed 
by Posey's and Alexander's men, but the main 
work had been accomplished before they came 
up. It had been determined that Henry's men 
should have no share in this day's glory, but the 
fates taking advantage of a blunder of General 
Atkinson, had otherwise directed. After the 
Indians had retreated into the river and on the 
island, Henry dispatched Majcr McConnell to 
give intelligence of his movements to his com- 
mander, who, while pursuing twenty Indians in 
another direction, had heard the firing where 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



161 



Henry was engaged. General Atkin.sun left the 
pursuit of the twenty Indians, and hastened to 
share in the engagement. He was met by 
Henry's messenger near the scene of action, in 
passing through which, the dead and dying In- 
dians lying around bore frightful evidence of 
the stern work which had been done before his 
arrival. However, he lost no time in forming 
his regulars and Dodge's battalion for a descent 
upon the island. These forces, together with 
Ewing's battalion and Fry's regiment, made a 
charge through the water up to their arm-pits on 
to the island, where most of the Indians had 
taken their last refuge. All the Indians who 
attempted to swim the river were picked off 
with riflew, or found a watery grave before they 
reached the opposite shore. Those upon the 
island kept up a severe fire from behind logs and 
driftwood upon the men, as they advanced to 
the charge, but most of them there secreted 
were either killed, captured or driven into the 
water, where they perished miserably, either by 
drowning, or the still more fatal rifle. The In- 
dian loss in this battle, known as the battle of 
Bad-Axe, is estimated at one hundred and fifty 
killed, as many more drowned in the river, and 
fifty prisoners taken, mostly squaws and chil- 
dren. The loss of the whites were seventeen 
killed and twelve wounded. 

The twenty men who led General Atkinson 
astray, were led by Black Hawk in person, and 
as soon as Atkinson ceased his pursuit, they re- 
treated to the Dells on the Wisconsin river. A 
number of Sioux and Winnebagoes went in 
pursuit of him, headed by Decorah, a Winne- 
bago chief, and captured them on the upper Wis- 
consin river. The prisoners were brought down 
to Prairie DuChien and delivered up to General 
Street, the United States Indian Agent. Airong 
the number captured was a son of Black Hawk, 
and also the Prophet, a noted chief, who form- 
erly resided at Prophet's town, in Whiteside 
county, and who was one of the principal insti- 
gators of the war. Thus ended the Black Hawk 
war. The militia were sent to Dixon and dis- 
charged. Black Hawk and the Prophet were 
taken east and confined in Fortress Monroe for 
a time. On the 4th day of June they were set 
free. Before leaving the fort. Black Hawk de- 
livered the following farewell speech to the 
commander: 

'' Brother, I have come on my own part, and 
in behalf of my companions, to bid you fare- 
well. Our great father has at length been 
pleased to permit us to return to our hunting 
grounds. We have buried the tomahawk, and the 



sound of the rifle hereafter will only bring death 
to the deer and the buffalo. Brothers, you have 
treated the red man very kindly. Your squaws 
have made them presents; you have given them 
plenty to eat and drink The memory of your 
friendship will remain till the Gieat Spirit says 
it is time for Black Hawk to sing his death 
song. Brother, your houses are as numerous as 
the leaves on the trees, and your young warriors 
like the sands upon the shore of the big lake 
that rolls before us. The red man has but few 
houses and few warriors, but the red man has a 
heart which throbs as warmly as the heart of 
his white brother. The Great Spirit has given 
us our hunting grounds, and the skin of the 
deer which we kill there is his favorite, for its 
color is whi'.e, and this is the emblem of j^eace. 
This hunting dress and these feathers of the 
eagle are white. Accept them, my brother. I 
have given one like this to the White Otter. 
Accept it as a memorial of Black Hawk. When 
he is far away this will serve to remind you of 
him. May the Great Spirit bless you and your 
children. Farewell." 

After their release from prison they were con- 
ducted, in charge of Major Garland, through 
some of the principal cities, that they might 
witness the power of the United States and 
learn their own inability to cope with them in 
war. Great multitudes flocked to see them 
wherever they were taken, and the attention 
paid them rendered their progress through the 
country a triumphal procession, instead of the 
transportation of prisoners by an ofiicer. At 
Rock Island the prisoners were given their lib- 
erty, amid great and impressive ceremony. In 
1838 Black Hawk built him a dwelling near Des 
Moines, Iowa, and furnished it after the manner 
of the whites, and engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits and hunting and fishing. Here, with his 
wife, to whom he was greatly attached, he passed 
the few remaining days of his life. To his 
credit, it may be said, that Black Hawk re- 
mained true to his wife, and served her with a 
devotion uncommon among Indians, living with 
her more than forty years. 

Black Hawk died October 3, 1838. 

After the close of the Black Hawk war Con- 
gress voted the munificent sum of twenty-one 
cents a day to the volunteers. The Sani^amo 
Journal protested vigorously against such injus- 
tice, urging that a Congress that voted each 
member of that body $8 per day for their serv- 
ices, could afford to be a little more liberal with 
those who periled their lives in a contest with 
the savage Indians. 



162 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Forty-nine years have now passed since the 
events of the Black Hawk war, and yet justice 
has never been done the brave men who partici- 
pated in it, by the United States Congress. A 
few of the men participating in tlie war yet 
live — ci very few. Some of them are in need of 
the necessaries of life, and yet nothing is done 
for them by representatives who annually squan- 
der millions of the people's money. Surely, the 
time has come when something should be done. 

Upon the return of the Sangamon county 
soldiers, a ball was given in Miller's hotel in 
Springfield, "in honor of General James D. 
Henry and the brave soldiers lately under his 
command." The local papers chronicle it as "a 
pleasant affair." 

The following are the names, compiled from 
official sources, of Sangamon county men serv- 
ing in this war: 

CAPTAIN CLAY well's COMPANY. 

Ninety Days Men. 

CAPTAIN. 

Jesse Claywell. 

FIKST LIEUTENANT. 

•John H. Wilcoxen. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

Reziu H. Constant. 

SERGEANTS. 

Arcliib'dld Cass, Valentine R. Mallory, 

Andrew Moore, William S. Hussey, 

CORPORALS. 

Robert L Gott, .James C. Hagan, 

William B. Hagan, John McLemoor. 



PRIVATES. 



Anderson, Alexander, 
Anderson, Lewis C, 
Anderson, James, 
Anderson, Washington, 
Burns, John R., 
Barnet, William I., 
Brewer, John, Jr., 
Barnet, William, 
Barnet, Hugh, 
Cass, Anderson B., 
Constant, Nathan E , 
Constant, Isaac 
C^,ocker, Harvey, 
Copeland, John, 
Currey, George, 
Dement, William, 
Elliot, Haddon, 
Elliot, Richard, 
Glenn, David A., 



Green, George, 
Helm, Guy, 
Hagan , Samuel C. , 
Hide, .John, 
Kelley, Jeremiah, 
Langston, James, 
Lucas, Thomas, 
Martin, .Joseph, 
Neucane, William T. 
Prim, Abraham, 
Powell, John, 
Powell, Hiram, 
Rogers, William F., 
Riddle, James, 
Snelson, John W., 
Shearley, James, 
Smith, Joseph I., 
Smith, Philip, 
Stone, William A. 



The foregoing received pay for services ren- 
dered. The following named received no pay: 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Sowyel Cox. 

CORPORALS. 

Nathan Hussey, Harrison McGary. 



PRIVATES. 



Brewer, John, Sr., 
Dooley, Jeremiah, 
McGary, Hugh, 
Pickrell, Benjamin F., 
Stone, Caleb, 



Smith, Eliephas, 
Turner, William, 
Waldron, James, 
AVilcox, Ephraim, 
Young, Josepli R. 



CAPTAIN ALEXANDER WHITE S COMPANY. 

Twenty Days Men. 

CAPTAIN. 

Alexander White. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Tolbert Shipley. 

SERGEANTS. 

Ebenezer Higgins, Enl. Perkins, 

John Waggoner, JohnO. Smith. 

CORPORALS. 

Hugh AVilson, Amzi Doolittle, 

William Wallace, 

PRIVATES. 

Thomas Willis, 
George Middleton, 
James Marl'ett, 
Elisha Hickerson, 
Andrew Turner, 
Abraham Moore, 
Nathan Iveuedy, 
William G. Gerkins, 
Andrew H. Perkins, 
William Cash, 
George Buchanan, 
Hezekiah Spillman, 
Riley Driskell, 
Isaac Stephens, 
John R. Atherton, 
Benjamin Mitchler, 
Thomas Wilson, 
Thomas H. Owens, 
John M. Forrest, 



.John Moftett, 
Davidson Hibbert, 
Hugh White. 
Daniel Thompson, 
William D. tlickerson, 
Thomas Brewer, 
Abraham Lincoln, 
William E. Franklin, 
William Sailors, 
William Higgins, 
Johnson Clark, Sr., 
.John McKee, 
Samuel Goodwin, 
Edward White, 
James Wilson, 
Joshua Owens, 
.Jacob Compton, 
Hezekiah P. Bradley, 
Johnson Clark, Jr. 

CAPTAIN L. W. GOODAn's COMPANY. 

Enlisted April 2, 1832, and mustered out of 
the service May 28, 1832: 

CAPTAIN. 

L. W. Goodan. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

John Reed. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

William Cantrall. 



Alford Wood, 
John Ridge, 



SERGEANTS. 

Hiram Watson, 
Milton Humes, 



CORPORALS. 

John Kline, William Smith, 

James B. Jones, George E. Cobenness, 

Moses Brunts. 



John Baker, 
William McCollister, 
William Crow, 
William Davenport, 
Benjamin Sims, 
M. C. Kindle, 
Jesse Darrow, 
John Hurst, 



Asa Easters, 
Moses Brumfield, 
Richard Queenston, 
Jefferson Welch, 
George Robison, 
.Jesse Said, 
Jacob M. Erby, 
Robert Brassel, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



163 



James Q. Wills, 
Duvid M. Brink, 
Uriah Maiiu, 
Williiuu Steele, 
James Jones, 
Samuel Malugju, 
Simeon Bunts, 
Achalis Morris, 
John B. Brown, 
John B. Rutlege, 
Simeon Ditson, 
Daniel Goode, 
Nathaniel Foster, 
William Carpenter, 
Daniel Richardson, 
James Baker, 
Jesse Dotson, 
Joseph Rolston, 
Samuel Hamilton, 
John Calhoun, 
William Constant, 
T. M. Neale, 
Robert Richardson, 
B. O. Rusk, 
Michael Archey, 
Vincon Archey, 
Matthias Chilton, 
Samuel O. Neale, 



Samuel McKinsey, 
William E. Wells, 
Reuben King, 
Noah Jones, 
Noah Mason, 
Zachariah Malugon, 
Charles Dawson, 
Samuel Ramer, 
Reuben Bradford, 
Joseph McCoy, 
Harden Thomas, 
Jack Kirk, 
Thomas Sherill, 
James Taylor, 
Edward Jones, 
Elijah lies, 
L. D. Matheny, 
James F. Reed, 
P. A. Saunders, 

D. Dickison, 
John Keys, 
Joseph Garrett, 

E. P. Olesshart, 
John T. Stuart, 
George Glasscock, 
William Patts, 
James D. Henry, 
James Sherell. 



CAPTAIN J. M. EARLEY S COMPANY. 

Tldrty Days Men. 

CAPTAIN, 

Jacob M. Earley. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT, 

G. W. Glasscock. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT, 

D. B. Rusk. 

SERGEANTS. 

Zachariah Malugin, Noah Mason, 

Jacob Eby, W. M. Neale. 

CORPORALS . 

William Crow. 

PRIVATES. 



W. H. Brents, 



James D. Henry, 
Achilles Morris, 
James F. Reed, 
William S. Pickrell, 
William L. Potts, 
Jesse Danon, 
Joseph McCoy, 
Hugh McGary, 
Montgomery Warrick 
B. F. Pickrell, 
George Harrison, 
John Brewer, 

R. J. 



Samuel O. Neale; 
A. Lincoln, 
John Paul, 
John T. Stuart, 
John L. Stephenson, 
L. D. Matheny, 
Adam Smith, 
Harrison McGary, 
John C. Warrick, 
John Baker, 
George Stout, 
J. R. Loveless, 
Gilbert. 



CAPTAIN JOHN DAWSON S COMPANY. 

This company served from April 21, 1832, to 
May 28, 1832. 

C.\^PTAIN, 

John Dawson. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT, 

William Pickrell. 

19— 



SECOND LIEUTENANT; 

John Hamback. 

SERGEANTS. 

Corbin C. Judd, Harrison McGary, 

John Brewer, John Retherford . 

CORPORALS . 

Thomas I. Knox, John Wright, 

Seymour R. Van Meter, Hugh McGary. 



PRIVATES. 



Michael Kilyon, 
James Brown, 
John Scroggins, 
Samuel Wade, 
Joseph Black, 
Jacob Williams, 
Joseph Wages, 
Zachariah Mouland, 
Jacob Hilgon, 
John Rentop, 
John Bridges, 
John C. Strader, 
Benjamin Clurry, 
Lewis Churchill, 
James Smith, 
Jacob G. Warwick, 
George B. Lucas, 
Joseph Rayborn, 
William Lobb, 
John Ridgwaj^, 
William Crane, 
John Musick, 
Montgomery Warwick, 
George Green, 
Huerh Burnett, 
Charles Turly, 
William B. Short, 
Edward Jones, 
Joseph F. Ganard, 
John T. Stuart, 
Lorenzo D. Matheny, 
James F. Reed, 
David Dickerson, 

Elijah 



Jeremiah Kelly, 
John Bracken, 
John Roger, 
Adam Venus, 
William Clark, 
John Martin, 
Archelaus Demon, 
Joel Miner, 
William White, 
Jesse Hornback, 
William Kelly, 
Benjamin Burck, 
Jacob Martin, 
Clemans Strickland, 
John Ward, 
Lewis Barney, 
Alfred Powell, 
Solomon Brundage, 
Jesse M. HaiTison, 
Squire Foster, 
Robert Hughs, 
Samuel Evans, 
Calahill Stone, 
James M. Reed, 
Jefferson Martin, 
Jonathan H. Pugh, 
Zadock Martin, 
George W. Glasscock, 
James Taylor, 
Ethelbert J. Oliphant, 
William L. Potts. 
P. A. Saunders, 
John Keys, 
lies. 



CAPTAIN JAPHET A. BALL S COMPANY, 

This compai)y was mustered into the United 
States' service April 21, 1832, and mustered out 
May 28, 1832. 

CAPTAIN . 

Japhet A. Ball. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Alexander D. Cox, 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

John McConnack. 

SERGEANTS . 

Joseph W. Duncan, William F. Cox, 

James McConnack, Charles Day. 

CORPORALS. 

Harvey Graham. John M. Barnes, 

Thomas J. Claik, Richard Cox, 

PRIVATES. 

Thomas McKinney, Elder Massec, 

Thomas Gatton, Abram Lantermau, 

Jonathan Coleman, Henry Averill, 

Lewis C. Jones, Daniel Ketchum, 



164 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



William Mitts, 
John Brunstield, 
William Gatliu, 
Barnabas M. Blue, 
Solomon W. Hawes, 
Morris R. Moorick, 
Charles Smith, 
John Ball, 
Robert B. Sexton, 
Jolin Terry, 
John Kendall, 
John Gately, 
Abram Howard, 
Robert Patton, 

Thomas 



Joseph Hazlett, 
William Downer, 
John Hutton, 
Nathan H. Spears, 
William McConnack, 
Jesse Mitts, 
Garrett Tempe, 
James Ward, 
Samuel C . Hampton, 
Moses Wright, 
John D. Bagby, 
Thomas Cook, 
Daniel Waters, 
John Vincent, 
Swearingen. 



CAPTAIN KEUBEN BROWN's COMPANY. 

This company was mustered into the United 
States service June 20, 1832, and mustered out 
August 16, 1832. 

CAPTAIN . 

Reuben Brown . 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

William Baker. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

Delos Brown. 



Thomas Jones, 
Evan Morgan, 

Jessie Said, 
John Fagan, 



SERGEANTS. 

Samuel E . McKenzey, 
Nathaniel Said. 

CORPORALS . 

Reziu Brown, 
James B. Jones. 



PRIV 

Archer, Winston, 
Baker, James, 
Baker, Thomas, 
Brown, Jerry, 
Cartwright, Peter, 
Delay, Stephen, 
Donaldson, Dudley 
Durbin, Edward, 
Douglass, Thomas, 
Haggard, James, 
Kendrick, Samuel, 
Lucas, Allen B., 



ATES . 

Larkin, Young, 
Martin, Ralley, 
McKinzey, Henry, 
Poor, James H., 
Porter, William, 
Pulliam, James, 
Piker, John, 
Spill ars, William H. 
Stalibrd, Daniel S., 
St. John, Joseph, 
Trotter, George, 
Williams, Isaiah B. 



CAPTAIN THOMAS MOFFETT S COMPANY. 

This company served from June 4, 1832, to 
August 10, 1832. 

CAPTAIN . 

Thomas Moffett. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Shadrach J. Campbell. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

James Watson. 

CORNET. 

Gershom Dovience. 

SERGEANTS. 

John Oldfield, Franklin Williams, 

George Lindsey, William C. Stephenson. 

CORPORALS . 

John Humphreys, Nathan Ralston, 

James Campbell, Jarrett McKinney. 



PRIVATES . 

John Ridgeway, Saddler, Hill, John P., 

Jesse H. Sleat, Farrier, Latham, John, 

David Duncan, Trumpeter, Lowe, Richard, 



Armstrong, Hugh M. 
Atkinson, Bushrod, 
Brazzle, William, 
Ball, Smith, 
Cooper, W., 
Cannon, Walter, 
Cabanass, Zabalon P. 
Durham, Walter, 
Duncan, Joseph W., 
Drennau, A. P., 
Elkiu, Garret, 
Epperson, Thomas, 
Enix, James, 
Forbes, R. A., 
Golsondiner, John L. 
Glasscock, Gregory, 



Levi, John, 
Lane, Jacob, 
Langley, Robert, 
McAlister, William, 
Moore, Joseph, 
Milts, William, 
Norris, Joseph, 
Paine, Barzilla, 
Pulliam, Martin G., 
Pierce, Philetus G., 
Peter, Samuel, 
Saunders, Pressly, 
Smith, Tillman, 
Smith, John, 
Smith, Adam, 
Stout, George, 



Watson, Hiram. 

PROMOTED . 

John Warnsiug. 

RESIGNATIONS. 

David Black, First Lieut., T. Epperson, 2d Serg't. 

DISCHARGED . 

Joseph Inslee, Abler Armisted, 

Thomas Crom . 

CAPTAIN J. EBEY's COMPANY. 

Captain J. Ebey's company served from the 
2 1st day of April, 1832, to the 28th day of May, 
1832. 

CAPTAIN. 

Jacob Ebey. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Edward Shaw. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

Winslow M. Neale, 

SERGEANTS. 

Thomas J. Marshall, Davis Meredith, 

James B. Gable, David S. Collins, 



CORPORAIi6. 



Reese Williams, 
Harmon Renshaw, 

PRIVAI 

Joseph Drennan, 
Frederick A. Hamilton, 
Daniel Hatan, 
Jackulin Bashaw, 
Thomas Sherill, 
Jacob Hiukle, 
Stephen Hedrick, 
James E. Byers, 
Thomas Stout, 
James Carver, 
John G. Newhouse, 
Joseph Brown, 
Philip Clark, 
Lawrence McMenus, 
Granbury B. Jones, 
George Catlia, 
Wniliam D. Russett, 
Jesse Byer, 
Obadiah Rittenhouse, 



James E. Hawes, 
Wiley Blunt, 

ss. 

James Harper, 
Samuel Graham, 
John Hillis, 
William Hazlett, 
Adam Vaucil, 
Henrj^ Dickson, 
George Milton, 
William C. Atwood, 
Daniel McClies, 
William Martin, 
John Boyd, 
Urich W'olverton, 
John Whitmore, 
Milton Terrill, 
Isaac Clark, 
John Collins, 
James Rutlege, 
George W. Foster, 
James Taylor, 



1[IS'IT)RY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



165 



John Davis, 
Felix Herndon, 
Alfred Hasli, 



Samuel B. Scoole, 
John Graft, 
John H. Wright. 



CAPTAIN ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S COMPANY. 

The compauy commanded by Abraham Lin- 
coln, afterwards President of the United States, 
was mustered into service April 21, 1832, and 
mustered out May 27, 1832. 

CAPTAIN, 

Abraham Lincoln. 

FIKST LIEUTENANT, 

Samuel M. Thompson. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT, 

John Br an nan. 

SERGEANTS, 

John Armstrong, TavinerB. Anderson, 

George W. Foster, Obadiah Morgan. 



CORPORALS. 



Thomas Comb, 
William F. Berry, 



John Plaster, 
Alexander Trent. 



PRIVATES . 



John Erwin, 
Thomas Pierce, 
Henry Hadley, 
Calvin Pierce, 
William Kirkpatrick, 
Elijah Pierce, 
Bordry Mathews, 
Valentine Crete, 
James Simmons, 
Allen King, 
David Kanliin, 
Henry Cox, 
Royal Potter, 
Joseph Holmier, 
Evan T. Lamb, 
John M. Rutlege, 
Usil Meeker, 
Charles Pierce, 
John Y. Lane, 
Royal Clary, 
James Yard ley, 
Michael Plaster, 
William Hobiner, 
William Marshall, 
John Jones, 

AVilliam 



John H. Houghton, 
Samuel Lebb, 
Samuel Dutten, 
Joseph Lebb, 
Cyrus Elmore, 
Lewis W. Farmer, 
E. Sullivan, 
Charles Sullivan, 
Hugh Armstrong, 
Joseph Dobson, 
Urbin Alexander, 
Merritt M. Carman, 
David M. Pantier, 
George Warburton, 
Clardy Barnette, 
William Cox, 
Richard Jones, 
James Clement, 
Richard Lane, 
Pleasant Armstrong, 
David Rutlege, 
John Mounce, 
Isaac Anderson, 
William Cummins, 
Travis Elmore, 
Foster. 



CAPTAIN ILES' COMPANY. 
CAPTAIN. 

Elijah lies. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Jesse H. Harrison. 

SERGEANTS. 

George W. Glasscock, Zachariah Milligent. 
Benjamin Burch. 

CORPORALS . 

Alexander Trent, G.W.Foster. 

Jesse Darrows. 

PRIVATES . 

Pressley A. Saunders, A. Lincoln, 

John T. Stuart, Joseph T. Garrett, 



Asa Estes, 
Jacob M. Earley, 
John J. Gately, 
John Letcher, 
John Kendall, 
William McAllister, 
Jeflerson Welch, 
Noah Mason, 
Samuel O'Neal, 
David Dickinson. 
William Kirkpatrick 
Samuel Milligent, 
Achilles Morri.3, 
James F. Reid, 
E. P. Oliphant, 
Lewis Churchill, 
Joseph McCoy, 

John 



James D . Henry, 
Michael Archer, 
John Kirkpatrick. 
James M. Ward, 
Winston M. Nea e, 
John B. Rutledge, 
John Keys, 
Thomas Long, 
Moses Brentz, 
Lorenzo D. Matheny, 

, Thomas Pierce, 

William Crow, 
William L. Potts, 
Benjamin Rusk, 
William S. Pickrell, 
John Brannan, 
Jacob Eby, 

McAllister. 



MISCELLANEOUS . 

William Cummings, Daniel King, 

John I. Gately, Usel Meeker, 

KEMINISCENCE OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 

In the fall of 1881, the Sangamon Monitor 
published the names of the company commanded 
by Captain lies, which drew out the following 
from the pen of Major John T.Stuart, and which 
was written for and printed in the Monitor : 

"Having published a list of the names of Ma- 
jor lies' company in the Black Hawk war of 
1832, you would, doubtless, be pleased to 
know something of the history of that company. 
The volunteer force assembled in the spring of 
that year, under the orders of Governor Rey- 
nolds, and commanded by General Whitesides ; 
marched to Rock Island, and finding that the 
Indians had crossed the Mississippi and gone up 
Rock river, followed them up that stream with- 
out any incident worthy of note, until they ar- 
rived at Dixon's ferry, (now Dixon). 

"Captain Snyder's comj^any had been detached 
across Rock river, to protect Galena and its 
neighborhood, but no news had reached the 
camp at Ottawa of his movements, or of the con- 
dition of things in the neighborhood of Galena. 
The commanding officers at Ottawa were very 
uneasy and anxious to communicate wdth Gale- 
na. While in camp at Dixon, at midnight the 
army was aroused by the news of the defeat at 
Stillman, brought first by one and then another 
flying from the battle ground. The army of 
General Whitesides in the early morning, took 
up the line of march for the battle ground, and 
arrived there in the early afternoon and found 
that the Indians had marched up Rock river, 
leaving their dead on the ground, as well as the 
killed of the whites, and many slaughtered 
horses, making a sad sight to behold. White- 
sides' army buried the dead and marched bnck 
to Dixon. 



166 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



"The term of service of the volunteers of that 
army was about to expire and they were anxious 
to return home. A council of war was held at 
Dixon, in which it was debated whether to pur- 
sue the enemy or march to the Illinois, disband 
the army and wait tor the new levies. After an 
angry debate, it was decided to march to Otta- 
wa, on the Illinois river, and disband the army. 
Whitesides' army was then marched to Ottawa 
and disbanded, burying on the route Mr. Katty 
and others, murdered by the Indians on Fox 
river. 

"At Ottawa a call was made for volunteers to 
form a regiment for twenty days, to protect the 
northern frontier of the State from the Indians 
during the time that would elapse before the as- 
sembling of the new forces. Among those who 
volunteered were the men whose names you pub- 
lished as composing lies' company, and who, by 
common consent, elected Elijah lies captain — a 
man then in the prime of life, and popular as a 
man and a soldier. 

"After the disbandment of the array of General 
Whitesides, the condition of the scattered set- 
tlements in northern Illinois was sad indeed. 
Universal terror prevailed. The Indians, victo- 
rious over Stillman, and elated by their victory, 
had fallen upon the settlements on Fox river, 
and at other places, and had murdered and 
scalped some and carried others into captivity. 
It was understood they were scattered in small 
parties from the neighborhood of Ciiicago to the 
Mississippi river, along the entire line of fron- 
tier. Where would they strike next V Would 
they attack Chicago, or fall upon the defenceless 
settlers on the borders of the Illinois river and 
the military tract ? Would they aim to cut off 
Galena from support and attempt to captiu-e it ? 
These questions may seem idle now. They were 
momentous then. 

"It soon became known that a large force of 
Indians, under the command of Black Hawk, 
were between Rock river and Galena, and 
threatening that town, then having about four 
hundred inhabitants. 

" It was believed to be an expedition of much 
danger and hazard, and therefore it was deter- 
mined to call for volunteers. Major lies' compa- 
ny volunteered and was accepted. After due 
preparation, that company began its march, the 
bearer of important dispatches. It camped the 
first night at a grove south of Dixon, believed 
to be Chalong's. The next day it swam Rock 
river at Dixon, thirsted for adventure and was 
ready, anxious for the fight. They had confi- 
dence in each other, and in their modest, but 



brave, prudent captain. They were accom- 
l^anied by General James D. Henry, going 
as a private, but also acting as aid to the 
Captain, then believed and afterwards proved 
to be. 

"It was splendidly armed; it was composed of 
first-class material of men, who, if not brave, 
dare not be cowards. My Captain was one of 
the best Captains of his time. They were also 
accompanied, as a volunteer, by a Captain in the 
regular army, whose name the writer has forgot- 
ten, and thus armed, composed, and ofticered, it 
is believed no better company of A'olunteer mili- 
tia ever marched to what it believed a post of 
danger and })atriotic duty. 

" It camped the second night at Buffalo grove. 
During that night the company expected an at- 
tack from the Indians. There were many signs 
that they were around and about them, and once 
an alarm was given, and the company mustered 
under arms. The next morning the company 
marched towards Galena, and entered the tim- 
bers of Apple creek about noon. Here an In- 
dian pony was seen running at large, and some 
of the boys thought to capture it; but the Cap- 
tain, believing that it had been let loose as a 
decoy to induce the breaking of ranks, and to 
give the enemy an opportunity to make an at- 
tack, sternly forbade the effort, and commanded 
to close the ranks and be ready. 

"The company pursued its march, and en- 
camped for the night in the timbers of Apple 
creek, about twelve or fifteen miles from Ga- 
lena, and there were many signs that they were 
watched and followed, but the company was 
ever ready for an attack. They camped that 
night near where a fight had taken place between 
the Indians and Sneyder's company that day or 
the preceding night. During that night not a 
man doubted but that the Indians would make 
an attack before morning. The company was 
kept under arms all night, and constantly drilled 
by Henry and others, and picket guards placed 
all around the encampment. That the Indians 
were all around the encampment was very mani- 
fest, and the writer of this, who stood on picket 
guard during most of that night, did not doubt 
but that he heard them more than once; but 
they made no attack, because the company was 
too well prepared to receive them. Next morn- 
ing the company marched into Galena, delivered 
its dispatches, procured all desired information, 
and then, in the same good order, marched back 
to Ottawa, and was disbanded. Most of its 
members enlisted in the new army, and in 
Early's spy company. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



16: 



"That the Indians were in Apple creek tim- 
bers, during the march of the company to and 
from Galena, admits of no doubt. They at- 
tacked, and came very near defeating" Sneyder's 
company, or part of it, a short time before the 
company marched through to Galena. They at- 
tacked Stephenson's company a short time after 
its return from Galena, and not long after at- 
tacked Dement. These attacks were made when 
these commands were at a disadvantage. Why 
did they not attack lies' company? No one of 
that company doubted but that they were 
watched and followed by Indians, from the time 
the company crossed Rock river until its arrival 
at Galena, and on its return, seeking an oppor- 
tunity to make an attack. The answer is that 
the company was handled, armed, and kept such 
perfect order and readiness for an attack that 
the Indians were afraid to make it. 

"The publication of the muster roll of lies' 
company has induced this hurried notice of one 
of the almost forgotten incidents in the early 
history of Illinois. Most of lies' company, 
after well spent lives, have gone to the grave, 
and a few still linger on its brink. They were 
a part of the hardy, brave and adventurous 
early settlers of Illinois, who fought and drove 
off the Indians, relieved it of wolves and wild 
beasts, built its first bridges, school houses and 
churches, and prepared it for that higher civiliza- 
tion it now enjoys." 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Texas, under Spanish rule, was a nearly unin- 
habited part of Mexico, lying between Louis- 
iana and the Rio Grande river. It was a fertile 
region, with a fine climate. The Spanish posses- 
sors of Mexico, in the bigoted and bitter spirit 
that was traditional with the Spaniards toward 
Protestants, and deeply hostile in feeling from 
the rather high-handed and vigorous proceed- 
ings of General Jackson before and after the 
cession of Florida, did not encourage the settle- 
ment of Texas, preferring to be separated by a 
Avilderness from the United States. In 1821, 
the Mexicans finally threw off the Spanish yoke, 
and established an independent government. 

About this time the Americans, and especially 
those of the South, foreseeing the probable 
spread of the northern part of the Republic to 
the Pacific, began to look with covetous eyes 
upon the fine savannas of Texas, as an excellent 
field for land speculations, and also for extend- 
ing the southern area, so as to keep its balance 
in the number of slave States, equal to the free 
States of the North. It was believed to be the 



plan of Mr. Calhoun, an able and far-seeing 
statesman, thoroughly in earnest in the mainte- 
nance of slavery, and the political equality of the 
slave with the free States. Settlements were made 
by people from the United States. Ina few years 
they grew to be numerous, and came in contact 
with the rigid Spanish laws, still maintained by 
the Mexicans. The United States Government 
made advances toward purchasing Texas, but 
the Mexicans were resolute in their purpose to 
hold it, and bring its jDeople under the dominion 
of strict Mexican law. The Americans resisted 
this with the settled determination of ultimate 
separation from Mexico, and probable annexa- 
tion to the United States. 

The Mexicans undertook to reduce them to 
submission. The Texans, supported by bold 
and fearless adventurers from the southern 
States, resisted. The war commenced October 
2, 1835, by a battle at Gonzalez, followed by 
various others. On the 2d of March, 1836, the 
Texans formally declared independence, which 
they maintained by force of arms. On the 3d 
of March, 1837, the United States Government 
recognized the independence of Texas. Eng- 
land did the same in 1842. Propositions of an- 
nexation had been made to Presidents Jackson, 
Van Buren, and Tyler, successively, by the 
Texas government, but as often rejected by 
them, as tending necessarily to a war with 
Mexico, that power having distinctly and repeat- 
edly declared that she should regard such a step 
as a declaration of war. 

The Democratic party regaining the ascen- 
dency in the election of 1844, made this annexa- 
tion one of the issues of the Presidential cam- 
paign. A majority of the peoi)le were in favor 
of it. The Southern view, however, was not 
alone in its influence on this decision. Indig- 
nities and injuries, had been inflicted by the 
Mexicans on American citizens in that country ; 
its haughty, exclusive and unfriendly spirit 
awakened strong indignation; and the Pacific 
coast of California, with the mining regions of 
the northern interior of Mexico, both nearly un- 
inhabited, were objects of desire to the Ameri- 
can people. Thus a wish to extend the bounds 
of the Republic, and to chastise an insolent 
neighbor, combined with the ardent wishes of 
the pro-slavery interest, to lead the nation to 
determine on a war, somewhat ungenerously, 
with a neighbor, notoriously too weak and disor- 
ganized for effectual resistance to the whole 
strength of the United States. 

On the 12th day of May, 1846, Congress 
ordered the raising of 50,000 men and voted 



]68 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



$10,000,000, to cany on the war. A requisition 
being made upon the Governor of this State for 
three thousand men, a call was issued by Gov- 
ernor Ford upon the militia of the State, to 
volunteer for the war. John J. Hardin, com- 
mander of the Third Brigade of the Third 
Division of Illinois Militia, also issued an 
adviress to those who had served under him, urg- 
ing them to respond to the call. He closed his 
address by saying "The General asks no one to 
go where he is not willing to lead. Let volun- 
teers respond by enrolling their names in the 
service of their country." 

On Saturday, May 29, 1846, a public meeting 
was held in Springfield addressed by Governor 
Ford, Dr. Merryman, D. L. Gregg, T. Campbell 
and Abraham Lincoln, on the condition of the 
country, and the necessity of prompt and united 
action of her citizen soldiery to sustain her na- 
tional character, secure our national lights, as 
well as an everlasting peace. The speeches 
were in the right spirit — warm, thrilling and 
effective. Some seventy men responded to the 
call and volunteered for the war, A glance at 
the names of those from this county will reveal 
some who greatly distinguished themselves and 
reflected honor upon that county in which they 
resided. 

A treaty of peace was signed between repre- 
sentatives of the two governments, February 2, 
1848, and formally ratified by the United States 
government, March 10th, and the Mexican gov- 
ernment, March 20th, The Mexicans relin- 
quished all claims to Texas and ceded Upper 
California and New Mexico to the United 
States, In return the United States gave them 
118,500,000, of which $3,500,000 was due by a 
former treaty to citizens of this country, and 
paid them by our government. 

Colonel E. D. Baker, who wielded the pen 
equally as well as the sword, and who com- 
manded the regiment, largely made up from 
Sangamon county, contributed to the press of 
that day, the following poem: 

TO THE MEMORY OF THE BEAD OF THE FOURTH 
ILLINOIS REGIMENT. 

Where rolls the rushing Rio Grande, 

Here peacefully they sleep; 
Far from their native Northern land, 

Far from the fi lends who weep. 
No rolling drum disturbs their rest, 

Beneath the sandy sod — 
The mould lies heavy on eachtbreast, 

The spirit is with God. 

They heard their country's call and came, 

To battle for the right; 
Each bosom filled with martial flame, 



And kindling for the fight. 
Light was their measured footstep, when 

They moved to seek the foe, 
Alas that hearts so fiery, then. 

Should soon be cold and low. 

They did not die in eager strife, 

Upon a well fought field; 
Not from the red wound poured their life, 

Where cowering foemen yield. 
Death's ghastly shade was slowly cast 

Upon each manly brow; 
But calm and fearless to the last, 

They sleep in silence now. 

Yet shall a grateful country give 

Her honors to their name. 
In kindred hearts their memories live, 

And history guard their fame. 
Nor unremembered do they sleep 

Upon a foreign strand, 
Though near their graves the wild waves sweep. 

Thou rushing Rio Grande. 

The following is a copy of the roster as fur- 
nished by the War Department, to the Governor 
of this State, of those participating in the war 
from Sangamon county: 

COLONEL E. D. BAKEr's REGIMENT. 
FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. 

Colonel— Edward D. Baker. 

Adjutant — William B. Fondey. 

Sergeant Major — James H. Merryman. 

Quartermaster General — Richard F. Barrett. 

Commissary — John S. Bradford. 

COMPANY A, 
CAPTAIN. 

Horatio E. Roberts. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

William P. Barrett. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

William B. Fondey. 

SERGEANTS. 

Walter Davis, Dudley Wickersham, 

David Logan, Argyle W. Farr. 

CORPORALS. 

Thomas Hessey, Shelton Ransdell, 

Edward Conner, LaM'sou Thomas. 

MUSICIAN. 

William C. B. Lewis. 



PRIVATES. 



Addison, Grandison, 
Ballard, Christopher A. 
Balantine, John J., 
Barrett, James A. , 
Brown, William W., 
Butler, Joshua, 
Buel, AbelM , 
Cabanis, ZebulouP., 
Capoot, John, 
Chapman, John, 
Crowl, Upton, 
Darnell, Harvey, 
Ferrill, William C, 



House, Erasmus D., 
James, George, 
Keeling, Singleton, 
Marsin, Joseph, 
Millington, Augustus O., 
Murray, Matthew, 
Peter, Peter C, 
Ransdall, James B., 
Rape Henry, 
Ryan, Jackson. 
Spottswood, James H., 
Smith, Joseph H., 
Wickersham, Wesley H, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



169 



Foster, John E., 


Wilkinson, Reuben, 


Mooi", Thomas, 


Daponte, Durant, 


Fuuk, George W. . 


Wilcox, Enhriam, 


Mahew, David, 


Johnson, John S. W., 


Frink, John S., 


Watson, Charles F., 


Davis, Wm. S., 


Crumbaugh, John F., 


Gideon, Alfred L., 


Watts, Levi P., 


Lash, Henry, 


Toppas, William A., 


Garrett, Ezra L. 


Whitehurst, Thomas, 


Miller, James M., 


Poindexter, Clinton, 


Haines, Fletcher, 


Weber, George R., 


Little, William I., 


Palmer, Lerov G.. 


Harworth, George, 


Yeakles, Joseph, 


Gwinn, Alexander. 


RESIGNED. 


DEATHS. 


Second Lieutenant — 


John S. Bradford. 


Lieut. Andrew J. Wallace, Andrew J. Hodge. 


DISCHARGED 


John Misner, 


George Perry. 


Before expiration of term of service . 


E. B. Young, 


Marion Wallace, 


Joseph B. Perkins, 


Samuel Cole, 


George 


Ruth. 


George W. Hall, 


Alexander J. Seehorn, 


WOUNDED. 


George C. Whitlock, 


Samuel 0. White, 


John D. Lander, 


James Depew, 


Nicholas Algaire, 


John C. Butler, 


John Walker. 


John Dupuy, 


Sil'is Dowdall, 






Benjamin F. McDonald, 


Marion F. Matthews, 


COMPANY D. 


William R. Goodell, 
Presley Ransdell, 
Henry Westbrook, 


Isaac Davis, 
James A. Waugh, 
Jacob Wise, 


FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

Alfred C. Campbell. 


Vincent Ridgely, 


William W. Pease, 


SECOND LIEUTENANT 


Joseph H. Fultz, 


Levi Gorley. 


John D. 


Foster. 


TRANSFERRED . 


SERGEANTS. 


James H. Merriman, 


Richard F. Barrett. 


Henry M. Spotswood, 


David Meigs, 


DEAD. 


John Davis, 


Jonathan Morris. 


Henry J. Moore, 


James Connelly, 


CORPORALS. 


Joseph Stipp, 


Daniel Hokey, 


William Campbell, 


Ihomas Higgins, 


William Hardin, 


Joseph Newman. 


Chris. C. Holyer, 


Hugh Paul. 


Killed at battle of Cerre Gordo. 


PRIVATES. 


James McCabe. 


Alsbury, Edward R., 


Jones, T. B., 






Bloyd, James B , 


Kent, Alexander, 


COMPANY B. 


Cast, Archibald, 


King, John W., 






Cutter, William, 


Morris, Hamilton R., 


SECOND LIEUTENANT. 


Dunlap, James T., 


Morris, Randall G , 


William L. 


Duncan. 


Daly, John, 


Meigs, Severell, 


SERGEANTS . 


Darneille, Harvey, 


Odell, John, 


B. M. Wyatt, 


John D. Lawder, 


Dodd, John C, 


Philps, Joshua, 


E. D. Dukshier, 


Sanborn Gilmore, 


Dillman, David, 


Rhodes, William G., 


CORPORALS. 


Duncan, Jerome, 


Shoemaker, Thomas C 


Samuel Ogden, 


John G. Cranmer, 


Edwards, David, 


Short, James F., 


E. W. Nantz, 


A. J. Mason. 


Emmett, Robert S., 


Shelton, .John, 


PRIVATES. 


Foster, Peyton, 


Smith, Alonzo H., 


Baldwin, William F., 


Jenkins, James M., 


Foster, William, 


Skinner, John H., 


Baker, Mason, 


Johnston, Thomas P., 


Heuwood, William, 


Tinker, AVilliam, 


Brumfield, William, 


Lash, William, 


Hillyard, James P., 


Thompson, Samuel M. 


Burnett, William, 


Lanier, William, 


Howey, William, 


Terpin, James, 


Brown, Isaac, 


McCarroll, Justus, 


Huckelbury, John, 


Williams, John R., 


Dodson, Ichabod, 


Mclntyre, R. N., 


Hutfmaster, Edward, 


Wilcox, Daniel, 


Depew, James, 


Mitchell, Wilson, 


Huffmaster, William, 


Workman, Benjamin, 


Elliott, Edward, 


Newton, Anderson, 


Hoskins, John S., 


Braunan, Josiah . 


Good, John, 


Owen, Thomas J. V., 


DISCHARGED. 


Gwinn, William, 


• Palmer, Allen, 


Joseph Bridges, 


Samuel Drennan, 


Graham, Levi, 


Rule, Alexander, 


Newton Dodds, 


William Penix, 


Glimpse, Joseph, 


Series, Julius H., 


Levi Campbell, 


Riley Cross, 


Graham, Joseph, 


Seaman, Sylvanus, 


Asa L. Morris, 


Logan C Snyder, 


Guy, R. BR.,. 


Stout. James, 


Benjamin Henwood, 


Jefterson Finger, 


Harbard, William, 


Smock, Fulcard, 


Daniel Cross, 


William Terpin, 


Harris, A. J., 


Tennis, John F., 


William Sampson, 


William Vermillion, 


Hampton, Felix T., 


Vanhorn, William M., 


David Lindsay, 


Ashlej^ Walker, 


Harris, J. C, 


Walker, J. E., 


LaFayette McCrillis, 


JoelH Walker, 


Hall, John, 


Walker, John, 


Christopher R Pierce, 


Rowan I. Short, 


Jones, John, 


Williams, David, 


Calvay Sexton, 


James ]\Iorris, 


Williams, 


Peter. 


Benjamin Sullivan, 


Wilson Robbins. 


RESIGNED. 


DEAD. 


Captain Garrett Elkin, 


Sec. Lt. J. M. Withers. 


Captain Achilles Morris 


, William F. Nation, 


DISCHARGED. 


Jacob Morris, 


John Hillyard, 


Eskew, James W. or John Reamer, E. C. 


Henry B. Reed, 


John Allison, 


H., 


Parks, James E., 


William Morris, 


James Jones, 


Savage, Nicholas, 


Haines, Thomas H., 


James Harralson, 


Morris Shelton 


Fling, Uharles H., 


Hall, Samuel, 


Samuel McKee. 



170 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter X 



REMINISCENCES. 



In the following chapter is presented a few 
pioneer reminiscences, in most cases written by- 
pioneers or their descendants. In no case has 
the compiler of this work attempted to change 
the diction of the writers, thus giving variety to 
the style of the reminiscences given. 

COTTON PICKING. 

Previous to the winter of the deep snow, cot- 
ton was raised 'to some extent in Sangamon 
county, and it was once thought that it would 
be a profitable article to raise in the State. Ex- 
Governor John Reynolds, the " Old Ranger," as 
he was familiarly known, contributed the fol- 
lowing to the State Journal, in 185Y, as part of a 
series of articles on " Pioneer Times." 

"Cotton, at as early a day as 1800, and for 
many years after, was cultivated to a considera- 
ble extent in Illinois. My father had resided in 
Tennessee previous to his emigration to Illi- 
nois, in the year above named, and we were 
tolerably well acquainted with the culture of cot- 
ton in that State. At that time I had often heard 
it computed, that an acre of good cotton land in 
Illinois, would yield in the seeds, ten or twelve 
hundred pounds. This was then considered 
such a crop as would justify cultivation. We 
cultivated the crop in Randolph county, where 
the climate is more congenial to its growth than 
the north of the State. 

"At that early day, more than half a century 
back, the disadvantages in the article of cotton 
was the labor in picking the seeds from it so as 
to prepare the cotton for the spinning wheels. 
There were then no improved spinning jennies 
invented, and the old fashioned wheels were the 
only means of preparing the threads for the 
looms. Two classes of wheels were used at that 
day; the little wheel, so called, was turned by 
the spinner, with a crank on an axle running 



through the centre of the wheel. The other was 
known as the big wheel. The j^erson spinning 
on this wheel was always on foot and in motion. 
The thread was drawn out as the motion was 
given to the wheel. The operator on the little 
wheel sat still, and produced the motion with 
their feet. The big wheel gave opportunity for 
the display of elegant and graceful motions, 
which I have often seen performed, even to the 
steps of the dance, by the modest and pretty 
pioneer lasses of the olden time. 

" The cotton cloth was at that day wove in the 
country, or at least so far as Illinois was con- 
cerned, in looms worked by either men or 
women. It was rather an art or trade to weave, 
and jjeople thus accomplished traveled frequently 
over the country for work. The invention of a 
cotton jenny, made with wood or iron rollers, 
was subsequently perfected, which aided much 
in extracting the seeds from the cotton, but the 
great invention of Whitney, of the iron saws, 
piopelled by horse power, laid all previous dis- 
coveries in the shade and immortalized the in- 
ventor. That illustrious man has accomplished 
as much for the benefit of mankind as the inven- 
tor of thft steam engine, and has acquired a fame 
which will hand his name down to posterity as 
one of the great benefactors of the human race. 
It will be borne in mind that probably two- 
thirds or more of the human race are clothed in 
cotton, and that before this invention, cotton 
fabrics were almost as costly as silk. 

"In the pioneer times of which I have sjjoken, 
much amusement and innocent mirth were en- 
joyed at the "cotton pickings," as these parties 
were called. The whole neighborhood would 
assemble on these occasions, and the log cabins, 
in the evening of a winter's night, would be 
brushed up to perfect neatness, and made still 
more attractive by the large fire in the wooden 




s \ 



m 




^£^r?-u.u^ jf/CtXu^i 



^^<?^'^/ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1V3 



chimney, with rocks under the fore sticks in 
place of andirons. A large pile of cotton was 
spread out to dry, so it could be picked the 
easier. Generally, two sprightly young ladies 
were elected to divide the heap of cotton, and 
then the hands began to pick it; so that a con- 
test for victory would excite the two contending 
parties, by which the more cotton would be 
picked, and with additional merriment. The 
last, indeed, was the main object of the young 
folks. The lady leaders chose their side to pick 
alternately, and then a general tornado of ex- 
citement began — picking, talking, and hiding 
the cotton, and all sorts of frolicking in the 
sphere of a backwoods cotton picking. A per- 
fect equality and the best good feeling pervaded 
the whole company, and each one enjoyed as 
much innocent merriment as is generally allotted 
to man. Art or improper education had not 
spoiled either the morals or the symmetry and 
beauty of their persons; but they exhibited the 
superior workmanship of Nature over the foolish 
fashions of wealth, without sense, and spurious 
refinement without taste. The words of Nature's 
poet involuntarily forces itself upon us: 

" ' Yes, let the rich deride and the proud disdain 
The simple blessings of the lowly train; 
To me more dear, cougeuial to my heart, 
One native charm than all the gloss of art.' " 

"Frequently, at these gatherings, the young- 
sters presented masterly models of symmetry 
and beauty, and such that neither wealth nor 
fashion can ever surpass. But as the pen cannot 
describe the beauty and brilliancy of human ex- 
cellence, the comeliness of the figures of the 
early pioneers of Illinois must pass away and 
be forgotten. <* 

"At these ' cotton pickings ' love always be- 
came the ruling theme, as this passion always 
will occupy the virtuous and elevate the heart; 
and many a pioneer courtship and marriage re- 
ceived their date from some such gathering. 
But those happy times have passed away, and 
the race has now well nigh passed away with 
them." 

BY GEORGE BRUXK. * 

"I emigrated from the State of Ohio, leaving 
Fort Harrison and arriving in the »'St. Gamee 
country' in the fall of 1821, making the first 
track that could be followed to the forks of the 
'St. Gamee' to the head of the Okaw. 

"The first cabin I saw was where the village of 
Rochester now stands. There were no settlers 



* Written in 1859. 
tiers' Association. 



as a contribution to the Old Set- 

20— 



on the nortli fork of the St. Gamee, except a 
few in and about Mechanicsburg. But above 
that point, there were none except where Decatur 
now stands, a man by the name of Stephens 
having made a settlement there. I found Elijah 
lies and Charles R. Matheny where is now the 
city of Springfield. The Kickapoos were here 
then, and I have had many a social hunt with 
Basse na and Joe Muney, the chiefs of that na- 
tion. 

"In the spring of 1822, myself and the Dillons 
raised a cabin, broke the prairie and planted 
corn in Tazewell county, where stands the town 
of Dillon. There were no settlers on the east 
side of the Illinois riverfrom thence to the lake, 
except Mr. Kinzie's, where the city of Chicago 
now stands. 

"On my return I ci'ossed the Illinois river by 
putting my wagon in two Indian canoes and 
swimming my horses alongside. On the west 
bank I found Abner Eads and another settler. 
During that fall the land in Sangamon county 
came into market. The first entry was made by 
Israel Archer, being the west half of the north- 
west quarter of section eight, township fourteen 
north, range four west, and the tract of land on 
which now stands the present Cotton Hill Meth- 
odist Church. 

" It is well known now that Robert Pulliam 
built the first cabin in Sangamon county. The 
first barn was built by Mr. Rogers, near Athens, 
in what is now Menard county. 

"In the spring of 1826, J. Miller and myself, 
left Sangamon county for the lead mines on 
Fever river. We fitted out in Peoria, and 
started in a northwest direction, carrying our 
provisions on our horses. In consequence of 
being unacquainted with the route we missed 
our course, and suffered almost starvation 
for three days — so much so that all the nour- 
ishment we had was a fish about as long as 
my hand, and coffee made from the boiling of a 
coffee sack. With hard travel, and greatly 
fatigued, we reached Fever river in seven days, 
where we found a few miners. I believe we 
were the first from Sangamon county. In a few 
days we heard of Lake Phelps being there also. 
I am not able to say whether he landed previous 
to us or not. 

" Much has been said about the origin of the 
word ' Sucker,' in its application to the people 
of Illinois. Late in the fall of that year I was 
standing on the levee, in what is now Galena, 
watching a number of our Illinois boys go on 
board a boat bound down the river, when a man 



11 4 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



by the name of Walker, a Missourian, stepped 
up and said: 

'"Boys, where are you all going?' 

The ready reply was. 

"'We are going home.' 

"'Well,' said he, "you put rae in mind of the 
'suckers' — up in the spring, and down in the 
fall.' 

"Those who stayed over received the humble 
name of ' Badgers.' That was the lirst time I 
ever heard the term 'sucker' applied to the 
people of Illinois. After that, all Illinoisans 
were considered suckers, and when Judge Saw- 
yer came to the mines, he was called 'King of 
the Suckers.' 

"That same fall, Van Noy was hung in Spring- 
field, the first in the county. 

" In the spring of 1827, a great number of Mis- 
sourians came to the mines. The Illinois boys 
returned the compliment of the Missourians by 
saying that 'Missouri has taken a ptcke,^ and 
after that all the people from that State were 
called 'Pukes.' 

"At this time, we had a scrimmage with the 
Winnebago Indians, which has been made the 
subject of history. I returned to Sangamon 
countv in the fall of 1828, from my northern 
tour. 

"The winter of 1830-31 was the winter of the 
deep snow. It was with the greatest difficulty 
we could find our shocks of fodder, they were 
so enveloped in the snow. My father-in-law lost 
his life in the snow-drifts on the prairies of 
Sangamon. Game, which had heretofore been 
always plenty, was nearly destroyed by the cold. 
Then was the time to try men's metal. The 
men of our day think that they see hard times. 
They forget the want of conveniences and pri- 
vations encountered by the pioneers — oftentimes 
compelled to wade through the streams up to 
the arm-pits and break ice to get the teams 
across, and, to cap all, to ride through perfect 
fields of fire, caused by the burning grass of the 
prairies, in the fall and winter, and lie out all 
night wrapped in a blanket on the cold, bleak 
prairies. And yet, freed as is the present gen- 
eration from such privations, we hear more 
grumbling from them than from men who had 
in reality to earn their bread by the sweat of 
their brow. 

"I am now in my fifty-fifth year, and claim to 
be the father of eleven children, and can say 
with cei'tainty that I have never been intoxi- 
cated, have never used tobacco in any shape or 
form, or any narcotic, and never was sued for 
debt of my own contracting." 



AUBURN AND VICINITY FOETV YEARS AGO BY 

M. G. WADSWORTH. 

"Theyoungpeople of the ))resent day can have 
but inadequate conception of the appearance of 
this country forty years ago. The prairies were 
generally a trackless waste, save the Indian trails 
that were still visible, and an occasional, and 
rarely used wagon track. The settlements, with 
very rai'e exceptions, were confined to the timber 
line. When the writer first knew this region, 
there were but two fields fenced between Old 
Auburn and the farms along Lick Creek. One 
of them belonged to George Eastman, on the 
west side of Panther Creek, (now a part of John 
L. Mason's farm), and the other was owned by 
Piatt S. Carter, now of Loami township, and is 
included in J. M. Lochridge's farm. No one re- 
sided on either of these places, though Mr. 
Carter had a barn built and an unfinished house, 
into which he moved the following winter. The 
first settlers, who were almost exclusively from 
Virginia and Kentucky, universally selected their 
land with a view to its contiguity to the forests, 
and embracing a good proportion of the same, 
not seeming to think it probable that the vast 
prairies would ever be occupied. Indeed, any 
man who bought and improved land out in mid- 
prairie, at that day, was laughed at for his folly. 
lie labored under several disadvantages, it is 
true. The wild prairie grass growing to a height 
of five to seven feet, was the nursery of myriads 
of horse flies, that, in hot weather, tortured the 
stock fearfully. Then, in the winter, stock 
owned by prairie farmers, suffered terribly from 
the bleak winds, as hardly any one had any bet- 
ter shelter for his animals than a rail fence, and, 
during severe weather, if not kept up, they would 
find their way to the woods for comfort. 

"The first houses were all unhewn log cabins. 
In 1840, a few of the most prosperous had begun 
to 'put on style,' and there were a number of 
story and a half mansions of hewed logs. Some 
people even were so extravagant as to have their 
houses olapboarded, and there were in Southern 
Sangamon a number of small frame houses, and 
an occasional small brick building. The lumber 
used at that day was all hard oak, walnut, cherry, 
ash, sycamore. Pine lumber had not been intro- 
duced here, there being no railroads, and to haul 
it in wagons from St. Louis or Alton, would make 
it an expensive luxury. 

" Could the farmers of the present day have the 
privilege of comparing the ftock of horses, cattle 
and swine of this country, of forty years ago, 
with that of the present day, they would almost 



IllSTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



175 



be led to swallow the theory of evolution, so re- 
markable has been the change and improvement. 
But in no direction, perhaps, has there been so 
marked a progress as in the methods of farming 
and implements. My recollection extends back 
to the time when plows with wooden mould 
boards were used altogether. These would be 
considered very inefficient implements now, but 
were looked upon then as the best that could be 
devised. But few of them would ' scour,' and 
the plowman was compelled to keep a paddle 
hanging to one of the handles, to clean his 
plow off at each end, or oftener. The average 
depth of plowing was from two to three inches, 
and the slovenly habit of ' cutting and cover- 
ing' (taking several inches more ' land' than the 
plow could turn) prevailed with most farmers. 

"As markers and corn planters at that time 
were unknown, this was the common modus op- 
erandi of planting corn: A man with a pair of 
horses and a breaking plow 'laid off' the 
rows, running below the breaking, in order to 
make his plow 'scour' (the cross rows having 
previously been made with a single corn plow). 
The dropper followed along behind with the 
seed in a basket or bucket, and another man 
with one horse and a shovel plow, or ' bull 
tongue,' which, run in the side of the furrow, 
left a small ridge upon the seed. By this slow 
process, seven to ten acres could be planted in a 
day. It being before the day of double corn 
planters and of cultivators, either a one-horse 
'turning plow' or a shovel plow was used to 
' tend ' the crop. Twenty to twenty-five acres 
was all that one hand could take care of, and 
the rule was to plow it three times. Thirty 
bushels per acre was considered a fair crop, 
though hard workers made their land produce 
forty and even fifty bushels. 

" For a crop of oats, as the previous year's corn 
stalks were usually plowed under, rendering the 
use of a harrow, to cover the seed and smooth 
the ground, impracticable, the top of a tree was 
hitched to and dragged over the ground. Wheat 
was managed the same way, and, of course, 
failed as often as it succeeded. 

" At the time here spoken of, a field of timothy 
grass or clover was a rai'e sight. The prairies 
yielded innumerable tons of wild hay, and any 
man could have all he wanted for the cutting. 
There was no mowing machinery — the good old 
fashioned scythe, with muscle to propel it, suf- 
ficed to lay from one to two acres per day, and 
as reapers and headers were as yet unin vented, 
the cradle was the only dependence to fell ihe 
grain. Threshing, except among the largest 



farmers, was done upon the barn floor, two, three, 
or four horses walking in a circle over the grain 
until it was separated from the sti*aw, after 
which it was cleaned with a fanning machine. 
If a man had no barn of his own he borrowed 
one for the purpose. 

" Mules had not come into use at that time. 
Many thought it wicked, and a violation of the 
laws of nature to raise them. Mule colts, occas- 
ionally, might be seen, but they were sold to 
some buyer for southern use, and taken away 
generally in the fall after foaling. 

"Much of the breaking was done by oxen, 
nearly every farmer owning one or more yoke of 
these slow but sure beasts. Raw prairie was 
always broken, at that day, with teams of three 
or four yoke, which would turn over two or 
three acres per day. 

" Forty years ago, cooking stoves, save an occas- 
ional one in the towns, had not come into use. 
Everything was cooked by the fireplaces, which 
every house contained, and were built to receive 
wood three or four feet in length. Nearly every- 
thing was cooked in a skillet or a Dutch oven, 
both being supplied with a lid with a raised rim, 
upon which coals were piled. It was hot and 
laborious work for the women to cook by a fire- 
place, but the meals thus prepared were not to 
be excelled. 

"Although the red man's camp-fire at the time 
of which I write, no longer threw its ruddy glare 
over the trunks of the forest monarch, he having 
some years previous abandoned this for more 
successful hunting ground, much wild game still 
lingered. Deer abounded in the broad prairies 
between Apple creek and the east of Sugar 
creek, and I have frequently seen them within a 
mile of Old Auburn, and have seen wolves within 
the limits of the town. Wild turkeys still 
abounded in the woods, in their season, flocks of 
prairie chickens, vast enough to darken the air 
as they flew, might be seen any hour in the day. 
Every winter the sharp shooters of this commu- 
nity, would make up parties of four or five men, 
and each with its wagon and team, bedding, pro- 
visions, cooking utensils, rifles and amunition, 
would drive to the wilds of Christian county, 
remain five or six days, generally returning home 
with six or eight deer. The rifle was almost 
universally used, and the old hunters looked 
with supreme contempt upon any man or boy 
who could content himself with a shot-gun. 
Even squirrels, prairie chickens, geese and ducks 
were hunted with the rifle. 

"The clothing of the early resident was fash- 
ioned exclusively of homespun. Every farmer 



176 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



kept sheep, every home had its spinning wheel, 
and every wife and daughter could extract music 
of a practical nature from this instrument. 
Looms were convenient too. The men and boys 
all wore jeans, either yellow, brown or blue, and 
the mothers, wives and daughters were arrayed 
in linsey, usually strii^ed or checked. At the 
date of which I write, calico had begun to be 
worn, but was laid aside, for woolen, in cold 
weather. The sturdy pioneers of western or 
southern origin, looked upon the eastern men 
who occasionally found their way out here, 
dressed in broadcloth or cassimere, as Yankee 
upstarts. Indeed, the New England and New- 
York emigrants were regarded with suspicion. 
Some of the first comers were clock peddlers 
fiom Connecticut, who fleeced the people, and a 
pjrejudice was engendered that did not entirely 
die out with that generation. Besides this un- 
favorable inu'oduciion, many of the eastern set- 
tlers came hither, full of conceit about methods 
of farming, and undertook to give their new 
neighbors the benefit of their experience, not 
realizing that the Illinois prairies required quite 
different treatment from New England hills. I 
am glad to say that the feeling thus engendered 
has almost entirely passed away, but it was 
quite a formidable and disagreeable element in 
society, forty years ago. 

"Apropos of the above, the western people of 
the early days, entertained a sui^reme contempt 
for a man who attended to the milking. The 
women here did all the milking. No matter if 
there vjere three or four men about the house, 
and but one hard worked woman, the former 
couldn't degrade themselves by adopting this 
Yankee innovation. I have frequently known 
young men, when contracting to work by the 
month on farms, to ask if they were expected 
to milk. If this was required, either negotia- 
tions were broken off, or several dollars were 
added to the price. 

"The young people of the present day, at- 
tending school in nicely painted and ornamented 
comfortable structures, furnished with all the 
modern educational appliances, would gaze with 
astonishment at the rude and crude accommoda- 
tions of two score years agone. At that time, 
there were four schools (taught only in the 
winter,) within a radius of a few miles of this 
place. One of these was taught in the Old 
Cumberland church, a log building, four miles 
nortlieast; there was one in Auburn, a rude 
frame house of about fourteen by sixteen feet; 
a small brick building near A. S. Orr's, and an- 
other two miles further up the timber. Both of 



these were used, when necessary, for religious 
services on Sunday, as there were no meeting 
houses on the timber above the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, above mentioned. 

"The scholars sat upon bare benches, made 
usually of slabs, with four legs. Many of the 
scholars had never seen or heard of such a thing 
as a desk. Reading, spelling and writing, with 
geography, grammar and arithmetic, for the 
'advanced' scholars, constituted the studies. 
The rod, and a great deal of it, was an indis- 
pensable reliance as an educator. 

"Singing classes were sometimes taught, Mr, 
John Baker, of Lick Creek, being the only 
teacher within reach. He taught vocal music 
by the 'patent' or 'buck-wheat' notes, the 
Old 'Missouri Harmony' being the work gen- 
erally used, the major part of Avhose tunes were 
in the minor strain, and as the young folks 
flocked in for miles around, crowding the houses 
where they were held, old 'Consolation,' 
'Ninety-Fifth,' 'Jefferson' and 'Russia' would 
Avaken the echoes. 

"At that day, very few buggies or carriages 
were seen. Nearly everybody went to meeting 
on horseback; the wives frequently riding be- 
hind their liege lords. Often a young lady was 
taken on the horse behind her lover, though 
each girl had generally a steed of her own. A 
horse, saddle and bridle was the goal of every 
young man's or woman's desires, when growing 
up, 

" Springfield was only a limited market. There 
being no means of transportation from there, 
there was no demand, save a local one, for grain, 
pork and other productions, which was soon 
supplied. I have known corn hauled to Sjjring- 
field, from this vicinity, fourteen or fifteen 
miles, and sold for five cents a bushel. Of 
course, none but a renter sorely needing money, 
would undertake to haul corn to Springfield at 
such a price. 

"Alton was, at that day, the principal market 
for the farmers of Central Illinois. It wouldn't 
do to haul corn so far, at ten or fifteen, or even 
twenty cents a bushel, so the corn w^as fed to 
cattle and hogs, mainly to the latter, large droves 
of which were driven down in the early winter, 
a number of neighbors combining together. A 
wagon was driven by one of the men, in which 
to deposit the swine that might, perchance, 
'break down.' The hog drivers walked. These 
droves were sometimes so extensive as to fill the 
road for half a mile or more. 

"Oneof the pleasantest episodes of the writer's 
boyish life, was a trip to St. Louis, with a com- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



177 



pany of wagons, during the Indian summer sea- 
son of 1841. There were some ten or a dozen 
wagons, all laden with wheat. Provisions, cook- 
ing utensils, bedding and a supply of horse feed 
were taken, the weather being so tine as to allow 
the company to spread their couches beneath the 
wagons. It was customary to take bread and 
pies ready baked; with sometimes a boiled ham, 
but coffee was made and meat fried by the fire, 
improvised on the ground. There was no lack 
of dry fuel along the road in the woods, and no 
objection to its being picked np. After the men 
had supped, the evening, until bedtime, was 
spent in smoking and telling yarns, the flicker- 
ing flames throwing a ruddy light over the merry 
group. Thecampingground was always selected, 
if possible, in the woods. These trips, going and 
coming, usually occupied about a week. The 
teamsters brought back groceries, clothing and 
other family necessities for themselves, and often 
loads of goods for the Springfield merchants, 
receiving so much for each hundred pounds. 

" Forty years ago, the people of this vicinity 
were just beginning to taste the sweets of a post- 
office close at home. The new Springfield and 
St. Louis stage-road, running through Chathaai 
and Auburn, had recently been established. The 
old route lay through Sugar Creek timber, some 
two or three miles east of this. The "Sugar 
Creek Postoftice" had been kept, until this 
change, at John L. Drennan's, which was a 
'stage stand,' as the place was called where the 
four stage horses were changed on each trip for 
fresh ones. By this arrangement. Auburn peo- 
ple were five miles from the postoflSce, and the 
residents up towards the head of the timber, 
eight to ten miles. 

'At that time, the question of cheap postage 
and pre-payment had not yet engaged the atten- 
tion of our wise men. Letter postage was all 
the way from six to twenty-five cents, dependent 
upon distance. The family of the writer had 
twenty-five cents to pay on many a letter from 
eastern friends, during the early forties. The 
mailing business was much more complicated 
then than now, for all letters had to be way 
billed, and each letter's destination, rates, etc., 
recorded carefully in a book kept for the pur- 
pose, which contained a column for paid, another 
for unpaid, and another for free letters. 

" Forty years ago there was but one steam grist 
mill in the county, south of Springfield. This 
stood just about where the Chicago & Alton 
road crosses the branch, near what is now known 
as Anderson pond, north of town. The engine 
and works in the mill had been removed from 



Waverly, by Asa and George Eastman. This 
mill was only run here two or three years, I be- 
lieve, and the works were transferred to Spring- 
field. The building was occupied for several 
years afterwards by David Eastman for finishing 
leather, he having a tanyard on the premises. 

"At the time of which I write, there were two 
watermills in this township, both of which 
ground corn and wheat, and each had a saw mill 
connected with it. One of these was owned by 
Jacob Rauch, the father of the Rauch boys, and 
stood on the south side of the creek, nearly op- 
posite the present Rauch's mill. The other mill 
was owned by E. & W. D. Crow, and was 
located due west of Old Auburn, on a site now 
owned by John Garber, just northeast of his 
dwelling, on the west bank of the creek. 
'Crow's mill pond' was a favorite resort by 
crowds of men and boys, on summer Saturday 
afternoons, for swimming exercises. The swim- 
mers frequently rode their horses into the pond, 
and the steeds, swimming with their nude riders, 
drew out great applause from the multitude on 
the banks. 

" The currency of the country, forty years since, 
was quite a different matter from that of the 
present day. 'Wild-cat money' from hundreds 
of banks, scattered over the country, was in cir- 
culation. Our own 'State bank paper' was 
largely used, but there was a discount upon it. 
Money of the Missouri bank was always relia- 
ble, and generally preferred to gold. In silver, 
the old Spanish coins prevailed, and the 12-|^ and 
6^ cent pieces possessed no higher value than 
the dimes and half dimes. They were distin- 
guished as 'long bits' and 'short bits' — 'long 
picayunes' and 'short picayunes.' Copper 
coins were not used, and a picayune was the 
lowest sum recognized. If an article wasn't 
worth a picayune, it wasn't worth anything. I 
well recollect how indignant some of the old 
residents were when asked to pay postage on 
newspapers — two, three or four cents. At that 
time the privilege of franking the letters was 
about all the compensation the Auburn post- 
master received for getting up to ' change the 
mail ' once or twice in the night, every night in 
the year, and performing the duties of postmas- 
ter; yet it was diflficult to convince some of these 
worthies that if the postmaster didn't collect all 
the moneys due the department, he must suffer 
loss. 

" In 1 840, a large amount of land in the country 
was as yet unentered. Thousands of acres in 
the broad prairie to the west and east of Sugar 
creek timber were open to settlers, at 11.25 an 



17S 



HISTORY OF 8ANOAMON COUNTY. 



acre. Most of the land along Panther creek, 
however, had been entered by speculators. John 
Griggs, of Philadelphia, owned immense tracts, 
and his agent, David B. Ayres, at Jacksonville, 
sold it to settlers at |3 to $5 per acre. Many of 
the farms along Panther creek, between Irwin's 
(then known as Harlan's) grove and the head, 
were made of the Griggs land. 

"The pioneers supposed that the value of lim- 
ber land w^ould increase indefinitely. Hedges 
for the prairie had not been thought of, and 
there was no knowledge of the vast fields of coal 
underlying this whole expanse of country. Con- 
sequently, believing that the demand for wood 
for fuel, and rails for fences, must constantly in- 
crease as the prairies became settled, they held 
on to their forest acres with an iron grasp. The 
discovery of coal in this region, and the utiliza- 
tion of the Bois D'Arc tree for hedges on the 
Western prairies, may certainly be counted 
among the notable events of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. Could our fathers have been told that 
farms of whole sections could so easily be fenced, 
splendid houses built and provided with fuel, 
without the aid of wood land, they would have 
thought it incredible. 

"Pulmonary consumption, so prevalent now, 
was almost unknown among the early residents. 
Living in log houses, generally unplastered, with 
open fireplaces, they breathed pure air, and hav- 
ing regular sleep, and dressing healthfully, they 
were affiicted with but few physical ailments, 
save malarial ones. 

"There w^ere but few holidays in the early 
days. But little notice was taken of the Fourth 
of July. Frequently the riflemen of the neigh- 
borhood would gather together on Christmas 
and indulge in shooting matches. The grandest 
day in the year to both men and boys was elec- 
tion day. The State and county elections of 
that day were held in August. This being be- 
fore the day of township organization, this elec- 
tion precinct (Sugar Creek precinct), comprised 
a large scope of country — indeed, if I recollect 
rightly, some three or four townships. Forty 
years ago, the voting place for this precinct was 
John L. Drennan's, (the place now^ occupied by 
Benjamin F. Drennan.) Afterwards it was 
transferred to a house just this side of the C. P. 
Church. Nearly every boy in the precinct, old 
enough to ride a horse, accompanied the fathers 
or brother, and all spent the day. Liquor was 
usually available, and drunken men and fights 
were often witnessed. Horse racing was a com- 
mon pastime at elections. Voting was a slow 
aud tedious process. Qhe clerks recorded the 



name of the voter, and after it the name of each 
candidate voted for, which were called out by 
the voter in rotation. 

"At the time to which this sketch refers — 
only about twenty-two years after the first w'hite 
man's cabin was erected in 'the San-(/am-ma 
country,' as the early comers called it, most of 
the pioneers were yet living here, mainly, people 
in the prime of life. They were an honest, 
friendly, unassuming, industrious class of peo- 
ple, generally, who Avere content to make a fair 
living and keep out of debt. The mania for 
accumulating illimitable acrps had not yet been 
developed. No man felt envious of another's 
prosperity. There was no desire evinced to 
overreach a neighbor in a trade; to live in a finer 
house, or to dress better than anyone else. The 
milk of human kindness permeated society. 
The people were hospitable to a fault. A person 
in distress, or needing help in any form, had but 
to signify it and it was invariably forthcoming. 

"The first comers — principally from the hilly 
regions of Virginia and Kentucky, were enrap- 
tured with the beautiful country spread out be- 
fore them. The boimdless prairies coated with 
luxuriant grass, affording faithful indications of 
the marvellous possibilities of crops concealed 
beneath, and the facility with which they could 
be developed; the herds of deer and other game 
that roamed the plains — sights so dear to the 
hunter's heart — led the pioneers to send back 
enthusiastic accounts of the country to the 
friends they had left behind. Their attractive 
representations brought others, and 'the San- 
gam-ma country' came to be known as the 
farmers' paradise. 

"I will conclude this sketch by detailing a 
case of 

EARLY RASCALITY. 

"In the winter of 1842 (I think it was), a trunk 
belonging to a mail agent, of Springfield, named 
Brown, was cut from the rear part of the stage, 
while it was crossing the bridge over Panther 
creek, between Maynard's and Harland's Grove. 
The coach was making its down trip, in the 
night, as usual, and that place was doubtless 
selected for the deed on account of the speed of 
the team being checked while crossing. 

"Crime was so rare a thing in country places, 
at that day, that the affair created great excite- 
ment throughout the country. It was difficult, 
at first, to obtain a clue to the perpetrator, 
though the impression prevailed that the mis- 
chief had been done by some one living in the 
neighborhood. The trunk contained clothing 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



179 



some specie, some counterfeit money (uaiTied 
for detective purposes), a stock of fine cigars for 
Mr. Brown's own smoking, &c. It was partly 
through the cigars that the guilty one was de- 
tected. John Kennedy, a young man of about 
eighteen, living with his parents on the Harlan 
place, was very liberal with a lot of fragrant 
Havanas at the Cumberland Church, the next 
Sunday, dividing them around among the irrev- 
erent boys who made a practice of going punc- 
tually to meeting, and remaining out of doors, 
to discuss horseflesh during service. The writer 
had the pleasure of puffing one of them, and 
the memory thereof is still fragrant — as was the 
cigar. 

''The trunk, after being partly rifled, was con- 
cealed in a corn shock in the field, just east of 
the bridge. Several more little things shortly 
leaked out, that, combined, directed suspicion 
to the right quarter. One of them was this: 
The very afternoon of the robbery, Kennedy 
was at the postoffice in Auburn, and asked Mr. 
Wadsworth, the postmaster, what time the stage 
came down, and being informed, rode oflt 
towards the north. 

" Evidence being deemed sufficient, a warrant 
was issued and served by Arny R. Robinson, of 
Springfield, then an officer. Mr. Brown and 
another man accompanied. Kennedy denied the 
theft at first, but being confronted by the testi- 
mony, soon confessed the deed, produced the 
money, and led his captors to where the trunk 
was hidden. 

"Kennedy was consigned to jail, and before 
the day fixed for the trial, contrived, with two 
fellow prisoners (one confined for horse-stealing, 
the other for breach of trust), to escape. They 
fled west, and on Spring creek two of them stole 
a horse apiece, and made their way to St Louis, 
A description of two of the fugitives was adver- 
tised, but for some unaccountable reason, a 
description of Kennedy was omitted. A detec- 
tive saw Kennedy and his companion in a bar- 
ber's shop, recognized the latter by the descrip- 
tion, and took him. Kennedy lost no time in 
getting out, aboai'd a boat, and down the river. 
He found means to communicate with his 
family, his father soon followed, and in a few 
months afterward, the remainder of the family. 
They settled at Natchitoches, Louisiana. 

" Kennedy was never captured for the above 
crime." 

BY S. C. H1.MPTON. 

"My father, Samuel Hampton, settled in Sanga- 
mon county in the fall of 1830, near Mechanics- 



burg, and removed to the village of Springfield, 
next year. We lived in the lower rooms of a 
two-story log house, and Sullivan Conant occu- 
pied the upper rooms with his family, having 
come from Massachusetts in 1831. Father Con- 
ant says his wife thought she could scrub her 
fioor as they did in their native home, and in the 
attempt almost drowned us out of house and 
home. Mother Conant used to tell that one of 
her earliest recollections of Springfield was a 
little urchin, with a black, curly head, full of 
mischievous pranks. That curly headed boy and 
her little black eyed daughter, in their manhood 
and womanhood, became man and wife, and 
under the blessing of a kind Providence, have 
become father and mother of a large family of 
children, and been blessed with a liberal share 
of worldly prosperity. Five of our children still 
live, two ai"e dead. Mother Conant lived and 
died a christian, many years ago. Father 
Conant still lives, four score and one years of 
age, a well preserved man, honored and blessed 
by eight living children and many grand-children, 
and by all who know him. One of the earliest 
things I recollect was, we lived in a log cabin 
near the old cemeter3^ We slept on one feather 
bed and covered with another in winter. When 
we had a drifting snow-storm, we would have an 
extra job in the morning of shoveling the sno\v 
out of the house, but the children enjoyed better 
health then than many who are confined in air- 
tight houses, heated with air-tight stoves. On 
one occasion, Mr. Erastus Wright gathered all 
the boys in town and had them clean up the 
court house yard, and after the job Avas done, 
took us down to old Father Dickey's and treated 
us to beer and cakes, and we all felt happy over 
it. I well remember the immense political gath- 
ering of 1840, with its log cabin on wheels, its 
hard cider barrels, its coonskins and live coons 
grinning over the dead roosters carried in pro- 
cession. I well remember the sad day in 1844, 
when, in attempting to raise an ash pole, it fell, 
killing Mr. Brodie, and maiming for life the 
brother of my wife. To show you how we had 
to work and how we were paid, I will relate a 
little of my experience. I, with a younger 
brother, worked on a brickyard for old Mr. Hay, 
who long ago passed away to his rest. It took 
both of us to do the woi'k of one boy, and for 
this we got twenty-five cents a day and boarded 
ourselves. Many a day have I worked with a 
chill on, and then lay down until the fever 
abated, but we had some good company. Judge 
Milton Hay and his brothers, J. Addison and 
Theodore, moulded the brick, while we off-bore 



180 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



them , Money was scarce then. We boys hardly 
ever saw any, except once in a while we would 
get twenty-live cents to go to a show. They 
would make us take orders on the stores. I 
recollect one show that came, and I had to have 
a decent cap to go with, for in those days we boys 
wore seal skins, not the seal of to-day, but which 
looked more like hog skin with the hair cut 
short. Well, I went up to the store before 
breakfast and picked out a cap for one dollar; 
went back for my ordei*, and when I returned 
the proprietor asked one dollar and twenty cents 
as soon as he saw the order. I told him he had 
offered it to me for a dollar. He said, before 
breakfast it looked like rain, and that they would 
have a dull day, but it had cleared off, and they 
could not sell so cheap. So after that I prayed 
for dull days for that store." 

HUNTING EXPERIENCE OF R. W. DILLER. 

"In regard to my hunting experience, I would 
say, a very few days after my arrival, November, 
1844, my brother-in-law, Mr. R. F. Ruth, took 
me in his buggy just south of where the Junc- 
tion coal shaft now is, to try my hand in shoot- 
ing prairie chickens. The birds were feeding in 
a corn field, and as it was near sundown, they 
commenced their flight for roosting in the prai- 
rie. You have heard of 'buck ager;' well, I 
had the 'chicken ager,' and for the life of me 1 
could not get a shot, or did not shoot at all. Mr. 
Ruth until to-day often amuses the friends by 
describing ray effort — pointing here, then there, 
mimicing my performances. There were thous- 
ands of them flying within shot, but they were 
bigger game than I was used to, so I was scared; 
but I got bravely over that, as my friends can 
testify. He killed several of them as they lit 
on the trees, while I found a flock of quail, and 
peppered them, as I Avas used to in the East. 
He laughed at me for wasting ammunition on 
such small fry, for 'we net them,' he said; and I 
afterward found such was the case, and had 
much sport in doing so, in company with Robert 
Irwin, Caleb Burchall, John C. Spring, Bella 
Webster, S. B. 0})dyck, George L. Huntington, 
Captain Diller, Ilenry Coon, and others, and 
many funny incidents could be related happen- 
ing on our hunts. 

"The shotgun was little used in those days; 
the long- barreled Kentucky rifle was the old 
settler's trusted weapon, with which many 
were very expert. IJncle Andy Elliott and 
William Lockridge, I was told, could tumble a 
deer at full speed of a horse and deer, nearly 
every time. I saw Uncle Andy do it once, the 



ball entering the head just below the horns. I 
asked him if he aimed for that. 'Yes, always,' 
was his answer; still, I thought it rather acci- 
dental. The useful bird dog was little used 
then, Mr. H. N. Ridgely and J. C. Spring being 
the only possessors, in 1844-4.5, of one each. 
Mr. R. used to tell very amusing stories of the 
astonishment the farmers would express when 
he would drive up and put his dog in the field, 
and ste him knock chickens right and left on 
the wing, when they had not observed any birds 
before. The farmers shot them only in the win- 
ter, from trees and fences. The winter of 1844- 
45, I saw prairie chickens shot from the trees 
where the Governor's house now stands. As 
late as 1850, a friend of mine was fined for 
shooting wild pigeons from trees where Dr. 
Vincent's house now stands. In 1846, Mr. John 
Ives got a pointer dog, and in 1847, I brought 
from the East my black setter, 'Jack,' with which 
I killed hundreds of chickens. I seldom went 
further than the machine shop and Butler's farm 
to get all we wanted for ourselves and neighbors. 
On one occasion, as I was riding on horseback, 
with my gun and dog, hunting (where General 
John Cook's house, on South Fourth street, 
stands), in company with two young farmers, 
'Old Jack' found a covey of chickens. I told 
them if they would hold the horse, I would give 
them a mess of birds to take home. They 
looked around to see them. I walked up to 
where the dog was standing, and as the birds 
got up, I killed eight or nine before they all got 
away. You ought to have seen the men's eyes 
buck out. I gave them two apiece. After 
thanking me, one said: 'By Jingo, Tom, I mean 
to have a dog and scattering gun right away.' 

"The first deer hunt I was on, was on the 4th 
day of July, 1846, when a large party gathered 
early in the morning at Uncle Andy Elliott's, 
now First street and North Grand Avenue. The 
old house and gate posts were decorated with 
antlers of deer, skins of wolves, foxes, coon and 
other varmint— a regular hunter's home — while 
the hounds lay lazily around, waiting patiently 
for the old hunter to mount his horse, and when 
he tooted his horn they bounded and howled 
like wild. The party consisted of Colonel James 
Barrett, R. F. Ruth, Robert Allen, Charlie Chat- 
terton, P. C. Johnson old man Peak (the baker), 
Harrison Hammond, Wm. H. Herndon, Wes. 
and Harrison Elliott, and others whose names I 
have forgotten. The rendezvous was near old 
Sangamon Town, where a wagon with cooking 
utensils and Mr. Elliott Herndon, the orator of 
the day, had preceded us. We did not carry 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



181 



meat in those days, as we were sure of getting 
enough on the hunt. We started through the 
brush due northwest, and the hazel come up to 
Elliott's house. We had gone about one-half 
hour when one of the dogs 'give tongue,' and 
then the whole pack burst forth in one grand 
harmony, making the welkin ring, enthusing 
men and horses alike. They put us green ones 
on stands, and I for one wished most heartily the 
deer would not come by me, for should I miss it 
(and the way I felt I knew I would), Barrett 
and Elliott would have worn my hat off. But 
luck would have it, that old fox, Mr. Peak — who 
could beat any horse in the timber and knew 
every run-way — got the first crack at it, wound- 
ing and making the deer take water a few miles 
west of the ' cut-off,' and he was soon our meat. 
He was carried to camp and dressed, and by 
twelve o'clock we were enjoying the feast. It 
was a wonderful day's sport for me — a greenhorn. 
Wm. Herndon used to be called 'Injin Bill' and 
' Turkey Bill,' for the reason, if he ever got 
after a deer or turkey he was always sure to cap- 
ture it, if it took him two days. He was so 
called in order to distinguish him from another 
Wra. Herndon, a brick mason. Deer and turkey 
were quite plenty in any of the timber within 
three miles of town, and with hounds, hunters 
could have a chase any day. But the big hunts 
of two weeks — when they would kill twenty to 
tifty deer — were made on Flat Branch, Bear 
Creek and away out on the Okaw, in which Mr. 
O. Lewis, Joshua Amos, X. Divelbiss and others, 
were prominent actors. 

"I will relate one more little incident and 
quit, for when you get an old hunter started, he 
will think of enough to fill a whole volume, if 
you would let him — interesting enough to him, 
but may be to no one else. In the winter of 
1849, Messrs. Peak and Herndon proposed a 
hunt on Sugar creek, starting in at what is now 
the Model Farm. Harry Myers, I. G. Ives, Cap- 
tain I. R. Diller, and myself were to meet them 
at Newcomer's Mill. We started early on foot, 
and when we got to the bridge heard the dogs 
running through Scattering Point, but the deer- 
dogs and men crossed far above, and the dogs 
took the deer up to Hickory Grove, in Christian 
county. Our party ate our luncli, drank up our 
'snake bite cure,' shot the bottles to pieces, and 
started home on the east side of the creek, 
hoping to find a flock of turkeys. As we scat- 
tered through the brush, it was not very long 
when I heard my brother — who had never seen 
a wild deer before — hallooing for dear life. He 
had started two deer with immense horns. We 

21— 



all run for a clearing to get a shot. I happened 
to strike a clear place, and saw the two deer 
bounding along about forty yards from rae. I 
had a small double-barreled shotgun. I let go 
on the leader, and dropped him in his track, 
then let the other have it, and down he came. 
My! but my heart burned with pride as I run 
and cut their throats. I thought my brother 
would go wild. He said they looked as big as 
elephants, and was so frightened he forgot he 
had a gun. Two of us packed them on poles 
about two miles to Mother Short's, where we got 
a team to bring us to town. When the old lady 
saw the little gun, and was informed it done the 
work, she said: 'Young man, somebody will 
have to set up with you to-night, sure!' So they 
did; those two deer cost me a heap that night, I 
tell you." 

BY .TAMES .J. MEGREDY. 

" My father, Enoch Megredy, with his family, 
left Port Deposit, Cecil county, Maryland, April 
15th, 1837, and after a very interesting trip by 
land, water and mud, landed in Cass county, 
Illinois, near Virginia, at the home of his 
cousin, Archibald Job, June 16th, 1837. In the 
spring of this year the building of the old Stale 
House was commenced. The continuous rainy 
weather, and the imperfect arrangements for 
quarrying the stone had brought the work to a 
close for the time being. Mr. Job was one of 
the State House Commissioners, and my father 
having been engaged in quarrying granite at 
Port Deposit, was placed at once in charge of 
the State House quarries, near Crow's Mill, and 
moved his family, consisting of twelve persons, 
to a cabin on the land now owned and occupied 
by Mr Hexter, six miles south of Springfield. 
The cabin was about fourteen feet square, with 
a clapboard addition eight by twelve. Cranes 
were erected for raising the rock from the 
quarry and loading the wagons. Of this year's 
work the basement of the old State House was 
built. He then purchased the Z. Peter's farm, 
on the south side of Lick Creek, six miles south 
of Springfield, February 2, 1838, and where part 
of the family still reside. My father was a lo- 
cal preacher of the M. E. Church, his license 
dating from 1828; he was ordained a deacon in 
183.5, by Bishop Emory, at Philadelphia, and 
ordained an elder in 1840, by Bishop Waugh, at 
Springfield, Illinois; he died in the fifty-seventh 
year of his age. In 1839, Old Harmony Church 
(near the present Woodside) was built of tim- 
ber, hewed, framed and weather-boarded with 
nicely shaved clapboards; it had seven windows, 



182 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of eight by Leu glass, twelve panes of glass in 
each window; the pulpit was made of walnut, 
substantial and plain. This appointment was 
styled by Rev. James Leaton, the Athens of the 
circuit. * * * In those days, to minister to 
the wants or comfort of new-comers was a pecu- 
liar trait in western character. On the first day 
after moving into the cabin, an old gentleman, 
a genuine type of the pioneer class, called, say- 
ing that he heard that we had just come in and 
were strangers, and he had come over to see if 
we did not want a cow for the summer, as he 
had more than he needed, and if we would send 
over we should be welcome to one. We thanked 
the old gentleman and accepted the cow. He 
said she was the best cow he had, and ' Chance ' 
proved equal to any cow we have had since. It 
was a fixed fact, that when one or more of the 
community would be sick with chills or jaun- 
dice, or something else, his neighbors would 
meet and take care of his harvest, or get up 
wood, or repair his cabin, or plant his corn, or 
whatever was necessary to be done for the com- 
fort of his family or himself. In this, those 
grand old men who are now with us, and those 
who have passed away, were prompted by the 
noble, self-sacrificing women, who endured 
without mourning the hardships of pioneer life, 
and encouraged those toil-worn men with the 
prospect of a happy future for their children. 
When we take an imaginary inside view of one 
of the cabins and its fixtures, and remember 
that it was sleeping room, dining room, parlor 
and kitchen, and the cooking utensils a Dutch 
oven and a skillet; the never-failing pile of bed 
quilts on a chair in one corner; the loom in one 
end of the porch, with a piece of blue jeans 
partly woven; the lots of dresses hanging up 
against the wall; the snow white pillows on the 
bed, and the floor so white; such an air of com- 
fort and satisfaction, in spite of all the inconve- 
nience, we wonder, mixed with much fear, if any 
of their fair daughters could duplicate the cabin 
comfort. There was some courting then among 
the young folks, but being of a very modest and 
retiring disposition ourself, w^e were ever kept 
at a distance by the favored ones. We think 
the facilities for courting were circumscribed — 
top buggies and long hedged-in-lanes and senti- 
mental, sombre evenings for airings and health 
exercise, were unknown. Girls rode to church 
or town in the big wagon with their parents 
generally, but those that could afford a fine sad- 
dle and fine blood horse, were as proud of the 
display as those of the present day are of a 
gold watch, half hidden in the net' work of a 



side pocket. The only good place for courting 
was the singing school, with a Missouri Har- 
mony under your arm as a passport, you could 
ride up to the fence and tie your horse and call 
at the door with some assurance and ask the 
young lady to accompany you, which was gen- 
erally followed by the question : ' Will your 
horse carry double'?' Which was answered in 
the affirmative, of course, which we are sure 
was not always strictly true. Unless the young 
lady would hold on mightily, which they always 
did, you never heard of one being thrown off, 
and would get to the log school house safe 
enough, and back again all right, if some fellow 
didn't cut you out and the girl give you the 
sack. This made a fearful experience, and some- 
times a fight, but notwithstanding the absence 
of a private room, top buggy and long, quiet, 
sombre lanes and all modern appliances, there 
was scarcely a bachelor to be found in the coun- 
try — William Yigal, Esq., was the only excep- 
tion we think of just now. The boys and girls 
got married, and remained married. We had 
no divorces, and considered it far better to fight 
it out on the old plan than be disgraced by a 
divorce, and we recommend the old plan to our 
friends who enjoy the benefits of refinement 
and social culture, and the teaching of the po- 
lite literature of the present day." 

BY E. H. BEACH. 

"When I landed in Springfield, in the fall of 
1835, the centre of our present square was graced 
with a commodious brick court house of very 
fair dimensions. The court houses were almost 
invariably put in the center of the public 
squares, and every town that was then laid oiit 
would not be considered complete if it had not 
a public square. This grew out of what then 
was supposed to be a fact — that every town in 
the State, great or small, was supposed to be a 
candidate in the near future for the county seat. 
After Springfield had acquired the distinction 
sought, viz, the county seat, it aspired still 
higher, and put out its feelers for the State 
Capitol, which we all know she succeeded in 
getting. The lower story of our court house 
was devoted to the dispensation of justice, 
while the upper one was let out for oftices. Our 
present State Journal was at that time printed 
there. The Bar was not as numerous then as it 
is at present, but what it lacked in number, it 
made up in quality. Among the shining lights 
of that day were such men as Lincoln, Baker, 
Douglas, Forquer, and others, and last, but not 
least, Logan. I had been in Sangamon coixnty 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



180 



but a short time, when a brother-in-law from the 
city of New York came to visit me. The Rev, 
J. G. Bergen, wliom we all know as a genial, 
pleasant gentleman, was showing us round 
the then small village, 'doing up the sights.' 
Among other places, we sauntered into the court 
house. The court was in session, and a case was 
then in progress. Judge Logan was on the 
bench, and Mr. Douglas (the 'Little Giant,' as 
he was afterwards called) on the floor. To us, 
just from the city of New York, with the sleek 
lawyers and the prim and dignitied judges, and 
audiences to correspond, there was a contrast so 
great, that it was almost impossible to repress a 
burst of laughter. Upon the bench was seated 
the judge, with his chair tilted back and his heel 
as high as his head, and in his mouth a veritable 
corn cob pipe; his hair standing nine ways for 
Sunday, while his clothing was more like that 
worn by a woodchopper than anybody else. 
There was a railing that divided the audience; 
outside of which smoking and spitting and 
chewing of tobacco seemed to be the principal 
employment. I remarked to Mr. Bergen, who 
sat beside me: 'That is a strange scene, and 
not like the courts we have been in the habit of 
seeing, and, as for the judge, he did not seem to 
have much knowledge or be of much force.' 
'Ah, my dear sir,' replied Mr. Bergen, with that 
peculiar smile and comical cast of countenance 
that all who knew him, will instantly recollect, 
'He is a singed cat,' and we passed out into the 
open air. 'A singed cat,' said I to myself, 'I 
wonder what that can mean.' The expression, 
coupled with the comical look Mr. Bergen gave 
as he said it, led me to think that there was more 
in it than met the ears. After walking a few 
steps, I said: 'Mr. Bergen, what did you mean 
by saying that that judge on the bench, with 
that old overcoat not fit hardly for anyone to 
wear, was "a singed cat?"' His reply, with 
another of those comical looks, his brow drawn 
down, and his chin nearly on his breast, was: 
'I mean he is better than he looks.' In a short 
time I became fully convineed that it was not 
clothes that makes the man, but brains. Judge 
Logan, for many years in the Springfield. Bar, 
was a giant among giants in the legal profes- 
sion." 

BY JOHN S. CONDELL, SR. 

"In the summer of 1838, being then fifteen 
years old, I left the paternal home, in Philadel- 
phia, and in company with my oldest brother 
(Thomas Condell), started for Illinois, which 
was then called ' The Far West.' As it was be- 



fore the days of railroads, we traveled all the 
way over the mountains to Pittsburg, and thence 
to Cincinnati, in the old fashioned stage coaches. 
The cholera was then prevailing all through the 
West. When passing through Columbus, Ohio, 
and other towns we saw yellow flags suspended 
from dwellings, denoting the presence of that 
dreadful scourge. 

" At Cincinnati we embarked on a steamboat 
for St. Louis. Below Louisville there were but 
few towns or improvements on the river. I 
can never forget, neither can I describe, how 
strangely I was impressed by the wildness and 
grandeur of the scenery on the river, before it 
had been molested by the touch of man. The 
primeval forests crowded and covered the 
banks, and the surface of the stream was 
the home of wild fowl of every description. 
A peculiar stillness brooded over the scene, 
broken only by the splashing of the steamer's 
wheel and the jolly song of the firemen. Seldom 
\^ as there any occasion for our boat to stop, ex- 
cept to 'wood up.' Then we would take a ram- 
ble through the wild woods, gathering nuts, 
grapes, plums, paw-paws and flowers. 

"After reaching St. Louis, we again took stage 
to Carrollton, Greene county, where we began 
our mercantile career in Illinois. There I 
became acquainted with Colonel E. D. Baker, 
(who was killed at Ball's Blufl^, during the late 
war). He was then a resident of that place. 
There I heard some of his first efforts in elo- 
quence, both at the bar and in the Christian 
church, of which I believe he was then a mem- 
ber. He also manifested a military spirit at that 
early day, being captain of a company of militia, 
which he was fond of training and parading. 
His brother. Dr. Alfred C. Baker, also residing 
there, was a man having as high sense of 
honor and as much of the milk of human kind- 
ness in his nature as any man I ever met. There 
I first saw Stephen A Douglas, when he was 
quite a young man, as he traveled around the 
circuit practicing law. His dress and habits 
corresponding to the surroundings of the pioneer 
times. I olten saw him sitting upon the ground 
in the court house square eating watermelons 
with the ' boys' and entertaining them with his 
versatile conversation. There I first saw and 
found an early friend in Dr. John Hardtner and 
his family, who have since become residents of 
this city. There I first met my present partner 
in business, Mr. C. M. Smith; at that early day 
we 'were boys together,' and little did, or could 
Ave then anticipate, that after the lapse of almost 
half a century we would be associated together 



184 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



in business in this city, under the firm name of 
C. M. Smith & Co. 

"In the fall of 1840, my brother Thomas and 
myself left Carrollton in a buggy, with a view 
of looking for a better location for business. 
We started north, visiting Jacksonville, Spring- 
field, Decatur and Bloomington. Finally, we 
decided to make Springfield our permanent 
home, and try to do business on the cash princi- 
ple, under the firm name of Condell, Jones & 
Co. We moved to Springfield in August, 1841. 
We had difticulty in finding a house to do busi- 
ness in, but finally rented one of the stores in 
'Hoffman's row,' North Fifth street, and soon 
after we purchased of Mr. Blankinship the build- 
ing still standing on the northwest corner of the 
north side of the square, and continued doing 
business in it twenty-one years. It was the first 
brick building on the north side; all the rest 
were mostly one-story frame structures, and 
known in those days as 'Chicken row.' It then 
required six or more weeks to get goods trans- 
ported from the East. They had to be wagoned 
over the mountains to Pittsburg; thence by 
steamboats to St. Louis and Beardstown, and 
from thence to this city by transient teams. As 
but little manufacturing was then in existence 
in the United States, we were dependent upon 
foreign markets for most of our goods; hence, 
nearly all the dry goods we first sold here were 
of English manufacture. Muslins and calicoes, 
which we are now selling at six and eight cents 
per yard, were then sold at 25 to 37^ cents per 
yard. Most of the woolen goods then used here 
were spun and woven by the women of Sanga- 
mon and adjoining counties. Jeans, flannels, 
linseys, socks, mittens, rag carpets, tow linen, 
men's straw hats, etc., were brought to the stores 
in abundance, and exchanged for groceries and 
other goods. 

"Peter Cartwright, the old pioneer preacher, 
who was a life-long customer of ours, never 
wanted anything out of a store but a black silk 
cravat and a bandana silk pocket handkerchief; 
all the rest of his wardrobe was the product of 
the labor and skill of the pioneer women of San- 
gamon county. 

"The ladies' bonnets first brought out were 
somewhat similar in size and shape to an invert- 
ed coal scuttle, and were sold at six to ten dol- 
lars each. Parasols were a novelty, and not 
much needed in the days of large sun-bonnets. 
However, to suit the times, the parasols we first 
brought out were mostly of cotton material, on 
rattan and whalebone frames. We sold them to 
the mothers of some who are now the wealthy 



and fashionable of Sangamon county, and at that 
time they seemed to think they could hardly 
afford the luxury of a cotton parasol. In those 
days money was indeed scarce; what little there 
was, mostly found its way to the land office, to 
pay for more land. Business was mostly done 
on a credit of twelve months; settlements made 
once a year, either at Christmas or 'hog killing 
time ' 

"Soon after commencing business in Spring- 
field, we established a branch store in Decatur, 
managed by a younger brother (Wm. J. Con- 
dell), who is still living there. As there was 
very little money in circulaticn, and no outlet, 
whatever, for produce, as a matter of necessity 
as well as to accommodate the farmers of Macon 
county, we exchanged goods with them for their 
fall wheat, at twenty-five cents per bushel, had 
it wagoned to Springfield at five cents per bushel, 
and sold it to J. L. Lamb at thirty cents per 
bushel, and were glad in that way to get out even 
on our speculation in wheat. Mr. Lamb was then 
proprietor of the old City Mill, on South Seventh 
street, on the Town Branch as it then was, but 
both the mill and branch have long since disap- 
peared. In connection with this I would ask the 
farmers in this and other sections of the State to 
make a note of this wheat transaction, occurring 
in the centre of the most fertile portion of Illi- 
nois, and learn therefrom how much they are in- 
debted to railroads for present prices of produce 
and the general prosperity. While I do not own 
a dollar of railroad stock or hold a pass over any 
road, I am free to say that we owe an immense 
debt of gratitude to the men who projected and 
built our railroads, as well as the larger class who 
are engaged day and night operating them. Let 
us remember that as they have been in the past, 
they will ever remain, our greatest benefactors. 

"While waiting for first stock of goods to ar- 
rive, I went to the first camp-meeting I ever at- 
tended, then being held on the 'Old Salem camp 
ground,' six miles west of this city. The fii-st 
day I went there I found I was a stranger among 
strangers, and as night came on, having made no 
acquaintance, and being somewhat timid and 
backward, I got no supper and had no place to 
sleep. After the night services closed, I thought 
I would make my bed on the straw about the 
preaching stand ; but while sauntering around I 
found an old empty log school house, which 
formed a part of the inclosure, and into it I went 
to pass the night alone. On one of the puncheon 
benches I found a soft hat, and lying down upon 
the bench I placed the hat under my head for a 
pillow and went to sleep with the intention of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



185 



rising before any one else would be stirring 
around, and see where I had made my resting 
place; but being tired, I slept so soundly, that 
when I awoke the sun was two hours high, and 
I discovered a boy sitting upon the doorstep 
patiently waiting for his hat, which was under 
my head. 

"Toatdayl formed my first acquaintance with 
some of the early settlers of Sangamon county — 
the Megredys, Shepherds, Swingleys, Lyons, 
Hickmans, Tomlins, Lightfoots and others in 
the country ; and from the city. Dr. McNeil, Her. 
W. T. Bennett, Geo. R. Weber, Enos M. Henkle, 
Edmund Roberts, Noah and Charles W. Ma- 
theny, Arny Robinson, Wm. Dickey, Thomas 
Lee, Sr., and Jas. F. Reed, among whom I was 
cordially received and entertained. 

"There was a young lady from Williamsport, 
State of Maryland, at that meeting, with the 
family of Judge Swingley, to whom three years 
after I was married, although at that time I had 
not the remotest idea of what the future had in 
store for me. I had no thought of matrimony 
then, and was only interested in the progress of 
the meeting. In those days there was more 
weeping and rejoicing at camp meeting than we 
see now. I wept with those who wept, and re- 
joiced with those who rejoiced, and wished the 
meeting would last all summer. 

"The Spring and summer of 1844 will be re- 
membered by many, as one of the most gloomy 
and disastrous seasons that Sangamon county 
ever passed through. It rained almost incess- 
antly all through the spring, until some time in 
June. The whole country was flooded with 
water. What little corn had been planted was 
mostly drowned out, and vegetation wore a 
sickly hue. It was a year of shoi't crops, long 
faces and general depression. Dullness pre- 
vailed, and business men had more leisure than 
they knew what to do with. However, I turned 
it to good account, improving the leisure and 
enlivening the dullness by a courtship, resulting 
in securing a partner for life. 

"In the face of all the discouraging prospects, 
all the shaking of heads and forebodings of 
evil, I was married on the 27th day of June, 
1844, to Miss Bell Rice, at the residence of her 
brother-in-law, Judge Samuel K. Swingley, six 
miles south of Springfield. In going to and re- 
turning from the wedding, we found all the 
prairie from town to Lick creek timber, covered 
■vith a sheet of water, and much of the way it 
was hub deep. That event proved to be the 
wisest proceeding of my life, and I close these 



recollections of the past by advising young men 
to go and do likewise." 

JOHN H. HARRISON, SON OF REUBEN HARRISON, 
SALISBURY. 

" I was born in the county of Rockingham, 
State of Virginia, April 0, 1815. My father 
moved to Kentucky in 1818, living there four 
years, and then moved to Sangamon county Illi- 
nois, settling on the farm on which I have ever 
since lived, on the 4th of November, 1822. 
Everybody was poor, as is the case in every new 
country, but we enjoyed life as much then as 
now. We had time to visit our friends, work 
our little farms, hunt game, which was plenty, 
and to go to meeting on a week day. We did 
not use buggies and carriages then. All travel- 
ing was done on horseback. It was not uncom- 
mon for a man and his wife and three children 
to get on one horse and ride three or four miles 
to visit a neighbor. The first school I attended 
was taught in a house built of round logs and 
without any windows. All the light we had 
came down the chimney. The next spring they 
cut out a log for a window and made a writing 
pesk of a slit slab, which they placed under it. 
The first lot of hogs we raised, father sold in 
Beardstown, for $1.25 per hundred. But several 
hogs paid for four acres each of land, on which 
I now live. About the 10th of March, 1S26, 
father and W. B. Renshaw started from the 
mouth of Richland creek, for New Orleans, 
with the second flat boat load of corn ever 
floated down the Sangamon — Abraham Sinnards 
took the first one. There are few of the priva- 
tions now felt in settling a new country, which 
we felt in settling this. I can remember when 
we had to raise and prepare everything we had 
to eat, make everything we had to wear; 
and every kind of vessel we had to use. The 
first saw mill was built on Richland creek, 
below the mouth of Prairie creek, by Reuben 
Fielding and Robert Harrison, in 1825. Wil- 
liam and T. Kirkpatrick built a horse mill in 
1822, half a mile southeast of Salisbury. That 
was the only place we could get flour and meal. 
It took two-thirds of a bushel of wheat or five 
or six bushels of corn to pay the postage on a 
letter." 

BY W. T. BENNETT. 

"I was born near Shepherdstown, Jefferson 
county, Virginia, on the 30th of November, 
1805. In 18 84 emigrated to the west, and, in 
company with my brother. Van S. Bennett, 
reached Springfield on the 9lh day of Decem 



186 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



ber, and registered at Captain Whorton Rans- 
deli's Hotel, an old gentleman full of life and 
gay spirits, and, as I thought, the most attentive 
and accommodating landlord I had met in my 
travels. 

I "svas not favorably impressed with the 
appearance of Springfield at that time, and did 
not think of remaining there veiy long, but I 
was induced to commence business, and re- 
ceived a reasonable share of patronage frcm the 
citizens. As I became acquainted .with the 
people, I found them sociable and kind. Every- 
body seemed to be in good spirits and prosper- 
ing. I became attached to the people and the 
place, and made it my home till the year 1850, 
when I entered the itinerant ministry. 

The first Sabbath I spent in Springfield I attend- 
ed the Metht dist church, and was most agreeably 
disappointed in the appearance of the congrega- 
tion, and in the eloquent sermon by Rev Joseph 
Edrrronson, of precious memory. There was a 
tioirrishing Sabbath school, under the superin- 
tendence, of a very good brother, and if I am 
not mistaken, James H., now Judge Matheny, 
when but a boy, Avas reported as having com- 
mitted to memory the largest number of verses 
in the New Testament of any of the scholars 
belonging to the school. The memory of the 
warm friends with whom I first formed an ac- 
quaintance, I still cherish with feelings of pleas- 
ure and sadness — Dr. J. M. Early, Charles H. 
Matheny, Esq., Nicholas Garland, Edward Phil- 
lips, Edmond Roberts, Asbury and Cyrus San- 
ders and others. These have all passed into the 
silent city of the dead. I am still here, in the 
seventy-seventh year of my age, and since the 
death of my cousin, William A. Bennett, whom 
I loved as a brother, I begin to feel lonely. 

In 1835,1 was introduced byEev.Mr. Edmond- 
son to Miss Rebecca J. Roberts, who was then vis- 
iting Springfield, whom I afterwards courted and 
married. 'J he most of our courtship, however, 
took place on paper, for soon after our acquaint- 
ance I learned of the death of my brother-in- 
law, George W. Shutt, in Shepardstown, and re- 
turned to see my widowed sister. I returned to 
Springfield in the spi-ing of 1836, and was mar- 
ried to Miss Roberts the folloAvirg June, in the 
town of Ottawa, Illinois. The fruit of our mar- 
riage has been two sons and five daughters. We 
have buried one son and three daughters. The 
remaining two daughter's and son reside in 
and near Mechanicsbui-g. My wife and self, 
and youngest daughter-, a widow, live to- 
gether." 



BY GEORGE P. AVErJEB. 

"lam not an early settler, according to the 
ruling of the association of that name in the 
county, as my days on the earth are not of suf- 
iicient number to entitle me to that honor. 
However, am a descendant of one. Was born 
on Avhat is now South Sixth street, Springfield, 
111., about tAvo score years ago. And, while Ave 
know nothing of our ancestry of which we feel 
ashamed, modesty forbids the mention of Avhat 
we do know. Suffice it to say that, whatever 
claims Me may haAe to the succession of Euro- 
pean or other thrones, or rights to great wealthy 
estates, by rules of descent, are dismissed. 
Have lived here long enough to witness many 
importarrt changes. Remember when I knew 
the face and name of every man, Avoman, boy 
and girl in Springfield; also most of the 'country 
Jakes' who did their trading there. The free 
school system has grown up in my time, and if 
there is a man or Avoman in the county, thirty 
years of age, or irnder, who cannot read and 
write, some one is greatly at fault, and should 
be held criminally responsible, except iir case of 
idiocy or physical disability. Even mutes are 
not excusable. My first school teacher was old 
Mr. Parks, but do not remember him so dis- 
tinctly as good Mrs. Dean, who, shame to say it, 
I kicked on the nose with the first boot heel I 
CA'er wore, while she was plying her sli]iper 
where, rro doubt, it was needed. Recollect quite 
well when the first railroad locomotive came 
into Springfield. * * * I was a little fellow, 
but do not forget when the troops left for ihe 
Mexican war, nor when Tom Hessey, an ac- 
quaintance of my folks, returned, having been 
wounded by a grape shot, Avhich he brought 
home with him. I thought Tom was a hero 
arrd a martyr. Wondered if we should ever 
have another war that would afford me an 
opportunity to wear the dazzling blue with 
brass buttons. True, that grape shot and Tom 
Hessey's game leg Avould come up sometiirres, 
and dami^en my ardor. It came. I was there. 
Saw enough. Came home without glory, be- 
cause I had the good fortune to bring my l)ody 
intact. The public demand an arm, a leg, a 
hand; or there is no rcAvard, no compliment, no 
cheer. But so it has always been, perhaps 
always will be. The sacrifice, not the service, 
is Avhat we applaud. One of the really big 
things in the way of advancement was the 
scouring plows made by old John TJhler, on the 
corner east of where the town clock is now 
I located. I never used a Avooden mould-board 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



plow, but in my thirty years practical experi- 
ence, have nsed many different kinds. Plows of 
recent date have many advantages, but I have 
never seen a plow that would do the work as 
well as the old Uhler used to do it. 

" The improvements in the way of farm imple- 
ments is a matter of astonishment; but of all the 
improvements, nothing is more noticeable or im- 
portant to an agricultural county like ours than 
that of farm animals. While all kinds have been 
greatly improved, the most marked improvement 
is among cattle, hogs and sheep. Horses have 
been by no means neglected, but there were 
some good horses about here more than thirty 
years ago. Do I forget Uncle Peter Van Berg- 
en's 2:40 steppers? Not much. You never saw 
me sitting in Uncle Peter's sleigh, behind the 
first string team ever driven in Springfield to a 
cutter? Bells, little and big! I would have 
guessed more than a million in number! Talk 
about the wind. Our backs to it, a half second 
the start, and ' stand from under!' I was a very 
common boy, but a very enthusiastic one about 
that time on the trotting question. My father 
laughs now about a question, or rather a series 
of them, that amused him, but I am still of the 
same opinion. Said I, ' Father, if our horse was 
the biggest horse in the world, and was the best 
looking horse in the world, and could outrun 
any other horse, and could trot faster than any 
other horse; would he be the greatest horse in 
the world — if we had one?' 

"In poultry also, the improvement is very 
marked. * * * But what does it all amount 
to? Is the condition of the human family really 
bettered by it? Do not all these improvements 
bring with them additional demands that must 
be complied with? Do they not excite a spirit 
of unrest, jealousy and selfishness? For all time 
man has been about the same. The physical, 
social and moral culture of man brings corres- 
pondingly increased necessities and responsibili- 
ties. After all, much of the labor-saving ma- 
chinery in use, and many of the so-called con- 
veniences are over-estimated. We pay for all 
our luxuries, sometimes dearly." 

PIONEER WOMEN. 

At the annual meeting of the Pioneers' So- 
ciety, held in 1879, R. W. Diller read a number 
of letters received from pioneer women of the 
county. The following were among the number : 

MRS. JAMES PARKINSON AND MRS. SARAH KING, 
OF CURRAN. 

" Friend Diller — In response to your request 
that you would like to hear from the women por- 



tion of the old settlers of Sangamon county, we 
will give you some of our experience. Our father 
moved from Kentucky to St. Clair county, Illi- 
nois, in the year 1816 or 1817 — lived there till 
the fall of 1819; then moved to what was then 
called the Sangamo country, and settled on Spring 
creek, ten miles west of where Springfield was 
afterwards located. Our father built a camp, 
which we lived in until winter, — and consider- 
able snow and very cold, — then built a cabin; 
had to thaw the snow and ice off the boards to 
lay the roof; then put poles on to hold the boards 
down. That done, they made puncheons and laid 
part of the floor, and put up bedsteads of some 
kind; then had to make beds under the bed- 
steads for us children to sleep on, there being 
nine children and three grown persons. The 
cabin where there was no floor, we used for 
hearth and fire-place, leaving a hole in the roof 
for the smoke to go out at. This way we lived 
the first winter. After that we done a little bet- 
ter ; built a pen at one end of the house for the 
sheep, to keep the wolves from killing them, and 
the wolves serenaded us nearly every night. The 
principal part of the provender for our stock was 
elm and lin brush. Our men would cut down 
trees for the stock to eat the branches and bark 
off. Our breadstuffs had to be brought from 
near St. Louis, about one hundred miles. It was 
principally corn bread made up with cold water 
and baked in a skillet or oven — was commonly 
called corn-dodger. Our meat was in abundance, 
we had pork, venison, turkey and prairie chicken 
and wild honey for all that was out. Had coffee 
about once a week, generally of a Sunday morn- 
ing, the balance of the time, milk and Avater 
mixed. This was for the first season, after that 
we had enough milk without mixing it with 
water. As for our clothes, we had to raise, pick, 
spin and weave cotton to make clothes for 
winter and summer; we also made linsey. The 
first indigo we had, we raised; used that,shumach 
berries, white walnut bark and other barks for 
coloring. 

" Now for the cotton picking. Mother would 
every night fill a pint cup full of cotton in the 
seed for each one of us, and lay it doAvn before 
the fire and tell us when we picked it we could 
go to bed, and we had it to do. Then we pitched 
in and warmed our cotton, and the warmer we 
made it, the better it picked, so we would take a 
good sAveat. The next day that had to be carded 
and spun, so we would soap the cotton some 
card and some spin, and when we would get 
enough spun and colored to make a dress apiece, 
we would put it in the loom and weave it. It 



188 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



did not take tit'teen or twenty yards to make a 
dress, nor thirty or forty days to make one, 
althought they were made by hand. Now, to 
give you a more perfect idea of the cloth and 
fashion of our dresses at that time, we will here 
show you a sample of one of our mother's 
dresses, which she wore about fifty-live years 
ago — not only mother, but some of the rest of 
us young ladies. This is tbe only one we have 
saved, it being our mother's. We have often 
thought and talked of exhibiting this dress 
before to old settlers' meetings, but have failed 
to do it, but when our friend Diller gave us such 
a pressing invitation to take a part in contribut- 
ing to the entertainment, we could resist no 
longer, so we thought we would give a little 
sketch of our doings for the first two or three 
years in this county. Now for our calico dresses. 
We cannot show you a sample, as we have not 
saved one for posterity, but it would be some- 
thing similar to the cotton, one in number of 
years and make. Before we could get one we 
had to make jeans and swap for calico, or else 
dig ginseng and smat. We had a neighbor 
woman who had a small baby, and had no cradle, 
and she conceived the idea of substituting her 
apron for a cradle; tie the baby in it, then the 
apron around her neck, and spun on the big 
wheel in order to make clothing for her family. 
As for schooling, that was not very much. Our 
first school we went to after we came here was 
four miles, taught by a man named Andrew. 
Four or five of us went by turns. The youngest 
was nine years old. Went on foot, and the road 
was a path through the high grass and woods, 
and the stars were often shining when we got 
home, and there were wolves and panthers 
plenty. They were frequently seen, and you can 
well imagine how we felt when the stars began 
to shine. The oldest ones would form a front 
and rear guaid, and put the smallest in the mid- 
dle, and hurry them along, all scared nearly to 
death. Our school house was a log cabin; the 
windows were big cracks, with paper pasted over 
and greased to give light. Our seats were split 
logs, with legs put in to sit on. Our church was 
built of logs, and about four miles from us. It 
was a Methodist church, and when we had com- 
pany we went on foot, one behind the other in 
the path. Mrs. James Parkinson, 

Mrs. Sarah King." 



MRS. CHARLOTTE JACOBS. 

LoAMi, III., August 3, 1879. 
*' Ladies and Gentlemen: — I was born April 
19, 1797, in Winchester, Clark county, Kentucky. 



My maiden name was Charlotte Webb, daughter 
of Adin and Mary Webb. I was married to 
Daniel Jacobs in the year of our Lord 1818. 
We lived in Kentucky until the fall of 1825. 
We then started to Illinois, and on the 7th of 
November arrived at Lick creek, and settled on 
the farm that we have ever since occupied. 
When we moved to Illinois our neighbors were 
scarce. Mr. Lindley, Mr. Darneille, Myers 
Campbell and my husband, with their families, 
moved into a little log cabin, fifteen by sixteen, 
with a puncheon floor and a clapboard door. 
The chimney had no back, or jams, or hearth. 
How friendly the people were in those days. 
They would go miles to see one another, and to 
take and return the hearty shake of the hand. 
As I look back on those days, I think of them as 
some of my happiest days. You must know that 
it took stout, hearty and resolute woman to set- 
tle a wilderness country like this was, and to 
buffet with the storms of life, but God's hand 
was over all, and he brought us safely through. 
I raised a large family, nine daughters and two 
sons, to be grown and married. They are all 
living and doing well. My children, grand- 
children and great grand-children living, are one 
hundred and fourteen. If all were living there 
would be one hundred and thirty-six. 1 am 
now in my eighty-third year, and can walk with- 
out fatigue, to ray daughter's, Mrs. Frank Dar- 
neille, about two miles, and I feel thankful for 
my good health. We brought only one chair 
with us, so my brother made one for himself and 
my husband, with a gimlet and a draw-knife as 
the only tools. I have the gimlet yet. I brought 
with me three cows, and ray husband bought 
five hounds. The first hogs we had I bought 
twelve shoats, and paid for thera with linsey and 
jeans, of my own make. We had to raise flax 
and cotton to make our clothing. I made every- 
thing that we wore. I even made my towels 
and table cloths, sheets and everything in the 
clothing line. I have some of my towels and 
table cloths yet, and one sheet of my last flax 
spinning. We had a pretty hard time for a 
while, but we worried through. Our nearest 
trading place was St. Louis, and we had not 
much money to buy with. We had to go to the 
American bottom to get our bread stuff, and we 
paid one dollar per bushel for corn, until we 
raised some. Our meat was principally wild 
meat, such as deers, turkeys and prairie chickens. 
We put up with anything. What we could not 
make we did without. I made a churn by taking 
a keg and knocking one end out; made a dasher to 
I fit, and presume made just as sweet butter then 




^ 



^£^ a-j^c/^ 



.::^/.L£c4f /^'0n 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



191 



as our women do now. This is only a short 
sketch of my early life, and perhaps some of the 
young people will doubt its trutn. IJut if you 
don't believe it, I can refer you to any of my old 
neighbors. Yours respectfully, 

Charlotte Jacobs." 



ELIZABETH HARBOUR, DAUGHTER OF SIMON LIND- 
LEY. 

"I was born September 4, 1803, in Christian 
county, Kentucky. I came to Illinois Territory 
in 1807, and wintered on Wood river, in what is 
now known as Madison county. I then moved 
to Shoal creek, which is now Bond county. 
Remained there until the beginning of the 
war of 1812, when my father, with about 
forty other families, went into the fort called 
Hill's Station, where we remained until peace 
was declared. Hill's Station was near where 
Greenville, Bond county, now is. A guard, con- 
sisting of the militia and the rangers, was kept 
to guard the fort, on account of the numerous 
Indians. The Indians attacked the fort four 
different times. The fourth time the Indians 
nearly succeeded in their attempt, most of the 
militia being out on a skirmish. Thirteen men 
went out in the morning, and only thirteen men 
remained in the fort. While the thirteen were 
going away, they were attacked by the Indians, 
who were lying in ambush, and the Indians 
killed four and wounded one — Thomas Higgins. 
When he was wounded, he attempted to reach 
the fort, but he was ovei-taken by two Indians. 
One he knocked senseless with the breech of 
his gun, and with the other he had a fist fight, 
but men from the fort came to his relief, and he 
reached the fort, where my father took from 
him seven balls. During the battle, one of the 
women, Lydia Persley, took her musket and 
started out to kill an Indian, but she was stoj^ped 
at the gate by the guard. She thought her hus- 
band had been killed, and she wanted to seek 
revenge, but her husband was not killed. This 
attack was made the 2'7th of August, 1813. The 
fii'st murder was committed about two and a half 
miles from ray father's house, at one of our 
neighbors', Mr. Cox, he himself being killed by 
the Indians. Rebecca, his sister, killed six out 
of the seven, while they attempted to enter the 
house. When we first came to Shoal Creek, 
game was abundant. My brother, John Lindley, 
and another man killed twenty-five deer one 
morning before nine o'clock. They took only 
the hams and hides, which they took to St. 
Louis. 

22— 



"We next moved to what is now known as 
Madison county, on Silver creek, near what is 
now Lebanon, where we remained until 1820, 
when we came to Lick creek, what is now San- 
gamon county, which then consisted of Mason, 
Menard, Cass, Logan, Tazewell and part of 
Christian, a small part of Macon, part of Mc- 
Lean, part of Woodford, part of Marshall, and 
part of Putnam. When we came there were 
but six families near us — John Darnielle, Bar- 
ton Darneille, John Campbell, John Wycoff, 
Henry Brown and Levi Harbour. Our mill was 
near by — we had to go only about eighty or 
ninety miles, but shortly after there was a horse 
mill built on Sugar creek. The Indians were 
still here when we came, but they were some- 
what friendly and not very numerous. I was 
married to Samuel Harbour July 28, 1826; liave 
lived in the same place ever since, and raised 
nine children to be men and women. During 
the time I had many hardships, I had to weave 
and spin. It only took eight yards of calico to 
make a dress, and not twenty-eight, as at pres- 
ent. We had to make our clothing from cotton, 
flax and wool. During the v^inter of the deep 
snow when we got out of meal, we had to use 
pounded meal and live on hominy until we 
could break a road to the horse-mill. When we 
got out of groceries we had to resort to the 
woods for sassafras tea. I forgot to mention 
about the ranger who was wounded on what is 
now supposed to be Spring creek, and was 
brought to Sulphur Spring on Lick creek, where 
he died and was buried, at what is now Sulphur 
Spring Cemetery, he being the first man buried 
there. I am nearly seventy-six years old, and 
have a very sick daughter at present; my mind 
being flustrated I cannot say near as much as 
I could otherwise. This being a very, very short 
sketch of the troubles I have witnessed. I sin- 
cerely hope no other person will ever have to 
pass through the many hardships which I have 
experienced. Yours respectfully, 

E. Lindley." 



.TAMES AND ELIZA HEADLEY. 

Chatham, 111., August 14, 1879. 

" R. W. Diller Esq. : — We were not pioneers of 
Sangamon county, but were pioneers of Vigo 
county, Indiana, and as my wife cannot write, I 
thought I would write a few lines for her and 
myself. Now if you think these lines will add 
any to the occasion, all right; if not, throw them 
into the waste basket. We settled sixteen miles 
north of Terre Haute, in the fall of 1819, on 



192 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the outskirts of civilization. The Indians were 
quite numerous for years after, and quite 
troublesome, being terrible beggars. We located 
on up-land, where there was not a tree cut, and 
the nettles and pea-vines were so thick that we 
could scarcely see the ground, so we took a 
horse and brush and dragged them down tor a 
considerable space around, went to work and 
put up a camp, moved into it, and in four weeks 
moved into a hewed log house, nineteen feet 
square, in which we lived the next winter with- 
out a chimney. The place for the chimney was 
cut out and the lire just outside, bat we were 
well smoked that winter. While this work was 
going on, we had to grate all the meal for quite 
a large family. After corn became too hard we 
used the hominy mortar and pestle. There was 
no mill nearer than thirty miles, and then of a 
dry season it could not grind. A miller told us 
once to live on faith and dumplings, but we had 
nothing to make dumplings of. For clothing, 
many of the boys and some of the men had to 
wear dressed buckskin. In fact, I have seen 
Randolph Wedding, of Terre Haute, dressed in 
buckskin from head to foot. He became after- 
wards County Judge." 

"And now a word about Miss Brown, who is 
now Mrs. Headley. She came a few years later 
from old Spencer county, Indiana, a poor girl, 
working about from place to place. She spent 
four months with two families, and received 
about two dollars. She often washed for fami- 
lies, and scrubbed the floor, for twenty-five 
cents. After she became older and more experi- 
enced, never received to exceed seventy-five 
cents per week. In those days many families 
made their own cotton. She states, when she 
went to school she had to take cotton in the seed 
with her, and pick it during play time. When 
she carded and spun cotton, six cuts were a day's 
work; spinning flax or wool, twelve cuts were 
required for a day's work. In those days our 
girls dressed very plainly. I never knew them 
to train their silks and satins in the dust. Their 
every-day dresses were homespun, but on Sunday 
they managed to have something nicer. She 
states, when she went to meeting she has often, 
in warm weather, carried her shoes and stock- 
ings, and when near the place, she would put 
them on. One other incident I will mention. I 
was invited by an uncle of mine, where she was 
staying, to assist him to bring in a deer he had 
killed. So we brought home the deer, quite 
tired and hungry. Miss Brown stepped around 
quite lively, and soon had a good dinner on the 
table. I then and there fell in love with her, 



and have loved her from that day to this. She 
was dressed in brown linsey on that eventful 
occasion. 

" And now all honor and God's blessing be on 
the old pioneer fathers and mothers, who, 
through great difficulties, sickness, poverty and 
privations, laid the foundation for the prosperity 
we now enjoy. 

James and Eliza Headlky." 



EXPEKIENCB OF MRS. JOHN LOCK, "WRITTEN BY A } 
FRIEND. / 

"Rochester. Ill , July 30, 18Y9. 
" Friend Diller: — At your request, I will try 
and give you a brief synopsis of my experience 
during the primitive times of Illinois, when San- 
gamon county was in its infancy. I will com- 
mence with an item of chronology. The place 
of my nativity was Fassenburg, Addison county, 
Vermont, August 31, 1802. That of my hus- 
band the same, January 10, 1799. In the spring 
of 1832, 1 and my husband first made our advent 
on these broad savannas. Oh! what changes 
have swept over these people in the swift flight 
of time since that day. My first experience upon 
landing was not calculated to enliven or to cheer, 
for immediately upon our arrival, ere we had 
time to unburden our 'prairie steamer' of our 
little effects, my husband had to stand the con- 
scription for the Black Hawk war. That was 
indeed a sad and gloomy beginning. What my 
feelings were under those trying circumstances, 
none can know. The mental anguish that I 
suffered, tongue cannot tell or pen describe. 
But I presume that it was a necessity to expel/ 
from this beautiful land the original possessor, 
who, by his numerous and cruel outrages had 
rendered himself obnoxious to the march of in- 
tellect and the vanguard of civilization. Ye of 
Sangamon of 1879, who prate of hard times, 
what, prithee, would you think, if you had to 
remain at home alone, a stranger, in this vast 
v»7ildernes8, while your husband went to St. Louis 
in a two-horse wagon to purchase corn to make 
meal of, to satisfy the craving of nature? There 
were days and weeks of agony, of fear and sus- 
pense — not knowing at what moment the aborig- 
ines, who were still in contiguous proximity to 
us, might descend and desolate our homes. 
Those, indeed, were days of action and of vigi- 
lance, for at that time I had five little children 
to guard, and the hoarse cry of the wolf was the 
only musical instrument Sangamon furnished to 
lull them to sleep. But those days are num- 
bered with the years beyond the flood. Great 
and important changes have taken place since 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



19:^, 



that period, and we are now no longer necessi- 
tated to array ourselves in habiliments of our 
own handicraft, but in that day all that adorned 
our persons were the fabrics wrought by our own 
industry on the loom. Mothers of the Sanga- 
mon of to-day, who bedeck your little ones in 
costly fabrics that outvie the floral landscape, 
think not that our little ones were less near and 
dear to us, who, fifty years ago, clothed them in 
the homespun of our own manufacture. There 
may be in this assembly, some fair exotics, that 
will smile in derision at this humble picture of 
past experiences of one whose sands are running 
low — whose fastidiousness may be horrified to 
think that the hardy pioneers of Sangamon had 
to do as I have many a time — go to the field, 
gather corn and grate it, then wait till the cows 
come up at night, to make food of it. And we 
pronounced it good; not only good, but very 
good. At that tune my husband plied his trade 
to get corn to live on while he raised his crop; 
and the first and most important order that he 
had was of one Robert Bell, for a pair of boots, 
for which he received the magnificent compensa- 
tion of three pecks of corn meal. Thus did the 
early settlers of Sangamon learn habits of econ- 
omy and frugality, and by patient industry their 
efforts have been crowned with success; for now, 
verily, the wilderness doth blossom as a rose. 
We have taken the bitter with the sweet, for 
adversity is a stern but wholesome teacher. We 
have suffered greatly at times from the malari- 
ous diseases incident to this latitude, and at that 
time our scientific resources were limited. The 
fell destroyer of mankind has visited us, and 
stolen from us several flowers of the group 
which we had gathered around us. Thus have 
we struggled on, looking forward and upward. 
We have seen old Sangamon in her infant wilder- 
ness; we now behold her in all her pride and 
grandeur, with her star of destiny still in the 
ascendant, and ranking wath those of the first 
magnitude. What the next turn of the kaleido- 
scope will bring forth for us, or for Sangamon, 
naught but the future will reveal." 

Yours truly, Mrs. John Lock." 



MRS. ROBERT BURNS. 

Buffalo Hart, III., Aug, 19, 1879. 

"Mr. Diller: I have been too sick since re- 
ceiving your request, to give my experience as 
an early settler of Sangamon county. PIoM'ever, 
I will give you a few incidents, and you can use 
them as you think best. We have been living 
here on this farm for fifty-four years next 



October. I picked cotton out of the boll, then 
the seed out of it, carded and spun and wove the 
cloth in dresses ; also made shirts from it for Mr. 
Burns, and he wore them several years. The 
first dishes I purchased in Illinois, rode to 
Springfield on horseback, taking my cloth to ex- 
change for dishes. When returning home the 
prairie was discovered burning. Mr. Burns left 
me to imt the tire out. My horse became fright- 
ened, threw me, and broke all my dearly bought 
dishes. There was not a fence or stump to get 
on, and I had to walk several miles. At last I 
came to a gopher hill and mounted again, re- 
joicing that I had escaped without seeing a wolf. 
We were here during the deep snow. Our house 
was so open that the snow blew in so much that 
we could track a rabbit across the floor. The bed 
would be almost covered in the morning. Prai- 
rie chickens were very plenty when we came. 
Mr. Burns made me a trap, and I amused myself 
during the day by catching and dressing the 
dainty game. The first table in the Grove was 
made of clapboai'ds, given me by 'Squire Moore, 
about six months after we came ; until then we 
ate off of a box. We had no chairs. 

"Mrs. Robert Burns " 
"P. S.— The dishes I bought of Major lies." 



MRS. SARAH P. HUSBAND, OF AUBURN. 

"Was born November 12, 1790, in South Caro- 
lina. Her parents moved in 1797 to Kentucky, 
passing by way of Crab Orchai'd Fort, stopping 
there a day or two for provisions, protection 
from Indians, etc., and going thence through 
Lexington to Christian county, where the family 
located. The journey from South Carolina to 
Kentucky was made on pack-horses, several per- 
sons riding on one horse. Sarah and another 
child rode with their mother on an old sorrel 
horse named 'Jack.' In 1811 she was married 
to Harman Husband (who died near Auburn, 
Illinois, February 15, 1848). The family moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in Octo- 
ber, 1820. Numerous interesting incidents oc- 
curred on the journey, but only one will be men- 
tioned, viz: While crossing the Ohio river a 
young calf jumped from the flat-boat; my hus- 
band seized the calf by one ear and held it until 
the boat reached the shore. The calf was brought 
on to Illinois and did its part in stocking the 
new county of Sangamon. Arriving in Sanga- 
mon county the family settled three miles east 
of Auburn, where the old lady still resides, aged 
eighty-nine yeai's, and still active and anxious 
to live to be one hundred years old. Among 



194 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



early incidents it may be related that the Indians 
erected on the homestead, their bark wigwams, 
etc., and hunted over the farm. The subject of 
this sketch frequently gave them corn bread, 
having no wheat bread in those days. While 
encamped on the farm, an Indian child died, and 
the Indians made a box of bark in which they 
put the corpse and suspended it from the top of 
a tall tree, thus keeping it until the tribe was 
ready to return to the burying grounds. Many 
other incidents occurred, but similar ones are 
familiar to all early settlers. Corn cakes were 
baked on a board before the fire, and 'hoe cakes ' 
were so called because they were cooked on an 
ordinary hoe, properly cleaned and greased, of 
course. Mrs. Habman Husbakd." 



MRS. ANN H. m'cOBMICK 

Springfield, 111., August 5, 1879. 
" Mr. Diller, Dear t>ir: — I came from Green 
county, Kentucky, arriving in Springfield May 
5, 1822, and have resided in Sangamon county ever 
since, making fifty-seven years last May. The 
second summer we lived here the corn was killed 
by frost, and during the summer of 1823 we 
lived mostly on green corn, potatoes and bread 
once a day. I remember well the deep snow, 
and how we walked over stake and rider fences 
on the snow. At that time I lived three and a 
half miles southeast of Springfield, with my 
father, James Short. I was married to Andrew 
McCormick, and resided in Springfield since that 
time. I have attended several Old Settlers' 
meetings, and enjoyed them very much, and I 
intend meeting my old friends once more if the 
weather will permit. 

Respectfully yours, 

Ann S. McCormick." 



OLD SETTLERS OF SANGAMON.* 

"In the fall of the year 1828, in the midst of 
the soft and mellow Indian summer, the sj^eaker 
left his native county of Fayette, Kentucky, emi- 
grating to Springfield Illinois, and traveling on 
horseback, in two days arrived at Louisville, and 
crossing the Ohio river struck the great highway 
to the West, running from Louisville to Vin- 
cennes and St. Louis, and at Maysville, Illinois, 
branching to Central Illinois, known then as the 
Sangamon country. 

" Having entered this great road, he was united 
to that mighty stream of emigrants moving west- 

*An address delivered by Major John T. Stuart at 
the Old Settlers' Reunion, September 4, 1877. 



ward, whose mission was to subdue the wilder- 
ness, to found States, to carry forward the ban- 
ner of civilization, and whose sons were to re- 
turn, at no very distant day, in arms under the 
gallant Sherman, to save the Union from disrup- 
tion, as under Hardin and Bissell they saved the 
field of Buena Vista — a race never yet defeated 
in battle, or if defeated, who never knew it. 

"That moving mass was composed of every 
specimen of humanity, men, women, children, 
lilack and white, old and young, some highly 
cultivated and refined, others at the very lowest 
round of the ladder of intellect and cultivation, 
and of every intermediate grade. There was the 
man of middle age, who had filled a high social 
position in his native State, accompanied by a 
family cultivated and refined, on the way to the 
West, to retrieve his fallen fortunes. 

" There were young girls, then obscure, un- 
known, and poorly clad, but destined to fill 
princely mansions, and to become mothers of a 
race of fair daughters and gallant sons. Young 
men and boys were there who in their new 
homes would fill high offices of State, make and 
enforce laws, and impress their names and 
genius on the history of States then springing 
into existence; or whose destiny would be to fell 
the forest, to reduce the prairie to cultivation, 
to siibdue the wilderness, and make it feed its 
millions of happy human beings; or would 
become lawyers, doctors, preachers, teachers and 
statesmen. 

"All kinds of domestic animals, and of every 
age, were there, intermingled with men, women 
and children, following the family wagon or car- 
riage. Every conceivable mode of conveyance; 
some were on horseback, or in carriages; others 
in wagons of every variety, and many on foot. 
Onward this varied mass moved by day, shout- 
ing, singing, laughing, jesting, cursing, cracking 
their whips, hallooing to their animals to press 
them forward. Merry they go, save here and 
there might be seen some serious faces of those 
who were thinking of their native homes and 
the friends they had left behind them. 

"And to the traveler on horseback, belated in 
reaching his rest for the night, how enchanting 
the scene as he rides along. The camp-fires blaz- 
ing everywhere, along the road, down every 
brook and every valley; the groups around the 
camj^-fires, and at the evening meal; the cattle 
and horses being fed at the wagon trough, or 
tethered, or wandering about browsing on grass 
or shrubs; the whistle, the song, the merry laugh, 
the bustle, the salutation to the passer-by, 
'Where are you going, stranger?' All is anima- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



195 



tion and joyous life; while over all shines the 
silver moon struggling to shed her silver light 
through the hazy Indian summer atmosphere. 
These road scenes, altogether made a spectacle 
never to be forgotten, and the like of which will 
never more be seen east of the Mississippi, and 
perhaps never again on this continent. 

"Near Maysville, Illinois, the road separated, 
and the emigrant train divided, part taking the 
road for St. Louis, and part for Central Illinois. 
And now the Grand Prairie is reached. Pen 
cannot describe a large prairie; it must have 
been seen to be appreciated ; it was grand and 
peculiar; its nakedness of everything except long 
grass and weeds, seared by the autumn frosts, 
or feeding yon long line of fires, or waving in 
the breeze; its silence disturbed only by the 
noise of small insects, the whirr of the prai- 
rie chickens, or the sighing of the breeze; 
its boundless extent, appealing to the im- 
agination; you fancied it like the ocean; its 
undulating surface resembled the waves; the 
wavering grass is the water, agitated by the 
w'ind; yon emigrant wagon, rising the distant 
hill, is the ship upon the crest of the wave; yon 
outline of timbers is the rock-bound coast; but 
the herd of deer, which, frightened at the ap- 
proach of man, bounds gracefully away to yon- 
der hill, and stands, with head and tail erect, 
gazing at you with large, bright eyes, dispels the 
dream. 

" As I am trying to make a picture of things 
as I saw them, I would recall to the memory of 
old settlers some of the scenes they witnessed 
when first crossing this same Grand Prairie, if 
not on this, on some other road. 

" Riding along the gently rolling prairie, now 
you descend into a valley, and your vision is 
limited to a narrow circle. That herd of deer 
has taken fright at your coming, quits its graz- 
ing on the tender grass of the valley, and, fol- 
lowing that old buck as leader, runs off with 
heads erect, horns thrown back, their white tails 
waving in the air, has circled around until 
yonder hillock is reached, when, turning towards 
you, they gaze with their dark, bright eyes, as if 
inquiring why you have invaded their free pas- 
tures. As you ride along, the rattlesnake is 
stretched across the road, sunning itself, and the 
prairie wolf takes to his heels and gallops ofi: 
much like a dog, but slowly, as if to show you 
that he is not much f lightened. That flock of 
prairie chickens has taken wings, and with a 
whirr flies away, and now has alighted yonder. 

" And now you have reached this ridge, 
checking your horse you turn in your saddle 



and gaze around. As far as the eye can reach, 
and bounded only by the horizon, stretches the 
undulating prairie, covered with grass and resin 
weed. How grand, how beautiful the view! 
How like the sea with its rolling waves! 

"And now again you have been overtaken by 
night; you reach that other hillock, and check- 
ing your horse, you again gaze around you. 
The prairie grass is on fire, here, there, every- 
where, all around the horizon, and lighting up 
the whole heavens. The scene now, how unlike 
that other, but still how grandly beautiful! A 
vision of wondrous enchantment, the like of 
which is now gone forever. Few scenes on 
earth surpass such a prairie, either in the bright 
sunshine of day, or when in the night blazing 
with such fires. 

"I have since stood at the foot of one of the 
Rocky Mountains, lifting its lofty head amid 
the clouds, its sides massive, rugged, treeless, 
without insect or fowl, silent as the grave. The 
scene of the mountains and of the prairie are 
widely different. The one grand and full of 
life, but impressing the first beholder with a 
sense of beauty; the other silent, grand, sub- 
lime, and impressing its first beholder with a 
sense of wonder and awe, but alike suggestive 
of the thought that none but God, One, Al- 
mighty, Allwise, could make them, and with 
wonder that anyone could doubt it, or believe 
that they came into existence by chance, by evo- 
lution or the aggregation of sentient particles 
of matter. 

"The night of the tenth day of his journey 
the speaker passed at the house of Mr. Hus- 
bands, on Sugar creek, in Sangamon county, 
and early next morning was passing along the 
road through the Springfield prairie, and about 
where the junction now is. What a difference 
between 'now' and 'then!' Now may be seen 
by one, passing by the Junction, long lines of 
freight and passenger cars on the two roads 
crossing at that point from North to Sc^ith, and 
from East to West. 

"There is the coal shaft, the noise and smoke 
of its engine, and the huts of the miners; there 
are in view the spires and curling smoke of the 
Capital City; all around are well cultivated 
farms, well stocked with fine cattle, and every- 
where around are life, activity, and progress. 

"Then all around was unbroken prairie, the 
home of the wolf, the deer, and the ])rairie 
fowl; unmarked by civilization or cultivation, 
except the scattering farms and houses along the 
timber. The dwellers in those houses, if then 
asked, would have informed you that these 



196 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



IDi-airie lands would never be purchased of the 
General Government, that they were not worth 
the taxes and would ever remain pasture 
grounds for those owning the lands near the 
timber. 

"Traveling thence north, nothing yet met the 
eye, except the wild prairie, and its boundary of 
timber, and on that boundary on the east, the 
farms of Washington lies and of Mason and 
Plank, and on the west, of Little and Linds^ay. 
At the distance of one mile the high ground was 
reached, the rim of the valley in which Spring- 
held was situated, where new runs the South 
Avenue. Thence descending into the valley, the 
only additional improvements to be seen were 
the farms of Lanterman and Lanswell on the 
west, and of Charles R. Matheny on the east, 
w^here IVIrs. Robert Irwin now lives, and of Mas- 
ters, in front of the traveler. 

"Passing the Masters farm on the left (now 
Moran's addition), and the house of the Masters, 
near the residence of Mrs. Humphrey, and cross- 
ing the open prairie, the road running nearly 
where are now the residences of Mrs. Chestnut 
and N. W. Ed^\ards, to the grove afterwards 
known as Mather's grove, where the new State 
House is being built, and following the road 
west of Mather's grove, with the grove on the 
right, and on the left the corn-field of Major 
lies (now EdAvards & Mather's addition), to the 
eminence, where now stands the residence of the 
late Mr. Tyndale, the little village until then hid 
by the timber and brushwood along the town 
branch, first burst upon the view. 

"Reining in the horse, pausing on that emi- 
nence, to take a survey, the eye rested upon a 
dense grove of Black Jack, and undergrowth, 
east and west, all along the town branch, cover- 
ing the entire hill on which Mr. Lamb's house is 
situated, while in front lay the little village of 
Springfield, made up of a string of small houses, 
mainly extending three blocks, along Jefferson 
street, I'vom First to Fourth streets, with some 
few scattered elsewhere. 

"The houses were generally small, unpainted, 
and some daubed with mud; the rain of the 
morning had given to all a dreary and cheerless 
look, bringing a fit of blues to one who remem- 
bered the pleasant home of his boyhood, and 
then surveying for the first time, the home of 
his manhood, which then promised so little and 
has proved so full of happiness. 

"The village of Springfield was built in a val- 
ley about two miles wide ; it was drained by a 
stream, since known as the Town Branch, which 
heads in the southeast corner of the city, and 



runs west-northwest, and empties into Spring 
creek. Into the Town Branch on either side, in 
flood time, at intervals of three or four hundred 
yards, the water had washed deep gullies, or 
ruts, which drained the entire valley into the 
Town Branch, one of these wet weather drains 
ran from the northeast corner of the square to 
the southwest corner, and thence to the Town 
Branch, near the railroad bridge. 

"This surface drainage has entirely disap- 
peared, being displaced by the admirable under- 
ground drainage adopted by the city. On both 
sides of the Town Branch as high as Sixth 
street, was a dense forest of small trees and 
undergrowth, the harbor of deer and wolves. 
The remains of this forest may be seen in the 
yards of Mrs. Goodell, of the Governor's Man- 
sion, and of Mr. Eastman. Parallel with the 
Town Branch are two ridges, the rims of the 
valley, at an elevation of from twenty to thirty 
feet above the branch. The North and South 
Avenues run very nearly upon the summit of 
these ridges. 

"The central points of intercourse, at that 
day, in the Northwest, were St. Louis on the 
south, and the lead mines near Galena on the 
north; and the leading road of the Northwest 
was between these two points. The road from 
Vincennes by the way of Vandalia, united with 
this road at Macoujiin jjoint, and entered Spring- 
field as above described, over the hill where the 
new State House is building, and running on 
First street, to Jefferson, and passing the 
Abrams Hotel, the principal hotel of the city, 
on the corner of First and Jefferson, continued 
on Jefferson to Fourth street, where the St. 
Nicholas now stands, there turning to the north, 
in a nearly straight line, to the present residence 
of Mr. Converse, thence to the Sangamon river, 
very nearly orr the line of the present road, and 
thence north by Music's Bridge and Peoiia to 
Galena. This was then called the Fort Clark 
road. The next road in importance was the 
road to Beardstown, which running west on 
Jefferson street and crossing the Town Branch 
at the tan-yard and old mill, foUow^ed very 
near the present line of road to Beardstown. 
The east and west road from Jacksonville, very 
near its present line, united with the Beardstown 
road at the Town Branch and passed thicugh 
Springfield on Jefferson street to the square, and 
thence east through an open prairie, and crossed 
Sugar creek, near Major lies' farm. 

"In ISlSjElisha Kelly visited the present site 
of ^Springfield, there then being no white inhabi- 
tants north of Edwardsville. He was pleased 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



197 



with the situation because it abounded with 
game and was a good hunting ground. He re- 
turned to North Carolina and induced his family 
connection to move, and in the year 1819 John 
Kelly built a cabin north of the Town Branch, 
near where it is crossed by Jefferson street, the 
present site of the residence of General Ander- 
son. With John lived his father and several 
unmarried brothers. William Kelly built a 
cabin north of John, on a tract owned after- 
wards by Archer G. Herndon, now the residence 
of C. A. Gehrman, the merchant. Andrew 
Elliot built still further north at the place 
where he died, now Elliot's addition; all these 
cabins were near the timber of the Town 
Branch. These were the first settlers of Spring- 
field, if not of Sangamon county. It may well 
be wondei-ed why those primitive settlers, hav- 
ing the choice of the whole country, should 
select these inferior sites for cultivation, rather 
than the higher and better lands in the vicinity. 
The answer is found in the wants, and opinions 
of that early day. They needed water and fuel, 
these were found on the Town Branch. They 
needed shelter from the wind, they found it in 
the timber of Town Branch; above all other 
things, they wanted a good hunting ground; 
that they also found on the Town Branch and 
Spring creek, one of the very best of hunting 
grounds, and moreover in the opinion of the 
early settlers, they Avho occupied the land bord- 
ering on the timber, would become practically, 
the owners of the outside prairie, as their pasture 
ground forever. 

On the 28th day of October, 1828, he entered 
Springfield by First to Jefferson street. At the 
crossing of First and Jefferson, looking west, on 
the margin of the timber and Town Branch, 
stood the old horse-mill of John Taylor, then 
abandoned, and the tan-yard of William Proc- 
ter, now living at Lewiston. Both of these 
buildings were on the north of Jefferson street, 
and intermediate between them and First street 
was a corn field. On the south side of Jeffei'- 
son, and west of First street, stood the houses of 
John Sherril, a shoemaker, and John Moor, who 
had married Mrs. Hawley, the estimable mother 
of E. B. Hawley and Isaac Hawley; and west 
of Moor were the cabins of Uncle Billy Fagan 
and of William Baker. Going thence east on 
Jefferson street, first stood the hotel of Mr. 
Abrams, on the south side, and adjoining was 
the dwelling and store of John Taylor, next the 
Buck Tavern, kept by Andrew Elliot, next the 
grocery and adjoining dwelling of William Car- 
penter, On the opposite side of Jefferson was 



first what was once the old tavern, but then the 
dwelling of Colonel Cox and family. Next east 
were five or six small two-room frame buildings, 
with ends to the street: the first occupied by 
Jessie Cormack in the front room as a tinner's 
shop, while Asa S. Shaw occupied the rear room 
as a justice's office; next was the store house of 
Mordecai Mobley; .next the grocery of Ebenezer 
Capps, and the two next on the corner were 
occupied as the store of General James D. 
Henry, with Philip C. Latham as clerk. Follow- 
ing east on Jefferson and across Second street, 
at the corner, on the right, stood the store where 
Elijah lies sold goods, and John Williams per- 
formed well the duties of clerk. The family of 
Major lies resided in the same house. Next was 
a two-story log house, in the lower room of 
which Jabez Capps had a shoemaker's shop, the 
upper room being the residence of his family. 
Opposite, on the north side of Jeffei'son, and on 
its corner with Second street, stood a small log 
house, occupied as a store and dwelling by 
Archer G. Herndon; next east was a two-room 
frame house, with end to the street, the front 
room occupied by Hooper Warren as a printing 
oflice, and the rear room as the dwelling of his 
family; next, and on an eighty-foot lot, stood a 
two-story house, with two rooms below, with a 
hall between, occupied as a residence by Paschal 
P. Enos and his family, except the east lower 
room, which was used as a land office. Contin- 
uing east on Jefferson, and crossing Third street, 
and as you looked south on Third, not far from 
the south end of the Chicago & Alton Depot, 
stood another two-room frame building, with 
end to Third street, occupied by a carj^enter 
named Fowler as a residence; next was Levi 
Goodin in a cabin on the south side of Jefferson, 
while on the corner of Fourth and Jefferson, on 
the south side, stood the residence of General 
James Adams. On the north side of Jeffer- 
son, between Third and Fourth streets, stood a 
double log building, the residence of Gorden 
Abrams. Next, on the corner of Fourth and 
Jefferson, stood the residence and shop of Dr. 
Jayne. This house still stands, and is occupied 
by Mr. Baum as a stone and marble establish- 
ment. Still going east on Jefferson, and cross- 
ing Fourth street to the right, on the eighty-foot 
lot on which the St. Nicholas now stands, was a 
two- story double log house, the residence of 
Charles Boyd, a tailor. On the north side of 
Jefferson, and opposite to Boyd, was the resi- 
dence of Thomas Strawbridge and his sister, 
Mrs. Anderson. Jacob Plank resided in a two- 
room frame house, on the corner of Sixth and 



198 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Jeffersou, and crossing Sixth street, on the 
corner lot of Jefferson and Fifth streets stood 
the blacksmith shop of John White, and his 
residence adjoining. On the opposite side 
was the cabin of the Tuckers, and these 
were the last houses on East Jefferson. 
Crossing to Washington street, and beginning 
again on First sti'eet and' moving east be- 
tween First and Second and on the block- 
south and on the site of the present residence 
of Major Orendorff, stood a two-story frame 
house, the best in the village, the then residence 
of Dr. John Todd. This frame house was after- 
wards removed and still stands nearly opposite, 
across the street. Going still east on Washing- 
ton near the corner of Washington and Third 
and near the present site of the flouring mill, 
stood a log cabin, the residence of Polly, a col- 
ored woman, and her family. Still east, on the 
corner of Washington and Fourth, stood a double 
frame house then occupied as a residence by Joe 
Thomas, afterwards purchased by and made the 
residence of Dr. John G. Bergen, while on the 
same block, and near the corner of Washington 
and Fifth, stood the residence of Asa S. Shaw. 
On the opposite block, and on the corner where 
now stands the Chenery House, there stood the 
cabin of a colored woman, called familiarly 
Aunt Creecy, and these were the only houses on 
Washington street. There were but two houses 
of Adams street, the blacksmith shop of Aleck 
Humphreys, and his residence adjoining, situ- 
ated on the corner of Adams and Third, on the 
north side, opposite to the Episcopal Church, 
and the residence of Dr. Garrett Elkin, on the 
two lots on the south side of Adams, where it 
corners with Sixth street, now occupied by the 
magnificent stores of C. M. Smith and others, 
the very centre of business. Washington lies 
and family live in a two-room frame house on 
the corner of Monroe and Fourth sti-eets, the 
present site of the Second Presbyterian Church. 
Rivers McCormack, a Methodist circuit rider, 
had built and lived in a cabin on Monroe, on 
part of the Tyndale hill, but he had ceased to 
occupy it. Fronting the public square, on the 
corner of Sixth and Adams, stood a two-story 
frame building, the lower rooms of which were 
used as a court room, while the upper was used 
by Charles R. Matheny as a clerk's office. Front- 
ing the public square on the west, and on the 
lot now occupied by Joel Brown as a book and 
drug store, stood another two-room frame hoiise, 
with end to the street, then occupied by Dr. 
Darling as a family residence. On the east 
side of the public square was the whipping-post. 



I saw two men punished at the whipping post. 
The last was named Watson, who was sentenced 
to receive eighty lashes for an attempt to rob 
Mr. Bouge. General Henry, the sheriff", inflicted 
the punishment, and it was doubted by those 
who saw it, whether Henry or Watson suffered 
most. Henry was very pale, and I hope never 
to see another such a sight. I believe I have 
enumerated all the buildings in the village of 
Springfield; all north of Jefferson, all east of 
Sixth street, and south of Adams, except as 
above mentioned, was unbroken prairie, except 
that Charles R. Matheny and family lived on 
the corner of Sixth and Cook streets, now the 
residence of Mrs. Irwin, and there cultivated 
about forty acres; and Edward Mitchell resided 
with his family northeast of the public square, 
on a small farm, which afterwards was laid out 
into Mitchell's addition. 

" The town of Springfield then had not exceed- 
ing five hundred inhabitants, and they were 
from every section and State in the Union, gen- 
erally young people, except where the father or 
grandfather had come out with some younger 
branch of his family. They were, as a rule, 
poor, and had moved West to better their for- 
tunes. It required some courage and nerve then 
to emigrate to the West, and therefore they 
were generally energetic and enterprising. They 
were persons who had come from good families 
East; had seen good society, and Avere as well 
educated, cultivated and refined as were the in- 
habitants of towns of the same size East or 
West. All had traveled more or less to reach 
Illinois, and some had come from the remote 
States. This gave them an advantage over citi- 
zens of the old States, in the knowledge of men 
and things which travel brings along with it. 
All were on equality, the only distinction arising 
from superior intelligence or better moral char- 
acter. This equality rendered them social, hos- 
pitable and kind to each other, and ready to 
receive strangers with open arms. Their social 
intercourse was free from forms and restraint, 
which wealth and more extended social circles 
bring along with them. They met together on 
the street, in the offices, or around the family 
circle, and were happy in their intercourse with 
each other. The young lady who wished to 
have company in the evening did not send out 
elegant cards, but placed a lighted candle in her 
window; the young men, collected around the 
four corners at the crossings of Second and 
Jefferson, would see the light, accept the invita- 
tion, and assemble for social enjoyment. I re- 
member well the first time this occurred after 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



my arrival. Miss Clarissa Benjamin, now Van 
Bergen, placed her candle in the window of the 
parlor room, above the store of Major lies. Phil. 
Latham gave notice by exclaiming: ' Boys, Clar- 
issa's candle is in the window; let us go over.' 
The young men assembled there, and found 
Miss Clarissa Benjamin, Misses Hannah and 
Margaret Taylor, the Misses Dryers, and Miss 
Jane Bergen. It was a pleasant, social evening, 
and these ladies were as handsome, refined, and 
entertained as well and gracefully, as the young 
ladies of the present day. 

The people then in Springfield were moral 
and honest; there was little stealing or cheating. 
There was no occasion then to lock up the doors 
and bar the windows at night; they had no fear 
of sleeping with all open. The use of ardent 
spirits was perhaps more general then than now, 
but there was less drunkenness. To drink was 
then fashionable, and the wonder is that all did 
not become drunkards. I have remarked that 
all the early settlers of the town who habitually 
used ardent spirits, and especially those who 
used them to excess, have made no mark in the 
world, but died young, and are forgotten; while 
the sober men, as a rule, have become heads of 
large and respectable families, lived respectably, 
and contributed to the building up of the city 
and the advancement of all its social interests. 

"Grouping the business men of that day, the 
lawyers were Gen. James Adams, Gen. Thos. M. 
Neale, Col. James Strode, Thomas Moffitt and 
Jonathan H. Pugh, men of mark then, but now 
all dead and forgotten, overshadowed by that 
brilliant galaxy of laAvyers, their successors, 
which adorned the Sangamon Bar between the 
years 1830 and 1840. The physicians were Dr. 
John Todd, Dr. Gershom Jayne, Dr. Garret 
Elkin, Dr. Ephram Darling. They were good 
l^hysicians in any country, were men of intelli- 
gence, estimable in all their social relations ; be- 
sides they were men of splendid physique, and 
able to endure the arduous labor of the practice 
of the day which required them to ride night 
and day, on horseback or in the sulky, for fifty 
miles around. The merchants were Elijah lies. 
Gen. Henry, Mordecai Mobley, John Taylor, 
Archer G. Herndon, while Ebenezer Capp kept 
the grocery ; they were all good men then, and 
enjoyed the confidence of the community. 
Charles R. Matheny was clerk of the Circuit and 
County coux'ts, and in fact filled all the oftices of 
the county. He emigrated from Virginia, was 
a lawyer by education and a Methodist preacher 
by practice. He had been Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, and a member of that body. I 

23— 



He was a good and useful man, had a pleasant, 
smiling countenance, beaming with benevolence 
as if the light of Heaven was shining on him, sing- 
ling him out from the others. Jonathan H. Pugh 
was born in Bath county, Kentucky; a lawyer by 
profession. Emigrating to the West, he settled 
in Bond county, Illinois ; removed to Springfield, 
Illinois, about the, year 1824, where he lived un- 
til his death in 1834. He was possessed of a 
remarkably pleasant address, and was, in the fall 
of 1828, the most prominent and popular man in 
Northern Illinois. He had a good and showy 
intellect, was brilliant in his wit, and sparkling 
repartee, and for his social qualities was beloved 
by his friends. He was ambitious, and was 
elected three times as a Representative in the 
legislature. He was a candidate for Congress 
in 1832, and defeated by Gov. Duncan. His 
mortification was so great that he surrendered 
to a habit which became his fatal enemy, died 
about the age of thirty-five years, and fills an 
unknown grave. 

" General James D. Henry was a shoemaker by 
trade, which he followed at Edwardsville; re- 
moved to Springfield, and became a merchant; 
was sheriff of the county two or three ternm; 
was first a Colonel and then a Brigadier General 
in the Black Hawk war, and at the battle of 
Wisconsin proved himself the hero of that war. 
He was a man of good understanding, of fine 
person, brave and generous, of wonderful mag- 
netic influence and power to attach men to him. 
He went to New Orleans in the spring of 1834 
for his health, and died and was buried there. 
At the time of his death he could have been 
elected to any office in the gift of the people of 
Illinois, and the only question he debated, was 
whether in the election of 1834, he would be a 
member of Congress or Governor. He died aged 
about forty years, possessed of a good constitu- 
tion and a bright future before him, the victim 
of the same bad habit. Asa S. Shaw was from 
the State of New York, where he had been a 
merchant and failed; settling at Springfield he 
became emphatically the Justice of the Peace, 
possessed of a very strong intellect, good judg- 
ment, and superior business qiialifications, and 
capable of great usefulness; but he, too, suc- 
cumbed in the meridian of life to the same fatal 
enemy. 

"I have singled out these three men because 
they were my friends, to whom I was fdncerely 
attached, and whose memory to-day, after the 
lapse of more than forty years, is still green and 
fragrant, and I mean no wrong to them when I 
would use this occasion to impress upon all, and 



200 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



especially upon the young, that ardent s})irits, 
habitually used, will soon become the master of 
the man; will undermine the strongest constitu- 
tion; it will quench the brightest genius; blight 
the fairest prospects, and will dig for him an 
early, if not a dishonorable grave. 

"No attempted picture of Springfield would 
be complete in which Major Elijah lies had not 
a prominent place. Emigrating from Bath 
county, Kentucky, to Missouri in 1818, and to 
Springtield, Illinois, in 1821, where he yet lives, 
at the age of eighty-seven years, when the site 
of Springtield was a prairie, with the exception 
of the cabins of the Kellys and of Elliott. He 
became a boarder in the cabin of John Kelly, 
and then repeatedly saw Elliott and one of the 
Kelly's return in the morning from hunting up 
the town branch, with a deer which had been 
shot near where the Governor's house now stands, 
and off which he breakfasted. He opened a 
store and sold goods for many years; was a Major 
in the Winnebago war, and a captain of a spy 
company in the Black Hawk war. He served 
the county of Sangamon two terms in the State 
Senate, and could have served longer had he not 
preferred to retire. He was one of the original 
proprietors of the town, and at that early day 
contributed largely to its growth,, while his 
home, presided over by his estimable wife, as- 
sisted by her graceful sister. Miss Benjamin, was 
the pleasant resort of the young people. By his 
sagacity and industry he has acquired a large 
fortune, without wrong or suspicion of wrong to 
any one. His name was without a stain — modest 
and unassuming, through his long life, he has 
had the love and respect of his friends, and now, 
amid the sorrows of his old age, has the respect 
and sympathy of the entire community. 

"Sangamon county was settled originally, 
with some exceptions, by a class of men known 
on the frontiers as bee-hunters; men who were 
the advance guard of emigration, following fast 
upon the flight of the bees. These were a hardy 
and honest race of men, who loved adventure, 
the freedom and independence of frontier life, 
and did not love to be crowded by close neigh- 
bors, or offended by the accompaniments of civi- 
lization. This class would emigrate to a new 
country, establish a claim of some sort to a piece 
of land, build a cabin, raise corn enough to feed 
their horses and hogs, and for bread, and spend 
the leisure time hunting and fishing, and when a 
second and better class of emigration flowed in, 
would sell out their claims and move still further 
west to the still advancing frontier. That 
change, to a great extent, had taken place in 



Sangamon in the fall of 1828, and was then going 
on. The bee-hunters were going west to Brown, 
Adams and Pike counties, Illinois; then to Iowa 
and Missouri, and are doubtless still hunting the 
frontier, if indeed there is now any frontier. 
Their place had been supplied, and was being 
supplied by emigrants of a different class, from 
almost every State in the Union, but principally 
from Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and the New 
England States. 

"Those came mostly from the middle classes 
of society, which embraces the bone and sinew 
of every country. They were generally from 
the mountainous sections, and were large in per- 
son, moral, honest, and hospitable; the latch- 
string of their door was always out. They were 
manly, brave, generous, frank; when, with a 
warm smile on their face, they clasped their 
hands in yours, you instinctively felt the heart 
went with it. These early settlers of Sangamon 
were a race of good and noble men, worthy to 
be the fathers of our great country, and their 
sons should remember their ancestry, and never 
disgrace them. 

"As the result of their labors, early toils and 
hardships, we have the great county of Sanga- 
mon, with its wealthy, thriving, peaceful and 
happy neighborhood. I say peaceful, and in 
proof, I would mention the fact that the law 
docket of Sangamon has always shown less liti- 
gation than other counties. It is sometimes said 
that the docket of a county is a very true index 
of its wealth and business ; not so with Sanga- 
mon, In wealth and business, and traffic, it will 
compare favorably with any other county in the 
State. 

"It may be invidious to single out any of these 
early settlers, as all cannot be mentioned here, 
but as representatives of the wholf, I Avould 
mention the Darnells, the Wycoffs, the Mc- 
Gwins, the Morris's, the Kinneys, the Cloyds, of 
Lick creek; the Pattons, the Husbands, the 
Crows, the Fletchers, the Drennans, the Dodds, 
and Isaac Keys, of Sugar creek ; the Elkins, the 
Constants, the McDaniels, the Pickrells, and the 
Dawsons, of the North Fork ; the Casses, the 
Burns, the Lawsons and St. Clairs, of Buffalo 
Hart ; the Cantralls, the Councils, the Powers, 
of Fancy Creek ; the Irwins, the Cartwrights, 
the Carsons, the Purviances, the Andersons and 
the Harrisons, of liichland ; the Sims, the Mc- 
Coys, the Morgans, and the Earnests, of Spring 
creek ; and the Beckenridges, the Bakers, the 
Neals, and the Staffords and Sattlys, of Fork 
Prairie ; Samuel Williams, the Fouches, the El- 
lises, the Yates, the Wilcoxes, of Island Grove ; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



201 



the lies, Charles R. ]\[atheny, Drs. Todd, Jayne 
and Elkin, Pascal P. Enos, John Taylor, Archer 
G. Herndon, Philip C. Latham, John Williams, 
Gen. Henry and Jonathan H. Pugh, and Peter 
Van Bergen, of Springfield. 

"Further singling out, I would present to your 
memory as a fair sample of the whole. Captain 
John Durneil, a man about six feet in height, 
handsome and well-fomied, easy in his manner, 
because by nature a gentleman, frank, generous 
and true ; you felt in his presence as with one 
who was every inch a man. 

" These early settlers, I owe them much, when 
almost a boy and a stranger they received me 
with open arms, and have, in a thousand ways, 
showered upon me favors beyond niy deserts; I 
owe them a large debt of gratitude, and Avould 
do all I might to honor their memories. Most 
of them are dead and gone, and I hojDe have 
settled for all time, in a better country, around 
the throne of God, and along the banks of the 
'beautiful river.' Some few of us old settlers 
still linger on these coasts of Titne; one by one 
they are passing away, and those of us who 
remain are fast becoming strangers amid the 
new generations around us. 

" We are taught in the story of the Cross, and 
we believe that a great scheme of redemption 
has been provided for our race by the Great 
Father, and if we do our duty here to oxtr coun- 
try, our fellow men, and to our God, that some- 
where in His great universe a heaven has been 
provided as our happy, eternal home, and the 
thought is a consoling one, that although fast 
becoming strangers here, yet, when we cross the 
great river of Time which divides that happy 
land from ours, we will meet more friends than 
we leave behind us; that we will know'them, 
and they us; and that then the reunion of old 
settlers will be jovous, complete, and without 
end." 

BY DR. ALEXANDER SHIELDS. 

"It is said that I first breathed the atmosphere 
in the year of 1797, in Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania. Although I was there at the time, 
and took an active part in the affair, I have no 
recollection of the transaction, and have to de- 
pend on the declaration of others for the truth 
of my statement. 

" I was brought up on a farm until about 
eighteen years of age; went to a common school 
in the winter; did all kinds of work that is done 
on a farm, and that, I believe, gave me a strength 
and vigor of constitution that has enabled me to 
resist the physical elements with which we are 



surrounded, and are at constant war against the 
functions of life. At eighteen, I became im- 
pressed with an ardent desire to acquire knowl- 
edge; went nine months to a Latin school; 
pursued my studies with a resolution that knew 
no failure, and at the expiration of seven years, 
graduated at the University of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania. In my literary pursuits, I read a motto 
that was placed over the door of a heathen tem- 
ple — 'Genosko se auto' (Know thysell) — that 
made a strong impression on my mind. I be- 
came fascinated with the idea of knowing my- 
self. Anatomy and physiology appeared to be 
the proper branches for that purpose, conse- 
quently I devoted myself to the study of medi- 
cal science, and after the lapse of seven years, 
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in 
Philadelphia, in 183.3. 

"During all these years I never thought of 
the ' mighty dollar,' only when necessity forced 
it upon me. It will appear from these state- 
ments that I did not creep in at the back door 
and foist myself on the profession, without, at 
least, making an effort to acquire a knowledge 
of the high and responsible duties pertaining to 
it. I devoted myself two years to my profes- 
sion in Pennsylvania, and then directed my des- 
tiny toward the setting sun, in the Far West. 
Before bidding a long farewell to good old 
Pennsylvania, I will state a couple of incidents 
that occurred during my stay in Pittsburg. In 
1824, General Lafayette and son visited Pitts- 
burg, and the city became wild with enthusiasm. 
Of course he was tendered the hospitality of the 
city. The reception was grand and imposing. 
At least one hundred thousand people gave him 
an enthusiastic welcome. I, in conjunction with 
thousands of others, had the pleasure of shaking 
his hand. It is human nature to feel pleasure 
in shaking hands wnth a patriot like Lafayette. 

"The other incident was a vnsit of Henry 
Clay, Secretary of State, under John Q. Adams. 
His reception was cold, and forbidding; in fact 
the people were bitterly o^jposed to him in con- 
sequence of his vote in fpvor of Adams against 
General Jackson. A few friends called to see 
him at his hotel, and being enlisted in his favor, 
induced others to call, until it became general; 
strange to say, he 'swallowed' all that called to 
see him. He remained four or five days, and 
visited our manufacturing establishments, and 
the tables were turned so much in his favor that 
a public dinner must be tendered. There were 
no public buildings suitable, and Henry Hold- 
ship was requested to give the use of his paper 
mill, one day for the purpose. Rapp, the head 



202 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of a colony, eighteen miles below Pittsburg, 
sent up two or three barrels of wine for the oc- 
casion. The building was crowded to its utmost 
capacity. We had a feast worthy the city, and 
worthy the man to whom it was given. Many 
toasts were given and drank; finally, a toast was 
given in honor of Henry Clay, and his respond- 
ing closed the feast. The toast was as follows, 
as near as I can recollect: ' Here's to Henry 
Clay, of Kentucky, who on his way home from 
Washington, stopped at Pittsburg, and had the 
power to stop Henry Holdship's paper mill one 
entire day, which never stopped before on any 
occasion.' 

"He (Clay), boldly went over his political 
actions, in relation to Adams, and declared he 
would do so again under the same circumstan- 
ces. Such eloquence I never heard; such en- 
thusiasm I never saAv; perhaps the wine helped 
to increase it. 

"Early in April, IS-iS, I got on board a steam- 
boat for St. Louis; remained there a few days; 
wandered about seeing the country, and at last 
wound up my travels at Springfield, Illinois, on 
the 15th of May, 1835. The next day it com- 
menced raining and rained about forty days and 
nights, until the prairie east of town was about 
a foot deep with water, and no outlet; the water 
disappeared by evaporation and sinking in the 
soil. The sidewalks were composed of mud 
about three inches deep, and when crossing the 
streets, we rolled our pantaloons above our boots 
and waded through. Disgusted with the mud, 
I went up north to a place called Tremont, a 
town of stakes and grass. A colony from the 
east had purchased of the Federal Government 
a quantity of land about three months before, 
laid out a town, and called it Tremont. A part 
of the colony were living in their stables which 
they buili first, and carpenters were busy fram- 
ing their houses. They received me very kindly 
and expressed a desire for me to locate there, to 
examine the location of their town, and pick 
out a lot anywhere not already taken, I com- 
menced taking a view of the place, and every 
few minutes a rattlesnake gave me warning to 
keep oft', and I abandoned the examination. 
They declared that their object was to settle the 
country and develope the resources of the soil; 
that speculation with them was out of the ques- 
tion. I made choice of a lot, perhaps the one- 
eighth part of an acre, on the northeast corner 
of the square. I applied to the agent for his 
terms for the lot. He proposed to let me have 
the lot for i5?200, twenty cash, give note for -I^ISO. 
drawing twelve per cent, interest, and bind my- 



self to put a house on worth !^2,000. I de- 
nounced them as a set of speculators and gougers; 
mounted my horse; hastened to Springfield, re- 
gardless of the mud. 

"When I returned to Springfield great changes 
had taken place ; the sidewalks and streets \^ ere 
dry and pleasant. The waters had subsided 
within the banks of the streams, and sickness to 
a great extent set in, in consequence of decaying 
vegetable matter; intermittent, remittents and 
typhoid fevers prevailed, and for a number of 
years that summer was known by the name of 
the ' sickly season.' I hung out my 'shingle,' 
and was called upon to see a sick family near 
Clear Lake, and had to cross the river at Den- 
ma's ferry,' about a quarter of a mile above 
Riverton ; after being ferried over three or four 
days, I concluded to ford the stream. I had a 
very spirited 'nag,' and strange as it may appear, 
I rode with a spur on my heel. When I reached 
the river a large drove of cattle were entering 
the water, and a man was mounted on a very 
large ox in froftt. I went into the water about 
twenty yards above. The water rose to the sides 
of my ' nag,' and I raised my feet to avoid get- 
ting wet; sunk the spur into her fiank ; she made 
a sudden spring forward, and pitched me over 
her head into the stream. I requested the man 
on the ox to come and take me on behind him ; 
he, with a grin and squeaking voice, informed 
me that his horse wouldn't carry double. There 
I v/as baptized a citizen of Sangamon county, 
and, by some superior power, have remained so 
to this time. 

"In the summer of 1835, the State Bank and 
branches went into operation. We had State 
banks, local banks, and 'wild cat banks,' and 
paper money was as plenty as blackberries. 
Times were prosperous, and the people entered 
the public lands to a great extent with paper 
money, causing serious loss to the Government. 
In 1836, General Jackson issued a specie circu- 
lar, requiring the lands to be paid for in specie. 
This caused a run on the banks, and in a little 
while all the banks in the country burst up and 
went to 'pot.' Our currency became worthless; 
distress and hard times came upon us; business 
of all kinds was depressed, and I bought corn in 
Springfield, delivered at five cents per bushel. 
The State also commenced building railroads. 
Every road must be completed at the same time; 
consequently, in a little while she became bank- 
rupt in the sum of seventeen millions, and no 
roads. Another question enlisted the public mind. 
The temporary seat of government at Vandalia 
was about expiring, and the permanent location 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



203 



was agitated with a great deal of zeal by differ- 
ent parties. We had the celebrated ' long nine' 
to engineer our claims. They finally accom- 
plished the end by Springfield giving a bribe, in 
the name of a bonus, of fifty thousand dollars to 
the State. The County Commissioners donated 
to the State the public square, and the building 
of a State House commenced. The legislature 
met in the churches and passed laws for the 
good of the people. Springfield numbered at 
that time perhaps six or seven hundred people, 
and being simply a corporation, it must be ele- 
vated to the name of a city. A charter is framed, 
and presented to the legislature for its sanction. 

"The framers of the Charter found that there 
would be considerable opposition to it, when 
submitted to a vote of the people, inserted a 
clause excluding all unnaturalized citizens from 
voting for or against its adoption, when, at that 
time, persons that were here six months were 
entitled to vote, even for President of the United 
States. Colonel Baker was a member of the 
legislature, and, as I understood, voted for it, 
Avith this objectionable clause in it. That gave 
rise to a difficulty between him and me that has 
never been understood. He, being an English- 
man, from the same country where two of my 
brothers-in-law came from, excluded them from 
voting. I, boiling over with indignation at the 
idea of his excluding his own countrymen from 
voting, declared that I would challenge his vote. 
He, being aware of the fact, came on the day of 
election prepared with his father's naturalized 
papers, which naturalized him, he being a minor 
at the time. When he came to vote, I chal- 
lenged it, and that gave rise to a good deal of 
insulting language. At length, he used an ex- 
2)ression that was not true, and I called him a 
liar. That ended the war of words. He then 
requested me to go out on the street, and he 
would 'lick' me as soon as he polled his vote. 
I went out and waited for him. When he came, 
he quietly asked what I said at the polls. I said 
he was a liar. Expecting him to strike with his 
right, he gave me a lick with his left fist, on tlie 
side of my head, that knocked me wild; then 
the 'ball' opened. I tried for some time to hit 
him, but he fended off so well that I was unable 
to touch him. 

" His fist was soft; ray head was hard, and by 
the time he raised some five or six knots, his fist 
was useless. Unable to hit him with my fist, I 
changed my tactics, and commenced kicking. 
After two or three kicks he caught ray foot and 
hoisted me over; while falling I caught him and 
drew him down upon me, and then reached to 



get him by the throat, and my thumb landed in 
his eye. I concluded to let it remain there. 
The Democrats thought I might 'fight it out on 
this line if it took all summer,' but the Whigs 
thought differently, and pulled us apart, and 
that pulled my thumb out of his eye. This 
affair closed up by each of us paying fifteen dol- 
lars for fracturing the law. I can justly say that 
Colonel Baker was a most eloquent and for- 
midable political opponent, and three or four 
months after, when our passions cooled down, we 
shook hands and made friends, and then I came 
to the conclusion we had both been a pair of 
great fools. 

"The charter was adopted, and William May 
was elected Mayor of the city. Josiah Lamborn 
was States Attorney. At that time a man by 
the name of Archibald Trayler, as upright and 
good a citizen as can be found anywhere, lived 
there. William Trayler and his brother, with 
them a man named Fisher, came on a visit to 
their brother, Archibald Trayler, who lived 
near Captain Ransdell's Hotel. The captain had 
a niece living with him, and William Trayler 
had an inkling towards her, and the captain was 
bitterly opposed to hira, and set spies to watch 
their moveraents. Their movements were mys- 
terious, as usual when a woraan is mixed up in 
the affair. 

" Two of the Traylers and Fisher were seen 
going northwest into the timber and remained 
there some time; at length two returned, and 
Fisher was not with them; the next day the 
Traylers started for home, and took the same 
route through the timber, and, according to the 
spies, wound round in by-roads until finally they 
came into the Beardstown road. Four or five 
days after, the Traylers came back in search of 
Fisher. This gave rise to the suspicion that 
Fisher had been foully dealt with, and caused the 
greatest excitement among the people, William 
May and Lamborn engineered the matter; seized 
the Traylers, and had the timber searched for 
four or five days, in order to find Fisher. They 
soon found the place, where it was supposed 
Fisher was killed, and search was continued in 
order to find the body. In the afternoon of the 
third day, I went down in the timber, and met 
two men, who inquired if I had seen the place 
where Fisher had been killed, I replied that I 
had not; they then led me into the brush about 
fifty yards, where there was a circular spot, per- 
haps twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, cleared 
off, and near the center was a stump with a num- 
ber of sprouts growing round it, and close by 
the stump there was an impi'ession in the soil, 



204 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



resembling exactly what the back of a man's 
head would make in falling wuth considerable 
force. Directly after, Dr. Merriman and six or 
eight others came into the circle opposite; some 
one wondered if there was any hair or blood 
about the stump; Dr. Merriman examined it 
critically on his hands and knees; no hair or 
blood was found, the next day quantities of hair, 
even the man's whiskers, were found about the 
stump. 

"In the evening I went down town, and the 
street opposite the Mayor's office was crowded 
with people, and Lamborn among them. Being 
w^ell acquainted with him, he took me to one 
side, and informed me that he had told William 
Trayler that he had testimony to hang the whole 
three of them, and the only way of escape was 
to turn State's evidence; he became so alarmed 
that he was willing to give testimony to the kill- 
ing of Fisher. The next morning, I and five or 
six others went to the lower road to see Hickox's 
mill pond opened, in order to find Fisher. When 
opposite the spot where Fisher should have been 
killed, a young man came running down, shout- 
ing 'they found plenty of hair, even the man's 
whiskers.' I informed him that game would 
not work, as Dr. Merriman had examined the 
spot the evening before, and no hair could be 
found. This circumstance led to the suspicion 
that a conspiracy had been formed to encompass 
the death of Archibald Trayler. Five or six 
hundred people met at the mill. William May 
mounted a log and made a speech, urging the 
necessity of drawing off the water, in order to 
find the body. It was a dry season, and water 
was valuable to Hickox. I opposed it, without 
first paying a just compensation. He then ap- 
pointed a committee of five, Morris Lindsay, 
chairman, to wait on Hickox and ascertain the 
damage. Two hundred dollars were demanded. 
The committee reported, and May thought it 
too high, and sent them back with instructions 
to offer fifty dollars or nothing; so Hickox was 
compelled to submit. 

"When the water was reduced about four 
feet, we went up to where the Beardstown road 
crossed the stream, and a number went into the 
water in search of the body; the crowd on the 
bank and Archibald Trayler, under bonds, stood 
off about forty yards from the crowd, a forlorn 
spectator of the scenes. I went to him, with 
the desire to find out what grudge May and 
Lamborn had against him; but he appeared so 
depressed that I gave it up and went back to the 
crowd on the bank. It so happened that I had 
lost an axe at that point, in getting ice, and I 



proposed to give a dollar to the man that would 
find it, and that they would be more likely to 
find the axe than Fisher. They looked ' daggers' 
at me, and a low murmur went through the 
crowd, and I discovered my imprudence when 
it was too late. About sundown we left without 
Fisher. When we arrived at Springfield, a 
doctor in the vicinity of Wm. Trayler's home, 
hearing of the excitement, was there declaring 
that Fisher was at home and well. They seized 
the doctor, declared him an accomplice, and de- 
manded that Fisher must be presented in per- 
son. Archibald Trayler's partner and Mr. John 
Maxcy, I was informed, went for Fisher. They 
returned late in the evening, and the next day 
the trial came on. After an elaborate train of 
circumstantial evidence, together with Wm. 
Trayler's positive testimony, were given. Judge 
Logan, Archibald Trayler's attorney, stated that 
he would introduce just one witness. He made 
a sign, and introduced Fisher, to the consterna- 
tion of all present. 

"The result was that Archibald Trayler's use- 
fulness was destroyed, and he wandered about 
like a person in a dream. About two years 
after, a messenger came for me at twelve o'clock 
at night, to see Trayler, w^ho w^as very sick; when 
I saw him he was exhausted, and in a few hours 
departed this life. The plain, natural and just 
solution of this mysterious affair appears to be 
simply this. Wm. Trayler had a great fancy for 
Capt. Ransdell's niece, and she had a fancy for 
him, and the Captain was i\itensely opposed to 
it. Trayler was determined to steal the girl, 
and she was willing to be stolen, and in order to 
be prepared for the theft, the three men went 
down into the timber to find if there were any 
by-roads that would lead into the Beardstown 
road ; then Fisher is sent home on foot, and ar- 
rangements made with the girl to meet him in 
the timber. When he departed for home he took 
that direction, and the girl being unable to es- 
cape the vigilance of the Captain and his spies, 
did not appear; after waiting a reasonable time, 
he then w^ent to the Beardstown road on his way 
home. 

"This unfortunate affair had a good deal 
of truth and falsehood mixed up together, and 
demonstrates thatwdien people become greatly 
excited they lose all their reasoning powers ; 
that mobs and strikes and factions are developed 
in like manner ; that they contain more or less 
fanatics, and cannot possibly exist without lead- 
ers, and when political factions become strong 
in numbers they are dangerous to civil govern- 
ment. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



205 



" From the fourth of March, 18 i?, to the fourth 
of March, 1841, Van Buren was President. The 
State was sunk to the lowest depths of embar- 
rassment; she could not pay the interest on her 
bonds; they depreciated to a mere nominal value; 
emigration ceased, and repudiation appeared to 
be inevitable. Governor Ford then made ar- 
rangements to call a convention, to amend the 
Constitution so as to provide for the payment of 
the interest and principal of the State debt. 
The convention provided that two mills on the 
dollar (twenty cents on the hundred dollars) of 
the State tax should be set apart for the express 
purpose of paying the interest and principal of 
the State debt. It was submitted to a vote of 
the people and adopted. The people declared, 
by their vote, we will pay the debt, to the last 
dollar, let it cost what it will. That act of the 
people fixed the destiny of the State; the bonds 
began to rise; emigration flowed in, and wealth 
increased to such an extent that Governor Mat- 
teson, in his last message to the legislature, de- 
clared that from the ratio of increasing popula- 
tion and wealth, the State of Illinois would not 
owe a dollar in 1868. The increase in popula- 
tion and wealth was even greater than Matteson's 
estimate. Notwithstanding, when 1868 came 
around we were millions in debt. It is said the 
State is now — 1881 — out of debt; but the people, 
failing to profit by experience, and getting rail- 
roads on the brain, have embarrassed counties 
and towns to a great extent. 

"In 1840, the Democratic party nominated 
Van Buren a second term for President, and the 
Whig party. General Harrison for the same 
ofiice. In that campaign, the leading principles 
of the Whigs were ' coon-skins, log cabins, with 
the string of the latch never pulled in, and hard 
cider; two dollars a day and roast beef.' The 
side issues were the extravagance of the White 
House, with its gold spoons, and a high protect- 
ive tariff on foreign importations. A member 
of Congress, by the name of Evans, made a 
speech in favor of protective tariff ; it was 
printed in pamphlet form, and sent broadcast 
over the country; the Whigs thought it a 'stun- 
ner,' and exulted to a great extent over it. There 
was a Democrat over the Illinois river, named 
Bob Burton, who had a mill, and the Whigs 
thought to convert him, if he would read the 
speech; after reading it carefully he made a 
new toll dish, according to the reasoning in the 
speech, double the size of the one he iised, and 
he called it Whig, the other he called Demo- 
crat. He placed them side by side, and when a 
Whig came he pointed out the two measures, 



and informed him that he would toll hi.s corn 
with the Whig measure because it was made ac- 
cording to Evans' speech, and that is, the bigger 
the toll the less you pay for grinding, and the 
more meal you get. It was said that he, by this 
practical illustration of the speech, converted a 
number of Whigs to the Democratic party. 
The speech appeared to be a tissue of sophistry, 
and the gist of it was simply this, the higher 
the prices, the more you paid for merchandise, 
the less it cost you. 

"In this campaign, great excitement prevailed 
over the country. A man came to Springfield, 
announced himself as ' General John Ewing, 
from Vincennes, Indiana,' and challenged the 
whole Democratic party on the issues of the 
day, threatening to annihilate it by the power of 
his eloquence. The leaders of the party, Ed- 
wards, Stewart, Baker, Lincoln, and Logan, as 
talented men as Indiana or any other State in 
the Union could boast of, concluded to let this 
boaster try his hand. We had Douglas and 
Calhoun. We pitted Douglas against him. At 
that time there was no 'red taj^e,' as it is now, in 
our public meetings. The contesting parties 
arranged and timed their speaking. In this 
case, each one was to speak an hour alternately, 
and be timed by one from each party; to begin 
at eight o'clock, adjourn at twelve; meet at two, 
and continue to sundown each day, until the 
contest would be ended. At the close of the 
fifth day, 'General John Ewing, from Vincennes, 
Indiana,' threw up the 'sponge,' and a vigorous 
shout was given by the Democrats. On the 
northwest corner of the public square stood a 
market-house. There we met, and each speaker, 
mounted on a butcher-block, rolled out his elo- 
quence. E. D. Baker, mortified at Ewing's 
defeat, mounted a butcher-block, and began to 
address us. We protested that that game of 
'two pluck one' could not be tolerated. He 
persisted, and immediately the cry was raised, 
'Pull him down,' 'Pull him down.' At length 
he yielded, otherwise it would have ended with 
a number of broken heads. General Harrison 
was elected; but the 'two dollars a day and 
roast beef,' promised the laboring man, never 
came. 

"In 1844 1 became impressed with a strong 
desire to live in the country; I bought eighty 
acres of land, eight miles southeast of Spring- 
field, and in the spring of 1845 moved on it, and 
then commenced farming and the practice of 
medicine; right here I made the great mistake 
of my life, when I left Springfield. It is thought 
by many, that if a doctor locates in the country, 



206 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



he loses all the brains and mental acquirements 
he ever had, as if location determined a man's 
ability, when, in fact, the most notorious 'quacks' 
that disgrace the profession, congregate in cities 
and towns. 

"The National Democratic Convention nomi- 
nated James K. Polk in 1844, under the opera- 
tion of the two-thirds rule, and many Democrats 
were enquiring 'who's James K. Polk?' demon- 
strating the fact that an obscure man was put in 
nomination, and the prominent leading men ot 
the party cast aside. Having studied Thomas 
Jefferson's doctrines of a Republican form of 
government, his great fundamental principle, 
that the fairly expressed will of a majority of 
the people, expressed their sovereign vriU, and 
that the minority should yield imj^licit obedience 
to the will of the majority, I opposed the two- 
thirds rule as a direct violation of his principles, 
and being a zealous and sincere friend of Stephen 
A. Douglas, I came to the conclusion that he 
never could be President under its operation. 
The South, being in a large minority, dictated 
terms to the North through its power, and the 
North yielded for the sake of power and control 
of the Government. 

"In 1852, General Pierce was nominated, an- 
other obscure candidate, and Douglas' political 
head cut off. My zeal for Douglas carried me, a 
'high private,' beyond the bounds of discretion, 
and caused me to offer a series of resolutions, in 
a county convention, denouncing the two-third 
rule as anti-Republican, anti-Democratic; and, 
to my utter astonishment, the friends of Douglas 
voted them down, and denounced them 'another 
firebrand.' The resolutions, seventeen, are re- 
corded in the Sangamon Journal of October, 
1852. I felt then that Douglas might justly 
exclaim, in the language of Julius Cfesar, 'May 
the gods protect me from my friends, and I'll 
take care of my enemies.' This action of mine 
brought me in 'bad odor' with a number of 
Democrats, and 'if I did not like the way 
they conducted political affairs, I was po- 
litely invited to leave the party.' I had, at that 
time, great faith in the party, and did not feel 
justified in leaving. In 1856, the National Demo- 
cratic party nominated James Buchanan, one of 
the prominent leaders, who afterwards turned 
out to be a kind of a milk and water ' dough- 
face,' but suited the South, as it was preparing^ to 
bring on a crisis. In 1860, it met at Charleston, 
South Carolina, and it was said that Douglas re- 
ceived a majority on the first ballot, but the two- 
third rule defeated him in getting the nomina- 
tion. The friends of Douglas clung to him with 



great firmness, as it was the last chance, but 
they were ten or twelve years behind time. 

"The South was preparing for rebellion, and 
Douglas was too patriotic, too energetic, too firm 
a man to be at the head of the Government. The 
consequence was that the convention burst into 
two factions, the South and the North ; they ad- 
journed to meet again in Baltimore. When they 
met there the friends of Douglas would not yield, 
and they burst up again, and each faction nomi- 
nated its candidate; the South, Breckenridge, 
and the North, Douglas. It appeared to me, from 
the aspect of affairs, that it was impossible to 
elect Douglas, and when Lincoln was nominated, 
I then j)laced my hope in his election to save the 
Union, and bid a longfarewell to the Democratic 
party. Some men boast that they never changed, 
that is, they never split their ticket when a con- 
vention told them who they should vote for, and 
aspirants for office frequently use it as an argu- 
ment in their favor. It is an old saying that 
' wise men change, but fools and idiots never 
change.'' If a man discovers that he is in error, 
it is his right, it is his duty to change ; but if a 
man changes through sordid, selfish motives, he 
is dishonest and corrupt. 

"The Republican party had a grand rally on 
the eighth of August, 1860, in honor of Lincoln, 
and a procession said to be eight miles long was 
formed. Mr. Armstrong, a manufacturer, had a 
platform on a wagon and a loom with a web in 
it; in passing Lincoln's house, a tailor took his 
measure ; cloth was woven, and a pair of panta- 
loons made and presented to him on the return 
of the procession. In that procession I carried 
a banner with the motto: 'Free labor elevates, 
Slave labor degrades ' " 

PIONEERS AND PIONEERING. 

The following is a portion of a lecture deliv- 
ered by William H. Herndon, shortly after the 
close of the rebellion. In the Life of Lincoln, 
by Mr. Holland, the biographers used these 
words: " When inefficient men become very 
uncomfortable, they are quite likely to try emi- 
gration as a remedy. A good deal of what is 
called the pioneering spirit, is simply the spirit 
of discontent." Mr. Herndon combats this idea 
in this address, which was re-delivered at Sweet 
Water, Menard county, Illinois, at the Old Set- 
tlers' meeting, August 31, 1881: 

"There have been four distinct and separate 
waves — classes of men, who have followed each 
other, on the soil we now daily tread. The first 
is the Indian. The second is the bee and beaver 
hunter, the embodied spirit of western and south 




C^^Lcu oC.<Aj(:i^^^^iyif\ 



HISTORY OF SAN(;AM0N COUNTY. 



209 



western pioneering; they roam with the first 
class, nomads, wandering Gipsies of the forests 
and the p.ains. The third class, with sub-classes 
and varieties, is composed of three distinct varie- 
ties of men, coming as a triple wave. The first 
is the religious man, the John the Baptist, 
preaching in the wilderness; the second is the 
honest, hardy, thrifty, active and economical far- 
mer, and the third class is composed of the wild, 
hardy, honest, genial and social man — a mixture 
of the gentleman, the rowdy and roysterer; 
they are a wild, rattling, brave, social and hos- 
pitable class of men; they have no economy, 
caring only for the hour, and yet thousands of 
them grow rich; they give tone and caste and 
character to the neighborhood in spite of all that 
can be done; they ai'e strong, shrewd, clever fel- 
lows; it is impossible to hate them, and impossi- 
ble to outwit or whip them. The fourth class, 
with sub-classes and varieties, have come among 
us seeking fortune, position, character, power, 
fame, having ideas, philosophy, gearing the 
forces of nature for human uses, wants and pur- 
poses. They come from the east, the middle 
states, from the south; they come from every 
quarter of the globe, full grown men. Here are 
the English and the German, the Scotch and the 
Irish, the French and the Scandinavian, the 
Italian, the Portuguese, the Spaniard, Jew and 
Gentile; and here and there and everyiohere is 
the universal, the eternal, indomitable and ine- 
vitable " Yankee," victorious over all, and I as a 
" Sucker," say welcome all. All, all, however, 
have their divine purposes in the high, deep, 
broad and wide extended, the sublime economy 
of God. 

"I am necessitated, as it were, in self-defense, 
to speak some words of the second and third 
class, with sub-classes and varieties. The 
fourth class needs none. The original west- 
ern and southwestern pioneer — the type of 
him is at times a somewhat open, candid, 
sincere, energetic, spontaneous, trusting, tol- 
erant, brave and generous man. He is hos- 
pitable in his tent, thoroughly acquainted with 
the stars in the heavens, by which he travels, 
more or less; he is acquainted with all the dan- 
gers of his route — horse fiesh and human flesh. 
He trusts to his own native sagacity — a keen 
shrewdness, and his jihysical poAver — his gun 
and dog alone. This original man is a long, 
tall, lean, lank man; he is a cadaverous, sallow, 
sunburnt, shaggy-haired man, his face is very 
sharp and exceedingly angular; his nose is long, 
pointed, and keen, Roman or Greek as it may 
be; and his eyes are small, grey or black, and | 

24— 



sunken, are keen, sharp and inquisitive, pierc- 
ing, as if looking through the object seen, and 
to the very background of things; he is sinewy 
and tough, calm or uneasy, according to circum- 
stances; he is all bone and sinew, scarcely any 
muscle; is wise and endless in his determina- 
tions — obstinate. He wears a short linsey-wol- 
sey hunting shirt, or one made from soft buck 
or doeskin, fringed with the same; it is buckled 
tightly about his body. His moccasins are 
made of the very best heavy buck. His trusty 
and true rifle is on his shoulder or stands by bis 
side, his chin gracefully resting on his hand, 
which covers the muzzle of the gun. The gaunt, 
strong, hungry cur, crossed with the bull dog, 
and his hound, lie crouched at his feet, their 
noses resting on and between their fore paws, 
thrown straight out in front, ready to bound, 
seize master and defend. The lean, short, com- 
pact, tough and hardy, crop-eared, shaved-mane 
and bob-tailed pony browses around, living 
where the hare, the deer, mule or hardy moun- 
tain goat can live. It makes no difference where 
night or storm overtakes him, his wife and 
children sleep well and sound, knowing that the 
husband, the father, protector and defender, is 
safe from all harm. He sleeps on his rifle for 
pillow, his right hand aicake on the long, sharp, 
keen hunting-knife in the girdle, carved over 
and over with game and deer. The will in the 
hand is avmJce. Such is the conscious will on 
the nerve and muscle of the hand, amid danger 
of a night, placed thpre to watch and ward 
while the general soul is asleep, that it springs 
to defense long before the mind is fully con- 
scious of the facts. How grand and mysterious 
is mind! The family makes no wild outcry — 
'He's shot or losti' This man, his trusty long 
rifle, his two dogs — one to fight and one to 
scent the trail — the long, sharp and keen 
butcher knife, that never holds fire or flashes in 
the pan, are equal to all emergencies. As for 
himself, his snore on the grass, or brush-pile, 
cut to make his bed, testify to the soul's con- 
scious security. Whether in a hollow tree or 
log, or under and beneath the river's bank for 
shelter — screen or fort — in night or daytime, 
his heart beats calm; he is a fatalist, and says 
'what is to be Avill be.' He never tires, is quick 
and shrewd, is physically powerful, is cunning, 
suspicious, brave and cautious alternately or all 
combined, according to necessity. He is swifter 
than the Indian, is stronger, is as long-winded, 
and has more brains — much more brains. This 
man is a bee-hunter, or trapper, or Indian 
fighter. He is nervous, uneasy, and quite fidgety 



210 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



in the village where he goes twice a year to ex- 
change his furs for whisky, tobacco, powder, 
flints and lead. He dreads, does not scorn our 
civilization. Overtake the man, catch him, and 
try to hold a conversation with him, if you can. 
His eye and imagination ai*e on the chase in the 
forest, when you think you are attracting his 
simple mind. He is restless in eye and motion 
about towns and villages; his muscles and nerves 
dance an uneasy, rapid, jerking dance when in 
presence of our civilization. He is suspicious 
here, and dangei'ous from his ignorance of the 
social world. This man is a man of acts and 
deeds, not of speech; he is at times stern, silent, 
secretive and somewhat uncommunicable. His 
words are words of one syllable, sharp nouns 
and active verbs mostly. He scarcely ever uses 
adjectives, and always replies to questions asked 
him — 'yes,' ' no,' 'I will,' 'I won't.' Ask him 
where he is from, and his answer is — 'Blue 
Ridge,' 'Cumberland,' 'Bear creek.' Ask him 
Avhere he kills his game, or gets his furs, and 
liis answer ever is — 'Illinois,' 'Sangamon,' 
'Salt creek.' Ask him where he is going — 
'Plains,' 'Forest,' 'Home,' is his unvarying 
answer. See him in the wilds, as I have seen 
him, strike up Avith his left hand's forefinger the 
loose rim of his old home-made or other hat, 
that liangs like a rag over his eyes, impeding 
his sight and perfect vision, peering keenly into 
the distance for fur or game, Indian or deer. 
See him look and gaze and determine what the 
thing seen is — see him at that instant stop and 
crouch and crawl toward the object like a 
hungry tiger, measuring the distance between 
twig and weed with his beard, so as to throw no 
shadow of sensation on the distant eye of foe 
or game — the thing to be crept on and inevita- 
bly killed. See him watch even the grass and 
brush beneath his feet, as he moves and treads, 
that no rustle, or crack or snap, shall be made 
by which the ear of foe or game shall be made 
aware of his danger. See him wipe off and 
raise his long and trusty gun to shoulder and 
to cheek — see him throw his eye lockward and 
along the barrel — watch him, see first upcoil of 
smoke, before the crack and ring and roll and 
roar comes. The bullet has already done its 
work of death. Caution makes this man stand 
still and reload before moving a foot. Then he 
eyes the dead keenly. 'There's danger in the 
apparent dead,' he whispers to himself, cocks 
his gun and walks, keeping his finger on the 
trigger. 

"The third class which I am about to describe 
— the brave, rollicking roysterer — is still among 



us, though tamed by age into a moral man. He 
is large, bony, muscular, strong almost as an ox. 
He is strongly, physically developed. He is 
naturally strong-minded, naturally gifted, brave, 
daring to a fault. He is a hardy, rough-and- 
tumble man. He has a strong, quick sagacity, 
fine intuitions, with great good common sense. 
He is hard to cheat, hard to whip, and still 
harder to fool. These people are extremely 
sociable and good natured — too much so for 
their own good, as a general rule. They are 
eflScient, ready, practical men, and are always 
ready for any revolution. I wish, I am anxious, 
to defend these men, as well as the God-given 
spirit of pioneering. One of the writers on Mr. 
Lincoln's life says, in speaking of Thomas 
Lincoln, 'When inefficient men become very 
uncomfortable, they are quite likely to try emi- 
gration as a remedy. A good deal of what is 
called the pioneer spirit is simply the spirit of 
shiftless discontent.'' But more of this hereafter, 
not now and just here. 

" These men, especially about New Salem, could 
shave a horse's main and tail, paint, disfigure, 
and ofi'er for sale to the owner, in the very act 
of inquiring for his own horse, that knew his 
master, but his master recognizing him not. 
They could hoop up in a hogshead a drunken 
man, they being themselves drunk, put in and 
nail down the head, and roll the man down New 
Salem hill a hundred feet or more. They could 
run down a lean, hungry wild pig, catch il, heat 
a ten-plate stove furnace hot, and putting in the 
pig, could cook it, they dancing the while a 
merry jig. They could, they did, these very 
things occasionally, yet they could clear and 
clean a forest of Indians and wolves in a short 
time; they could shave ofi: a forest as clean and 
clear as a man's beard close cut to his face; they 
could trench a pond, ditch a bog or lake, erect a 
log house, pray and fight, make a village or cre- 
ate a State. They would do all for sport or fun, 
or from necessity — do it for a neighbor — and 
they could do the reverse of all this for pure and 
perfectly unalloyed deviltry's sake. They at- 
tended church, heard the sermon, wept and 
prayed, shouted, got up and fought an hour, and 
then went back to prayer, just as the spirit 
moved them. These men — I am speaking gen- 
erally — were always true to women — their fast 
and tried friends, protectors and defenders. 
There are scarcely any such on the globe for 
this virtue. They were one thing or the other 
— praying or fighting, creating or destroying, 
shooting Indians or getting shot by whisky, just 
as they willed. Though these men were rude 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



211 



and rough, though life's forces ran over the 
edge of its bowl, foaming and sparkling in pure 
and perfect deviltry for deviltry's sake, yet place 
before them a poor, weak man, who needed their 
aid, a sick man, a man of misfortune, a lame 
man, a woman, a widow, a child, an orphaned 
little one — then these men melted up into sym- 
pathy and charity at once, quick as a flash, and 
gave all they had, and willingly and honestly 
toiled or played cards for more. If a minister 
of religion preached the devil and his fire, they 
would cry out, ' To your rifles, oh boys, and let's 
clean out the devil, with his fire and all; they 
are enemies to mankind.' If the good minister 
preached JesuS; and him crucified, with his pre- 
cious blood trinkling down the spear and cross, 
they would melt down into honest prayer, pray- 
ing honestly, and with deep feeling and humil- 
ity, saying aloud, ' would to God we had been 
there with our trusty rifles, amid those murder- 
ous Jews.' 

"I wish to quote the author's sentence again. 
It reads: 'When inefficient men become very 
uncomfortable, they are quite likely to try emi- 
gration as a remedy. A good deal of what is 
called the 'pioneer spirit,' is simply the spirit 
of shiftless discontent.'' Here are two distinct 
allegations, or assertions, rather charges: first, 
that the ineffi.cient men, through the spirit of dis- 
content at home, emigrate as a remedy for that 
uncomfortableness; and, second, that a good deal 
of the spirit of pioneering comes from the sjnrit 
of shiftless discontent. I wish to say a few 
words on this sentence, first, as to fact, and 
secondly, as to principle. It is not, I hope, 
necessary for me to defend the particular man 
spoken of— Thomas Lincoln, the father of Pres- 
ident Lincoln. It is not necessary that I should 
flatter the pioneer to defend him, yet I feel that 
other men and women in New England, possibly 
in Europe, may be grossly misled by such an as- 
sertion, such an idea, as is contained in this sen- 
tence. It is admitted by me that man's condi- 
tion at home sometimes is exceedingly uncom- 
fortable. To throw off that condition of un- 
comfortableness, is the sole, only, and eternal 
motive that prompts and drives men and women 
to pioneering. Menof capacity, integrity, and 
energy — for such are the generality of pioneers 
in the West — emigrate to this new land from 
their old homes, not because they ai'e inefficient 
men, men unable to grapple Avith the home con- 
dition, but rather because they refuse to submit 
to the bad conditions at home. Their manly 
souls and indomitable spirits rise up against the 
cold, frigid, despotic caste crystalizations at 



home — a glorious rebellion for the freedom of 
man. All men emigrate from their homes to 
new lands in hojie of bettering their conditions, 
which at home are sometimes chatingly uncom- 
fortable. The spirit of pioneering is not a spirit 
of shiftless discontent, nor any part of it, but is 
the creating spirit, a grand desire, wish, and will 
to rise up in the scale of being. It has moved 
mankind — each man and woman — since God 
created man and woman and placed them on the 
globe, with genius in their heads and hope and 
faith in their souls. God's intentions, purposes, 
and laws, as written on the human soul, forever 
interpret themselves thus: 'My child, my good 
children, man, woman, and child, each and all — 
hope, struggle; I am with you, and will forever 
be; go on, go upward, go westward, go heaven- 
ward, on and on foi'ever.' Good men and 
women do not, from the spirit of shiftless dis- 
content, quit the sacred ashes of the dead loved 
ones, and wildly rush into a cold, damp, un- 
cleared, gloomy, unsettled, wild wilderness, 
where they know they m,ust struggle with 
disease, poverty, nature, the wild wolf and 
wilder men, and the untamed and ungeared ele- 
ments of nature, that sweep everywhere un con- 
fined. They do not go for game, nor sport, nor 
daring adventure with wild beast, nor daring 
sport with wilder men. They go or come at 
God's command — 'Children, my good children, 
and all, man, woman, and child, all, all — hope, 
struggle, to better your condition — onward, for- 
estward, upward — and on and on forever, or 
miserably perish, and quit the globe, to be re- 
peopled by better beings.' Men, tender and 
lovely women, do not quit their homes, where 
are comforts, luxuries, arts, science, general 
knowledge, and ease, amid the civilized and civ- 
ilizing influences at home, to go westward, from 
a spirit of shiftless discontent. What! are these 
brave men and women all through the West, 
and such as these the world over,inerticient men, 
inactive consumers, unenergetic inefticients, lazy 
and do-nothing people, bursting westward from 
the spirit of shiftless discontent, where they in- 
voluntarily clap their hands to their heads, and 
spasmodically feel for their crowns, in order to 
preserve their scalps, as the quick flash and fire- 
steel gleam of the Indian's knife glints and 
glistens against the Avestern sky! What! are 
Grant and Jackson, Douglas and Benton, Clay 
and Lincoln inefficient men, coming toest from 
the spirit of shiftless discontent? Is fire effi- 
ciently hot? Is lightning efficiently active? Is 
nature efticiently creative, massing and rolling 
up all these visible worlds to heat and life and 



212 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



light, and holding them suspended there by 
God's will — called by men gravity — for a human 
idea's sake? If these things are so, then these 
men and women whom I have described, the 
jnoneers, with their brave hearts and their defi- 
ant and enduring souls, are and were efficient 
men and women — efficiently warm, for they con- 
sumed and burnt the forest, and cleared and 
cleaned it. They had and have energy and cre- 
ative activity, with capacity, honesty, and valor. 
They created States, and hold them to the 
Union, to liberty, and to justice. They and 
their children after them can and do point with 
the highest pride and confidence, to the deep, 
broad-laid, tolei'ant, generous, magnanimous 
foundations of these mighty several Western 
States, whereon our liberty and civilization so 
proudly and firmly stand, that they, the pioneers, 
in the spirit of jjioneering embodied in them, 
made and created, and hold up to light and heat 
and life, suspended there rolling, by the electro- 
magnetic power of the intelligent popular will. 
"My defense has ended. The wild animals 
that preceded the Indians are gone, the Indian 
treading closely on their heels. The red man 
has gone. The pioneer, the type of him, is 
gone, gone with the Indian, the bear, and the 
beaver, the buffalo and the deer. They all go 
with the same general wave, and are thrown 
high on the beach of the wilderness, by the 
deep, wide sea of our civilization. He that 
trampled on the heels of the red man, with his 
wife and children, pony and dog, arc gone, leav- 
ing no trace behind. He is the master of the bee 
and beaver, the Indian and the bear, the wolf 
and buffalo. He and they are gone, never to 
return. God speed them on their way, their 
journey and destiny. As path-makers, blazers, 
mappers, as fighters and destructives, tliey have 
had and have their uses and purposes in divine 
plan. Such are succeeded by the Armstrongs, 
the Clarys, the Rutledges, the Greens, Spears, 
and Lincohis, who too have had their uses and 
purposes in the great idea, and are succeeded by 
others, now among us, who are forces in the 
same universal plan. And let us not complain, 
for the great Planner knows and has decreed 



what is best and wisest in his grand and sublime 
economies. The animal is gone; the Indian is 
gone. The trapper, bee and beaver hunter is 
gone — all are gone. A few of the third class 
still remain among us, standing or leaning like 
grand, gray old towers, with lights on their 
brow, quietly inclining, leaning, almost dipping 
in the deep, the unknown, the unknowable and 
unfathomable deeps of the future, that roll 
through all time and space, and lash up against 
the Throne. They did not come here from the 
spirit of shiftless discontent, nor shall they take 
up their soul's greatest pioneer march on to God, 
through the cowardly spirit of shiftless discon- 
tent. They are fast going one by one. Respect 
them while living, reverence them when dead, 
and tread lightly on their sacred dust, ye all. 
The children of such may be trusted to preserve 
and hand down to all future time what they 
created, wrought and planted in the forest. The 
fourth class is ready to clasp hands with the 
third, taking an oath of fidelity to liberty, sa- 
cred as Heaven. We thus come and go, and in 
the coming and going we have shaded — risen 
up, progressed — during these various and varied 
waves of immigration, with their respective 
civilizations, through force, cunning and the 
rifle, to dollars, the steam engine, and the idea. 
We have moved from wolf to mind. We have 
grown outward, upward, higher and better, liv- 
ing generally in more virtue, less vice, longer 
and more civilized, freer and purer, and thus 
man ever mounts upward. So are the records 
of all time." 

In concluding his address, Mr. Herndon gave 
a description of Illinois, giving: its geography, 
length, breadth, its good people, etc. He de- 
clared that Illinois was the real Eden of the 
world, and that the central portion of Illinois 
was the best part of that Eden. He closed hy 
showing by facts and figures the extent of the 
Union, its area in 1790 and its area in 1880; 
said that its present population of fifty-one mil- 
lions would be increased in 1901 to one hundred 
millions of souls — the wisest, most intelligent, 
richest, bravest and most jjatriotic people, as a 
mass, on the face of the globe. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



213 



Chapter XI. 



THE PRESS. 



There is no instrumentality, not even except- 
ing the Pulpit and the Bar, which exerts such an 
influence upon society as the Press of the land. 
It is the Archimedian lever that moves the world. 
The talented minister of the gospel on the Sab- 
bath day preaches to a few hundred people ; on 
the following morning his thoughts are repro- 
duced more than a thousand fold, and are read 
and discussed throughout the length and breadth 
of the land. The attorney at the bar, in thrill- 
ing tones, ijleads either for or against the crim.i- 
nal arraigned for trial, often causing the jury to 
bring in a verdict against the law and the testi- 
mony in the case. His words are reproduced 
in every daily reached by the telegraphic wire, 
and his arguments are calmly weighed by unpre- 
judiced men and accepted for what they are 
worth. The politician takes the stand and ad- 
dresses a handful of men uiDOn the political ques- 
tions of the day ; his speech is reported and read 
by a thousand men for every one that heard the 
address. Suddenly the waters of one of oixr 
mighty rivers rises, overflowing the land for 
miles and miles, rendering thousands of people 
homeless and without means to secure their daily 
bread. The news is flashed over the wire, taken 
up by the Press, and known and read of all 
men. No time is lost in sending to their relief 
— the Press has made known their wants and 
they are instantly supplied. " Chicago is on fire ! 
Two hundred millions worth of property de- 
stroyed! Fifty thousand people rendered home- 
less!" Such is the dread intelligence pro- 
claimed by the Press. Food and clothing are 
hastily gathered, trains are chartered, and the 
immediate wants of the sufferers are in a measure 
relieved. 

The power for good or evil of the Press, is to- 
day unlimited. The short comings of the poli- 
tician are made known through its columns; the 
dark deeds of the wicked are exposed ; and each 



fear it alike. The controlling influences of a 
Nation, State or county is its Press, and the Press 
of Sangarmon county is no exception to the rule. 
Since Hooper Warren started the Sangamo 
Spectator, in 1826, the Press of Sangamon county 
has been an important factor in all things tend- 
ing to the general welfare of the county. Not 
only in the county, but throughout the State its 
influence has been recognized and acknowledged, 
and even beyond the borders of the State has its 
opinions been eagerly sought after, especially in 
the political world. 

The local Press is justly considered among the 
most important institutions in every city, town 
and village. The people of every community 
regard their particular newspaper or newspapers 
as of peculiar value, and this not merely on ac- 
count of the fact already alluded to, but because 
these papers are the repositories wherein are 
stored the facts and the events, the deeds and 
the sayings, the undertakings and achievements 
that go to make up final history. One by one 
these things are gathered and placed in type ; 
one by one the papers are issued ; one by one 
these papers are gathered together and bound, 
and another volume of local and general, indi- 
vidual and local history is laid away imperish- 
able. The volumes thus collected are sifted by 
the historian, and the book for the library is 
ready. The people of any city or town naturally 
have a pride in their home paper. 

As already intimated, the Sangamo Spectator 
was the first newspaper printed in Sangamon 
county. Hooper Warren, who had been pub- 
lishing a paper at Edwardsville, called the 
Edwardsville Spectator, removed his office to 
Springfield in the winter of 1826-7, and imme- 
diately commenced issuing from that place. So 
far as is known not a copy of the paper is now 
in existence. Mr. Warren, in a letter to P. P. 
Enos, Secretary of the Old Settlers' Society, 



214 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



dated October 20, 1859, says of this paper: "It 
was but a small affair, a medium sheet, worked 
by myself alone most of the time, until I made 
a transfer of it in the fall of 1828 to S. Mere- 
dith." Mr. Warren was considered a good 
writer, an intelligent man, but a not very suc- 
cessful manager. 

The Springfield Journal and Sangamo Gazette 
was built upon the ruins of the Spectator, the 
first number bearing date February 16, 1829. 
This number was chiefly occupied with the mes- 
sage of Governor Edwards. It was a five col- 
umn folio, well edited, but never received sufli- 
cient encouragement to make it a paying institu- 
tion, and therefore after the expiration of a few 
months it ceased to exist. 

The Illinois Herald was the next attempt in 
the newspaper line, and was commenced some 
time in the year 1830. Samuel S. Brooks and 
Mr. Fleming were the publishers, Mr. Brooks 
being the editor. Like the previous attempt in 
the business, the Herald was short-lived, going 
out with the melting of the big snow. 

ILLINOIS STATE JOURNAL. 

On the lOth day of November, 1831, the first 
number of the Sangamo Journal made its ap- 
pearance, with S. & J. Francis, editors and pub- 
lishers. The paper was a six-column folio, and 
presented a neat appearance. The salutatory of 
the editors was short, containing no special 
promises easily broken. Says the editors: " \Ve 
know that it is usual on occasions like this to 
eulogize the advantages of the Press — to make 
promises that can never be realized. All we 
have now to say is — give us a fair opportunity; 
and we doubt not that the reasonable wishes and 
expectations of our patrons will be gratified. 
We have cheerfully embarked in the establish- 
ment of the Journal, a good portion of the little 
means at our command, with a firm determina- 
tion to apply ourselves to the duties of our oflice 
with unremitting industry, and it now rests with 
others to say whether our hopes shall be blasted, 
or our exertions rewarded with the cheering con- 
fidence and patronage of the citizens of this part 
of Illinois." In addition to the salutatory ap- 
pears well written editorials on the " Missouri 
Election," in which strong ground is taken in 
favor of a national bank, protective tariff and in- 
ternal improvements; " The Eatonian Contro- 
versy," a controversy that arose in regard to the 
exclusion of Mrs. Eaton, the wife of a member 
of President Jackson's cabinet, from Washing- 
ton society; "Calhoun on Nullification," "Anti- 
Tariff Convention," and several shorter articles. 



A fair number of advertisements appeared, 
among them being one of Mr. Wadley, in which 
he proposed to show his mode of teaching Eng- 
lish grammar; John Williams, H. F. Hill & Co., 
II. Yates, William P. Grimsley, Jabez Cappa, 
Bell & Tinsley, Thomas D. Potts, general mer- 
chandise; H. M. Armstrong & Co., hat manu- 
factory; E. S. Phelps, watch repairing; John H, 
Ebey, potter's ware; Bennett C. Johnson, gro- 
ceries and liquors; Drs. Merryman & Rutledge, 
physicians, Smith & Moffett, cabinet makers, 
and several legal notices. 

The first issue of the paper was creditable to 
the proprietors. The types were good, the mis- 
cellany well selected, the editorial vigorous and 
to the point. The pledge modestly implied in 
their salutatory was more than fulfilled, as the 
early history of the paper proved. This paper, 
thus founded in a new country, had many serious 
obstacles to overcome; but its twenty-four col- 
umns of reading matter went out among the 
people every week, and by their excellence won 
the favor of all readers. These men, who had 
made Springfield their home, and had embarked 
in this enterprise, were determined to succeed, 
and they did. Their office was in a two-story 
brick building, on the southwest corner of Wash- 
ington and Fifth streets. Here they put up 
their cases, fixed their primitive press, issued 
their paper, and waited for the verdict of the 
people. That verdict was not favorable at first, 
but the decision was speedily reversed. It must 
be remembered that the Sangamon county of 
that time was not the Sangamon county of to- 
day. It included the present counties of Logan, 
Mason, Menard and Cass, with portions of Mor- 
gan, Christian, McLean and Marshall. The in- 
habitants were few and scattered, the population 
of Springfield being only about six hundred. 
Mail facilities were of the poorest description. 
There were no railroads, and no telegraphs. 
The wagon roads were unimproved, and con- 
stantly liable to the damaging effects of wind 
and water. The mails were brought in stages — 
sometimes on horseback — from Vandalia, then 
the capital of the State, and from Edwardsville, 
Carrollton and Terre Haute. The people were 
without news, and, from habit, were willing to 
remain so. A newspaper was not a necessity 
then, as now, and the new paper especially was 
not acceptable. The inhabitants of Central 
Illinois at that time were chiefly from the South- 
ern States. The new paper was edited by Con- 
necticut "Yankees." That was enough. Even 
in those days a Yankee was distasteful to people 
from South of the Ohio. Certain persons at 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



215 



once raised a cry against the paper, and went so 
far as to say there some people in the county 
who would not give the Francis brothers a place 
to be buried in, if it was known where they 
came from. Prejudice was thus fed, and the 
hundred and fifty names on their subscription 
book did not receive speedy increase. But the 
curiosity of the people was at last excited by the 
reports about the paper and its proprietors, and 
many new subscribers came in, who "wanted to 
take the thing just to see what it was." The 
result was natural. Each person for his two 
dollars and a half received fifty-two papers filled 
with good reading. They were pleased, sub- 
scribed again, and told their friends to do like- 
wise. The storm was thus weathered, and the 
prosperous future of the Journal established. 

It has already been stated, the first number of 
the Journal was issued November 10, 1831. The 
paper was full of news. The very latest from 
Washington and New York was from two to 
three weeks old; from St. Louis four days, and 
the last from England was dated September 9. 
The clippings were from papers published weeks 
before, and just at hand, while the letters of 
correspondents had been longer on the way from 
different parts of the country than a letter now 
is in going from New York to Omaha. Yet it 
was news, the latest news, and relished as much 
by the readers as the Washington, London or 
St. Petersburg telegrams in our morning papers 
of events happening the evening before. 

In principles the Journal was from its com- 
mencement the opposer of the Democratic party. 
It was Whig throughout during the existence of 
the party. In 1832 it mainly supported Henry 
Clay for the Presidency, fought its battle to the 
best of its ability, and submitted to defeat with 
the expression, " The Presidential game is up and 
the day is not ours." It opposed the spirit of 
nullification with its might. It advocated all 
needed reforms, supported all measures of public 
improvement, and sought to promote the inter- 
ests of all classes of society. 

The partnership between S. & J. Francis con- 
tinued until February 21, 1835, when J. Francis 
retired. Simeon Francis continued as sole propri- 
etor until April 28, 1838, when Allen and J. New- 
ton Francis were admitted to the firm, which 
took the name of S. Francis & Co. The young 
men learned the printing trade in the Journal 
office, and were therefore not strangers, at least 
to the local patrons of the paper. 

The manner of conducting a newspaper at 
that early day was not such as it is at the present 
time. The patronage of the office was neces- 



sarily limited, and it became nece!*sary at times 
for the proprietor to be editor, compositor, devil, 
and man-of-all-work generally. Under the head 
of " Editorial Comforts," Mr. Francis thus nar- 
rates his experience for one day: "Editor at 
the case. Enters A. 'I wish to get a handbill 
printed immediately. I intend to give them 
scoundrels their dues.' 'It is impossible, sir, we 
have as much as we can do until Monday.' 
' Confounded strange if I ain't allowed to defend 
myself. Will you do it then?' 'Yes, and sooner 
if in our power.' Goes out in a huff. Click, 
click, click, goes the type. A pause of ten min- 
utes. Enters a lad. ' Pa wants the last hand- 
bill printed to-day. [It was during a political 
campaign, and candidates were setting forth 
their claims by means of handbills.] 'We have 
jirinted no handbills to-day — we are sorry we 
can't supply your father with a new handbill.' 
Click, goes the type, and after a free breathing 
of an hour, B. comes in in great flurtation. ' Sir, 
I want you to keep my manuscript out of sight, 
and not give a copy of my bill to any human 
being until you deliver the same to myself.' 
'Very well, sir.' Exit last visitor. Again the 
operation of setting type is resumed. 'Mr. F.' 
says another visitor, 'have you any news of the 
cholera? ' 'None in particular. We believe the 
atmosphere is choleric' 'Have you any hand- 
bills that I havn't seen?' * We don't know; all 
we have are on the line. Help yourself.' 'Gond 
morning,' as C enters the oflice. ' I have pre- 
pared a communication for your columns, at the 
request of several friends, and which I think is 
perfectly unexceptionable. It reads:' — (Reads 
pax"t of the communication.) The writer then 
states that the remainder of his article is made 
up of an argument founded on divers considera- 
tions, designed to show that ' Old Mac' should 
be made Governor. We regretted to state to our 
friend that we could not possibly publish his 
communication — our columns were then filled, 
corrected and ready for the press. 'Well, sir, it 
will create a rumpus among Mac's friends.' 'We 
do not see how we can avoid it.' 'Have you 
done my bill?' ' No, sir.' ' There are six men 
waiting for it. Can you have it done in two 
hours?' 'It cannot be done before ten o'clock 
at night.' Leaves grumbling. 'Well, you must 
be making your fortunes.' 'Making our for- 
tunes! Do you suppose that money is any con- 
sideration for the mental torture we are com- 
pelled to suffer?' 'Mr. F., I want to have added 
a little to your account against me. I suppose 
you would as lief print for me as anybody. I want 
to have you get my bill done so I can start for 



216 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Athens early in the morning. Only two short 
certificates, with a few remarks. ' We can't 
possibly do your work until Monday.' ' Can't 
you do itV ' ' It is impossible.' 'Well, then I 
must Avait until Monday.' Enters M. in great 
haste. 'If there should be a handbill printed 
against me I want you to give me a chance to 
make an immediate reply.' 'You must wait 
your turn.' 'What! do you intend to deny me 
the use of your press?' 'No, sir; we only intend 
to give every man his regular chance.' Such is 
the epitome of our editorial history for one day. 
We retire at ten o'clock — to sleep on a ' bed of 
roses' Avhich Guatemozin would have hardly en- 
vied — but supported by the consideration that 
amid all the conflicting views and passions of 
the parties by which we are surrounded, we 
have aimed to do right." 

On the twenty-fourth day of October, 1835, the 
Journal was enlarged to a seven column folio 
and otherwise improved. No further change 
was made in the paper until the death of J. New- 
ton Francis, which occurred on the tenth day of 
November, 1843. Mr. Francis had started out 
on a business tcur in the eastern part of the 
State, and had taken his rifle with him to be- 
guile the hours of his journey. While near 
Monticello, he saw some game, and springing out 
of the vehicle in which he was riding, he drew 
the rifle toward him by the barrel, when it ac- 
cidentally exploded, carrying the charge into the 
neck, causing instant death. Simeon Francis, 
the elder brother, had this to say of the deceased: 
" We know it might well be left to another hand 
to record his virtues. They are written in our 
heart. Yet why should we not give ej^pression 
to thoughts common to all who knew him? He 
was manly and generous and just; in his friend- 
ship. Arm ; in his duties, constant ; in his man- 
ners, frank ; in his feelings, kind. No man was 
more free from selfishness, and falsehood was 
utterly foreign to his nature. He died yoking, 
but he has left a void in society, which will not 
be easily filled ; and in the circle of his friends 
and kindred there is a grief which words cannot 
describe. We have seen him grow from youth 
to manhood and take his place in the business 
and conflict of life. Together we have struggled 
with misfortune, and rejoiced in prosperity. To- 
gether we have formed plans for the future, 
which death has dashed in pieces ; and now, 
whatever of trial or disaster is in store for us, 
must be sustained without the aid of his counsel, 
or the consolations of his sympathy. But all 
these words are vain. He is dead ! Already the 
mould rests upon his bosom, and to-night the 



wind sighs mournfully over his grave. When 
the bitterness of grief is past, his friends will 
feel a mournful pleasure in speaking of his 
blameless life and upright character ; and to 
hearts that are quivering with anguish now, it 
will be a consolation to feel that — 

' The ashes of the just 
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.' 

The name of the firm as publishers of the 
Journal remained unchanged, it being continued 
by S. and A. Francis, under the firm name of S. 
Francis & Co. In September, 1847, the name of 
the paper was changed from Sangomo to Illinois 
Journal, and Albert T. Bledsoe became asso- 
ciated with Simeon Francis as editor. This re- 
lation was continued for some time. 

In 1835, the Francis brothers erected a two- 
story frame building, forty-four by twenty feet, 
on the lot at the northeast corner of Washington 
and Sixth streets. This was the first Journal 
building, and was occupied for about eighteen 
years, until the completion of a new and better 
building erected on North Sixth, between Wash- 
ington and Jefferson, and used until November, 
1879. 

On the twenty-third day of September, 1847, 
the name of the paper was changed to the Illinois 
Journal, and on the thirteenth of August, 1855, 
to the Illinois State Jounal, its present name. 

Simeon Francis was born in Wethersfield, 
Connecticut, May 14, 1796. At an early age he 
entered a printing office in New Haven, Con- 
necticut, and served a regular apprenticeship; 
after which, in company with Mr. Clapp, he 
published a paper in New London, in the same 
State. After his marriage in New London, he 
sold his interest in the newspaper, and moved 
to Buffalo, New York, where he formed a part- 
nership under the firm name of Lazevell & 
Francis, and published the Buffalo Emporium, 
until it was forced to suspend in 1828, in conse- 
quence of the excitement in reference to the ab- 
duction of Morgan, charged against the Masonic 
fraternity, of which Mr. Francis was a member. 
In 1831, he came to Springfield, and soon after 
engaged in the publication of the Journal. On 
retiring from the Journal, Mr. Francis started 
the Illinois Farmer, which he continued as pub- 
lisher and then editor for some three years. In 
1859, he closed his business in Springfield, and 
moved to Portland, Oregon. Here he engaged 
in the publication of the Oregon Farmer, and 
was President of the Oregon State Agricultural 
Society. In 1861, President Lincoln appointed 
him Paymaster of the United States Army, with 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



217 



residence at Fort Vancouver, Wasliington Ter- 
ritory. Ttiis position lie lielcl until is 70, when 
he was retired on half pay. He then returned 
to Portland, Oregon, where he di6d October 25, 
1872. 

Josiah Francis was born January 17, 1804, at 
Weathersfield, Connecticut. After severing his 
connection with the Journal, he was married to 
Margaret Constant, near Athens, Illinois, and in 
1836 engaged in mercantile pursuits in Athens. 
While there, he represented Sangamon county 
in the State Legislature, in 1840. A few years 
later, he returned to Springfield, and was elected 
Sheriff of Sangamon county, and still later 
Mayor of Springfield. He died in 1867. 

Allen Francis, brother of Simeon, and asso- 
ciate in the publication of the Journal, was born 
in Wetherstield, Connecticut, April 12, 1815, 
and came to Springfield in 1834, and sub- 
sequently entered into partnership with his 
brothers. He remained in connection with the 
office until its disposal to Baker & Bailhache. 
He was married December 25, 1838, in Spring- 
field, to Cecilia B. Duncan, by whom he had six 
children. Mr. Francis was for several years a 
member of the City Council of Springfield, 
from the first ward. He erected the old Journal 
buildings on Sixth street, north of the square. 
In 1861, President Lincoln appointed him Consul 
at Victoria, Vancouver's Island. He left for 
that point February, 1862, and remained in 
official connection until 1871, when he resigned, 
and with his two sons engaged in the fur trade 
with the Indians, on the Pacific coast. 

In July, 1855, Messrs. Francis sold the estab- 
lishment to Bailhache & Baker, who had formerly 
been publishers of the Alton Telegraph. In 
their valedictory the publishers say: "On an 
occasion like this — on leaving a business and an 
establishment in which we have been engaged 
the best years of our lives — we might say much. 
We indeed feel that it is our privilege to do so; 
but we will only now say that we have labored 
for what we conceived the best interests of our 
town, our State and our common country, and 
for the success of Whig principles, which we be- 
lieved were connected with those interests. Our 
work, our labors, are before the public. We will 
not say that we have not erred, and that often. 
We would not be mortals if we had not. If we 
have injured, we ask to be forgiven. If, on the 
whole, we have merited favor, we ask that our 
labors be kindly considered." 

On assuming control of the Journal the new 
publishers said: " While we are well aware that 
there are few callings or professions so thank- 

25— 



less, so little appreciated or so little understood, 
as that of the conductor of the public Press, 
we believe there is no newspaper in the State 
which has since its establishment sustained itself 
so uniformly, 'borne its faculties so meekly,' as 
the Illinois Journal, and the simple fact that it 
has been in profitable existence for fully twenty- 
four years, under the retiring proprietors, speaks 
for them a volume of commendation. In taking 
upon ourselves the ownership and management 
of the Illinois Journal, we dare promise but little. 
Our own experience tells us that it will be diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, to please or meet the 
views of all; for in these days of political free- 
dom, every man thinks independently and acts 
for himself. We shall, however, give our undi- 
vided attention to making the Journal an inter- 
esting newspaper, which will not be exclusively 
devoted to mere politics, but which will likewise 
advocate and sustain all the great interests of 
society, and lend its aid to the cause of virtue, 
morality and education. In its politics, the 
Journal will continue to wear much the same 
general features which have distinguished it in 
the past, but in its strictures upon the present 
administration, or upon the tendency of the 
measures of opposing parties, it will be found 
occupying national conservative ground, in every 
emergency upholding the Constitution and the 
Union, and opposed to fanaticism and extreme 
views, -vherever they may be found. The most 
casual observer cannot fail to perceive that the 
political cauldron is at the present time in a 
state of violent commotion. Into what distinc- 
tive forms the elements will eventually be re- 
solved, cannot now be determined; but in every 
event we shall do battle fearlessly and independ- 
ently for the right, exposing error and falsehood 
wherever they nlay show their heads, and ap- 
proving and encouraging what is good and true 
in all political organizations." 

As stated in their salutatory, the political ele- 
ments at this time were in a state of violent 
commotion. The Whig party was in process of 
disintegration; the American or Know-Nothing 
party, which had been formed some years pre- 
vious, was gaining strength, especially in the 
South; the newly organized Republican or Anti- 
Nebraska party was absorbing all the anti- 
slavery elements in the Whig and Democratic 
parties, and much ill-feeling was engendered in 
consequence of the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise. The Journal, under its new manage- 
ment, was rather cautious in the expression of 
its views. Its sympathies were doubtless with 
the American party, and on the nomination of 



218 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Millard Fillmore for the Presidency by that 
party, it advocated his endorsement by all the 
elements opposed to the Democracy. As the 
canvass proceeded, the anti-slavery views of the 
editors were strengthened, and when John C. 
Fremont was nominated by the Republicans, it 
instantly hoisted his name, and became an earn- 
est and enthusiastic advocate of his election. 
From that time to the present, the Journal has 
never wavered in its advocacy of Republican 
principles. 

Baker & Bailhache continued in partnership 
as publishers of the Journal until December, 
1862, when Mr. Bailhache received a Govern- 
ment appointment, and sold his iiiterest to D. L. 
Phillips, who continued its publication under 
the firm name of Baker and Phillips. 

W. H. Bailhache was born in Chilicothe, Ohio, 
in 1 825, and was brought by his parents to Alton, 
Illinois, when quite a small boy. He received a 
thorough English education in Shurtleff College, 
at Alton, and when about eighteen years old 
entered his father's office to learn the trade of 
printer. Subsequently he became associated 
with his father in the publication of the Alton 
Telegraph. As already stated, he came to 
Sprirgfield in 1855, and purchased an interest in 
the Journal. He served in the army as Assist- 
ant Quartermaster, with rank of Captain, and 
was with the Army of the Tennessee. After 
his retirement from the Journal, he went to 
Quincy, and engaged in the newspaper business 
for a time, and finally received an appointment 
in the Quartermaster's Department, and is now 
at Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was mar- 
ried in 1859, to a daughter of General M. Bray- 
man. 

Edward L. Baker was born in Kaskaskia, Illi- 
nois, June 3, 1829. He was educated at Shurt- 
leff College, Upper Alton, and graduated in 
1847. After graduating, he read law two years 
with his father, David J. Baker, after which he 
attended Harvard Law School, graduated there- 
from, and was admitted to the Bar in 1855, at 
Springfield. After leaving he returned to Al- 
ton, which bad been his home for some years, 
and in connection with W. H. Bailhache, he 
published the Alton Telegraph for some five 
years. In 1857, as already stated, he became 
part owner and editor of the Illinois State Jour- 
nal. In 1869 he was appointed United States 
Assessor for the Eighth District of Illinois, re- 
maining in that office until it was abolished. In 
December, 1873, he was appointed United 
States Consul at Buenos Ayres, Argentine Re- 
public, S. A., which office he still retains. 



When Mr. Phillips became connected with 
the Journal, it was at a time when our army had 
suffered several defeats and treason was ram- 
pant. In his salutatory, he said: 

" I am a cordial supporter of the present ad- 
ministration — as I would be of any other in its 
hour of trial and peril — and in favor of em- 
ploying all the means known to the Constitu- 
tion and laws to suppress effectually and forever, 
the existing rebellion against the Government. 
In the prosecution of the war I recognize no 
distinction between Democrats and Republicans 
in arms against the assassins who are attempt- 
ing to destroy the heritage bequeathed to us by 
our fathers, and seal up in endless night all 
hopes of human progress and human liberty. 
The meed of praise will be alike given to men 
of all parties who peril their lives for the pres- 
ervation of that government which we hold as 
a common trust for posterity. I am a Repub- 
lican, yet I pledge myself to no stereotyped line 
of politics. The future is too dark and uncer- 
tain to define with any degree of certainty, a 
political course to be pursued by any true lover 
of his country, other than so far as I have al- 
ready indicated. My best effoi'ts will be em- 
ployed in giving the public a paper free from the 
taint of treason, corruption and immorality, and 
unalterably devoted to the interests of our 
brave Illinoisans who are shedding imperishable 
lustre upon our arms in all parts of the Repub- 
lic, cursed with the views of secession and re- 
bellion." 

On the 28th of August, 1865, W. II. Bail- 
hache, having retired from the army, purchased 
a share in the Journal, and again became identi- 
fied with the paper. Previous to this, however, 
the legislature of 1863 passed an act incorpor- 
ating the Journal Company, and in February of 
that year the company was organized and some 
twenty thousand dollars in stock issued. Baker 
and Phillips retained by far the larger portion 
of this, and the paper as before was published 
in their name, the entire management of the 
concei"n being in their hands. 

On the 7th of March, 1866, Mr. Phillips 
retired from the Journal, disposing of his stock 
to Mr. Bailhache. In his valedictory he said: 
"While I have been connected with the Journal, 
we have passed through a great civil war — a war 
for the Union made by our fathers — a war in 
defense of humanity, law, and order, and against 
disunion, barbarism, and universal disorder. 
The Journal in the darkest hour of the past four 
years has never faltered in its stern, unfiagging 
support of the Government, the vigorous prose- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



219 



cution of the war, and words of cheer to the 
brave men who saved the Nation. It will be 
my proud recollection that in those long, dreary 
years of blood and carnage, not one disloyal 
sentence ever found utterance in the columns of 
the Journal, nor one discouraging word to the 
heroic men who fought the s^reat battles of the 
Union." 

Baker and Bailhache, as principal stock- 
holders, continued the publication of the Jour- 
nal until February, 1873, when Mr. Bailhache 
retired, and the stock was purchased by Edward 
L. Baker, D. L. Phillips, Charles Edwards, and 
J. D. Roper. Mr. Phillips was elected Presi- 
dent, Mr. Baker Secretary, and Mr. Roper Treas- 
urer. No further change was made in the man- 
agement until September, 1878, when the stock 
of the company was purchased by Paul Selby, 
M. F. Simmons, and H. Chapin. 

David L. Phillips, who so long held the posi- 
tion of managing editor of the Journal, was of 
Welsh descent, his parents emigrating from that 
country prior to the Revolutionary war. David 
L. was born October 28, 1823, near the present 
town of Marion, Illinois. In common with the 
mass of young men of that time, he had only 
those opportunities of education afforded by the 
common schools of the period, which were none 
of the best; but, gifted with an active mind and 
a strong thirst for knowledge, he made such 
good use of them by study during the winter, 
while laboring on the farm during the summer, 
that by the time he had attained to manhood, he 
was fitted to teach, and acquitted himself with 
credit in that profession for several years. 
About that time the learned and able Dr. John 
M. Peck, the distinguished pioneer teacher and 
preacher of the Baptist denomination, was in 
the very prime of his manhood and usefulness, 
and from the seminary which he founded at 
Rock Spring was exerting a vast influence upon 
the young men of the State, and even in other 
States. It was no doubt due to the direct influ- 
ence of this able and gifted man, that at the age 
of eighteen years young Phillips was received 
into the Baptist Church, and some two years 
later entered the ministry of that denomination 
with all the zeal and fervor peculiar to his youth 
and sanguine temperament. He remained in 
this profession probably eight years, teaching 
and preaching at intervals in St. Clair, Wash- 
ington, Union, and perhaps other counties in 
Southern Illinois. In the early part of his 
career as a minister, he was married to Miss 
Charlotte Tate, of St. Clair county, who still 
survives him, and the young couple began life 



together at Elkton, in Washington county. Mr. 
Phillips possessed elements which made him a 
popular pulpit orator, and it is not too much to 
say that his zeal, earnestness, and enthusiasm 
had attracted attention to him widely in that 
section of the State. This finally resulted in 
his being called to take charge of the Baptist 
Church at Jonesboro, where he acquitted himself 
with his usual ability. 

About 1854, having withdrawn from the charge 
of the church at Jonesboro, on account of a dis- 
agreement on political questions, Mr. Phillips 
became associated with the management of the 
Jonesboro Gazette, then, as it is now, a Demo- 
cratic paper. The excitement over the " Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill," removing the restriction against 
the introduction of slavery north of the parallel 
of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes — known 
as the " Missouri Compromise," — was at its 
height, and Mr. Phillips took strong ground 
against it. Into this contest he entered with all 
the fervor of an ardent, zealous nature. As a 
result he soon found himself arrayed against his 
party as he had previously been against his 
church. His partner withdrew and, for a time, 
the Gazette dispensed to its readers the most 
radical Republican doctrine, although the Re- 
publican party had not then been organized. 

One of the earliest acts of Mr. Lincoln, after 
his accession to the Presidency, was to appoint 
Mr. Phillips United States Marshal for the 
Southern District of Illinois, to which position 
he was re-appointed in 1865. He continued to 
hold the ottice until removed by Andrew John- 
son in 1866. The administration of this oflice 
during the dark and troublous period of the war, 
brought Mr. Phillips in close and intimate re- 
lations with the most trusted and confidential 
agents of the Government, and imposed upon 
him many delicate and responsible duties, in the 
discharge of which he was not found wanting, 
in either ability, courage or integrity. 

In the fall of 1875 Mr. Phillips made a visit 
to California, spending seven months in that 
region. He bore a commission as Special Agent 
of the Treasury Department, empowering him 
to enquire into the management of custom 
houses and internal revenue offices in that sec- 
tion of the Union. During his stay on the 
Pacific Coast, he wrote a series of letters to the 
Journal, descriptive of places visited, scenery, 
climate, customs, and public works, which were 
subsequently issued in book form, and which 
impart a more vivid and comprehensive idea of 
that interesting region than can be obtained 
from almost any other source. The following 



220 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



touching extract is from a letter bearing date 
January 1, 18 76: 

" Since my last letter was finished, another 
year has been numbered with the unreturning 
past. Its joys and sorrows, its successes and 
failures, its lights and shadowfi, are all garnered 
in the storehouse of Eternity. Each of my read- 
ers, and the writer of these Pacific Coast letters, 
stand another year nearer the portals of the Un- 
known. But, through the infinite goodness, 
mercy and wisdom of God, while our steps may 
be sobered and our gray hairs increased, we are 
permitted to look outward and onward to the 
end, stimulated by hope and unawed by fear; 
standing in the right as it is given us to see it, 
and rejoicing in the evening glories of the nine- 
teenth century. Renewing ray faith in the 
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, 
from the shores of the Pacific I send to my read- 
ers, and the tens of thousands of good friends 
and loved ones of and about whom my thoughts 
are busy to-day, my ardent, earnest wishes for a 
happy New Year for them and theirs." 

In the fall of 1876, Mr. Phillips received the 
Republican nomination for Congress, but was 
defeated, the district being overwhelmingly 
Democratic. His canvass was an able one, and 
as a slight appreciation of his services, he was 
appointed Postmaster of Springfield, by Presi- 
dent Hayes. 

Paul Selby, in a "Memorial Address on the 
Life, Character and Public Services of David L. 
Phillij)s," delivered before the Illinois State 
Press Association, held at Springfield, February 
16, 1881, pays him the following tribute: 

"' With the exception of about two years, 
between the early part of 1868, up to his retire- 
ment from the Journal, in 1878, it was my for- 
tune to be associated with Mr. Phillips almost 
continuously. The opportunity I thus had of 
knowing our brother journalist has, I think, 
given me the right, as well as the ability, to 
speak of him as a man, as a journalist, as a poli- 
tician, and as a public ofiicer. In all that period, 
our friendly relations were never interrupted for 
a moment. It was necessary that, in such a re- 
lation, there should be mutual trusts and confi- 
dences; in these he was never found wanting. 
Whatever may have been his imperfections — 
and be was a man, and no man is perfect — he 
was as true in his journalistic relation to those 
associated with him as he was patriotic in his 
political relations, and honest and faithful in 
the discharge of his ofticial duties. 

"Mr. Phillips was essentially a self-educated, 
self-made man. While, with the majority of the 



youth of his day, he possessed few advantages in 
early life, he distanced the great mass of his 
associates in the progress which he made and 
the results he achieved, lie was entitled to all 
the more credit for what he accomplished, 
though his achievements were necessarily un- 
equal. He possessed natural ({ualities of intel- 
lect which fitted him for wide and profound 
research. His oflicial duties during most of the 
period when he was associated with the public 
Press, did not permit him to engage in general 
journalism for any length of time. His tastes 
led him rather into special fields. In these he 
was full, comprehensive and exhaustive. In- 
clined to the discursive and florid in style, a 
strong and vivid imagination still enabled him 
to clothe his thoughts in a garb which never 
failed to command the attention of the reader, 
whether the latter agreed with him or not. He 
was never dull or prosaic — never wrote common- 
place merely to fill up the page, but his utter- 
ances came from a mind overflowing with living 
facts and arguments. Gifted with a memory 
that surprised those who knew him by its 
extraordinary sweep and tenacity, his mind was 
the repository of an amount of knowledge of 
men and things, gained from reading and ob- 
servation, possessed by few men of his time." 

Mr. Phillii^s died in Springfield, June 19, 
1880. 

Under the management of the present pro- 
prietors, the Journal has been made a success in 
every particular, and the oflice is well supplied 
with material for any kind of work, from a visit- 
ing card to a mammoth poster. 

Paul Selby, editor-in-chief of the Illinois State 
Journal, was born in Pickawav county, Ohio, 
July 20, 1825. His father. Dr. William H. Selby, 
was a native of Anne Arundel county, Maryland," 
•while his mother, Mary (Young) Selby, was born 
at Fairfield, Connecticut. The former grew^ to 
manhood, when, having qualified himself for the 
practice of medicine, he removed to Western 
Pennsylvania, where he made the acquaintance 
of, and married. Miss Young, whose parents had 
emigrated to Uniontown, in the latter State, 
while she was yet in her infancy. Soon after 
marriage, the young couple removed to Eastern 
Ohio, residing for a time at Zanesville, Marietta 
and Mt. Vernon, in that State. During their 
residence at the latter place. Dr. Selby engaged 
for a time in the mercantile business. The w^ar 
of 1812-15, with England being then in progress, 
he went as surgeon with a body of volunteers 
raised for the relief of the scattered remnants of 
General St. Clair's defeated army. 



niSTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



221 



Some years after the close of the war the 
Selbys removed to Pickaway county, where the 
subject of this sketch was born, being the fifth 
of a family of six children (five sons and one 
daughter), all of whom grew to manhood and 
womanhood, but of Avhoni he is now the only 
survivor. In ISSY the family moved West, set- 
tling in the DesMoines Valley (VanBuren 
county), in what was then the Territory of Iowa. 
Both in Ohio and Iowa, Dr. Selby pursued the 
business of a farmer, and thus Paul grew up as 
most farmers' sons do — working upon the farm 
in summer and going to school in the winter, 
when opportunity offered — though his parents 
being intelligent, reading people, his advantages 
may have been somewhat better than the avei*- 
age. The common schools, especially in the lat- 
ter State, were none of the best, but furnished 
the only educational advantages then open to 
him except those which he enjoyed at home or 
by means of independent study, until after he had 
reached manhood. 

In 1843, Paul's father died, and in the follow- 
ing year, at the age of nineteen, he left home to 
make his way in the world, and while contribut- 
ing to the support of his mother, determined to 
acquire an education. The following winter and 
spring were spent in teaching in Washington 
county, Illinois, when, more liberal inducements 
being offered him, he removed to Madison 
county, where he engaged in the same occupa- 
tion. He spent about three years in Madison, 
half of the time being at the same place, a few 
miles above St. Louis, on the Alton road. In 
1848, having acquired some means, he determined 
to carry out his long cherished purpose of ac- 
quiring a more liberal education, and then went 
to JacKsonville, entering Illinois College for a 
classical course. Here he remained three and a 
half years, but before the expiration of his course 
(in March, 1852,) he formed a business connec- 
tion for the publication of the " Morgan ( now 
Jacksonville) Journal," assuming editorial charge 
as successor to Col. E. R. Roe, late Marshal of 
the Southern District of Illinois. He then had 
no intention of abandoning his studies, but find- 
ing his time fully occupied, he reluctantly with- 
drew from college in the middle of his junior 
year, though subsequently honored by his Ahna 
Mater with the honorary degree of A. M. 

Mr. Selby's connection with the "Morgan 
Journal " continued nearly seven years, covering 
a period of great political excitement and agita- 
tion, during which the Republican party came 
into existence. Though a Whig in politics, his 
tastes were rather literary tban political, and he 



preferred an independent position in journalism. 
This was in part due to the fact that he foresaw 
the breaking up of the organization of parties, 
which occurred on the passage of the bill re- 
moving the restriction against the admission of 
slavery north of thirty-six degrees thirty min- 
utes, introduced by Mr. Douglas. New ques- 
tions having thus been brought to the surface, he 
entered with zeal into their discussion, and, as was 
inevitable, soon took a position on the side of 
the Republican party — in fact, was among the 
first to be identified with the new party organi- 
zation in Central Illinois. In the fall of 1855, 
the paper with w^hich Mr. Selby was connected, 
suggested a meeting of the anti-Nebraska edi- 
tors of the State, to be held at some central point 
in the State, for the purpose of giving form and 
direction to the sentiment of the new party and 
agreeing upon some general line of policy. The 
suggestion was approved by others, and in the 
next few months the proposition took form, the 
convention being called at Decatur, February 
22, 1856. When the convention met, in view of 
his agency in securing it, Mr. Selby was, by 
unanimous consent, chosen to preside over its 
deliberations. In an address delivered by him 
before the Illinois Press Association, at its 
winter meeting held at Springfield, February 
6, 1879, under the title of "A Quarter of a Cen- 
tury of Journalism," he made the following al- 
lusion to this assemblage as an incident in the 
political and journalistic history of the State: 

"On the 22d day of February, 1856, an Edito- 
rial Convention of a somewhat different charac- 
ter was held at Decatur, in this State. The 
number in attendance was small — not amount- 
ing to over fifteen or twenty, all told — a sort of 
"forlorn hope," so to speak — but they assisted 
to set in motion agencies which have left their 
impress on the political history of this State 
and the Nation. The Convention was composed 
of representatives of newspapers opposed to the 
so-called Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which liad 
passed Congress in 1854, and which had pro- 
duced a degree of popular excitement seldom 
known in the previous history of the country, 
proving a fore-runner of the w^ar of the rebel- 
lion which followed a few years later. It was 
called for the purpose of outlining a policy for 
the Anti-Nebraska party — as the opponents of 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise called 
themselves — and was one of the first and most 
effective steps towards the formal organization 
and consolidation of the Republican party of 
the State, which took place in May following. 
The printed record does not show a full list of 



PIISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the names of those present, but from the list of 
committees and officers I am able to find the 
following: V. Y. Ralston, Quincy Whig; Dr. 
C. H. Eay, Chicago Tribune; O. P. Wharton, 
Rock Island Advertiser; T. J. JPickett, Peoria 
Republican; George Schneider, Chicago Staats 
Zeitung; Charles Faxon, Princeton Post; A N. 
Ford, Lacon Gazette; B. F. Shaw, Dixon Tele- 
graph; W. J. Usrey, Decatur Chronicle; Paul 
Selby, Jacksonville Journal. 

A platform was adopted at this meeting which 
would now be regarded as very conservative 
Republicanism, but it was assailed by the oppo- 
sition Press of the day as the wildest Radical- 
ism — or rather "abolitionism." Resolutions 
were adopted recommending that a State Dele- 
gate Convention be held at Bloomington, May 
29th following, for the purpose of organizatioii, 
and a State Central Committee was appointed 
to fix an apportionment of delegates and issue 
the formal call. That Committee performed its 
duty; the convention was held at the time and 
place designated; General John M. Palmer, 
then a rising young lawyer and liberal politi- 
cian of Carlinville, present proprietor of the 
Register in this city, presided; a ticket com- 
posed of General W. H. Bissell, for Governor; 
Francis Hoffman, (afterwards replaced by Hon. 
John Wood, of Quincy,) for Lieutenant Gover- 
nor; O. M. Hatch, for Secretary of State; Jesse 
K. Dubois, for Auditor; James Miller, for Treas- 
urer, and W. H. Powell, for Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, was put in nomination and 
was elected in November following. And thus 
the Republican party sprang at once into polit- 
ical ascendancy in this State — an ascendancy 
which it has never since wholly lost." 

In May, 1858, while still residing at Jackson- 
ville, Mr. Selby was married to Miss Erra A. 
Post, an amiable and worthy young lady who 
had been a pupil, and for a time, a teacher in 
the Female Seminary at that place. During the 
following fall he severevi his connection with 
the Jacksonville Journal, and the next spring 
removed to Springfield, where he spent the sum- 
mer of 1859. Though not immediately connected 
with the Press during this period, he did con- 
siderable political writing for the State Journal, 
and otherwise. One of his principal labors dur- 
ing this summer was the preparation of a pampli- 
let giving the history of the celebrated "Canal 
Scrip Fraud" which was brought to the atten- 
tion of the public soon after the retirement of 
Joel A. Matteson from the Governorship of the 
State. This pamphlet was widely distributed 
throughout the State, and exerted no small in- 



fluence upon the elections of the next few years. 

In September, 1859, in compliance with the 
urgent solicitation of friends already in the 
South, Mr. Selby accepted an invitation to take 
charge of a boys' school at Plaquemine, Louisi- 
ana, and removed there with his family. After 
remaining here one year he was offered strong 
inducement to fate charge of an institution for 
the education of young ladies and gentlemen, at 
Amite City, in the same State, which he ac- 
cepted. Before the close of this year, the war 
between the North and South, which had been 
gradually coming on, opened with all its bitter- 
ness and fury. Perceiving that he could no 
longer be of any service there in the profession 
Avhich he had chosen, and that the safety of 
himself and family would be in peril by longer 
remaining in the South, at the close of the term 
of 1860-61, Mr. Selby determined to return to 
the North, and disposing of what property he 
could, and leaving his library, which, in the con- 
dition of the country at that time, could not be 
transported, and which was plundered and scat- 
tered during the war, on the evening of the 3d 
of July, 1861, he left New Orleans for Illinois. 
The journey was made by railroad, by way of 
Columbus, Kentucky, and Cairo, though many 
persons then seeking to reach the North were 
meeting with serious trouble, and all communi- 
cation was cut off between Columbus and Cairo, 
by the seizure of the steamer running between 
those two places, by the rebels, a few days after. 
Almost immediately after his ai-rival in Spring- 
field, leaving his family here, Mr. Selby returned 
to Cairo, to accept a position which had been 
tendered him in the employment of the Govern- 
ment. 

After a stay at Cairo of about eight months, 
and a short period spent in the Transportation 
Department at Paducah, Kentucky, during which 
the movement up the Tennessee river to Pitts- 
burg Landing took place, Mr. Selby returned to 
Springfield, and in July following was offered 
and accepted a position upon the editorial de- 
partment of the State Journal, which continued 
unbroken up to November, 1865. At this time 
he was called to suffer a deep affliction in the 
loss of his wife. His household having been 
broken up, he severed his connection with the 
Journal, and soon after went to New Orleans, 
where he spent the winter. Returning north in 
June, 1866, after a few weeks' rest, he was of- 
fered and accepted a position on the editorial 
staff of the Chicago Evening Journal, but soon 
after taking a similar position on the Chicago 
Republican now the Inter- Ocean. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



223 



In 1868, Messrs. D. L. Phillips and William 
H. Bailhache, of the State Journal, purchased the 
Whig, at Quincy, Illinois, and Mr. Selby was in- 
vited to take editorial charge of it. Subse- 
quently he became the successor of Major Bail- 
hache in proprietorship of the Whig, at the 
same time retaining the position of managing 
editor. At the close of the year 1873, the Whig 
was sold to its present proprietors, when Hon. 
E. L. Baker, editor of the State Journal, having 
been appointed Consul to Buenos Ayers, Mr. 
Selby was offered his old place upon the Journal. 
Pie accepted, entering on his duties January 1, 
1874, and his connection with the paper has re- 
mained unbroken ever since. In September, 1878, 
the Journal became the property of the "Spring- 
field Journal Publishing Company," of which Mr. 
Selby is a member, being a director and secretary 
of the board. Mr. Selby was married a second 
time in December, 1870, to Mrs. M. J.Hitchcock, 
a gifted lady of Quincy, who still survives. Two 
daughters born to him of his first wife still live ; 
but a daughter and a son born to him of his pres- 
ent wife, died in December, 1878, within a few 
days of each other. 

In June, 1880, Mr. Selby received from Presi- 
dent Hayes the appointment of Postmaster for 
the city of Springfield, in place of Hon. D. L. 
Phillips, deceased, entering upon the duties of 
the office July 4, and on the assembling of Con- 
gress, in December, was nominated, confirmed 
and re-commissioned. 

Horace Chapin, Treasurer and Business Mana- 
ger of the Journal, was born in Springfield, 
Massachusetts, December 27, 1827, and emi- 
grated to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1851, and 
settled near the present village of Chapin, the 
junction of the Wabash and Chicago, Burling- 
ton and Quincy Railroads. The early life of 
Horace was spent on his father's farm, and in 
attending the public schools and academy of 
his native place. On coming to Morgan, he en- 
gaged in farming in connection with his brother 
Lyman, which occupation he continued until 
August, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in 
Company K., Twenty-Seventh Illinois Infantry. 
On the election of officers of the company, Mr. 
Chapin was elected First Lieutenant. The regi- 
ment shortly after was ordered to Cairo, where 
it became a part of General McClernand's 
brigade. After the battle of Belmont, Lieuten- 
ant Chapin was promoted to Captain of Company 
D. During the three years of his service. Cap- 
tain Chapin participated in many of the im- 
portant battles of the war, including Island No. 
10, Union City, Farmington, Corinth, Nashville, 



Laverne, Franklin, Stone River and Chicaniauga. 
In the battle of Chicamauga, Captain Chapin lost 
a leg, and was sent to the hospital at Nashville, 
where he remained four months and then re- 
ceived a furlough home. He was mustered out 
of service on the twenty-seventh of September, 
1864, his term of service having expired. In 
1865 he moved to Jacksonville, and in April, 
1867, received the appointment ot Postmaster of 
that city, which position he held for four years. 
About the time of his appointment of Postmaster, 
he purchased an interest in the Jacksonville 
Journal, but was not actively engaged in its 
management until his retirement from the post- 
office. Captain Chapin severed his relationship 
with the Journal in 1876. On the formation of 
the present State Journal Company he was 
elected Treasurer and Business Manager, which 
position he yet retains. 

Horace Chapin and Augusta Swazey, of 
Bucksport, Maine, were united in marriage 
January 9, 1859, at St. Anthony, Minne- 
sota. 

Captain Chapin was originally a Whig, and 
was afterwards identified with the Free Soil 
movement. On the organization of the Repub- 
lican party, he -became an active worker in its 
ranks, and no man has ever been a more enthus- 
iastic one. 

Milton F. Simmons, President of the State 
Journal Company, was born in Schoharie county, 
New York, December 21, 1842. He received 
an academical and collegiate education in his 
native State, and subsequently read law with 
Lyman Tremaine, of New York City, and was 
there admitted to the Bar. After receiving a 
license as an attorney, he moved to Mexico, 
Missouri, where he engaged in practice for some 
six years, with success. In 1871, he purchased 
the office of the Mexico Messenger, which paper 
he edited and published until his removal to 
Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1876. While in Mexico 
he was elected to the State Legislature, and 
served one session. On his arrival in Jackson- 
ville, he became associated in the publication 
of the Jacksonville Journal, which relation 
continued until 1878, when he came to 
Springfield, and became one of the Journal 
Company. 

Milton F, Simmons and Philena Eliza 
Humphrey were married at Mexico, Missouri, 
November 11, 1867. Four children have 
resulted from this union — Ida Mabel, Anna 
Maggie, Minnie Myrtle, and Katie Maud. 

Mr. Simmons has always been a Republican 
in politics. 



224 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



THE DAILY JOURNAL. 

The Journal first appeared as a daily Monday, 
June 13, 1848, containing twelve columns, 
twelve inches long. That paper printed the first 
telegraphic dispatch ever received directly by 
the Press in Springfield. Diminutive as was 
the sheet, its advent marked a new era in the 
history of the Press of that city. It seemed a 
hazardous undertaking to establish a daily, but 
the paper met with immediate support, and when 
but eleven days old was enlarged to a sixteen 
column sheet, of respectable size. Its news col- 
umns were well filled, and in all respects it was 
fully up to the demands of the times. It was 
issued in the evening, as most of the mails left 
early in the morning, and the clumsy hand press 
could not have a morning paper ready in time. 

The conduct of a daily at that time was widely 
at variance with what it is to-day. Printing ap- 
pliances were unwieldy; labor was scarce; ex- 
penses heavy, and the people at large found a 
weekly enough for their wants- Notwithstand- 
ing these and other obstacles, the Journal suc- 
ceeded well. On the first of January, 1850, the 
daily was again enlarged, by increasing the 
length of its columns and adding four to their 
number. No change was made thereafter until 
the 22d of December, 1853, when it was again 
enlarged. It then became a twenty-four column 
paper. These changes were made to meet the 
demands of advertisers. Again about the begin- 
ning of the war, first to a seven and then an eight- 
column folio. This form was continued until 
July, 1880, when it was changed to a six-column 
quarto, its present form. 

THE ILLINOIS REPUBLICAN. 

The Republican was established May, 1835, 
by John A. Roberts and George R. Weber, who 
coniinued its publication until the summer of 
1839. The Republican was a firm supporter of 
the Jackson policy, and dealt some powerful 
blows to the opposition. It was a fearless and 
radical sheet in its utterances, and gave no un- 
certain souYid. Its enemies always knew where 
to find it. In the spring of 1837, Stephen A. 
Douglas was appointed by President Van Buren, 
Register of the Land Ofiice at Springfield, and 
thus became a resident of the place. At this 
time he was very boyish in appearance and man- 
ner; was a ready wit, and a bold and fluent 
speaker. He made politics his chief study, to 
the neglect of his profession. He wrote much 
for the columns of the Republican, which ap- 
peared both as editorial and communicated. The 
paper, in political circles, was therefore generally 



regarded as the organ of young Douglas. Under 
the nom de plume of an "Old Settler," a well 
known citizen of Springfield contributed to a 
local paper of the city, in 1871, the following 
interesting reminiscence of the Republican, and 
Stephen A. Douglas' connection with it: 

"A law providing for the removal of the seat 
of government from Vandalia to Springfield 
had passed the legislature of 1835-36, and three 
commissioners appointed to superintend the 
building of a new State House at the latter 
place. Dr. Henry was the acting commissioner. 
He was an able political wi'iter, and contributed 
largely to the columns of the Sangamo Journal, 
both editorially and otherwise; hence, the news- 
paper fights of that day between the Journal 
and Republican, were mainly between Douglas 
and Dr. Henry, as the champion writers of their 
respective parties. 

"Douglas, in several anonymous communica- 
tions, attacked Dr. Henry as acting State House 
Commissioner, denouncing him, with much bit- 
terness, as being unqualified for the position, 
and burlesquing many of his ofiicial acts, advis- 
ing the Gov.ernor to remove him for incompe- 
tency, and to appoint a practical builder — a 
mechanic or architect, as doctors and lawyers 
knew but little about building State houses. 
Dr. Henry and many of his friends, believing 
Douglas to be the author of the offensive arti- 
cles, determined to demand the name of the 
author by calling on the editor. A committee 
was appointed for that purpose, which, armed 
with cane and pistols, waited upon the editor 
(until then supposed to be a meek man), and 
made the demand. Douglas happened to be in 
the printing ofiice when the committee arrived. 
The demand was made with threats and a flour- 
ish of the cane, when the meek man of the press 
planted his fist in the face of the chairman of 
the committee, informing him that he was re- 
sponsible for everything that appeared in his 
paper. The committee was thus dispersed. 
Douglas being an eye-witness of the disastrous 
defeat of the committee, gave a highly colored 
description of what had occurred in the next 
paper, which, when the paper appeared, resulted 
in a determination of certain aggrieved parties 
to destroy the printing establishment of the Illi- 
nois Republican. 

"On the evening of June 27, 1837, while the 
editor and hands were at supper, a mob appeared 
before the office door which was locked. The 
leader, being the Sheriff of the county on a 
'spree,' picked up a stick of cord wood and 
burst open the door, and ordering his men to 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



225 



tlirow the printing materials into the street, 
promising to pay all damages. By this lime the 
Weber brothers — three in number — Douglas, 
Dr. Early (afterwards assassinated), and a few 
others, rushed into the office, and kicked and 
Hung the mobocrats from the building. Several 
other personal conflicts ensued. The next day 
the mob rallied and made another attack, in 
which the leader of the mob, the Sheriff, was 
stabbed, and fainting fell, covered with blood, 
he was carried home. Thus ended the mob. 
These things gave notoriety to the paper. The 
spicy and able articles of Douglas, like pure and 
good Democratic seed sown in good ground, 
resulted in his nomination for Congress by the 
Democratic party of the Third Congressional 
District." 

George R. Weber was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, May 29, 1808. He was taken, when 
an infant, to Shepherdstown, Virginia, by his 
parents, and remained thereuntil after he reached 
his majority. In 1832, he was married to Miss 
Susan Shepherd, and soon after moved to New 
York City, where his wife soon died. Mr. 
Weber then returned to Shepherdstown, and 
from there came to Springfield, Illinois, arriving 
here April 15, 1835. He Avas married in Spring- 
field to Catherine Welch, by whom he had eight 
children. Mr. Weber learned the trade of a 
printer before coming to Springfield, and has 
worked at the case off and on for a period of 
nearly sixty years. In 1839, he suspended the 
Republican, and shortly after became a part- 
ner in the Register, retaining his connection 
therewith until 1846, when he sold out to Mr. 
Walters, and enlisted in Company A, 4th Illi- 
nois Infantry, under Colonel E. D. Baker. 
While encamped on the Rio Grande, in 
Mexico, news of Mr. Walter's death reached 
there, and Mr. Weber, being interested in the 
State printing, it became necessary that he 
should return. Accordingly he was detailed to 
return home with those soldiers who were unfit 
for duty, and was never recalled. After the 
time expired for which he was elected Public 
Printer, he severed his connection with the 
office, and moved to his farm. 

Mr. Weber sei'ved six months as State Com- 
m.issary, in our late civil war, and was subse- 
quently appointed as Commissary at Camp l^ut- 
ler, which position he retained until the close of 
the rebellion. 

ILLINOIS STATE REGISTER. 

The Illinois State Register was started in 
Vandalia, February, 1836, under the name of the 

26— 



Illinois State Register and Vandalia Republi- 
can, by William Walters. Mr. Walters was a 
native of Delaware, and for some years was a 
journeyman printer in Washington City, and 
foreman in the office of the old National Intel- 
ligencer. While occupying this position he 
contributed a number of articles to the Press of 
that day, and thus attracted the notice of the 
Democratic or Jackson members of Congress 
from this State. Desiring a strong neAvspaper 
advocate of the Jacksonian school at the capital 
of the State, Mr. Walters was induced to make 
the venture. He arrived in Vandalia in Jan- 
uary, 1836, and on the 10th of February, the first 
number of the new paper appeared. At this 
time Judge John York Sawyer was publishing 
the Illinois Advocate at Vandalia, and was State 
Printer. Judge Sawyer died during this year, 
and the Advocate suspended publication. 

The legislature, at its session of 1 830-3 V, 
elected Mr. Walters State Printer, and made 
the Register the official paper of the State. 
During this session the vote was taken on the 
removal of the State capital to Springfield, and 
cai'ried. 

In 1839, the offices of the State Government 
were removed to Springfield, and were followed 
a few weeks later by the State Register, Mr. 
Walters removing the office to this city. Here 
the paper assumed the double name of Illinois 
State Register and People's Advocate, with 
William Walters and George R. Weber as edi- 
tors and publishers. The name of the Advocate 
wag quietly dropped out some months after- 
wards, and the name of Illinois State Register 
alone appeared as the name of the paper. The 
first number of the Register printed in Spring- 
field, dated August 10, 1839, made the following 
announcement: 

"To OUR Patrons: — We have the pleasure to 
address the patrons of the State Register from 
Springfield, the new seat of Government of the 
State of Illinois. The most of our readers 
are aware that, until within a few weeks past, 
the Illinois Republican (the leading and spirited 
Democratic paper) has been published in this 
place for several successive yeai's. , The removal 
of the seat of Government to Springfield made 
it the duty of the public printer to remove with 
it; and hence, as there was not a probable 
demand for two Democratic papers in the same 
place, Mr. Weber, the editor of the Republican, 
discontinued that journal, and purchased an in- 
terest in this paper. The change will, no doubt, 
be advantageous to our subscribers. To the 
subscribers "of the Illinois Republican, this 



226 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



paper will henceforth be sent, unless otherwise 
instructed by them." 

In 1845, Mr. Weber sold his interest in the 
Register to his partner, Mr. Walters, who con- 
tinued it until 1S46, when the war with Mexico 
broke out, Avhen he leased the office to Charles 
H. Lanphier, and enlisted as a private soldier in 
the Second Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. Mr. 
Walters confidently expected the position of 
Major of the regiment, but it was given to an- 
other. Ilis friends in Washington, learning this 
fact, secured a commission as Commissary for 
him, and mailed it to him at St. Louis. Mr. 
Walters never lived to reach the front, but died 
in St. Louis before the departure of the regi- 
ment. 

Mr. Walters was a very able political writer, 
and was very popular with the people; and his 
loss was deeply felt. 

On the death of Mr. Walters, Charles H. Lan- 
phier became proprietor of the office, and con- 
tinued the publication of the paper one year, 
when he associated with himself George Walker, 
and the Register was published from 1846 to 
January 1, 1858, by Lanphier & Walker, when 
Walker withdrew, as appears from the follow- 
ing: 

Dissolution of Partnership. — Notice is hereby 
given that the partnership uuder the style of Lanphier 
& Walker, in the printing business and publication of 
the Illinois State Register, is this day dissolved, by 
mutual consent. * * * 

Chas. H. Lanphier, 

Jan. 1, 1858. Geo. Walker. 

George Walker was born in Vermont, in 1821, 
and in 1836 came with his parents to Belvidere, 
Illinois, His father was the original proprietor 
of that town. Mr. Walker came to Springfield 
at an early day ; studied law with Ebenezer Peck, 
and was admitted to the bar. Subsequently, he 
was appointed deputy by Mr. Peck, who received 
the appointment of Clerk of the Supreme Court. 
He acted as Deputy Clerk until 1847, when he 
became connected with the Register, as editor 
and publisher. 

Mr. Walker was a fine scholar and a brilliant 
writer. While he wrote or spoke in a manner 
not to be misunderstood, he was choice of his 
words, and every sentence showed the scholarly 
man. After retiring from the Register, he en- 
gaged in no active business, and died at the 
house of Mr. Lanphier, in 1864. 

On the breaking out of the war, in 1861, the 
following article appeared in the Register, from 
the pen of Charles H. Lanphier, on the duty of 
the hour: 



"The fratricidal blow has been struck! Civil 
war is upon us. The rebels have opened their 
batteries upon Fort Sumter, and the prospect of 
a long and bloody strife is before us. It has 
come as the consequence of causes so often and 
emphatically deprecated by Democrats and other 
conservative men — as the consequence of sec- 
tional agitation by Northern and Southern ex- 
tremists. But it is useless and unprofitable now 
to discuss the causes which have placed the 
country in its present unhappy condition. The 
Government has been resisted in the perform- 
ance of its legal functions. Rebels to the Na- 
tional authorities have fired upon the flag of the 
country, and assaulted one of its garrisons, when 
an effort was being made to re-in force and pro- 
vision the noble Anderson and his gallant little 
band. Most gallantly have they resisted; bravely 
have they defended their country's flag and their 
country's rights. But they have been overcome 
by the superior force that has surrounded them. 

"The news has been productive of the most 
intense feeling and excitement here, as it will 
be throughout the land, but whatever may be 
men's opinions as to the causes which have 
brought war upon us, there is but one feeling, 
and that is in behalf of the Government and 
the flag of the Union. This is as it should be. 
With the true patriot, whatever may be his 
opinions of the causes of war with his country's 
enemies, he is for his country and his country's 
flag; and his hearty support, morally, and phj^si- 
cally if necessary, should be rendered to the 
country's cause." 

In an article on "The National Trouble," the 
editor says: 

"We are proud to record that Douglas and 
his counsels, now that blow^s have ensued, are 
with the Government. Ever faithful, ever true, 
the champion of popular rights is for the cause 
of his country — of the Constitution and law. 
Whatever may be our party leanings, our party 
principles, our likes or dislikes, when the con- 
test opens between the country, between the 
Union, and its foes, and blows are struck, the 
patriot's duty is plain — take sides with the stars 
and stripes! As Illinoisans, let us rally to one 
standard. There is but one standard for good 
men and true. Let us be there. Through good 
and through evil report, let us be there — first, 
last, and all the time." 

Upon the retirement of Mr. W^alker, Edward 
Conner was associated with Mr. Lanphier in the 
publication of the Register until June 10, 1859, 
when the following announcement was made: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Dissolution of Co-paktneksiiip. — Notice is hereby 
given that the partuership in the publication of the Illi- 
nois State Register, heretofore existing under the name 
of Lanphier & Conner is dissolved bj' mutual consent. 
The business will hereafter be conducted by Chas. H. 
Lanphier. Chas. H. Lanphier, 

June 10, 1859. Edward Conner. 

Mr. Lanphier alone, continued the publication 
of the Kegi.ster until 1864, when he sold out to 
certain parties and the "Illinois State Register 
Printing Company" was organized, with George 
Judd, Esq., business manager, and I. N. Higgins 
editor. (Mr. I. N. Higgins is now editor of the 
Morning Call, San Francisco.) 

Charles H. Lanphier was born in Alexandria, 
Virginia, April 14, 1820. His father, Robert 
Goin Lanphier, was a native of the same place. 
His grandfather, Goin Lanphier, was one of the 
first settlers of that ancient town. He w^as of 
Irish birth, coming to Virginia an infant, with 
his father, Thomas Lanphier, in the year 1732, 
from County Cork, Ireland, where the family 
(French Hugenots) had emigrated in 1650. At 
the age of four years, the parents of Charles H. 
Lanphier removed to Washington City, Avhere 
Mr. Lanphier received a plain, English educa- 
tion, in the primary schools of the day. In 
May, 1836, just turning his sixteenth j^ear, Mr. 
Lanphier came to Illinois with his brother-in- 
law, William Walters, who, in January of that 
year, had established the Illinois State Register 
at Vandalia, then the seat of government of the 
State. Mr. Lanphier entered that establishment 
as an apprentice to the printing trade, and when 
the paper was moved to Springfield, he came 
with it. Completing his apprenticeship, he con- 
tinued in the concern as printer, clerk or re- 
porter, until 1846. On the breaking out of the 
Mexican war, Mr. Walters entered the vol- 
unteer army, leaving Mr. Lanphier in charge 
of the paper as editor and manager. Mr. Wal- 
ters died at St. Louis, soon after his regiment 
reached there, en route for Mexico. Mr. Lan- 
phier then attained the proprietorship of the 
paper. At the next session of the legislature 
(1846-f) he was elected Public Printer, being 
the last person to fill that office, w^hich was there- 
after abolished by constitutional provision. In 
1847 he took into partnership, in the publication 
of the Register, Mr. George Walker, one o( the 
most accomplished scholars and journalists of 
his day. This partnership continued until Jan- 
uary, 1858, when Mr. Walker withd.rew, and 
Mr. Lanphier continued the publication of the 
paper, until the fall of 1863, when he sold out 
the establishment, after a connection with it of 
nearly twenty-eight years. In 1860, on the 



breaking out of the Southern rebellion, Mr. 
Lanphier was appointed by Governor Yates a 
member of the "Board of Army Auditors," in 
connection vrith Judge William Thomas, of 
Jacksonville, and Hon. James H. Woodworth, 
of Chicago. In 1864, Mr. Lanphier was elected 
Clerk of the Circuit Court, of Sangamon county, 
and in 1868, w^as re-elected. Before the expira- 
tion of his last term, in 1872, Mr. Lanphier was 
nominated as the Democratic candidate for 
State Treasurer, but with his w^iole party, was 
defeated. 

In February, 1846, Mr. Lanphier was mar- 
ried to Margaret T. Crenshaw, daughtei- of 
John Hart Crenshaw, of Gallatin county, Illi- 
nois, one of the early pioneers of the State, set- 
tling wdth his parents and family in that county 
in the year 1812, from North Carolina. After 
the adoption of the present city charter, Mr. 
Lanphier w^as chosen a member of the City 
Council for three terms, and as Chairman of the 
Ordinance and School Committees, was largely 
instrumental in shaping the city laws undfr the 
new charter, and in organizing the present sys- 
tem of city schools. During the ascendancy of 
the Democratic party in the State, as the editor 
of its leading exponent at the Capital, Mr. Lan- 
phier bore a conspicuous part, and through the 
Register, was influential in shaping the policies 
of the State. Contemporary and intimate 
friend of Judge Douglas during his wiiole pub- 
lic career, he was an earnest champion in nearly 
all his pixblic efforts, sharing his confidence and 
possessing his highest respect and esteem. As 
editor of the Register, w^hile it was controlled 
by him, he was bold and fearless in giving ex- 
pression to his views of men and principles. 
His quick perception enabled him to judge al- 
most unerringly of the motives of the former, 
and w^hile respectful to his oj^ponents, if he 
thought them sincere, he was unsparing in his 
criticism of those he believed unprincipled and 
corrupt. His integrity was unquestioned and in 
these days, when venality so far pervades the 
Press, however lamentable the contemplation, it 
would not be time illy spent, to compare the 
course of the Register under his management 
with the latter day political journalism. As a 
writer, Mr. Lanphier w^as terse and pointed in 
style. He never indulged in fanciful phrases at 
the expense of clear, lucid expression. When 
he meant to say a thing he said it, and there 
could be no misunderstanding his meaning. In 
short, his entire editorial career was as able and 
consistent as his private life has been upright 
and honorable. 



228 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



In December, 1864, J. W. Merritt & Sons pur- 
chased the Register, and by them it was con- 
tinued something less than two years, when J. 
W. Merritt retired, and the paper was then run 
by E. L. Merritt & Bro., as publishers, with J. 
AV. Merritt, editor, and E. L. Merritt, associate 
editor. In 1873, on account of advanced age, 
J. W. Merritt resigned editorial charge, and E. 
L. Merritt became editor-in-chief. 

In June, 1877, E. L. Merritt & Bro., disposed 
of their interest to a stock company composed 
of John M. Palmer, E. L. Merritt, J. M. Higgins 
and John Mayo Palmer, forming the State Reg- 
ister Printing Company. 

John W. Merritt was born in New York City 
July 4, 1806, and died November 16, 1878. The 
Register, with which he was so long connected 
as editor, thus speaks of the man: 

"John W. Merritt was born in New York City 
in 1806, and had the benefit of a common school 
education. Before arriving at manhood he 
evinced a decided literary taste, and his conti'ibu- 
tions to the magazine and newsj^apers of the 
time were greatly admired. He studied law and 
built up a very lucrative practice in connection 
with Hon. James T. Brady, the profits of which 
were invested in real estate. He made himself 
independent at a comparatively early period in 
life, and was in a fair way to become wealthy 
when the financial revulsion of 1887, in a short 
time destroyed the value of his earnings and in- 
A'estments. That he must have been greatly 
disheartened by his misfortunes seems certain, 
but it is true that none of his most intimate 
friends ever heard him repine. With his wife 
and a young dependent family he removed with 
the remnant of his goods to St. Clair county, in 
this State, in 1841. His culture and energy soon 
gained him friends, and he purchased the Belle- 
ville Advocate, which paper he conducted with 
considerable success from 1848 to 1851. He also 
carried on a farm, and wi'ote letters for New 
York papers and contributed to eastern maga- 
zines. During this period, also, he wrote and 
published a novel called Shubel Darton. The 
style of this work now seems antiquated, and its 
construction more complicated than jDleases 
modern taste, but the plan of the story shows 
considerable skill, and the composition is remark- 
able for power in many passages. About this 
time he formed a strong personal friendship for 
Judge ]^reese, which continued to the close of 
Breese's life. 

" Some years later, Mr. Merritt moved to Salem 
and established the Advocate, which paper he 
conducted for many years, and where he had his 



sons instructed in the art and mystery of print- 
ing. In 1861, he was elected a member of the 
Constitutional Convention, and in 1802, a mem- 
ber of the legislature. In 1864, the State Regis- 
ter, as the organ of the Demowacy of the State, 
suffered the fate of the party it had so long 
represented. The efforts of powerful political 
opponents, and the treachery of pretended ad- 
herents, had reduced the party to what seemed a 
hopeless minority, and upon the State Register 
fell the stigma of copperheadism and disloyalty. 
Mr. Merritt resolved to attempt the task of re- 
establishing the paper, and supported by his son, 
took editorial charge January 1, 1865. The en- 
terprise was not a prudent one, but it was gal- 
lantly undertaken, and, like most bold projects, 
succeeded. By hard v^^ork, and by the aid of 
business skill and editorial talent, the paper was 
set upon its feet again. 

"For some years Mr. Merritt conducted the 
editorial columns of the Register with great 
ability; and although it may be said that he was 
not always temperate in his expressions, the 
fault will be pardoned by those who know how 
high the tide of political and personal feeling 
swelled after the war was closed. For some 
years, in addition to editorial duty on the Regis- 
ter, Mr. Merritt supplied the St. Louis Republi- 
can with its Springfield correspondence. But 
years of great labor began at last to tell against 
the veteran, and in 1^73, he retired from active 
duty, and since then has spent his time in well 
earned and honorable repose. His children are 
Hon. Thomas E., who for several terms has rep- 
resented his district in the House of Represent- 
atives, and who was at the late election chosen a 
State Senator; General Wesley, who graduated 
at West Point in 1861, and who rose to distinc- 
tion in the Union army, and who is Colonel of 
the Fifth United States Cavalry; John H., who 
at one time was editor of a Democratic paper at 
Carlinville, and who is now one of the editors of 
the Marion County Herald; Charles W., who, in 
1873, was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the 
Ninth United States Cavalry; Edward L., of this 
city; Joseph D., clerk of the Southern Peniten- 
tiary; and William W., conductor on the Ohio 
and Mississippi Railroad, and two daughters. 

"In politics, Mr. Merritt was a sound, uncom- 
promising Democrat of the old school, and his 
faith he never hesitated to declare or defend. 
He lived his allotted period in the fear of God, 
and always acted with due regard to the rights 
of man. He commanded the respect of his 
fellow-men by adherence to principle, and he 
won many friends through life. He was a de- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



229 



voted member of the Episcopal Church, and he 
died in its full communion, and in an abundant 
faith in its doctrines. The world is better for 
his life and actions, and those who survive him, 
though not able to surpass him in ability, may 
emulate his virtues, respect his integrity, and 
learn an example by his industry. The State 
Register casts its sprig of rue and myrtle on the 
bier of one of its most able and brave of the 
long succession of its editors." 

The Salem Advocate, in its obituary notice of 
Mr. Merritt, says: "John W. Merritt is dead, 
but his amiable character and kind acts will long 
be cherished and remain green in the memory of 
those who knew him best. He had hosts of 
friends, whose hearts are saddened because he 
has been called from the busy scenes of earth 
But all should rejoice that he has entered upon 
a life beyond death's dark I'iver, in the ever- 
green shades of Heaven's rich domain. He was 
pleasant, courteous and genial in manners, and 
his friendship extended to men in all the walks 
and stations of life." 

Edward L. Merritt was born June 25, 1836, 
in New York City, and came with his parents 
to this State in 1841. He received but few 
advantages in the way of an education in the 
public or private schools, the whole time of 
his attendance probably not exceeding twelve 
months. But at a very early age he was placed 
in the " Poor Man's College," a printing office, 
to learn the trade of a printer. His first work 
at the case was when about eleven years of age, 
in the office of the Belleville Advocate. When 
his father removed to Salem and commenced 
the publication of the Salem Advocate he took 
a position in that office, and soon became a 
thorough, pi'actical printer. Subsequently and 
previous to 1858, he served about four years as 
Civil Engineer on the Ohio & Mississippi Rail- 
road. In 1858, in connection with one of his 
brothers, he became the proprietor of the Salem 
Advocate, his father, J. W. Merritt resuming 
editoi'ial charge. In 1861, E. L. Merritt became 
sole proprietor of the paper, continuing its pub- 
lication until he became connected with the pub- 
lication of the State Register. As already stated, 
as editor and publisher Mr. Merritt was identi- 
fied with the Register for many years, and as 
such became known not only throughout the 
State but throughout the Union, the Register 
always being the recognized organ of the party 
of the State. 

In 1866, President Johnson appointed Mr. 
Merritt United States Pension Agent. Being 
an avowed Democrat, it is thought his appoint- 



ment had much to do with hastening the pass- 
age of the tenure-of-office act, necessitating the 
presentation of his name to the United States 
Senate for confirmation. It was accordingly 
sent in; and that body being strongly Repub- 
lican, he was rejected. It was again sent in by 
the President, and again rejected. The third 
time did the President present the name of Mr. 
Merritt for confirmation, and the third time was 
it rejected. No other reason was assigned for 
his rejection, but that he was not of the 
political faith to suit the majority. His ability 
to discharge the duties of the office was not 
doubted. 

In 1875, Mr. Merritt was appointed a member 
of the School Board of Springfield; was re-ap- 
pointed in 1878, and again in 1881, for the term 
of three years. 

On December 13, 1879, the sale of the State 
Register to Geo. W. Weber, J. R. Weber, J. H. 
Oberly and Chas. Edwards, was consummated. 
Mr. Oberly did not remain in the new company, 
which was organized January 5, 1880, with Geo. 
W. Weber as president. The editorial chair 
was temporarily tilled; and finally, the permanent 
editorial arrangement was announced, in the state- 
ment that thereafter the paper would be " edited 
by the proprietors." George W. Weber was the 
acknowledged editor-in-chief, and succeeded in 
making an interesting paper, 

George W. and J. R. Weber are the sons of 
George R. Weber, the founder of the Republi- 
can, and one of the original proprietors of the 
Register, on its removal from Vandalia. They 
were both born in Springfield, and are both 
practical printers. George W. has had much 
experience in editorial life, having edited the 
Taylorville Democrat for some time, and assist- 
ed on other papers. He is a ready and graceful 
writer^ 

The Illinois State Register has been owned 
and published since June 18, 1881, by Messrs. 
Smith, Clendenin & Rees, who purchased it of 
Governor Palmer and the old State Register 
Company. 

The firm as above named is constituted of 
George Smith, Henry W. Clendenin, and 
Thomas Rees. These gentlemen are all old 
newspaper men, having been engaged in edi- 
torial and practical work in the States of Ohio, 
Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri for from twenty to 
thirty years. For the past five years, they have 
been engaged in publishing the Keokuk (Iowa) 
Daily and Weekly Constitution, which under 
their management became the leading Demo- 
cratic paper of Iowa. Mr. Clendenin acted as 



230 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



editor-in-chief of the Constitution under his 
firm's proprietorship. 

George Smith was born in Newark, Ohio, Feb- 
ruary 28, 1827. He began his career as a printer 
and publisher early in life. He has followed it 
without variation until the present time. Mr. 
Smith has no superior as a journalist in his de- 
partment. IJe brings to the Register the ex- 
perience of thirty-five years and the natural 
energy and acquired skill that always placed 
him at the top in every newspaper enterprise 
with which he has been connected. Mr. Smith 
has general supervision of the practical depart- 
ment of the Register. 

H. "VV. Clendeninwas born in Bedford county, 
Pennsylvania, August 1, 1838. His father, Sam. 
M. Clendenin, an old-line Jefl:ersonian Demo- 
crat, removed to Iowa in 1839, and settled at 
Burlington, where he occupied various offices of 
trust and profit in the gift of the Democracy. 
Mr. Clendenin received an academical educa- 
tion at Burlington, and served his time as a 
printer on the Burlington Hawkeye, Avhich was 
under the management, a portion of the time, of 
James M. Broadwell, a brother of Judge Broad- 
well, of Springfield. Mr. Clendenin has occu- 
pied various practical and editorial positions in 
this and other States. He had charge of the 
Metamora (Illinois) Sentinel for one year, and 
of the Burlington Gazette for about the same 
length of time. He entered the army from 
Philadelphia, enlisting in the Twentieth Penn- 
sylvania Infantry, serving a portion of his time 
under General McClellan. Mr. Clendenin has 
editorial charge of the Register as editor-in- 
chief, the same position he occupied on the Con- 
stitution. His articles attract attention, and are 
widely quoted; and under his management the 
Register is fast attaining the leading position 
which it should occujjy as the central organ of 
the Illinois Democracy. 

Thomas Rees comes of a family of journalists. 
His father, the late Wm. Rees, Sr., was an editor 
of many years standing, and several of his 
brothers are at present following the "art pre- 
servative of all arts" in different portions of the 
"West. Mr. Rees was born in Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, May 13, 1850, and came with his father 
to the West when a small child. He served his 
time as a practical printer in his brother's office 
at Keokuk. Since his manhood he has ever oc- 
cupied responsible positions in connection with 
various newspapers in Missouri and Iowa. When 
the firm of which he is a member, and which own 
the Register, purchased the Keokuk Constitution, 
he became business manager, and has gained 



and deserves the reputation of being one of the 
best business managers in the West. He occu- 
pies the position of business manager of the 
Register, and under his skillful and honorable 
tactics the business department of the paper is 
kept up to the highest and most successful 
standard. The Eegister, under its present pro- 
prietors, has been improved in every department, 
until it is one of the handsomest, ablest and best 
conducted papers in the State. The daily has a 
large and increasing circulation. The proprie- 
tors have enlarged the weekly to an eight col- 
umn quarto, each page being twenty by twenty- 
six inches in size — eight pages, eight columns to 
a page. A new dress has been put on. It is now 
the largest paper in the State, not excepting the 
Chicago papers; and will bear comparison in ap- 
pearance, make-up and general character of its 
contents with any paper in the country. No men 
ever met with a warmer or more cordial reception 
than they met from the people and Press. Every 
Democratic paper in the State felt and expressed 
satisfaction that the recognized organ of the 
party at the State Capital had fallen into the 
hands of men with capital, brains and backbone 
to make the paper a true representative and 
worthy exponent of Democratic views. The 
Republican papers, while not Avishing them any 
success politically, wished them every pecuniary 
success. In the "Proprietor's Announcement," 
the publishers said: 

" In assuming control of the Illinois State 
Register, its new proprietors take off their hats 
to the citizens of Springfield and the people of 
Illinois, in acknowledgment that they are the 
obedient servants of a g^eat constituency, en- 
trusted wdth the guardianship of great interests. 
We profoundly feel the importance of our new 
position. We do not mean to be prolific in 
promises, nor boastful of our ability; but we 
desire with becoming modesty to take posses- 
sion of a field of labor that has been enriched 
and adorned by the culture, the talents and the 
genius of the distinguished gentlemen who 
have preceded us in conducting the paper during 
the many years of its useful life. The responsi- 
bilities of conducting the Register, in view of 
its past history and the important possibilities of 
the future, are manifold and great, and in 
assuming them we shall endeavor to perform the 
duties devolving upon us with earnestness, zeal, 
industry and courage. In doing this we trust 
too, and are confident we shall, receive the 
cordial support and warm sympathy of the busi- 
ness community and the citizens of Springfield 
and the State of Illinois. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



231 



" We have purchased the Register and paid 
for it. It is our property so far as the material 
is concerned; but in a broader, wider sense we 
want the Register to be the people's paper. We 
intend to be its defender of theirrights andacon- 
server of their interests in every contest waged 
against the people, either by monopolizing cor- 
porations, corrupt political parties or selfish in- 
dividuals. Above capital, above parlies, above 
the most conspicuous man or men, above the 
Nation with a big N, tower the PEOPLE, every 
letter big, every right belonging to them in- 
violable. We are convinced that it is not only 
important, but absolutely essential to the safety 
of the republic and to the preservation of the 
liberties of the people that pure Democratic 
principles shall prevail. We shall maintain the 
courage of our convictions. The Register will, 
therefore, ever be found advocating those pure 
and patriotic Democratic pi'inciples, handed 
down through generations of freemen from the 
founders of the republic. In doing this, it shall 
respect those who honestly differ with it as to 
methods. While waging an unrelenting war- 
fare upon every form of encroachment upon 
popular liberty as a Democratic paper, it will 
recognize that in eveiy party there ai'e good and 
pure men, battling for what they conceive to 
be the best interests of humanity, and will 
deal courteously with its unerring opponents. 
Strongly, intensely Democratic, the Register 
will be the organ of no man or set of men. 
With cliques and factions it will hold no fellow- 
ship. 

"The new proprietors of the Register have 
come to Springfield to become citizens and to 
identify themselves with the interests of the 
city, the county and the State. The ' Springfield 
idea' and the 'Illinois idea' will be the object 
of our most earnest exertions. Our efforts will 
be largely devoted to making the Register a 
valuable local paper — an indispensable visitor 
at every home in the city, and a most influential 
factor in the growth and prosperity of the city 
and State. We come among the people of this 
section of the State comparative strangers, but 
with such indorsements as but few newspaper 
men have ever received at the hands of a gener- 
ous Press throughout the states of Illinois, Iowa 
and Missouri. We are confident we shall soon 
feel at home, locally and socially. We shall 
strive to prove worthy of the confidence and 
esteem of the people. 

"The business of the Register will be con- 
ducted on business principles. Thomas Rees, 
the junior member of the firm, becomes man- 



ager, and will make his own anuouuceuients in 
the local department of the paper. Mr. Georo-e 
W. Weber, who has filled the editorial chair for 
a year and a half, retires, and H. W. Clendenin 
becomes managing editor. Mr. Weberhas our 
best wishes for success in whatever field he may 
select. 

"No change is contemplated in the local 
or mechanical departments, except that Mr. 
George Smith, the senior proprietor, will have 
general supervision of the mechanical work of 
the establishment." 

As soon as all necessary arrangements could 
be completed, both the Daily and Weekly Reg- 
ister appeared in new type, presenting a very 
handsome appearance. The weekly was en- 
larged to an eight column quarto, making it the 
largest paper in the State. 

As a printing office, the Illinois State Register 
establishment is mammoth and complete. It 
occupies a building erected especially for the 
business, fronting on Monroe street, between 
Fifth and Sixth, and extending back to the alley, 
one hundred and fifty-seven feet. On the 
ground floor are located the business office, sub- 
scription department, job room, press room, 
stock room, and boiler room; also a fire-proof 
vault for the preservation of the files of the 
paper. On the floor above are located the edi- 
torial rooms, and back of same, the composing 
room. The building is well lighted wdth win- 
dows on both sides the entire length, and heated 
by steam, conveyed in pipes throughout the 
entire structure. In addition to the newspaper, 
an extensive book and job business is carried on, 
which gives employment to a large number of 
persons. 

The whole establishment is laid out on a scale 
for carrying on a large business. The press 
room is supplied with six first-class presses, a 
steam paper cutter, and other suitable conveni- 
ences. Four of the presses are expensive cylin- 
der machines, three being of the world-renowned 
Hoe pattern. 

There are about forty hands employed in the 
business, besides a corps of correspondents scat- 
tered throughout the country. The pay-roll is 
in proportion to the business carried on, and 
amounts to thousands of dollars more, every 
year, than the amount collected from the citi- 
zens of Springfield; so, that the city is con- 
stantly receiving a greater financial benefit from 
the Register, than the Register receives from 
all the people living in the city, — to say nothing 
of the indirect benefit that a live paper is to any 
community. 



232 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



The Daily Register is issued every day in the 
week, except Monday, and the Weekly is issued 
every Wednesday. 

Under the management of Smith, Clendenin 
& Rees, the daily has more than doubled its cir- 
culation, and the already large list of the weekly 
has received many new names. The list will be 
at least trebled the first year. 

DAILY ILLINOIS STATE REGISTER. 

The Daily Register was commenced in 1848, 
and its history is substantially that of the weekly, 
already given. The same editors and publishers 
of the one have been publishers of the other. 
It is now under the control of Smith, Clendenin 
& Rees; a large eight-column folio, printed on 
new type, and filled each day with general and 
local news. In every department it shows good 
management and business tact. 

SANGAMO MONITOR. 

On the first day of May, 18*73, the first num- 
ber of the Sangamo Monitor appeared, with T. 
W. S. Kidd, editor and proprietor. The Moni- 
tor presented a very neat appearance, being an 
eight-column folio, and filled well with readable 
matter. The editor was well known to every 
citizen of Springfield and Sangamon county, 
and not altogelher unknown throughout the 
State, especially by those having had business in 
the United States Court or the Supreme Court of 
this State, having been Crier of the United 
States District Court for many years. Being a 
cajiital story-teller, of the Lincoln school, he 
made many friends. Of course the j^eople 
looked for something spicy in the newspaper 
line, nor were they disappointed. The saluta- 
tory of the editor read as follows: 

" We would rather the readers of the San- 
gamo Monitor would watch the course pursued 
for the first year of its existence and draw their 
own conclusions in reference to our position on 
matters of i^ublic interest, than to set ourselves 
about defining the same. Custom has made the 
practice of newsj^apers foreshadowing the course 
pursued by them, obligatory upon us to intimate 
where we may be found on the questions of the 
day. 

"We loill be independent — we ?co?i'^ occupy 
a neutral position on any question, if we have 
concluded as to the right course. We know the 
truthfulness of the old adage, ' Wise men 
change, fools never,' too well however to say 
that we will not change front on matters of pub- 
lic interest, when convinced of error. 

"■ Our predilictions may, and as all well know 



will, have much to do in forming our opinion on 
public topics, and ve are perfectly willing to 
trust them. American all over, in our National 
pride — Democratic ( not in a partisan sense) to 
the marrow, in our sentiments and principles, — 
educated by an honest woman, and naturally 
disposed to take the golden rule as our guide, 
and the side of the underdog in the fight, in the 
relations of life, we will ask an indulgent public 
to credit us in the outset with a reasonably good 
basis, on which they can rest assured that the 
chances for our being right in the main aie at 
least good. ' No pent up Utica' shall confine 
our power to wield what infiuence we have on 
the side of the people. Springing ourselves 
from the forge, used to the hard knocks of the 
apprentice, then the jour, and lastly having 
' bossed' it a little, we think we possess, in a rea- 
sonable degree, such sympathies as will lead us 
not to forget the ' int from whence we have been 
digged.' 

"Politically, the Jtonest man, when placed by 
his party friends upon a ticket, or struggling in- 
dependently for a place in the service of the 
people, can fully expect justice at our hands, 
while the manipulator of cliques and the cat's- 
paw of rings, need expect no mercy, let him be 
the nominee of any convention held by whatso- 
ever party. We naturally detest deceit, whether 
practiced by cliques or individuals, under the 
cloak of religion, politics, law, or morals, and 
we intend to wage war against all such with all 
the energy and vim of our nature, regardless of 
greenbacks or relations, leaving consequences to 
take care of themselves. 

"In a word, the Monitor will aim to be just 
what its name indicates, watching the acts and 
doings of the world at large, and reporting the 
same with impartial truthfulness to the readers 
every week; the iron-clad and double-turreted 
coaster, watching our National and State pros- 
perity; ready with shot and shell to do battle 
for the 'greatest good for the greatest number.'" 

The Monitor from the beginning has made 
war against monopolies, and in favor of the 
rights of the people. Starting at a time when 
the people, especially the farming community, 
had raised the standard of anti-monopoly, the 
Monitor naturally sided with those battling for 
this cause, and its columns will bear witness of 
the many points made in defense of the doc- 
trines advocated. 

In the fall election, in 1873, the Monitor ad- 
vocated the election of the Democratic nomi- 
nees, and has since continued to support the 
men of that party, though feeling and exercis- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



235 



ing the liberty of criticising the acts of every 
public officer. 

The Monitor was started under what might be 
termed very unfavorable circumstances. Pos- 
sessed of but little capital, as regards dollars 
and cents, but with plenty of pluck and perse- 
verance, its editor and publisher has triumphed 
over every obstacle, and has made the Monitor 
a success in every particular. Few daily or 
weekly papers in this country have been estab- 
lished without sinking a large amount of capi- 
tal, but the Monitor can boast of no such expe- 
rience. From the start, it has had a living 
patronage, and from its profits has been gath- 
ered together the material of a complete news- 
paper and job office. Both the daily and weekly 
pay the publisher a fair profit, having each a 
large circulation and a good advertising patron- 
age. 

SANGAMO DAILY MONITOR. 

The Sangamo Daily Monitor made its first 
appearance Thursday, June 28, 18Y7. The fol- 
lowing characteristic editorial appeared in the 
first number: 

"Shake — Fathers, Give Us a Grip — Sons, 
Pass Us Your Paw^ — Mothers, Accept Our 
Most Profound Bow — Sisters, We Embrace 
You — R Delicate Duke — Bless and Believe 
Us, FOR We Mean Business. — Like the gaily 
bedecked merry-maker of the big show, we 
bounce into the ring of daily journalism, hoping 
to be able to hold our own for another 'thirty 
days" trip into the sea of journalistic troubles, 
and a daily change of programme. We have 
grown tired of seeing and unfolding our bosom 
and budget to you but once a week. We want 
to talk to you daily, and tell you all we know of 
war, of crops, of politics, of religion, of law, and 
what we have heard in our rambles, about news 
and matters transpiring during the fast-unfold- 
ing events of twenty-four hours. We have 
grown chafed and weary of seeing those whom 
we hope to stir up to a little more evidence of 
life, have six words to our one, when 'talk's 
cheap,' and printers can be had for nothing; 
when paper-makers and type foundries furnish 
freely and gratis, and when close corporated 
monopolistic champions of the freedom of the 
Press are gaining such enviable notoriety by 
furnishing news to the people at a penny a line. 

"We are among you. You all know us, and 
can trust us or not, as you like; of this we have 
no fear. Our motto, 'Do your best, with cor- 
rect motives; then let the consequences take 
care of themselves,' has seen us through so far, 
and we hope will to the end. We propose to 

27— 



take a hand in 'posting the people.' not to preju- 
dice them, but letting everybody know what 
everybody else is doing who don't, won't or can't 
behave themselves according to the old ten, 
or new or eleventh commandment. Naughty 
humanity, behave yourself, if you don't desire a 
blast from the Monitor. ' Hold your horses,' 
fast youth, or crooked beauty, unless notoriety 
is more precious than the quiet calm of virtue's 
peaceful abode, and the joy of domestic felicity 
irksome to the speed of untamed nature, when 
without the balance wheel of wisdom and the 
pleasure-producing quality of proper motive. 
Remember us editorially, bearing in mind the 
fact that if you desire your hens to be emulated, 
'lay your largest egg' on ou7' editorial table. 
We are ever ready to chronicle events; our jour- 
nalism teaches us a broader and more general 
definition than the style of making reading only 
to the fev.\ 'personal' distinction to fewer, while 
those upon w^hom the smile of total endorsement 
is to be 'smolen' are fewest. If you want to 
know a little bit of everything, dive into your 
breeches pocket, get a three-cent piece, and stop 
the cry of the newsboy by buying a Daily 
Monitor. 

"We ask and shall expect your encouragement, 
not as a craven, but as an honest man who knows 
he will give an equivalent in every respect. It 
may seem a trifle; it is — but remember your 'lit- 
tles ' are our ' nickels,' and while you are many 
and we few, a stoppage of your little for a week 
or two, by enough of you, might make a hole big 
enough to sink even a Monitor. Much depends 
upon trifles in this world; the ocean would cut 
but a sorry figure swimming fellows like our 
Grant or Tom Hendricks to England to show 
our bully old relative how we have 'skipped out' 
of our 'short frocks and things' since we swelled 
up his left optic in 1812, if not for trifles; and a 
great many big fellows around our own neighbor- 
hood were oncevery trifling little trifles. 'Despise 
not the day of small things!' Small beginnings 
make heavy endings, as the fellow said of the 
avalanche; and it may be that the little Monitor 
may yet be big enough to defy a torpedo. Give 
us your hand; your helping hand is the one 
asked for — we have several of another kind now 
pressing close on our skirts — and it might be 
while entertaining the Monitor you may be en- 
tertaining several small angels in disguise, float- 
ing around the homes and firesides of the boys 
depending for their bread upon the success of 
this enterprise. 

" For ourselves, we are carrying a big load, 
going up a steep hill, and each little fifteen cent 



236 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



drawback is ' tbe feather that breaks the camel's 
back' of our success, and the welfare of our set 
of printers. When we get to the level plain and 
the load is not so burdensome, we will have lots 
of time and take bushels of pleasui-e in returning 
you our grip of satisfaction at your action by our 
frequent notices of your 'style,' business, 'gait,' 
etc., in an occasional send-off on business, pleas- 
ure, when you marry, run for office, trade horses, 
swap dogs, or get into jail. We stand ready 
with the Monitor to fight to the blue for the 
honest in life matters, whether clothed in 'pur- 
ple or fine linen,' or the scanty wardrobe of a 
tramp, while you live, and when dead will do 
just as we would you should do with us, bury 
our faults and foibles, and string togetheramong 
life's cherished ornaments the sparkling beads 
of wortli found in every nature. Shake!" 

Thomas W. S. Kidd, editor and proprietor of 
the Monitor, was born in New Castle, Delaware, 
October '22, 1^28. His parents were John and 
Ann (Smith) Kidd, both natives of Delaware, 
but of Irish descent. His grandfather Kidd, 
was a farmer, and grandfather Smith, a Presby- 
terian minister. Both families came across the 
water on the same vessel; being four months on 
the ocean. The mother of Thomas died about 
three years after his birth, quite suddenly after 
giving birth to his only brother; and his father, 
about one year after, partly from a cold con- 
tracted by exposure, and partly by grief from 
the loss of his wife. 

On the death of his father, young Kidd was 
taken by a most estimable aunt, Mrs. M. J. Mc- 
Pherson. Remaining in New Castle about one 
year, the family moved to Quarryville, where 
his aunt had taken the contract to board a large 
number of hands who were employed by the 
Government, in getting out stone for the Dela- 
ware Breakwater, then being constructed by the 
Government. Here they remained four years, 
and where Thomas attended a school about six 
weeks, which comprised the entire time spent in 
the school room. Returning to New Castle 
when he was about nine years old, he spent the 
next four years in such labor as a boy could do, 
in order to help the family to a comfortable ex- 
istence. In 1840. the family moved to Phila- 
delphia, where Thomas engaged as an errand- 
boy in a merchant-tailoring establishment, and 
served about two years. At this establishment 
T. S. Arthur and other literary celebrities were 
wont to congregate, and young Kidd, in listen- 
ing to their conversation, first conceived the 
idea of learning something of books and of the 
world. At the expiration of his two years' ser- 



vice as an errand-boy, he entered the printing 
office and stereotype foundry of John Fagin, to 
learn the trade. At this time he could scarcely 
read, and knew nothing at all about writing. 
By patient endeavor he learned to read well and 
write a fair hand, and before many months ex- 
pired he was made one of the proof-readers in 
the establishment; but the life of a printer did 
not suit him. He had for many years a desire 
to learn the trade of a machinist, and when two 
years had passed of his printer's life, he ran 
away to Wilmington, Delaware, and applied 
for a situation in the railroad and machine shops 
of that city. He was told they could not give 
any attention to his application without recom- 
mendations. He then went on foot to New 
Castle and asked old friends of his father, and 
those who had known him when a small boy, to 
recommend him. This they did; and armed 
with his recommendations he returned to Wil- 
mington, to be told that he must wait three 
weeks before an opening could be made. This 
he could not do; he was away from home, with- 
out money and without friends. Starvation was 
staring him in the face; he must get work — and 
at once. He therefore bound himself to the firm 
of Hollingsworth & Teas, to learn the trade of 
blacksmith and machinist. Before the expira- 
tion of his term of service the firm failed, and 
he then engaged with Elliott & Huston, loco- 
motive builders, of Wilmington. Here he re- 
mained until 1849, when he received an invita- 
tion from Mr. Hollingsworth, who had removed 
to Chicago, to come to that city and take charge 
of the iron-shops that he was about to establish. 
He accepted the invitation and entered upon the 
work, where he remained a short time, and then 
received and accepted the appointment of trav- 
eling agent of an agricultural firm. In this line 
of business he continued with success until 1857 
— save for a short period in 1853-4, when, his 
health having failed him, he returned to his old 
home in Delaware. While east he was married, 
July 1854, to Charlotte, daughter of Jesse Jan- 
ney, of Cecil county, Maryland. Six children 
have been born unto them, two of whom are 
now living — Lizzie G. and Presco Wright. 

In February, 1856, Mr. Kidd brought his 
family to Springfield, where they have since 
continued to reside. In 1857, he served as 
bailiff in the United States Marshal's office. 
In 1858, he was elected Coroner and was also 
appointed Deputy Sheriff. In the winter of 
1858-9 and 1859-60, he served as Sheriff" of the 
Supreme Court of Illinois. In 1860, be was ap- 
pointed by Judge Treat, Crier of the United 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



States District Court, which position he contin- 
ued to hold until the spring of 1S77. In addi- 
tion to the offices mentioned, Mr. Kidd served 
as Assessor in Springfield for a period of fifteen 
years, and Collector by election, two years. 

While serving as Deputy Sheriff, Mr. Kidd 
read law, and passing a successful examination 
before Judge Walker, of the Supreme Court, 
was licensed to practice. He never opened an 
office and tells upon himself that he never had 
but two cases, in the latter one he took offense 
at the answers of a colored witness, and struck 
him over the head with an iron square, and vvas 
fined by the Justice of the Peace three dollars 
for contempt of court. He then retired from 
active practice. 

As a writer Mr. Kidd has a peculiar style of 
his own. He follows the model of no man. 
When he writes a sentence, no man can mistake 
its meaning. It is plain and to the point, yet so 
worded that it cannot be thought to be from the 
pen of another. 

THE SPRINGFIELD TIMES. 

In 1844, the Democratic party in Sangamon 
county was somewhat divided on purely local 
issues. The Register espousing the side of one 
faction, left the other without representation. 
This necessitated the starting a second Demo- 
cratic paper in Springfield, and S. S. Brooks, 
who in 1829-30 published the Illinois Herald, 
was induced to make the venture. The new 
paper was called the Springfield Times. It was 
a small folio sheet, but edited with the vim 
characteristic of the Brooks family, who were 
born newspaper men. The Times only existed 
about one year, the party not being able to sup- 
port two organs, and the breaches in the party 
being healed. Mr. Brooks, though an excellent 
newspaper man, was no business manager, and 
never succeeded in his chosen profession. An 
old man, he wandered back to Springfield occa- 
sionally, and worked at the case in the Register 
and other offices, to secui-e a livelihood for him- 
self and family. 

THE MASONIC TKOV^^EL. 

Harmon G. Reynolds, the founder and editor 
of the Masonic Trowel, is one of the oldest 
Masons in the State, having taken his degrees 
in Warsaw Lodge, in 1843. He was Grand 
Marshal of the Grand Lodge in 1848, and was 
elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge 
and Chapter, and continued as Grand Secretary 
of the Lodge until 1851. In 18G8, he was 
elected Grand Master, and held this position for 



two years. He remained Seci'etary of the Grand 
Chapter until 1869. He assisted in the initia- 
tory work of forming the Grand Council of 
Royal and Select Masters, and was the first 
Recorder of that body. Mr. Reynolds has been 
Master of three lodges, and High Priest of three 
Chapters, and was first Commander of El wood 
Commandery No. 6, of this city. All of Avhich 
positions he filled with credit to himself and 
honor to the fraternity. He also received, in 
1854, the thirty-second degree ol the Ancient 
Scottish Eites, and the thirty-third in Boston, in 
1864. In 1858, he located in this city, and 
established, in 1862, the Masonic Trowel, with 
which paper he retained his connection until 
1868. He has always had the editorial control 
of its columns, and his labors therein have re- 
dounded to the general welfare and prosperity 
of the craft at large. By the fire, on the night 
of the 22d of February, by which the Trow^el 
was destroyed, he was stripped of every dollar 
of his earthly possessions. 

ILJLINOIS STATE DEMOCRAT. 

In 1857 a paper under the above name w^as 
started in Springfield by J. J. Clarkson, with 
Elliott B. Herndon, editoi-. As its name implies 
it was a Democratic paper, and was started to 
combat the heresies supposed to exist in a por- 
tion of the Democratic party, headed by Stephen 
A. Douglas. It lived about three years. 

THE SUNDAY MAIL. 

This was a five column quarto, issued every 
Sunday morning by The Mail Company, and 
was well filled with local news. It was short- 
lived. 

ILLINOIS FREI PRESSE. 

Many attempts have been made to publish a 
German paper in Springfield, but until the Frei 
Presse was started, all prior to that had proven 
failures. On the eleventh day of January, 1872, 
Edward Rummel, then Secretary of State, com- 
menced the publication of the Frei Presse, an 
eight column folio, in support of the Liberal 
movement then being advocated by such men as 
Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner, John M. Pal- 
mer and others. Mr. Rummel only retained con- 
nection about three months, and then sold to 
Gehring & Hotze,two practical German printers. 
Mr. Gehring assumed editorial control of the 
paper, and has since continued to act as manag- 
ing editor. The success of the paper was assured 
from the start, the Germans largely supporting 
the new movement. It has had a uniform, steady 



238 



HIvSTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



growth, and is not only regarded as the most 
successful German paper, but is said to be the 
most successful German or English paper in 
Springfield. The office is well supplied with 
type and presses, and does a general book and 
job business in connection with the publication 
of the paper. After a time, Mr. Hotze retired, 
and Mr. Gehring became sole editor and pro- 
prietor. 

Frederick Gehring was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, March 4, 1841. His early life was spent 
in that country, in attendance upon the common 
and high schools. In 1856, he came to America, 
and settled in Lafayette, Indiana, where he en- 
tered a German newspaper office, to learn the 
trade of a printer. Here he remained about 
three years, and then went to Indianapolis and 
worked as a journeyman printer. From Indian- 
apolis he drifted on to St. Louis, where he was 
when the war for the Union commenced. Re- 
turning to Indianapolis, he enlisted as a private 
in the Fifteenth Indiana Infantry, and served 
three years, being wounded at the battle 
of Stone river. On his recovery he was placed 
on detached duty, where he remained until the 
close of his term of enlistment, when he was dis- 
charged. Returning to Indianapolis, he served 
for some years as local editor of the Telegraph, 
rf that city, and for about six months as po- 
litical editor of a German paper. On the 19th 
day of October, 1805, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Ivathrina May, of Indianapolis. They 
have had six children, three of whom are now 
living — two boys and one girl. In April, 1872, 
Mr. Gehring and his family came to Springfield, 
and he purchased an interest in the Frei Presse. 
In 1874 he was elected a member of the legis- 
lature, by the combined Liberal and Democratic 
vote, and was classed in the House, i)olitically, 
as a Democratic-Liberal. He now claims to be 
a Liberal-Democrat, and the Frei Presse as a 
Liberal-Democratic paper. In the legislature, 
he was placed on the committee on mines and 
mining, the committee on printing, and also on 
education. The committee on mines and mining 
framed the law that was passed regulating the 
government of mines. Mr. Gehring is a mem- 
ber of the A. O. U. W., and Turn-Verien. He 
was the originator of the Building Associations 
of Springfield, and has taken great interest in 
their work. Lie is a good writer, and a prac- 
tical business man. 

STAATS V\'OCHENBLATT. 

The Staats Wochenblatt is a large seven 
column quarto, and was established in the fall 



of 1878, its first number bearing dale November 
21, H. Schlange is the editor and proprietor. 
The Wochenblatt has been a success from the 
start, it i^ow having a bona fide circulation of 
fifteen hundred copies weekly. Mr. Schlange 
was born November 16, 1844, at Hanover, Ger- 
many, As soon as sufficiently advanced he 
entered the Jacobson Institute, where he re- 
mained until he was sixteen years of age. He 
then entered the army as a private, and passed 
the various grades of promotion until he was 
made Assistant Quartermaster. In 1865 he came 
to America and landed at New Y^oik in the early 
part of December, where he remained a few 
days and proceeded to Springfield, Illinois, his 
destination, arriving there January 2, 1866. 
At Springfield, he learned the trade of cigar- 
maker, and continued in that business until he 
established the Wochenblatt, in 1878. At this 
time there was no Republican German paper in 
Springfield, and Mr. Schlange thought it to be a 
good opportunity to establish one. The result has 
more than exceeded his most sanguine expecta- 
tions. Mr. Schlange and Anna Ahrtns were 
married in Lincoln, Illinois, February 25, 1868. 
Two children have been born unto them — 
August and Lena. 

AUBURN CITIZEN. 

In 1873 Lowdermilk & Stover commenced the 
publication of the Auburn Herald, a six column 
folio. The paper was started mainly for the 
purpose of affording the business men of Auburn 
an advertising medium, but the citizens believed 
it should be something more, and therefore the 
experiment was tried of giving the community a 
good local paper. Not having an office of their 
own, the printing was done in Yirden at the 
office of the Virden News, and the paper circu- 
lated from Auburn. After the expiration of 
about five mo]iths, a stock company was formed 
for the purchase of office material, and the outfit 
was purchased of the Virden News in August, 
1874, M. G. Wadsworth, of Auburn, and W. F. 
Thompson, of Virden, becoming publishers, by^ 
purchase from the stock company. 

A sketch of the senior proprietor of the Her- 
ald — W. W. Lowdermilk — will be found in con- 
nection with the History of Auburn. A. B. 
Stover, the junior, came from Havana, Illinois. 
He was at one time editor of the Mason County 
Herald. When he came to Auburn he engaged 
as a clerk in a dry goods store, retaining con- 
nection after engaging in editorial work. He 
was an easy and fluent writer. After the Herald 
changed hands, he made a profession of religion 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



230 



and conducted a series of meetings in Auburn 
with great success. He was induced to go before 
the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and by that body was licensed to preacli 
the Gospel. He is a good talker and is now 
meeting with success in the ministry. 

When Wadsworth & Thompson became the 
proprietors of the Herald they rented a room in 
the bank building and continued its publication. 
At the commencement of the second volume the 
name was changed to the Auburn Citizen, and 
the paper enlarged to a seven column folio. The 
following spring the senior bought out the junior 
partner's interest, and has since been sole jDro- 
prietor. The Citizen was enlarged to an eight 
column folio April 22, 1880, and changed to a 
five column quarto, December 9, 1880. The 
Citizen has no political bias, its si^ecial mission 
being local news. It is at present the only paper 
published in Sangamon county outstde of Spring- 
field. 

Moses G. Wadsworth was born in Hallowell, 
Kennebec county, Maine, February 3, 1826, and 
is the son of Daniel and Margaret F. Wads- 
worth. His parents were of English and Welsh 
origin, the father being descended, on the 
father's side, from Peregrin White, the first 
white child born in America. Moses G. came 
to Illinois, m his fifteenth year with his parents, 
settling in (old) Aixburn, where the parents are 
still living, the father in his eighty-third and 
the mother in her eightieth year. They have 
resided in the same house about thirty-eight 
years. Moses G. Wadsworth was married in 
September, 1849, to Elizabeth F. Wheeler, of 
Macoupin county, who died in May, 1857, leav- 
ing five children, four of whom are living. He 
was married again in November, 1862, to Mary 
E. Day, of Chatham, who has borne him seven 
children, four of whom are living. Until after 
the death of his first wife, Mr. Wadsworth fol- 
lowed farming. After that he worked princi- 
pally at carpenter work, until his connection 
with the Auburn Herald (afterwards Citizen,) in 
1879. He was clerk of his township three 
years; assessor one year, and tax collector nine 
years. He has been school trustee ten or more 
years, and Secretary of Ark and Anchor Lodge 
of Masons, eleven years. 

THE EVENING TOST. 

The only evening paper at present published 
in Springfield, was established in January, 1880, 
the first number being issued on the 3d. Its 
publication was decided upon by a number of 
printers and newspaper men of the city, who 



were out of employment at the time, caused by 
a strike in the composing room of the Register 
oftice. There being no evening paper in the city, 
they decided to occupy the field, and incorpo- 
rated the Capital Co-operative Publishing Com- 
pany, with a capital of l^ljOOO, which was subse- 
quently increased to |2,000. Charles W. Bovard, 
F. H. B. McDowell, Andrew McWeeney, J. H. 
Duggan, W. H. Mursinna, William F. Aitken, 
T. F. Harrington, J. M. Higgins, Louis Souther, 
and Louis Schuckers, were the original stock- 
holders. F. H. B. McDowell was elected editor- 
in-chief, with J. M. Higgins and Louis Souther 
as associates. During the first month, Messrs. 
Souther and Higgins withdrew from the com- 
pany. Mr. McDowell continued as editor-in- 
chief until the latter part of May in that year, 
when, owing to a dissatisfaction among the 
stockholders and a desire on their part to sus- 
tain the principles of the Greenback party, he 
withdrew. At that time, the paper had become 
well established, and its circulation was the 
largest it attained during the year. Mr, J. K. 
Magie was elected editor-in-chief, on Mr. Mc- 
Dowell's withdrawal, and occupied that position 
until August 1, when, the business of the paper 
having been badly damaged by his administra- 
tion, at the request of the Board of Directors, 
Mr. McDowell again assumed its management, 
and he now owns nearly all the stock of the 
company. The paper is a handsome seven- 
column folio, having been enlarged from a six- 
column folio on the 16th of October, 1881. Its 
political tone is of the stalwart Republican 
order, and it exerts no little local influence. Its 
circulation is largely among the working classes. 
Its subscription price is |5 per jear. 

Among those who have contributed to the 
success of the paper, a mournful tribute is due 
to the late Henry G. Fitzhugh,who died Novem- 
ber 13, 1880, at the age of twenty-two years, at 
the time of his death being its city editor. He 
was one of the brightest young journalists the 
city has ever produced, and his sad death, after 
a short illness of pneumonia, was a shock to all 
who knew him. His remains were interred at 
Oak Ridge. 

The present editorial staff of the paper is 
composed of F. H. B. McDowell, S. P. Y. 
Arnold, and L. M. Snell. 

Mr. McDowell was born at Freeport, Illinois, 
January 7, 1854. Compelled at the age of thir- 
teen to leave the High School, by the necessity 
of his earnings for the 8up])ort of his father's 
family, he entered the oftice of the Freepoi't 
Bulletin, in March, 1868, as an apprentice, and 



24U 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



acquired the printer's trade. In January, 1872, 
he left his home for Chicago, Avhere he remained 
until the fall of 1876, working at his trade in 
the Chicago Tribune composing room. In No- 
vember of that year he formed a partnership 
Avith W. W. Lewis in the publication of the 
Carroll County Gazette, at Lanark, Illinois. The 
jjartnership continued until February, 1878, 
when Mr. Lewis retired, and he continued its 
l)ublication until January, 1879, when he dis- 
posed of the paper and removed to Chicago. In 
September of that year he was elected Secretary 
of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics, which 
position he now holds. He was married to 
Anna Magnusson JeM'ett, of Chicago, in Novem- 
ber, 1876. 

S. P. V. Arnold, associate editor and business 
manager of the Post, was born in Steubenville, 
Ohio, in 1854, where he resided until twelve 
years of age, when he removed to Columbus, 
Ohio. He was educated at Otterbein Univer- 
sity, at Westerville, Ohio, and graduated at the 
National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, in 
1875. Previous to and after graduating, he 



taught school for seven years. In the fall of 
1878, he went to St. Louis and established the 
American Trade Journal, which he continued 
until August, 1881, when he sold his interest in 
the paper and came to Springfield, and became 
connected with the Post as associate editor and 
business manager, 

CAMPAIGN PAPBES. 

Many campaign papers have been issued in 
Springfield; the most noted of which were the 
'•Old Soldier," published in 1840, by the Whig 
general committee; and the "Old Hickory," 
published by the Democratic general commit- 
tee. Each of these papers had a circulation of 
35,000 copies, and were very effective campaign 
sheets, and will readily be called to mind by the 
old settler. 

The "Conservative" was a seven-column folio, 
issued during the presidential campaign of 1856, 
and supporting Millard Fillmore for the presi- 
dency. It was edited by a committee of the 
Springfield Fillmore Club, and was an interest- 
ing political sheet. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



241 



Chapter XII. 



REED AND DONNER EMIGRANT PARTY 



Since the discovery of the New World by- 
Christopher Columbus, there has ever seemed 
a disposition to push on toward the setting sun. 
Like the story told children of the sack of gold 
placed at the termination of the rainbow, which 
creates an earnest desire in their hearts to secure 
the treasure, so there appears before the eyes of 
all men, in dazzling splendor, visions of untold 
wealth and honors, to be secured in the great 
West 

Early in the spring of 1 846, a party was organ- 
ized in this county for California and the Pacific 
coast. Gold had not then been discovered, but 
a knowledge of the beautiful Sacramento valley 
had been obtained, and it was thought a home 
could there be made which would he delightful 
and pleasing to all. The party left Springfield 
April 14, 1846, full of hope and spirit, looking 
forward to the time when they should reach 
their destinations and be at rest. Little did 
they anticipate the trials and tribulations that 
awaited them as they passed over the mountains 
and across the great American Desert. When 
they left Springfield, the party numbered thirty- 
four persons. The following named were among 
the number: 

James F. Reed and Mrs. Margaret W. Reed, 
his wife, with their four children, Virginia 
E. B., Martha J., James F., Jun., and Thomas 
K.; also Mrs. Sarah Keyes, the mother of Mrs. 
Reed. 

George Donner and Mrs. Tamsen Donner, his 
wife, with their five children, Elitha C, Leanna 
C, Francis E., Georgiana and Elizabeth P. 

Jacob Donner and Mrs. Elizabeth Donner, his 
wife, with their five children, Isaac, Lewis, 
Samuel, George and Mary; also William and 
Solomon Hook, children of Mrs. Donner by a 
former marriage. 

There were also Milford Elliott — often men- 
tioned as Milton Elliott — James Smith, John 



Denton, Eliza and Bayless Williams, Walter 
Herron and Hiram O. Miller. There were some 
others, but I have been unable to learn their 
names. 

Leaving Springfield, their first point of desti- 
nation was Independence, Missouri, where they 
were to make the final preparation for crossing 
the plains. They were joined at various points 
by parties from other places, as follows: 

From Lacon, Illinois: Jay Fausdick and 
Mrs. Sarah F'ausdick, his wife. Mr. and Mrs. 
Graves, with their eight children, Frank, Mary, 
William, Ellen, Lavina, Nancy, Jonathan and 
Elizabeth. Mrs. Fausdick was a daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. Graves. 

From Iowa: Patrick Brien — spelled, in some 
places, Brei-n and Breen — Margaret Brien, Mar- 
garet J., John, Edward, Patrick Jun., Simon, 
James and Peter Brien, and Patrick Dolen. 

From Belleville, Illinois: J. P. Eddy, Mrs. 
Eddy and W. H. Eddy. 

From St. Louis, Missouri: William Foster, 
Mrs. Foster and George Foster; and from Ray 
county, Missouri: William McCutchen, Mrs. 
Mc(^utchen and Harriet McCutchen. 

From Tennessee: Lemuel Murphy, Mrs. Mur- 
phy, Lander, Mary, William and Samuel Mur- 
phy; William Pike, Cynthia Pike and N. Pike. 

From Germany: Mr. and Mrs. Kiesberger, 
or Keysburg, B. and L. S. Keysburg. Mrs. 
Wolfinger, Mr. Rhinehart, Mr. Spitzger and 
Carl Berger. 

From Springfield, Ohio: Samuel Shoemaker. 

From Chicago, Illinois: C. T. Stanton. 

At Independence the party laid in their sup- 
plies for the long journey across the plains. At 
that time it was absolutely necessary that emi- 
grants should travel together in large bodies in 
order to protect themselves from the Indians, 
and it was never safe to start until the grass had 



242 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



sufficiently grown to afford subsistence for the 
cattle. 

Early in May the journey began from. Inde- 
pendence. No trouble was experienced until 
they came to Big Blue river, four miles above 
its month. They found the stream quite full, 
and had to provide themselves with rafts before 
crossing. Just before reaching this place, Mrs. 
Keyes, the mother of Mrs. Reed, became ill, and 
while here, on the morning of May 29, breathed 
her last. All work was suspended and each per- 
son vied with the other in rendering to her the 
last tribute of respect. A neat coffin was con- 
structed, the remains placed in it and buried on 
a beautiful elevation, near a burr-oak tree. Re- 
ligious services Avere conducted by a minister 
present with the party. The grave was sodded 
and the tree made to serve the purpose of a head- 
board. On it was cut the following inscription: 

"Sarah Keys, aged 70 years. Died 29tli May, 1846. 
From Springfield, Illiuois." 

At the foot, a coarse white stone, resembling 
marble, was placed, containing the words: 

"Mrs. S. Keys. Aged 70 years." 

Flowers and young cedars were placed at the 
head and foot of the grave. 

Between Independence and Blue river the 
Reed and Donner party fell in with Colonel W. 
H. Russell and company, who had left Inde- 
pendence a few days before them. Passing Blue 
river, they all traveled together until they reach- 
ed Little Sandy river, where a sej^aration took 
place, the majority of them going to Oregon; 
Colonel Russell heading the latter. The day 
after the separation the Reed and Donner party 
elected George Donner, Captain, and from that 
time it was known as the "Donner Company." 
They continued their journey up the valley of 
the Platte river, passing Fort Laramie and cross- 
ing the Rocky Mountains to Fort Bridger with- 
out any serious mishap. This had occupied the 
entire summer. They tarried at the Fort four 
days. Letters had been left here for the party, 
warning them against taking the Plasting's Cut- 
Off, and advising them to go by the Foit Hall 
route. The latter was an established and well 
known route, but much longer than the former, 
and required a detour to the northwest. The 
Hasting's Cut-Off passed through Webber's 
canyon to the south end of the great Salt Lake, 
near where the city of Salt Lake has since been 
built. This route being more direct and some 
three hundred miles shorter, was an inducement 
to emigranis to go that way. Unfortunately, the 



letters were not delivered, and the Donner party 
concluded to take the shorter route. 

Approaching the mouth of the Webber can- 
yon, they found a letter sticking in the top of a 
sage bush from Hastings, the discoverer of the 
new route. He was then piloting a company 
through, and proposed to the Donner Company 
that, if they would send messengers for him, he 
;would return and pilot them through a better 
way than the one by which they were directed. 
In response to the letter, Reed, Stanton and Mc- 
Cutchen, of the Donner party, hastened on to 
accpt the offer of Mr. Hastings. The latter then 
came back part of the way and after piloting the 
three men a few miles, gave them directions, and 
returned to the first party he was piloting 
through. Reed, Stanton and McCutchen then 
returned to their own party, and all went to work, 
and by digging and cutting timber, made a road 
passing to the south end of Salt Lake, crossing 
the outlet of the lake, now" called the river Jor- 
dan. Passing to the northwest around the lake, 
they were detained a few days by the death, 
from consumption, of Mr. Halloran, one of the 
company. 

A few more days' travel brought them to the 
springs where they were to provide water and 
grass for crossing Hasting's Desert, an akaline 
desert, destitute of water and vegetation. They 
were led to believe it was less than fifty miles 
across, but it proved to be nearer eighty. It was 
understood that they must travel day and night, 
stopping only long enough to feed and water 
the cattle. When about two-thirds of the way 
across, the stock manifested signs of being ex- 
hausted, and Mr. Reed vas requested to go for- 
ward until he found water and then report. 
After traveling about twenty miles he found 
water, and returning, about eleven o'clock at 
night, he met his teamsters driving the cattle, 
having left their wagons. After directing them 
how to proceed, he went on to meet his family 
and the remainder of the company. Soon after 
leaving his teamsters one of their horses sunk 
down in the road, and while they were endeav- 
oring to raise it, the cattle scented the water, 
scattered, and nine yoke of them were never 
found. Only one ox and one cow remained. 

About daylight the next morning, Mr. Reed 
succeeded in reaching his family, and found 
them alone, the remainder of the party having 
continued their journey, none of them having 
taken their teams from the wagons except Mr. 
Reed's men. Not knowing that his cattle were 
lost, Mr. Reed waited with his family all day, 
expecting some of his men to return and haul 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



243 



them to water. Not receiving any information, 
and their supply of water being nearly gone, he 
started with his family on foot, carrying his 
youngest child in his arms. In the course of the 
night the childi'en became exhausted, so they 
spread a blanket on the ground and all lay down 
on it, covering themselves with shawls. A cold 
wind commenced blowing soon after they lay 
down, and the children could only be kept warm 
by having their four dogs lie down against them 
outside the shawls. 

About daylight they moved on, and soon came 
to a wagon which belonged to Jacob Donner 
and which contained his family, Mr. Donner 
having gone forward for water. He soon after 
returned and took his own and Mr. Reed's 
family to the source of the supply, where they 
remained in camp for about one week, spending 
the time in searching for the lost cattle. The 
search was unavailing, it being believed the 
Indians had secured all of them. Mr. Reed, as 
soon as he became convinced his cattle could 
not be found, divided among others his pro- 
visions, except what he could haul in one wagon, 
and leaving seven wagons on the plains, the 
party again resumed their journey. Winter was 
close upon them and the party was hundreds of 
miles from any human habitation. 

After proceeding some days on their journey 
it was found that provisions were running short. 
An estimate was made of the quantity it would 
take for each family. It was now proposed by 
Mr. Reed, that two of the number should hur- 
riedly proceed forward to Captain Sutter's, in 
California, and secure supplies, Mr. Reed becom- 
ing personally responsible for the payment. 
William McCutchen, of Missouri, and Mr. Stan- 
ton, of Chicago, volunteered for this purpose. 
They started upon their journey and weeks 
passed without any tiding from them. It was 
now suggested that Mr. Reed go in advance to 
see what had become of them, and hurry up 
supplies. 

At this time the two Donner families were in 
advance of the main body. Walter Ilerron was 
with the Donner's and when Mr. Reed over- 
took them, Herron volunteered to go with him, 
which offer was accepted. Having but one 
horse, they rode by turns. Their provisions giv- 
ing out, they traveled for days without food, 
except wild geese and other game which they 
occasionally killed on Truckee river. When 
they reached the Sierra Nevada mountains, Her- 
ron wanted to kill the horse, and Mr. Reed per- 
suaded him from it by agreeing to kill him 
rather than perish with hunger. That afternoon 

28— 



Herron became delirious for want of food. 
They found five beans. Ilerron ate three of 
them, and Reed the other two. The next morn- 
ing they came upon some abandoned wagons, 
which they ransacked, but failed to find any 
food. Taking the tar-bucket from one of the 
wagons, and scraping the tar from the bottom, 
Mr. Reed discovered a streak of rancid tallow 
in the bottom, which he made known to Herron, 
who swallowed a piece about the size of a wal- 
nut without giving it a smell. He swallowed a 
second piece, and wanted more, which Mr. Reed 
refused to give him, having himself eaten some 
which made him deathly sick. They soon after 
descended into Bear river valley, where they 
found some emigrants in wagons, who gave 
them food and relieved their sufferings. They 
there met Mr. Stanton and two Indians sent by 
Captain Sutter to aid in carrying provisions. 
Mr. Reed was so emaciated that Mr. Stanton 
did not recognize him until they had conversed 
with each other several minutes. The next 
morning, October 23, 1846, each party continued 
their journey. Mr. Reed went on to Captain 
Sutter's, where he secured thirty horses, one 
mule and two Indians to aid him in bringing out 
the sufferers. He was joined by Mr. McCutchen, 
who had been separated from Mr. Stanton by 
sickness. With some flour and meat they 
started to meet the suffering emigrants in the 
mountains. After weeks spent in unavailing 
efforts, they had to return, as men and horses 
sank out of sight in the snow. It was evident 
that nothing could be done until spring, the 
mountaineers all being absent fightingMexicans, 
the war with Mexico having commenced the 
year before, and the natives of Spanish and 
Indian blood having expressed a determination 
to exterminate the Americans. 

Snow commenced falling the latter part of 
October, and caught the whole party, not in a 
body, but scattered along some distance, the ex- 
tremes being probably a day's journey apart. 
The following journal, kept by one of the suf- 
ferers, includes the time from October 31, 1846, 
to March 1, 1847, and is from the Illinois State 
Journal, of September 16, 1847: 

Truckee's Lake, November 20, 1846. — Came 
to this place on the 31st of last month; went 
into the Pass, the snow so deep we were unable 
to find the road, and when within three miles 
from the summit, turned back to this shanty, on 
Truckee's Lake. Stanton came up one day, after 
we arrived here; we again took our teams and 
wagons, and made another unsuccessful attempt 
to cross the mountains, as it continued to snow 



244 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



all the time. We now have killed most part of 
our cattle, having to remain here until next 
spring, and live on lean meat, vi'ithout bread or 
salt. It snowed during the space of eight days, 
with little intermission, after our arrival, though 
now clear and pleasant, freezing at night; the 
snow nearly gone from the valleys. 

Nov. 21 — Fine morning, wind northwest; 
twenty-two of our company about starting to 
cross the mountains this day, including Stanton 
and his Indians. 

Nov. 22 — Froze hard last night; fine and clear 
to-day; no account from those on the mountains. 

Nov. 23 — Same weather, wind west; the ex- 
pedition across the mountains returned after an 
unsuccessful attempt. 

Nov. 25 — Cloudy; looks like the eve of a 
snow storm; our mountaineers are to make an- 
other trial to-morrow, if fair; froze hard last 
night. 

Nov. 26. — Began to snow last evening; now 
rains or sleets; the party do not start to-day. 

Nov. 29 — Still snowing; now about three feet 
deep; wind west; killed my last oxen to-day; 
gave another yoke to Foster; wood hard to be 
got 

Nov. 30 — Snowing fast; looks as likely to con- 
tinue as when it commenced; no living thing, 
without wings, can get about. 

Dec. 1 — Still snowing; wind west; snow about 
six or six and one-half feet deep; very difficult 
to get wood, and we are completely housed up; 
our cattle all killed but two or three, and these, 
with the horses and Stanton's mules, all sup- 
posed to be lost in the snow; no hopes of find- 
ing them alive. 

Dec. 3 — Ceased snowing; cloudy all day; warm 
enough to thaw. 

Dec. 4 — Beautiful sunshine; thawing a little; 
looks delightful, after the long storm; snow sev- 
en or eight feet deep. 

Dec. 5 — The morning fine and clear; Stanton 
and Graves manufacturing snow-shoes for an- 
other mountain scramble; no account of mules. 

Dec. 8 — Fine weather; froze hard last night; 
wind southwest; hard work to find wood suf- 
ficient to keep us warm, or cook our beef. 

Dec. 9 — Commenced snowing about eleven 
o'clock; wind northwest; took in Spitzer yester- 
day, so weak that he cannot rise without help, 
caused by starvation. Some have a scant supply 
of beef; Stanton trying to get some for himself 
and Indians; not likely to get much. 

Dec. 10 — Snowed fast all night, with heavy 
squalls of wind; continues to snow; now about 
seven feet in depth. 



Dec. 14 — Snows faster than any previous day; 
Stanton and Graves, with several others, making 
preparations to cross the mountains on snow 
shoes; snow eight feet on a level. 

Dec. 16 — Fair and pleasant; froze hard last 
night; the company started on snow shoes to 
cross the mountains; wind southeast. 

Dec. IV — Pleasant; William Murphy returned 
from the mountain party last evening; Bayless 
Williams died night before last; Milton and 
Noah started for Donner's eight days ago; not 
returned yet; think they are lost in the snow. 

Dec. 19 — Snowed last night; thawing to day; 
wind northwest, a little singular for a thaw. 

Dec. 20 — Clear and pleasant; Mrs. Reed here; 
no account from Milton yet; Charles Berger set 
out for Donner's; turned back, unable to pro- 
ceed; tough times, but not discouraged; our 
hopes are in God. Amen! 

Dec. 21 — Milton got back last night from 
Donner's camp; sad news; Jacob Donner, Sam- 
uel Shoemaker, Rhinehart and Smith are dead; 
the rest of them in a low situation; snowed all 
night, with a strong southwest wind. 

Dec. 23 — Clear to-day; Milton took some of 
his meat away; all well at their camp. Began 
this day to read the "thirty day's Prayers;" Al- 
mighty God grant the requests of unworthy 
sinners! 

Dec. 24 — Rained all night and still continues; 
poor prospect for any kind of comfort, spiritual 
or temporal. 

Dec. 25 — Began to snow yesterday; snowed 
all night and snows yet, rapidly; extremely dif- 
ficult to find wood; offered our prayers to God 
this (Christmas) morning; the prospect is ap- 
palling, but we trust in Him. 

Dec. 21 — Cleared off yesterday; continues 
clear; snow nine feet deep; wood growing 
scarcer; a tree, when felled, sinks into the snow, 
and is hard to be got at. 

Dec. 30 — Fine clear morning; froze hard last 
night; Charles Berger died last evening about 
ten o'clock. 

Dec. 31 — Last of the year; may we, with the 
help of God, spend the coming year better than 
we have the past, which we propose to do if it 
be the will of the Almighty to deliver us from 
our present dreadful situation; Amen. Morn- 
ing fair, but cloudy; wind east-by-south; looks 
like another snow storm; snow storms are dread- 
ful to us; the snow at present is very deep. 

(Tan. 1, 1847 — We pray the God of mercy to 
deliver us from our present calamity, if it be 
His holy will. Commenced snowing last night, 
and snows a little yet; provisions getting scant; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



245 



dug up a hide from under the snow yesterday; 
have not commenced on it yet. 

Jan. 3 — Fair during the day; freezing at 
night; Mrs. Reed talks of crossing the moun- 
tains with her children. 

Jan. 4 — Fine morning, looks like spring; Mrs. 
Reed and Virginia, Milton Elliott and Eliza 
Williams started a short time ago, with the hope 
of crossing the mountain; left the children 
here; it was difficult for Mrs. Reed to part with 
them. 

Jan. 6 — Eliza came back from the mountains 
yesterday evening, not able to proceed; the 
others kept ahead. 

Jan. 8 — Very cold this morning; Mrs. Reed 
and others came back, could not find their way, 
on the other side of the mountains; they have 
nothing but hides to live on. 

Jan. 10 — Began to snow last night; still con- 
tinues; wind west-north-west. 

Jan. 13 — Snowing fast; snow higher than the 
shanty; it must be thirteen feet deep; cannot 
get wood this morning; it is a dreadful sight 
for us to look upon. 

Jan. 14 — Cleared oif yesterday; the sun shin- 
ing brilliantly renovates our spirits; praise be 
to the God of Heaven. 

Ja)i. 15 — Clear day again; wind northwest; 
Mrs. Murphy blind; Lanthron not able to get 
wood; has but one axe between him and Kies- 
burg; it looks like another storm; expecting 
some account from Sutter's soon. 

Jan. 17 — Lanthron became crazy last night; 
provisions scarce; hides our main subsistence; 
may the Almighty send us help. 

Jan. 21 — Fine morning; John Battise and 
Mr. Denton came this morning with Eliza. She 

will not eat hides; Mrs. sent her back to 

live or die on them. 

Jati. 22 — Began to snow after sunrise; likely 
to continue; wind north. 

Jan. 23 — Blew hard and snowed all night; the 
most severe storm we have experienced this 
winter; wind west. 

Jan. 26 — Cleared up yesterday; to-day fine 
and pleasant, wind south; in hopes we are done 
with snow storms; those who went to Sutter's 
not yet returned; provisions getting scant; peo- 
ple growing weak; living on small allowance of 
hides. 

Jan. 28 — Commenced snowing yesterday — 
still continues to-day. Lewis (Sutter's Indian,) 
died three day's ago; food growing scarcer; 
don't have fire enough to cook our hides. 

Jan. 30 — Fair and pleasant; wind west; thaw- 
ing in the sun; John and Edward Breen went to 



Graves' this morning; the seized on Mrs. 

goods until tJiey would be paid; they 

also took the hides which herself and family 
subsisted upon; they retained two pieces only, 
the balance they have taken. You may judge 
from this what our fare is in camp; there is 
nothing to be had by hunting yet, perhaps there 
soon will be. 

Jan. 31 — The sun does not shine out brilliant, 
this morning; froze hard last night; wind north- 
west. Lanthron Murphy died last night about 
one o'clock; Mrs. Reed went to Graves' this 
morning, to look after goods. 

I^eb. 5 — Snowed hard until twelve o'clock last 
night; many uneasy for fear we shall all perish 
with hunger; we have but little meat left, and 
only three hides; Mrs. Reed has nothing but 
one hide, and that is on Graves' house; Milton 
lives there, and will likely keep that; Eddy's 
child died last night. 

JP^eb. 6 — It snowed faster last night and to-day 
than it has done this winter before; still con- 
tinues, without intermission; wind southwest; 
Murphy's folks and Kiesburg say they cannot 
eat hides; I wish we had enough of them; Mrs. 
Eddy is very weak. 

Feb. 7 — Ceased to snow at last; to-day it is 
quite pleasant; McCutchen's child died on the 
second of this month. 

I^eb. 8 — Fine, clear morning; Spitzer died last 
night; we will bury him in the snow; Mrs. Eddy 
died on the night of the seventh. 

JF'eb. 9— Mr. Pike's child all but dead; Milton 
is at Murphy's, not able to get out of bed; Kies- 
burg gets up; he says he is not able; Mrs. 

Eddy and child were buried to-day; wind south- 
east. 

J^eb. 10 — Beautiful morning; thawing, in the 
sun; Milton Elliott died last night, at Murphy's 
shanty; Mrs. Reed went there this morning, to 
see after his effects; J. Denton trying to borrow 
meat for Graves; had none to give; they had 
nothing but hides; all are entirely out of meat; 
but a little we have; our hides are nearly all eat 
up. With God's help, spring will soon smile 
upon us. 

J'eb. 12 — Warm, thawy morning. 

J^eb. 14 — Fine morning, but cold; buried Mil- 
ton in the snow. John Denton not well. 

J^eb. 15 — Morning cloudy until nine o'clock, 

then cleared off warm. Mrs. refused to 

give Mrs. any hides. Put Sutter's pack 

hides on her shanty, and would not let her have 
them. 

J'eb. 16 — Commenced to rain last evening, and 
turned to snow during the night, and continued 



246 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



until morning; weather changeable — sunshine, 
then light showers of hail, and wind at times. 
We all feel very unwell; the snow is not getting 
much less at present. 

Feb. 19 — Froze hard last night. Seven men 
arrived from California yesterday evening with 
provisions, but left the greater part on the way. 
To-day it is clear and warm for this region ; some 
of the men have gone to Donner's camp; they 
will start back on Monday. 

Feb. 22 — The Californians started this morn- 
ing, twenty-four in number, some in a very weak 
state; Mrs. Kiesburg started with them, and left 
Kiesburg here, unable to go; buried Pike's child 
this morning in the snow; it died two days 
ago. 

Feb. 23 — Froze hard last night; to-day pleas- 
ant and thawy — has the appearance of spring, 
all but the deep snow; wind south-southeast; 
shot a dog to-day and dressed his flesh. 

Feb. 25 — To-day Mrs. Murphy says the wolves 
are about to dig up the dead bodies around her 
shanty, and the nights are too cold to watch 
them, but we hear them howl. 

Feb. 26 — Hungry times in camp; plenty of 
hides, but the folks won't eat them; we eat them 
with tolerable good appetite, thanks be to the 
Almighty God. Mrs. Murphy said here yester- 
day that she thought she would commence on 
Milton and eat him; I do not think she has done 
so yet; it is distressing. The Donners told the 
California folks, four days ago, that they would 
commence on the dead people, if they did not 
succeed that day or the next in finding their cat- 
tle, then ten or twelve feet under the snow, and 
did not know the spot or anywhere near it; they 
have done it ere this. 

Feb. 28 — One solitary Indian passed by yes- 
terday; came from the lake; had a heavy pack 
on his back; gave me five or six roots, resemb- 
ling onions in shape; tasted some like a sweet 
potato, full of tough little fibres. 

Feb. 29 — Ten men arrived this morning from 
Bear Valley, with provisions. We all leave in 
two or three days, and cache our goods here. 
They say the snow will remain until June. 

The above mentioned ten men started for the 
valley with seventeen of the sufi:erers; they trav- 
eled fifteen miles and a severe snow storm came 
on ; they left fourteen of the emigrants, the 
writer of the above journal and his family, and 
secceeded in getting in but three children. Lieu- 
tenant Woodworth immediately went to their 
assistance, but before he reached them they had 
eaten three of their number, who had died from 
hunger and fatigue; the remainder Lieutenant 



Wood worth's party brought in. April, 1847, the 
last member of the party was Ijroughtto Captain 
Sutter's Fort. It is utterly impossible to give 
any description of the sufferings of the comj^any. 
Your readers can form some idea of them by 
perusing the above diary. Yours, etc., 

George MoKinstry, Jr. 

Fort Sacramento, April 27, 1847. 

The emigrants thus caught in the mountains 
died, one by one, until thirty-six of the eighty- 
one who left Independence in the spring with 
such high hopes, literally starved to death. The 
following are the names of those from Sangamon 
county: 

George Donner and his wife, Mrs. Tamsen 
Donner; Jacob Donner and his wife, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Donner; her son, William Hook, sometimes 
called William Donner; the three sons of Jacob 
Donner and wife, Isaac, Lewis and Samuel; 
four unmarried men, Bayless Williams, Milford 
Elliott, James Smith and John Denton, making 
a total of twelve from Sangamon county who per- 
ished from &c2)osure and want of food. 

Jacob Donner died among the first. He was 
a tender-hearted, conscientious man, and it is at- 
tested that his death was caused more by grief 
at the present and prospective sufferings of his 
family, than from disease or want of food. 
George and Jacob Donner were members of the 
Gernaan Prairie Christian Church. The five 
surviving children of George Donner, and the 
three surviving children of Jacob Donner and 
wife, with their descendents, are among the 
most respected citizens of California. It is 
thought Mrs. George Donner was a native of 
New England — Maine — and was a lady in the 
highest sense of the Avord. Some of the citizens 
of Sangamon county remember her especially on 
account of her perfect self-control and power to 
govern. She taught school in the vicinity of 
Auburn when it was more unusual for a lady to 
teach than it is now. Some almost full grown, 
rough, uncouth young men were in her school, 
and yet she would govern them as thoroughly as 
if they were children. This self-control seems 
never to have left her. According to the testi- 
mony of Mr. Reed, who, after his own family 
had been rescued, visited the two camps of the 
Donners, to find Mrs. Jacob Donner and George 
Donner helpless, and no means of removing 
them. They were prepared to leave provisions, 
and a man at each camp to care for the sick, and 
used every argument to induce Mrs. George 
Donner to go with them, but with the full 
knowledge of the probabilities that she would 
lose her own life, she utterly refused, prefering 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



247 



to meet death in the discharge of her duty to her 
husband ratlier than save her own life by seem- 
ing to abandon him in his hour of peril; and so 
she died, as truly a martyr as though she had 
been burned at the stake. 

Other acts of heroisms are too numerous to 
mention, but the following will suffice: 

Hiram O. Miller proved to be courageous and 
efficient through all. Milford Elliott could have 
saved his own life, and having neither wife, 
children or any other blood relative among the 
sufferers, no blame could have been laid to his 
charge if he had saved himself by pushing 
through, but he would not abandon helpless 
women and children, and his life paid the for- 
feit. The Eddy family, of Belleville, Illinois, 
was totally obliterated. 

All that is known of C T. Stanton is that he 
was from Chicago, Illinois. History does not, 
very probably, record the name of a greater 
hero. It does not appear that he was in any 
way related, or even acquainted, with one of the 
sufferers previous to their departure from the 
States. He aided many of them on their way, 
and after their calamities came upon them 
pushed his w^ay through the mountains and 
reached Sutter's fort, where he was absolutely 
safe; but he knew there were men, women and 
children perishing with cold and hunger, and 
knowing this, there was no rest for him. He 
secm'ed supplies of food and mules, enlisted the 
sympathies of two of the unlettered children 
of the forest, and all pushed on, days and weeks, 
through storms and snow-drifts, until even the 
two savages, prompted by him, fell a f.acrifice in 
the cause of humanity. Savages, did I say? 
I reverently withdraw the word. Their conduct 
would put to shame thousands who have been 
reared under the best of Christian influences. 
There can be no more exalted evidence of 
humanity than to give one life with the hope of 
rescuing others from impending death. Mr. 
Stanton was one of the party of fifteen who 
attempted to pass out of the mountains, starting 
December 16, 1846. He was weak and ema- 
ciated, as all were, and on the twenty-first of 
December became snow-blind, and that night 
failed to reach the camp. The whole party lay 
in camp the next day waiting for him, but he 
never came. A party of men who went in the 
mountains the next summer to bring out the 
goods belonging to the Douner and Graves chil- 
dren, found his bones at the very tree where 
they left him on the twenty-first of December. 
They were chewed and broken in small pieces. 
The only way they could recognize them to be 



Stanton's was by a letter from his sister in one 
of his pockets, wilh some tobacco, the latter 
having prevented the wild beast from destroy- 
ing every evidence of identity. There was also 
a pistol that had been loaned to Stanton by Mr. 
Fallen, the man who found his remains. No 
one of those who perished was more sincerely 
mourned by the survivors than Mr. Stanton. 
Mr. Reed left this testimony to his worth: 
"Poor Stanton, who had no relative in the cara- 
van to draw him back, but from the noble dis- 
position he had, and the kind feelings he 
entertained for myself and family, and another 
person who bad befriended him, induced him to 
return with provisions, and he lost his life as a 
noble PHILANTHROPIST. * * * His kindness 
saved my little ones from starvation." 

As already stated, James F. Reed, after he had 
been baffied in his attempt to reach the camp of 
the suffering emigrants, had returned to Captain 
Sutter's, where he became satisfied that it would 
be utterly impossible to do anything more for 
them until spring. He was 'advised by Captain 
Sutter to proceed to Yerba Bueno — now San 
Francisco — and make his case known to the 
naval officer in command. Arriving at San 
Jose, he found the San Francisco side of the bay 
occupied by Mexicans. Here he joined a com- 
pany of volunteers, and took part in the battle 
of Santa Clara; that opened the way to San 
Francisco. There he was enabled to raise by 
voluntary contributions, $1,000 in the town and 
•S300 from the sailors in port, with which he 
purchased supplies, which were placed on board 
a schooner, in command of Midshipman Wood- 
worth, who took all to the mouth of Feather 
river, where men and horses were procured for 
carrying relief to the emigrants. On their way 
to the camp they met a j^arty coming out with 
women and children, among them Mr. Reed's 
wife and two children, his other two children, 
Martha and Thomas K., having been left in 
camp in charge of a Mi*. Glover of the rescuing 
party, who volunteered to stay with and care for 
them, assuring Mrs. Reed that he was a Free 
Mason and knew her husband to be such, and 
that he would rescue her children or die in the 
attempt. He was as good as his word, protected 
and cared for the children until they were 
rescued by their father, and soon all the mem- 
bers of the family were re-united and rejoicing 
over their great deliverance. Mr. Reed's was 
the only entire family Avho left Sangamon 
county, all the members of which lived to reach 
their destination, and they did it without any 
one of them being driven to the necessity of 



248 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



eating human flesh. It seems the more wonder- 
ful that they should all have lived through, 
when their natural protector was separated from 
them so much of the time. 

The scene of the great suffering just described 
began west of the Great Salt Lake, in a salt 
desert, and extended hundreds of miles west- 
ward, over a succession ot mountain ranges, 
running principally north and south, known as 
the Sierra Nevada mountains. Localities could 
not then be described, except by natural boun- 
daries, such as mountains and valleys. The 
territory then belonged to Mexico, and the suf- 
fering and destitution that met the emigrants 
seemed only a realization of what might reason- 
ably be expected in leaving the land of the 
Stars and Stripes to come under the sway of the 



benighted Mexican flag. But the old adage 
that " the darkest hour is just before the break 
of day," has been fully realized in this case to 
those who survived. The war they found in 
the Sacramento valley, waged by Mexico for the 
avowed purpose of exterminating the few scat- 
tered Americans on the Pacific coast, termin- 
ated in that whole region of country being ceded 
to our government. Then followed the dis- 
covery of gold, the influx of Americans, and the 
organization of the States of California and 
Oregon, and, a few years later, Nevada. The 
locality of the closing scene, the camp where 
the Donners died, is marked by a small body of 
water among the mountains, now known as 
Lake Donner, in the western part of the St^ite 
of Nevada. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



249 



Chapter XI.II 



POLITICAL. 



Like all other intelligent communities in the 
United States, the people of Sangamon county 
have participated with earnestness in the various 
political contests that have agitated the country 
at large, and have had also their own local polit- 
ical agitations. In the following pages the 
attempt is made to briefly show the various 
issues that have entered into the campaigns, fol- 
lowing the whole with the official vote of every 
general election, giving only the principal offi- 
cers voted for, as showing the condition of the 
various parties the time mentioned. A volume 
could easily be written the size of this work, 
upon the political history alone of Sangamon 
county. Centrally situated, and for almost half 
a century its chief city being the capital of the 
State, the greater number of the political con- 
ventions have been held here. From this point, 
therefore radiate the great political measures 
that agitate the people of the State, and their 
influences are first felt in this county. 

1824. — The first political question at issue this 
year, was that of a Constitutional Convention. 
This Convention was called for the purpose of 
amending the Constitution, permitting slavery 
in the State. In this county the friends ot a 
free State were successful. The following is 
the vote: 

For Convention 153 

Against Convention Y22 

569 
There were four Presidential candidates this 
year: Andrew Jackson, John Q. Adams, Wil- 
liam H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. The can- 
didates for county officers were numei'ous, there 
being five for Sheriff, and four for Coroner. 
John Taylor was the successful candidate for 
the former office, and James McNabb for the 
latter. 

1826. — Local officers were elected this year. 
Elijah lies was elected State Senator over Ed- 
ward Robinson by a majority of 213. 



1828. — Another presidential year, the candi- 
dates being Andrew Jackson and John Quincy 
Adams, the latter being a candidate for re-elec- 
tion. The usual number of candidates for local 
offices were before the people, and the canvass 
was quite spirited. The total vote polled in 
Sangamon county was 1,219, against 875 in 
1824. James D. Henry was the successful can- 
didate for Sheriff and Philip Fowler for Cor- 
oner. 

1830. — Local officers alone were to be elected. 
James D. Henry was the successful candidate 
for Sheriff, receiving a majority of 1,503 over 
George Power. 

1832. — The parties this year were known as 
the Jackson Republicans and the National Re- 
publicans. Andrew Jackson was the candidate 
of the former for re-election to the Presidency, 
and Henry Clay the latter. The issues were 
those of national internal improvements, pro- 
tection to domestic manufactures, the United 
States bank and reform. The party supporting 
Henry Clay favored a United States bank, a 
protective tariff and a system of internal im- 
provements by the general government. Joseph 
Duncan was the candidate of the Jackson party 
for Congress, and Jonathan H. Pugh of the 
Clay party. No county conventions were held, 
but a large number of candidates were in the 
field for the various offices to be filled. Hand- 
bills were freely circulated setting forth the 
claims of each to office, or showing the unfitness 
of opposing candidates. The Jackson party 
was successful both in August and November. 
During this year that portion of Sangamon, 
afterwards stricken off as the county of Menard, 
began to agitate the question of a separation, 
and presented Abraham Lincoln as their candi- 
date for the Legislature. Mr. Lincoln was very 
popular, and obtained nearly the entire vote of 
that section, but was defeated by the Jackson 
men, who had a large majority in the county, 
and Mr. Lincoln being an ardent Clay man. 



250 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1834. — State and county officers were to be 
elected. For Governor there were four candi- 
dates — Joseph Duncan, William Kinney, James 
Adams and R. K. McLaughlin. For county 
officers their name is legion. Abraham Lincoln 
was a candidate for Representative in the legis- 
lature, and was elected by a handsome majority, 
receiving a larger vote than any of his colleagues 
on the ticket; At his old home in Salem he 
was called upon for a speech, and replied in the 
following characteristic manner : 

" Gentlemen, Felloto Citizens: — I presume you 
all know who I am. I am humble Abraham 
Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends 
to become a candidate for the legislature. My 
politics are short and sweet, like an old woman's 
dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am 
in favor of the internal improvement system 
and a high protective tariff. These are my 
sentiments and political principles. If elected, 
I will be thankful. If not, it will be all the 
same." 

The political issues were the same as in 1832. 
The opposition to the Jackson men were called 
Whigs in this campaign. State issues of im- 
portance, were the construction of the Illinois 
and Michigan canal and other internal improve- 
ments. The canvass was quite spirited all over 
the State, resulting in the election of Mr. Dun- 
can as Governor. The question of the removal 
of the State Capital from Vandalia was sub- 
mitted to the people. In this county the vote 
stood as follows: 

For Springfield 2,261 

For Alton 10 

For Centre 21 

For Vandalia 1 

For Peoria 3 

For Jacksonville 1 

1835. — The year was remarkable for the ex- 
citement which existed in relation to -the local 
election. At this time a re-organization of 
parties was begun, looking to the Presidential 
election the following year. A considerable 
portion of the Clay or Whig party, represented 
by George Forquer and Peter Cartwright, went 
over to the opposition, while a portion of the 
Jackson men, or Democrats, represented by John 
Dawson and others, coalesced with the Clay men, 
which led to a very animated contest. E. D. 
Taylor and George Forquer each resigned their 
seats in the State Senate. Archer G. Herndon, 
( anti-Van Buren), and John Calhoun, Democrat, 
Avere nominated to fill the vacancy caused by 
the resignation of the former, and Job Fletcher 



and Peter Cartwright the latter. Regular 
county officers were to be elected, and the usual 
number of self-sacriticing individuals presented 
their names for the suffrage of the people. The 
political issues were unchanged, but Jackson 
men were now known as Democrats and the op- 
position as Whigs; though as the latter names 
were not familiar to the people, the two parties 
were frequently spoken of as Jackson or Van 
Buren men, and White men. The names of 
Martin Van Buren and Hugh L. White being 
presented by their respective parties for the 
Presidency in 1836. The canvass in Sangamon 
county was an exciting one, each party using its 
utmost endeavor to be successful before the peo- 
ple. John Calhoun and Peter Cartwright had 
been sent as delegates to a State Convention at 
Vandalia, which endorsed the candidacy of Van 
Buren, and had there pledged, so far as they 
were able, the vote of this county for that gen- 
tleman. The opposition took up the challenge 
thus offered, and therefore the intense excite- 
ment. The Whigs were triumphant. 

1836. — Party lines were now pretty strongly 
drawn, for the first time in the history of the 
country. Martin Van Buren was the, nominee 
of the Democracy for the Presidency, and Wil- 
liam H. Harrison was the candidate of the 
Whigs for the same office. John T. Stuart had 
been nominated by the Whigs and VA^illiam L. 
May by the Democrats for Representative in 
Congress, from the Third Congressional Dis- 
trict, of which Sangamon county formed a part. 
These gentlemen both resided in Springfield 
and were representative men of their respective 
parties. Mr. May was elected. The Whig can- 
didates for State Senators and Representatives 
were each elected. In the legislature they were 
know as the "Long Nine," being nine in num- 
ber, the aggregate height of all being fifty-four 
feet. It is but just to say of these men that 
they were giants in intellect as well as in stat- 
ure. Several of the number made national 
reputations. Every candidate on the Whig 
ticket received a majority in this county. 

1837. — The State bank question was the prin- 
cipal political issue in 1837. The hard times so 
severely felt by the people caused a great de- 
sire for more currency as the remedy for all 
financial ills. There being no National or State 
ticket to be elected, there was but little political 
excitement. Both parties had put forward rea- 
sonably good men for the local offices to be 
filled, it was not a canvass on which political 
calculations could be based; therefore represen- 
tatives of both parties were elected. The ques- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



251 



tiou of slavery now began to be agitated, and 
judging from the following record of a public 
meeting held at Springfield, it would appear the 
Abolition leaven was working in old Sangamon: 

"At a meeting of citizens of Spi-ingfield, con- 
vened at the court room, on Monday, October 
23, 1837, Judge Thomas C. Brown was called to 
the chair, and I. S. Britton appointed Secretary. 
The following resolutions were adopted: 

'■'■Itesolved, That the efforts of the Abolition- 
ists in this community are neither necessary nor 
useful. 

'■^Mesolved, That as citizens of a free State 
and a peaceful community, we deprecate any at- 
tempt to sow discord among us, or to create an 
excitement as to Abolition which can be pro- 
ductive of no good result. 

''Hesolved, That in the opinion of this meet- 
ing the doctrine of the immediate emancipation 
of the slaves m this country (although promul- 
gated by those who profess to be Christians) is 
at variance with Christianity, and its tendency 
is to breed contention, broils, and mobs; and the 
leaders of those calling themselves Abolitionists 
are designing, ambitious men, and dangerous 
members of society, and should be shunned by 
all good citizens." 

In honor of the Whig victory in New York 
this year, the Sangamo Journal proposed a grand 
illumination, by setting on fire the prairies of 
the entire north part of the State. It had an 
illustration of a vessel "bound for the deserts of 
Arabia." 

1838. — Cyrus Edwards was the Whig candi- 
date, and Thomas Carlin the Democratic candi- 
date, for Governor of the State. John T. Stuart 
and Stephen A. Douglas were opposing candi- 
dates for Congress from the Third District. 
The local tickets were composed of good men, 
and a strong effort was put forth by both parties 
for victory. Mr. Stuart was elected. In this 
county the Whigs were successful by handsome 
majorities. The vote of the county was the 
largest in its history, being 3,271. 

1839. — This year only local officers were to be 
elected, and the political views of the candidates 
w^ere hardly considered, — though each party had 
a full set of officers in nomination, Charles R. 
Matheny, Whig candidate for County Clerk, was 
elected by a majority of 762, while James Ad- 
ams, Democrat, for Probate Judge, had a ma- 
jority of 38. 

1840. — No previous political campaign in the 
history of this country can be compared with the 
"hard-cider campaign" of 1840. William H. 
Harrison was for the second time honored by 

29— 



his party— -the Whig — with a nomination lor the 
Presidency. Martin Van Buren was nominated 
by the Democracy for re-election. The hard 
times that existed during the entire administra- 
tion of Van Buren caused many to desii-e a 
change, with the hope that a change in the po- 
litical administration of the Government would 
bring about prosperity. Taking advantage of 
this state of affairs, the Whigs seemed to be 
inspired, and went into the campaign with such 
spirit as almost paralyzed their opponents, al- 
though they made a gallant fight. The publish- 
ers of the Sangamo Journal issued a campaign 
paper called the Old Soldier, which was circu- 
lattd largely throughout the State, and which 
exerted much influence in the campaign. The 
publishers of the Register, not to be outdone, 
also issued a campaign paper, called Old Hick- 
ory. Mass meetings, held at central points, 
were attended by thousands of people; many 
coming a long distance in lumber-wagons, camp- 
ing out, and enduring many hardships, — but en- 
thusiastic in the cause. Campaign socgs were 
introduced, and doubtless contributed much to 
inspire the people, and in the election of Harri- 
son. As a specimen of the songs of the time, 
the following are given, the first being a contri- 
bution to the Old Soldier, by a Sangamon county 
poet too modest to append his name: 

A GOURD or HARD CIDER. 

"Let Frenchmen drink claret and sweet muscadine, 
And Germans drink Hock on the banks of the Rhine; 
But give me to quafi:", with friends warm and true, 
A gourd of hard cidtr t' old Tippecanoe, 

"John Bull may get drunk on his beer and his gin, 
Till he can't leave his seat or spit over bis chin; 
But if that's in the world on which I'd get blue, 
'Tis a gourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe. 

"Let the Don swill bis port, and smoke his cigar. 
And Fisanos suck Tiffin and drink ' Bolivar;' 
But we in log cabins such trash will eschew, 
For a gourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe. 

"With praties and whisky let Pat fill his maw, 
And Donald get blind on his smoked esquebaugh — 
McFingal ne'er drank, nor did Brian Boru, 
A gourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe. 

"In the White House Van Buren may drink his cham- 
pagne. 
And have himself toasted from Georgia to Maine; 
But we in log cabins, with hearts warm and true, 
Drink a gourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe. 

"Old Jove has drank ISIectar for time and a day. 
To droT\n the dull cares of his heavenh' sway; 
But if he'd be wise, he'd try something new — 
Drink a gourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe. 



252 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"Hurrah for old Tip!— from his side we'll not shrink — 
To our rights, and our laws, and our country, we'll 

drink, 
Success to the banner of 'red, white and blue,' 
In a sjourd of hard cider t' old Tippecanoe." 



SONG OF TIPPECANOE. 

Air — Old Rosin the Bow. 

■'Come, let us all join in a chorus, 

And shout it along as we go — 
Our song the bright prospect before us. 

And the hero of Tippecanoe. 

"When the savage invaded our border, 
And thousands most shockingly slew. 

He drove them with death and disorder. 
On the banks of the Tippecanoe. 

"When the British and Indians united, 
Believing they'd conquer their foe, 

Most bravely Fort Meigs saw recited 
The scenes of old Tippecanoe. 

"For an age he had served them in earnest. 
And ever was faithful and true; 

And our country's now reaping the harvest 
Which was planted by Tippecanoe. 

"From seclusion the people now call him, 
To come out before them anew; 

For one single term to instal him 
Our President — Tippecanoe. 

"The Nannies have chuckled, denying 

That Harrison ever will do; 
But, astounded, they hear the whole Nation 

Hurrah for old Tippecanoe. 

"The Republican banner is waving, 
Unfurling its folds to the view; 

Patriots! let your motto be 'Union,' 
And rally around Tippecanoe." 

The first Whig County Convention was held 
at Springfield, Saturday, March 14, for the pur- 
pose of nominating candidates for the various 
offices to be filled at the ensuing election in 
August. As setting forth the views of the party 
in this county, the following resolutions, adopted 
by this convention, are appended: 

"Whereas, The friends of Constitutional 
Government, based upon just and equitable 
principles, have reached a ground upon which 
they can meet — a ground on which all personal 
preferences, prejudices and partialities, as well 
as all petty differences growing out of sectional 
interests, may be laid aside — when all may 
unite with a common pui-pose and for the com- 
mon good by rallying round their country's ban- 
ner, now so gloriously streaming in the breeze. 
And, 

" Whereas, a voice has come up, ' like the 
sound of many waters,' from all parts of our 
common country, declaring that misrule shall 



end — that the Constitution shall be restored — 
that Executive power, which for the last three 
years has been extending its baneful and blight- 
ing influences over the land shall be confined 
within its proper limits — and he who has defiled 
the temple of our liberties — who has plundered 
the people's treasury, and is now fast reducing 
the hard-working men of this country to 
beggary — and who is now seeking through the 
aid of his army of office-holders, to 'rear on the 
ruins of the Republic the throne of his despot- 
ism,' shall give up the place to which he has 
crawled through the favoritism of his 'illustrious 
predecessors,' and which he never could have 
i-eached through the unbiased suffrages of a free 
people. 

" Hesolved, therefore^ That without regard to 
the original preferences of some of us, and look- 
ing only to the good of our State and Union, 
we will cordially and zealously support the nom- 
inees of this convention, and hereby solemnly 
pledge ourselves to use all fair and honorable 
means to secure their election. 

" Itesolved, That William H. Hari-ison — the 
son of one of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence — the favorite aid-de-camp of 
Wayne in the battles which broke the Indian 
power in the West — the first delegate of this 
western empire in Congress; and as such, the 
author of the present land system of the Ihiited 
States — the Governor of the Northwestern Ter- 
ritory for many years — the victorious General 
who conducted our armies to victory and glory at 
Tippecanoe, Fort Meigs and the Thames — 'who 
has fought more battles than any other Ameri- 
can General of his time and has never been 
defeated' — the eloquent champion of Republi- 
can principles for many years in the House of 
Representatives and the Senate of the Union — 
our Minister to Columbia, and there, as every- 
where, strengthening and sustaining the cause of 
Republican Government; we recognize the hero 
and statesman, who has spent more than forty 
years in the service of his country in the highest 
offices, and when the mission was done retired 
from them all successively and pure, like Cin- 
cinnatus, and like Cincinnatus, poor. 

" jResolved, That the election of Harrison and 
Tyler would emancipate the land from the Cata- 
lines who infest it; would restore it to pros- 
perity and peace, and bring back the time 
when good measures, good principals and good 
men would control the administration of our 
government." 

The result of the campaign in this county 
was the triumph of the Whigs, every candidate 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



253 



upon their ticket being elected by majorities 
ranging from 407 to 1,1 11. 

1841. — In this county, County Commissioners 
and a School Commissioner were to be elected. 
A member of Congress was also to be elected 
from this district. John T. Stuart was the 
candidate of the Whigs for re-election, and J, H. 
Ralston made the fight on the part of the Dem- 
ocracy. Mr. Stuart Avas successful in county 
and district. The Whig county ticket was also 
successful. 

1842. — Joseph Duncan this year received the 
nomination of the Whig party for Governor, 
and Thomas Ford that of the Democrats for the 
same office. With the exception of Lieutenant- 
Governor, this was the only State office to be 
tilled. Full tickets for county officers, including 
State Senators and Representatives, were made 
by both parties. The entire Whig ticket was 
elected in the county, but the Democratic State 
ticket was successful. Ford being elected Gov- 
ernor. 

1843. — A number of congressmen and county 
officers were to be elected this year. Mr. Stuart 
declining a re-nomination for Congress, John J. 
Hardin, who was afterwards killed at the battle 
of Buena Vista, Mexico, was nominated by the 
Whigs. He was opposed by James A. Mc- 
Dougal, on the part of the Democrats. Mr. 
Hardin was elected. Both parties placed full 
county tickets in the field, and a spirited canvass 
took place on the part of the friends of 
each. The Whig ticket was again successful, 
electing every officer by an average majority of 
600. 

1844. — A Presidential campaign is always 
more or less exciting, the desire for office being 
almost innate in the mind of every American 
citizen. Those in possession of the offices pro- 
pose to retain them if in their power, while those 
out of office will ever make a tight for their pos- 
session. James K. Polk received the Democratic 
nomination for tne Presidency, and Henry Clay 
that of the Whigs. It could not be expected 
the campaign would be as spirited as that of 
1840. While some large meetings were held, 
there were none to compare with those of the 
previous campaign. The total vote was not so 
great as in 1840, it being three thousand two 
hundred and eight against three thousand two 
hundred and forty-nine. Henry Clay carried the 
county by a majority of four hundred and sixty- 
six. E. D. Baker was the Whig nominee for 
Congress, and John Calhoun that of the Democ- 
racy. Both gentlemen were talented, fine speak- 
ers, and afforded much satisfaction to their 



hearers in listening to their flights of eloquence. 
The Democratic rallying cry in this campaign 
was "54:40, or fighf" The Democrats of Spring- 
field, early in the campaign, erected a hickory 
pole in front of the Register office, and the 
Democratic ladies of the city made and presented 
a magnificent flag to the Democratic Association, 
bearing upon its ample folds the names Polk 
AND Dallas upon one side, on the other their 
watchword, "Texas and Oregon." The Whigs, 
at a much greater expense, raised an ash pole 
two hundred and fourteen feet high, in front of 
the Journal office, and from its lofty top flung 
to the breeze a banner with the names of Clay 
AND Frelinghuysek. On the day first appointed 
for the raising the city was crowded with dele- 
gates from all parts of the State, expecting a 
grand occasion for congratulation; but early in 
the attempt to raise the pole, the stay ropes of 
a derrick broke, killing a Mr. Brodie instantly, 
and badly crippling William Conant. In a 
moment of excitement, without proper examina- 
tion, one of the speakers proclaimed to the crowd 
that the Democrats had cut the ropes and killed 
their friends. The evil one now seemed to pos- 
sess the people. Democrats and Whigs alike, and 
the immense crowd swayed to and fro wild with 
wrath, while curses loud and deep sounded the 
tocsin of alarm. The editors of the Journal soon 
issued an extra, explaining the cause of the 
ropes breaking, exonerating everybody. This 
allayed the excitement. New ropes were after- 
wards secured and the pole went grandly up. 

The following reminiscence of the tragic 
event enacted on the streets of Springfield, on 
the occasion of the first attempt at raising the 
ash-pole, written by an old settltr, was published 
in the State Journal in the summer of 1881: 

"In the year 1844, during the Presidential cam- 
paign, the most intense excitement existed be- 
tween the contending political factions in this 
State and city. Mass meetings were being held 
day and night in every precinct, and the orators 
of both parties, there being but two in the field — 
the Whig, headed by Clay and Frelinghuysen, 
and the Democrat, with Polk and Dallas as their 
candidates — vigorously advocating the claims of 
their respective party creeds and candidates. 
Each party vied with the other in creating the 
largest possible amount of enthusiasm, and often 
charges and counter- charges of foul play were 
indulged in. The Democrats had adopted the 
hickory as emblematic of their 

ELASTICITY AND TOUGHNESS, 

whilst the ash was the favorite of the Whigs, as 
typical of the home of 'Harry of the West,' as 



254 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the people fondly loved to call the Whig candi- 
date for the Presidency, whose home was called 
Ashland. Some time in the month of July, 1844, 
the Democrats erected in front of the office of 
the State Register, then published by Walters & 
Weber, on Adams street near Fifth, a shellbark 
hickory pole one hundred and fifty feet in height, 
with the bark remaining intact. The Democrats 
were jubilant, and tar barrels, boxes and other 
combustibles were consumed on the public 
square, amidst speeches and songs and music 
by ' Balling's Dutch Band.' Balling will be 
remembered as the eccentric organist at the 
First Presbyterian Church. 

"The Wiiigs, not to be outdone in the matter 
of flag-staffs, procured the necessary spars of 
ash, and a large force of carpenters was at once 
set to work, under the direction of Mr. Henry 
Dresser, the architect. The work occupied sev- 
eral days, and the timbers were prepared on 
Sixth street near Washington. 

"At that time the old State House grounds were 
unfenced, and were filled with stones, which 
were being dressed for the porticoes of the 
building. Farmers hitched their teams amongst 
the stones, and the old pump near the north 
front of the building was in constant demand. 
A farmer had purchased some Spanish flies of 
P. C. Cannedy, and carelessly placed the package 
on top of the pump, whilst he procured a drink 
of water. The package slipped down the pump! 
The farmer was frightened, and slipped out of 
town without informing any one of the circum- 
stance. Of course, 

THE WATER WAS POISONED, 

and the workmen on the new pole, who drank 
freely of the water, were seriously affected by 
the poison, although no lives were lost. The 
pump was promptly locked by Mike McNamara, 
the State House janitor, and further trouble 
averted. At once there was a cry from a few 
foolish fellows, ' The pump has been poisoned 
by the Democrats.' This incident occurred 
about two weeks before the contemplated erec- 
tion of the pole, and created the most intense 
excitement. Finally, the auspicious day arrived, 
August 3, 1844 — thirty-seven years ago to-day — 
when the Whig pole was to be erected. The 
Journal office was in an old frame building on 
the east side of Sixth street, where Eldredge & 
Conant's furniture store now stands, Simeon 
Francis was the editor and publisher. South of 
the Journal office was the marble yard of Cap- 
tain Adam Johnson. Opposite the Journal office, 
in the middle of the street, stood the market 



house and calaboose, or city prison. At a point 
south of the market house, and in the middle of 
the street, the foundation for the new pole had 
been prepared. This was 

A MASSIVE STRUCTURE 

of timbers and stone sunk twelve feet under 
ground The pole was an octagon, dressed, 
jury-mast rigged, and stood 216 feet above the 
ground. A working derrick stood near the foot 
of the staff, which lay in a direction pointing 
toward the old Court House. A derrick mast 
eighty feet high stood near the east sidewalk, 
and was to bear the strain of the immense flag- 
staff as it was being erected. Captain Fiancis 
F. Sampson, a retired sea-captain, and Mr. John 
Brodie, a Scotchman fifty years old, and a stone 
mason, whose yard and residence was at the 
southeast corner of Third and Adams streets, 
were selected to rig the ropes and tackle of the 
derricks. 

"A preliminary test of the strength of the guy 
ropes attached to the derrick mast was made 
early in the morning, and under the strain the 
east guy rope broke twice, but the breaks were 
spliced, and the derrick caused to lean slightly 
to the east, thus throwing the strain on the west 
rope. A hitch occurred in the block at the top 
of the derrick, and Mr. Brodie went aloft to 
adjust it. Mr. William S. Conant, eldest son of 
Mr. Sullivan Conant, then an active lad of 
eighteen, went up to assist Mr. Brodie, and to 
carry up a rope sling, which had fallen from 
aloft, striking Mr. Charles Fisher, hurting him 
slightly. An immense throng of people had 
gathered from the city and surrounding coun- 
try, and a company of Whig lads were just 
passing through Johnson's stone-yard from the 
Journal office, when a cry of horror went up 
from the crowd, ' the derrick is falling,' and 
the stentorian voice of ' Old Rube Red ford ' 
was heard: 'Jump for your lives.' The writer 
of this was with the procession of lads and wit- 
nessed with horror 

THE TRAGIC SCENE, 

which left a lasting impression upon his mind. 
Young Conant ran down the cleats a few feet, 
and then sprang into the air from a height fully 
sixty feet, in a northwesterly diiection, falling 
with a sickening thud near the west sidewalk. 
Poor Brodie appeared paralyzed, and clung to 
the derrick, which in its fall crushed him to the 
earth a shapeless corpse. Young Conant was 
tenderly borne to the house of his father, on 
South Fifth street, accompanied by hundreds of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



255 



sympathizing friends. Every physician in town 
was promptly on hand. Drs. Merriman, 
Cabanis, Todd, Helm, Wallace, Jayne, McNeil, 
Henry, Shields and Frazer were particularly 
prominent in the tender of their services. On 
examination it was found that the unfortunate 
youth had sustained the fracture of several ribs 
and a compound fracture of the right ankle, the 
bones piercing the flesh, and had actually been 
driven deep into the ground. Mr. Conant was 
confined to his bed for more than two months, 
but finally recovered with a lame ankle, which 
kept him on crutches for more than two years, 
and he is to this day lame in that foot, and at 
times suffers some pain. At one time it was 
thought necessary to amputate the foot, but by 
the skill of Drs. Merriman and Cabanis the 
member was saved. After the accident the cry 
went up that the Democrats had 

CUT THE GUT ROPES, 

but honest men scouted the idea as atrocions. 
Then it was said that Mr. Brodie had acciden- 
tally cut the rope with a hatchet, but he had 
neither hatchet or knife with him. The facts 
were that the dense throng had crowded on to the 
west guy rope and had drawn the derrick from a 
perpendicular, and the strain was two much for 
the east guy rope, which had been already 
twice broken, and it again parted, causing the 
derrick to fall. The clubs of both political 
parties passed resolutions of sympathy for the 
unfortunate young man, Mr. E. B. Herndon, 
President of the Young Men's Democratic Club, 
exerted himself to render the patient every 
assistance possible. Mr. Lincoln was almost 
constantly by the sick bed, whilst such men 
as Colonel E. D. Baker, John C. Calhoun, Caleb 
Birchall, Robert Irwin, James H. Matheny, B. 
S. Edwards, W. P. Grimsley and many other 
prominent citizens of both parties cheerfully 
attended to the wants of the sick man. As soon 
as he was able to leave the house, Mr. Lincoln 
took young Conant to a Whig demonstration in 
Jacksonville, making the journey by easy stages 
in a carriage. 

In 1849, Mr. Conant removed to Petersburg — 
entering into the furniture business. He still 
resides in that thriving suburban village, and 
devotes his time to his lovely Rose Hill Ceme- 
tery. 

THE BEAUTIFUL ASH-POLE 

was safely erected soon after the accident, and 
remained until after the election in November, 
when it was taken down, as fears of its safety 



from winter storms were entertained. A flag 
and a streamer 150 feet long floated from the 
staff. They were made by the ladies of the city 
and presented to the Whigs. The streamer, on 
which was inscribed the word 'Union,' was 
subsequently presented to Mr. Conant, and it is 
still in his possession, in a good state of preser- 
vation. An admirable campaign glee club, 
under the leadership of Mr. Robert Irwin, 
afforded the vocal music for the Whigs in that 
campaigh, whilst ' Jack ' Hough was the leader 
of a brass band, in opposition to ' Old Ball- 
ings.' 

1846.— T. M. Kilpatrick received the Whig 
nomination for Governor, and A. C. French was 
honored by the Democratic party for the same 
office. Before the people Mr. French was suc- 
cessful. Abraham Lincoln was placed in nomi- 
nation for Congress by the Whigs of the Sev- 
enth District, and Peter Cartwright was his 
Democratic opponent. The Free Soil party, 
which was trying to force itself into notice, 
honored E. Wolcott with their votes. Lincoln 
and Cartwright made a thorough canvass of the 
district, which resulted in the election of Mr. 
Lincoln. Sangamon county, as usual, gave its 
vote to the Whig party, th# entire county ticket 
being elected by an average majority of 500. 

1848. — The first measure before the people 
was a vote on the new Constitution, which had 
been prepared by a convention elected for that 
purpose the previous year. The vote in this 
county was, for the Constitution, 1,817; against, 
200. Zachary Taylor, the hero of Buena Vista, 
was placed in nomination for the Presidency, by 
the Whigs; Lewis Cass, the eminent Statesman 
of Michigan, by the Democrats; and Martin 
Van Buren, by the Free Soil party. For Con- 
gress, Stephen T. Logan, of Springfield, and 
Thomas L. Harris, of Petersburg, were the 
nominees of the Whig and Democratic parties, 
respectively. Mr. Harris, was elected, but Mr. 
Logan carried this county by a majority of 263 
votes. John T. Stuart was the Whig, and J. 
W. Barrett, the Democratic candidate for State 
Senator, Mr. Stuart received a majority of SS*/. 
But little interest was manifesced in the cam- 
paign, comparatively, except for Congress, and 
the vote was less than in 1844, being less than 
3,200. The Whig county ticket was again suc- 
cessful. 

1850. — T. L. Harris, of Petersburg, was nomi- 
nated by the Democrats for re-election to Con- 
gress, and was opposed by Richard Yates, the 
nominee of the Whigs. In this county but little 
interest was manifested, there being but a few 



256 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



county officers to be elected. Scarcely more 
than three-fourths of the votes -was polled, the 
Whigs being again triumphant, electing all their 
officers, and giving Yates 336 majority for Con- 
gress. 

1852. — The Whigs again placed in the field as 
their chief nominee for the Presidency, a military 
chieftain, one who in the War of 1812, and in the 
Mexican war, distinguished himself in a manner 
as to win the praise of the whole country — Gen- 
eral W^infield Scott. He was confronted by 
Franklin Pierce, who, though ranking as General, 
w^as not considered the military hero as was Gen- 
eral Scott. The Free Soil party, though having 
no hopes of electing their ticket, placed John P. 
Hale in the field as a candidate for the same 
office. For Governor, Joel A. Matteson was the 
Democratic candidate, and Edwin B. Webb the 
Whig, and Mr. Knowlton the Free Soil. The 
Whigs of the Nation, though having an excellent 
man as their standard-bearer, were discouraged, 
and in this campaign fought as though they had 
no hopes of success. In this county is found an 
exception to this fact. Here the canvass was 
quite spirited, each party placing their most 
popular men in the field for local offices. Rich- 
ard Yates was reno'tninated by his party for 
Congress, and was opposed by John Calhoun on 
the part of the Democrats. Mr. Yates was suc- 
cessful in the district, carrying Sangamon county 
by a majority of 780. The entire Whig county 
ticket was successful by increased majorities 
over 1850. 

1853. — There were neither State or National 
offices to be tilled this year, and but few county 
offices. The Democracy, for the first time in 
many years, succeeded in obtaining control of 
some of the county offices, electing their candi- 
date for County Judge by a majority of 143, and 
the Treasurer by 65 votes. Noah W. Matheny, 
the Whig candidate for County Clerk, had 614 
majority. The vote polled was very light, being 
only 2,244, against 3,723 in 1852. Notwith- 
standing the general unconcern of the peeple, 
there were evidences of the coming storm in the 
political world, and some uneasiness was shown 
by those having a true appreciation of the state 
of affairs. The secession leaven was already at 
work in the Southern States, and wise men were 
seeking to avert the calamity which was likely 
to overtake the Government. 

1854. — New questions now arose growing out 
of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and 
the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The 
Whig party, unable to recover from its defeat 
in 1852, had been slowly disintegrating and had 



almost ceased to exist. The Democratic party 
was divided on the new issues. For some years 
a new party had been struggling for an exist- 
ence, based on questions of nationality, and 
known as the American or Know-Nothing party. 
In the Southern States it had made corsiderable 
progress, absorbing the greater number of mem- 
bers of the Whig party. In the North it had 
also quite a large membership, and if the issues 
attending the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
had not been suddenly thrust upon the people, 
the new party would have become a very im- 
portant factor in the politics of the country, 
if it had not obtained control of the Govern- 
ment. Early in the year, Judge Douglas in- 
troduced a bill into Congress and supported it 
on the ground that it was simply an assertion of 
the great principle of the right of the people to 
govern themselves. This bill is known as the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill. In 1820, on the admis- 
sion of the State of Missouri into the Union, a 
bill was passed by Congress known as the 
Missouri Compromise, and which prohibited 
slavery in any Territory north of thirty-six 
degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude, per- 
mitting its existence south of that line. By the 
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, this com- 
promise measure would be repealed and the 
Territories north of the line mentioned would 
be thrown open to slavery. The question was 
thoroughly agitated in and out of Congress, 
those favoring the bill claiming it was an act of 
justice to the people, and would forever settle 
the question of slavery by relegating it to 
the people of the other Territories, who alone 
were directly interested in it. If they desired 
slavery, they could have it; if not, they could 
prohibit it by law. The opponents of this bill 
contended its provisions were alone favorable to 
friends of slavery, that as long as any part of 
the country had territorial existence, or under 
territorial government, it could not prohibit 
slavery; it was only on its admission as a State 
that it could say whether or not it would have 
slavery. 

The bill was passed, but the agitation did not 
cease, but rather increased. As representing the 
views of the opponents of the bill, the follow- 
ing preamble and resolvtions, passed at a meetj 
ing in Alton, are given; 

"Whereas, A great wrong has been done to 
the people of the free States of the Union, by 
the recent action of Congress in the passage of 
the Kansas-Nebraska bill, thereby repealing so 
much of the Missouri Compromise act of March 
3, 1820, as forever prohibits 'slavery and in- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



257 



voluntary servitude, otherwise than in the pun- 
ishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, in all that territory ceded 
to the United States by France, under the name 
of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six de- 
grees thirty minutes north latitude, not included 
in the limits of the State of Missouri;' and by 
such repeal opening all that vast region of coun- 
try, long consecrated to freedom, to the admission 
of human slavery, in disregard of a solemn 
compact entered into upwards of thirty-four 
years ago, between the free and slave-holding 
States, and during all that time quietly acqui- 
esced in and sacredly observed by the parties to 
the same; therefore, be it 

'■'•Resolved^ That negro slavery, as existing in 
any of the States of the Union, is not a domestic 
institution only, but is a political institution, in 
which, as sucli, the free and slaveholding States 
are alike interested; and this must ever be the 
case so long as the slaves are counted as they 
now are, in the apportionment of the representa- 
tives in Congress — the loss of power in the for- 
mer being in the same ratio with the gain to the 
latter. 

'■^Resolved, That the Kansas-Nebraska bill, 
now the organic law of these Territories, per- 
mits the introduction of slavery into them, but 
gives the people no power to exclude it during 
the existence of the territorial form of govern- 
ment, and instead of favoring popular sov- 
ereignty, virtually denies its exercise; and thus 
the rejection of the amendment offered in its 
passage, distinctly conferring the right on the 
people to admit or exclude slavery, abundantly 
proves, and the doctrine of non-intervention, so 
loudly proclaimed in its advocacy, has been 
studiously excluded, and this law is praised for 
what it does not contain. 

^'■Resolved, That fidelity to the cause of 
African slavery, at this time regarded in certain 
quarters as an indispensable test of Democracy, 
is not so held by us; that free America is un- 
worthily employed in forging shackles for the 
unoffending inmates of the house of bondage. 

^'■Resolved, That Stephen A. Douglas and 
James Shields, our Senators in Congress, have, 
by voting for the passage of the Kansas-Ne- 
braska bill, betrayed the trusts reposed in them, 
acted in total disregard of the interests of this 
State and of the whole Union, forfeited the 
confidence of the people, and deserve, as they 
doubtless will receive, the condemnation of all 
upright and fair-minded men. Their course on 
this subject has been taken on their own 
responsibility, and can receive no palliation 



from the sham indoi'sement of their pliant tools 
in our legislature. 

^'■Resolved, That in this matter we will know 
no party other than the one opposed to the great 
wrong which has been perpetrated upon us in 
the passage of this bill; and will vote at the en- 
suing election for no person to represent us in 
the General Assembly, who is not known to be 
opposed to this measure, and opposed to the ap- 
pointment to office of those who have voted in 
its favor. 

'■'■Resolved^ That we hail as the truest and most 
efficient effort to secure the privileges of 'life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' to the peo- 
ple of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, 
the movement to people those Territories with 
free men; and further, 

'•'■ Re&olved^ That we will co-operate with the 
friends of freedom at a distance, for the purpose 
of facilitating the transit of emigrants to those 
Territories." 

Although there was but a single State officer 
to be elected this year, the canvass was spirited 
in consequence of the excitement attending the 
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The 
Democratic State Convention endorsed the action 
of their representatives in the passage of this 
bill, and endorsed the measure as a righteous 
and just one. The opposition rallied under the 
banner of "Anti-Nebraska," the conventions be- 
ing usually called of those opposed to the bill, 
though sometimes they took the name of "Peo- 
ple's Conventions." 

On the adjournment of Congress, Judge Doug- 
las eame home and at once took the stump in 
advocacy of the measure. He was opposed by 
Abraham Lincoln, who even then was recognized 
as the leader of the opposition. Joint debates 
were held by these men in several places, and 
their power was generally conceded. A legisla- 
ture was to be elected that should choose a 
United States Senator in place of James Shields, 
whose term would expire March, 1855. The 
issues were sharply defined. The doctrine af- 
firmed in the Kansas-Nebraska bill was to be 
approved or condemned. The Whigs almost 
unanimously took ground against the bill and 
formed the nucleus of the new party, being re- 
inforced by many Anti-Slavery or Free-Soil 
Democrats. Still there was no real union formed. 
In places where the Whigs were in the majority, 
or formed a powerful minority, they nominated 
a Whig candidate for the legislature, who was 
generally supported by the Anti-Nebraska Demo- 
crats. Where the Free-Soil Democrats were 
numerous enough they nominated a candidate, 



258 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



who was acceptable to and received the general 
support of the Whigs. The result of the election 
was the success of the opposition to the regular 
Democracy. 

In this county, under name of the People's 
Party, the opposition united, defeating the reg- 
ular Democrats and electing their entire ticket. 

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan were 
elected members of the legislature. The Assem- 
bly was pretty evenly divided; a few Anti-Ne- 
braska Democrats holding the balance of power. 
Mr. Lincoln was a prominent candidate for the 
United States Senate. Believing his chance of 
election good, with the aid of the Anti-Nebraska 
Democrats, and thinking he could work to a 
better advantage among these if not himself a 
member of the Assembly, he refused to qualify, 
and a special election was called to fill the va- 
cancy. Norman M. Broadwell was nominated 
by the opposition to the regular Democracy, and 
they having a large majority in the county, it 
was intimated that no ticket would be run by 
the latter. The day of the election came round. 
In the meantime, the Democratic leaders con- 
ferred together, and agreed to place in nomina- 
tion Jonathan McDaniel, an estimable farmer, 
living in the northeast part of the county, and 
provided themselves with tickets, which they 
distributed quietly among the faithful, with in- 
structions to as quietly vote it. The Whigs, 
Americans and Anti-Nebraska Democrats knew 
nothing whatever of this matter until about 
three o'clock in the afternoon — too late to be of 
benefit to them. The Democrats polled almost 
their full vote, while that of the opposition was 
light, as they imagined they had a clear field. 
Mr. McDaniel was elected. 

This was a severe blow to the opposition en- 
dangering their ascendency in the coming legis- 
lature, and subjecting the local leaders to a deal 
of joke and ridicule, on the part of their Demo- 
cratic opponents, who had been so successful in 
the adoption of "know-nothing" tactics. Con- 
sidering the genial, amiable character of Mr. 
Lincoln, who was the chief sufferer by the "fu- 
sion" defeat, on the morning following the elec- 
tion, he met Mr. Lanphier, of the State Register, 
on the street, and with that peculiar wriggle 
of the body when he had a joke to recount, he 
called out: "Charlie, do you remember Monte- 
cue Morris?" "Ob, yes, very well," said Lan- 
phier. "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "Montecue 
was a private in Mr. Baker's regiment in the 
Mexican war. The regiment was lying on the 
Rio Grande, Governor Moore in command, Baker 
having gone to Washington to get the boys 



some new clothes. By some means a few of the 
boys had got possession of a barrel of cider, and 
setting it up in their tent, were selling it out at 
twenty cents a drink, and were doing a land of- 
fice business, when Morris applied to Governor 
Moore for permission to move his tent, which 
was granted, and the tent was backed up against 
the one which had been improvised as a ' gro- 
cery,' whereupon Mortis tapped the other end of 
the cider barrel, and peddled the liquor from 
his tent for ten cents a drink, and got away 
with a good deal of it before detected. That is 
the way you fellows served us yesterday. You 
beat our 'know-nothing' allies at their own 
game." Turning away, he remarked, with a 
wriggle: "It is very funny, is this election re- 
sult, but, Charlie, it hurts." 

1855. — The opposition this year gfnerally 
assumed the name Rejjublican, a name adopted 
in a few States the year previous. The first 
great fight of the year was in the General 
Assembly on the election of United States Sena- 
tor. James Shields was the candidate of the 
regular Democracy, Abraham Lincoln of the 
Whigs, and Lyman Trumbull of the Anti- 
Nebraska Democrats. While the Whigs were 
Anti-Nebraska in their views, Mr. Lincoln could 
not rally to his support the Anti-Nebraska Dem- 
ocrats. The two houses of the Assembly met in 
joint session Thursday, February 8, and pro- 
ceeded to ballot. The first ballot resulted as 
follows: James Shields, 41; Abraham Lincoln, 
44; Lyman Trumbull, 5; William Kellogg, 2; 
G. A. Koerner, 2; Cyrus Edwards, Joel A. Mat- 
teson, O. B. Ficklin, William H. Ogden and 
William A. Deming, one each. The second bal- 
lot resulted the same as the first. Nine ballots 
were taken without a choice, the Anti-Nebraska 
Democrats holding the balance of power and 
voting regularly for Lyman Trumbull. Mr. 
Lincoln, realizing the hoi^elessness of the con- 
test, urged his friends to vote for Trumbull. 
The tenth ballot w^as then taken, resulting in the 
election of Trumbull by the following vote: 
Lyman Trumbull, 50; Joel A. Matteson, 47; 
Archibald Williams, 1. The last vote was cast 
by Louis H. Waters, of McDonough county. 

The only election held this year was in May, 
for a Judge of tte Supreme Court. In this con- 
test politics were not taken into consideration. 
Stephen T. Logan and O. C. Skinner were the 
candidates. The vote in this county stood as 
follows: Skinner, 2,518; Logan, 1,420. At the 
same time an election was held on the question 
of a "Maine LaAv," resulting as follows: For 
the law, 1,745; against, 2,349. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



261 



During the year there was trouble in Kansas 
growing out of the slavery question, there being 
an immense emigration to the State from the 
North and from the South. Emigrants from the 
South were intent on fastening slavery upon the 
territory, which effort was furiously resisted by 
the free State men. Blood was spilt upon many 
occasions, and the excitement was kept at fever 
heat for many long months. Nor was the excite- 
ment contined to the territory, but the question 
was taken up and discussed in every State in the 
Union. By its opponents, the trouble was all 
charged to the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise and the passage of the now celebrated 
Kansas-Nebraska bill. The trouble did not cease 
with the expiration of the year. 

1856. — Former issues dividing the jDolitical 
parties had disappeared, and new issues Avere 
being rapidly formed. The Whig party had 
ceased to exist, and on its ruins had been erected 
two other parties, one having for its central 
truth opposition to the further extension of 
slavery, and the other that American-born citi- 
zens must rule America. These parties had, of 
course, absorbed many of the members of the 
old Democratic party. The American party, 
not being opposed to slavery, or, at least, mak- 
ing no opposition to it, either in the States in 
which it existed, or the newly formed Terri- 
tories, where it had been made subject to ad- 
mission by the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise, had become a numerous body in the South, 
with many adherents in the North. The Repub- 
lican party, basing its claims for popular suffrage 
upon its advocacy of freedom in the Territories, 
was not permitted an existence in the Southern 
States, and of necessity was confined to the 
North. 

Early in the year, the American party met 
in National Convention at Philadelphia, and 
placed in nomination for the Presidency and 
Vice Presidency, Millard Fillmore, of New 
York, and Audrew Jackson Donelson, of Ten- 
nessee. Subsequently, James Buchanan, of 
Pennsylvania, and John J. Breckenridge, of 
Kentucky, were placed in nomination by the 
Democracy for the same offices. The Republi- 
cans gave to the people John C. bremont, of 
California, and William L. Dayton, of New 
Jersey, as their candidates for the Presidency 
and Vice Presidency. The campaign through- 
out the State and Nation was an exciting one, 
the three parties being represented in all the 
Northern States by electoral tickets, and the Re- 
publican in two or three Southern, in addition to 
the Northern ones. In the State campaign Wil- 

30— 



liam H. Bissell was placed in nomination by 
the Republicans, William A.Richardson by the 
Democrats, and Buckner S.Morris by the Amer- 
icans, for the office of Governor. In Sangamon 
county, the Republicans and Americans united 
on county officers, electing all their nominees 
but one — the Circuit Clerk. 

The citizens of Sangamon county, being 
largely from the Southern States, did not spon- 
taneously enter into the Republican movement. 
Many old Whigs at once drifted into the Demo- 
ocratic party, making up the loss of its members 
who had, on account of the slavery question and 
the foreign element, united with the newly-or- 
ganized Republican and American parties. 

1857. — The year following a Presidential elec- 
tion is generally a dull one, politically; the peo- 
ple being disposed to give the new administra- 
tion fair play, and waiting to see its policy de- 
veloped. 

Only county officers were to be elected; con- 
sequently the campaign was more personal than 
political. It now seemed to be conceded the po- 
litical fight was hereafter to be between the Re- 
publicans and the Democrats. The nominee of 
the former party for the Presidency the previous 
year receiving a majority of the popular vote, 
though not elected, inspired the party to new 
zeal, and caused the latter to direct all its efforts 
against it. The American party, especially in 
the North, was daily losing ground; its mem- 
bers forsaking it for the Democratic or Repub- 
lican parties, as their views of public policy in- 
spired them. In Sangamon county, so far as 
political action could be said to enter into the 
campaign this year, was between the Republi- 
cans and Democrats; the latter electing their en- 
tire ticket, save County Clerk, the personal pop- 
ularity of Noah W. Matheny enabling him to 
be successful by a large majority. 

1858. — The attempt to fasten upon the people 
of Kansas, a Consitution known as the Lecomp- 
ton Constitution, by the Pro-Slavery men of that 
State, assisted by the Buchanan administration, 
caused a division in the ranks of the Demo- 
cratic party, throughout the Union. Especially 
was this great wrong resisted by the great 
majority of the party in this State, led by 
Stephen A. Douglas. The senatorial term of 
Mr. Douglas would expire March, 1859, and a 
legislature was to be elected who should choose 
his successor. Mr. Douglas was a candidate for 
re-election. By general consent, Abraham Lin- 
coln was chosen by the Republicans as his 
opponent. Sidney Breese was likewise an- 
nounced as a candidate by that portion of the 



262 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



JJeiiiocraLic party favorable to the administra- 
tion in its contest over the Leconipton Constitu- 
tion. 

On the 21st of April, pursuant to a call issued 
by Alexander Starne, of Springfield, Chairman 
of the Democratic State General Committee, 
representatives of the Democratic party met in 
convention at the State House in Springfield, 
for the purpose of nominating candidates for 
State officers, to be elected the following Novem- 
ber. The Buchanan wing of tlie party met in 
the Senate chamber and was called to order by 
John Dougherty, of Union county, who read the 
call of the General Committee. Dr. Le Roy, of 
Grundy, was made Chairman. Returning thanks 
for the honor conferred, the Doctor then said: 

" The enthusiasm you manifest is satisfactory 
evidence that the National Democratic party 
' still lives' in Illinois, and although a few may 
falter, still the hard-fisted Democracy are sound 
to the core; and in November next they will 
speak in thunder tones to the factionists and 
disorganizers, who would ruthlessly divide and 
defeat us, to please man worshipers at home or 
abroad. As to him who has heretofore led us 
to victory, but for ambitious aims, now sides 
with the enemy, all we have to say for him is — 

" ' Slowly and sadly we lay him down. 
From the field of his fame fresh and gory, 

We carve not a line, we raise not a stone. 
But leave him alone in his glory. ' " 

Colonel Dougherty being called upon for a 
speech said that for the first time in many years 
the party was called upon to face division in its 
own ranks, but they must not swerve from their 
principles even if opposed by those who should 
be their proudest defenders. The principles of 
the Democratic party were the same as for thirty 
years, and one of the cardinal of these was the 
rights of each and any State or any Territory 
to mould the institution under which they are 
to live. He ridiculed the idea that the Lecomp- 
ton Constitution was the result of fraud and 
charged the Douglas Democrats with having 
asserted there was no foundation for any such 
claims. 

The committee on resolutions I'eported a plat- 
form embracing substantially the following 
points: 1. Adherence to the Cincinnati plat- 
form and the principles enunciated therein. 2. 
The Territories being common property, every 
citizen of the Union had a right to dwell therein, 
and have with him any property he may possess, 
including slaves. 3. A Territory applying for 
admission to tlie Union, having the requisite 
number of inhabitants, and having adopted a I 



Constitution, Republican in form, should be ad- 
mitted, with or without slavery, as the people of 
the Territory may determine. 4. Endorsement 
of a portion of a speech of Senator Douglas, de 
daring that if any citizens of Kansas should re- 
frain from voting for Constitutional delegates, 
and a Constitution should be adopted repugnant 
to their feelings, they alone should be to blame. 
5. Resolution condemning the course of Senator 
Douglas in opposing the National Administration 
and apparently affiliating with the Republican 
party. 6. Laudatory of President Buchanan in 
his course with reference to Kansas affairs. 7. 
Greeting to Democratic Conventions in other 
States. 8. Thanking that portion of the Press 
of the State that had sustained the President's 
course. 

No nominations were made, and the convention 
adjourned to meet June 8. 

The Douglas wing of the party met in the 
Representatives Hall of the State House, and 
was called to order by A. Starne, Chairman of 
the General State Committee. This convention 
was more numerously attended, having delegates 
from every county in the State. John Moore 
was made Chairman. The committee on resolu- 
tions subsequently appointed, made the follow- 
ing report, which was unanimously adopted: 

^'■Resolved, That the Democratic party of the 
State of Illinois, through their delegates in gen- 
eral convention assembled, do re-assert and de- 
clare the principles avowed by them when, on 
former occasions they have presented their can- 
didates for popular suffrage. 

'■'•Resolved, That they are unalterably attached 
to, and will maintain inviolate, the principles 
maintained by the National Convention at Cin- 
cinnati, in June, 1856. 

'■'•liesolved, That the platform of principles 
established by the National Democratic Conven- 
tion, at Cincinnati, is the only authoritative ex- 
position of Democratic doctrines, and we deny 
the right of any power on earth, except a like 
body, to change or interpolate that platform, or 
to prescribe new and different tests, that they 
will neither do it themselves or permit it to be 
done by others; but will recognize all men as 
Democrats who stand by and uphold Democratic 
principles. 

" Resolved, That in the organization of States 
the people have a right to decide at the polls 
upon the character of their fundamental law, 
and that the experience of the past year has 
conclusively demonstrated the wisdom and pro- 
priety of the principle that the fundamental law 
under which a Territory seeks admission into 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



20:3 



the Union should be submitted to the people of 
such Territory for their ratification or rejection 
at a fair election, to be held for that purpose, 
and that before such Territory is admitted as a 
State such fundamental laws siiould receive a 
majority of the legal votes cast at such election; 
and they deny the right and condemn the 
attempts of any convention called for the pur- 
pose of framing such a constitution to impose 
the instrument formed by them upon the people 
against their known will. 

" Mesolved, That a fair application of those 
principles requires that the Lecompton Consti- 
tution should be submitted to a direct vote of 
the actual inhabitants of Kansas, so that they 
may vote for or against that instrument, before 
Kansas shall be declared one of the States of 
the Union, and that until it shall be ratified by 
the people of Kansas at a fair election, held for 
that purpose, the Illinois Democracy are un- 
alterably opposed to the admission of Kansas 
under that constitution. 

" Mesolved, That we heartily approve and sus- 
tain the manly, firm, patriotic and Democratic 
position of Stephen A. Douglas, Isaac N. Mor- 
ris, Thomas L. Harris, Aaron Shaw^, Robert 
Smith and Samuel S. Marshall, the Democratic 
delegation of Illinois in Congress, upon the 
question of the admission of Kansas under the 
Lecompton Constitution, and that by their firm 
and uncompromising devotion to Democratic 
principles, and to the cause of justice, truth, 
right and the people, they have deserved our 
admiration and increased, if possible, our confi- 
dence in their integrity and patriotism, and 
merited our warm approbation, our sincere and 
hearty thanks, and shall receive our earnest 
support. 

" Mesolved, That in all things, whenever the 
National administration sustain and carry out 
the priHciples of the Democratic party, as ex- 
pressed in the Cincinnati platform and affirmed 
in their resolutions, it is entitled to and will 
receive our hearty support." 

The administration, even at this early date, 
had began a system of removals from office of 
all opposed to its policy. In view of this fact. 
Judge Drummond, of Chicago, introduced the 
following resolution: 

'•'■Mesolved, That this convention view with re- 
gret the course pursued by the present Admin- 
istration in removing good men from office for 
the expression of opinion upon any given propo- 
sition." 

The resolution was promptly tabled, thus 
showing the conservative character of those as- 



sembled, and their desire to preserve harmony as 
far as possible. 

W. B. Fondey, of Sangamon county, was 
nominated for State Treasurer, and J. P. Jirooks, 
of Knox county, for Superintendent of Public 
Schools. 

The Administration Democrats again met in 
convention pursuant to adjournment, June 9, 
and re-affirming their former declarations they 
nominated John Dougherty, of Union county, 
for State Treasurer, and John Reynolds, of St. 
Clair, for Superintendent of Public Schools. 

The Republican State Convention met in 
Springfield June 16, and was largely repre- 
sented. The following is the report of the 
Committee on Resolutions, and submitted as 
their "declaration of principles:" 

"We, the Republicans of Illinois, in conven- 
tion assembled, in addition to our previous af- 
firmations, make the following declaration of 
principles: 

" 1. We re-affirm our devotion to the Consti- 
tution of the country and to the Union of the 
States, and will firmly and steadily resist all at- 
tempts for the perversion of the one, or the dis- 
ruption of the other. We recognize the equal 
rights of all the States, and avow our readiness 
and willingness to maintain them, and disclaim 
all intention of attempting, either directly or 
indirectly, to assail or abridge the rights of any 
of the members of the Confederacy, guaranteed 
by the Constitution, or in any manner to inter- 
fere with the institution of slavery in any State 
where it exists. Nevertheless, we hold this 
Government was instituted for freemen, and 
that it can be perpetuated and made to fulfill 
the purposes of its organization only by devot- 
ing itself to the promotion of virtue and intel- 
ligence among its citizens, and the advancement 
of their prosperity and happiness, and to these 
ends we hold it to be the duty of the Govern- 
ment so to reform the system of disposing of 
the public lands as to secure the soil to actual 
settlers, and wrest it from the grasp of men 
who speculate in the homes of the people, and 
to corporations that lock it up in dead hands for 
enhanced profits. 

"2. Free labor being the only true support 
of Republican institutions, our Government 
should maintain its rights, and we therefore 
demand the improvement of our harbors and 
rivers, which freight the commerce of the West 
to market, and the construction of a central 
highway to connect our trade wnth the Pacific 
States as rightful encouragement to home indus- 
try; and inasmuch as we now compete in the 



264 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



markets of the country against the products of 
unpaid labor at depreciating prices, it is there- 
fore eminently unjust that the National Admin- 
istration should attemi:)t, by coercion, to extend 
a servile system in the Territories, or by patron- 
age, to perpetuate slavery in the States. 

" 3. The present administration has proven 
recreant to the trusts committed to its hands, 
and by its extraordinary, corrupt, unjust and un- 
dignified exertions, to give effect to the original 
intention and purposes of the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill, by forcing upon the people of Kansas, 
against their will, and in defiance of their known 
and earnestly expressed wishes, a constitution 
recognizing slavery as one of their domestic in- 
stitutions, it has forfeited all claim to the sup- 
port and confidence of the friends of free men, 
free labor, and equal rights. 

" 4. It is the duty of the Government, faith- 
fully and diligently to execute all cur treaty 
stipulations, and to enforce all our laws for the 
suppression of the slave trade. 

"5. That while we deprecate all interference 
on the part of political organizations with the 
action of the judiciary, if such action is limited 
to appropriate sphere, yet we cannot refrain 
from expressing our condemnation of the prin- 
ciples and tendencies of the extra-judicial opin- 
ions of a majority of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, in the matter of 
Dred Scott, wherein the political heresy is put 
forth, that the Federal Constitution extends 
slavery into all the Territories of the Republic, 
and so maintains it, that neither Congress, nor 
the people, through their Territorial legislatures, 
can by law abolish it; we hold that Congress has 
sovereign power over the Territories, and has 
the right to govern and control them whilst they 
remain in a territorial condition, and that it is 
the duty of the General Government to protect 
the Territories from the curse of slavery, and to 
preserve the public domain for the occupation of 
free men and free labor, and we declare that no 
power on earth can carry and maintain slavery 
in the States against the will of their people and 
the provisions of their constitutions and laws; 
land we fully indorse the decision of the Supreme 
"^ourt of our own State, which declares that 
property in persons is repugnant to the consti- 
ition and laws of Illinois, and that all persons 
\ithin its jurisdiction are presumed to be free, 

\d that slavery, where it exists, is a municipal 

mlation, without any extra territorial opera- 

\6. The policy of this Government should 
live on tei'ms of peace and amity with all 



the nations of the earth, so far as it can be done 
consistently with our National honor and in- 
terests; and to enter into entangling alliances 
with none. Our intercourse with all other na- 
tions should be conducted upon principles of 
exact and exalted justice, and, whilst firmly 
maintaining our own rights, w^e should carefully 
avoid any invasion of the rights of others, and 
especially those of weaker nations: Our com- 
merce ought to be protected from wanton inter- 
ruption, and our commercial marine from inva- 
sion and search; and, whilst we would deplore 
the necessity of war with any of the nations of 
the earth, we will still firmly, zealously, and pat- 
riotically sustain the Government in any just 
measures which it may adopt to obtain redress 
for injuries and indignities which may hereto- 
fore have been inflicted upon our citizens navi- 
gating the seas, or which may be necessary to 
secure them against a repetition of like injuries 
in the future." 

James Miller was nominated for State Treas- 
urer, by acclamation, and Newton Bateman for 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
After the nomination of the candidates and the 
adoption of their declaration of principles, the 
Convention passed the following resolution, 
amidst shouts of applause: 

^^ Jiesolved, That Abraham Lincoln is the first 
and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois, 
for the United States Senate, as the successor to 
Stephen A. Douglas." 

In the evening, Mr. Lincoln was called upon to 
address the Convention, which he did in his own 
peculiar, happy style. In that speech he re-af- 
firmed the doctrine that "a house divided against 
itself cannot stand," applying it to the divided 
state of the country upon the slavery question. 
In thus giving expression to this thought, many 
Republicans thought Mr. Lincoln had injured 
his own cause and that of the party. 

On the 24th day of July, Mr. Lincoln ad- 
dressed a challenge to Mr. Douglas for a joint 
debate during the campaign. In consequence 
of previous appointments, Mr. Douglas declined 
meeting him on all occasions during the cam- 
paign, but suggested one meeting in each Con- 
gressional District. The arrangement was made, 
and seven joint discussions were held. No 
political debate, before or since, ever created 
such an interest, and it is doubtful if they have 
ever been equaled. They were printed and cir- 
culated as campaign documents in several States, 
and were ever quoted as authoritative exposition 
of the political questions of the day, from the 
standpoints of the respective speakers and the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



205 



party represented by each. The interest mani- 
fested in this campaign by the people of Illinois 
was equal to that of a Presidential campaign; 
nor was the interest alone confined to the State, 
but all over the Union, men were observing the 
contest with an eagerness never before mani- 
fested in a State election. It was the prelimi- 
nary skirmish preceding the great battle for the 
Presidency in 1860. To the people of Sanga- 
mon county, this campaign was of special in- 
terest. One of the senatorial candidates was a 
citizen of this county, and had developed from 
the backwoods surveyor to the statesman with a 
National reputation, an orator of great ability, 
and one who was rapidly taking a position 
among the leading men of the Nation; the other 
had been a citizen for several years; was then a 
leader of a great party, with a personal follow- 
ing equaled by no American statesman save 
Henry Clay; a prominent candidate for the 
Presidency, and who was known as the "Little 
Giant." Lincoln, in Sangamon county, was 
doubtless the favorite, as he was daily brought 
face to face with the people, and with his great 
heart succeeded in winning their love. 

On Saturday, prior to the annual election, the 
Republicans had announced a last grand rally at 
Springfield, to be addressed by Lincoln and 
others. The weather during the week was 
unpropitious, the rain having fallen almost inces- 
santly, but still the crowd came, one train of 
thirty-two cars coming from McLean and Taze- 
well counties. 

Speaking in reference to this debate, in an 
address before the State Bar Association, Jan- 
uary 7, 1881, Isaac N. Arnold says: 

"The two most prominent men in Illinois, at 
that time, were Douglas and Lincoln. Each was 
in the full maturity of his powers, Douglas being 
forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years old. 
Douglas had for years been trained on the stump, 
in the lower house of Congress, and in the Sen- 
ate, to meet in debate the ablest speakers in the 
State and Nation. For years he had been accus- 
tomed, on the floor of the capitol, to encounter 
the leaders of the old Whig and Free-Soil par- 
ties. Among them were Seward, and Fessenden, 
and Crittenden, and Chase, and Trumbull, and 
Hale, and Sumner, and others, equally eminent, 
and his enthusiastic friends insisted that never, 
either in single conflict or when receiving the 
assault of a whole party, had he been dis- 
comfited. His style was bold, vigorous and 
aggressive, and at times defiant. He was ready, 
fertile in resources, familiar with political his- 
tory, terrible in denunciation, and handled with 



skill all the weapons of debate. His iron will, 
restless energy, united with great personal mag- 
netism, made him very popular; and with these 
qualities he had indomitable physical and moral 
courage, and his almost uniform success had 
given him perfect confidence in himself. 

" Lincoln was also a thoroughly trained 
speaker. He had contended successfully, year 
after year, at the bar and on the stump, with the 
ablest men of Illinois, including Lamborn, Logan, 
John Calhoun and others, and had often met 
Douglas himself — a conflict with whom he 
always rather courted than shunned. Indeed, 
these two great orators had often tested each 
other's power, and whenever they did meet, it 
was, indeed, 'Greek meeting Greek,' and the 
' tug of war' came, for each put forth his utmost 
strength. 

"In a speech of Mr. Lincoln in 1856, he made 
the following beautiful, eloquent, and generous 
allusion to Douglas. He said: 'Twenty years 
ago. Judge Douglas and I first became ac- 
quainted; we were both young then, he, a trifle 
younger than I. Even then, we were both am- 
bitious, I, perhaps, quite as much as he. With 
me, the race of ambition has been a failure. 
With him, it has been a splendid success. His 
name fills the Nation, and it is not unknown in 
foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the 
high eminence he has reached; so reached that 
the oppressed of my species might have shared 
with me in the elevation, I would rather stand 
on that eminence than wear the richest crown 
that ever pressed a monarch's brow.' 

"We know, and the world knows, that Lin- 
coln did reach that high, nay far higher emi- 
nence, and that he did reach it, in such a way 
that 'the oppressed' did share with him in the 
elevation. 

"Such were the champions who, in 1858, were 
to discuss before the voters of Illinois, and with 
the whole Nation as spectators, the political 
questions then pending, and especially the 
vital questions relating to slavery. It was not 
a single combat, but extended through a whole 
carajDaign, and the American people paused to 
watch Its progress, and hung, with intense in- 
terest, upon every movement of the champions. 
Each of these great men, I doubt not, at that 
time, sincerely believed he was right. Douglas' 
ardor, while in such a conflict, would make him 
think, for the time being, he was right, and I 
hnoro that Lincoln argued for freedom against 
the extension of slavery, with the most profound 
conviction that, on success, hung the fate of his 
country. Lincoln had two advantages over 



266 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Douglas; lie had the best side of the question, 
and the best temi^er. He was always good hu- 
mored, always had an apt story for illustration, 
while Douglas, sometimes, when hard pressed, 
was irritable. 

"Douglas carried away the most popular ajt- 
plause, but Lincoln made the deeper and more 
lasting impression. Douglas did not disdain an 
immediate ad caijtandimi triumph, while Lin- 
coln aimed at permanent conviction. Sometimes, 
when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a 
storm of applause, which he could always do, 
by his happy illustrations and amusing stories, 
he refused, saying the occasion was too serious, 
the issue too grave. ' I do not seek applause,' 
said he, ' nor to amuse the people, I want to 
convince them.' 

"It was often observed during this canvass, 
that, while Douglas was sometimes greeted with 
the loudest cheers, when Lincoln closed the peo- 
ple seemed solemn and serious, and could be 
heard, all through the crowd, gravely and anx- 
iously discussing the topics on which he had 
been speaking. 

"Douglas, by means of a favorable appor- 
tionment, succeeded in securing a majority of 
the legislature, but a majority of the vote was 
with Lincoln. These debates made Douglas 
Senator, and Lincoln President. There was 
something magnetic, somethicg almost heroic, 
in the gaHantry with which Douglas threw him- 
self into this canvass, and dealt his blows right 
and left, against the Republican party on one 
side, and Buchanan's administration, which 
sought his defeat, on the other. The Federal 
patronage was used, by the unscrupulous Slidell, 
against Douglas — but in vain; a few were 
seduced, but the mass of the Democratic party, 
with honorable fidelity, stood by him. This can- 
vass of Douglas, and his j^ersonal and immediate 
triumph, in being returned to the Senate, over 
the combined opposition of the Republican 
party, led by Lincoln and Trumbull, and the 
administration, with all its patronage, is, I 
think, the most brilliant personal triumph in 
American politics. If we look into English 
struggles on the hustings for its parallel, we find 
something with which to compare it, in the late 
ti-iumph of Mr Gladstone. If we seek its coun- 
terpart in military history, we must look into 
some of the earlier campaigns of Napoleon, or 
that in which Grant captured Vicksburg. 

"Douglas secured the immediate object of the 
struggle, but the manly bearing, the vigorous 
logic, the honesty and sincerity, the great in- 
tellectual powers exhibited by Mr. Lincoln, pre- 



pared the way, and two years later secured his 
nomination and election to the Presidency. It 
is a touching incident, illustrating the patriotism 
of both these statesmen, that, widely as they 
had difllered, and keen as had been their rivalry, 
just as soon as the life of the Republic M'as men- 
aced by treason, they joined hands to shield and 
save the country they loved." 

1859. — A member of Congress and county 
oflicers were to be elected this year. While no 
such interest was raanilested as in the year pre- 
vious, still it could not be said the campaign 
was a listless one. The trouble growing out of 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the 
consequent re-opening of the slavery question, 
was still the theme upon the lips of everyone. 
The Southern States, becoming alarmed at the 
rapid growth of the Republican party, were 
already threatening secession in case of the suc- 
cess of that party in a National contest. The 
breach between Douglas and his followers and 
the Southern Democracy was widening daily, 
though inany in each wing of the party hoped 
against hope that all difi^erences would be settled 
prior to the great campaign of 1 860. The 
American party was being slowly dissolved, and 
a new party was being formed, composed of 
many of its members, and known as the Union 
party. Like the American party, its greatest 
strength was in the South. 

John A. McClernand was the Democratic 
nominee for Congress in this District, and John 
M. Palmer the Republican. Both were strong 
men. McClernand was the successful candidate. 
In this county his majority was 401 out of a 
total vote of 5,283. For county oflicers only 
Republicans and Douglas Democrats were nom- 
inated, the latter being successful in every in- 
stance. 

1860. — The political campaign of 1860 has 
never had its parallel in the history of this Gov- 
ernment. There seemed to be no cessation in 
the political excitement began in 1858, culmin- 
ating in the election of Stephen A. Douglas to 
the United States Senate, and which placed 
Abraham Lincoln in the front rank as a political 
speaker and debater, worthy the attention of the 
greatest statesmen in the land. Defeated for 
the Senate, Mr. Lincoln's name was prominently 
mentioned in connection with the Presidency. 
In 1859 the newspapers of the Eastern States, 
especially in New England, favorably spoke of 
him as a candidate for either the first or second 
place on the ticket. Prior to this, several 
Western journals had placed his name at the 
head of their columns, and "Honest Old Abe" 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



267 



was praised and said to be the only man tliat 
would surely lead the party to victory. Early 
in January the Republican Club, of Springfield, 
was changed into a " Lincoln Club," and re- 
solved to use every honorable means to secure 
his nomination for the Presidency. The State 
Journal, under date of January IS, 1860, says of 
Mr. Lincoln's candidacy: 

" As a matter of National policy, we believe 
that the next President of the United States 
should come from the Western States, and no 
State is more deserving of the honor of sending 
forth the Republican champion for that high 
office than that one which has been the great 
political battle-ground of the country for the last 
four years. * * * * Abraham Lincoln 
has arrived at that period of life when man's 
mental and physical faculties are in their prime. 
God gave him a mind of unusual strength, and 
time and labor and study have made him one of 
the great men of the land. The purity of his 
patriotism, his incorruptible integrity, and his 
ability to sustain himself and the country in any 
position in which he is placed, no one who 
knows him can for a moment doubt. The peo- 
ple of Illinois are justified in their determina- 
tion to place the name of their distinguished 
citizen before the country for the highest honors 
in the Nation's gift. They do it because they 
know him; because they have confidence in him 
as a man for the times; because with him in the 
Presidential chair the rights of the people of all 
the States will be secured, respected and main- 
tained; because he interprets the constitution 
as did our fathers, who made it and illustrated 
it in their acts; because he is a conservative 
National Republican. The Great West will 
give a telling vote at the next Presidential elec- 
tion, and the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln 
will secure that vote for the Republicans beyond 
controversy. With him as our standard bearer, 
we are sure of all the Northwestern States, ex- 
cept Missouri, and the Republicans of other 
States could not cast their votes for a M^orthier, 
or abler, or more available man. The enthusi- 
asm which his name excites all over the country, 
since his powerful and most eloquent vindica- 
tion of the great Republican cause in this State, 
shows that he has become the Nation's man and 
a tower of strength to the party whose leader he 
is now regarded. The Republicans of Illinois 
will sustain and support with their full strength 
the Presidential nominee of the Chicago Con- 
vention, whoever he may be; but they respect- 
fully, yet earnestly, call upon the Republicans 
of the Union to weigh the claims, estimate the 



qualifications and availability, and consider the 
fitness and propriety of giving the nomination 
to Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois." 

As the time drew near for the meeting of the 
Republican National Convention at Chicago, 
Mr. Lincoln's popularity increased. The friends 
of every Presidential candidate desired he should 
have the second place on the ticket with their 
favorite, and he was acknowledged second choice 
of all for the first place. The State Republican 
Convention, held at Decatur in May, passed the 
following resolution: 

'■'■ Mesolved, That Abraham Lincoln is the choice 
of the Republican party of Illinois for the Presi- 
dency, and the delegates from this State are in- 
structed to use all honorable means to securte his 
nomination by the Chicago Convention, and to 
vote for him as a unit." 

An incident occurred at this convention worthy 
of mention. Mr. Lincoln was invited to take a 
seat upon the platform. He had hardly done so, 
amid the wildest enthusiasm, when Mr. Oglesby, 
of Decatur, announced to the delegates that an 
old Democrat of Macon county, who had grown 
gray in the service of that party, desired to make 
a contribution to the convention, and the offer 
being accepted, forthwith two old-time fence 
rails, decorated with fiags and streamers, were 
borne through the crowd into the convention, 
bearing the inscription: 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

The Rail Candidate 
For President in 1860. 
Two rails from a lot of three thousand 
made in 1830 by Thomas Hauks and Abra- 
ham Lincoln — whose father was the first 
pioneer of Macon county. 



The effect was electrical. One spontaneous 
burst of applause went up from all parts ot the 
"wigwam," which grew more and more deafen- 
ing as it was prolonged, and which did not 
wholly subside for some minutes. Of course 
''Old Abe" was called out, and made an explana- 
tion of the matter. He stated that some thirty 
years previous, he stopped with his mother's 
family for one season in what is now Macon 
county; that he built a cabin, split rails and cul- 
tivated a small farm do^vn there. These rails, 
he was informed, Avere taken from the fence 
around that farm, but whether they were or not, 
he had mauled many and better ones since he 
had grown to manhood. The cheers were re- 
newed when he had finished his remarks, and 



268 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



doubtless many persons present constrasted the 
present position of the noble, self-taught, self- 
made statesman and patriot, whose name was 
mentioned in connection with the highest office 
in the gift of the people, with that of the hum- 
ble rail-splitter of thirty years previous. 

In the Chicago Convention it was plain to see 
who was the favorite of the lookers-on. Every 
mention of Lincoln's name was received with 
cheer after cheer. Three ballots were taken, 
Mr. Lincoln receiving a majority of the whole 
votes, and was made the unanimous choice of 
the convention amidst the most intense enthusi- 
asm. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was selected 
as the candidate for Vice President. 

As may well be supposed the result of the 
nomination was hailed with delight by the nom- 
inee's old friends and neighbors. They crowded 
around him, shook him warmly by the hand, and 
congratulated him on his success. Cannons were 
fired, speeches made, and a general time of 
rejoicing was indulged in. 

While the Republicans of Illinois were so 
active in behalf of their favorite, " Honest Old 
Abe," the friends of the "Little Giant" were 
not idle. Every effort was being put forth to 
secure his nomination at Charleston for the office 
of President of the United States. The Demo- 
cratic State Convention of this State instructed 
its delegates to vote unanimously and make 
every honorable effort to secure his nomination. 
The Charleston Convention was an unfortunate 
one. Meeting in the city of Charleston, South 
Carolina, April 23, the convention remained in 
session ten days, at the expiration of which time 
no nomination was made, many of the delegates 
from the Southern States withdrawing. The 
rule of the National Democratic Convention 
required a two-thirds vote of the entire body 
for any candidate to secure his nomination. So 
many delegates withdrawing, after taking fifty- 
seven ballots, it was found impossible for any 
candidate to secure that number. An adjourn- 
ment was then had to Baltimore, June 19. 

At this latter place the convention assembled 
pursuant to adjournment, but even here no agree- 
ment could be reached between the factions. 
After a six days' meeting Stephen A. Douglas 
was nominated for President and Benjamin 
Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, for Vice President, 
The nomination of Douglas was received with 
very great enthusiasm, Mr. Fitzpatrick declin- 
ing, Herschel V, Johnson, of Georgia, was sub- 
stituted. Mr. Johnson accepted the nomination, 

A portion of the Convention seceded, and 
holding another Convention June 23, nominated 



John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for Presi- 
dent, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for Vice 
President, 

A "Union" convention met at which John 
Bell, of Tennessee, was nominated for President, 
and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for Vice- 
President. 

With four Presidential candidates in the field, 
the exciting questions growing out of the insti- 
tution of slavery, the threats of disunion by a 
portion of the South, in the event of the election 
of Lincoln, tended to make the campaign one of 
great interest, "Wide- Awake" clubs, and or- 
ganizations of " Hickory Boys," on the part of 
the Republicans and Douglas Democrats, re- 
spectively, tended to increase the excitement. 
Large and enthusiastic meetings were held by 
each party in all the leading towns and cities, 
and even in many of the smaller villages. The 
names of the " Rail-Splitter " and the " Little 
Giant" evoked the greatest enthusiasm. The 
excitement was scarcely equaled in 1840, 

As already intimated, Sangamon county had 
special claims upon the two leading candidates 
for the Presidency, and thus felt highly honored. 
Hardly a day passed but meetings were held by 
one or the other party, and frequently by both. 
The vote in the county was the largest ever cast, 
and was very close, Douglas' majority was 42 
over Lincoln; Yates, for Governor, had 8 ma- 
jority over Allen, a number of Bell, or Union 
men casting their votes for him. For county 
ofiicers, the Republicans were generally success- 
ful, receiving the votes of the Union men. 

The result of the general election was the ele- 
vation of Lincoln to the Chief Magistracy of 
the Nation. The Republicans were jubilant, 
especially in old Sangamon, the home of Lin- 
coln, A grand jubilee meeting was held in 
Springfield in a style never before equaled. The 
reporter of the State Journal became entranced, 
as will be seen by the following description of 
the illumination, from his pen: 

" Never did the city of Pekiu, iu all the glory and 
' feast of lanterns,' as it is quaintly called by the 
Chinese, present such a striking and gorgeous display 
as did the city of Springfield last night. Standing at 
the head of a person was forcibly reminded of the 
metaphor of a sea of fire rising and falling, variegated 
as the rainbow, anon a huge wave of blood red fire, 
now a ripple of faint blue and yellow, and then again 
the steady swell of strong, white light. The many 
colors gave a fantastic and unreal hue to the surround- 
ing and enthusiastic crowd. The splendor and effect 
of the grandly brilliant scene is beyond the reach of 
the pen. The State House, rising in all the effulgence 
of its illuminated splendor, seemed like some vision 
evoked from fairy-land by the wand of the enchanter. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



269 



Never before has Springfield been decked in such mag- 
nificent hues. Not only did the streets present a 
most dazzling eflect, but the whole Heavens seemed 
ablaze with the continual discharge of rockets, Roman 
candles, aud the slow combustion of Bengal lights. 
The streets were as bright and light as under the full 
rays of the noon-day sun. The illumination of last 
night will never be forgotten in the annals of Spring- 
field, and will in future time be referred to as one of 
the most brilliant events in its history," 

1861. — The war for the Union was now in full 
progress, and little interest was manifested in 
ordinary political matters; only questions grow- 
ing out of the secession of the Southern States 
was worthy of attention. No State officers 
were to be elected, and the contest for county 
officers was not of a nature to draw out a full 
vote. The opposition to the Democracy took 
the hame of " Union." Only 4,353 votes were 
polled, against 7,361 in 1860. The Democrats 
elected William D. Power, County Judge, and 
William W. Warren, Surveyor. The Union 
men elected Noah W. Matheny, County Clerk, 
and Presco Wright, Treasurer. 

1862. — The election this year was a more im- 
portant one, and almost a full vote was polled. 
State and county officers were to be elected. 
Alexander Starne was the Democratic candidate 
for State Treasurer, against William Butler, 
Union; John T. Stuart, one of the most popular 
men in Sangamon county, announced himself an 
independant candidate for Congress having for an 
opponent, Leonard Swett. Full county tickets 
were nominated by both parties. During this 
year the Union army met with many reverses, 
and a somewhat gloomy feeling pervaded the 
minds of the people. When the election came 
off each party stood by its candidates, for the 
campaign had aroused party feeling intensely. 
The Demcrats succeeded in carrj-ing the county, 
by majorities ranging from 816 to 1,262. 

1863. — This was an "off year," in politics, 
and only county officers were to be elected. The 
Union ticket was successful throughout, elect- 
ing the candidates on it by majorities ranging 
from 242 to 302. 

1864. — The campaign this year Avas one of 
much earnestness and feeling. Abraham Lin- 
coln was the Republican or Union candidate for 
re-election to the Presidency, and associated 
with him as a candidate for Vice-President, was 
Andrew Johnson, the distinguished Unionist of 
Tennessee. George B. McClellan and George 
H. Pendleton were the Democratic candidates 
for President and Vice-President. James C. 
Robinson was the Democratic and R. J. Oglesby 
the Kepublitan candidates for Governor. John 

31— 



T. Stuart was nominated for re-election to Con- 
gress, and placed in opposition was, Shelby 
M. Cullom. Both tickets were exceptionably 
strong and the full vote of the State and county 
was polled. In Sangamon county there was an 
increase over 1860. The question during the 
campaign was substantially whether President 
Lincoln should be sustained in his course in the 
prosecution of the war. The Democrats carried 
the county by a majority of 380 for McClellan. 

1S65. — When the regular fall election was 
held, the war was over, and many of the brave 
Union soldiers had returned, but there being 
only county officers to elect, the vote was light, 
being 5388 against 7519 in 1864. The Union 
ticket was successful over the Democratic by 
majorities ranging from 254 to 462. 

1866. — The issues which now divided parlies 
arose from the work of reconstruction of the 
States lately in rebellion. The election was an 
important one, and party spirit once more ran 
high. George W. Smith was the Republican 
candidate for State Treasurer, and Jesse J. 
Phillips the Democratic. Shelby M. Cullom 
was re-nominated for Congress, and was opposed 
by E. S. Fowler, Democrat. The Democrats 
carried the county, electing every officer save 
Sheriff, Samuel Shoup, Republican, being 
elected. The opposition to the Democratic 
party resumed the name of Republican this 
year. 

1867. — Another light vote this year, only 
county officers being voted for, and no special 
political discussions being held. The Republi- 
can candidate for Treasui-er was elected by 21 
majority, and their candidate for Surveyor by a 
majority of 18, 

1868. — This year brought with it another 
Presidential campaign. The Republican Na- 
tional Convention met in Chicago and placed in 
nomination Ulysses S. Grant, the victorious 
Union-General, associating with him Schuyler 
Colfax, of Indiana. The Democratic National 
Convention nominated Horatio Seymour and 
Francis P. Blair, Jr., for President and Vice- 
President. John R. Eden was the Democratic 
and John M. Palmer the Republican candidate 
for Governor. Benjamin S. Edwards was the 
Democratic candidate for Congress. He had for 
an opponent Shelby M. Cullom, who was re- 
nominated by the Republicans. For county 
officers, Charles H. Lanphier was the Democratic 
nominee for Circuit Clerk, and opposed by J. V. 
Mahoney, Republican. D. Brown, Democrat, 
and John McConnell, Republican, were the nomi- 
nees for the office of Sheriff. The campaign was 



270 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



one of great activity. Each party was well or- 
ganized, and both liad hopes of victory. In this 
county great interest was manifested. The 
Democrats were here successful, electing every 
candidate on their county ticket. 

1S69. — Light vote at the fall election for 
county officers. The Democrats were successful 
in electing their entire ticket, with the exception 
of County Clerk — Noah W. Matheny, who had 
so long held the office, being elected by 206 ma- 
jority. 

1870. — A State Treasurer and State Superin- 
tendent of Public Schools were to be elected. 
In addition to the nominations made by Demo- 
crats and Republicans, the Temperance men, or 
Prohibitionists, nominated a State and county 
ticket, but their strength was limited, the high- 
est vote being polled by Mr. Owen, candidate for 
Sheriff, he receiving 51 votes. About a two- 
thirds vote was polled. 

1871. — A Member of Congress from the State 
at large was to be elected this year, but this fact 
was not si;fficient to draw out a full vote, the 
number polled being even less than the year pre- 
vious. S. S. Hayes was the Democratic and J. 
L. Beveridge the Republican candidate for the 
office. The total vote for Member of Congress 
was 5,833, of which Mr. Hayes received 3,053 
and Mr. Beveridge 2,7.sO. The Democratic can- 
didates for county officers were elected, their 
candidate for Sheriff receiving 55 majority and 
Surveyor 442 majority. 

1872. — The movement known as the Liberal- 
Republican had a large influence, politically, 
this year, having virtually dictated the Demo- 
cratic nomination for the Presidency, and the 
platform of principles on which the campaign 
against the Republican party was dictated. The 
Liberal-Republicans were those connected with 
the Republican party who were opposed to any 
extreme measures in the reconstruction of the 
Southern States, and who believed the time had 
come when past issues should be forgotten, and 
new issues formed; that the hand of reconcilia- 
tion should be offered the South, and a united 
country, working together to build up the waste 
places of the South. Many of the most able 
men of the Republican party, including Horace 
Greeley, Charles Sumner, Lyman Trumbull, 
John M. Palmer, and others, united in this 
movement. In this county, the year previous, 
a paper had been commenced by Geo. R. Weber 
& Son, called The Political Crisis, which advo- 
cated the views of this wing of the party. In 
May, a National convention was held by the 
Liberal-Republicans, in Cincinnati, which nom- 



inated Horace Greeley for President, and B. 
Gratz Brown for Vice President. The follow- 
ing is a synopsis of the resolutions adopted: 

1. Equality of all men before the law; equal 
and exact justice to all, without regard to race, 
color or previous condition. 

2. Opposition to the re-opening of all ques- 
tions settled by the Xlllth, XlVth and XVth 
amendments to the Constitution. 

3. Demand for the immediate and absolute 
removal of all disabilities imposed on account 
of the rebellion. 

4. Local self-government; supremacy of the 
civil over the military; and demand for the lar- 
gest individual liberty consistent with public 
order. 

5. Denunciation of the existing system of 
civil service. 

6. Demand for a system of Federal taxation 
which should not unnecessarily interfere with 
the industries of the people; reference ot the 
tariff to the Congressional Districts. 

7. Demand for civil service reform, and for 
the election of President for a single term only. 

8. Maintenance of public credit and denun- 
ciation of repudiation. 

9. A speedy return to specie payment. 

10. Thanks to the citizen-soldiers and sailors 
of the Republic. 

11. Opposition to further grants to railroads. 

12. Cultivation of friendship with all nations; 
regarding alike dishonorable, either to demand 
what is not right, or submit to what is wrong. 

The Democracy in convention ratified the 
nominations of Greeley and Brown, and adopted 
the platform of the Liberals. The Republicans 
re-nominated President Grant, and associated 
with him on the ticket Henry Wilson, of Massa- 
chusetts, for Vice-President. The disaffection 
among the Democrats in consequence of the 
nomination of Horace Greeley, a life-long politi- 
cal enemy, was so great that a third ticket was 
nominated, at the head of which was Charles 
O'Connor, the distinguished lawyer of New 
York. This third ticket had very little strength 
in this county or State, the disaffection among 
the Democrats leading principally to the refusal 
to attend the polls or to vote at the election. 
The vote was not so large as at the Presidential 
election in 1868, notwithstanding the county 
had increased in population. Gustavus Koener, 
a Liberal Republican, was nominated and sup- 
ported by the Democracy, while R. J Oglesby 
was the Republican nominee for Governor. 
James C. Robinson and M. H. Chamberlain 
were the Democratic and Republican candi- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



271 



dates respectively for Congress. The Demo- 
crats, or Liberals, were successful in this county 
by fair majorities. 

1873. — This year county officers alone were to 
be elected. A new party had been born, known 
as the Independent Anti-Monopoly party, and, 
therefore, three tickets were placed in the field 
for the suffrages of the voters. Notwithstand- 
ing this fact, the vote was light, being only 
about two-thirds of the full vote. James H. 
Matheny, a very popular Democratic candidate, 
was nominated by the Democrats and elected 
County Judge by 1,312 majority. Noah W. 
Matheny, first elected in 1843 (having held the 
office by aj^pointment since 1839), and re-elected 
every four years thereafter, ^vas again re-nom- 
inated by the Republicans, and, for the first 
time, w^as defeated, his opponent receiving 151 
majority. The Anti-Monopoly ticket polled a 
small vote, Mary J. How^ard, for County Super- 
intendent of Public Schools, receiving 303 votes, 
the highest on the ticket. 

1874. — The failure of the Liberal Republicans 
and the depression of the times foiced other is- 
sues before the people. An organization known 
as the Patrons of Husbandry, having for its ob- 
ject a union among farmers for self-protection, 
and the advancement of agricultural interests, had 
sprung into existence. Much complaint had 
heretofore been made against unjust monopolies 
in the manufacture of implements used by the 
farmers, as well as the extortions of the rail- 
roads in carrying produce. The Patrons of 
Husbandry attempted through their order to 
regulate these wrongs. Among other things 
looking to this end, was the establishment of 
Grange stores and an effort to purchase all 
goods used by its members at wholesale prices. 
This arrayed against the order the large mer- 
cantile class of the country, small tradesmen, 
and manufacturers generally. While never in- 
tended as a political organization, and the dis- 
cussion of politics being prohibited by its rules, 
its individual membership, when they found 
they were placed in opposition to the mercantile 
and other classes mentioned, naturally found 
themselves allied together, and an appeal w^as 
thus made to that final settlement of all difficul- 
ties — the ballot box. It was thus the Anti-Mo- 
nopoly party came to exist. 

Charles Carroll w^as the Democratic, Thomas 
S. Ridgeway, Republican, and David Gore, the 
Anti-Monopoly candidates for the office of State 
Ti'easurer. For Congress, William M. Springer, 
Andrew Simpson, and J. B. Turner, were the 
candidates ref.pectively of the Democrats, Re- 



publicans, and Anti-Monopolists. Each of the 
three parties nominated county tickets. For 
State officers the Democrats were successful and 
also in one county office. For Sheriff, the Re- 
publicans succeeded in electing L. H. Ticknor. 
The highest vote polled by the Anti-Monopo- 
lists was on State Treasurer, David Gore secur- 
ing 718 votes. 

1875. — No interest was manifested in the elec- 
tion this year, county officers only to be elected. 
The Anti-Monopoly men made no nominations, 
leaving the field to the Republicans and Demo- 
crats. The latter were successful in the smallest 
vote polled in the county for several years. 

1876. — The election this year was for National, 
State and county officers. Rutherford B. Hayes 
and William A. Wheeler were the Republican 
candidates for President and Vice-President, 
while Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks received the nomination of the Democratic 
party for the same offices. Peter Cooper was the 
nominee of the Independents or Anti-Monopo- 
lists for President. The hard times which be- 
gan in 1873 had a perceptible effect upon this 
campaign. The Democratic party, which for 
some years had been acting on the defensive, 
when not allied to some other political body, 
now assumed the aggressive, and under the ban- 
ner of "Tilden and Reform," forced the Republi- 
cans in the defensive. On the part of the Demo- 
crats the campaign was boldly conducted, though 
it cannot truthfully be said that Tilden was the 
choice of the Democracy of the Nation, especially 
of the Western element of the party. For Gov- 
ernor, Lew. Steward received the nomination of 
both the Independents and Democrats. He was 
opposed by Shelby M. Cullom, of Springfield, on 
the part of the Republicans. The contest for 
this office was quite animated, the two contestants 
making a personal canvass throughout the Avhole 
State. In this county the vote was the largest 
ever cast, the Democratic candidates each re- 
ceiving a majority of the votes over his opponent. 
Tilden's majority over Hayes was 994, while Mr. 
Elliott, Democratic candidate for Sheriff, re- 
ceived a majority of 1,682. 

1877. — The Anti-Monopoly party was now^ 
absorbed by the newly organized Greenback 
party. L. H. Ticknor was the Republican, C. R. 
Hurst the Democratic, and A. F. Carpenter the 
Greenback candidate for County Clerk. Mr. 
Ticknor was elected by a majority of 88. D. 
Paulen, Republican, was elected over E. R. 
Perkins, Democrat, for the office of County 
Treasurer. For School Superintendent, P. J. 
Rourke, Democrat, was re-elected. 



272 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



1878. — In this county three tickets were placed 
in the field, by the Democratic, Republican and 
National parties respectively. While a full vote 
was not polled, the canvass and election was 
quite exciting. There was also considerable 
scratching of tickets on personal grounds. The 
National party polled nearly eight hundred 
votes in this election. While the Democrats 
had- a majority of some seven hundred on a 
strict party vote, the Republicans succeeded in 
electing their candidate for Sheriff by 162 votes, 
and Coroner by 820. The Democrats elected 
their candidate for the State Senate by 1053 
votes. 

1879. — Only county officers were to be voted 
for, and consequently the canvass was spiritless, 
and a personal matter only. D. Paulen, Repub- 
lican, was elected Treasurer, and Graham, Demo- 
crat, Surveyor. 

1880. — The campaign began quite early this 
year, especially among aspirants for office and 
their friends. The preliminary canvass for the 
nomination grew quite warm, as both the Re- 
publicans and Democrats were alike confident 
they would succeed in the National struggle. 
James A. Garfield received the Republican 
nomination for President, and associated with 
hira on the ticket was Chester A. Arthur for 
Vice-President; Winfield S. Hancock was nom- 
inated for President by the Democrats, and 
with him was William H. English for Vice- 
President; James B. Weaver and Gen. Chambers 
for President and Vice-President respectively on 
the National ticket. The canvass was pushed 
with vigor, the Democratic and Republican par- 
ties each using their utmost endeavors to be 
successful. The National party, under the lead 
of Weaver, also endeavored to increase its vote, 
Mr. Weaver making speeches in more than half 
the States in the Union. In this county the 
Democracy were successful by majorities rang- 
ing from 259 to 1,308. 

1824— CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 

For Conventiou 153 

Against Convention 723 669 

August, 1824. 

Sheriff. 

John Taylor 445 279 

Andrew Orr 166 

David S. Taylor 118 

Rivers Cormack 55 

Thomas Constant 6 

Coroner. 

James McNabb 306 20 

Abram Hathaway 286 

Thomas L. Ross 83 

Joseph Thomas 39 



August, 1826. 

State Senator. 

Elijah lies 642 213 

Edward Robinson 429 

August, 1828. 

Sheriff. 

James D. Henry 621 41 

Archer G. Herndon 580 

James Collins 18 

Coroner . 

Philip Fowler 677 612 

Jeckoniah Langston 65 

C. R. Gatlan 26 

Charles D. Nichols 8 

August, 1830. 

SJierif. 

.Tames D. Henry ." 1647 1503 

George Power 144 

John L. Thompson 23 

August, 1832. 
Congress. 

Joseph Duncan 1509 884 

Jonathan H . Pugh 625 

Senator. 

George Forquer 1086 9 

William F. Elkin 1077 

Sheriff. 

J.D.Henry 2087 2006 

S. Morris 81 

Coroner. 

J. Shepherd 981 698 

A. Trent 283 

M. Thomas 104 

A. Gulliher 23 

November, 1832. 

President. 

Andrew .lackson 1035 225 

Henry Clay 810 

August, 1834. 

Governor . 

Joseph Duncan 897 213 

William Kinney 684 

James Adams 593 

R. K. McLaughlin 45 

Congress . 

William L.May 1378 606 

Benjamin Mills 773 

State Senator. 

Edmund D. Taylor, 1188 130 

William F. Elkin 1058 

Sheriff\ 

Garrett Elkin 782 147 

Benjamin Talbott 635 

David Dickinson 623 

T. D. Potts 206 

Coroner. 

Andy Orr 977 404 

John Lindsay 573 

G. M. Saunders 248 

J. H. Shepherd 84 

N. T. Young ... 38 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



273 



August, 1835. 

State Senator. 

(To fill vacancy.) 

Archer G. Herndon, Whig 1324 246 

Johu Calhoun, Democrat 1078 

Representative . 

(To fill vacancy.) 

Job Fletcher, Whig 1469 530 

Peter Cartwright, Democrat 939 

Recorder. 

Benjamin Talbott, Whig 1146 774 

Edward Mitchell 373 

James Adams 244 

Martin M. Morgan 142 

James Campbell 146 

William L. Towkles 25 

William Herndon 99 

Andrew Orr 52 

Surveyor. 

T. M. Neale, Whig 1596 1060 

Reuben Harrison, Democrat 563 

Parnall Hamilton - . 189 

Coroner. 

J. Langston 614 115" 

J. H. Shepherd 999 

G. Dickerson 419 

B. Dunn 82 

August, 1836. 

Congress . 

John T. Stuart, Whig 1639 543 

William L. May, Democrat 1096 

State Senator. 

Job Fletcher, Whig 1570 411 

M. K. Anderson, Democrat 1159 

Sheriff. 

Garrett Elkin, Whig 1563 413 

Taylor, Democrat 1149 

Coroner. 

J. Langston, Whig 1066 660 

S. C. Hampton, Democrat 406 

David W. Clark 287 

Scattering 34 

November, 1836. 

William H. Harrison, Whig. . . .' 1463 560 

Martin Van Buren , Democrat 903 

August, 1837. 

County Clerk. 

Charles R. Matheny 1559 1399 

Campbell 160 

Probate Judge. 

JamesAdams 1023 233 

A. G. Henry 793 

County Treasurer. 

John Constant 859 516 

Dickinson 343 

Shepherd 354 

August, 1838. 
Governor. 

Cyrus Edwards, Whig 1856 455 

Thomas Carliu, Democrat 1401 



Congress. 

.John T. Stuart, Whig 1783 295 

Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat 1488 

State Senators 

A. G. Herndon, Democrat 1476 47 

Bowling Green, Whig 1429 

Sheriff'. 

Garrett Elkin 1437 971 

James Shepherd 1166 

F. Vaughn 598 

August, 1839. 

Probate Judge. 

James Adams, Democrat 1183 38 

R. L. Wilson, Whig 1145 

County Clerk. 

C. R. Matheny, Whig 1553 762 

C. Arnold, Democrat 790 

County Treasurer. 

J. M. Bradford, Whig 1051 158 

T . Lewis, Democrat 893 

J. P. Langford, Democrat 351 

County Siirveyor. 

Thomas M. Neale, Whig 1361 367 

R. Harrison, Democrat 994 

August, 1840. 

Sheriff. 

W. F. Elkin, Whig 1734 407 

T . Lewis, Democrat 1317 

Coroner. 

J. Langston 1819 

County Treasurer. 

C. Arnold, Whig 1758 1111 

C. M. Polk 647 

November, 1840. 

William H. Harrison, Whig. . . .'. 3000 751 

Martin Van Buren, Democrat 1349 

August, 1841. 

Congress . 

John T. Stuart, Whig 1563 575 

J. H. Ralston, Democrat 988 

August, 1848. 

Governor . 

Joseph Duncan, Whig 1588 371 

Thomas Ford, Democrat 1217 

State Senator. 

Reuben Harrison, Whig 1411 730 

Samuel Grubb, Democrat "^81 

William G. Cantrall 193 

Sheriff\ 

William F. Elkin, Whig 1406 33 

John B. Weber, Democrat 1374 

Coroner. 

Jeckoniah Langston, Whig. 1485 398 

John Cooper, Democrat 1187 

August, 1843. 
Congress. 

John J . Hardin, Whig 1694 504 

James A. McDougal, Democrat 1190 



274 



HISTOHY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Probate Judge. 

Thomas Moffett, Whig 1G85 643 

E. Roberts, Democrat 1048 

County Clerk. 

N. W. Mathenj', Whig 3012 nog 

Hatch 843 

IVeasurer. 

A. Y. Ellis, Whig 1460 !I3 

T . Talbott, Democrat 1267 

Surveyor. 

John B. Watson, Whig 1728 639 

— Foster, Democrat 1088 

August, 1844. 

Congress. 

E. D. Baker, Whig 1708 373 

John Calhoun, Democrat 1335 

SJieriff. 

William Harvey, Whig 1642 27!) 

John B. Weber, Democrat 1363 

Coroner. 

J.M. Nealc, Whig 1760 498 

Moss Ballard, Democrat 1263 

NovEsrBER, 1844. 
President. 

Henry Clay, Whig 1837 466 

James K. Polk, Democrat 1371 

August, 1846. 

Governor. 

F. M. Kilpatrick, Whig 1421 386 

A. C. French, Democrat 1035 

Congress. 

A. Lincoln, Whig I535 (jc,o 

Peter Cartwright, Democrat, ..... 845 

E. Wolcott 14 

Sheriff. 

William Harvey, Whig 1365 378 

Robert Allen, Democrat 987 

Coroner. 
J. W. Neale, Whig 1521 

March, 1848. 

For the New Constitution 1817 1617 

, Against the New Constitution 200 

August, 1848. 

Congress . 

S. T. Logan, Whig 1649 263 

T. L. Harris, Democrat 1386 

State Senator. 

J. T. Stuart, Whig 1671 307 

J. W. Barrett, Democrat 1344 

Sheriff'. 

C. Arnold, Whig 1842 687 

Thomas Long, Democrat 1165 

Coroner. 

J. W. Neale, Whig 1881 572 

A. C. Campbell, Democrat 1309 

November, 1848. 

President. 

Zacharv Taylor, Whig I943 607 

Lewis Cass, Democrat, 1336 

Martin Yan Buren, Free-Soil ..'.*. 47 



November, 1850. 

Congress. 

Richard Yates, Whig 1651 336 

T. L. Harris, Democrat 1315 

Sheriff'. 

Josiah Francis, Whig 1676 408 

Isaac Curran, Democrat .1268 

Coroner. 

J. W. Neale, Whig 1660 385 

S. T. Boyd, Democrat 1275 

November, 1852. 

Winfield Scott, Whig ' 2125 519 

Franklin Pierce, Democrat 1606 

John P. Hale, Free Soil 22 

Oovernor. 

Edwin B. Webb, Whig 2217 602 

Joel A. Matteson, Democrat 1615 

L. B. Kuowlton, Free Soil 21 

Congress. 

Richard Yates, Whig 2236 780 

John Calhoun, Democrat 1456 

Circuit Clerk. 

James H. Ma theny, Whig 2186 651 

Edward Jones, Democrat" 1537 

Sheriff. 

Charles xVrnold, Whig 2188 671 

Munson Carter, Democrat 1517 

November, 1853. 

County Judge. 

J. W. Taylor, Democrat 120 6 143 

T. G. Taylor, Whig 1063 

County Clerk. 

N. W. Matheny, Whig 1428 612 

W. Lavely. Democrat 816 

Treasurer. 

J. Divelbiss, Democrat 1170 65 

W. O. Jones, Whig 1105 

November, 1854. 

State Treasurer. 

James Miller, Anti-Nebraska 2025 493 

J. Moore, Democrat 1533 

Congress. 

Richard Yates, Anti-Nebraska 2166 756 

T. L. Harris, Democrat 1410 

May, 1855. 
Judge of Supreme Court. 

O. C. Skinner 2518 1098 

Stephen T. Logan 1420 

Prohibition. 

Against Prohibition 2349 604 

For Prohibition 1745 

November, 1856. 

President. 

James Buchanan, Democrat 2475 863 

Millard Fillmore, American 1612 

John C. Fremont, Republican 1174 

Q over nor . 

William A. Richardson, Democrat 2519 387 

William H. Bissell, Republican 2232 

B. S. Morris, American 390 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



275 



Vonc/ress. 

Joliu "Williams, Republican 2751 377 

Thomas L. Harris, Democrat 2474 

Circuit Clerk. 

Presco Wrielit, Democrat 2646 115 

William O. Jones, Republican 2531 

Sheriff. 

John Cook, Republican " 2538 49 

Morris Lindsey, Democrat, 2489 

Coroner. 

James Walker, Republican 2664 157 

O. W. Browning, Democrat 2507 

November, 1857. 

County Judge. 

Wm . D. Power, Democrat 2010 120 

Wm. F. Elkiu, Republican 1890 

County Clerk. 

N. W. Matheny, Republican 2214 527 

Jacob Shutt, Democrat 1687 

Surveyor. 

Joseph Ledlie, Democrat 2095 250 

Z. A. Enos, Republican 1845 

Treasurer. 

Wm. T. Barrett, Democrat 2098 309 

C. S. Cantrall, Republican 1789 

November, 1858. 
State Treasurer. 

W. B. Fondey, Douglas Democrat 3078 342 

James Miller, Republican 2726 

John Dougherty, National Democrat. .. 138 
Congress. 

T. L. Harris, Douglas Democrat 3010 281 

J. H. Matheny, Republican 2729 

J. L. McConnell, National Democrat. . 112 

Sheriff\ 

Joseph B. Pirkins, Douglas Democrat. 2984 165 

J. W. Smith, Republican 2819 

Morris Lindsay, ^National Democrat. . . . 144 

Coroner. 

T. W. S. Kidd, Douglas Democrat. . . . 3041 284 

William Pierce, Republican. . . . : 2757 

Reddick Ridgely, National Democrat, . 127 

November, 1859. 

Congress . 

J. A. McClernand, Democrat 2817 401 

J. M. Palmer, Republican, 2416 

School Commissioner . 

J. S. Bradford, Democrat 2768 262 

F. Springer, Republican 2506 

W . T . Barrett, Democrat '. 2777 302 

G. R. Weber, Republican 2475 

Surveyor. 

W. M. Warren, Democrat 2672 95 

Z. A. Enos, Republican 2577 

November, 1860. 

President. 

Stenhen A. Douglas, Democrat 3598 42 

Abraham Lincoln, Republican 3556 

John Bell, Union 130 

John C. Breckenridge. Democrat 77 



Gi)cernor. 

Richard Yates, Republican 3609 8 

J. C. Allen, Democrat 3601 

Scattering 131 

Congress. 

J. A. McClernand, Democrat 3629 1 

Henry Case, Republican 3628 

Circuit Clerk . 

S. S. Whitehurst, Republican 3775 275 

Charles H. Lauphier 3500 

Thomas Crat'ton, Union 37 

Sheriff\ 

J. W. Smith, Republican 3752 233 

Joseph Campbell, Democrat 3519 

Washburn, Union 24 

Coroner . 

John Hopper, Republican 3614 17 

John Constant, Democrat 3.597 

Barton, Union 60 

November, 1861. 

County Judge. 

William D. Power, Democrat 2498 633 

Munson Carter, Union I860 

County Clerk. 

Noah W. Matheny, Union 2323 148 

John J. Hardin, Democrat 2175 

Treasurer . 

Presco Wright, Union 2313 150 

William Lavely, Democrat 2163 

Surveyor. 

William M. Warren, Democrat 2349 236 

Nicholas Strott, Union 2113 

November, 1862. 

State Treasurer. 

Alexander Starne, Democrat 2643 882 

William Butler, Union 2761 

Congress. 

John T. Stuart, Democrat 3845 262 

Leonard Swett, Union 2583 

State Senators. 

Colby Knapp, Democrat 3616 808 

S. M. Cullom, Union 2808 

Sheriff\ 

Hicks, Democrat 3666 1040 

T. W. S. Kidd, Union 2626 

November, 1863. 
Treasurer. 

Isaac A. Hawley, Union 2705 243 

James W. Keys, Democrat 2463 

School Commissioner . 

N. W. Miner, Union 2722 269 

C. G. French, Democrat 2453 

Surveyor. 

Ira A. Merchant, Union 2734 302 

Joseph Ledlie, Democrat 2432 

NoVEifBER, 1864. 
President. 

(Jeorge B. McClellan, Democrat 3945 380 

Abraham Lincoln, Union Republican. . 3505 

Cover nor . 

James C. Robinson, Democrat 3941 368 

R. J. Oglesby, Union Republican 3578 



276 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Congress . 

John T. Stuart, Democrat 3909 209 

S. M. Cullom, Union Republican 3610 

Circuit Clerk. 

C. H. Lanphier, Democrat 38G7 231 

Presco Wright, Union Republican 3640 

Sheriff. 

William T. Crafton, Democrat 3943 386 

W. V. Greenwood, Union Republican . . 35 j7 

Coroner . 

Francis Hudson, Democrat 3927 350 

Zebulon Bell, Union Republican 3577 

November, 1865. 

County Clerk . 

N. W. Matheuy, Union.. 3925 463 

William Burtle, Democrat 3463 

T reasurer . 

J. G. Ives, Union 2820 254 

R. W. Diller, Democrat 3566 

Surveyor. 

J. W. Paulen, Union 2819 375 

Adolph Scwartz, Democrat 3544 

School Superintendent. 

O. S. Webster, Union 2836 303 

George C. Rogers. Democrat 3534 

November, 1866. 

State Treasurer. 

Jesse J. Phillips, Democrat 4146 68 

Geo. W. Smith, Republican 4078 

Congress. 

E. S. Fowler, Democrat 4143 72 

S. M. Cullom, Republican '. 4070 

Shei'iff. 

Samuel Shoup, Republican 4118 14 

J. B. Perkins, Democrat 4104 

Coroner. 

G. W. Graham, Democrat 4134 55 

Henry G. Smith, Republican 4079 

November, 1867. 
Treasurer . 

R. C . Kelly, Democrat 3340 979 

H. VanMeter, Republican 3361 

S^irveyor. 

S A. Graham, Democrat 3333 983 

S. D, Scholes, Republican 3351 

November, 1868. 
President. 

Horatio Seymour, Democrat 4875 464 

U. S. Grant, Republican 4411 

Governor. 

John R. Eden, Democrat 4883 464 

John M. Palmer, Republican 4418 

Congress. 

Benjamins Edwards, Democrat 4989 691 

Shelby M. Cullom, Republican 4398 

Circuit Clerk. 

C. H. Lanphier, Democrat 4621 31 

J. V. Mahoney, Republican 4590 

Sheriff. 

Dwight Brown, Democrat 4719 331 

John McConnell, Republican 4498 



Coroner. 

A. J. Ross, Democrat 4873 486 

John Hopper, Republican 4386 

November, 1869. 
County Judge. 

A. N. J. Crook, Democrat 3314 71 

William Prescott, Republican 3243 

County Clerk. 

Noah W. Matheuy, Republican 3486 463 

P. J. Rourke, .Democrat. . . 3033 

O . R. Baker, Democrat 3376 206 

Allen Buckner, Republican 3170 

Surveyor . 
Charles W. Hoerrmann, Democrat 3439 315 

F. J. Blain, Republican 3124 

November, 1870. 

State Treasurer. 

Charles Ridgelv, Democrat 3794 846 

E. N. Bates, Republican 2948 

Hammond, Temperance 17 

Congress. 

James C. Robinson, Democrat 3895 1084 

Jonathan Merriam, Republican 2811 

G. W. Minier, Temperance 34 

Sheriff'. 

Andrew McConnell, Democrat 3733 813 

W. W. Lowdermilk, Republican 2920 

Eugene J. Owen, Temperance 51 

Coroner. 

Edward Bierce, Democrat 3793 861 

Levi J. Conant, Republican 2932 

November, 1871. 

Congress. 

S . S. Hayes, Democrat 3053 273 

J. L. Beveridge, Republican 2780 

Treasurer. 

O. R. Baker, Democrat 3937 55 

S. N. Shoup, Republican 3873 

Surveyor. 

Joseph Ledlie, Democrat 3131 442 

Rezin Constant, Republican 3689 

November, 1873. 

President. 

Horace Greelej^ Liberal 4383 333 

U.S. Grant, Republican 4149 

Charles O'Couner, Democrat 69 

Governor. 

Gustavus Koerner, Liberal 4483 313 

Richard J. Oglesby, Republican 4171 

Congress. 

James C. Robinson, Democrat 4519 352 

M. H. Chamberlin, Republican 4167 

Circuit Clerk. 

James A. Winston, Democrat 4456 336 

O . S . Webster, Republican 4330 

S7ieriff\ 

William T. Barrett, Democrat 4536 553 

James Irwin, RepulDlican 3984 

Coroner . 

Edward Bierce, Democrat 4434 920 

Theophilus Rubly, Republican 4325 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



277 



November, 1873. 

County Judge. 

James H. Matheuy, Democrat 3639 1312 

Leonidas H. Bradley, Republican 2327 

B. Stuve 92 

County Clerk. 

Joliu J . Hardiu, Democrat 3078 151 

Noah W. Matheny, Republican 2927 

James Martin 70 

E. R. Perkins, Democrat '. 8054 241 

S.N. Shoup, Republican 2813 

Preston Breckenridge 146 

ISchool Superintendent . 

P. J. Rourke, Democrat 2971 316 

William E. Purcell, Republican. 2655 

Mary J. Howard, Independent 303 

November, 1874. 

State Treasurer. 

Charles Carroll, Democrat 8699 5G4 

Thomas S. Ridgeway, Republican 3135 

David Gore, Anti-Monopoly 718 

Congress. 

William M. Springer, Democrat 3574 294 

Andrew Simpson, Republican 3280 

J. B. Turner, Anti-Monopoly 558 

Sheriff. 

P. O'Connor, Democrat 3296 

L . H. Ticknor, Republican 3605 309 

J.J. Megredy, Anti-monopoly 525 

, Coroner. 

Edward B. Bierce, Democrat 3698 615 

J. D. Brantner, Republican 3083 

R. B. Bell, Anti-Monopoly 622 

November, 1875. 

John Nuc kolls. Democrat *. 2557 280 

Charles S. Cantrall, Republican 2277 

Surveyor. 

William Connelly, Democrat 2672 521 

William D. Clark, Republican 2151 

November, 1876. 

Pt*P si{lf Tit 

Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat. 5841 994 

Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican 4847 

Oovernor. 

L. Stewwd, Democrat >. 5712 698 

S. M. CuUom, Republican 5014 

Congress. 

Wm. M. Springer, Democrat 5899 1059 

D. L. Phillips, Republican 4840 

Circuit Cleric . 

J. A. Winston, Democrat 5649 540 

H. C. Watson, Republican 5109 

Sheriff. 

Temp. Elliott, Democrat 6175 1682 

C. H. Hatry, Republican 4493 

Coroner. 

E. B. Bierce, Democrat 5708 754 

C. Sampson, Republican 4954 



November, 1877. 

County Clerk. 

L. H. Ticknor, Republican 3118 88 

C . R. Hurst, Democrat 3030 

A. F. Carpenter, Greenback 1209 

Treasurer. 

D . Pauleu, Republican 3889 369 

E. R. Perkins, Democrat 8420 

School Superintendent. 

P. J. Rourke, Democrat 4169 1245 

W. S. Remine, Union 2924 

November, 1878. 

State Treasurer. 

John C. Coukrite, Democrat 4252 593 

John C. Smith, Republican 3659 

Congress . 

William M. Springer, Democrat 4269 739 

John Cook, Republican 8530 

State Senator. 

G. W. Shutt, Democrat 4503 1053 

Jacob Beck, Republican 8450 

Bernard Stuve, National 760 

Sheriff\ 

Samuel N. Shoup, Republican 4212 162 

Temp Elliott, Democrat 4050 

William R. Crenshaw, National 489 

Coroner. 

Garrett Elkin, Republican 4090 320 

E. B. Bierce, Democrat 3770 

E. A. McDaniels, National 774 

November, 1879. 

Treasurer. 

D. Paulen, Republican 3588 149 

Michael Luby, Democrat 8486 

Surveyor . 

Samuel A. Graham, Democrat 8669 313 

Z. A. Enos, Republican 3356 

November, 1880. 

P7*€S'id&')Xt 

Winfield S. Hancock, Democrat 6196 720 

James A. Gartield, Republican 5476 

James B. Weaver, Greenback 238 

Governor. 

Lyman Trumbull, Democrat 6203 794 

Shelby M. Cullom, Republican 5476 

A.J. Streeter, Greenback 284 

State's Attorney . 

R. H. Hazlett, Democrat 6314 887 

Thomas Sterling, Republican 5477 

Circuit Clerk. 

Edward R . Roberts, Democrat 6556 1368 

John Upton, Republican 5188 

Sheriff. 

Hampton Gibson, Democrat 6210 800 

Andrew Kapp, Republican 5410 

AVilliam Poor, Greenback 186 

Coroner . 

E . B . Bierce, Democrat 5944 259 

Edward S. McDermott, Republican. . . 5685 



32— 



278 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XIV. 



NATIONAL, STATE AND COUNTY REPRESENTATION. 



Sangamon county has reason to be proud of 
the distinguished men who have served the 
county, State or Nation. Whether at home or 
abroad, representatives from this county have 
served with honor to themselves and to the 
county in which a home was claimed. 

NATIONAL REPRESENTATION. 

President of the United States. 

Abraham Lincoln, the fifteenth President of 
the United States, was elected to that office 
November, 1860, and was inaugurated March 4, 
1861. He was again re-elected November, 1864, 
and inaugurated March 4, 1865; he was struck 
down by the hands of an assassin on the even- 
ing of April 14, 1865, and died early on the 
morning of the fifteenth. Not alone the county, 
but the State, Nation, and world delights to do 
him honor. 

United States Consuls. 

Edward L. Baker, for many years editor of 
the Illinois State Journal, was appointed United 
States Consul at Buenos Ayres, Argentine Re- 
public, South America, in December, 1873, and 
yet fills the position with credit to himself and 
the Government he represents. 

United States Assessor. 

Edward L. Baker, appointed in 1869, and con- 
tinuing until the office was abolished. 

Cojigressional. 

When Sangamon county was organized, the 
State was entitled to but one Representative in 
Congress, Daniel P. Cook, of Kaskaskia, holding 
the office, to which he was first elected in 1818, 
on the admission of the State into the Union. 
Mr. Cook served a period of nearly nine years, 
from December, 1818, to March, 1827. He was 
a man of more than ordinary ability. 



Joseph Duncan succeeded Daniel P. Cook, and 
took his seat at the first session of the Twentieth 
Congress, in 1827. He represented the State 
three terms, or until March, 18.3-3. 

In the winter of 1831-2 the legislature of the 
State made an apportionment, dividing it into 
three districts, Sangamon county forming a part 
of the Third. In August, 1832, Joseph Duncan, 
of Jacksonville, was elected to represent the 
district, and served from the beginning of his 
term, March, 1833, to August, 1834, when he re- 
signed his seat to accejit the office of Governor, 
to which he had been elected. William L. May, 
of Springfield, was elected to fill the vacancy, 
and was re-elected to the Twenty-fourth and 
Twenth-fifth Congress. Mr. May was succeeded 
by John T. Stuart, who was elected to the Twen- 
ty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congress, serving 
from 1839 till 1843. 

In 1842, the State was divided into seven Con- 
gressional Districts, Sangamon county being 
placed in the Seventh. John J. Hardin, of Jack- 
sonville, was elected to represent the district in 
the 28th Congress, and Edward D. Baker, of 
Springfield, in the 29th. Before the expiration 
of his term, Mr. Baker resigned to accept the 
Colonelcy of a regiment in the Mexican war; 
and John Henry, of Jacksonville, was elected to 
fill the vacancy. Abraham Lincoln was elected 
a member of the 30th Congress; Thomas L. Har- 
ris, of Petersburg, the 3l8t Congress; and Rich- 
ard Yates, of Jacksonville, the 32d Congress. 

In 1852 another apportionment was made, and 
Sangamon county became a part of the Sixth 
District. Richard Yates, of Jacksonville, was 
the first elected to represent this new district, 
and took his seat March, 1853, as a member of 
the 33d Congress. He was succeeded two years 
later by Thomas L. Harris, of Petersburg, who 
served two terras. John A. McClernand, of 
Springfield, was Mr. Harris's successor, and was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



279 



in turn succeeded by A. L. Knapp, of Jersey - 
ville, who served in the 3Vth Congress. 

In 1862, Sangamon county, under the new 
apportionment act, was made a part of the Eighth 
Congressional District, and was represented in 
the bSth Congress by John T. Stuart. In the 
39th Congress the county was represented by 
Shelby M. Cullom, of Springfield, who was re- 
elected in 1866 and 1868, serving in the 40th 
and 41st Congress with great ability. Mr. Cul- 
lom was succeeded by James C. Robinson, who 
served in the 42d Congress. 

Another apportionment was made in 1872, the 
State then being entitled to nineteen Representa- 
tives. Under this act Sangamon county became 
a part of the Twelfth District, and was repre- 
sented in the 43d Congress by James C. Robin- 
son, of Springfield. Mr. Robinson was succeeded 
by William M. Springer, of Springfield, who 
w^as first elected in 1874, and re-elected in 1876, 
1878 and 1880, serving in the 44th and 45th 
Congress, and is now serving in the 46th Con- 
gress. 

Shelby M. Cullom, the first and only Governor 
elected from Sangamon county, Illinois was 
born in Wayne county, Kentucky, November 
22, 18-29, whence his father moved to Tazewell 
county, Illinois, in 1830. Having been reared 
and schooled in this State he is to "all intents 
and purposes" a native Illinoisan. Until he was 
nineteen years of age he worked with his father 
on the farm, attending the district schools in the 
winter. When, by superior application and 
ability he became sufficiently advanced, he 
assumed the duties for a while of a teacher, and 
having received a careful preparation by teach- 
ing and hard study, his collegiate course was 
completed at Mount Morris University. 

In 1854 he came to Springfield, Illinois, and 
studied law in the office of Stuart and Edwards, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1855, and shortly 
after was elected City Attorney of Springfield. 
In 1856 he took an active part in the Presiden- 
tial campaign of that year as a supporter of 
Millard Fillmore for the Presidency. By the 
American party he was nominated for the lower 
branch of the legislature, endorsed by the newly 
organized Republican party, and triumphantly 
elected. In 1860 he was again elected and made 
Speaker of the House. In 1862 he was appointed 
by President Lincoln on a commission with Gov- 
ernor Boutwell and Charles A. Dana to examine 
into the accounts of Quartermasters and Com- 
missioners, and pass upon claims allowed by 
them. In 1864 he was elected to represent the 
Eighth District of Illinois in the United States 



Congress, and was elected for two successive 
terms. During that time he was chairman of 
the Committee on Territories, and as such re- 
ported a bill, of which he was the author, for 
the suppression of polygamy in the Territory of 
Utah, which became a law. He also secured the 
appropriations for the erection of the United 
States Court House and Postolfice in Springfield, 
at a cost of |320,000. In 1872 he was "again 
elected to the legislature, and chosen Speaker 
of the House for the second time. He was also 
elected in 1874. In 1876 he received the nom- 
ination of his party — the Republican — for the 
office of Governor, and was triumphantly 
elected, having received a larger vote than Presi- 
dent Hayes, or any other man on the State 
ticket. After serving four years he was re-nomi- 
nated and elected. 

As a member of the legislature he was distin- 
guished as one of its fairest, most impartial and 
dignified presiding officers. He won golden 
opinions from all sides. As a member his action 
was always on the side of economy, freedom 
and equal laws for all. 

In Congress he was attentive to duty, indus- 
trious, and highly influential. He took an active 
part in the advocacy of the reconstruction meas- 
ures, and in favor of adopting the XIII, XIV 
and XV amendments of the Constitution. 

In the administration of the State Govern- 
ment as its Chief Executive, Governor Cullom 
has displayed qualities of the highest statesman- 
ship. Since he came into ofiice the State debt, 
which then amounted to $1,500,000, has been 
liquidated. State taxes have been reduced. 
Every department of the State Government has 
been economically administered. In no case 
have the expenses been allowed to exceed the 
appropriations. No public moneys have been 
diverted from their proper uses, and no misap- 
propriations or defalcations have been commit- 
ted or even charged upon any public officer. 

In his office and at his home. Governor Cullom 
is a model gentleman. Always accessible, he is 
courteous and kind to every visitor. He is no 
lover of red tape, neither does he affect the ways 
of the aristocrat. In all the years of his public 
service his life has been pure and upright. His 
integrity and honesty stand before the world 
untarnished and unimpeachable. 

Shelby M. Cullom has been twice married; 
first to Hannah M. Fisher, December 12, 1855, 
who died March IT', 1861; second, to Julia 
Fisher, a sister of his first wife. May 5, 1863. 
By his first wife he had two daiighters — Ella 
and Carrie. 



280 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



STATE REPRESENTATION. 

Governor. 
Shelby M. Cullom was the tirst and only Gov- 
ernor elected from Sangamon county. Mr. Cul- 
lom was elected November, 1876, and was in- 
augurated January 8, 1877; he was re-elected in 
1880, and inaugurated January 10, 1881. He has 
made a popular and efficient Governor. See 
sketch. 

Secretary of State. 

George Forquer was appointed to this office 
by Governor Cole, January 17, 1825, and served 
until December 1, 1828, 

State Auditor. 

Orlin H. Miner, elected in November, 1864, 
and qualified December 12, 1864, served the full 
term of four years. 

State Treasurer. 

William Butler, appointed September 3, 1859, 
to fill vacancy caused by the resignation of 
James Miller, of McLean county; elected Novem- 
ber, 1800, and qualified January 14, 1861, served 
until January, 1862. 

Alexander Starne, elected November, 1862, 
and qualified January 12, 186:5, serving till the 
end of his term. 

Superintendent of Public Instructio7i, 

On the adoption of the present school system, 
Ninian W. Edwards was appointed as the first 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. He quali- 
fied and commenced the discharge of the duties 
of the office March 24, 1854. Mr. Edwards 
served with remarkable ability until January 12, 
1857, when he w\as succeeded by William H. 
Powell. 

John P. Brooks was elected in the fall of 1862, 
and qualified January 12, 1863, and served two 
years. 

Newton Bateman was elected to succeed Mr. 
Brooks in tiie fall of 1864. He was qualified 
January 10, 1865. Re-elected in 1866 and 1870, 
serving until the expiration of his terra, Januarys 
11, 1875. Mr. Bateman was one of the most 
popular and efficient Superintendents in the State. . 
He is now President of the Knox College, at 
Galesburg, Illinois. 

Attorney Generals. 

Ninian W. Edwards was appointed to this 
office September 1, 1834. He was then elected 
by the people, but resigned February 7, 1835. 

David B. Campbell was elected in the fall of 
1846, qualified December 21, of the same year. 



State Geologist. 

The tirst to fill this office was Joseph G. Nor- 
wood, of Sangamon county, who was appointed 
July 21, 1851. 

William Billington was appointed April 26, 

1864. 

Adjutant General. 

Moses K. Anderson received the appointment 
of Adjutant General, December 16, 1839, and 
served until April 31, 1857, a period of nearly 
eighteen years. 

Thomas S. Mather was appointed October 28, 
1858, vice Kinney, deceased, and served until 
November 11, 1861. 

Hubert Dilger was the next appointed from 
Sangamon county, his commission bearing date 
March 24, 1869. 

Edwin L. Higgins succeeded General Dilger, 
January 24, 1873, and served until July 2, 1875, 
when he was succeeded by Hiram Hilliard, of 
Cook county. 

Senatorial and Representative. 

On the organization of the county, it was 
given one State Senator and one Representa- 
tive in the General Assembly. Stephen Still- 
man was elected State Senator, and James Sims 
Representative. 

Fourth General Assembly. — Senator, Stephen 
Stillman; Representative, William S. Hamilton. 

Fifth General Assembly. — The representation 
of this county was now fixed at one Senator and 
three Representatives. The following named 
were elected: Senator, Elijah lies; Representa- 
tives, Job Fletcher, Mordecai Mobley, Jonathan 
H. Pugh. 

Sixth General Assembly. — Senator, Elijah 
lies; Representatives, Peter Cartwright, Wil- 
liam F. Elkin, Jonathan H. Pugh. 

Seventh General Assembly.— Senator, Elijah 
lies; Representatives, John Dawson, Jonathan 
H. Pugh. Edmund D. Taylor. 

JElghth General Assembly. — The county was 
now entitled to two Senators and four Repre- 
sentatives, and were represented as follows: 
Senators, George Forquer, Elijah lies; Repre- 
sentatives, Peter Cartwright, Achilles Morris, 
John T. Stuart, Edmund D. Taylor. 

Ninth General Assembly. — The county now 
had four Senators and four Representatives, as 
follows: Senators, Job Fletcher, George For- 
quer, Archer G. Herndon, Edmund D. Taylor; 
Representatives, William Carpenter, John Daw- 
son, Abraham Lincoln, .Tohn T. Stuart. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



281 



Tenth General Assembly. — Sangamon county 
was now entitled to two Senators and seven Rep- 
resentatives, and elected a body of men that was 
then and has since been known as the " Long 
Nine," the combined height being fifty-four feet. 
The following are the names of the "Long 
Nine:" Senators, Job Fletcher, Archer Gr. Hern- 
don; Representatives, John Dawson, Ninian W. 
Edwards, William F. Elkin, Abraham Lincoln, 
Andrew McCormack, Daniel Stone*, Robert L. 
Wilson. When Vandalia was selected as the 
State Capital there was a provision in the law 
that it could not be removed for twenty years. 
Before the expiration of that time, it was gen- 
erally conceded that it must be moved farther 
north. Springfield was a candidate for the capi- 
tal, and the members of the legislature from 
Sangamon county were chosen with direct refer- 
ence to this subject. The subject of internal 
improvements was now being vigorously agi- 
ated, and the legislature of 1836-7 was largely 
devoted to business of that kind. In order to 
accomplish this legislation, a good deal of "log- 
rolling" was done; that is, a member having a 
pet project would agree with another that if he 
would vote for some bill in which he was partic- 
ularly interested that he would return the favor. 
The "Long Nine" did not ask much for their 
section in the way of internal improvements, but 
they never lost an opportunity to make a vote 
for the removal of the capital to Springfield. 
As is well known, they were successful in their 
efforts, and Springfield was selected as the 
capital. • 

Eleventh General Assembly. — Senators, Job 
Fletcher, Archer G. Herndon ; Representatives, 
Edward D. Baker, John Calhoun, John Dawson, 
Ninian W. Edwardsf, William F. Elkin, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Andrew McCormack. 

Tioelfth General Assembly. — Sangamon, Me 
nard, Logan and Christian were now made one 
Senatorial District, with two Senators, and San- 
gamon county was continued a Representative 
District, with five Representatives. The follow- 
ing were elected: Senators, Edward D. Baker, 
Archer G. Herndon ; Representatives, James M. 
Bradford, James N. Brown, John Darneille, 
Josiah Francis, Abraham Lincoln. 

Thirteenth General Assembly. — Senators, Ed- 
ward D. Baker, Reuben Harrison; Representa- 
tives, James N. Brown, William Caldwell, 
William Hickman, Stephen T. Logan. 

*Resigned and Thoinas J. Nance elected to fill the 
vacancy. 

fResigned and Edward D. Baker elected to fill 
vacancj'. 



Fourteenth General Assembly. — Senator, Nin- 
ian W. Edwards; Representatives, Job Fletcher, 
William D. Herndon, Stephen T. Logan, Joseph 
Smith. 

Fifteenth General Assembly. — Senator, Nin- 
ian W. Edwards; Representatives, James N. 
Brown, Rezin H. Constant, Stephen T. Logan, 
Benjamin West. 

Sixteenth General Assembly. — Under the Con- 
stitution of 1848, the State was divided into 
Senatorial and Representative Districts, each 
district having a number assigned it. There 
were twenty-five Senatorial and fifty-four Rep- 
resentative Districts, Sangamon county, with 
Mason and Menard, was made the Twelfth Sena- 
torial and Twenty-sixth Representative Districts, 
and was entitled to one Senator and two Repre- 
sentatives. The following named served in this 
Assembly: Senator, John T. Stuart; Repre- 
sentatives, Ninian W. Edwards, John W. 
Smith. 

Seventeenth General Assembly . — Senator, John 
T. Stuart; Representatives, Preston Brecken- 
ridge, James C. Conkling. 

Eighteenth General Assembly. — Senator, Jas. 
M. Ruggles, of Mason county; Representatives, 
Pascal P. Enos, James M. Brown. 

Nineteeyith General Assembly. — Under the 
apportionment act of February 27, 1854, the 
representation in the General Assembly were 
twenty-five Senators and seventy-five Represen- 
tatives. Sangamon and Morgan counties were 
made the Fifteenth Senatorial, and entitled to 
one Senator; Sangamon alone constituted the 
Twenty-sixth Representative District, with two 
Representatives. In this Assembly the county 
was represented as folloAVs: Senator, Joseph 
Morton, of Morgan county; Representatives, 
Stephen T. Logan, Jonathan McDaniel. 

Twentieth General Assembly . — Senator, Cy- 
rus W. VanDeren; Representatives, James J. 
Megredy, Shelby M. Cullom. 

Twenty-first General Afsembly. — Senator, 
Cyrus W. VanDeren ; Representatives, James 
W. Barrett, Daniel Short. 

Tii-enty-second General Assembly. — Senator, 
William Jayne; Representatives, Shelby M. 
Cullom, Norman M. Broadwell. 

Ti-enty-third Gener2J, Assembly. — By act of 
•January' 31, 1801, the representation was fixed 
at twenty-five Senators and eighty-five Repre- 
sentatives, with twenty-five Senatorial and sixty- 
one Representative Districts. Sangamon, Logan 
and Tazewell formed the Eleventh Senatorial, 
and Sangamon and Logan the Twenty-fifth Rep- 
resentative District, with two Representatives, 



282 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



In this assembly it was represented as follows: 
Senator, Colby Knapp, of Logan; Representa- 
tives, Ambrose M. Miller, of Logan ; Charles A. 
Keyes, of Sangamon. 

Tioenty-fourth G-eneral Assembly. — Senators, 
John B. Cohrs, of Tazewell; Ambrose M. Miller, 
of Logan; James W. Patton, Sangamon. 

Ticenty-jifth General Assembly. — Senator, 
John H, Cohrs, of Tazewell; Representatives, 
James C. Conkling, of Sangamon; William Mc- 
Galliard, of Lcgan. 

Twenty -sixtJi General A,sse?nbly. — Senator, 
Aaron B. Nicholson, of Logan; Representatives, 
John Cook, of Sangamon; Silas Beason, of 
Logan. 

Twenty-seventh General Assembly. — Senators, 
Aaron B. Nicholson, of Logan; Alex, Starne, 
of Sangamon; Re2)resentatives, Charles H. Rice, 
William M. Springer, Ninian R. Taylor. This 
representation was under the apportionment 
made under Constitution of ISVo, which pro- 
vided that at its first session under that Consti- 
tution the Senate should consist of fifty mem- 
bers, being tMo from each district under the 
Constitution of 1848. Sangamon was therefore 
continued as a part of the Eleventh Senatorial 
District, but was made the Forty-third Repre- 
sentative District, with three Representatives 
elected under the minority representative plan. 

Txoenty -eighth General Assimbly. — Senator, 
Alexander Starne; Representatives, Alfred Oren- 
dorf, Milton Hay, Shelby M. Cullom. This rep- 
presentation was under the apportionment of 
1872, which divided the State into iiftyone Sen- 
atorial Districts, each of which was entitled to 
one Senator and three Representatives, the latter 
elected under the plan of the minority represen- 
tation. Sangamon county was made the Thirty- 
First Senatorial District. 

Twenty-ninth General Asseynbly. — Senator, 
William E. Shutt; Representatives, Joseph L. 
Wilcox, Fred. Gehrirg, Shelby M. Cullom. 

Thirtieth General Asseynbly. — Senator Wil- 
liam E. Shutt; Representatives, John Foutch, 
John Mayo Palmer, DeWitt W. Smith. 

Thirty-Jirst General Assembly. — Senator, Wil- 
liam E. Shutt; Representatives, William L. 
Gross, John C. Snigg, Carter Tracy. 

Thirty-second General Assembly. — Senator 
William E. Shutt; Representatives, A. N. J. 
Crook, D. W. Smith, James M. Garland. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

The following embraces a complete list of 
County Officers from 1821 to 1881 inclusive. 
As sketches of the greater number of the men 



appear elsewhere in this work, it is needless to 
say more in this connection than that the list 
embraces the names of some of the most honor- 
able men that have lived in Sangamon county, 
men who have honored the office as well as 
being honored by the office. The year follow- 
ing the name is that in which the party was 
commissioned, the time of service being until 
his successor qualiiied. 

County Clerk. 

Charles R. Matheny, 1821. 
Noah W. Matheny, 1839. 
John J. Hardin, 1873. 
Louis H. Ticknor, 1877. 

Circuit Clerk. 

Charles R. Matheny, 1821. 
William Butler, — . 
John C. Calhoun, — . 
Benjamin Talbott, 1848.* 
James H, Matheny, 1852. 
Presco Wright, 1856. 
Stephen S. Whitehurst, 1860. 
Charles H. Lanphier, 1864. 
James A. Winston, 1872. 
Edward R. Roberts, 1880. 
Recorder. 

Charles R. Matheny, 1821. 
Edward Mitchell, 1827. 
Benjamin Talbott, 1835. 

Probate Judge. 

James Latham, 1821. 
Zachariah Peter, 1821. 
Charles R. Matheny, 1822. 
James Adams, 1825. 
Thomas Moifett, 1843. 

County Judge. 
Thomas Moffett, 1849. 
J. Wick. Taylor, 1853. 
William D. Power, 1857. 
Norman M. Broadwell, 1863, vice Power, de- 
ceased. 

William Prescott, 1865. 
A. N. J. Crook, 1869. 
James H. Mathenv, 1873. 
'Sheriff. 
John Taylor, 1821. 
James D. Henry, 1828. 
Garrett Elkin, 1834. May. 
do. 1834. Aug. 

William F. Elkin, 1840. 

* From this time the Circuit Clerk is made ex-officio 
Recorder, the latter office beius abolished. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



283 



William Harvey, 1844. 
Charles Arnold, 184&. 
Josiah Francis, 1850. 
John B. Weber, 1854. 
John Cook, 1856. 
Joseph B, Perkins, 1858. 
John W. Smith, 1860. 
Milton Hicks, 1862. 
William P. Grafton, 1864. 
Samuel Shoup, 1866. 
Dwight Brown, 1868. 
Andrew B. McConnell, 1870. 
Louis H. Ticknor, 1874. 
Temp. Elliott, 1876. 
Samuel N. Shoup, 1878. 
Hampton Gibson, 1880. 

Coroner. 

Joseph Dickson, 1821. 
Matthias Eads, 1822. 
James C. McNabb, 1824. 
John Howard, 1827. Resigned. 
Joseph Thomas, 1827. 
Philip Fowler, 1828. 
James Walters, 1828. 
James Shepherd, 1830. 
Andrew Orr, 1834. 
J. Langston, 1885. 
James W. Neale, 1844. 
James Walker, 1852. 
Thos. W. S. Kidd, 1858. 
John Hopper, 1860. 
J. T. Underwood, 1862. 
Francis M. Hudson, 1864. 
George W. Graham, 1866. 
Andrew J. Ross, 1868. 
Edward B. Bierce, 1870. 
Garrett Elkin, lb 78. 
Edward B. Bierce, 1880. 

Surveyors. 
James C. Stephenson, 1821. 
John Calhoun, 1833. 
Thomas M. Neal, 1835. 
John B. Watson, 1840. 
Joseph Ledlie, 1849. 
Ziniri A. Enos, 1854. 
Joseph Ledlie, 1857. 
William M. Warren, 1859. 
Ira Merchant, 1863. 
Jacob W. Paulen, 1865. 
Samuel A. Graham, 1867. 
C. W. Herman, 1869. 



Joseph Ledlie, 1S71. 
Will. A. Connelly, 1875. 
Samuel A. Graham, 1879. 

School Com7mssioners. 
.1. S. Britton, 1853. 
Francis Springer, 1857. 
John S. Bradford, 1859. 
N. W. Miner, 1863. 

Superintendent of Schools. 
O. S. Webster, 1865. 
W. Burgett, 1869. 
Patrick J. Rourke, 1873. 

Prosecuting Attorneys. 

Samuel D. Lock wood, 1821. 
James Turney, 1823. 
George Forquer, 1829. 
John J. Hardin, 1833. 
Stephen A. Douglas, 1835. 
David Prickett, 1837. 
David W. Woodson, 1838. 
David B. Campbell, 1839. 
A. McWilliams, 1855. 
Ward H. Lamon, 1856. 
James B. White, 1857. 
Cincinnatus M. Morrison, 1864. 
Lloyd F. Hamilton, 1872. 
Robert H. Hazlett, 1876. 

Treasurers . 
William Hay worth, 1821. 
Adam Hamilton, 1822. 
Adam Hamilton, 1823. 
William S. Hamilton, 1824. 
Andrew Orr, 1824. 
John Taylor, 1825. 
James Collins, 1827. 
Benjamin Talbott. 
J. R. Young. 
James M. Bradford. 
David Dickerson. 
John Constant. 
A. Y. Ellis. 

William T. Barrett, 1857. 
Isaac A. Ilawley, 1863. 
John G. Ives, 1865. 
Richard C. Keily, 1867. 
O. R. Baker, 1869. 
John M. Nuckolls, 1875. 
Debold Paulen, 1877. 



284 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY, 



Chapter XV. 



REMOVAL OF THE STATE CAPITAL. 



The livst capital of the Territory of Illinois 
was the old French village of Kaskaskia, the 
oldest permanent settlement of the Mississippi 
valley. On the occasion of laying the corner- 
stone of the present magnificent State House, 
Judge Caton described the building used as the 
capitol when the Territorial Government was 
organized, in the following manner: "It was a 
rough Ijuilding in the center of a square in the 
village of Kaskaskia, the ancient seat of the 
Western Empire for more than one hundred and 
fifty years. The body of the building was of 
uncut limestone,' the gable and roof of the gam- 
brel style of unpainted boards and shingles, with 
dormer windows. The lower fioor, a long, cheer- 
less room, Avas fitted up for the House, while the 
Council sat in the small chamber above. This 
venerable building was, during the French occu- 
pancy of the country, prior to 1763, the head- 
quarters of the military commandant. Thirty 
years ago, the house was a mass of ruins, and to- 
day, probably, there is not a stone left to desig- 
nate the spot where it stood." That building- 
was the capitol during the territorial existence 
of Illinois, and the State Government was also 
organized in it. 

The Constitution of 1S18, on the formation 
of the State, made it obligatory upon the Gen- 
eral Assembly to petition Congress for a grant 
of land upon which to locate the seat of gov- 
ernment for the State. In the event of the 
prayer of the petitioners being granted, a town 
was to be laid out on said land, which town 
should be the seat of government of the State 
for twenty years. The land was granted. "At 
the session of 1819, in Kaskaskia, five Commis- 
sioners were appointed to select the land appro- 
priated by Congress for the State Capital." 
The Commissioners made their selections fur- 
ther up the Kaskaskia river. Having selected 
the site, the Commissioners were sorely puzzled 



in their efforts to select a name that should be 
so euphonious as to attract the attention of the 
whole world. Governor Ford, in his history of 
Illinois, gives the following humorous account 
of the way it -was done: " Tradition says that a 
wag, who was present, suggested to the Com- 
missioners that the ' Vandals ' were a powerful 
nation of Indians, who once inhabited the 
banks of the Kaskaskia river, and that ' Van- 
dalia,' derived from the name, would perpetuate 
the memory of that extinct but renowned peo- 
ple. The suggestion pleased the Commission- 
ers, the name was adopted, and they thus proved 
that the cognomen of their new city — if they 
were fit representatives of their constituents — 
would better illustrate the character of the 
modern, than the ancient inhabitants of the 
country." 

Having located and named their town, it Avas 
at once laid out, and the dense growth of tim- 
ber cut away, and a two-story frame building 
erected on the square set apart for the State 
Capitol. The building was placed on a rough 
stone foundation in the center of the square, 
and was of very rude workmanship. The lower 
floor was for the House of Representatives, and 
the upper divided into two rooms, the largest 
one for the Senate, and the smaller one for the 
office of Secretary of State. The State Auditor 
and Treasurer occupied detached buildings. The 
archives of the State were removed from Kas- 
kaskia to Vandalia in December, 1820. That 
wooden State House was T'turned a few years 
later, and a much larger one built of brick on 
the same ground. The rapidity with which 
emigration filled up the northern portion of the 
State made it apparent, long before the twenty 
years it was to remain at Vandalia expired, that 
it Avould be necessary to remove the capital fur- 
ther north, and as early as 1832 the question 
began to be agitated in the General Assembly. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



285 



At the session of 1832-38, an act was passed 
submitting tlie question to the people, naming 
six places which could be voted for as the seat 
of Government — Springtield, Jacksonville, tlie 
Centre, Alton, Vandalia, and Peoria. It will be 
seen that four of the places named lie in tlie 
centre, or north of the centre, of the State. 
The northern and central people voting each 
the object of their choice, would thus be di- 
vided, 

A meeting was held at the Court House, in 
Springfield, January 4, 1834, presided over by 
Dan Stone, with Edward Jones as Secretary. 
The object of the meeting, which was composed 
of citizens of the entire county, was to have a 
concert of action among citizens north of Van- 
dalia and north and east of Alton, in reference 
to the removal of tlie State Cajjital. The act 
authorizing a vote upon the subject only required 
plurality of the vote cast instead of a majority, 
for any one of the six places named in order to 
elect. This would permit a minority of a little 
over one-sixth of the voters of the State to select 
the capital. Kesolutions were passed at this 
meeting recommending that the north, northeast 
and northwest counties in the State hold a gen- 
eral convention at Rushville, Schuyler county, 
on the first Monday in April, 1834, for the pur- 
pose of agreeing upon one of the four places 
named in the northern part of the State, to be 
voted for as the seat of Government. John T. 
Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, Peter Cartwright, 
George Forquer, E. D. Taylor, and Samuel Mor- 
ris were appointed to represent Sangamon county 
in the convention, provided one should be called. 
Simeon Francis, Dan Stone, George Forquer, 
John T. Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, and C. R. 
Matheny were appointed a committee on corres- 
pondence, and were directed to prepare an ad- 
dress to the citizens of the counties specified in 
the call. 

The subject created some little ill-feeling, the 
attacks of the newspapers south and southwest 
being directed towards Springfield. An article 
appeared in the Sangamo Journal favoring 
Springfield and signed "People." The Alton 
paper, believing the author of the article to be a 
citizen of Sangamon county, replied in the fol- 
lowing strain, the capitals and punctuation marks 
being as they appear in that paper: 

"The GEOGRAPPIICAL CENTER has been 
fairly chased to the moon — VANDALIA has 
experienced the desolation of Tadmor — ALTON 
is doomed to utter extinction. Tremble, now, 
O, JACKSONVILLE! and be thou mightily 
afraid, O, PEORIA! For ye, too, are soon to be 

33— 



visited in wrath by these excentrically ' centri- 
fugal' ' People' — of Sangamon. Then destruc- 
tion will come upon you like a whirl-wind, and 
your names be forever blotted from the face of 
the majj." 

It being evident the vote of the people would 
not be considered binding by the next legisla- 
ture, many places throughout the State refused 
to vote upon the question. The result of the 
vote was that Vandalia had a small majority 
over Springfield, but only one-fifth the voteij 
polled. 

The legislature of 1836-7, would be called 
upon to settle the question of the capital, and 
accordingly in the selection of Senators and 
Representatives in the General Assembly from 
this county, men were chosen whom it was 
thought would work for the interests of Spring- 
field. That the selection made was a wise one 
the results sufficiently testify. They were the 
most remarkable delegation from any one county 
to the General Assembly, being much taller 
than the average of human stature. Some of 
them were less and some more than six feet, but 
their combined height was exactly fifty-four 
feet. They were then and are yet spoken of as 
the "Long Nine." The names of those in the 
Senate were Archer G. Herndon and Job 
Fletcher; in the House, Abraham Lincoln, 
Ninian W. Edwards, John Dawson, Andrew 
McCormick, Dan Stone, William F. Elkin and 
Robert L. Wilson. One or two were as tall, but 
none taller, than Abraham Lincoln, who quoting 
his own language, was " six feet four inches, 
nearly." It was known that a movement Avould 
be made to re-locate the State Capital. The 
"Long Nine" were united for securing it, and 
nothing could turn one of them from their pur- 
pose. They were ready to yield anything else, 
but when any other point was yielded, it secured 
votes for Springfield as the capital. Their 
opportunities were great. The people of Illi- 
nois were, at that time, almost insane on the 
subject of internal improvements. Not one in 
ten thousand of them had ever seen a railroad, 
but they had heard of them, and thought the 
prairies of Illinois the best place in the world 
to build them. The first movements began in 
the General Assembly in 1834, but the first 
charter was: "An act ro incorporate the Chicago 
and Vincennes Railroad Company, with an 
authorized capital of 13,500,000 and was ap- 
proved January IV, 1835. Within a year char- 
ters were granted for building railroads in the 
State, of which the combined capital authorized 
was 1 1 8,200,000. Not a mile of railroad was 



286 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ever built under any of these charters. Uefoi-e 
the next session, the legislature realized there 
were no capitalists to build railroads, and a new 
s3-stem was inaugurated. An act was passed 
and approved February 27, 18;37, entitled: "An 
act to establish and maintain a general system 
of internal improvement." Two supplementary 
acts were passed and approved March 4, 18:^7. 
The object of these acts Avas to construct public 
works at the expense of the State in all parts of 
the same. 

While the internal improvement bill was 
pending the "Long Nine" were busy. They 
said little in locating proposed railroads, but 
would assist other localities, w^here votes could 
be secured for locating the Capital at Springfield. 
The result was the passage of "An act to per- 
manently locate the seat of government for the 
State of Illinois," which was approved February 
25, 1837. The law provided for a joint session 
of the two Houses on the 25th of the same 
month to select a situation. An appropriation 
of ^50,000 was made to commence building the 
State House. The law also declared that no 
place should be chosen unless its citizens con- 
tributed at least $50,000 to aid in the work, and 
not less than two acres of land as a site for the 
Capital. When the two houses assembled on 
the twenty-eighth, the question was decided by 
the following: 



Ballotiii2;s. 



1st. 



2d.l3d. 14th. 



Springfield. . 
Jacksoaville 
Vandalia . . . . 

Peoria 

Alton 

Illiopolia. . . . 
Scattering . . 



35 


48 


53 


14 


15 


9 


16 


15 


16 


16 


12 


11 


15 


16 


14 




10 

7 


3 
15 


25 



73 
1 

15 
6 
6 



That settled the question and Springfield was 
declared to be the future Capital of the State. 

A supplemental act was passed on the third 
of March authorizing the Commissioners of San- 
gamon county to convey the land to the State as 
a site for the new edifice. It also named A. G. 
Henry, of Sangamon; Archibald Job, of Cass, 
and William Herndon, of Sangamon, as Com- 
missioners, who were authorized and empowered 
to superintend the work of erection. It was 
expected the new capital would be completed in 
time for the first meeting of the legislature in 
Springfield, which was fixed for the special ses- 
sion of 1839-40. Finding that the building 



could not be sufticiently advanced, the Second 
Presbyterian Church, on Fourth street, was 
secured as Representatives' Hall. The building 
was then quite new, and was by far the largest 
church edifice in the central and whole northern 
part of the State. It was built of brick, stood 
a few feet north of the site of the present mag- 
nificent Second Presbyterian Church, until the 
latter was erected. The old building was torn 
down in the summer of 1875. The Methodist 
Church was used for the Senate Chamber, and 
the Episcopal Church for the Supreme Court, 
both wooden buildings. The legislature first 
convened in special session December 9, 1839. 

It was thought by many to be unreasonable, 
to require a little town of eleven hundred in- 
habitants, struggling with the disadvantages of 
a new country, to pay the ISO, 000 pledged. 
During that special session, Hon. Stephen A. 
Douglas, then a member from Morgan county, 
proposed to bring in a bill releasing Springfield 
frc.m the payment of the same. The sterling 
honesty of Abraham Lincoln manifested itself 
on this, as on all other proper occasions. He 
interposed his objections, although he fully ap- 
preciated the kindly feelings that prompted the 
proposal, — but he insisted that the money should 
be paid. Arrangements were entered into for 
paying it in three installments. The two first 
payments were made without any great difii- 
culty, but the third pressed more heavil}'^, as the 
financial crash that swept over the whole United 
States while the new State House was in course 
of construction impoverished many. Under 
these circumstances, it became necessary to bor- 
row the money to make the last payment, from 
the State Bank of Illinois. A note for the amount 
was signed by one hundred and one citizens, and 
deposited with the Bank; the money drawn, with 
which Internal Improvement scrip, or stock, was 
purchased and paid into the State Treasury; thus 
paying the last installment in the State's own 
evidence of indebtedness. From that time, it 
was a matter between the State Bank and the 
citizens who signed the note. Soon after the 
note was given the bank failed, and some of the 
payments were made in the depreciated paper of 
the bank, for which it had received par value 
when it was paid out. The original note is pre- 
served in the Ridgely National Bank, but the 
following is a copy of the same: 

"$16,666.67. Springfield, March 22, 1830. 

"One year after date, we, the undersigned, or 
either of us, promise to pay to the President, 
Directors and Company of the State Bank of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



28: 



Illinois, sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty- 
six dollars and sixty-seven cents, lor value re- 
ceived, negotiable and payable at the bank, in 
Springfield, with interest until paid, at the rate of 
six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually." 

John Hay, L. Higby, 

Joseph Thayer, William Thornton, 

M.O.Reeves, W. P. Grimsley, 

William Wallace, John B. Watson, 

C. PI. Ormsby, Thomas Mather, 

Tho. Houghan, D. Prickett, 

J, Calhoun, Josiah Francis, 

Washington lies, Joel Johnson, 

C. B. Francis, ' Wm. S. Burch, 

C. R. Matheny, William Butler, 

P. C. Canedy, Jos. Klein, 

P. C. Latham, A. G. Henry, 

Ninian W. Edwards, John T. Stuart, 

Jonas Whitney, Moses Coffman, 

George Pasfield, B. C. Webster, 

S. M. Tinsley, Ephriam Darling, 

Jona. Merriam, Ira Sanford, 

Charles Arnold, John L. Turner, 

Joshua F. Amos, Sullivan Conant, 

And. McClellan, Alexander Shields, 

A. Trailor, C. C. Phelps, 
R. B. Zimmerman, William Hall, 
James L, Lamb, M. L. Knapp, 
J. M. Shackleford, B. Ferguson, 
Benjamin Talbott, Jesse Corraack, 

B. C. Johnson, Thomas Moffatt, 
John F. Rague, Simeon Francis, 
Nathaniel Hay, Robert Irwin, 
Virgil Hickox, George Trotter, 
Stephen T. Logan, Robert Allen, 
James R. Gray, J. Adams, 

J. S. Britton, W. B. Powell. 

F. C. Thompson, E. M. Henkle, 

James W. Keyes, Wm. Porter, 

Wra. H. Marsh, W. Ransdell, 

Joshua S. Hobbs, John G. Bergen, 

B. S. Clement, Erastus Wright, 

John Todd, E. D. Baker, 

A. Lincoln, Garrett Elkin, 

John Capps, Alexr. Garrett, 

Gershom Jayne, T. M. Neale, 

William G. Abrams, Dewey Whitney, 

M. Mobley, Foley Vaughn, 

Abner Y.Ellis, N. A. Rankin, 

S. H. Treat, Elijah lies, 

Henry F. Luckett, James P. Langford, 

Henry Cassequin, J. M. Cabaniss, 

James Maxcy, Z. P. Cabaniss, 

E. G. Johns, Amos Camp, 

Thos. J. Goforth, Benj. F. Jewett, 
W. M. Cowffill. 



From a footing up of the principal and inter- 
est on one side of the note, the final settlement 
appears to have been made February \9, 1846. 
The principal and interest to that time was 
$17,91S. 

Soon after the legislature adjourned at Van- 
dalia, in March, 1837, and the members returned 
to their homes, a piablic festival was given in 
Springfield in honor of the new legislation for 
the removal of the capital. Among the toasts 
and speeches that followed the dinner, were the 
two following: 

By Abraham Lincoln, Esq.: "All our friends — 
they are too numerous to mention now, individ- 
ually, while there is no one of them who is not 
too dear to be forgotten or neglected.'' 

By S. A. Douglas, Esq.: "The last winter's 
legislation — May its results prove no less bene- 
ficial to the whole State than they have to our 
town." 

A tradition still lingers here that something 
stronger than water was used in drinking the 
toasts on that occasion, as there was not a man 
to be found after the festival that could tell who 
made the last speech, and that important fact is 
lost to history. 

The Commissioners appointed to superintend 
the building at once entered upon the discharge 
of their duties, and on the fourth of July, 1837, 
the corner-stone of the State House was laid 
with grand civic and military demonstrations. 
After it had been lowered to its place in the 
wall, E. D. Baker delivered an eloquent address 
appropriate to the occasion. It was estimated 
that the building would cost $130,000, but 
1240,000 was expended before it was completed 
according to the original design. When at last 
completed it was looked upon with wonder and 
admiration by the people. It was thought to be 
so large that it would answer all the purposes of 
the State for all time to come. 

BUILDING OP A NEW STATE HOUSE. 

The growth of the State, between the years 
1840 and 18(55, was remarkable, and long before 
this time it became apparent that a new State 
House was demanded for the accommodation of 
the officers and public, and for the preservation 
of the public records. There began to be intima- 
tions thrown out, that when the question of a new 
building came up for legislation, other impor- 
tant towns would endeavor to bring an influence 
to bear in favor of a re-location and removal of 
the capital. The citizens of Springfield and San- 
gamon county fully realized the difficulties 
and dangers of the agitation of the question of a 



288 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



new building; and although the use of the old 
was felt to be an obstacle to the growth of the 
city, yet many felt disposed to put off the evil 
day as long as possible. From a pamphlet his- 
tory of Springfield, by J. C. Power, published 
in 1871, the following is extracted: 

"During the summer of 1866, Hon. Jaraes C. 
Conkling became a candidate for a seat in the 
lower branch of the General Assembly, with the 
view of making the subject of building a new 
State House a prominent question before the 
legislature, if elected. Mr. Conkling went be- 
fore the people upon this question and the pol- 
itics of the day, and was elected, — although his 
opponent was friendly to the move for a new 
State House, also. The election was held in No- 
vember, 1866. 

"Hon. John S. Bradford was Mayor of Spring- 
field, at the time, and in consequence of the gen- 
eral feeling on the State House question, he, 
soon after the State election, sent out private in- 
vitations to some forty or fifty of the most prom- 
inent business men, "to meet him on a certain 
evening, in a hall named in the invitation. When 
they were assembled, Mayor Bradford was called 
on to preside, and state the object of the meeting. 
He informed them that it was, to hold a consul- 
tation with reference to bringing the subject of 
building a new capitol for the State before the 
General Assembly, for its action at the approach- 
ing session. After the delivery of a brief ad- 
dress by the Mayor, a general interchange of 
views followed, when it was found that the feel- 
ing was almost unanimous in favor of action. 
By subsequent meetings, and consultations with 
the Board of Supervisors for Sangamon county, 
and the city authorities of Springfield, those two 
organizations were ready to purchase the old 
State House for the use of the county and city, 
in the event of the General Assembly deciding 
to erect a new one. 

LAAV PROVIDING FOR BUIi,DING A NEW CAPITOL. 

Accordingly, when the legislature assembled, 
Mr. Conkling presented a bill providing for the 
erection of a new State Capitol at Springfield, 
and laid it before the House of Representatives 
early in the session. It was referred to the 
Committee on Public Buildings; and, after re- 
maining in their hands several weeks, during 
which time some changes were made, the prin- 
cipal one being an increase of the amount to be 
paid for the old State House, it M'as reported 
back to the House, with the unanimous recom- 
mendation that it be adopted. It passed both 
Houses, and was approved by Governor R. J. 



Oglesby, February 25, 1867, with a supplement- 
ary act two days later. 

This law provided, first, for ihe conveyance 
by the Goa ernor of the public square, contain- 
ing two and a half acres of land, with the State 
House upon it, to Sangamon county and the city 
of Springfield, in consideration of |200,000,to be 
paid to the State of Illinois, and for the further 
consideration that the city and county cause to 
be conveyed to the State a certain piece of land, 
described by metes and bound, in the bill, and 
containing between eight and nine acres, upon 
which to erect the new State House. This bill 
also provides that the State shall have the use of 
the old State House until the new one is com- 
pleted. The land was secured at a cost to the 
city of 170,000, and conveyed to the State; the 
1200,000 was paid by the county, and that 
amount, with 1250,000 more to be drawn from 
the State treasury, making 1450,000, was appro- 
priated to commence the work. 

It is proper here to state that the 1200,000, 
paid nominally for the old State House, was 
really in consideration that a new one was to be 
built. The people of Sangamon county would 
now much prefer to re-convey it to the State, if 
they could have refunded the !&200,000 with the 
$80,000 interest, that the money has been worth 
during that time; then they could build a Court 
House much more to their liking, for a much 
smaller amount of money. 

It is a matter in which the people have a right 
to feel an honest pride, that while other towns 
and cities in different parts of the State have 
made liberal offers to secure the location of some 
State institution, only to evade its provisions, 
and in the end leave the State to make up their 
deficiencies, Springfield and Sangamon county 
have redeemed every pledge they have made to 
the people of the State. Upon this subject they 
invite the closest scrutiny. 

In the law, seven men were named as Com- 
missioners, to superintend the erection of the 
new State House, and disburse the funds appro- 
priated for that purpose. They were instructed 
to advertise for plans and specifications, for 
thirty days, in two daily papers each, in Spring- 
field and Chicago, and one each, in Philadelphia 
and New York. After waiting three months 
they were to notify the Committees on Public 
Buildings as provided by law, who were to 
unite with the Commissioners in adopting a 
design. The Commissioners were to be gov- 
erned by the plan so adopted, and the total cost 
of the building was not to exceed 1-3,000,000. 
March 5, 1867, they advertised "Notice to 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



289 



Architects," offering $3,000 to the architect 
whose design should be adopted for the new 
State House, and asking for plans and specifica- 
tions to be submitted for their inspection. 

EFFORTS TO NULLIFY THE LAW AND THEIR 
FAILURE. 

A writ of quo inarranto — or an inquiry as to 
their right or authority to act — was issued 
against the Commissioners, from the Superior 
Court of Chicago, May 13, 1867, on the relation 
of Mathew Laflin, and judgment of ouster was 
entered. The Commissioners appealed to the 
Supreme Court, and the decision was reversed 
at Ottawa, in September of that year. The 
Commissioners having advertised for proposals 
before the commencement of the suit, and hav- 
ing named the loth of July as the time for in- 
specting the designs, and being deprived of the 
power to act by the decision of the Superior 
Court of Chicago, placed both themselves and 
architects in an awkward position. The Su- 
preme Court, however, came to their relief by 
giving special permission to the Commissioners 
to call to their assistance the Committees on 
Public Buildings, as provided by law, and the 
inspection took place as previously intended, on 
the l5th of July, in the Senate Chamber at 
Springfield. A large number of designs were 
submitted to their inspection, and, after mature 
deliberation, that presented by J. C. Cochrane, 
of Chicago, was adopted. 

The Commissioners, being compelled to re- 
main inactive until after the meeting of the Su- 
preme Court in September, it was too late in 
the season to do anything more than prepare for 
active business the next year. Their first act 
after the decision of the Snpreme Court re-in- 
stating them was on the 8th of November, 
when they issued an advertisement for sealed 
proposals to do the excavating, and furnish cer- 
tain descriptions of stone. 

January 14, 1868, John C. Cochrane was ap- 
pointed architect and superintendent, and a con- 
tract entered into for that purpose. January 18, 
a contract was made with N. Strott, of Spring- 
field, for the excavation; and January 20th, with 
R. W. McClaughry & Co., of Hancock county, 
for stone to build the foundations. Broken 
stone, for concrete, was purchased, readv deliv- 
ered, of J. J. & W. H. Mitchell, of" Alton. 
March 25th, a contract was made with Barnard 
& Gowen, of Chicago, to do the mason Avork. 

MAGNITUDE OF THE WORK. 

The magnitude of the enterprise may be in- 
ferred from the fact that the parties who fur- 



nished the foundation stone gave security in 
the penal sum of $.550,000 for the jierformance 
of contract, and those who do the mason work 
a penal sum of $200,000. Excavating was com- 
menced early in the spring, but owing to the 
excessive rains the ground was not in a pi'oper 
condition to commence laying stone until June 
11, 1868. From that time until cold weather 
put a stop to it, the work was prosecuted vigor- 
ously, and a part of the foundation was brought 
to a level with the surface during the month of 
September. 

LAYING CORNER STONE. 

The Grand Master of Masons for the State of 
Illinois was invited by the Commissioners to 
assemble the craft for the purpose of laying the 
corner stone of the new State House with the 
imposing ceremonials of the order. The invita- 
tion was accepted, and October 5 set apart as 
the time at which it was to take place. A stone 
was prepared, eight feet long, four feet wide 
and three feet deep, with a recess for receiving 
such articles as it was thought desirable to de- 
posit. A catalogue of them would fill one of 
these pages. 

The day was bright and cheerful, and the pro- 
cession the largest that had ever been seen at 
the Capital of the State, except at the obsequies 
of President Lincoln in May, 1865. Masons 
were present from all parts of the State, of all 
degrees, fi-om Master Mason to Knight Templar. 
After the corner stone had been tested by the 
implements of the order, and pronounced well 
formed, true and trusty, it was placed in its 
proper position at the northeast corner of the 
building. An eloquent oration was then deliv- 
ered by Hon. John D. Caton, of Ottawa. The 
ceremonials having closed, the craft and others 
present were called from labor to refreshment, 
and all repaired to the " Rink" to partake of a 
sumptuous collation prepared by the Lelands. 
After dinner the multitude dispersed to their 
homes, to treasure up the memories of the day 
as one of the most pleasant wayraarks of their 
lives. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW^ STATE HOUSE. 

Without regard to such technicalities as would 
be pleasing to architects, I shall endeavor to 
describe the edifice, in such language as will be 
most easily understood by the common reader. 
The ground plan is in the form of a great cross, 
and the superstructure is in the style called the 
classic order of architecture. It so blends the 
ancient and modern art of building as to secure 
the greatest strength and solidity and yet pre- 



290 



HISTOEY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



serve an exterior appearance fo ligbt and airy 
as to be pleasant to the eye. The grand cut- 
lines are, total length frcm north to south, three 
hundred and fifty-nire ftet, exclusive of the 
porticos, which adds twenty feet to each end. 
From east to west it is two hundred and sixty- 
six feet, with twenty feet additional in the 
grand portico at the east end, which is the prin- 
cipal front. There is an excavation underground 
ot ten feet depth, throughout entire area. It is 
designed by the architect for the heating- 
apparatus, the storage of fuel and other heavy 
articles. So much of the iloor as is used, is to 
be covered with concrete. 

The next above this is the first story; it is 
nineteen feet high, and entirely above ground. 
The floor of ibis story is supported by brick 
arches; and in the halls the aiches are double, 
one being two feet below the other, to form via- 
ducts to supply the rooms with freeh air. A 
layer of concrete covers the entiie aita cf the 
arches, and upon this, iinbedded in cement, is 
laid the marble floors throughout. 

On ibis floor we find private rooms for the 
Judges of the Supreme Court, ard committee 
rooms. The lajgest portion of this flocr is de- 
voted to the storage of stationery, piinting paper, 
and all articles connected with or used in any 
other part of the building. One of these rooms 
is for the storage of geological specimens, and 
another for geological artists. One or more is 
for the Adjutant-General's cflSce and museum. 
This story, in addition to the windows on all 
sides, is lighted by a glass ceiling in the centre, 
which forms the floor of the rotunda above. 

Above this is the principal story, which is 
twenty-two feet and a half frcm floor to ceiling. 
On this floor is the main corridor, running the 
entire length of the building from noilh to 
south, and the grand corridor crossing it at right 
angles under the dome, and extending across the 
building from east to west. The main corridor 
is 359 feet long, twenty-four feet wide and 
twenty-two and a half feet high. 

The sides of the main corridor will be finished 
with marble pilasters projecting from the walls, 
thus forming panels. The entire walls en both 
sides, consisting of pilasters with their caps and 
bases, panels and their borders, and door finish, 
are all to be of variagated marble, and the ceil- 
ing to be frescoed. The grand corridor, entend- 
ing from the east portico to the grand stairway 
in the western wing, is so called in consideration 
of its great width — thirty-two feet — and because 
the pilasters are more massive and the finish 
more elaborate than in the main corridor. 



The rooms on the floor desciibed are to be 
used as follows: Governor's reception and pri- 
vate rooms; ofliice of the Secretary of State; of 
the' Treasurer of State, and of the Auditor of 
Public Accounts; Superintendent of Public In- 
struction; Superintendent of Public Instruction's 
library; law library; State document libiary; At- 
torney General's office; Supreme Court locm; 
Supreme Court Clerk's office; four massive stone 
fire-proof vaults, and the Slate Treasurei's bur- 
glar-proof safe. The State Geologist's museum 
is just over the State Geologist's store-room, in 
the first story, with which it is connected by a 
private stairway; State Geologist's office. "W ith 
all these, there are the necessary water clcsets, 
wash rooms, private offices, and the grand stair- 
way, which leads to the story above. This flight 
is to be made of Tennessee marble, the steps 
each sixteen feet long. 

The floors of this story are supported by 
wrought iron beams, properly braced with angle 
irons, all well secured with rivets. The spaces 
between the wrought iron beams are filled with 
brick arches, the whole of which is covered with 
concrete, having wooden strips imbedded, to hold 
the wooden floors, in the rooms only. The floors 
in the balls and coriidors are all marble, chequer- 
ed by alternate squares of different colors. 

The principal entrance is at the east side, by 
an immense flight of stone steps, seventy-three 
feet wide, landing in a grand portico. 

We will ascend the front steps, enter the east 
portico, pass along the grand corridor, over the 
glass floor in the rotunda, and continue west to 
the foot of the grand staiiway, which we ascend 
to half the height of the story, then turn about, 
either to the right or left, and ascend to the sec- 
ond p)rincipal story. The floor of this story is 
constructed exactly as the one described below. 
Keep in mind that the entire edifice retains the 
foini of a grand cross — first story, principal 
story, and second principal story. It is the floor 
of the latter on which we are now standing. 

This story is forty-five feet frcm floor to ceil- 
ings Let us enter the north angle or arm of the 
cross. Here we find the Senate Chamber, sixty- 
two by seventy-five feet, with the desk of the 
presiding ofticer at the north side. In the ex- 
treme north end of this wing, we find rooms 
properly arranged for the Speaker, Chief Clerk, 
Enrolling and Engrossing Clerks, Seargeant-at- 
Arms, postcftice, and folding room; with corri- 
dors on the east and west sides. 

We will now pass out south, around the ro- 
tunda, and across the corridor into the hall of 
the House of Representatives, in the southern 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



291 



angle of the building. This hall is sixty-six by 
one hundred feet, with Speaker's desk at the south 
side. The desks here, as in the Senate Chamber, 
are in a semi-circular form. Here we find, under 
somewhat different arrangements, rooms attached 
■ for the same offices as those connected with the 
Senate Chamber. In both halls there are cloak 
rooms, wash rooms and water closets conveniently 
attached. Both are lighted in the day time, 
principally through the roof. 

The east wing has rooms for the Canal Com- 
missioners and committee rooms, with cloak and 
other necessary rooms attached. Between these 
rooms and the rotunda there is a lobby 26x104 
feet, extending across the wing from north to 
south. 

The west wing has rooms for the State Library, 
the Librarian, a reading room, and an audience 
room each for the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

The Senate Chamber and Representatives' 
Hall have each a gallery, extending around three 
sides, half way from floor to ceiling. A portion 
of the gallery in each house is set apart for the 
use of reporters of the press. On a level with 
the galleries, a floor extends over all the office 
rooms connected with both houses, the Gov- 
ernor's rooms, State Library, reception rooms, 
and all except the two legislative halls. This 
floor is divided into a great number of small 
rooms, for the use of committees of both houses, 
and is designated the gallery story. 

To impress it on the mind, I will here reca- 
pitulate, that the body of the edifice above 
ground consists of the first story, principal story, 
second principal story, and gallery story. 

The roof on all the wings is of the Mansard 
style, covered with slate on the sides and copper 
on top. Above all this rises the stately dome, 
surmounted by a lantern with a ball on the pin- 
nacle, three hundred and twenty feet from the 
natural surface of the earth, being forty-three feet 
higher than the Capitol at Washington. The lan- 
tern is sixteen feet wide, and twenty-four feet 
from bottom to top. The frame work is of iron 
and the sides of glass. The floor of the lantern 
will be two hundred and eighty feet above the 
surface of the earth. An iron stairway ascend- 
ing inside the dome will afford access to 
the lantern. The means of communicating 
between the basement story and the legis- 
lative halls will be by the grand stairway and 
two other public and three private stairways. 

In addition to this, there will be two steam 
hoisting apparatus, or elevators, by means of 
which persons can ascend or descend from one 



to another ol" the fioors, by simply slepping on 
and oft' a platform. 

For heating and ventilating the building, there 
will be ten boilers, forty-eight inches in diame- 
ter, and twelve feet long. A steam engine of 
twenty horse-power will be used for running the 
elevator, and a fan, twelve feet in diameter, to 
produce sufficient circulation of air to ventilate 
the building in a proper manner. There will be 
193,500 lineal feet of pipe, used to conduct the 
steam to all parts of the building. 

The principal material used in the edifice is 
cut stone. Of this there will be nearly three- 
quarters of a million cubic feet, including the 
foundation. About one-half the stone is finely 
dressed, or planed. This does not include the 
marble, of which there is an enormous quantity. 
In addition to the stone in the walls, there will 
be about twenty millions of brick. Of wrought 
iron there will be one million, four hundred and 
fourteen thousand, one hundred and one pounds, 
or one thousand, two hundred and seven tons; 
and of cast iron three million, three hundred 
and seventy-three thousand, four hundred and 
fifty-six pounds, or one thousand, eight hundred 
and thirty-six and one-half tons. 

The rotunda is seventy-six feet in diameter; 
from the glass floor, where the grand and main 
corridors cross each other, to the fresco painting, 
just beneath the dome will be two hundred and 
seventeen feet without any obstruction to the 
view whatever. 

The three porticos, at the north, south, and 
east sides, are to have ten columns each. These 
columns are to be forty-five feet high, without 
the plinth block, which is four feet high. The 
base and cap pieces are to be cut separate; the 
two make nine feet of the height. Deduct this 
from forty-five, leaves thirtj'-six feet as the 
height, and four and a half feet diameter, as the 
dimensions of the columns. Thirty of these 
are to be cut in' single pieces each, from stone in 
the quarry, if any such can be found. 

Let us take our position in front of the east 
portico. It is ninety feet wide. From each of 
the front corners rises a turret to the height of 
one hundred and thirty-two feet. That on the 
right, or to the north, is to be surmounted by a 
statue of Lincoln, and the one on the left, or to 
the south, by a statue of Douglas. This, as I 
have stated, is the principal front, or entrance. 

I have thus described, from the working 
drawings and the book of specifications of Coch- 
rane & Piquenard, superintending architects, the 
merest outline of the new Capitol of Illinois, 
now in course of construction, as it will appear 



292 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



when completed. Let us see what has been done 
towards carrying out the designs laid down on 
the trestle-board, 

WORK COMPLETED. 

The excavation for the foundation on which 
the great dome is to rest is twenty five feet be- 
low the natural surface of the ground, and at the 
bottom is a solid ledge of stone. The area is 
circular, and is ninety-two and one-half feet in 
diameter. The foundation was commenced by 
covering the entire space, to an average depth 
of six feet, with concrete — that is, broken stone, 
cement, clean sharp sand, and water. This con- 
crete receives the heavy stone walls, of an av- 
erage of seventeen feet in thickness, till brought 
to the level of the first floor, which is twenty- 
four feet above the concrete. These walls are 
not made of heavy stone on the outside and 
filled in with small ones, but they are all large; 
some of them two, three, and four tons weight, 
each. Think of the thickness of the walls, 
standing on a solid ledge of limestone, and per- 
haps you can comprehend their solidity! 

The excavation for the outer walls around the 
entire building is twelve feet beneath the sur- 
face, and nine feet wide. The walls are com- 
menced with two feet depth of concrete all over 
the bottom. Thej^ are eight feet and eight inches 
wide at the bottcm, and run up, with offsets, to 
six feet three inches at the ground-line. Parts 
of the walls are seven feet nine inches at the 
bottom, tapered to five feet four inches; and yet 
other portions, ten feet and eleven inches at the 
bottom, and eight feet six inches at the top, or 
natural surface of the ground. The stones in all 
the foundation are large. Not a single one is 
put in place by hand — they are all moved by 
steam derricks. One of these machines will take 
a stone of many tons weight, lift it from the 
ground, swing it to its place on the wall, and lay 
it down as easy and gently as a child would take 
a peach from the floor and lay it on a table. 

The foundation was commenced by laying the 
first stone June 11, 1868, and finished in August, 
1869. This includes the foundation for the dome 
and the outer walls around the entire building — 
two hundred and sixty-six by three hundred and 
fifty-nine feet, with all the buttresses on the 
outside and the inside walls and piers. The su- 
perstructure to rise on these walls is to be of 
heavy stone, with brick backing. To the top of 
the first story, which is twent}'-five feet above the 
ground-line; they are five feet thick. All the 
walls are now completed to that height. Viewed 



from all sides, now, it begins to disclose its vast 
proportions. 

From the top of the basement story to the 
cornice, sixty feet, the walls are to be four feet 
thick. The brick backing is so constructed as 
to make them hollow, for the purpose of keeping, 
the interior dry. 

W. D. Clark is the assistant superintendent, 
under the architects. He has done the civil en- 
gineering, also; having set every stake and laid 
every line. 

A great outcry has been made by some par- 
ties that the work was defective. Those who 
make such charges are either ignorant of what 
they say or write, or they have some less worthy 
object in view than to ^ubserve the interests of 
the State. To those who know Mr. Clark, such 
a charge seems utterly absurd. They would be 
no more surprised to hear that he had put his 
hand in the fire without an object, than to learn 
that he had permitted a piece of defective ma- 
terial or workmanship to enter into the con- 
struction of the edifice. 

The entire outer surface of the building, below 
the Mansard, will be planed Illinois limestone. 
It is taken from the quarries near Joliet. By a 
law, enacted in 1809, the work of preparing the 
stone is confined to the convicts in the State 
penitentiary. The contractors have, at all times, 
promptly discharged their obligations. 

EPITOME OF THE LEGISLATION FOR THE NEW 
STATE HOUSE. 

The laws of February 25 and 27, 1867, to pro- 
vide for the erection of a new State House, ap- 
pi'opriated $450,000 to begin the work; declared 
that the total cost should not exceed 13,000,000; 
named seven Commissioners and one Secretary 
to carry out the law; limited the amount of ex- 
penditures and liabilities they should incur 
within the amount appropriated, and declared 
that everything in excess of that should be 
deemed unlawful. 

Laws of March 11 and 27, 1869, legislated 
the seven Commissioners and Secretary out of 
ofiice; provided for the appointment of three 
Commissioners, by the Governor; ordered that 
all stone, iron, and labor for the new State 
House that could be procured at the peniten- 
tiarj', in Joliet, should be obtained there, and at 
no other place; required the new Commissioners 
to have a new copy of plans, specifications, and 
estimates made in detail; and when completed, 
to notify the Committees of the Senate and 
House of Representatives on Public Buildings 
and State Library. And said Committee were 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



293 



instructed to hold a joint session, to examine 
tlie plans, specifications, and estimates; and in 
the event of their being satisfied that the build- 
ing could be c mpleted within the limit of 
$3,000,000, in addition to what had already been 
expended, they were to order the Commissioners 
to proceed; appropriated 1650,000, to be used in 
carrying forward the work on the new State 
House, but prohibited the use of it until the 
above conditions were complied with. 

Under the law of March 11, 1869, Governor 
Palmer appointed Jacob Bnnn, James C.Robin- 
son and James H. Beveridge as Commissioners 
to continue the work of constructing the new 
State House. The board organized April 12, 
1869, by electing Jacob Bunn President and 
James H. Beveridge Secretary. The Commis- 
sioners at once caused detailed plans, specifica- 
tions and estimates for continuing the work on 
the new State House to be prepared by the 
superintending architects. They notified the 
committees of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, and a joint session was held in the 
Senate Chamber at Springfield, April 27, 1869, 
and a copy of the plans and specifications was 
laid before them. At a meeting of the com- 
mittees, on the 12th of May, it was 

" Resolved, That the State House Commis- 
sioners be and they hereby are authorized to 
complete the foundation of the new State House 
under existing contracts, and to expend the 
balance of the appropriation first made, or as 
much thereof as may be necessary for the pur- 
pose." 

The work was commenced immediately and 
the foundation completed early in August, as 
previously stated. 

The total estimates of the superintending 
architects, submitted with plans and specifica- 
tions, amounted to $2,650,885. The joint com- 
mittee deemed it advisable to have the opinions 
of parties who were not interested, called to 
their assistance Augustus Bauer and Asher Car- 
ter, architects, and W. C, Deakman, master 
builder, all of Chicago, and had them make an 
estimate in detail, according to the same plans 
and specifications, and their estimate was 
$2,737,940.86 — no greater difference in propor- 
tion than two bidders would make on almost any 
piece of work. 

The joint committee did not complete their 
investigations until August 26, 1869. They 
then ordered the Commissioners to go forward 
with the work according to the plans and specifi- 
cations, with certain alterations recommended 

34— 



by the superintending architects and master 
builder. They publicly expressed the belief 
that it could be finished within the $3,000,000, 
and that " when completed it would be a beauti- 
ful, convenient and permanent structure, worthy 
of the State." 

Thus the best part of another season passed 
away with such hindrances as prevented the 
Commissioners from prosecuting the work as 
energetically as they desired to do. 

The Convention called by the people of 
Illinois, for the purpose of framing a new Con- 
stitution for the State, recognized the fact that 
the Capital had been permanently located at 
Springfield by legal authority, and that a posi- 
tive law required the work of all State officers 
and all legislative enactments to be done at 
Springfield, as the Capital; and that laws had 
been passed by two previous legislatures, making 
large appropriations of money for building a 
new edifice in which to tiansact the business of 
the State; and that a design had been adopted 
on a scale of grandeur and magnificence in jn-o- 
portion to its wealth and influence, deemed it 
wise to insert a clause in the new Constitution 
to guard against abuses too often practiced in 
connection with works erected at public expense. 

The Constitutional Convention, therefore, in- 
serted under the miscellaneous head the fol- 
lowing: 

" Section 33. The General Assembly shall 
not appropriate out of the State Treasury, or 
expend on account of the new Capitol grounds, 
and construction, completion and furnishing of 
the State House, a sum exceeding, in the aggre- 
gate, three and a half millions of dollars, inclu- 
sive of all appropriations heretofore made, 
without first submitting the proposition for au 
additional expenditure to the legal voters of the 
State, at a general election, nor unless a majority 
of all the votes cast at such election shall be for 
the proposed additional expenditure." 

AVith this provision in the new Constitution, 
it was submitted to the people July 2, 1870, and 
adopted by an overwhelming majority. 

The appropriation of February 25, 1867, was 
$450,000, and that of March 11, 1869, $650,000, 
making a total of $1,100,000. 

The expenditures have been as follows: 

From beginuiuo; to December 30, 1868 $354,126 12 

From December 30, 1868, to March 11, 1869. 16,657 07 

Total expenditures by first Board of 
seven Commissioners $370,783 29 

The Board of three Commissioners appointed 
by Governor Palmer, under the law of March 



294 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



11, I8(}y, Lave carried the work forward, and 
their expenditures — 

To November 30, 1869, Avere $156,876 76 

From November 30, 1869, to November 30, 

1870 277,543 13 

From November 30, 1870, to February 1, 

1871 77,918 79 

Total to February 1, 1871 $883,121 87 

From February 1 to April 14, 1871 53,096 91 

Due for irou on the way from Belgium. . . . 12,895 30 

Total $949,114 08 

There is due on existing contracts, for mate- 
terials and for work, enough to bring the total 
expenditure up to about $1,000,000, leaving 
about 1100,000 of the appropriation of 1869 
unexpended. 

Early in the session of the General Assembly, 
which convened January 4, 1871, a bill was 
introduced in the Senate, appropriating ^600,000 
to carry on the work of the new State House. 
It passed that body by a very small number of 
dissenting votes. In the House of Representa- 
tives it was read a first and second time, and 
ordered to a third reading, but was not reached 
in the regular order of business, when the legis- 
lature adjourned temporarily, on the seventeenth 
of April. 

The sessions of the General Assembly being 
biennial, each alternate year brings, to a large 
extent, a new class of men together in the legis- 
lative halls. The public has been so accus- 
tome-d to hear of fraud in connection with 
buildings of this kind, that men coming for the 
first time, and looking upon the collossal pro- 
portions of this edifice, take it for granted that 
there must be jobs and peculations, and, without 
investigating the subject, there are always those 
who are ready to cry out, "Rings! Rings! 
Steals! Steals!" 

By these devices, one of the two years con- 
nected with each legislature has been frittered 
away from the commencement, and this order 
of things seems destined to continue. From 
this cause the year 1867 was one of inactivity; 
in 1868, work was done; 1869 was one of idle- 
ness; 1870 work, and 1871 is likely to be one of 
idleness also. 

The Commissioners, Jacob Bunn, James C. 
Robinson and James H. Beveridge have passed 
through two years of investigation out of the 
four since the work commenced, and in each in- 
stance have emerged from the ordeal without 
the smell of fire upon their garments. Should 
the present year prove to be one of inactivity, it 
will be no fault of theirs; and their works are 



the only vindication they need, concerning 
wdiich they take pleasure in giving all the in- 
formation in their power. 

The following quotation from the law, which 
has been strictly complied with in every particu- 
lar, is a sufficient refutation, in the estimation 
of all honest men, of the ridiculous charge that 
Mr. Bunn is using the money appropriated for 
building the State House in his banking busi- 
ness: 

"The accounts of the expenditures of said 
commissioners shall be certified by said commis- 
sioners, or a majority of them, and the Secretary 
of State, and approved by the Governor. The 
Auditor shall thereupon draw his warrant upon 
the Treasurer therefor, to be paid out of the 
fund herein before provided, in favor of the 
party to v;hom the accounts shall he due.'''' 

It will thus be seen that Mr. Bunn, like all 
other citizens, cannot receive a dollar of the 
State House money except for services rendered, 
or materials furnished, and then only when his 
bill is allowed by his associates in office, certified 
by the Secretary of State, and approved by the 
Governor. 

It will not be considered exaggeration by any 
man who has honestly endeavored to obtain cor- 
rect information on the subject, for me to say 
that the work on the new State Houf.e has been 
as well done, and the duties of all connected with 
it as faithfully discharged, as they have been with 
any similar undertaking on the American Conti- 
nent. 

It will be such a magnificent structure, and so 
well adapted to the uses for which it is designed, 
that the people can afford to be patient. The 
work is now about one-third done, and if this 
should prove to be the last year of idleness, it 
may yet be completed in time to use it in cele- 
brating the first Centennial of American Inde- 
pendence. It will be well worthy of such a 
christening. 

Some changes were made in the plans as given 
by Mr. Power in the foregoing statement. The 
excavation underneath the building for the heat- 
ing apparatus was never used, but a building 
was erected for that purpose aboiit one block 
north. The room over the State Geologist's 
store room is now used by the Agricultural De- 
partment, and the Geologist's museum occupies 
the room intended for the library. The library 
room, is now between the Secretary of State's 
office and the Index Department of that office. 
There are only two galleries in each Represen- 
tatives' Hall and Senate Chamber. The gallery 
on the north, in the Representatives' Hall, is de- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



295 



signed as a ladies' gallery, and the one on the 
south for gentlemen. The gallery on the south 
in the Senate Chamber is for the ladies, and the 
one on the north for gentlemen. The Reporters' 
stands are on each side of the Speaker of the 
House and President of^the Senate respectively. 
The building has never been entirely com- 
pleted, but has been occupied since 1877. In 
1876 the question was submitted to a vote of the 
people as to whether an additional appropriation 
should be made of $500,000 to complete the 
building. In consequence of the hard times 



then existing, and the fact that many were preju- 
diced against the State Capital, a majority of 
the people voted against the appropriation. 
Since that time an area of prosperity has 
dawned upon the people, and many thousands 
have visited the Capital building, and went 
away resolved should the question again be sub- 
mitted, to vote for the appropriation. Com- 
pleted according to the plans given in the fore- 
going pages the State House will be an 
ornament to the State and the pride of the 
people. 



29G 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XVI. 



TEMPERANCE. 



The cause of temperance is one that has 
always enlisted the services of the moral and 
henevolent of earth. As far back as the history 
of the world can be traced, intemperance has ex- 
isted. Laws have been promulgated against it, 
warnings have been given over and over again, 
and yet man will continue to use the intoxicat- 
ing cup, notwithstanding Solomon, the wise 
man, has said, "Look not thou upon the wine 
when it is red, when it giveth the color in the 
cup, for at last it biteth like a serpent and sting- 
eth like an adder," and a greater than Solomon 
has added, "That no drunkard can inherit the 
kingdom of heaven." 

In the first half of the present century, but 
few large distilleries existed, while every neigh- 
borhood must have its " still." A new settle- 
ment -was no sooner formed than an enterprising- 
individual would erect his still, and commence 
the manufacture of whisky, pure and unadulter- 
ated. The surplus corn of the country could be 
used in no other way; at least, such was thought 
to be the case. Every merchant advertised 
whisky as one of the specialties of his store. 
The whisky jug was thought to be an indispens- 
able help in the harvest field, or at house-rais- 
ings, log-rollings, and corn-huskings; nor was 
the decanter, with its exhilarating contents, gen- 
erally wanting at social gatherings. Liquor 
bought by the gallon, and even by the barrel, 
was kept in the house for daily use. Before 
partaking of breakfast, the glass was passed 
around and partaken of, to give an appetite, 
and in the evening it was used as a "night-cap" 
before going to bed. AVhen bittered "by some 
herb or drug, it was used as a sovereign rem- 
edy for most of the ailments flesh is heir to, and 
often as a preventive. Liquor being one of the 
specialties in the early country stores, some 
merchants were wont to ti-eat their customers, 
especially when making large bills, and often 



previous to purchasing, in order to sharpen their 
appetite for trading. One store at the county 
seat was in the habit of treating a customer 
every time a purchase was made, be it large or 
small. An old toper, taking advantage of the 
generosity of the proprietor, had occasion to 
make a great many small purchases, then help- 
ing himself from the decanter placed at the dis- 
posal of customers. His calls became so fre- 
quent as to become a bore to the young salesman 
in the store, a nephew of the proprietor. The 
young man determined to try the "heroic rem- 
edy" on the old toper, to cure him of his fre- 
quent visits. Accordingly, on one occasion, just 
about the time he was expecting the regular 
visit of the man, he emptied all the whisky out 
of the decanter but enough for one dram. 
Preparations were no sooner made than in came 
the visitor. Purchasing a small plug of tobacco, 
he stepped around and picked up the decanter. 
Noticing the small quantity in it, he said: 

" Charley, the decanter is nearly empty." 

"Yes," replied the clerk, " but, never mind; 
there is enough for one dram. Eelp yourself." 

The man poured out all there was, and drank 
it down almost at a gulp. He no sooner done 
so than he had an urgent call out in the rear of 
the house. The young clerk had placed a drop 
of croton oil in the decanter. The store hist a 
customer and the young man received a glorious 
thrashing from his uncle. 

As already stated, whisky was generally con- 
sidered necessary at every house-raising. It 
must be borne in mind by the reader that in the 
early day the houses built were invariably of hewn 
ori'ound logs, and it required the assistance of a 
large number of men to erect one. The necessity 
of having a supply of w^hisky at these raisings 
often put the pioneer to considerable inconve- 
nience, and occasionally delayed the raising a 
much longer time than desired. As an illustration : 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



297 



Maxwell (\iinpbell, of Cartwright township, 
came to this county in the spring of 182:3. He 
was so poor lliat he raised his three first crops 
witli a single ox, which he used for all purposes 
as he would a horse, riding him to market, 
grinding his grain with him in a horse-mill, and 
then carrying it home on its back. He first 
built a small cabin, then prepared hewn logs for 
a much larger one. They were hauled to the 
site of the proposed building, and there lay for 
two years for the reason that he had no money 
to buy whisky for the raising. He had bought 
a blind horse for five dollars in trade. The 
horse had a bell on it which Mr. Campbell sold 
for two gallons of whisky, and was thus enabled 
to raise his house. 

Dawson McGinnis came to the county in 
1827, and like nearly all other early settlers, he 
was poor in this worlds goods, but rich in faith 
of the "good time coming." He prepared his 
logs for his cabin and hauled them up to the 
place where it was to be erected. By that time 
all his money was gone except a twenty-five cent 
piece. He did not like to part with his last cent, 
not knowing where the next was to come from, 
but it was the universal custom to have whisky 
at the raisings. The raising was delayed for a 
time, hoping to find some way to obtain the 
whisky and save the money. The thought was 
entertained of inviting the neighbors to assist 
without the accustomed stimulant, though it was 
doubtful if they would come. Consulting with 
his wife, the two decided that even though they 
responded to the call and helped them he would 
always be regarded as the stingiest man in the 
whole county, and that it would be better to 
part with the money than to have such a name. 
The whiskv was purchased and the house raised. 

While intemperance largely exists, it is evi- 
dent that it has greatly decreased within' the 
present generation. According to population 
there are not as many drunkards, nor is there as 
much liquor consumed as a third or a half cen- 
tury ago. This leads to the further declaration 
that can well be substantiated, that the efforts 
put forth by the temperance people in times 
past have not proven a failure. That organiza- 
tions have flourished for a time and then cease 
to exist proves nothing. These organizations 
were but human instrumentalities brought forth 
by the necessities of the hour, their design being 
to accomplish a certain purpose then apparent. 
It is not to be expected that they will be as en- 
during as the hills, or so strong that " the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against them." If they 
accomplish a good work for the time, well and 



good. If it be found that there is a radical 
defect in their organizations necessitating a 
change, let it be made, and let it not be imagined 
because they are defective and have not accom- 
})lished all the good their most sanguine sup- 
porters anticipated, that nothing has been done. 
All over the country can be found sober, honest 
and good men, who, but for the effort put forth 
by the members of some temperance organiza- 
tion that has ceased to exist, would now fill a 
drunkard's grave. 

Whisky, in the early day, was generally sold 
for cash — all other goods on credit. Of course 
it was not expensive, as a good quality could be 
purchased for two or three shillings per gallon. 
Occasionally some impecunious persons, desiring 
to go on a spree, and having no money, were re- 
quired to resort to their Avits to procure the 
liquid fluid. A good story Js told of a crowd 
who were so situated. One of their number got 
a jug, and, filling it about half full of water, 
went to a grocery and called for a quart of 
whisky, remarking that some of the boys wished 
to have a little fun, but didn't have quite whisky 
enough. The whisky was drawn and the man 
picked up the jug and started for the door, with- 
out saying a word about paying for it. The pro- 
prietor told him to come back, as whisky was 
cash. The man replied that he had no money. 
"Well, you can't have the whisky then," was the 
answer. Appearing mad, the man stepped back, 
and with an oath, told the proprietor to take his 
old whisky. The quart was drawn out of the 
jug, when it was again taken to the public well, 
and more water put in. A second grocery was 
visited, another (][uart of whisky drawn and 
emptied back. Again he went to the well for 
more water, and a third place was visited, and a 
half gallon was called for, poured in the jug and 
drawn off. The man appeared mad, but it was 
just what he desired should be done; so he left 
the third place with a half gallon as good whisky 
as the merchant poured back in his barrel from 
the jug. This was a first-class article, and the 
boys were thus afforded a rare chance for a good 
drunk, after the most approved style. 

Although the whisky of that early day was 
said to be pure, yet it would " make the drunk 
come;" men woiild become shiftless from its 
continual use; houses would be neglected; 
heart-broken and sorrowing wives, ragged and 
hungry children existed, and all from the use of 
rum. 

Notwithstanding whisky is thought to be a 
preventive for nearly every disease, it has 
been proven by actual statistics to be a source 



298 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of disease, the habitual drinker being more 
liable to attack from various diseases than the 
total abstainer. Especially has this been proven 
to be the case in diseases of an epidemic nature, 
such as cholera. 

The Temperance Recorder, November 6, 
1832, contains what it says is "An authentic 
record of deaths by cholera in the city of 
Albany, from the commencement to the cessa- 
tion of daily reports, in the summer of 1832, 
omitting all under the age of sixteen years " 
Nine physicians testify to the truth ot the 
record. The following is an abstract from the 
report: 

Whole number of deaths 336 

Intemperate 140 

Free drinkers 55 

Moderate drinkers, mostly habitual 131 

Strictly temperate 5 

Members of temperance societies 2 

Idiot 1 

Unknown 2 

336 

EARLY TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS, 

During the summer of 1829, Dr. Jayne placed 
in the hands of Rev. J. G.Bergen, a copy "of Dr. 
Lyman Beecher's six sermons on intemperance, 
which he read one by one to the people on six 
successive Sabbath afternoons. Curiosity about 
drunkenness in the East brought the people out. 
Mr. Bergen prepared the constitution of a tem- 
perance society, and, after reading that well- 
known tract, " Putnam and the Wolf," invited 
the congregation to sign the pledge. Eleven 
persons put down their names In a short time 
there were more than fifteen hundred signers in 
the county. This was the first temperance 
society in Central Illinois, and probably the 
first in the State. 

In 1834, a society known as the Springfield 
Temperance Society was in existence. This 
society pledged its members to "abstain from the 
use, and use all lawful means to put a stop to 
vending and drinking distilled ardent spirits." 
This society was composed only of adults. At 
the same time a juvenile temperance society 
was organized, showing the people realized the 
truth of the ohl proverb that " an ounce of pre- 
vention is worth a pound of cure," and were de- 
termined to use every means to prevent the 
young from forming habits of intemperance. 

A county temperance society was organized 
about this time, under the name of the "Sanga- 
mon County Temperance Society," with branch 
societies in the various townships and villages 



in the county. The local papers of the period 
failed to record the proceedings of any of the 
meetings, until 1837, when an account of an an- 
nual meeting held in Springfield, February 28, 
is given. At this meeting, the following named 
oflicers were elected: Cbas. R. Matheny, Presi- 
dent; Thomas Mofi^ett and C. B. Francis, Vice- 
Presidents; S. M. Sill, Secretary; John Dickey, 
Treasurer. 

THE WASHINGTOKIANS. 

In the month of December, 1841, some men 
from Alton came to Springfield to inaugurate 
the new temperance reform, which began its 
career in the winter previous, in the city of Bal- 
timore, and had spread like wildfire all over the 
land. Success had crowned the efforts of the 
workers, from the commencement of their la- 
bors. The places in which their meetings were 
held were crowded to suffocation. Like the 
Athenians of old, many attended out of curi- 
osity, desiring to "know what these babblers 
had to say." The plea they presented was such 
as to appeal to the heart and reason of everyone. 
A local paper under date of December 31, 1841, 
says: 

" The cause goes gloriously on. The society 
in this city has more than three hundred and 
fifty members. The spirit seems to have been 
caught in the neighboring settlements of this 
county. At two small gatherings near Spring- 
field, about one-half of the persons present joined 
the standard of reform. 

"A Christmas like that just passed was never 
before witnessed here. Our streets the whole 
day were free from exhibitions which before had 
been common; not an intoxicated man was seen 
on them; and those who had once spent the day 
in drinking and carousals, enjoyed it most hap- 
pily in the society of their families. What a 
change! What happiness to themselves and to 
those whose weal and woe are committed to 
their charge! 

"Not a Washingtonian has fiinched the fiery 
trial he has been compelled to undergo. Though 
the desire to indulge in former courses in some 
instances, we may well suppose, has been ter- 
rible, yet bravely and triumphantly they have 
borne themselves up against it. They have proved 
themselves worthy soldiers of the immortal chief- 
tain whose banner waves over them. 

" What is strange, singular, and not to be won- 
dered at, all our Washingtonians seemed to have 
been imbued with the missionary spirit, and all 
are engaged with their might in urging on the 
great work of reform. It is the talk of the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



299 



mechanic's bench, the slaughter-house, the wood- 
cutter's stand, the merchant's counter. Few, in- 
deed, there are that are not affected by its influ- 
ence. May the spirit progress until it extends 
over the length and breadth of our land! This 
reform is producing a most kindly feeling among 
our citizens. A class of men who felt they were 
degraded almost beyond the reach of hope; that 
their condition could not be changed, and who 
had been inclined to look upon those who had 
by industry, sobriety and economy, rendered 
themselves more comfortal)le and happy than 
they were, with jealousy and distrust if not with 
hate, under the influence of this reform, find 
themselves surrounded with friends where they 
did not expect them, and the sympathies and 
well-wishes of all enlisted in their behalf. Need 
we wonder that such a state of things opens 
almost a new world upon the reformed? That 
their step is light, that their heart is filled with 
hope, and that those who are connected with 
them by the endearing ties of wife, children, 
jjarent, or brother, are rejoicing almost 'with joy 
unspeakable'?' It is so. Every man among us 
see it — and feels it — and blesses the day when 
the three Baltimoreans raised the banner of 
* Washington Reform.' " 

The meeting for the organization of the so- 
ciety was held Monday aftei'noon, December 12, 
1841. Messrs. Todd, Webster, Powell, Matheny 
and Pease were appointed a committee to nomi- 
nate ofticers. They reported the following 
named, who were duly elected: 

President. — William D. Herudon. 

Vice-President.— Gould Butler, W. W. Wat- 
son, and Jesse B. Thomas. 

Directors. — A. R. Robinson, Thomas J. Tur- 
ley, Allen Francis, Frederick C. McComas, 
Strother J. Jones. 

Recording Secretary. — William W. Pease. 

Corresponding Secretary. — James H. Ma- 
theny. 

Treasurer. — William Lavely. 

A committee on Constitution was appointed 
who reported the following: 

CONSTITUTION OF THE SPRINGFIELD WASHINGTON 
TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 

We, the friends of temperance in the city of Spring- 
field, -who have signed the pledge of the Washington 
Temperance Society, believe that when men have so 
far indulged in the use of intoxicating liquor as to 
render themselves wretched and miserable, and in 
many cases their families destitute and unhappy, that 
they'may and can be ledeemed and reinstated to com- 
fort, peace and happiness by the aid and assistance of 
their fellow men. And being desirous to preserve in- 



violate our own pledge, and to see every man in our 
community, as well as the whole country, rescued 
from that' degradation, which sooner or later awaits 
those who continue to indulge in the accursed draught, 
and believing, as we do, that in union alone there is 
safety, do associate ourselves under the following Con- 
stitution. 

AuticleI. This Society shall be called the First 
Spriugtield Washington Temperance Society. 

Art. 2. This Society shall give no preference to 
any political party or religious sect, but its sole object 
shall be to advance the cause of temperance, and 
especially direct its efforts to the redemption of our fel- 
low men who have been degraded by the use of intoxi- 
cating liquors. 

Art. 3. Any person having signed the Washington 
Temperance Pledge in this city, and who adheres 
strictly to the same, shall be a member of this Society, 
and if any one shall be so unfortunate as to violate 
said pledffe, his case shall be brought before the 
Society, whose duty it shall be to use every other 
means to restore him before he shall be expelled. 

[Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 refer to the ofiicers, 
their duties, and to time of meetings, and amend- 
ments to the constitution, how made.] 

Art, 9. No political or religious question shall be 
discussed at any meeting of this Society; and no per- 
son shall be permitted to take any part in the proceed- 
ings of the meeting, or address the Society, except 
those who have signed a Washington Temperance 
pledge, unless they be specially invited by the Societ}\ 

The pledge adopted by the Society was a very 
simple one, as follows: 

The undersigned, being desirous of carrying out the 
principles of temperance, do pledge our honor that we 
will abstain from all intoxicating drinks: 

The Society proposed to be charitable and 
missionary, as witness the following resolutions, 
passed at one of its meetings: 

Resolved^ That the Society pledges itself to 
assist the members of this Society and their fam- 
ilies, who may now or hereafter be in necessi- 
tous circumstances. 

Mesolved, That the President be authorized to 
appoint delegates to explain the objects and prin- 
ciples of this Society in the neighboring settle- 
ments, and that such delegates report their pro- 
ceedings and the results of their labors, at the 
regular meetings of this Society. 

It will be observed that reformation seemed 
to be the watchword of the Society — to restore 
to their families, and to society in general, those 
who had fallen. The mantle of charity was to 
be thrown around a weak brother who violated 
liis pledge, and every effort was to be made to 
restore him, and to help him keep inviolate his 
sacred obligation, rather than to expel him. 

The following touching song was a favorite 
with the Washiugtonians: 



300 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



WASHINGTON SONG. 



Tune — *' There's nae Luck About the Hovse,^^ 



And are ye sure the news is true, 

And are ye sure he's t-ignedV 
I can't believe the joyful talc, 
And leave my fears behind. 
If John has signed and drinks no more. 

The happiest wife am I 
That ever swept a cottage hearth. 
Or sung a lullaby. 

For there's nae luck about the house, 

There's been nae luck at a'; 
And gone's the comfort of the house 
Since he to drink drink did fa'. 

Oh I yes, we're sure the news is true; 

Indeed, your John has signed; 
This happy day you'll never rue, 

Nor past misfortunes mind. 
Your John has signed and drinks no more, 

The hapuiest man is he 
That ever sat in cottage door, 
Or loved a bonny e'e. 

There was nae luck about the house, 

There was no luck at a'; 
But comfort now will bless the house, 
And fortune soon will fa'. 

Whose eye so kind, whose hand so strong, 

Whose love so i lue will shine, 
If he have bent his hand and heart 

The total pledge to signV 
But what puts doubting in my heartV 

I trust he'll taste no more; 
Be still, be still, my beating heai't — 
Hark! hark! he's at the door. 

For there's nae luck about the house, 

There's been nae luck at a'; 
And gane's the comfort of the house 
Since he to drink did fa'. 

'Tis true, 'tis true, my lovely Kate, 

The total pledge I've signed; 
No longer I'm intemperate, 

No more to shame consigned. 
Let not distrust your heart affect, 

I'll never taste it more; 
This sacred pledge I'll e'er respect. 
And run a different score! 

There was no luck about the house. 

There was no luck at a'; 
But comfort now will bless the house. 
And fortune soon will fa'. 

Now blessings on the helping hands 

That sent thee back to me; 
Haste, haste, ye little ones, and run. 

Your father's face to see. 
And now I'm sure, my John, you've signed, 

And I am sure 'tis past, 
That miue's the happiest, brightest home, 
On Temperance shores at last. 

There was no luck about the house, 

But now 'tis comfort a'. 
And heaven preserve your own gude man, 
That he may never fa'. 



As an organization, the Washingtonian Socie- 
ties of Sangamon county, have long since ceased 
to exist, but there are living to-day, some whom 
but for the pledge signed in the winter of 1841 
and 1842, would doubtless ])e tilling to-day 
drunkard's graves. 

A GRAND -jury's CERTIFICATE. 

At the March term, 1848, of the Circuit 
Court, of Sangamon county, an unusual number 
of indictments were found, and previous to their 
adjournment the members comprising that body 
left the following upon record: 

" We, the undersigned, members of the Grand 
Jury of the county of Sangamon, State of Illi- 
nois, at the March term of the Circuit Court of 
said count)' , believe, from the investigations had 
before us, that most, if not all, the crimes and 
misdemeanors which have been brought before 
this jury, had their first, if not immediate cause, 
in intemperance." 

William Butler, foreman, Y. Hay, 
B. A. Watson, Abner liiddle, 

David Newson, James Stephenson, 

John Branson, John Broadwell, 

Gershom Keyes, E G. Johns, 

James G. Webb, W. Armstrong, 

William H, Marsh, P. C. Latham, 

Robert Irwin. 
One of the jury made the following state- 
ment: ''I, S. Britton, believes that intemper- 
ance is the means from which many of the 
crimes that came before thp jury, originated." 

SONS OF TEMPERANCE. 

After the Washingtonians came the Sons of 
Temperance, an organization having for its 
motto, "Love, Purity, and Fidelity." The "Sons" 
were composed of males above the age of 
eighteen, and held their meetings in secret, be- 
lieving that they could more fully carry out the 
object of the order. To etiable the wives and 
daughters of members to engage in the good 
work, the " Daughters of Temperance" were or- 
ganized; and for the benefit of males between 
the age of fourteen and eighteen, the " Cadets 
of Temj^erance" were organized. Thus every 
member in the family were secured as workers 
in the good cause. The " Sons" formed their 
first Division in this county in 1848, and for 
many years were in a fiourishing condition. 

As already stated the motto of the order is 
'•Love, Purity and Fidelity." The three divine 
principles enunciated by this motto are poet- 
ically expressed in the following. 

Three sunny islets on life's river, 
Three golden arrow-s in life's quiver, 




Robert Irwin 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



308 



Three stars that never fade or dim, 
Three notes that angels h)ve to hymn. 
Three charms that guard the heart from sorrow, 
Three whispers of a brighter morrow; 
Three linlcs th.it bind willi silken bands, 
Three words -whose might should rule all lauds. 
Three life preservers on Time's ocean. 
Three voices 'mid that heart's commotion; 
Three fragrant flowers most fair to see. 
Three garlands twining round life's tree; 
Three gems of pure etherial light, 
Three paths still lovelj^ pure and bright; 
Three rays of light from Heaven's throne. 
Where naught but happiness is known. 

TEMPLE OF HONOR. 

Almost contemporaneous with the Sons of 
Temperance was the Temple of Honor, which 
combined the principles of temperance with the 
benevolent features of such organization as 
the Masons and Odd Fellows. Every person 
desiring to become a member of the order 
had to be proposed for membership and was 
required to be of the requisite age and in good 
health. A fair degree of success attended this 
order. 

THE MAINE LAW. 

Shortly after the passage of the prohibitory 
liquor law in the Slate of Maine, the question 
of a similar law began to be agitated in this 
State. In Sangamon county it had many and 
strong advocates, among whom were B. S. Ed- 
wards, S. W. Robbins, James H. Matheny, J. T. 
Stuart, and others. 

In January, 1853, a State Convention was held 
in Si:»ringtield, at which were representative men 
from all parts of the State. Judge Lockwood 
presided, and S. W. Robbins, of Springfield, 
was one of the Vice-Presidents. B. S. Edwards 
made an eloquent and logical address, which 
met the approbation of all in attendance. The 
convention petitioned the General Assembly, 
which was then iri session, for the submission of 
a prohibitory law to the people for adoption or 
rejection. The prayer of the petitioners was 
granted and the question was voted upon a few 
months after. The people were not then ready 
for the law and it was defeated, Sangamon 
county giving a majority against the law. 

GOOD TEMPLARS. 

The Independent Order of Good Templars 
originated in 1851, and was the outgrowth of a 
desire to unite all the members of a family in 
one order, and with the laudable object of "sav- 
ing the fallen and preventing others from fall- 
ing." It may be said the latter object has been 
more fully met in this order than in any other 

35— 



temperance organization. "Here you find the 
entire family united around one coniniuu altar." 
Many of the strong temperance advocates to-day 
were in early life initiated in this beautiful and 
noble order, and had the principles of temper- 
ance thoroughly inculcated in their mind beiore 
habits of intemperance were formed. They bless 
the day they were made "Templars;" and even 
if not actively engaged in the work, they pray 
the blessings of God to rest upon the order. 

The first lodge of Good Templars was in- 
stituted, in this county, about the year l85o, 
since which time the order here has had seasons 
of prosperity and seasons of adversity. Like all 
other human organizations, its members at times 
are enthusiastic, and work together in harmony, 
and success therefore attends their eveiy move- 
ment. Again, divisions occur; the members re- 
fuse to co-operate with one another, — and the 
order takes a backward stride. 

women's temperance crusade. 

In the winter of 181S, a movement was inau- 
gurated in Ohio, which was denominated the 
"Women's Temperance Crusade," from the fact 
that a few noble women, despairing of success 
for the cause of temperance as advocated and 
enforced by the professed temperance people, 
proceeded to try the eflicacy of prayer. Bands 
of praying women visited the various saloons in 
the neighborhood, and the songs and prayers 
forced the rum-sellers to close their shops. Their 
very earnestness had its effect upon all classes 
of society, and men and women who were luke- 
warm in the cause became aroused, and renewed 
their fight against the enemy. The "crusade" 
spread with great rapidity throughout the whole 
North. The movement had been as startling in 
its character as a clap of thunder from a clear 
sky, and the cloud which had been at first no 
bigger than a man's hand had suddenly over- 
spread the whole heavens. The opponents to 
the reform all claimed to be friendly, but — they 
thought some other method of bringing it about 
preferable. Moral suasion was urged as the one 
sure remedy, and the I'quor sellers wanted their 
opponents to be careful to keep Avithin the 
bounds of the law. Mrs. Emma Malloy, who 
took a very active part in the movement, and 
who for many y-ears has been a worker in the 
cause of temperance, said that she was often 
asked what she thought of the movement, but 
hesitated to give a reply, lest her answer should 
be less reverent than the subject seemed to 
demand. She could not doubt but the move- 
ment was a natural revulsion, an eruption of the 



304 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



smoldering tires tliat for centuries past had been 
pent up in the heart of woman. She could not 
doubt but that the hand of God had shaken 
these internal fires, and could only gaze with 
awe and reverence at the mighty upheaving that 
thrilled the Nation from center to circumfer- 
ence. She was convinced that woman was not 
satisfied to sit with folded hands while the first- 
born of the Nation was being slain, while the 
fairest and purest of every household in the land 
were the victims of the fell destroyer. The 
heart of woman had thrilled with silent anguish; 
she had wept her night of sorrow through; and 
now had arisen the host of Israel. The foe was 
being routed. "The glad dawn whose early 
twilight" all had been gazing down the centuries 
of Time to see, had come. 



RED AND BLUB EIBBON MOVEMENT. 

The next movement in behalf of temperance 
was that known as the " Red Ribbon move- 
ment," which was the direct result of the 
women's crusade. An interest had been awak- 
ened throughout the land in the cause of tem- 
perance by the crusade, but many who were not 
religiously inclined, or who were conscientiously 
opposed to the work, as performed by the 
women, were yet ready to embrace some other 
method that would lead to good results. At 
the opportune moment the Red Ribbon move- 
ment was set on foot, and rapidly spread 
throughout the land. Sangamon county was 
behind no other, and red and blue ribbon clubs 
were formed in nearly every village in the 
county, as well as in the city of Springfield. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTV. 



30; 



Chapter XVII 



THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 



The institution of slavery was always a source 
of trouble between the free and slave-holding 
States. The latter were always troubled with 
the thought that the former would encroach upon 
their rights, and nothing could be done to shaken 
this belief. Compromise measures were adopted 
from time to time to settle the vexed question of 
slavery, but the fears of the slaveholders were 
only allayed for a short time. Threats of seces- 
sion were often made by the slaveholding States, 
but as some measure of a conciliatory character 
was passed, no attempt was made to carry their 
threats into execution. Finally came the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise and the adoption of 
a measure known as the Kansas-Nebraska bill. 
This bill opened certain Territory to slavery 
which under the former act was forever to be 
free. About the time of the passage of this act, 
the Whig party was in a state of dissolution, and 
the great body of that party, together with cer- 
tain Democrats who were opposed to the Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, united, thus forming a new party 
to which M'as given the name of Republican, 
having for its object the prevention of the further 
extension of slavery. The people of the South 
imagined they sdw in this new party an organ- 
ized effori not only to jirevent the extension of 
slavery, but that which would eventually be used 
to destroy slavery in such States in which it al- 
ready existed. 

In 1860, four Presidential tickets were in the 
field. Two of these candidates were from Illinois, 
one of w^hom was a citizen of Springfield and the 
other had been. Abraham Lincoln was the can- 
didate of the Republicans, Stephen A. Douglas 
of the National Democrats, John C. Breck en- 
ridge of the Pro-Slavery interests, and John Bell 
of the Union. The Union party was composed 
principally of those who had previously affiliated 
with the American or Know-Nothing party. 
Early in the campaign there were threats of 
secession and disunion in case of the election of 
Abraham Lincoln, but the people were so accus- ■ 



tomed to Southern bravado that little heed was 
given to the bluster. 

On the twentieth of December, 1860, South 
Carolina, by a convention of delegates, declared 
"That the Union now existing between South 
Carolina and other States of North America is 
dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina 
has resumed her position among the Nations of 
the earth as a free, sovereign and independent 
State, with full power to levy war and conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, 
and do all other acts and things which indepen- 
dent States may of right do." 

On the twenty-fourth, Governor Pickens is- 
sued a proclamation declaring that " South Caro- 
lina is, and has a right to be, a free and indepen- 
dent State, and as such has a right to levy war, 
conclude peace, negotiate treaties, leagues and 
covenants, and to do all acts, whatever, that 
rightfully appertain to a free and independent 
State." 

On the 26th, Major Anderson evacuated Fort 
Moultrie, and occupied Fort Sumter. Two 
days previously he wrote President Buchanan's 
Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, as follows: 
" When I inform you that my garrison consists 
of only sixty effective men, and that we are in 
very indifferent works, the walls of which are 
only fourteen feet high^ and that we have within 
one hundred and sixty yards of our walls, sand 
hills which command our works, and which 
afford admirable sites for batteries and the 
finest coverts for sharpshooters, and that besides 
this there are numeroiis houses, some of them 
Within pistol shot, you will at once see that, if 
attacked in force, headed by any one but a sim- 
pleton, there is scai'cely a possibility of our 
being able to hold out long enough for our 
friends to come to our succor." His appeals for 
re-inforcements were seconded by General Scott, 
but unheeded by President Buchanan, and en- 
tirely ignored by John B. Floyd, Secretary of 
War. 



306 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



On the 28th, South Carolina troops occupied 
Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, and hoisted 
the Palmetto flag on the ramparts. On the 
29th, John B. Floyd resigned bis jilace in Bu- 
chanan's Cabinet, charging that the President, 
in refusing to remove Major Anderson from 
Charleston harbor, designed to plunge the 
country into civil war, and added: "I cannot 
consent to be the agent of such a calamity." 
On the same day the South Carolina Commis- 
sioners presented their official credentials at 
Washington, which, on the next day, were de- 
clined. 

On the second day of January, 1861, Georgia 
declared for secession, and Georgia troops took 
possession of the United States arsenal in 
Augusta and Forts Pulaski and Jackson. Gov- 
ernor Ellis, of North Carolina, seized the forts 
at Beaufort and Wilmington and the arsenal at 
Fayeiteville. On the evening of the 4th, the 
Alabama and Mississippi delegations in Con- 
gress telegraphed the conventions of their re- 
spective States to secede, telling them there was 
lio prospect of a satisfactory adjustment. On 
the 7th, the conventions of Alabama, Mississippi 
and Tennessee met in secession conclave. On 
the 9th, Secretary Thompson resigned his seat in 
the Cabinet on the ground that, contrary to 
promises, troops had been sent to Major Ander- 
son. On the 9th, the Star of the West, carrying 
supplies and re-inforcements to Major Ander- 
son, was fired into from Morris Island, and 
turned homeward, leaving Fort Sumter and its 
gallant little band to the mercy of the rebels. 
On the same day the ordinance ol secession 
passed the Mississippi convention. Florida 
adopted an ordinance of secession on the 10th 
and Alabama on the 11th. The same day (the 
11th) Thomas, Secretary of the Treasury, re- 
signed, and the rebels seized the arsenal at 
Baton Rouge, and Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 
at the moutii of the Mississippi river, and Fort 
Pike, at the Lake Ponchartrain entrance. Pen- 
sacola navy yard and Fort Barrancas were sur- 
rendered to rebel troops by Colonel Armstrong 
on the 13th, Lieutenant Slemraer, who had 
withdrawn his command from Fort McRae to 
Fort Pickens, defied Armstrong's orders, and 
announced his intention to "hold the fort" at 
all hazards. The Georgia convention adopted 
an ordinance of secession on the 19th. On the 
20th Lieutenant Slemmer was beseiged by a 
thousand " allied troops " at Fort Pickens. 
Louisiana adopted an ordinance of secession on 
the 25th. On the 1st of February the rebels 
seized the United States mint and custom house 



at New Orleans. The Peace Convention assem- 
bled at Washington on the 4th, but adjourned 
without doing anything to quiet the disturbed 
elements. On the 9th, a provisional constitution 
was adopted at Montgomery, Alabama, it being 
the Constitution of the United States "recon- 
structed " to suit their purpose. Jefferson 
Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen President, and 
Alexander H. Stevens, of Georgia, Vice-Presi- 
dent of the " Confederate States of North 
America." Jeff. Davis was inaugurated on the 
18th, and on the 25th it was learned that Gen- 
eral Twiggs, commanding the Department of 
Texas, had basely betrayed his trust, and that 
he had surrendered all the military posts, muni- 
tions and arms to the authorities of Texas. 

DEPAETUEE OF ME. LINCOLN. 

The time appointed for Mr. Lincoln to leave 
Springfield for Washington was Monday, Feb- 
ruary 11, at 8 o'clock, A. M. Long before the 
hour appointed, hundreds of his friends and 
fellow citizens, without distinction of party, as- 
sembled at the station of the Great Western 
Railway to tender him their respects, grasp once 
more that honest hand, and bid him God speed 
on his eventful journey. A subdued and re- 
spectful demeanor characterized the vast assem- 
blage. All seemed to feel that they were about 
to witness an event which, in its relations to the 
future, was of no ordinary interest. 

At |)recisely five miniites before eight o'clock, 
Mr. Lincoln, preceded by Mr. Wood, of New 
York, slowly made his way from his room in the 
station, through the expectant masses which re- 
spectfully parted right and left at his approach, 
to the car provided for his use. At each step 
of his progress towards the car, friendly hands 
weVe extended for a last greeting. On reaching 
the platform of the car, Mr. liincoln turned 
towards the people, removed his hat, paused for 
several seconds, till he could control his emo- 
tions, and then slowly, impressively, and with 
profound emotions, uttered the following words: 

"Friends, no one who has ever been placed in 
a like position can understand my feelings at 
this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel at 
this parting. For more than a quarter of a cen- 
tury I have lived among you, and during all 
that time I have received nothing but kindness 
at your hands. Here I have lived from my' 
youth until now, I am an old man. Here the 
most sacred ties of earth were assumed; here 
all my children were born; and here one of 
them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe 
all that I have, all that I am. All the strange, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



307' 



checkered }»ast seems to crowd now upon my 
mind. To-day I leave you; I go to assume a 
task more difficult than that which devolved 
upon General Washington. Unless the great 
God which assisted him, shall be with and aid 
me, I must fail. But if the same omniscient 
mind and the same Almighty arm that directed 
and protected him, shall guide and support me, 
I shall not fail, I shall succeed. Let us all pray 
that the God of our fathers may not forsake us 
now. To him I commend you all. Permit me 
to ask that with equal sincerity and faith you 
will all invoke His wisdom and guidance for 
me. With these few words I must leave you — 
for how long I kno%v not. Friends, one and all, 
I must now bid you an affectionate farewell." 

It was a most impressive scene. Those who 
had known Mr. Lincoln for years; who had 
heard him speak upon many different occasions, 
never saw him so profoundly affected, nor did 
he ever utter an address, which seemed so full of 
simple and touching eloquence, so exactly 
adapted to the occasion, so worthy of the man 
and the hour. Although it was raining fast 
when he began to speak, every hat was lifted, 
and every head bent forward to catch the last 
words of the departing chief. When he said, 
with the earnestness of a sudden inspiration of 
feeling that with God's help he should not fail, 
there was an uncontrollable burst of applause. 

At precisely eight o'clock, city time, the train 
moved off, bearing Sangamon coxmty's most hon- 
ored son to the scenes of his future labor. Few 
stops were made before reaching Indianapolis, 
but large crowds had assembled at every station, 
Avith the hope of catching sight of "Honest 
Old Abe." At Indianapolis, from the balcony 
of the Bates House, to a crowd of twenty thou- 
sand persons, the President-elect delivered his 
first address, as follows: 

"Fellow-citizens of the State of Indiana: I am 
here to thank you for this magnificent welcome, 
and still more for the very generous support given 
by your State to that political cause which I think 
is the true and just cause of the whole country 
and the whole world. Solomon says there is a 
time to keep silence, — and when men wrangle by 
the mouth, with no certainty that they mean the 
same thing, it perhaps were as well they would 
keep silent. 

"The words coercion and invasion are much 
used in these days, and often with some temper 
and hot blood. Let us make sure, if we can, 
that we do not misunderstand the meaning of 
those who use them. Let us get exact defini- 
tions of these words, — not from dictionaries, but 



from the men themselves, who certainly depre- 
cate the things they represent by the use of the 
words. What, then, is coercion? What is in- 
vasion? Would the marching of an army into 
South Carolina without the consent of the peo- 
ple, and with hostile intent toward them, be in- 
vasion? I certainly think it would; and it would 
be coercion, also, if the South Carolinians were 
forced to submit. But if the United States 
should merely hold and retake its own forts 
and other property, and collect duties on foreign 
importations, or even withhold the mails from 
places where they were habitually violated, — 
M^ould any, or all of these things be invasion, or 
coercion ? Do our professed lovers of the Union, 
who spitefully resolve that they will resist co- 
ercion and invasion, understand that such things 
as these on the part of the United States would 
be coercion of a State? If so, their idea of the 
means to preserve the object of their great affec- 
tion would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. 
If sick, the little pill of the homa'opathic would 
be much too large for it to swallow. In their 
view, the Union, as a family relation, would seem 
no longer to be a regular marriage, but rather a 
sort of free-love arrangement, to be maintained 
only on passional attraction. 

"By the way, in what consists the special sac- 
redness of a State? I speak not of the position 
assigned to a State in the Union by the Consti- 
tution — for that, by the bond, we all recognize; 
that position, however, a State cannot carry out 
of the Union with it. I speak of that assumed 
primary right of a State to rule all which is less 
than itself, and ruin all that is larger than itself. 

" If a State and county in a given case should 
be equal in extent of territory, and equal in 
number of inhabitants, in what, as a matter of 
principle, is the State better than the county? 
Would an exchange of names be an exchange 
of rights upon principle? On what rightful 
principle may a State, being not more than one- 
fiftieth part of a Nation in soil and population, 
break up a Nation, and then coerce a proportion- 
ately larger sub-division of itself in the most 
arbitrary way? What mysterious right to play 
tyrant is conferred on a district of country 
with iis people, by merely calling it a State? 
Fellow citizens, I am not asserting anything: 
I am merely- asking questions for you to con- 
sider. And now allow me to bid you farewell." 

At Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburg, Albany, 
New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadel- 
phia and Harrisburg, Mr. Lincoln had magnifi- 
cent receptions, and addressed large crowds of 
people, calling upon them to stand by the 



JOS 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Union, the Constitution and the laws. At Har- 
risburg a change of programme on the part of 
Mr. Lincoln was decided upon. A special dis- 
patch to the New York Times thus narrates the 
facts in the case: 

"On Thursday night, after he had retired Mr. 
Lincoln was aroused and informed that a 
stranger desired to see him on a matter of life 
or death. He declined to admit him unless he 
gave his name, which he at once did. Such 
prestige did his name carry, that while yet Mr. 
Lincoln was disrobed, he granted an interview 
to the caller. Prolonged conversation elicited 
the fact that an organized body of men had de- 
termined that Lincoln should not be inaugu- 
rated, and that he should never leave Baltimore 
alive, if indeed he ever entered it. The list of 
names of the conspirators presented a most 
astonishing array of persons high in Southern 
confidence, and some whose fame is not con- 
lined to this country alone. Statesmen laid the 
plan, bankers endorsed it, and adventurers were 
to carry it into effect. As they understood Mr. 
Lincoln was to leave Harrisburg at nine o'clock 
this morning by special train, and the idea was, 
if possible, to throw the train from the track at 
some point where they would rush down a steep 
embankment and destroy in a moment all on 
board. In case of failure of this project, the 
plan was to surround the carriage on the way 
from depot to depot in Baltimore, and assassi- 
nate him with a dagger or pistol shot. So 
authentic was the source of information, Mr. 
Lincoln, after advising with his friends was 
compelled to make arrangements that would 
subvert the plans of his enemies. He did not 
want to yield, and Mr. Sumner actually cried 
with indignation." 

Mr. Lincoln arrived at Washington on Satur- 
day, the twenty-third — twelve days after he left 
Springfield — and in advance of all expectations. 

Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated March 4, 1861, 
in front of the Capitol, the inauguration cere- 
monies being witnessed by a vast concourse of 
people Before taking the oath, Mr. Lincoln 
pronounced in a clear, ringing voice, his in- 
augural address, to hearAvhich there was an al- 
most painful solicitude, to read which the whole 
American people and the civilized world awaited 
wdth irrepressible anxiety. With that address 
and the administration of the oath of office, the 
people were assured. All doubt, if any had pre- 
, viously existed, was removed. In the hands of 
Abraham Lincoln, the people's President, and 
himself of the people, the Government was safe. 



Traitors were still busy plotting and i^lanning. 
Troops were mustering in all the seceded States. 
On Friday, April 12, the surrender of Fort 
Sumter, with its garrison of sixty -effective men, 
was demanded and bravely refused by the gal- 
lant Major Anderson. Fire was at once opened 
upon the helpless garrison by the rebel lorces, 
numbered by thousands. Resistance was useless, 
and at last the National colors were hauled 
down, and by traitor hands were trailed in the 
dust. On Sunday morning, the 14th, the news 
of the surrender was received in all the principal 
cities of the Union. That was all, but that was 
enough. A day later, when the news was con- 
firmed and spread through the country, the 
patriot people of the North were startled from 
their dreams of the future — from undertakings 
half completed — and made to realize that behind 
that mob there was a dark, deep, and well or- 
ganized purpose to destroy the Government, 
rend the Union in twain, and out of its ruins 
erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would 
dare question their right to hold in bondage the 
sons and daughters of men whose skins were 
black. Their dreams of the fixture — their plans 
for the establishment of an independent con- 
federacy — were doomed fiom their inception to 
sad and bitter disappointment. Everywhere 
north of Mason and Dixon's line the voice of 
Providence was heard: 

"Draw forth your million blades as one; 
Complete the battle now begun! 
God fights with ye, and overhead 
Floats the dear banner of your dead. 
They and the glories of the Past, 
The Future, dawning dim and vast, 
And all the holiest hopes of Man, 
Are beaming triumphant in your van. 

"Blow to resolve, be swift to do! 
Teach ye the False how fight the True ! 
How buckled Perfidy shall feel 
In her black heart the Patriot's steel; 
HoAV sure the bolt that Justice wings; 
How weak the arm a traitor brings; 
How mighty they who steadfast stand 
For Freedom's flag and Freedom's land! " 

On Monday, April 15, President Lincoln issued 
the following proclamation: 

"Whereas, The laws of the United States 
have been for some time past, and are now, op- 
posed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in 
the States of South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combina- 
tions too powerful to be suppressed by the ordi- 
nary course of judicial proceedings, or by the 
powers vested in the marshals; now, therefore, 
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the power in me vested by 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



309 



the Constitution and the laws, have tliought to 
call forth, and hereby do call lorth, the militia 
of the several States of the Union, to the num- 
ber of seventy-five thousand, in order to sup- 
press said combinations, and to cause the laws 
to be duly executed. 

"The details for this subject will be imme- 
diately communicated to the State authorities 
through the War Department. I appeal to all 
loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and to aid this 
effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and 
existence of our National Union, and the perpe- 
tuity of popular government, and to redress 
wrongs already long endured. I deem it proper 
to say that the first services assigned to tbe 
forces hereby called forth, will probably be to 
repossess the forts, places, and property which 
have been seized from the Union; and in every 
event the utmost care will be observed, consist- 
ently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any 
devastation, any destruction of or interference 
with property, or any disturbance of peaceful 
citizens in any part of the country; and I hereby 
command the persons composing the combina- 
tions aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably 
to their respective abodes, within twenty days 
from this date. 

"Deeming that the present condition of public 
affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do 
hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by 
the Constitution, convene both Houses of Con- 
gress. The Senators and Representatives are, 
therefore, summoned to assemble at their re- 
spective chambei's at twelve o'clock, noon, on 
Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and 
there to consider and determine such measures 
as in their wisdom the public safety and interest 
may seem to demand. 

"In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my 
hand and caused the seal of the United States to 
be affixed. 

"Done at the city of Washington, the fifteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the in- 
dependence of the United States the eighty- 
fifth. 

By the President: Abrauam Lincoln. 

Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State." 

The last word of this proclamation had 
scarcely been taken from the electric wire be- 
fore the call was filled. Men and money were 
counted out by hundreds and thousands. The 
people who loved their whole country could not 
give enough. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated 
and pulsated through every heart. The farm, 
the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the 



bench, the college, the school house — every call- 
ing offered its best men, their lives and fortunes 
in defense of the government's honor and unity. 
Party lines were for the time ignored. Bitter 
words, spoken in moments of political heat, 
were forgotten and forgiven, and, joining hands 
in a common cause, they repeated the oath of 
America's soldier statesman: " -Cy the Great 
Eternal., the Union must and shall be jji'eservedP'' 

Seventy-five thousand men were not enough 
to subdue the rebellion. Nor were ten times 
that number. The war went on, and call fol- 
lowed call, until it seemed as if there were not 
men in all the free States to crush out the rebel- 
lion. But to every call for either men or money 
there was a willing and a ready response. The 
gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the 
South was accepted; not, however, in the spirit 
which insolence meets insolence, but with a 
firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of 
country. The duty of the President was plain 
under the Constitution and laws, and, above and 
beyond all, the people, from whom all political 
power is derived, demanded the suppression of 
the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the 
authority of their representative and executive 
officers to the utmost extremity. 

In the apportionment of troops covered by 
President Lincoln's proclamation, it Avas found 
that the quota of Illinois would be six regiments, 
of which fact Governor Yates was advised by 
receipt of the following telegram: 

"Washington", April 15, 18(31. 
His Excellency, Richard Ycctes: 

Call made on you by to-night's mail for six 
regiments for immediate service. 

Simon Cameron, 
Secretary of War." 

Immediately upon receipt of the foregoing 
dispatch, Governor Yates issued the following 
proclamation: 

" Springfield, Illinois, April 15, 1861. 
I, Richard Yates, Governor of the State of 
Illinois, by virtue of the authority vested in me 
by the Constitution, hereby convene the legisla- 
ture of the State, and the members of the Twen- 
ty-second session of the General Assembly are 
hereby required to be and appear in their re- 
spective places, at the Capitol, on Tuesday, the 
twenty-third day of April, A. D. 1861, for the 
purpose of enacting such laws and adopting such 
measures as may be deemed necessary upon the 
following subjects: The moi'e perfect organiza- 
tion and equipment of the militia of the State, 
and placiag the same upon the best footing to 



310 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



render assistance to the general Government in 
preserving the Union, enforcing the laws and 
protecting the property and rights of the people; 
also the raising of such money and other means 
as may be required to carry out the foregoing 
objects; and, also, to provide for the expense of 
such session. 

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my band, 
and cause the great seal of the State to be here- 
unto affixed at the city of Springfield, the fif- 
teenth day of April, A. D., 1861. 

By order of the Governor: Rich'd Yatbs. 

O. M. Hatch, Secretary of State." 

Allen C. Fuller, of Boone county, was ap- 
pointed Adjutant-General. General Order No. 
1 was issued on the 15th, from headquarters at 
Springfield, directing all commandants of di- 
visions, brigades, regiments and companies, to 
hold themselves in readiness for actual service; 
and on the 16th, Order No. 2 provided for the 
immediate organization of six regiments, and 
within ten days more than ten thousand men 
had offered their services; and in addition to the 
force despatched to Cairo, more than the full 
quota was in camp at Springfield. 

The readiness with which the first call was 
made, together with the embarrassments which 
surrounded President Lincoln in the absence of 
sufficient laws toauthorize him to meet the un- 
holy, unlooked-for and unexpected emergency — 
an emergency that had never been anticipated 
by the wisest and best of America's statesmen, 
together with an under-estimate of the magni- 
tude of the rebellion, and a general belief that 
the war could not and would not last three 
months, checked, rather than encouraged the 
patriotic ardor of the people. But few of the 
men, comparatively speaking, who volunteered 
in response to President Lincoln's call for sev- 
enty-five thousand men for three months, were 
accepted. But the time soon came when there 
was a place and a musket for every man. Call 
followed call in quick succession, until the num- 
ber reached the grand total of 3,339,748, as fol- 
lows: 

April 15, 1861, for three months 7o,000 

May 4, 1801, for five years 64,748 

July, 1861, for three years 500,000 

July 18, 1862, for three years 300,000 

August 4, 1862, for nine months 300,000 

June, 1863, for three years 300,000 

October 17, 1863, for three years 300,000 

February 18, 1864, for three years 500,000 

July 10, 1864, for three years 200,000 

July 16, 1864, for one, two and three years. . . 500,000 

December 21, 1864, for three years 300,000 

3,339,748 



When the news came that the rebels had fired 
upon Fort Sumter — that the first overt act had 
been committed, indignation filled the heart of 
everyone; and when the news came that the gal- 
lant Major Anderson had surrendered — that the 
Star-spangled Banner had by traitor hands been 
trailed in the dust, all party feelings were laid 
aside, and the people of Sangam,on county, with 
those of all the loyal States of the Union, were 
united together as one, and each and everyone 
determined that the insult should be wiped out, 
and that traitors should receive a just punish- 
ment. 

A public meeting of the citizens of Spring- 
field was called for Monday evening, April 10, 
which was to be addressed by John A. McCler- 
nand, Lyman Trumbull and others. To suit the 
convenience of the speakers, it was postponed 
until the following evening, on which occasion 
thousands of excited citizens assembled to listen 
to the addresses. The meeting was organized 
by calling N. M. Broadwell to the chair. Mr. 
Broadwell accepted the honor in a patriotic and 
eloquent speech, which was loudly applauded. 
A secretary was appointed, and also a committee 
on resolutions, composed of the following named 
gentlemen: Charles H. Lanphier, Edward L. 
Baker, Charles A. Keyes, N. W. Matheny, H. 
G. Reynolds, E. B. Hawley, B. A. Watson, C. 
L. Morrison, T. J. V. Owen and J. Bunn. While 
the committee were out Mr. McClernand took 
the stand by invitation, and was received with a 
storm of applause. He gave a full history of 
the secession movement, and pronounced seces- 
sion a dastardly and cowardly way to commit 
treason. He said he had been a Democrat and 
was one now, but that he would sacrifice party 
on the altar of his country. He painted the 
evils of secession with the hand of a master — 
pointed out the way to defeat it, and closed with 
a powerful appeal to stand unflinchingly by their 
Government and their flag. He was frequently 
and loudly cheered. 

Senator Trumbull was next called out, and was 
greeted with loud applause. He made a strong, 
telling speech, and roused the enthusiasm of 
the people to the highest pitch. Speaking of this 
Government defending itself and defending the 
Capital against the traitors, he said he scorned 
the idea of this great Government defending 
itself against secessionists. "Let us," said he, 
" make them defend Montgomery and Charles- 
ton." This sentiment was responded to by the 
vast audience by wild cheering, which lasted for 
some minutes. Mr. Trumbull closed by intro- 
ducing Captain Wyatt, of Logan county, who 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



311 



had raised a company of volunteers and ten- 
dered them to the Governor. Mr. Wyatt was 
T'eceived with loud shouts of applause. He said 
he did not come to make a speech; be did not 
come to see the people, but he did come to see to 
it that his company was received. He said he 
was not a man of words, but a man of action. 
Others might talk; he was going to act for his 
country. He made a good speech, and at its 
close the crowd gave him three cheers. 

The following resolutions were reported by 
the Committee, and unanimously adopted: 

'■'• -Resolved, Tha,t the Union of the States, in 
the spirit of the Constitution, and the just ad- 
ministration and observance of its laws, are in- 
dispensable to the preservation of the liberties 
and happiness of the people. 

" Hesolved, That the Union of these States 
was intended by them all to be a perpetual 
Union, and that no power is reserved to any 
State to withdraw from the compact, except in 
the manner prescribed by the Constitution. 

" Resolved, That the attempt now being made 
to dissolve the Union and destroy the Govern- 
ment by the array of military force, the seizure 
of arsenals and public property, the firing upon 
and capturing the forts and ships of the Govern- 
ment, the shedding of blood, and the dishonor- 
ing of the National flag, is revolutionary and 
treasonable, and, if successful, will reduce the 
Nation to anarchy, demoralization, and endless 
civil war. 

^^ Resolved, That it is the duty of the Govern- 
ment to maintain its Constitutional authority 
throughout its entire jurisdiction by all proper 
means of compromise and conciliation; and 
when these fail, by the military power at its 
command. 

'•'■Resolved, That the Mississippi is a great Na- 
tional highway, in which the States of the 
Northwest have a right which they will not 
suffer to be disturbed or impaired by the at- 
tempted jurisdiction of any State or poAver 
whatever. 

" Resolved, That it is the duty of all patriotic 
citizens of Illinois, without distinction of party 
or sect, to sustain the Government through the 
peril which now threatens the existence of the 
Union, and of our legislature to grant such aid 
of men and money, as the exigency of the hour 
and the patriotism' of our people shall demand. 

'■'■Resolved, That, while we recognize the dutv 
of thus sustaining the Government and preserv- 
ing the Constitution, we shall continue to seek 
a restoration of peaceful relations between the 
States; and we earnestly recommend that a Na- 

36— 



tional Convention be called, for a final adjust- 
ment in a Constitutional manner, the difficulties 
now disturbing the peace and endangering the 
liberties of our beloved country " 

The Zouave Grays, under command of Captain 
John Cook, offered their services on Tuesday, 
and were accepted by the Governor. This was 
the first company from Sangamon county, and 
the first on the Adjutant General's roll from the 
State. 

Jacob Bunn, N. H. Ridgely and the Marine 
and Fire Insurance Company, principal banking 
institutions in Springfield, patriotically offered 
to Governor Yates a loan of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars to facilitate necessary preparations 
for organizing and collecting the State troops to 
aid in suppressing the rebellion. The war 
spirit was evidently high. The Journal, under 
date of April 20, only five days after the issu- 
ance of the proclamation, said: 

" Springfield is ablaze with excitement. Flags 
ai*e flying all over the city; the martial music of 
drum and fife resounds wherever we turn our 
steps; companies are being drilled in almost 
every hall of sufiicient capacity, and, in fact, 
appearances indicate that something is going to 
be done. Numbers are employed on military 
duty, and find scope for the development of all 
their energies. Prominent men from different 
parts of the State are here, aiding by every 
means in their power, of advice and otherwise, 
the Executive in the discharge of his official 
functions." 

A second company, under command of Cap- 
tain Sands, was accepted from this county, but 
the good work did not cease. The City Council 
of Springfield, with commendable liberality, ap- 
propriated 110,000 from the city treasury for the 
purpose of defraying expenses attending the 
equipment of volunteers and for the sl^pport of 
their families while absent. The offer of the 
bankers of Springfield was accepted by Governor 
Yates, who addressed them the following letter: 

"Executive Office, ) 

Springfield, III, April 18, 1861. \ 

To Messrs. J. Bunn^ N. H. Ridgely and Presi- 
dent of the Marine Fire Innurance Companxj : 
Gentlemen: — Your communication of the 
iVth inst., tendering to me, and, through me, to 
the State of Illinois, the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars, as a loan to facilitate necessary 
preparations for the organizing and collecting 
of the State troops to put down resistance to the 
laws and open rebellion, has been duly re- 
ceived. 



31-2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Your generous offer is gratefully accepted, 
and permit me to express to you, on behalf of 
the State, my sincere thanks for the devotion 
you have shown to the honor of our noble State 
and our common country in this hour of peril. 
Your patriotic act will be a worthy example to 
other citizens, and will ever be a source of pride 
to yourselves and your families, as well as to 
your fellow-citizens. With the wish that the 
great unanimity of sentiment respecting the up- 
holding of oui" Union and the laws of our conn- 
try, and the many generous acts of patriotic 
citizens, denoting a spirit of earnestness and 
self-devotion, will have a most favorable effect 
in restoring peace and prosperity to the coun- 
try, I remain, respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

RioiiARD Yates, Governor. 

On Tuesday night, April 23, the first troops 
left Springfield for the seat of war. Says a local 
reporter, under date April 24: 

"The scene at the Great Western Railroad 
depot last night was worthy the pencil of an 
artist. Two companies from Quincy, two from 
Jacksonville, and a squad of artillery, with three 
guns and fifty men, the entii'e command num- 
bering nearly five hundred men, fully equipped 
for active service, left under sealed orders. Be- 
fore leaving, the detachment was formed into 
line, when the oflicers received their commissions 
and were sworn in, and a few touching and ap- 
propriate remarks were made by Captain Pren- 
tiss, who commanded the battalion. These com- 
panies were the flower of the camp, well drilled, 
soldierly, and fully qualified to defend the honor 
of our country. The Star Spangled Banner was 
sung with thrilling effect, and the soldiers took 
their place in the cars amid the hearty 'God bless 
them' of the crowd. In the gray of the night 
the scene was sublimely impressive. The half 
repressed ardor of the troops, fully alive to the 
responsibilities devolving upon them, sadly re- 
gretful of the causes which necessitated their 
services, but sternly resolved to allow no traitor 
hands to tarnish the glory of the starry flag which 
waved over them; the earnest farewells to part- 
ing friends — greetings, perhaps, the last they 
would be permitted to exchange on earth, all 
combined to impress beholders with the 
solemnity of the occasion. The feeling aroused 
in the North carries with it a deep significance. 
Anger slow to be called forth, only excited after 
long and patient forbearance, not loud nor noisy 
in its demonstration, but irresistible in its force 
as the cataract of Niagara, more terrible than 
the tempests of the Heaven — this was what we 



saw manifested last night. There was no hot- 
spur courage in that detachment, which flames 
up in an instant and exhausts itself as speedily; 
but a deep, quiet consciousness of wrongs too 
long endured, and which are now to be redressed. 
These troops do not go out to fight for the sup- 
port of Illinois, or for the North, or for any sec- 
tion of the United States, but for the Star 
Spangled Flag, under whose folds they were 
born, and which they love better than their 
lives." 

The first of the Sangamon county men to leave 
for the front was on Saturday morning, April 2*7, 
when Colonel Cook's regiment took its departure. 
Says the same reporter already quoted: 

"At an early hour Saturday morning, April 27, 
the depot of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 
Railroad was crowded with men, women and 
children, assembled to bid good-bye to the 
Springfield boys of Colonel Cook's regiment, 
which, it was understood, was to leave at eight' 
o'clock. The troops left the camp at seven 
o'clock, proceeded to the arsenal, where they 
were provided with arms, and thence marched 
to the depot, where they were drawn up in line 
on Jefferson street, and received the greetings 
of their friends and loved ones. The drenching 
rain which fell all the morning did not seem in 
the least to dampen the ardor of the soldiers, or 
prevent the ladies from crowding through the 
muddy streets to bid them good-bye. For about 
two hours and a half they stood in the shower, 
giving frequent vent to their patriotism and 
variety to the occasion by loud cheering, the 
train having orders to leave at ten o'clock. Our 
readers can fancy the leave-taking — we cannot 
attempt to portray it — for what pen can paint 
the feelings which swelled the hearts of fond 
mothers, sisters and wives as they bade farewell 
to those they loved so dearly, not knowing 
whether they would ever again be permitted to 
meet on earth? — or who can depict the emotions 
of those gallant boys, in whose breast patriotism 
and love for their country's honor struggled with 
regrets at their separation from those so closely 
entwined around their hearts? Those who were 
present felt all this deeply, and theie are few in 
all our broad State who read these lines who 
have not, within the last few days, been wit- 
nesses of similar scenes, and who cannot, in some 
measure, appreciate the solemnity of the occasion. 
At length the companies were all seated in the 
cars, and as the long train swept gradually from 
the depot, drawn by two powerful locomotives, 
which never before bore a freight so precious, 
the air was rent by the loud shouts of the crowd 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



on the platform, iinited with those of the men in 
the cars. The okl toast, 'Woman, God bless 
her!' which we have all drank so often, came 
forcibly to the minds of all, for with Spartan 
firmness, those women, who all had on the reced- 
ing train some son, or brother, or some ' dearer 
one and nearer one,' with the strong heart of 
patriotism, wept, but consented to the sacrifice 
for their country's sake. Forever bless their 
noble hearts !" 

The patriotism was not confined to the aged. 
A little daughter of J. C. Luce, only about seven 
years of age, told her mother she was deter- 
mined to enlist for a soldier — saying that 
although she could not carry a musket and shoot, 
she could take care of the wounded soldiers; 
make bandages and lint, read to them when rest- 
less, or write home to their friends their last 
wishes if they were about to die. As she was 
so extremely in earnest about the matter, she 
was allowed to go to Colonel Williams' office, 
who put her name down, and told her she was 
the first female volunteer he had on his list. She 
went home really thinking she had enlisted for 
the war, gathered up from the neighbors all the 
old sheets they would spare her, which she made 
into bandages — several hundred in all — for the 
surgical department. There was something 
deeply touching in the artless conduct of the lit- 
tle girl — so young, yet so earnestly anxious to 
do something to relieve the suffering of the 
wounded soldiers her fancy had painted on the 
black canvass of battle. 

The year 1862 was a dark one for the Union 
armies. Defeated in the field and harrassed by 
enemies in the rear, many friends of the Union 
were discouraged. Even in Sangamon county 
were to be found many who believed that the 
war was prosecuted in vain and that some com- 
promise or peace measures should be adopted. 
The Government was urgently calling for volun- 
teers, and enlistments were slow. At this junc- 
ture war meetings were held all over the county 
and every effort was made to awaken a more 
lively interest and to secure enlistments. At 
Chatham, on the evening of July 19, an enthu- 
siastic meeting was held and the following reso- 
lutions adopted: 

'■'■ Mesolved, That this meeting is of the opinion 
that the war against treason and rebellion should 
be prosecuted with the utmost vigor, and that 
the sword should not be sheathed until the 
authority of the Federal Government is restored 
to its former power and glory. 

^'' Hesolved, That the thanks of this meeting 
are due to the Governor of this State for his 



x;ntiring exertions in behalf of the troops on the 
battlefield, and for his zeal in making arrange- 
ments for the new troops required by ihe recent 
call of the President, and this meeting pledges 
itself to render him all the support in its power 
toward crushing out the rebellion." 

This meeting was but one of many, all breath- 
ing the same spirit, showing a determination to 
stand by the Government to the end. 

Some time in the fall of this year President 
Lincoln issued a proclamation stating that upon 
the first day of January, 1863, he would issue 
a Proclamation of Emancipation of the slaves 
in those States engaged in the rebellion, if, in 
the meantime, they did not return to their alle- 
gience to the General Government. The rebel 
States, paying no heed to the note of warning, 
the proclamation was accordingly issued. Many 
loyal men throughout the North doubted the pro- 
priety and even the authority of the President 
in this matter. Meetings were held approving 
and denouncing the act throughout the L^nion. 
In Springfield a large meeting was held on Sat- 
urday evening, January 10, 1863, which was ad- 
journed till Thursday, the 15th, which v as ad- 
dressed by several eminent speakers who had 
formerly acted with both parties, when the fol- 
lowing resolutions were adopted: 

'■^Mesolved, That in the present condition of 
our National affairs, and in the existence of the 
troubles which surround our country, it is the 
duty of all good citizens cordially to support 
the National and State Administrations, and 
that we hereby offer to the Administration of 
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, and Richard Yates, Governor of the 
State of Illinois, our earnest and cordial sup- 
port in the efforts of their respective Adminis- 
trations to put doM'n the present most infamous 
rebellion. 

'■'■liesolved, That while we admit that during 
the present terrible and unjustifiable rebellion it 
would be impossible for the President of the 
United States to discharge his duties so as to 
satisfy all the people of the United States, yet 
as he is the officer invested with the constitu- 
tional power to act as the Government in put- 
ting down the present rebellion, which is seek- 
ing our overthrow, it becomes the duty of all 
loyal citizens to strengthen the President's arm 
for the contest, and to give him that material 
moral aid and support, regardless of mere party 
differences of opinion, that Avill be effectual to 
put down insurrection and sustain our Govern- 
ment — and we hold that no man can be regarded 
as a lover of his country who will not make any 



314 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COl^NTY. 



sacrifice that is needed to sustain the Govern- 
ment under which he lives. 

'■'■ liesolved^ That it is the first and highest 
duty of the National Government to crush out 
the existing rebellion; that our own happiness, 
prosperity, and power as a people, and the fate 
of Republican institutions throughout |he 
world are involved in this great issue; and in 
order to accomplish that result, it is both the 
right and duty of the Government to use all 
means recognized by the laws of civilized war- 
fare. 

'''■Resolved, That the Constitution of our fathers 
and the irrepealable laws of nature unite in in- 
dissoluble bonds the Great Northwest and the 
mouth of the Mississippi and the eastern sea- 
board; that we should be ready, if need were, 
to crush secession in the east, as in the south; 
and that we will never consent to a dissolution 
of the Union, or to an abandonment by the Na- 
tional Government of its constitutional authority 
over any, the least portion of our territory. 

'•Hesolved, That we have no terms of compro- 
mise to propose to rebels in arms; that we should 
regard propositions by the loyal States for a ces- 
sation of hostilities as both fruitless and humili- 
ating, and that any settlement of our National 
troubles by species of concession to the rebels, or 
by any mode short of an unconditional suppres- 
sion of the rebellion, would be an acknowledg- 
ment of the principle of secession, and would be 
ottering a premium to treason for all time to 
come. 

"liesolmd. That the Constitution of the United 
States confers upon the Government of the same, 
all the powers necessary to the effectual suppres- 
sion of the rebellion, and to punish the rebels for 
a vie lation of their allegiance, and to this end 
it may deprive them of life, liberty or property, 
if required, in its judgment; and that an im- 
perious necessity demanded of the President of 
the United States the issuing of his proclama- 
tion of freedom to the slaves in rebellious States 
and parts of States, and we pledge ourselves to 
sustain him in the same. 

"Jiesolved, That the President, as commander- 
in-chief of the army, and executive head of the 
Government, has the same undoubted right to 
suspend the writ of habeas corjms, during an 
armed rebellion, as General Jackson had to sus- 
pend that writ in New Orleans; that even if in- 
dividual cases of hardship have occurred in con- 
sequence of false information furnished to the 
Government, which it had good reason to be- 
lieve to be true, still no thoroughly loyal citizen, 
who earnestly desires the suppression of the re- 



bellion, would seek, for such causes, to create 
disaffection among the people towards the Gov- 
ernment, or to make them believe their liberties 
are in danger; and that we have yet to hear of 
the first truly loyal man who believes himself in 
danger of military arrest or imprisonment in the 
so-called bastiles. 

" Mesolved, That the late State Government of 
Virginia, having treasonably abdicated its legit- 
imate authority, the same devolved upon that 
portion of her citizens which organized a loyal 
Government in that section of her territory 
where they could safely assemble, and that such 
loyal Government was invested with the whole 
power of the State of Virginia, and had the 
rightful authority under the National Constitu- 
tion, with the sanction of Congress, to consent 
to the formation of a new State, carved out of 
its territory. 

"Jiesolved, That the courts of the United 
States would be wholly inefficient to maintain 
its authority against rebels in arms, and that the 
only mode in which the rebellion can be put 
down is through the military arm of the Gov- 
ernment, and that the proper duty of our courts 
is to follow, and not precede, our armies, and 
that we will hail the day when military aid can 
be dispensed with in the administration of our 
affairs, and the civil authority restored to its 
wonted supremacy. 

^'Hesolved, That the Democratic principle that 
the frequency of elections and of submission to 
the will of the people as expressed at the ballot 
box, dispenses entirely with the necessity of 
forcible revolution to correct any real or fancied 
errors of administration, and this fact takes 
away all excuse for those who seek to inaugurate 
a state of anarchy or rebellion, and invests their 
crime Avith a ten-fold atrocitj'. 

^^ Jiesolved, That, the gallant sons of Illinois 
who have gone forth to fight our battles, have 
achieved for themselves and their State imper- 
ishable renown; that the page which shall record 
their deeds will be among the brightest of our 
country's history, and having sealed their hatred 
of treason by the baptism of the battlefield, 
they will, upon their return, pronounce at the 
ballot-box their condemnation of all men who 
have dared to express a covered sympathy with 
traitors or to denounce the sacred cause for 
which they have shed their blood." 

Among the speakers at the meeting was 
Colonel Cummings. He said that he appeared 
before them as a Democrat — always had been 
and was still a Democrat; but like a certain old 
Roman, his "voice was still for war." He was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



:J15 



therefore a war Democrat, and was in favor of 
pushing the war with the utmost power of the 
Goverment until the unhoiy rebellion should be 
put down and an honorable peace secured. He 
fully endorsed the resolutions, and if he desired 
any changi in them it would be i«iraply to add 
"My country, right or wrong." After referring 
to the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, 
and the Emancipation Proclamation, and defend- 
ing the right of the President to suspend the 
one and issue the other, the Colonel referred to 
a suggestion that had found its way into print 
that New England should be thrown off and a 
Western Confederacy formed. "Another posi- 
tion," said he, "occupied by some of these gen- 
tlemen, is their expressed desire to cast off 
New England and form a Western Confederacy. 
And just here T would like to know who of 
these gentlemen is to be the President of this 
new Government. This question may be some- 
what significant as applied to these men. But 
why cast off New England with all her glorious 
deeds and memories? The officers and soldiers 
of New England have done their duty nobly; 
have done what no one of these gentlemen have 
done — taken up arms, and on the battlefield de- 
fended the Government against its traitorous 
enemies. Witness the devotion of General But- 
ler, General Banks, and the host of loyal hearts 
from New England, while traitors, both North 
and South, have been doing their utmost to 
destroy the Government, and tell me if Ncav 
England deserves to be cast out of the Union? 
In addition to all this, Illinois has reason to be 
proud of New England, for she gave us that 
great statesman, that stern and unflinching 
patriot, Stephen A. Douglas, whose name will 
live and be honored in Illinois for all time. 
Besides all this, we have the fraternal greeting 
of New England to Illinois, at the battle of Fort 
Donelson: 

" O, gales that dash the Atlautic's swell 
Along our rocky shores! 
Whose thunder diapason well 
New England's glad huzzahs — 

" Be«r to the prairies of the West 
The echoes of our joy, 
The prayer that springs in every breast, 
' God bless thee — Illinois.' 

" Oh! awful hours, when grape and shell 
Tore through the unflinching line; 
Stand firm, remove the men who fell. 
Close up and wait the sign. 

"It came at last, 'Now, lads, the steel!' 
The rushing hosts deploy; 
'Charge, boys!' the broken traitors reel — 
Hurrah for Illiuois! 



'' In vain the ramjiart, Donelson, 
The living torrent bars; 
It leaps the wall, the fort is won, 
Up go the stripes and stars. 

" The proudest mother's eyelids fills 
As dares ber gallant boy; 
And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill 
Yearn to thee, Illinois " 

The Colonel concluded his speech amid loud 
and long continued applause. Springfield and 
Sangamon county had spoken for the Union. 

The year 1863 witnessed an effort on the part 
of many to secure peace between the States. 
On the iVth of June a mass convention was 
held at Springfield, presided over by Senator 
Richardson, which passed the following resolu- 
tion: 

" Mesolved, That the further offensive prosecu- 
tion of this war tends to subvert the Constitu- 
tion and the Government, and entails upon this 
nation all the disastrous consequences of misrule 
and anarchy. That we are in favor of peace 
upon the basis of a restoration of the Union, 
and for the accomplishment of which we pro- 
pose a National Convention to settle upon terms 
of peace, which shall have in view the restora- 
tion of the Union as it was, and the securing by 
constitutional amendments such rights to the 
several States and people thereof as honor and 
justice demand." 

The effect of this meeting was to I'ouse the 
unconditional Union men to renewed action. 
A mass convention was, therefore, called and 
held in Springfield, Thursday, September 3, 
which was addressed by a number of the most 
eminent men of the country, among whom were 
Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan; J. R. Doo- 
little, of Wisconsin, and General McClernand, 
of Springfield. Strong resolutions were adopted 
pledging all to faithfully stand by the Govern- 
ment until the last traitor was disarmed. 
iVmong the resolutions were the following: 

'■'■ Hesolvecl, That we will lay aside all party 
questions and forget all party prejudices, and 
devote ourselves unreservedly to the support of 
our Government, until the rebellion shall be 
finally and forever crushed. 

'■• Resolved, Thixt whatever else may die, the 
Union shall live, to perpetuate civil liberty; 
whatever else may perish, the Govornment shall 
survive in all its Constitutional integrity; what- 
ever else may be destroyed, the Nation shall be 
preserved in its territorial unity; and to this end 
we pledge anew our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor." 

In the winter of 1863-4 much was done in 
Springfield in aid of soldiers' families. On Sat- 



310 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



iirday, December 12,1863, the farmers of the 
county, notwithstanding the condition of the 
roads, hauled to the city and distributed among 
the needy, nicety-three loads of wood. The 
Board ol Supervisors during the same winter 
appropriated -15,000 to aid the suffering. 

The gallant Seventh Regiment, an account of 
whose departure to the seat of war is given on 
a preceding page, in December, 1863, re-enlisted 
as veterans, and in January following, received a 
furlough to visit their homes. On Monday, Jan- 
uary IS, the regiment arrived in Springfield. 
At an early hour that morning, flags were flung 
to the breeze from many of the business houses 
and offices around the square, and also from pri- 
vate dwellings, in anticipation of the arrival of 
the regiment. At about two o'clock the boom- 
ing of cannon and the ringing of bells an- 
nounced the fact they were near at hand. The 
streets were immediately crowded with men, 
women, and children, all surging in the direc- 
tion of the Great Western depot, to witness the 
debarkation of the regiment from the cars and 
their march to the State House. So great was 
the interest felt to see this veteran and gallant 
regiment, that had sustained the flag of the 
country with so much honor to themselves and 
the State, that the teachers of the public schools 
allowed their pupils to go to the place of ren- 
dezvous to gratify their curiosity. 

On the arrival of the cars at the depot, cheer 
after cheer was given to the veterans. After 
leaving the cars, they formed into line, and were 
escorted by the Fire Department, preceded by 
bands of music, to the Hall of Representatives. 
The galleries were crowded with ladies, to give 
the veterans a patriotic welcome home to Illi- 
nois. After the arrival at the Hall, Governor 
Yates was introduced to the regiment and large 
audience present. Three cheers were proposed 
for Governor Yates and three cheers for the 
"Old Seventh," which were given with a will. 

The Governor addressed the assembly in a 
speech of about three-quarters of an hour in 
length, in which he spoke of the regiment as 
being one of the first that entered the field at 
the call of the country — their gallantry in many 
a hard-fought field, and welcomed them home to 
Illinois. At the close of the Governor's speech, 
General John Cook was called for, and pro- 
ceeded to address them in a speech of about one 
hour in length, in which he gave a history of 
the regiment from the time of its organization 
and its march from Camp Yates to that time. 
Colonel Rowett, commander of the regiment, 
was next called to the stand, and delivered a 



brief and appropriate speech, in which he 
thanked the citizens of Springfield for their 
friendly welcome, as beyig totally unexpected, 
not having heard anything about the matter 
until about twelve miles of the city. He said 
the question of re-enlisting was propounded on 
the 22d of December, and the regiment said as 
Dave Lee said, "they would not stop fighting 
until the rebels did first." They did not say as 
some others did, "that they had tried it for two 
years and nine months, and now let others try 
it," but they were determined to fight until this 
rebellion was crushed out. His remarks were 
received with much applause. Major Estabrook 
delivered a short and telling speech which was 
well received. The exercises were interspersed 
with several patriotic airs from the band present, 
which added much to the interest of the occa- 
sion. 

Never was there a more cordial and heart- felt 
reception than was extended by the citizens of 
Springfield to this veteran regiment. They 
seemed to vie with each other in their expression 
of gratitude to the brave men who had risked 
their lives in the defense of their country and 
homes. The regiment brought with them the 
National colors of the regiment, riddled and 
torn with shot and shell, showing the deadly 
nature of the conflict in which they had been 
engaged. 

During the year 1864, a Presidential campaign 
occurred, in which the issues virtually were: 
Shall the Government be sustained in the prose- 
cution of the war? The result of the election 
was such as to nerve the President to renewed 
action. Several calls were made for volunteers 
which were quickly responded to, and vigorous 
measures were pursued in the prosecution of the 
war. 

The " Ladies' Loyal League of Springfield " 
was organized May 13, 1863. Two hundred and 
sixteen names were enrolled at the first meeting. 
At the expiration of the first year it numbered 
five hundred and twenty-nine. From the an- 
nual report of the secretary, Mrs. Paul Selby, in 
1864, the following extract is taken: 

"At its first organization, the League was 
simply designed as an associated expression of 
loyal sentiment, in which its members pledged 
themselves to an 'unconditional support to the 
National Government in its present struggle 
against rebellion, and to do whatever may lie 
in their power for the maintenance of our Gov- 
ernment and the Union.' Beyond this, it had 
no distinctive object. But 'faith without works 
is dead.' It soon became evident that, to give 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



317 



vitality to the organization and fulHll tlie design 
of its creation, it must have some object for 
which to labor. This, indeed, was required by 
our further pledge to 'encourage our brave sol- 
diers in the field by the language of patriotism, 
and to soothe the anguish of the sick and 
wounded by deeds of kindness; to discounten- 
ance every tendency to disloyalty, and to evince 
on every proper occasion our determination to 
stand by the flag of the Union; to honor those 
who bravely hazard their lives in its defense, 
and to express our abhorrence of every enemy, 
open or disguised, who would trail its proud 
glory in the dust.' This requires something 
more than professions — it requires action, 

"In looking around for a field of operations, 
one opened to us at the very outset. In our 
midst were many families of those who, having 
patriotically offered themselves upon the altar 
of their country, had been compelled to leave 
those dependent upon them illy provided to carry 
on the ' battle of life ' in their absence. The diffi- 
culty of their situation was still further increased 
by the expeditions continually advancing farther 
and farther into the enemy's country, se^»>arating 
soldiers uStill farther from their families, and ren- 
dering communication from them less frequent; 
from the unfrequent visits of paymasters to dis- 
tant commands, often leaving the men compos- 
ing them unpaid for several months at a time; 
by the fortunes of war, resulting in the capture 
and protracted imprisonment of many of our sol- 
diers; and last, and saddest of all, the surrender 
of the lives of man)'' in protecting that flag 
which they had volunteered to defend. The field 
here opened was a wide one, — and it expanded 
as we proceeded to explore it. 

" The county Board of Supervisors had already 
done much to prevent distress which must other- 
wise have resulted, among this class of persons, 
by liberal appropriations of money; but it was 
practically impossible that this system should 
reach some of the most deserving cases. In 
some cases, those who needed and deserved as- 
sistance most, were most reluctant in making 
their condition known. Committees were there- 
fore appointed in the various wards of the city, 
to seek out and investigate cases requiring at- 
tention. Besides, there were, almost weekly, ar- 
riving many individuals and families from the 
rebel States — refugees from their homes on ac- 
count of Union principles. These often came 
among us in actual want of the common neces- 
sities of life, food and clothing — penniless, sick, 
dispirited, and suffering. Their condition ap- 
pealed to every loyal heart, and to the best of 



our ability we have en leavorod t> <-xttMid to 
them some portion of the aid to which they 
stood in need. 

" In this field, so nearly allied to that of the 
noble organization of patriotic and Christian 
women, the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society, we 
have labored for a year past, as we, hope, not 
>A^ithout results for good. Up to the first of 
June, when our fiscal year closed, as shown by 
the report of the Treasurer, the League has re- 
ceived into its treasury $81 7.90, of which $794.35 
have been expended. About seventy-five per- 
sons and families have received aid from the 
association. This does not include donations of 
dry goods, groceries, shoes, clothing, etc., to the 
amount of several hundred dollars, contribu- 
tions from various sources during the year. 

" It is proper in this connection to state that 
the Ladies' Loyal League of Springfield is purely 
a local organization, and that its revenue has 
been derived solely from the citizens, churches, 
etc., of Springfield and its immediate vicinity. 
In no case has it received contributions from 
distant parts of the States. 

" In these times, when our country is passing 
through the perils of the most causeless, wicked 
and most stupendous rebellion, there seems to 
be an especial demand for associated, organized 
effort. While the husbands, brothers, sons and 
fathers of the loyal women of America are 
baring their breasts to the foe upon the field in 
defense of our homes and all we hold most dear, 
is it not fitting we should do our part by en- 
deavoring to lighten the burdens of war, to re- 
lieve the fatherless and the widow, to encourage 
and sustain the soldier as he goes to meet the 
enemies of our country. We have done little, 
it is true, in comparison with Avhat was de- 
manded of us. The demand for effort still re- 
mains. May it be said of each of us, ' She has 
done what she could.' Mrs. P, Selby, 

Secretary Ladies' Loyal League." 

For 1864-5 the following named officers were 
elected: Mrs. S. H. Melvin, President; Mrs. 
John P. Reynolds and Mrs. McCulloch, Vice 
Presidents; Mrs. R. S. Lord, Treasurer; Mrs. 
Paul Selbv, Secretary; Mrs. L. Niles, Mrs. H. 
Post, Miss R. H. Beach, Mrs. G. S. Mendell, 
Mrs. J. K. Dubois, Mrs. R. B. Zimmerman, Mrs. 
James L. Lamb, Mrs. M. Brayman, Mrs. A. M. 
Gregory, Mrs. George Boynton, Mrs. L. M. 
Snell, Mrs. J. G. Ives, Managers. 

The year 1865 opened auspiciously for the 
Union armies. Evidences that the rebels were 
weakening were daily shown. In order to make 
one last grand effort to suppress the rebellion, 



318 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



President Lincoln issued his proclamation for 
more men, and ordered a draft if not complied 
with by February 15. Previous to this time, 
Sangamon county had honored every call and 
had always an excess. In order to provide for 
this last call without resort to a draft, the Board 
of Supervisors were called together and passed a 
sei'ies of resolutions, among which was the fol- 
lowing: 

'■'•Resolved, That the county of Sangamon, 
State of Illinois, in its corporate capacity, will 
pay a bounty of $I500 to each volunteer who may 
enlist and be properly mustered into the United 
States service, and duly crtdited to any sub-dis- 
trict in said county, in arrears under said call; 
that the said county will pay a like bounty of 
$500 to any man who has heretofore or w ho may 
hereafter furnish a substitute, who has been or 
who shall hereafter be accepted, mustered into 
the service, and duly credited to any sub-district 
in said county in arrears under said call; and 
that said county will pay a like bounty of -tSOO 
to any man who may be drafted in said county 
and mustered into the United States service un- 
der said call." 

N. W. Matheny, N. M. Eroadwell and J. G. 
Ives were authorized to negotiate a loan for the 
county to enable it to pay the bounty offered. 

MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN ALEXANDER m'CLERNAND. 

Every public man becomes, in the highest and 
most sacred sense, the embodiment of his con- 
stituents, whose number expands in direct ratio 
with the dimensions of the position he is called 
to fill and the height he attains as a representa- 
tive of the ideas, desires and interests of a peo- 
ple. He being thus an epitome of the commu- 
nity. State or Nation whose servant he is, his acts 
and his life become the property of the common- 
wealth with whose history his deeds are inter- 
woven. Biography, then, of every public man 
is history ; and so interblended is it with the 
important events of this American Republic that 
the complete biographies of a score of its repre- 
sentative officials would furnish a pretty satis- 
factor)' history of the Nation. .The biography 
of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand is of this 
character. Being a citizen of Sangamon county, 
the military life of Gen. MoClernand will be of 
interest to every citizen of the county, especially 
as it embraces several campaigns and many bat- 
tles in which Sangamon county men participated. 

John Alexander McClernand is the only child 
of John and Fatima McClernand, and was born 
in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, in 1812. 



Soon after the birth of John, the family removed 
to Shawneetown, Illinois, where subsequently 
the elder McClernand died, his son then being 
only four years of age. 

The boyhood and yoiith of eminent men, 
though frequently devoid of interest, is often 
pregnant with instruction. We shall be pre- 
pared to form some estimate of the energy and 
indomitable will of young McClernand when we 
reflect that at the early age of twenty, he had 
already overcome difficulties which weaker minds 
would have shrunk from as insurmountable, and 
that he was in consequence enabled to take a 
respectable position at the bar in the practice of 
the legal profession. The same year, 1832, he 
volunteered as a private in the Black Hawk 
War, where he served with honor till its close. 
In his experience in the field, he laid that foun- 
dation of military knowledge, and gained that 
practical insight into human character, which 
have been so valuable to him in after life, and 
which, in the rebellion enabled him to serve 
his country so well in the important positions 
which he was called upon to fill, first as a 
Brigadier, and subsequently, as a Major Gen- 
eral. 

In 1835 he established the first Democratic 
press that ever existed in Shawneetown; and in 
the same year re-commenced the practice of law, 
which he continued with success, up to the time 
of his election to Congress, in 1843. 

In 1836, he was elected to the State Legisla- 
ture, from the county of Gallatin, In this ses- 
sion he successfully vindicated the character of 
the President (Jackson), from certain charges 
preferred against him by Governor Duncan. In 
this session he also advocated that mode of con- 
structing the Illinois and Michigan Canal which 
was known as the "Deep Cut Plan," and which 
was finally adopted. He was elected, we believe, 
unanimously, by the legislature, as Commis- 
sioner and Treasurer of the canal, and so faith- 
fully did he discharge the duties confided to 
him, that vai'ious public meetings throughout 
the country complimented him by resolution, 
recognizing the value of his services. 

In 1838 he was urged by his friends to accept 
the nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but 
declined, on the ground that he was under the 
Constitutional age — thirty years. 

Among the resolutions adopted at the same 
convention in which he was offered the nomina- 
tion for Lieutenant Governor, Mr. McClernand 
prepared and offered the following, which he 
regarded, most justly, as breathing the spirit of 
true Democracy: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



321 



^^ Resolved, That the Democratic principle is 
founded on an inapeiishable basis of truth and 
justice, and perpetually striving to suhtain society 
in the exercise of every power which can pro- 
mote honor or happiness, and elevate our condi- 
tion; that, instead of warring against order, and 
encroaching on the privileges of others, the 
spirit of Democracy maintains an active princi- 
ple of hope and virtue. 

'•'■ liesolved. That we recognize no power but 
that which yields to the restraints of duly, and 
is guided by mind: That we only seek to obtain 
influence by means of free conviction; that we 
condemn all appeals to brute force and the exer- 
cise of violence, and that our only means of per- 
suasion are reason and truth. 

'■'■liesolved, That our first aim is to connect 
our party with the cause of intelligence and 
morality; to seek the protection of every right 
consistent with the genius of our Constitution 
and the spirit of the age. We desire to extend 
moral culture, and to remove, as far as i^ossible, 
all inequalities in our human condition, by em- 
bracing all improvements which can ameliorate 
our moral and political state." 

These resolutions tell their own story, and 
they have only to be read to be appreciated by 
all lovers of liberty, all true Democrats every- 
where. They are chiefly remarkable as emanat- 
ing from so young a mind, and they are appli- 
cable to all times and all circumstances: — for 
though they were written some forty years 
ago, when the political atmosphere was calm and 
serene, they yet embody the only principles on 
which a free government can stand anywhere. 
For these reasons, and because these principles 
have actuated their author through his whole 
life, both civil and military, as this record will 
attest, they demand our highest consideration 
and respect. 

In 1840 Mr. McClernand was elected a second 
time to the legislature from the county of Gal- 
latin. In this session, one of the Judges of the 
Supreme Court, Theophilus W. Smith, took ex- 
ception to some remarks made by Mr. McCler- 
nand in a debate on a reform of the Judiciary, 
and sent a challenge to Mr. McClernand, which 
he accepted; but the Judge failing to appear, 
the meeting did not take place. 

In 1839 Mr. McClernand was nominated by a 
State Convention, as one of the electors to sup- 
port Van Buren and Johnson in the Presidential 
election. The result Avas a majoiity of about 
four thousand votes for Van IJuren and Johnson 
in that part of the State. 

37— 



Mr. McClernand was re-elected to the legisla- 
ture in 1842, from the covmty of Gallatin. As 
Chairman of the Committee of Finance, he 
brought forward several measures calculated to 
relieve the State from those financial troul)les 
which he attributed to the banking system; and 
he had the good fortune to see all these meas- 
ures adopted. 

In 1843, while still a member of the legisla- 
ture, he was elected a Representative to ihe 
Twenty-eighth Congress. 

Before taking his seat, he married Sarah, 
daughter of Colonel Dunlap, of Jacksonvi'le, 
Illinois, of one of the most reputable and influ- 
ential families in the State. 

His first speech in Congress was on the bill 
to refund the fine imposed on General Jackson 
by Judge Hall, and it evinced the warm affec- 
tion which he had cherished for that illustrious 
man. 

During the same session, he delivered a 
speech on the Rock Island controversy, which 
was very extensively published. 

During the second session of the same Con- 
gress, as a member of the Committee on Public 
Land, he brought forward a comprehensive and 
interesting report, accompanied by a bill for a 
grant of land to and in completion of the Illi- 
nois and Michigan canal. 

By an act of the legislature, a change in the 
usual time for holding elections had been made, 
and Mr. McClernand was re-elected to Congress 
in 1844. 

He was one of the members who insisted on 
the maintenance of the extreme claim to fifty- 
four degrees, forty minutes, in the Oregon con- 
troversy with Great Britain; and he was earn- 
estly bent on its assertion. As Chairman of the 
Committee on Public Lands, he brought for- 
ward a bill, accompanied by a report, to grant 
to the State of Tennessee the public lands of 
the United States lying within her borders. 
This bill became a law. 

He gave a zealous support to the Administra- 
tion in its measures touching the Mexican war. 
He voted to place at the disposal of the Execu- 
tive all the men and money required to give suc- 
cess to our arms. His views as to the justice of 
the war, the plan of prosecuting it, and its con- 
sequences, were fully explained in a speech de- 
livered by him in Congress on the 16th of June, 
1846. 

During the first session of the Twenty-ninth 
Congress, he Inought forward the bill to reduce 
and graduate the price of the public lands, upon 



M-1 



HISTORY" OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the principles and details of which he had be- 
stowed much labor and reflection. 

In the ensuing session, as Chairman of the 
same Committee, lie took an active part in favor 
of the bill to bring into market the mineral 
region lying around Lake Superior, valuable for 
its extent and the quantity and rich (piality of 
the copper found there. This bill became a law. 

During the same session, he was called upon 
by the Jackson Monument Committee to present 
their memorial, which he did. On that occasion, 
he pronounced a eulogy on General Jackson, 
which was highly esteemed, and an extract from 
which M^e give below. 

"This is not the occasion to pronounce a for- 
mal eulogy on the man whose last aspirations 
were for the welfare, the glory and happiness of 
his country. But I may be allowed to say, that 
Andrew Jackson was a man of no common 
order. Left fatheiless and friendless in his 
youth, he wrote the word excelsior on his crest, 
and pushed his way upward and onward to power 
and distinction, from the rank of a private to 
that of a general, and from the position of a 
citizen to that of (.hief Magistrate of the Re- 
public. The name of Jackson, the indomitable, 
the strong willed, the honest, the unflinching, — 
the man of iron, — has become a household "word 
to his countrymen — an invocation of patriotism 
and duty to all lands. What he said and did is 
written in that word of words and deeds accumu- 
lated from the wisdom and heroism of ages; and 
as a lesson and incentive of posterity, it will re- 
main written forever. Endowed, perhaps, with 
a less bold and subtle philosophy than Jefi^erson, 
with a less dazzling and theoretic genius than 
Napoleon, he was the equal of either in energy 
and concentration of purpose — the superior of 
both in the attribute of common sense. His 
principles M'ere lofty and stern — proof alike 
against power and corruption. Like Susticles, he 
could have written, unmoved, the ballot of his 
own ostracism, or watched by the flickering 
torches of night, untempted over the treasure 
which strewed the tield of Plato. As a General 
he was active and daring, yet vigilant and 
judiciary; to constancy and fortitude he added 
impetuous, almost romantic valor. At the bat- 
tle of New Orleans, he won the crowning glory 
of his military career. There he conflrmed the 
great truth proclaimed upon the classic plains of 
Marathon— the pre- eminence of free States in 
defense of their hearth-stones and independ- 
ence, over the unwieldy empires of crowned 
conquerors. As it is the habit of a free people 
to delegate great authority to one man who is 



the reflex of the popular will — the individualized 
Agora, through which the voice of. the Nation 
is heard, not only in the present, but in after 
times also, so, it is not to be wondered, that 
Jackson, with such qualities as he possessed, 
should have been that man to the people of his 
time. The pride we feel in the man is not a 
})artizan pride; it arises from what he did for 
his country. There is no vandal hand to tear 
away the tirst leaf in chaplet of laurels, and the 
smoke of destruction which was to obscure his 
fame has passed away for ever." 

In 1846 Mr. McClernand was elected a third 
time to Congress, and this time also without op- 
position. In the course of the following sum- 
mer, he was frequently called upon to address 
the soldiers returning from the war. At a pub- 
lic dinner given in Fairfield, to celebrate the 
return of our Illinois Volunteers, being called 
upon, he delivered an address which thus con- 
cludes: 

"Now, gentlemen, in conclusion, allow me to 
exhort you to support our civil institutions, as 
one of the highest duties encumbent on citizens 
and patriots. Study and understand their two- 
fold character. Remember that they are both 
local and general, State and Federal; and to 
what is Federal accord the things which are 
Federal, and to what is State the rights of the 
States. In short, uphold the whole system of 
conflning the action of the several parts to their 
appointed spheres. Thus guarded and pro- 
tected, the Union will long endure as the ark of 
our political safety. Like the grain of mustard 
seed compared in the parable to the Kingdom 
of God, it will grow and continue to grow, 
until its shadow shall cover the whole earth." 

In 1848 Mr. McClernand was re-elected to 
Congress, though not without opposition. 

In 1849, as a member of a select committee 
on certain charges against President Polk for 
having established a taritt' of duties in the posts 
of the Mexican Republic, Mr. McClernand, in 
a minority report on behalf of himself and Mr. 
Venable, another member of the committee, de- 
fended the action of the President with great 
power and incontrovertible argument. 

In 18.50, at the instance of other leading men, 
Mr. McClernand prepared and oftered the first 
draft of the famous compromise measures of 
that year. But the same subject being taken 
up in the Senate by the committee of which Mr. 
Clay was the chairman, who reported a bill 
which passed both Houses. Mr. McClernand 
presided in a committee of the whole during 
its progress through the House. During this 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



82:J 



session Mr. McClernard delivered an elaLorato 
speech on the same subject. 

He also, at the same session, drafted the bill 
granting a quantity of land in aid of the con- 
struction of tiie Illinois Central Kailroad and its 
Chicago branch. His colleague, Senator Doug- 
las, being furnished with a copy, introduced it 
into the Senate, and, with amendments, it passed 
both Houses and became a law. 

In the same year and during the same ses- 
sion, as chairman of the House Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, he brought forward a plan for 
the re-organization of the State Department. 

In 1851, declining re-election, he retired from 
Congress, after eight years' faithful service and 
a most brilliant and successful career in the 
cause of his country" and of good government, 
and removed to Jacksonville, Illinois. 

In 1852 he was chosen a second time an 
Elector for President and Vice-President, and 
voted for Pierce and King. 

In 1856 he made a powerful speech at Alton, 
Illinois, deprecating the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise, and predicting danger to the coun- 
try as its consequence. 

This speech produced a great sensation at the 
time, and provoked the wrath of many of the 
Democratic leaders. Mr. McClernand being 
asked how he dared to give expression to such 
heterodoxical sentiment, answered, that it was 
"because he esteemed his country and his fame 
of higher value than the interests of party." 

In 1856, he removed to Springfield, the capital 
of Illinois, and soon gained a commanding po- 
sition in the State and Federal Courts. 

In 1858, he wrote a letter on the Kansas im- 
broglia, which was extensively circulated. 

In 1859, he was elected from the Capital to 
the popular branch of Congress, to fill the va- 
cancy caused by the death of Major T. L. Har- 
ris. 

In 1860, he introduced a bill repealing the law 
organizing the Territory of Utah, and merging 
that Territory in others. This was his plan for 
overcoming the ascendancy of the Mormons, 
and arresting the evils of polygamy. 

But on the 14th of January, 1861, he deliv- 
ered a speech in the House of Representatives 
on the Union and the phantom of "no coer- 
cion" while from its comprehensiveness, its 
accurate historical reseai'ch, its close and conclu- 
sive argument, cannot be surpassed and scarcely 
equalled in the whole range of parliamentary 
literature. Those who wish to make themselves 
familiar with this great subject and its masterly 
treatment, ought, by all means, to peruse the 



speech as it was delivered. We shall only be 
able to give one or two passages here which ap- 
pears to us perfect of their kind, and very gems 
of patriotism and eloquence. Mark the follow- 
ing: ^ 

"No! the Mississippi valley is a geographical 
unit. Its grand ri^er, with its intersecting tribu- 
taries, reaching out in every direction to its ut- 
most limits, is the hand of Almighty God bind- 
ing it together in one homogeneous and complete 
whole. It is an organic body, inseparable except 
by violence to the laws of nature, and those other 
laws of commerce, education and society, which 
are the necessary results of the former. Let it 
be divided to-day, and ere long, when the frenzy 
of the hour shall have subsided, its dismem- 
bered parts will cleave together again by irre- 
sistible attraction; will reunite as the lips of an 
incised wound, by ihe just intention. A liigher 
law than the slave-law must control the destiny 
of the Mississippi Valley, the law of mutual 
attraction and cohesion. I say this in no offen- 
sive, but in a philosophical sense, and the recon- 
struction jobbers of the day, if they would 
make permanent w-ork, must bear it in mind."" 

Again, hear him on the subject of "coercion." 

" We hear the clamor of 'coercion'— of co- 
ercion of States. What is the foundation for 
this clamor? Do the friends of the Union pro- 
pose to invade South Carolina for the ])urpose 
of subjugating her people? Do they propose 
to force them to send her members of Congress 
back here, or to perform any other active Fed- 
eral duty? Not so! All we propose is to pro- 
tect the property and jurisdiction of the United 
States by defensive measures, no moie. Is that 
coercion? 

"Again, sir, is it coercion of a State, for us to 
do that we are sworn to do — to support the 
Constitution and the laws and treaties of the 
United States? Is it coercion for us to main- 
tain possession of the treasures and other prop- 
erty of the United States? To stay the violent 
and lawless hand that would tear down the noble 
structure of our Government? Nay, more, is it 
coercion for us to let the Hag of the Union 
stand upon the bosom of our country where our 
fathers planted it? To let the eagle of America 
sweep with buoyant wing the entire domain of 
this great Nation. Is this coercion? Why, sir, 
it is a perversion of all language, a mocking of 
all ideas to say so! Rather is it coercion for a 
State to require us to submit to her spoliation of 
the posts, ursenals, dock-yards, custom houses, 
post offices and the arms and munitions of the 
United States. Such submission, sir, in mv 



324 



HISTORV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



opinion, would be in the last degree reprehensi- 
ble and disgraceful. Utter imbecility alone can 
tolerate it, and, if this be the condition of our 
Government, let us at once abolish it, and pro- 
claim to the world the sad fact that the last and 
most auspicious experiment of free Government 
has signally failed!" 

In April, 18G1, at the instance of Governor 
Yates, Mr. McClernand being still a member of 
Congress, accompanied an armed volunteer force 
from the Capital of Illinois to Cairo and occu- 
pied that place. 

While there, he caused the steamers passing 
frum St. Louis to Louisville and other interme- 
diate points in Missouri and Kentucky, to be 
brought to at Cairo, and thus he wrested from 
rebel agents a considerable quantity of arms and 
munitions designed for rebel use. 

While at Cairo, he took great pains to inform 
himself respecting the condition of aft'airs in 
the southwest. He learned that there was, as 
yet, no rebel force either at Memphis, Corinth, 
Columbus or Madrid; and that public sentiment 
was still fluctuating between treason and loyalty, 
and that the most favorable opportunity for 
striking a decisive blow in the interest of the 
Union was still open. 

Hastening back to Springfield, he laid this 
important fact before Governor Yates, and draw- 
ing up a plan of operations, accompanied the 
Governor to Washington, and laid it before the 
President, and, at the instance of the latter, be- 
fore Scott, the General in Chief. 

It would have been well for the interests of 
the country, had Mr. McClernand's plan been 
carried out at that time. But Kentucky neutral- 
ity seemed to stand in the way, until those 
strongholds were seized and fortified by the 
enemy. Then, indeed, the Government and the 
whole country awoke to a full sense of their 
importance, and no wonder; for before tliey 
could be removed, the battles of Belmont, Forts 
Henry and Donelson, the fields of Shiloh and 
Madrid, the naval battle of Memphis, and the 
sieges of Lsland No. Ten and of Corinth, had to 
be fought, all of which might have been saved, 
if Mr. McClernand's prudent counsel had been 
followed in time. 

In July, 1861, Mr. McClernand took his seat 
in Congress, and was active and influential in 
inspiring and arming the Nation for the approach- 
ing conflict. With this view, he offered the fol- 
lowing preamble and resolution : 

"Whereas, A portion of the people of the 
United States, in violation of their constitutional 
obligations, have taken up arms against the Na- 



tional Government, and are now striving, by 
aggressive and iniquitous war, to overthrow it 
and break up the LTnion of these States ; there- 
fore, 

'•'■Resolved^ That this House hereby pledges 
itself to vote any amount of money, and any 
number of men that may be necessary to insure 
a speedy and efficient suppression of such rebel- 
lion, and the permanent restoration of Federal 
authority every where within the limits and 
jurisdiction of the LTnited States." 

In the following month (August 4th), in com- 
mon with his colleagues from Illinois, he was 
called upon by the President, to recommend to 
him a list of names for appointment as Briga- 
diers, and to fix the order of their rank. All his 
colleagues united in recommending him for the 
first appointment ; but, refusing to recommend 
himself, and joining with the others in recom- 
mending U. S. Grant, the latter thus gained 
seniority of rank. 

Immediately resigning his seat in Congress, 
Mr. McClernand returned to Illinois, with writ- 
ten authority to raise a brigade. His influence 
soon brought to his aid men of the highest char- 
acter. There was considerable competition to 
join his command; and before the expiration of 
August, he was ordered to Cairo by Major Gen- 
eral Fremont. 

On the 5th of September, 1861, Brigadier Gen- 
eral McClernand assumed command at Cairo, 
and within tvt^o hours afterwards he had pro- 
vided the outfit and transports for the expedi- 
tion which resulted in the occupation of Padu- 
cah by General Grant. 

While at Cairo, he inspired the soldiers with 
a laudable ambition to excel in drill and in dis- 
cipline. Under his command, Cairo itself be- 
came one of the most orderly and temperate 
cities of the Union. 

On the 6th of November, he embarked his 
brigade at Cairo, under orders to descend the 
Mississippi and make a demonstration against 
Belmont, on the Missouri shore, opposite Co- 
lumbus, in Kentucky. On the 7th he disem- 
barked his forces, about a mile and a fourth 
above Belmont, and advanced rapidly upon that 
place. Several times he rallied his men and led 
them to the charge in person. Several times he 
rode between the hostfle lines, and encouraged 
his men by his presence and example. His sad- 
dle harness was torn in several places by hostile 
bullets; his horse was wounded in two places; 
one of his aides was killed, and the horses of the 
others killed or wounded under them. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



325 



The enemy, after Laving been driven from 
their works, and their camp burned, were heavily 
reinforced fiom Columbus, and intercepted the 
Union forces on their return to their transports. 
Another battle must now be fought, to extricate 
our forces from perilous position, — and our little 
band of heroes proved themselves equal to the 
emergency. They fought with a valor and des- 
peration that would do honor to veterans; and 
after a terrible struggle gained the landing, where 
our transports were waiting to receive them. 
General McClernand, with Captains Schwartz 
and Hatch, were the last to embark, and they 
remained on shore till the last transport was 
being pushed off. 

In January, 1862, General McClernand made 
an armed reconnoissance of the enemy's strong- 
hold, at Columbus. This expedition was de- 
signed as a diversion in favor of General Buell, 
who was expected to attack Johnson, at Bowling 
Green, and it caused a rebel force to evaciiate 
Camp Beauregard, in Tennessee, destroy a rail- 
road bridge across Obien river, and to seek shel- 
ter within the fortifications of Columbus; and 
by it the dormant Union feeling in the hearts of 
the people was greatly encouraged. 

In February, 1862, General McClernand, com- 
manding a division, led the advance of the fleet 
of transports up the Tennessee river; and on the 
6th of that month, co-operating with the Mis- 
sissippi flotilla under Commodoi'e F'oote, moved 
by land upon Fort Henry. That fortress, as- 
sailed in front by gunboats, and threatened in 
the rear by the rapid advance ot McClernand, 
was abandoned by the enemy; leaving seven- 
teen heavy guns to fall into our possession, be- 
sides eight field pieces, abandoned in their flight 
before the rapidly advancing forces of General 
McClernand. 

On the 11th of February, McClernand led the 
advance against Fort Donelson, and on the 
following day attacked and drove in the enemy's 
})ickets. 

On the fall of Fort Henry, the rebel ti'oops 
that had evacuated that position rushed across 
the peninsula to Fort Donelson, a distance of 
some ten or twelve miles, adding their strength 
to the already powerful garrison at that point. 

General Buckner had been in command of that 
post; General Pillow, from Columbus, had al- 
ready been ordered to strengthen him, and Gen- 
eral Floyd was also ordered to proceed imme- 
diately to Donelson with heavy reinforcements. 
Guns, ammunition, and all the necessary material 
of war, were sent there in great abundance from 
Nashville. The rebels had made their prepara- 



tions for a long and desperate stiuggle; and on 
the 13th of February there were assembled with- 
in the ramparts not less than twenty thousand 
troops. They were commanded by Generals 
Floyd, Pillow, Buckner and Bushrod R. John- 
son. Floyd held the chief command. 

These rebel forces, sheltered as they were be- 
hind the works of Fort Donelson, ought to have 
successfully resisted three or four times their 
number of an enemy in the open field, — yet the 
Union forces, which did not much exceed those 
of the rebels in number, in an incredibly short 
time overpowered the garrison and occupied the 
fortress, in spite of the efforts of the enemy to 
repel their attack. We shall soon see by what 
agency this was effected. 

The disposition of the Union troops was as 
follows: General McClernand's division consti- 
tuted the right wing of the besieging forces, and 
lay to the west and south of the fortifications; 
General Smith's division occupied the left wing, 
menacing the foe to north and west. As yet, 
there was no center; this was to be occupied by^ 
the troops which were expected in the transports, 
on their w,aj with the gunboats. The two wings 
of McClernand and Smith, together, constituted 
a force of twenty thousand men, with seventeen 
batteries of artillery and from twelve to fifteen 
hundred cavalry. The two wings touched each 
other, and at that central point, directly west of 
the fort, General Grant established his head- 
quarters. 

Early in the afternoon of the 13th, "The 
Carondolet," one of the gunboats, arrived, and 
the entire fleet about midnight, when the work 
of disembarking the troops and stores com- 
menced. By noon of Friday, 14th, the troops, 
ten thousand in number, were landed and 
marched to join their comrades, and, under Gen- 
eral Lew Wallace, formed the center of the be- 
sieging force. 

The morning of Saturday, loth, opened cold 
and gloomy. A snow had fallen. The condi- 
tion of both armies was miserable; that of the 
rebels desperate. They were now surrounded 
on all sides. They were sliut in from re-in- 
forcements and supplies. During the night the 
rebel officers held a consultation and decided on 
a sortie. For this purpose, under the veil of 
darkness and the storm, they massed nearly 
their entire force upon the southern, or left 
wing of the fortifications. They also quietly 
moved several of their batteries to this position. 
It was their plan to cut through the National 
line at this point. The line, thus broken and 
thrown into disorder, wouW be compelled to 



326 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



make a sudden change of position. In the con- 
fusion of this change they were to be attacked 
botli in front and flank and driven back to the 
outposts. The rebels hoped thxis to effect a safe 
retreat to the South by cutting their way through 
our lines. 

The National array enclosed, tiie rebel 
fortifications in the foim of a crescent. The 
extreme left touched the river on the north at 
the point where the transports landed. The ex- 
treme right touched upon Indian creek, at that 
time unfordable, on the south, and that creek 
emptied itself into the Tennessee river less than 
half a mile from the point touched by the right 
wing. As before stated. General McClernand 
was in command of the right wing. General 
Smith of the left, and General Lew Wallace of 
the center. 

About daylight on the morning of the 15th 
(Saturday) the enemy, Avith nearly triple of Mc- 
Clernand's men, has made a furious attack on 
his line, in order to effect their purpose of cut- 
ting their way through his command and making 
their escape. 

The enemy's habit of massing his forces and 
precipitating them upon a single point was not 
so familiar to our Generals at that time as it 
afterwards became, and no precautions had been 
taken to provide against or counteract it. On 
the contrary, General Grant had given orders 
on the previous day to Generals Wallace and 
Smith not to move from their respective posi- 
tions on any account whatever until they should, 
hear from him, and it unfortunately happened 
at this particular juncture that he was absent 
from his headquarters to consult Commodore 
Foote at the landing respecting a renewal of the 
assault by the gunboats. The consequence was 
that (General McClernand, with an effective 
force under ten thousand men, had to sustain 
the brunt of the battle, unsupported, from the 
early dawn until 1 o'clock p. m., not a solitary 
shot having been fired from any other part of 
our lines. On him, therefore, and his heroic 
soldiers alone, rested the whole burden of this 
terrible conflict for more than seven dreary 
hours, and impartial history will attest how he 
and his men bore themselves during this fiery 
ordeal, so trying to the spirit of the man and 
the soldier. They came out of that ordeal like 
gold purified in the furnace, and by it were 
enabled to prove their undying patriotism, their 
unconquerable valor ! Had they wavered or 
faltered never so little on that occasion, the 
battle was lost, and the great glory of the cap- 
ture of Donelson would have eluded our grasp. 



Hear what Abbott says on this subject in his 
History of the Civil War, volume 1, page 467: 

"Our troops, as usual, were outnumbertd, but 
they fought with a bravery never surpassed by 
veterans. Even the foe was constrained to do 
homage to their valor. Notwithstanding the 
vastly superior force of the enemy, and, though 
unsupported by adequate artillery, the National 
troops drove their assailants back twice almost 
into their intrenchments." 

Though Genei'al McClernand's urgent appeals 
for re-inforcements were unanswered, owing to 
the absence of General Grant, still he fought on 
intrepidly against his overwhelming assailants, 
until the woods and thickets in his front were 
riddled and whitened with bullets, and the line 
which he and the enemy held alternately was 
strewn with the dead bodies of friend and foe. 

The rebel General, Pillow, in his official 
report of this transaction, bears witness to the 
indomitable bravery and perseverance of our 
troops on this occasion. He says: 

"The enemy did not retreat, but fell back, 
contesting every inch of ground." 

And Abbott, in his History of the Civil War 
in America, says, speaking of this battle: 

"For five hours, the blood-red tide of battle 
surged to and fro. For a long time, one brigade 
of General McClernand's division, under Colonel 
Oglesby, had to meet the whole force of the 
battle alone. General McClernand sent to Gen- 
eral Wallace for re-inforcements, but he had re- 
ceived his instructions. General Wallace, how- 
ever, forwarded his request to headquarters. 
General Grant was not there." 

General Grant, having at length made his ap- 
pearance, and re-inforcements arriving about the 
same time, the enemy were driven back within 
their intrenchments, and next morning (Sunday, 
16th) they surrenr'ered unconditionally, and 
were made prisoners of war. 

General McClernand's forces having mainly 
fought this glorious battle, suffered, conse- 
quently, the gi-eatest loss in killed and Avounded, 
nearly every fifth man being found on the list of 
killed, wounded, or missing. 

The personal bravery of General McClernand 
throughout the whole of this terrible conflict 
was so conspicuous that the members of his staff 
frequently remonstrated with him for exposing 
himself so recklessly to the bullets of the foe; 
but on such occasions he would ansAver that "it 
was a case of desperation, and that desperation 
knows no reserve." When his oflicers sent in 
dispatches, stating that they were hard-])ressed, 
he would dash fearlessly among the men, and 



IIISTOIIY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



327 



by liLs courage and example .sliiiiulaLe them tu 
perform their duty, exhorting them to maintain 
their ground at all hazards, "till General Grant 
or re-inforceraents should arrive." 

This forcibly reminds us of the Duke of Wel- 
lington and the British army at Waterloo. 
Whilst the Duke's soldiers were being mowed 
down by the French artillery, and it seemed to 
some of his staft' impossible that the troops could 
maintain their ground much longer, the Duke 
kept looking at his watch, and was heard to ex- 
claim: "Would to God, that either night or 
Blucher would arrive!" Then, turning to his 
officers, he exclaimed: "Well, gentlemen, in 
any event, we must not submit while a man of 
us remains! What would they say of us in Eng- 
land?" 

Immediately after the battle of Fort Donelson 
General McClernand was pi'omoted to the rank 
of Major General. 

March 4th, 1862, the division of General Mc- 
Clernand was ordered to march for the Tennes- 
see river, and it arrived at Pine Landing on the 
5th. On the 10th, he moved up the river and 
arrived at Savannah, Tennessee, on the same day. 

March 26th, General McClernand had as- 
cended to Pittsburg Landing, and encamped 
near the west bank of the Tennessee river, 
twenty miles from Corinth, where the rebels 
were in large numbers. On the 2Yth he wrote 
to General Grant, urging him to come up from 
Savannah and see that a proper disposition of the 
divisions were made to meet the contingency of 
an attack. 

On the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, was fought 
and won for the Union cause, the celebrated 
battle of Shiloh, a victory like that of Fort Don- 
elson, snatched from the jaws of defeat. 

The forces of the rebels were over eighty 
thousand, and some say one hundred thousand, 
while the Union forces on the ground did not 
exceed forty thousand. 

The attack was sudden and unexpected. The 
rebels had concentrated an overwhelming force, 
according to their usual tactics, for the purpose 
of crushing out the small body of Union troops 
in advance of the main army, and thus securing 
an easy victory over the remainder; and it is 
almost a miracle that they did not succeed, and 
that our forces were enabled to escape utter an- 
nihilation. But the same untiinching courage 
which had saved them before, came to their 
succor once again, and, by the same almost su- 
perhuman exertions, saved them from destruc- 
tion. 



Wiien C-ieiiei-al McClernand had been aroused 
by the heavy sound ot liring m his fiont, and 
observed the enemy to dash through the posi- 
tions of General Prentiss, he at once realized 
the danger, and instantly prepared to meet it. 
Addressing a few brief but burning words to 
his soldiers, to inspire them with courage and 
arouse their patriotism, and seizing a standard 
and waving it in the breeze, he led his men to 
the attack. A terrible struggle ensued. But it 
will be more satisfactory if we give here a few 
extracts from General McClernand's official re- 
port of this great battle. He says: 

"Before my left, consisting of the Third 
Brigade, could form for the support of General 
Sherman, the enemy had pierced General Pren- 
tiss' line, afterwards taking him and a number 
of his men prisoners, and rapi-dly forcing back 
General Sherman's left wing, was pressing on 
my left with a mass five regiments deep, bearing 
the American flag. 

"Discovering that this honored emblem was 
not borne by General Prentiss' retiring forces, 
but was used by the enemy as a means of decep- 
tion, I ordered the Third Brigade to form in 
line of battle, fronting the enemy's advance, 
nearly at a right angle with General Sherman's 
line. But before the order had been fully exe- 
cuted, the enemy had appeared within short 
musket range, and opened a deadly fire upon us. 

"Colonel Raith, commanding the Third Brig- 
ade, ordered a charge upon the enemy, in which 
he fell mortally wounded, whilst encouraging 
his men by his heroic and daring example. Sev- 
eral other officers besides were killed or wounded 
in this charge. 

"The situation of the Third Brigade was now 
most critical. Generals Prentiss' and Thomas' 
Divisions had retired, leaving the Brigade ex- 
posed to a combined attack of the forces of 
Beauregard and Polk, which were sweeping- 
round on the right and left. In obedience to 
my command, the Brigade fell back, under the 
orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Engleman, about 
three hundred yards, and re-formed in front of 
my headquarters, joining the Second Brigade, 
under Colonel C. C. Marsh. 

"The action, both by infantry and artillery, 
now became desperate all along the line. Our 
forces, however, were overborne by superior 
numbers, which still continued to flank the right 
of my line. Burrough's battery was soon lost, 
including seventy horses killed. 

" Wholly unsupported on my left, to save my 
command from being surrounded, I ordered it 



328 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to fall back about 200 yards, and to form at a 
right angle with the centre of my eam|). 

"Making another stand upon the ground here 
indicated, the contest was carried on for some 
time by infantry and artillery. Trees of con- 
siderable size were cut off or scathed by the 
rounded shot of opposing batteries, and consid- 
erable loss in killed and wounded was sustained 
on both sides. 

"At length, checking the enemy in front, I 
pressed the advantage, driving him back some 
distance, but, re-inforced by fresli troops, bis 
wavering lines were strengthened, and com- 
menced turning my right and left, driving me 
back about two hundred yards, to the fourth 
position, in an open road, skirting an open field. 

" Here I was joined by the Forty-third Illi- 
nois, by a portion of ? battery, by a 

portion* of Taylor's battalion, and by a portion 
of Sherman's division, and the contest was 
again renewed with increased fury on both 
sides. 

"Continuing the sanguinary engagement, until 
several regiments of my division had exhausted 
their ammunition, and its right ilank had been 
borne back and was in danger of being turned, 
the remainder of my command, with the excep- 
tion hereinafter noticed, also fell back to the 
camp of the first brigade. Here the portion 
which had first fallen back re-formed, in obedi- 
ence to my orders, parallel with the camp and 
fronting the approach of the enemy from the 
west, while the other portions formed at a right 
angle with it, still parting the approach of the 
enemy from the south. It was ten o'clock p. m., 
when my fifth line had thus been formed. 

"I kept the enemy in check for some time by 
the fire of my batteries. Detained from a direct 
advance, he moved a considerable force to the 
right flank, with the evident intention to turn 
my left. To defeat this purpose, I ordered my 
command to fall back in the direction of the 
landing, across a deep hollow, and to re-form on 
the east side of another piled on the skirt of a 
wood. This was my sixth line. 

"Here we rested a half hour, continuingto sup- 
ply our men with ammunition, until the enemy's 
cavalry were seen rapidly crossing the field to 
the charge. Waiting until they had approached 
within some thirty paces of our line, I ordered a 
firs, which was delivered with great coolness 
and destructive eft'ect. First halting, then waver- 
ing, they turned and fled in confusion, leaving 
behind them a number of riders and horses dead 
on the field. 



"In the meantime, strengthened by large rein- 
forcements the enemy continued his endeavors 
to turn the flanks of my line, and to cut me off 
from the landing. To prevent this, I ordered 
my left to fall back a short distance and form 
an obtuse angle with the centre, opposing a 
double front facing the enemy's approach. Thus 
disposed, my left held the enemy in check while 
my whole line slowly fell back to the seventh 
position. 

" Here I re-formed the worn and famishing 
remnant of my division, on favorable ground, 
along a north and south road; supported on my 
right by fragments of General Sherman's di- 
vision, and on my left by the Fifteenth and 
Forty-sixth Illinois, under command of Colonel 
Veatch, acting Brgadier. Hastily completing 
this disposition, I ordered up McAlister's bat- 
tery, which took position about the center of my 
line, supported by the Eighteenth Illinois, Cap- 
tain Anderson, Company F, commanding. The 
Seventh Illinois being separated from the Sec- 
ond Division, was formed by me as a reserve. 

" The enemy renewed the contest by trying to 
shell us from our position. McAlister's battery 
replied with great spirit — first alone, and soon 
after in conjunction with another battery, whose 
name was unknown to me. Attempting so often 
in vain to turn the flanks of my line and gain its 
rear, the enemy now gave evidence of a change 
of tactics. Led by the Louisiana Zouaves, he 
advanced in heavy column to break our center, 
while we awaited his approach within sure 
range, and opened a terrible fire upon him. The 
head of his advancing column wbs instantly 
mowed down. The remainder of it swayed to 
and fro, a few moments, and then turned and 
fled. This second success in the two last en- 
gagements terminated a struggle of ten and a 
half hours' duration, namely: from six o'clock 
a. m. to four and a quarter p. m., and saved our 
army, transports and all, from capture.?' 

Such is the simple but thrilling language in 
which the narrative of that terrible conflict is 
given by one who acted a conspicuous part in it, 
and who might justly say, '-'■ Quneque ipse mis- 
serruna vidi et quorum pars magna fui." 

The last paragraph, in particular, is siiblime, 
and reminds us more of the echo of Bunker Hill 
than anything else we remember in history: 
" We awaited his approach within sure range, 
and opened a terrible fire upon him. The head 
of his advancing column vms instantly mo-wed 
down; the remainder of it swayed to and, fro, 
for a few moments, and then turned and fled V 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



320 



It is not necessary to give further details of 
this terrible battle. It is known to all, that our 
army, being reinforced, attacked the enemy next 
morning and drove him from the field, — but it 
is also known that our victory was purchased 
dearly. 

All comment on this great battle seems to us 
supertiuous. We will venture the remark, hov/- 
ever, that on no former occasion in this war, or 
in the annals of history were officers and men 
more severely tested, as to every quality which 
consitutes the soldier and the man, then our 
officers and men were tested in those two days' 
bloody conflict at Shiloh. 

After the victory of Shiloh, preparations were 
made to advance upon Corinth. General Mc- 
Clernand's command was increased, by General 
Halleck's order, to a corps. This, together with 
his former command constituted the army corps 
of reserve. 

Our troops advanced cautiously upon Corinth, 
and after a smart skirmish with a remnant of 
the enemy, purposely detached from their main 
body to deceive us, they took possession of 
Corinth, without further resistance, as it had 
been evacuated by the enemy. This conspicu- 
ous event occurred on the 30th of May, 1862. 

By the 12th of June, General McClernand's 
forces had seized Bethel, Jackson, Bolivar, Som- 
erville, and occupied all the country between 
Pittsburg Landing and Memphis, establishing 
order and quieting the fears of the inhabitants. 

August 28th Major General McClernand left 
Jackson, Tennessee to report to Governor Yates, 
of Illinois, to assist in raising and organizing 
the new levies of that year. Not long after he 
left, the enemy returned to West Tennessee, 
seized Jackson and the railroads, stopped navi- 
gation on the Tennessee river, and pushed their 
incursions almost to Columbus. 

Shortly after reporting to Governor Yates in 
Illinois, General McClernand repaired to Wash- 
ington, by order of the Governor, on some busi- 
ness connected with the War Department 
respecting the organization of the troops. 

While at Washington, General McClernand 
paid his respects to the President, and in the 
course of conversation, he pointed out to Mr. 
Lincoln, the necessity of opening the Missis- 
sippi, at an early day, to the traffic of the great 
Northwest. 

The President seemed pleased with the famil- 
iarity displayed by the General with this sub- 
ject, and invited him to reduce his ideas to writ- 
ing, to which he gladly consented, and on the 
28th of September, submitted to Mr. Lincoln an 

38— 



elaborate paper, setting forth and explaining his 
view in regard to the conduct of the war in the 
Southwest, and again urging the speedy organ- 
ization of an expedition to carry these views 
into execution. 

This document being the real motive power 
of the advance upon Vicksburg and Port Hud- 
son, is destined to become of great historical 
importance, inasmuch as it changed comjiletely 
the war policy of the Government, in that sec- 
tion of the country, substituting a war of aggres- 
sion on the vital and vulnerable points of the 
enemy, for that desultory and inefficient border- 
warfare which had previously been the rule. 

We shall here submit an epitome of that 
document, which will embrace its Essential 
points in as small a compass as possible. 

" Carry the war into the heart of the rebellion, 
as the surest way of crushing it out and of 
opening the Mississippi river. 

" The opening of that river is itself an essen- 
tial step towards crushing the rebellion. 

"It is important in a military point of view^: 

" First — As affording cheap and easy com- 
munication between our troops scattered along 
the Mississippi and its tributaries, and would 
facilitate their concentration at any given point. 

" Second — As cutting off all communication 
between the rebels to the east and west of that 
river." 

"Commercially, the whole Nation is deeply 
interested in the free and unobstructed naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi river, but more immedi- 
ately and intimately is the great Northwest 
concerned in that important movement. The 
people of the whole Mississippi valley are pain- 
fully alive to this subject. They have not yet 
complained in this matter; they have sym- 
pathized with the Administration in the diffi- 
culties with which it had to contend, and, there- 
fore, refrained from selfishly obtruding their 
own grievances upon its attention. Nay, they 
are grateful for what the Government has done, 
rather than complaining of what it has left un- 
done. 

"Yet, it is true that this river, wdiich carries 
annually on its bosom a commerce amounting to 
I; 150,000,000, is virtually closed and rendered 
useless by an insignificant garrison at Vicks- 
burg, so that the products of agriculture have 
been accumulating in the hands of the producers, 
until they have beCome well nigh worthless. 

"If this continues, general bankruptcy must 
ensue, and the Government itself must suffer 
from the inability of the people to contribute to 
its support. No wonder the people, in large 



330 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



assemblies, should cry out earneslly for a relief 
which they would hail with such delight. If 
this is not conceded, have we not reason to fear 
a violent popular reaction unfavorable to the 
success of our arms and the cause which they 
are upholding? 

"In order, then, to remove all obstructions to 
navigation, a force of sixty thousand men should 
descend the Mississippi in transports, convoyed 
by gunboats, to the mouth of the Yazoo river, 
and ascend that river to the first eligible landing 
on its south bank. 

"This column, assisted by the gunboats, should 
then seize Vicksburg, ^and, having garrisoned 
that place, should advance upon Jackson, the 
capital of Mississippi, only forty-five miles dis- 
tant, and, having in like manner seized and 
fortified that city, it should re-open the railroad 
to New Orleans. Our forces at the latter place 
might co-operate with this column in effecting 
this object. 

"The column should next push forward to'the 
junction of the Southern Mississippi and Ohio 
and Mobile railroads, at the town of Meridan, 
seventy-five miles east of Jackson, where it 
would be within threatening distance of both 
Mobile and Montgomery, the capital of Ala- 
bama. Having secured their places, our forces 
should establish a depot of military stores at 
Mobile, only one hundred and sixty-five miles 
by railroad from Montgomery, and this latter 
place is only seventy-five miles from Opilika, 
near the western boundary of Georgia, a most 
important place, for at Opilika the whole rail- 
road system of the Southern States converges 
into the Montgomery and West Point railroad, 
which is one of the two links connecting that 
system by rail with the Gulf system. By seiz- 
ing this place, the Atlantic communication by 
rail between the revolted States, east and west, 
would be severed. 

"To aid this enterprise a Federal force should 
be advanced from Port Royal into the interior, 
and naval demonstrations ought to be made 
along the Southern Atlantic and Gulf coast. 
The Union forces now in West Tennessee or a 
portion of those in Kentucky, might be sent to 
seize the noticeable railroad triangle, of which 
Boyce and Dalton are the base, and Cleveland 
on the Tennessee and Georgia railroad is the 
apex. This would greatly facilitate the move- 
ment upon Vicksburg. This auxiliary move- 
ment is deemed indispensable, unless the column 
operating against Vicksburg should be increased 
to more than (30,000 men. 



"The seizure of the above mentioned triangle 
would place our army in a favorable position to 
march South <jn Rome, in Georgia, one of the 
principal arsenals and manufactories of arms in 
the revolted States, or it might thence march 
northward on Knoxville, in Tennessee. 

"The two railroads above alluded to are the 
umbilical cords of the two systems, and form 
their only band of union. By cutting these a 
serious blow would be struck at the rebellion. 

"Experience proves that the rebellion cannot be 
conquered by a desultory border warfare. This 
can only be done by destroying the enemy's 
railroad communications, and by aggressive war 
upon his vital parts. These are in the Gulf 
States — the home and the first love of the arch- 
traitor who initiated our present National diffi- 
culties. Strike home a deadly blow on these 
States, and the rebellion will be virtually sub- 
dued." 

Such, substantially, was the plan of opera- 
tions which General McClernand laid before the 
President and Secretary Stanton, both of whom 
entirely coincided with the General in his views, 
and promised to give his plan due consideration 
at an early day. But the Geiieral-in-Chief, for 
some reason, appeared unwilling to consider 
the plan, pretending he was otherwise engaged. 
This delayed the execution of the plan consid- 
erably. 

(general McClernand, however, persevered 
against all obstacles, declaring that something 
must be done for the relief of the great North- 
west, and so urged the matter, that Mr. Stanton 
at length informed him that an expedition of 
land and naval forces would be organized for the 
purpose of opening the Mississippi river, and 
that the land forces would for the present con- 
sist of thirty thousand men. 

On examination, however, it was found that 
no forces could be spared from their present 
positions, and that a new force must be raised 
for the purpose; so that the Mississippi expedi- 
tion was on the point of being abandoned for the 
present. 

But this would not satisfy General McCler- 
nand. He again urged on the President and 
Secretary of War, the absolute necessity of the 
expedition, and so far prevailed, that they agreed 
to draft a confidential but conditional document, 
ordering Major-General McClernand to organize 
the troops remaining in Indiana, Illinois and 
Iowa, and such as should be raised by volunteer- 
ing and draft, and to forward them to such point 
as may be designated by the General-in-Chief, 
that an expedition may be organized under Gen- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



331 



eral McClernand's command against Vicksburg, 
and to clear the Mississippi river and open navi- 
gation to New Orleans. The forces thus organ- 
ized, however, were "subject to the designation 
of the General-in-Chief, according to such ex- 
igencies as the service, in his judgment, may 
require." 

The day after receiving this order, Major- 
General McClernand left Washington and ar- 
rived at Indianapolis on the twenty-third of 
October, where he found Governor Morton dis- 
posed to aid him in organizing the contemplated 
expedition; as he afterwards found Governors 
Yates and Kirkwood, of Illinois and Iowa. 

In the short f.pace of sixteen days. General 
McClernand had forwarded from the different 
camps in Illinois, six regiments of infantry and 
one six gun battery, to Memphis, Tennessee. 

From Indiana, five regiments of infantry; from 
Iowa, three had been forw^arded to Columbus, 
Kentucky. 

In addition to these, there was another regi- 
ment of infantry in Illinois under marching or- 
ders; and three othei's in the same State were 
ready for muster, and two other regiments of 
infantry in Iowa. 

This great activity in those three States, and 
the rapidity with which these preparations were 
iirged forward, demonstrated the energy and zeal 
of the General, as well as of the different Gov- 
ernors and State officers engaged in them, and 
clearly illustrates the deep interest which the 
people of the northwest felt in the re-opening of 
the " Father of Waters" to lawful navigation and 
commerce. 

The Secretary of War relied largely on Gen- 
eral McClernand's personal influence in the 
West, as well as in the local interest manifested 
in the expedition, for filling up the ranks with 
the elite of our western soldiers; nor was he mis- 
taken. Men came forward in great numbers to 
enlist under the banner of a General who had 
distinguished himself in the Halls of Congress 
as their Representative, and who still more 
recently had won well merited fame and glory 
on the bloody battle fields of his country. Forty 
thousand troops were raised in thirty-five days. 

But General McClernand, fearing that after 
all the project might be abandoned, and believ- 
ing that General Halleck had disposed of the 
troops raised for the expedition, in some other 
way; and moreover, understanding that in an- 
swer to General Grant's enquiry respecting the 
command of these troops, General Halleck re- 
plied that he (Grant) should have the command 
of them. For these reasons, General McCler- 



nand expressed his views and feelings in a re- 
markable letter to the Secretary of War, of which 
we can only give here a brief synopsis: 

'• The avidity of the people for carrying out 
this expedition exposes all charged with it to 
the consequences of popular fury, if they fail in 
carrying it out. 

"If, from any cause, it has become an uncer- 
tainty or shall be long delayed, I trust you wnll 
cut my supposed connection with it, and order 
me to other duty in the field at once. 

" By the blockade of the Mississippi, the peo- 
ple have but one outlet open to them — that by 
the lakes and railroads alone. By combinations 
or otherwise, close corporations controlling these 
outlets have raised freights so as to stop ship- 
ments or sacrifice traders. The monopolists are 
interested in continuing the blockade. The peo- 
ple, therefore are not disposed to brook fuiher 
delay in removing that obstacle; indeed, such 
delay may add another geographical question to 
the one which is now undergoing the arbitra- 
ment of arms. Already there are those who 
look beyond Federal authority to secure the 
freedom of the Mississippi river. The resent- 
ment of the people will be inflamed by dema- 
gogues, to array them against the people of the 
East, on the pretended ground that the interests 
of the latter induce them to favor the blockade 
of the Mississippi. 

" This sentiment is criminal, we must pre- 
serve the Union and the Govei-nment. Y^et wise 
Statesmen will not overlook the difiiculties and 
dangers which surroimd them. 

"Let me, therefore, appeal to you and the 
President, to do something, and that quickly, to 
avert the rising storm, etc." * 

General McClernand, hearing from a arious 
rumors and newspaper reports, that his com- 
mand of the expedition had been given to 
another, repfatedly telegraphed to Washington 
to ascertain the truth. At length, after much 
2)ainful suspense, he was relieved of duty at 
Springfield, and ordered to report to General 
Grant, for " the purpose specified in an order of 
the General-in-Chief." 

On his arrival at Memphis, General Hurlbut, 
who was in command, there informed him that 
General Grant had abandoned his plan of ad- 
vancing upon Oxford, Mississippi, having been 
compelled to fall back to Holly Springs, forty- 
five miles distant from Memphis. General Mc- 
Clernand now received a communication from 
General Grant, to the effect that orders assign- 
ing him (General McClernand) to the immediate 
command of the expedition, had been forwarded 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to Mempliis. General Grant also remarked, that 
he had received information from rebel sources, 
that Sherman had already attacked and captured 
Vicksburg. 

The orders of General Grant were received 
by General McClernand on the 29th. They con- 
sisted of two letters; one dated Oxford, Missis- 
sippi, December 18, 1862, informed General 
McClernand of his appointment to the com- 
mand of an army corps in Grant's department, 
giving him command of the Mississippi river ex- 
pedition; and orders that the written instruc- 
tions given General Sherman, shall be turned 
over to McClernand on his arrival at Memphis. 
The other letter of General Grant's was dated 
at Holly Springs, December 25, and was directed 
"to the Commanding Officer of the Expedition 
Down the River." 

Leaving Memphis on the 30th, General Mc- 
Clernand arrived at Millikin's Bend next day, a 
few miles north of Vicksburg. Here General 
Sherman came on board the Tigress to turn 
over his instructions to the proper commander 
of the expedition and to consult him regarding 
further operations of the army. Here, for the 
iirst time. General McClernand was made aware 
of the real condition of the army which had 
been assigned to his command by the President 
and Secretary of War. General Sherman had 
left Memphis on the 20th of December, had 
attacked the enemy in his strongly fortified 
position along Chickasaw bayou on the 2Sth, 
and had been badly handled and repulsed with 
heavy loss. 

Various opinions respecting this expedition 
have been entertained. The prevailing one is 
thftt it was gotten up without proper care, and 
was at once sent South to escape General Mc- 
Clernand and capture Vicksburg before the lat- 
ter could arrive and take the command. 

There seems, certainly, something suspicious 
in this whole transaction, as can readily be seen 
by what follows: 

The order of the Secretary of War, bearing 
date October 21st, 1862, an order endorsed by 
the President, authorizes the Mississij^pi expedi- 
tion, and assigns General McClernand to the 
command of it. On the 16th of December, 
General McClernand, hearing that he was super- 
seded in the command, addressed a dispatch to 
the Secretary of War, inquiring, "Is this so? 
and shall it be so?" On the 21st of December 
General McClernand received the telegram from 
General Halleck, dated the 18th, by which he 
was informed that he (Halleck) had " trans- 
mitted a dispatch to General Grant assigning 



the latter to the general command of the expedi- 
tion, and General McClernand to the immediate 
command of the land forces composing the 
same." 

It is notorious that prior t<5 the 16th of De- 
cember, a portion of the forces sent on by Gen- 
eral McClernand for his expedition were de- 
tached from General Grant's army and marched 
under General Sherman to Memphis, prepara- 
tory to embarkation for Vicksburg. It appears, 
therefore, conclusively that both Generals Grant 
and Sherman had received their orders in the 
premises before the date of General McCler- 
nand's dispatch to the Secretary of War, re- 
questing to be informed whether or not he had 
been superseded in the command of the expedi- 
tion. This injustice to General McClernand is 
still further demonstrated by the dispatches 
which passed between General Grant and Hal- 
leck. First conies Grant's dispatch to Halleck, 
dated Oxford, Miss., December 8th, 1862: 

" General Sherman will command the expedi- 
tion down the Mississippi. He will have a 
force of forty thousand men; will land above 
Vicksburg, at the Yazoo, if possible, and cut 
the Mississippi central wall, etc. I will co- 
operate with him, etc., etc. 

Now hear a portion of General Halleck's dis- 
patch, dated at Washington, December Yth, to 
which the above dispatch of Grant is an answer: 
"Gexekal Grant: — The capture of Grenada 
may change our plans in regard to Vicksburg." 
Yes, the whole affair of the capture of Vicks- 
burg had been planned and arranged between 
these two Generals, who determined that a citi- 
zen General should have nothing to do with it if 
possible, but they did not disdain to seize upon 
the ideas and plans of another and appropriate 
them to their own use, with a view of claiming 
all the honors and all the rewards. 

We have still another link of evidence, in the 
instructions given Sherman by General Grant, 
and dated also at Oxford, Mississippi, December 
8, 1862: 

"General: — You will proceed with as little 
delay as possible to Memphis, Tennessee. On 
your arrival, you will assume command of all 
the troops there. As soon as possible, move 
with them down the river to the vicinity of 
Vicksburg, and, with the co-operation of the 
gunboat fleet, under Flag Officer Porter, proceed 
to the reduction of that place, in such a manner 
as circumstances and your own judgment may 
dictate," etc. 

The above authentic documents prove clearly, 
that long before the 16th of December, namely, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



333 



on the lih and 8th, the ^9/aw of attack upon 
Yicksburg had been matured between Generals 
Halleck and Grant, and the instructions for car- 
rj-ing it out issued to General Sherman by Gen- 
eral Grant. 

On the 4th of January, 1863, General Mc- 
Clernand, having verified the condition of the 
army, assumed the command of it. 

Tlie original plan of General Grant having 
entirely failed in the execution, and his instruc- 
tions not providing for any contingencies, the 
question arose, what was to be done with the 
army composing the Mississippi river expedi- 
tion? General McOlernand, in a letter to Gen- 
eral Grant, proposed the following programme 
for the reduction of Yicksburg: 

"Make Memphis the base of operations, put 
the railroad from Memphis to Grenada in run- 
ning order, push forward the columns to the 
latter place, and to Jackson, marching upon the 
rear of Yicksburg, while the forces here and 
those below Port Hudson co-operate by such 
demonstrations as may be found practicable." 

But General Grant, being hundreds of miles 
to the northward, and his communications Avith 
the JMississippi river being interrupted by gue- 
rillas, was not expected to be able to respond to 
these propositions for several weeks. Hence, 
General McClernand was left to act according 
to his own judgment, and he decided not to lie 
idle at Milliken's Bend, waiting orders, but to 
improve the moral condition of his army, and 
stimulate its martial spirit, by striking a decis- 
ive blow at the enemy near the mouth of the 
Arkansas river, who were endangering our line 
of communication between Memphis and Yicks- 
burg. 

This movement, as well as the batlle of Ar- 
kansas -Post, which resulted from it, are minutely 
and eloquently described in the official report of 
General McClernand. Want of space prevents 
us from giving anything more than a mere syn- 
opsis. 

General McClernand and his army safely ar- 
rived at the mouth of White river on the 8th of 
January, 1863. Ascending the Arkansas river, 
and landing at Notuh's farm, on the left bank, 
on the 9th, the work of disembarking was busily 
continued till noon of the next day. 

In the meantime. General McClernand, accom- 
panied by Lieutenant-Colonel Schwartz, of his 
staff, had reconnoitered the river road and a 
portion of the levee, within a mile and a half of 
Fort Hindman (better known as Arkansas Post). 
There they discovered that the enemy was aban- 
doning a line of rifle pits about half a mile above I 



the levee, under stress of the tire of one of our 
gunboats. Passing a cold night without fires or 
tents, in a position near enough to attack the 
fort, our chilled but faithful men were greeted 
by a bright and genial sunshine on the morning 
of the nth. 

By ten and a half o'clock a. m., the two corps 
were ready to commence the attack. General 
Steele's division formed the extreme right of the 
line of battle, reaching near the bayou. General 
Stuart and General A. J. Smith's divisions were 
formed on its left. One brigade of General Os- 
terhaus's division formed the extreme left of 
the line, resting upon the river, in full view of 
the fort. Another brigade of the same division 
was held in reserve, while the remaining brigade 
was disposed on the opposite side of the river. 

On the previous day General McClernand had 
requested Rear Admiral Porter, commanding 
the Mississippi squadron, to advance the gun- 
boats and ojDcn fire on the enemy's works, for 
the purpose of diverting his attention, while the 
land forces should gain the positions assigned 
to them. Promptly complying, the Admiral 
advanced his boats and opened a terrible can- 
nonade upon the fort, which continued an hour 
and more, and until after nightfall of the 10th. 
The different batteries of artillery were judici- 
ously arranged in suitable positions, and the 
cavalry were disposed in the rear, with orders to 
force all stragglers to return to their ranks. 
Such was the disposition of the forces of Gen- 
eral McClernand on the eve of the battle of 
Arkansas Post. On the other hand, the posi- 
tion of the enemy, naturally sti'ong, was one of 
his own choosing. 

Post Arkansas, a small village, the county 
seat of Arkansas county, is situated on elevated 
ground, above the reach of floods, and defining 
for some miles the left bank of the river. It 
was settled by the French in 168.5, is fifty miles 
above the mouth of the river, one hundred and 
seventeen below Little Rock, and is surrounded 
by a fruitful country, abounding in cattle, corn 
and cotton. 

Fort Hindman, a square, full bastioned fort, 
was erected within the village, upon the banks 
of the river, at the head of a bend resembling a 
horseshoe. The exterior sides of the fort, be- 
tween the salient angles, were each three hun- 
dred feet in length, the face of the bastion two 
feet seven inches of an exterior side, and the 
perpendicular one-eighth. The parapet was 
eighteen feet wide on top, the ditch twenty feet 
wide on the ground level and eight feet deep, 
with a slope of four feet base. 



534 



IIISTORA" OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



A "banquette" for infantry was constructed 
around the interior slope of the parapet; also 
three platforms for artillery in each bastion and 
one in the curtain facing north. On the south- 
ern face of the northeastern bastion was a case- 
mate containing a nine-inch columbiad. A simi- 
lar casemate containing an eight-inch colum- 
biad was constructed on the curtain facing the 
river, and another nine-inch columbiad was 
mounted on the salient angle of the southeast 
bastion, on a "centre pivot" barbette carriage. 
All these guns command the river below the 
fort. 

Besides these there were four three-inch Par- 
rott guns, and four six-pounder iron smooth-bore 
guns, mounted on field carriages on the plat- 
forms in the fort, which also contained a well- 
stored magazine, several frame buildings and a 
well. 

General McCIernand, having completed his 
arrangements, notified the Admiral to open 
fire on the fort, and that he (McCIernand) 
would advance to the attack of the enemy's 
ranks. 

At 1 o'clock p. m. accordingly, the gunboats 
opened fire, immediately followed b}- the fire of 
artillery along the right wing of the land forces, 
and soon after by the fire of artillery along the 
left wing. By 1:30 o'clock p. m. Morrey and 
Thayer's brigades and the two Smiths' brigades, 
of Sherman's corps, had gained position in a 
belt of woods, extending quite to the enemy's 
rifle pits. Checked here for a time by a severe 
fire of musketry from the enemy's works, they 
boldly resumed and continued the advance, sup- 
ported by a reserve brigade, until they had ap- 
proached within short musket range of the ene- 
my's lines. 

The artillery kept up a brisk fire on the fort 
for some time. Webster's twenty-pound Par- 
rott guns on the river bank completely en- 
filated the two faces of the northeastern bastion, 
some of their shots penetrated the embrasures of 
the casemates, and with others from the gun- 
boats contributing to silence the gun inside of 
it, also the lighter guns in the northern curtain 
and the gun en harbette in the southeastern bas- 
tion, which appeared to be above the elevation 
of the gunboats' fire. 

About 3:30 o'clock p. m., when the enemy's 
guns were silenced by the continued fire of the 
artillery and the gunboats. General McCIernand 
ordered an assault, which after a severe but in- 
effectual struggle of the enemy, terminated in a 
formal surrender of the post, its armament, gar- 
rison and all its stores. 



Thus, at 4:30 o'clock p. m., after three hours 
and a half of hard fighting, tlie Union forces en- 
tered and took possession of all the enemy's de- 
fences. 

Seven stands of colors were captured, includ , 
ing the garrison flag. Besides, we captured five 
thousand prisoners, seventeen pieces of cannon, 
large and small, ten gun carriages and eleven 
limbers, three thousand stand of small arms, ex- 
clusive of many lost or destroyed, one hundred 
and thirty swords, fifty Colts' pistols, forty cans 
of powder, sixteen hundred and fifty rounds of 
shot, shell and canister for ten and twenty-pound- 
er Parrott guns, three hundred and seventy-five 
shells, grape stands and canister, forty-six thou- 
sand rounds of ammunition for small arms, five 
hundred and sixty-three animals, together with 
a considerable quantity of quartermaster's and 
commissary stores fell into our hands. One 
hundred and seventy wagons and a large por- 
tion of the stores were destroyed for want of 
means to bring them away. 

Our loss in killed, wounded and missing, was 
nine hundred and seventy-seven, while that of 
the enemy was much larger. 

Although this victory of Arkansas Post was 
a most brilliant and decisive one, and second 
only to that of Fort Donelson, it w^as by no 
means approved of by General Grant, the com- 
mander of the department, who could not (or 
would not,) see the benefits derived therefrom. 
He peremptorily ordered General McCIernand, 
who had intended to attack Little Rock next, to 
return with his army to Young's Point to dig 
canals. Thus this fine army, which byitsbrilliant 
success at Post Arkansas, been partially recov- 
ered from the consequences of its disastrous de- 
feat under General Sherman, at Vicksburg, was 
again forced to forego all hope of actual service 
for the present. 

Under these depressing circumstances, how- 
ever, it was some consolation to General Mc- 
CIernand and his noble army, to know that their 
success were acknowledged and appreciated by 
the President, by the Governor of Illinois, and 
by the loyal masses over the whole Union, and 
this reflection caused them to be of good cheer. 
Mr. Lincoln had expressed his thanks to General 
McCIernand and his brave troops "for this great 
victory gained at a time when disaster after dis- 
aster was befalling our armies," closing his let- 
ter of gratitude with these remarkable words: 
"Your success on the Arkansas was both bril- 
liant and valuable, and is fully appreciated by 
the country and the Government." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



335 



How consolatiug also was the kind and en- 
couraging letter of Governor Yates, of Illinois, 
to our brave soldiers and their beloved General. 
He says: 

"I regard the victory of Arkansas Post, 
gained under the energetic generalship of a dis- 
tinguished othcer and citizen of Illinois, as sec- 
ond in importance and consequences to that of 
Fort Donelson, in which that officer also promi- 
nently participated. Fort Donelson and Arkan- 
sas Post, my dear General, I regard as the two 
great positive Victories of the war in the West." 

General McClernand and his troops were now 
employed, neither gloriously nor even usefully 
in digging a canal which, after all the labor ex- 
pended on it, turned out to be totally insufficient 
for the purpose intended. In this fruitless labor 
they spent their precious time up to the 2'9th,of 
March, 1863. 

After many fruitless attempts to penetrate the 
State of Mississippi above Yicksburg, and to 
turn the rear of that city, it became a question 
of the highest importance, whether a point be- 
low, on the Mississippi river, might not be 
reached, and a way thus opened to the attain- 
ment of the same end. 

General McClernand's corps was fortunately 
in a favorable condition to test the question, 
and only await an oppoi'tunity to do so. The 
General himself, sharing in the feeling of his 
troops, was rejoiced when he obtained permis- 
sion to cross the peninsular from Milliken's 
Bend to New Carthage. 

Accordingly, on the 29th of March 1863, a de- 
tachment of infantry, artillery and cavalry was 
ordered to march on to Richmond, Louisiana. 
These soon dislodged the garrison and occupied 
the place, capturing a few of the enemy in their 
retreat. This victory cut off all supplies to 
Vicksburg from that fertile region of country 
traversed by the Texas river, and the Bayou 
Macon. 

On the night of the 3d of April, abridge two 
hundred feet in length, Avas thrown across 
Roundaway bayou, at Richmond, and a way 
opened by which the troops were rapidly moved 
forward and so disposed, as to hold the only 
practicable land route between Milliken's Bend 
and Smith's Plantation, two miles north of New 
Carthage. Meantime, old roads were repaired, 
new ones constructed, boats were built for the 
transportation of men and su^jplies, twenty miles 
of levee sleeplessly guarded day and night, and 
every precaution taken to prevent the rising 
flood from breaking through the lines and en- 
gulfing the whole army. 



Having taken posecssion of New Carthage, 
and driven the enemy in several skirmishes from 
positions which they had occupied to oppose the. 
advance of our troops, on the 29th of April, 
General McClernand embarked the greater por- 
tion of his forces in steamers and barges, for 
Grand Gulf, which place he had previously 
reconnoitered, and found it to be a place of 
great strength. The gunboats were steamed 
toward the Gulf, and closely approaching the 
enemy's batteries opened fire upon them, while 
our troops held themselves in readiness in the 
transports to push forward and disembark, the 
moment the enemy's water batteries should be 
silenced. But the gunboats had to be with- 
drawn after a bombardment of five hours and a 
half, the princij^al batteries not having been 
silenced, and several of the gunboats being 
badly crippled. 

But though foiled here, a footing must be 
gained* at some other point, and Bruinsburg 
was decided upon. Hence General McClernand 
embarking his corps once more on the 30th, 
proceeded to that place and disembarked before 
noon. He then pushed on by a forced march as 
far as possible, in order to surprise the enemy 
next day in his position near Port Gibson, to 
prevent him destroying the bridge over Bayou 
Pierce, on the roads leading to Grand Gulf and 
to Jackson. 

BATTLE OF PORT GIBSON. 

About one o'clock, on the morning of the 1st 
of May, 1863, the advance of General McCler- 
nai^d's column was attacked near Magnolia 
Church, thirteen miles beyond Bruinsburg, and 
lour from Port Gibson, by a light tire of the 
enemy's infantry and soon after by his artillery. 

This attack was repulsed, and the General, 
coming up about dawn, learned of a negro that 
the enemy was in force in his front and intended 
to accept battle. By personal observation this 
was found to be correct, so preparations were 
made accordingly. 

It would be impossible in our brief space to 
give a detailed account of this great battle and 
brilliant victory of our armies; suffice it to say 
that after many hours of hard and obstinate 
fighting on both sides, the enemy was finally 
driven from his first position with the loss of 
four hundred prisoners, two stand of colors, two 
twelve pound howitzers, three caissons and a 
considerable quantity of ammunition. About 
this time Major General Grant arrived on the 
field of action, from Bruinsburg. 

The second position taken by the enemy was 
stronger than the first. It was a creek bottom 



336 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



covered with trees and underbrush, the approach 
to which was through open fields and rugged and 
exposed hill slopes. Here General Hovey and 
Carr's divisions again encountered the enemy. 
A hot engagement ensued, the result of Avhich 
was to force the enemy back with considerable 
loss upon his center. Here, with a large con- 
centration of forces, he renewed the attack, but 
after an obstinate struggle he was again beaten 
back upon the high ri'ige on the opisosite side of 
the bottom and within a mile of Port Gibson. 

At dawn on the morning of the 2d, General 
McClernand's whole corps triumphantly entered 
Port Gibson, through which place the enemy 
had fled the night before, burning the bridge 
across the Bayou Pierre in his rear. 

The battle of Port Gibson was undoubtedly 
one of the most brilliant achievments of the war, 
and it was highly important as determining the 
splended series of successes which followed. It 
continued twelve hours, and cost us eight hun- 
dred and three men in killed, wounded and miss- 
ing. 

The loss of the enemy was three stand of 
colors, SIX pieces of cannon, three caissons, a 
quantity of ammunition, a number of small arms, 
and five hundred and eighty prisoners. Their 
loss in killed and wounded must have been con- 
siderable. 

One of the immediate results of this battle was 
the evacuation of Grand Gulf, only seven miles 
distant from Port Gibson. A naval force took 
possession of the Gulf without resistance. 

BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL. 

On the 3d, General McClernand's corps, in 
obedience to orders, left Port Gibson and 
marched on the Raymond road to Willow 
Springs; on the 6th, to Rocky Springs; on the 8th, 
to Little Sand, and on the 9th, to Big Sand; on 
the 11th, it marched to Five-mile Creek, and on 
the 12th, to Fourteen-raile Creek, subsisting dur- 
ing the last thirteen days on six day's rations 
and what scanty supply the country afforded; 
was wholly without tents and almost without 
cooking utensils; yet was cheerful and prompt 
in the discharge of every duty. 

Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, had been 
the objective point, but hearing that the enemy 
were advancing from Vicksburg and had crossed 
the Big Black, General Grant had changed the 
objective point to Edwards Station, a point on 
the Vicksburg & Jackson Railroad, nearly mid- 
way between these two places, and towards this 
point accordingly the several divisions were or- 
dered to march. 



In executing that order the enemy's pickets 
were encountered on the fifteenth, about four 
miles from Edward's station, at a place named 
Midway, or Champion Hill, from the fact of its 
being half way between Jackson and Vicksburg, 
and the reputed proi)erty of a citizen named 
Champion. 

Here the two hostile armies encountered each 
other, and at 11 o'clock, a. m., the engagement 
became general all along the lines, and C( ntin- 
ued to rage with increasing fury, till noon, when 
the enemy were driven back with great slaughter, 
leaving in our hands about three hundred pris- 
oners and eleven pieces of cannon. But, being 
reinforced, and rallying, he renewed the conflict 
with great fury and bore heavily on our men in 
turn, particularily on General Hovey's division 
of McClernand's corps. That officer being hard 
pressed, called for the support of a division of 
McPherson's corps, which, however, was too 
long delayed. When it finally came it also was 
borne back slowly, however, and disputing every 
inch of ground, till our men reached the brow 
of the hill. 

Here they rallied and checked the advance of 
the enemy, and a heavy blow was struck by 
General Hovey, which seemed to retrieve the 
fortunes of the day on this part of the field. 

By similar exertions in other parts of the 
field, the enemy was at length beaten at all 
points, and fled in confusion, the main body 
along the road to Vicksburg, a fragment to the 
left of this road, the former hotly pursued by 
General Carr's division, the latter by Lindsay's 
and Burbridge's brigades, until night closed in; 
each taking many prisoners. 

The loss sustained by General McClernand's 
corps in this memorable battle was one thou- 
sand three hundred and thirty-three in the 
aggregate, exclusive of General Blair's loss, of 
which no report had been received. 

The loss of the enemy must have been very 
great in killed and wounded. A large number 
of small arms were also taken, in addition to the 
captures already mentioned. 

BATTLE OF BIG BLACK. 

At 3:30 o'clock, on the morning of the l7th 
of May, 1863, General McClernand's corps again 
resumed the advance on the road to Black river 
bridge, six miles distant. 

On the way. General Carr's division leading, 
captured a number of prisoners, and upon Hear- 
ing a spot of wood marking the enemy's posi- 
tion, encountered and drove back his pickets. 

Passing to the further end of the wood, the 
enemy was discovered in force, strongly en- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



3?/ 



trenched, General Carr's division having entered 
the wood, was immediately formed in obedience 
to General McClernand's order, General Law- 
ler's brigade on the right, resting its Hank near 
Big Black, and General Benton's brigade on the 
left, and the right of the railroad. The differ- 
ent batteries of artillery were placed in com- 
manding positions, and the action soon became 
general. 

After some further arrangements had been 
made, the right, center and left of General Mc- 
Clernand's corps engaged the enemy with in- 
creased effect. General Lawlor, aided by another 
division, dashed forward, under a heavy tire, 
across a ravine and narrow field, and with fixed 
bayonets, carried the enemy's works, routing 
them and capturing many prisoners. This bril- 
liant achievement determined the success of the 
day. Fleeing towards a steamer which formed 
a bridge across Big Black, most of the enemy 
escaped to the commanding bluff on the other 
side, while others, hotly pursued by Benton's 
brigade, and the right of Lindsay's, were cut off 
from that escaj^e, and were made prisoners. 

No victory could have been more complete. 
The enemy burnt the bridge on which he had 
passed, also two other steamers, and the railroad 
bridge. About one thousand, five hundred pris- 
oners, with their arms, fell into our hands, 
eighteen pieces of cannon, and a considerable 
quantity of ammunition and cotton. A number 
of the enemy were found dead uj^on the field, 
but his loss in killed and wounded could not be 
ascertained. 

The loss on the part of the Union array was 
limited to General McClernand's corps, which 
alone were engaged in this battle. The loss was 
in all, three hundred and seventy-three killed, 
wounded, and missing. 

A bridge having been hastily thrown across 
the Big Black on the night of the l7th. General 
McClernand crossed next day, and took up his 
line of march for Vicksburg, only twelve miles 
distant. 

Early on the moi-ning of the 19th, General 
McClernand, accompanied by his staff, made a 
personal I'econnoisance of the approaches to 
Vicksburg. 

The enemy's defenses consisted of an ex- 
tended line of rifle-pits, occupied by infantry, 
and covered with a number of strong earth- 
works, occupied by artillery so arranged as to 
command, not only the approaches by the 
ravines and ridges in front, but also each other. 

^ 39— 



THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 

In obedience to orders. General McClernand's 
corps moved forward, and in conjunction with 
the other corps of the army, commenced the 
siege of Vicksburg, about 6:30 o'clock a. m. 
Skirmishers were thrown forward, who engaged 
the enemy's skirmishers, and artillery was opened 
from the most commanding positions u])on the 
enemy's works, and a body of infantry observed 
between them and Burbridge's brigade, on the 
right. 

About 10:30 o'clock an order came from 
Major General Grant to all the corps command- 
ers to gain as close a position as possible to the 
enemy's works, until 2 o'clock p. m., and at that 
hour to fire three volleys fi'om all their pieces in 
position, when a general charge of all the corps 
along the wdiole line should be made. Another 
advance Avas accordingly made by all the corps, 
and the ground gained was firmly held, but the 
enemy's works were not carried. A number of 
brave officers and men fell in this advance. 

Lively skirmishing continued during the two 
following days (20th and 21st), and a nearer ap- 
proach to the enemy's works was made. On the 
evening of the 21st, General McClernand re- 
ceived an order from Major General Grant, to 
the following effect: 

"A simultaneous attack will be made to-mor- 
row, at 10 o'clock a. m., by ail the army corps 
of this army. During the day, army corps com- 
manders will have examined all practical routes 
over which troops can possibly pass. They will 
get in position all the artillery possible, and 
gain all the ground they can with the infantry 
and skirmishers. At an early hour in the morn- 
ing a vigorous attack will be commenced by ar- 
tillery and skirmishers. The infantry, with the 
exception of reserves and skirmishers, Avill be 
placed in columns of platoons, or by a flank if 
the ground will not admit of a greater front, 
ready to move forward at the hour designated, 
when all will start at quick time, with bayonets 
fixed, and march upon the enemy without tiring 
a gun, until the outer works are carried. Skir- 
mishers will advance as soon as possible after 
the heads of columns pass them, and scale the 
walls of such works as may confront them." 

General McClernand communicated General 
Grant's order to his division commanders the 
same evening, and used every possible exertion 
in order to secure success. 

Five minutes before ten o'clock a. m., his col- 
umns of attack moved forward, and within fif- 
teen minutes, Lawler's and Landrum's brigades 



338 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



had curried the dilch, slope and bastion of a 
fort. Some of the men rushed into the fort, 
wliere they found a piece of artillery, and saw 
the men who had served it escaping behind an- 
other defence. All these daring men were shot 
down, except Sergeant Joseph Grifhth, of the 
Twenty-second Iowa, who, recovering from the 
stunning effects of a shot, seized his loaded mus- 
ket, and captured and brought away thirteen 
rebels, who had returned and discharged their 
pieces. We are happy to say that this heroic 
soldier has been since promoted. The colors of 
the One hundredth and thirtieth Illinois were 
planted upon the counterscarp of the ditch, 
while those of the Forty-eighth Ohio and Sev- 
enty-seventh Illinois waved over the bastion. 

The above particulars we have gleaned from 
General McClernand's valuable report to Gen- 
eral Grant. We shall give the remainder of 
what we have to say on this subject in his own 
words. He continues: 

"Within fifteen minutes after Landrum's suc- 
cess, Benton's and Burbridge's brigades, fired 
by the example, rushed forward and carried the 
ditch and slope of a heavy earthwork and 
planted their colors on the latter. Crowning 
this brilliant feat with a parallel to Sergeant 
Joseph Griffith's daring, Captain White, of the 
Chicago Mercantile Battery, carried forward one 
of his pieces by hand, quite to the ditch, and 
double-shotting it, fired into an embrasure; dis- 
abling a gun in it nearly ready to be discharged, 
and scattering death and dismay among the rebel 
cannoneers. 

" Men never fought more gallantly, nay, more 
desperately. For more than eight long hours 
they maintained their ground with death-like 
tenacity. Neither the blazing sun nor the deadly 
fire of the enemy shook them. Their constancy 
and valor filled me with admiration. The spec- 
tacle was one never to be forgotten. * * 

" Alarmed for his safety, the enemy hastened 
to mass large numbers from his right and left 
on my front. * * All my forces were now 
engaged. Failure and loss of my hard won ad- 
vantages became imminent. 

"Advising General McArthur (who was on 
his way from Warrenton) of the state of affairs, 
I requested reinforcements, and notified General 
Grant of the fact. At 11 o'clock a.m., I also in- 
formed him that I was hotly pressed. * * * 
Again, at 12 o'clock, that I was in partial pos- 
session of two forts, and suggested whether a 
vigorous push ought not to be made all along 
our lines. 



"Kesponsively to these dispatches. General 
Grant directed me to communicate with General 
McArthur, to use his forces to the best advan- 
tage, and informed me that General Sherman 
was getting on well. This dispatch was dated 
2:30 o'clock p. m. About the same time, I re- 
ceived information that General Quimby was 
coming to my support. * * * * 

" But McArthur's division being several miles 
distant, did not arrive till next day; two brigades 
of General Quimby's division coming up late in 
the evening, and much exhausted, their services 
were not available, and night set in and termi- 
nated the struggle before either of these brigades 
could be fully applied; indeed, before one of 
them was entirely formed. My loss during this 
memorable day comprised three-fourths of my 
whole loss before Vicksburg. My whole loss 
was one thousand four hundred and eighty- 
seven, in killed, wounded and missing." 

On the 30th of May, General McClernand 
issued a congratulatory order to his troops, which 
was highly creditable to him and to them, but 
which seemed not to have been so well received 
by the General-in-Chief, on the ground that 
General McClernand's Adjutant had neglected 
to furnish General Grant with a copy. This 
omission was made the pretext for the dismissal 
of General McClernand from his command, and 
for his banishment from the department. 

This congratulatory address is one of the most 
soul-stirring and powerful war papers we have 
ever perused, but it must be read entire in order 
to be appreciated, and it will not bear to be cut 
up into fragments. 

On the 18th of June, General McClernand re- 
ceived the following dispatch from General 
Grant : 

"General: — Inclosedl send you what purports 
to be your congratulatory address to the Thir- 
teenth Army Corps. I would respectfully ask 
if it is a true copy. If it is not a correct copy, 
furnish me one by bearer, as required by the 
regulations, &c." 

To this General McClernand replied as fol- 
lows, on the same day: 

"Ma.jor General Grant: — I have just re- 
turned. The newspaper slip is a correct copy of 
my congratulatory order. No. 721. I am pre- 
pared to maintain its statements. I regret that 
my Adjutant did not send you a copy promptly, 
and I thought he had." 

The following order, dated the same day, was 
the reply received by General McClernand: 

" Major General John A. McClernand is 
hereby relieved of the command of the Thir- 



TITSTOIIY OF SANGAMON COVNTY. 



y:i!t 



teenth Army Corps. He may proceed to any 
point he may select in the State of Illinois, and 
report by letter to the headquarters of the army 
for orders. Major General E. O. C. Ord is 
hereby appointed to the command of the Thir- 
teenth Army Corps, subject to the approval of 
the President, and will immediately assume 
charge of tlie same." 

To this General McClernand replied that, 
having been appointed by the President to the 
command under a definite act of Congress, he 
might justly challenge General Grant's authority 
in the premises, but forbore to do so for the 
present. He also wished that any statement of 
fact in his congratulatory order, to which excep- 
tions might be taken, should be made the sub- 
ject of investigation, not doubting the result. 

On the 23d of June, General McClernand 
addressed a letter to the President of the United 
States, which sets forth the facts of his removal, 
and enters at some length into its pretended 
cause. He is at a total loss to account for the 
fact that he has been dismissed, and says he is 
in doubt as to what the real cause of his dis- 
missal was: "If my Adjutant delayed sending 
a copy of a harmless order, I was ignorant of it, 
and avowed my right at it. * * * It was 
impossible for me pei'sonally to superintend the 
routine of the Adjutant's office. The contents 
of the order (issued to m}^ soldiers) were true, 
and reflected on no one, and were couched in no 
hurtful language. General Grant could only 
have arrested and tried me if I had offended. 

* * * I ask for redress and that justice 
which it is the right of the humblest citizen to 
demand, and which it is the bounden duty of 
those having the power to afford. 

" I challenge an investigation both of General 
Grant's conduct and my own," commencing 
with Belmont and terminating wath Vicksburg, 
and he asks, indignantly, " If I was worthy to 
be trusted in leading the advance to Belmont, 
to Fort Henry, to Donelson, to Port Gibson, to 
Champion Hill and to Big Black; if I planned 
the successful battles of Arkansas Post, Port 
Gibson, Champion Hill and Big Black, and 
gained the largest, perhaps, the only measure of 
success at Vicksbuig on the 22d; if, in all these 
battles, I either bore the brunt or a material 
part; if only two days before my dismissal and 
banishment General Grant deemed himself justi- 
fied in adding one division certainly and two 
other divisions contingently to my command, 
making it larger than the two others in my corps 
combined, why should I have been prescribed 
at the moment when it was supposed Vickburg 



must fall, and the Mississippi river expedition, 
which I had early advocated, if not originated, 
w^ould soon be crowned with success? What- 
ever may be said to the contrary, I am in no 
wise responsible for the failure at Vicksburg. 
General Grant planned that assault, and is alone 
responsible. ■•'•' * * Many of his ablest offi- 
cers deemed it unwise and fatuitous. They 
could not see that an assault by an attenuated 
line of attack on the most elaborate works ever 
seen on this continent could eventuate in suc- 
cess." 

In answer to various letters from General Mc- 
Clernand, he received from the Secretary of 
War a communication dated Washington City, 
August 29, 1863. The following is an extract: 

"The President instructs me to say that no 
charges against you have come to bis knowledge 
requiring an investigation by a court of inquiry, 
nor have any been made against General Grant 
which in his judgment require such an investi- 
gation. An investigation, therefore, will not be 
ordered." 

General McClernand then requested an inves- 
tigation of his own conduct as a United States 
officer in the present war, or if that may not be, 
of his conduct in connection with the jNIissis- 
sippi river expedition, or that from Millikin's 
Bend around to Vicksburg, and resulting in the 
fall of that place. 

In answer to this I'easonable application, Mr. 
Stanton says: 

"The President directs me to say that a court 
of inquiry, in hearing any one of the subjects 
specified in that letter, would withdraw from the 
field many officers whose presence is indispensa- 
ble to the service. For these reasons, he de- 
clines, at present, your application." 

A personal appeal was made to the Presi- 
dent, to which he replied that he was very 
"grateful for his services and the early interest 
which he took in the life-and-death struggle of 
the Union; that no charges requiring the inter- 
ference of a court of inquiry had been brought 
against him; that General Grant's statements of 
his reasons for dismissing General McClernand 
he (Mr. Lincoln) had never seen nor sought to 
see; that his interference between them could 
not but be of evil effect, and that it was better 
to leave it where the law of the case had placed 
it; that the permanent estimate of what a Gen- 
eral does in the field is fixed by the 'cloud of 
Avitnesses' who have been with him in the field, 
and that, relying on these, he who has the right 
needs not to fear!" 



340 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



In his report ol' tlie operations of the ■22d, 
General Grant intimated that the position 
which he occupied at the time gave him 
a better opportunity of observing the move- 
ments of the Thirteenth Army Corps than the 
commander of it enjoyed. He says: "I could 
not see McClernand's possession of forts, nor 
necessity for reinforcements, as he had repre- 
sented, up to the time I left, which was between 
twelve m. and one p. m., and I expressed doubts 
of their correctness, — which doubts the facts sub- 
sequently, but too late, confirmed." 

Now, to this, General McCIernand replies: 

" General Grant was about a mile and a-half 
to the right of my position, which was a com- 
manding one — only five or six hundred yards in 
the rear of the center of my advance and of the 
enemy's works. I did see Hags of my corps 
planted on the enemy's works, and did see 
officers and men of my command enter them, 
and rebel captives brought out by them." 

General McCIernand proves these statements 
by testimony, in addition to General Lawler's 
dispatch, stating that "we ought to have rein- 
forcements," and to that of Colonel J. Landrum, 
commanding the Second Brigade, both of whose 
commands formed one of General McClernand's 
columns of attack — who (Landrum) says "our 
men are holding the flanks of the fort in our 
front," we will here submit a few extracts from 
the letters of respectable gentlemen who were 
eye witnesses to what they attest. 

W. M. Stone, Colonel of the Twenty-second 
Iowa, says: "I was in command of the Twen- 
ty-second Iowa, which regiment was in the 
Second brigade, Fourteenth division of the 
Thirteenth army corps. On the evening of the 
21st of May, I was served with a notice, (or 
copy) of an order directing the assault to be 
made next day, at 10 a. m. I was informed by 
my brigade commander. General Lawler, that I 
would have the advance, and that I could ap- 
proach any point of the enemy's works I con- 
sidered the most salient, and in any form I 
thought proper. Between sundown and dark I 
went up to within fifty yards of the enemy's 
lines. My observation satisfied me that the fort 
next the railroad could be carried more easily 
and with less sacrifice than any other point in 
our front, and I determined to direct my regi- 
ment against it. I took my regiment over the 
hill in front of Maloney's siege battery that 
night, and had it in readiness for the morning's 
work. 

"At a little before 10 o'clock next morning, 
by my time, I received the order to advance, and 



I did so immediately and directly against the 
fort, * * and within ten minutes from the 
time we started, my men entered it and held it 
to my knowledge for over an hour. The fort 
was small and the open space inside very limited, 
and but few men could find room in it. 

"When the enemy wei'e driven from the fort, 
they also retired from the rifle-pits, on our right 
between that and the railroad. The Eleventh 
Wisconsin had also advanced against the second 
fort, some three hundred yards from the first 
one, and I saw the enemy leave that one. They 
also retired from the pits between the two forts, 
and went down the hill into the ravine beyond, 
toward the city. I stood with Lieutenant 
Colonel Dunlap, of the Twenty-first Iowa, on 
the highest and most exposed point, near the 
fort. We saw them leave, and conversed about 
it. I sent word back to General Carr to send 
me a brigade and I would hold the works; I re- 
garded the thing as easily done. I do not know 
that my message reached the General. I then 
regarded the door to Vicksburg as opened, and 
so said to Colonel Dunlap. * * * * 

"I ordered the color-bearer of the Seventy- 
seventh Illinois to bring uj) his colors, as mine 
were down in the hollow on the left, and my 
own men planted them on the top of the fort. 
Soon after this my own colors were brought up 
and placed beside them. They remained there, 
to my knowledge, till six o'clock in the evening. 

" Had we been reinforced at any time before 
noon by a fresh brigade, I have no doubt that 
the whole army could have gone into Vicksburg. 
I stated this opinion to several after I went back. 
There were no interior works at that time in the 
rear of the works we held, as I could see far be- 
yond'. Maloney's battery of siege guns was about 
five hundred yards directly in the rear of our 
position, and commanded a fine view of all our 
movements. I do not know where General Mc- 
Pherson's headquarters were, but I should think 
there was no point from which our operations 
could have been so correctly observed as from 
this battery. General Grant was at or near Mc- 
Pherson's headquarters according to his report. 

W. M. Stone, 
Late Colonel Twenty-second Iowa." 

Harvey Graham, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Twenty-second Iowa, says: 

" It is my firm conviction and belief that had 
the Thirteenth Army corps been re-inforced by a 
few brigades, thus enabling you to send support 
to the front, the success of your command would 
have been complete. Victory was in your hands, 
but was wrested from you by superior numbers." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



341 



In fact, Colonel Graham confirms the testimony 
of Colonel Stone in every particular, so that it 
would be but repeating the same thing to give 
bis letter iu full. So does Major Atherton, of 
the Twenty-second Iowa. Sargeant Rugg, 
Company A, Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry, 
certifies that he saw the flags of the Seventy- 
seventh planted on the rebel forts, and that the 
National colors were afterwards carried in and 
captured, together with a number of men, after 
nigh I fall. 

To all this, add the testimony of Lieutenant 
Colonel Wai'moth, Captain Mason, Captain 
Blount, of the Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, and a whole "cloud of other witnesses" 
too numerous to mention, but which may be 
consulted in General McClernand's Protest. 

We here subjoin a brief synopsis of General 
McClernand's summing up of this evidence. He 
says: 

"These documents not only prove all I have 
denied or approved, but they prove more. They 
prove the promptness of my assault; the planting 
of my colors on the enemy's works, and their 
occupation by my men ; that prisoners had been 
captured and brought out of the fort assaulted 
by Lawler and Landrum; that an officer brought 
word to me afterwards that the same fort was 
ours and that it should not be further fired upon. 
That Lieutenant Colonel Graham, of the Twenty- 
second Iowa, wrote a note inside the fort stating 
it was ours, and that the Twenty-second Iowa 
advanced against one fort and the Eleventh Wis- 
consin against another; that Colonel Stone saw 
this himself, and saw the enemy retire from 
both. 

"They prove that I could have used more men 
in making my assault (which General Grant de- 
nies,) and with timely reinforcements would 
have crowned with success; that my position 
was much more favorable than General Grant's 
for seeing what was going on in front of my 
lines; that my position was near the center of 
my line and only five or six hundred yards from 
the enemy's works, while that of General Grant 
was about a mile and a half, to the right of my 
position; that my dispatches to General Grant 
were a qualification rather than an exaggeration 
of my success; and that the reinforcements, 
finally ordered by General Grant, did not arrive 
in time. 

" General Grant says that the works entered 
by Sergeant Griffith, from their position, could 
give no practical advantage, unless others to the 
right and left of it were seized and held at the 
same time. 



"Is not this assertion too broad V Is not this 
as much as to say; that no practical advantage 
could have been derived from taking any part 
less than the whole of the enemy's works at 
once * * that the only condition of our suc- 
cess was the impossible one of carrying the 
whole of the enemy's line, which was larger 
than oiir own, at once, and consequently, that 
our attack must have been by line instead of by 
column, as he directed; and yet, strange enough, 
he censures me for asking the co-operation of a 
simultaneous attack, according to the terms of 
his original plan, and without which, according 
to his own admission, no practical advantage 
could have resulted from Griffith's partial suc- 
cess. By his own showing, I only asked for 
what his original plan promised, and what, by 
his own admission, was neccessary to our suc- 
cess. 

"This, of itself, is a sufficient refutation of 
the charge, that what I asked for makes me re- 
sponsible for the increase of our mortality list 
by full fifty per cent. No! General Grant's 
order of the 21st of May makes him responsible, 
not only for my loss, but for our whole loss. 
He knew well our diminished numbers, then 
exhausted, and the roughness of the ground, 
and he had at least a partial knowledge of the 
enemy's strong position. This order for the as- 
sault of the 22d, was deemed by all judges as 
an unfortunate one, and more likely to bring 
disaster upon ourselves than upon the enemy." 

General McClernand's removal struck the offi- 
cers and men of his command with astonish- 
ment and surprise. When they heard of it they 
rushed in crowds to his tent, and many, with 
tears in their eyes, expressed their deep sym- 
pathy, and they presented a written address to 
their General, replete with confidence and regard. 

But his friends and former constituents at 
home were no less surprised and grieved at this 
event than the brave soldiers and officers who 
were so long his comrades and the sharers of 
his toils and dangers. The people were anxious 
and impatient to learn the cause, and hundreds 
of his townsmen flocked to his mansion to ascer- 
tain it, but the General was careful not to utter 
a word, or even a hint, that might implicate his 
military superiors in blame, lie merely assuicd 
his friends, and they believed him, that he had 
faithfully discharged his duty to his country, 
and had done no act of which he or they could 
feel ashamed, and that he hoped a speedy inves- 
tigation, Avhich he had petitioned for, would 
re-instate him in his i)roper position before the 
country and the world. 



342 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



General McClernand was invited to speak at 
various public meetings, and wherever he went 
he was received with marks of approbation and 
enthusiastically cheered for the noble and 
patriotic course he had pursued. 

So long as our noble language shall endure, 
his great speech at Indianapolis, on the 20th of 
August, 1863, will be read with admiration and 
delight by every lover of liberty and pure demo- 
cratic government in the country or in the 
world. We cannot find space for this speech, 
and it must be read entire to do it justice. We 
must, however, give one brief extract: 

" It is said, however, that we cannot conquer 
the rebellion. And indeed is that so? Is it not 
an insult to loyal men and to the North to say 
so? What! twenty millions of freemen not 
able to uphold the Constitution and the laws 
against the eiforts of eight millions of rebels? 
What! the right, backed by wealth and power 
and National renown, not able to put down the 
enemy? What! a people who have voluntarily 
poured out their blood and treasure, as the peo- 
ple of the North have done, not able to vindi- 
cate their superiority in this contest? He who 
says so, if not a traitor himself, is not in sympa- 
thy with the earnest, enthusiastic, determined 
masses of the North. 

"When and where were North men finally 
subdued? Never! Their arras conquered the 
'Roman World.' Their enterprise compassed 
the globe itself. Their genius is dispelling the 
superstition of ages, and everywhere illuminat- 
ing the path of man to a higher and nobler civ- 
ilization. As the great blazing orb of day itself, 
they have coursed the earth and left a radiance 
behind, tracing in light the track of their glor- 
ious transit." 

The foilovv'ing extract from the Jacksonville 
Journal, will illustrate the popular feeling to- 
wards General McClernand at that time. This is 
a report of a mass meeting held in that town 
in the summer of 1863, for the purpose of giving 
the General a reception after his removal from 
his command before Vicksburg. The Journal 
says: 

"His (McClernand's) exposition of the objects 
of the "Union, the causes ol the war, the end, 
objects and deep criminality of the conspirators, 
of the infamy and fital utter ruin of all who 
either co-optiate or gjmpathise with them, 
whether in the North or "South, was truthful and 
just in all points, statesmanlike and philosophi- 
cal, and in many points peculiarly eloquent and 
fervid." 



His letter to the President, taken in connec- 
tion with the well known subsequent events in 
his military career, clearly show that the great 
Northwest owe, to say the least, as much to Gen- 
eral McClernand, for the opening of the Missis- 
sippi river and the fall of Vicksburg, as to any 
other man. 

Innumerable testimonials of the same kind 
might be added, had we the space to record them. 

Having long waited, in the hope that some 
inquiry should be made into the case, and that 
justice should be done to him, and having re- 
ceived no answer from Washington to his pro- 
test up to the J 5th of December, he frequently 
urged his friends to remind the President of his 
case. Governor Yates, being in Washington, 
called the attention of the President to General 
McClernand's protest, who replied that he had 
not yet read it, but that he would do so as soon 
as he got time. 

At last he wrote the following letter to the 
Hon. Lyman Trumbull: 

"Springfield, III., December 15, 1863. 
Hon. Lyman Trimihull, IT. IS. Senator: 

Dear Sir: — I believe you are aware of the 
reason that has restrained me from resigning 
my military commission. It is because friends, 
both of the President and myself, have protested 
against it. I have been led to believe that both 
were averse to such a step. If I am mistaken 
in this, so far as the President's views are con- 
cerned, or if I am not to be made useful by 
being assigned to an active command, I wish to 
know it. In either case, I shall resign, and re- 
lieve both the President and myself from fur- 
ther trouble. I think, however, that the Presi- 
dent should indemnify my public character by 
j)lacing it in as favorable a light as he found it. 
Let him say to the people I have done well, or 
show wherein I have done ill. If he has read 
the papers I have forwarded to him, he must be 
convinced that gross and cruel injustice has been 
done to me. If he would summon me before 
him, I doubt not that I would be able to turn 
the tables upon my enemies. Can you enlighten 
me upon this point? If the task is not an un- 
gracious or troublesome one, oblige me by doing 
so. Your obedient servant, 

John a. McClernand." 

To the above letter, General McClernand re- 
ceived the following answer, dated at Was'hing- 
ton, December 20, 1863: 
'■'•Major- General John A. McClernand: 

Mt Dear Sir: — I had had a conversation 
with the President in regard to your position, 
before the receipt of yours of the 15th. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



343 



The President is aware that you have been 
unjustly treated, and in reply to my suggestion 
that he ought to do something for you, stated 
that when he got another mattcir off his hands 
(alluding to the Missouri troubles), he would see 
what could be done for you. Hon J. Gillespie 
was present at the interview, and, should you 
meet him, he may be able to tell you more par- 
ticularly what occurred, though T have given you 
the purport. I shall endeavor to see the Presi- 
dent again at an early day. 

Yours veiy truly, Lymax Trumbull." 

Here we see the impression which the perusal 
of General McClernand's protest made on Mr. 
Lincoln — an impression which it cannot fail to 
make on every impartial reader. It convinced 
him that General McClernand had been "un- 
justly treated," and induced him to say that 
when he got another matter off his hands, he 
would see what could be done for him. 

Believing himself without any hope of redress, 
and being unwilling to receive pay any longer 
for services which were merely nominal, he came 
to the conclusion to tender his resignation, and 
he did so accordingly on the fourteenth of Jan- 
uary, 1864. 

The resignation of General McClernand was 
not received, and he soon afterwards was or- 
dered to report to General Banks, and returned 
to the command of his old Thirteenth Army 
Corps. 

The campaign in the rear of Vicksburg calls 
for some general observations. As a military 
conception it was bold and far-reaching. It 
united the perceptions of the statesman with the 
skill of the practical military strategist. Its exe- 
cution was marked with unfailing vigor and per- 
sistency aaiid trying difficulties and critical 
perils. It comprised a rapid succession of vic- 
tories, adding to the glory of the Union armies. 
The battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, 
Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, and the 
surrender of Vicksburg fell within a shorter 
space of time than the battles of Lodi, Castig- 
lione, Areola, and the surrender of Mantua, and 
when distance of time shall have clothed them 
with the colors of vivid imagination, they will 
be taken to denote a campaign as brilliant as 
that of the French in Italy, in 1796, led by Gen- 
eral Bonaparte. 

General McClernand was as much, if not 
more, identified with the authorship and execu- 
tion of the movement in the rear of Vicksburg 
as, or than, was any other commander. Hence, 
it is not surprising that many persons should 
have murmured at his sudden and peremptory 



exclusion from participation in the final ;u't of 
the drama, realized in the downfall of Vicks- 
burg. Nor is it surprising that many loyal and 
distinguished men should have desired and re- 
joiced at his restoration to active militarj^ duty. 
The public is often just when individuals, 
swayed by passion, prejudice or envy, are 
unjust. 

It followed, by order of President Lincoln, 
communicated by Mr. Stanton, Secretary of 
War, that General McClernand was, in fact, 
restored to active command. This order bore 
date of the 23d of January, 1864, and directed 
General McClernand to repoi't for duty to Major 
General Banks, commanding the Department of 
the Gulf. This order reached General McCler- 
nand at Springfield, Illinois, on the 31st. Tid- 
ings of the fact were eagerly welcomed by the 
press and the })eople. To give expression to 
the prevailing sentiment, an ovation was impro- 
vised, which was to take place at the hall of the 
House of Representatives. The hall, at an early 
hour, was filled with military and non-military 
attendants, including many ladies. Captain 
Isaac Keyes officiated at Chairman, and Presco 
Wright and L. M Snell as Secretaries. General 
John Williams and Colonel Dudley Wicker- 
sham, Hons. Charles S. Zane, H. G. Fitzhugh 
and Charles W. Matheny, and H. C. Myers and 
L. Coleman were appointed a committee to wait 
on General McClernand and escort him to the 
hall. While the committee was away on its 
errand, bands discoursed martial music, and the 
Union Glee Club sang patriotic songs for the 
entertainment of the audience. Upon the return 
of the committee with General McClernand, 
accompanied by Governor Yates, Colonel 
Matheny, Colonel Mudd, Major Schwartz, Hon. 
J. Grimshaw, Hon. O. H. Hatch, Hon. J. K. 
Dubois and other distinguished men, and, on 
the subsidence of the applause evoked by their 
appearance, Hon. Shelby M. Cullom, in pursu- 
ance of previous appointment, rose and said: 

"General McClernand: — Your friends and 
fellow-citizens in this city have been informed 
to-day that you were about to leave for the 
scenes of war. They are here now in baste 
to testify to their appreciation of your merits 
and valuable services in this terrible crisis of 
our country. 

" The loyal people of this city and State, aye, 
and Nation, have waited long and impatiently 
to hear the announcement that you were again 
permitted to take the field in defense of the old 
flag and the free institutions of our land. They 
have sometimes felt that the Government, with 



344 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



that great and good man, our President, at its 
head, was failing to recognize, in some instances, 
its truest patriots and defenders; but true to his 
nobler impulses and generous heart, Mr. Lincoln, 
though slow sometimes, as we think, always sees 
and protects the right; and to-night you are on 
the eve of leaving our city to report to General 
Banks. 

"Sir: Your neighbors and friends here re- 
member well your bravery and patriotism, as 
displayed in the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, 
Donelson, Shiloh, Arkansas Post, and the rapid 
series of battles fought by you and the brave 
boys in your command prior to the memorable 
siege of Vicksburg. The people of Springfield 
and Illinois are proud to know that they have 
brave Generals as well as humble soldiers, who 
never turn their backs to traitors. * * * 

"It is no flattery to you, sir, to say that we 
feel and know that you have done much towards 
maintaining the Government. In the halls of 
Congress, when the rebellion first began to 
threaten, your roice was loudly heard in behalf 
of the Government. From your official position 
as a legislator, you went to the battle-field 
impelled by the same patriotic desire. From 
the battle-field, with the smoke of battle still 
upon you, you returned home under orders, 
where your energy and ability have done much 
to kindle a burning patriotism in the hearts of 
the brave boys of the Prairie State. You go 
again to the field. The good will of the loyal 
people of this State will follow you; they will 
watch your movements with interest; and when 
you have finished your military career, and this 
war is over and the country saved, we shall be 
glad to welcome you home again with new and 
brighter laurels upon your head." 

This address struck the key-note of both the 
General's and the people's temper, and was loudly 
applauded. 

The General's reply was spontaneous and char- 
acteristic. He said, in substance: "You have 
been pleased, sir, to allude to my services in the 
field, and the regard in which I am supposed to 
be held by the Thirteenth Army Corps. I have 
only to say that I have tried to do my duty, in 
all circumstances, and that I am rejoiced — not 
so much on my own account as on that of our 
common country — that that corps has rendered 
valuable and victorious service in its behalf. 
None could have borne themselves moi'e bravely 
and nobly than the officers and men of that corps 
under my command. At the call of duty, the 
corps always advanced fearlessly and with alac- 
rity, in the face of danger and death. It has 



passed the ordeal of many battles, and still sur- 
vives, though with decimated numbers; to add, 
with opportunity, to its hard-won laurels. Com- 
posed of western men, for the most part, it will 
continue to be, I doubt not, a faithful exemplar 
of western spirit and character. All that I 
claimed for it in the bloody assault upon the 
defences of Vicksburg was performed by it, — 
and the statements seen to the contrary are en- 
viously false. 

" I hope, sir, the future will afford no cause of 
regret, either to you or anyone, for the honor 
conferred on me by this popular demonstration, 
for which I return my sincerest thanks. 

" I assure you no effort or sacrifice of mine 
shall be spared to merit your continued regard 
and confidence, and to push on the great cause 
of our country to a successful termination — a 
cause for which each and all of us should be 
willing to devote our lives and fortunes, if neces- 
sary. Adieu, my friends." 

When the prolonged and rapturous applause 
with which the General's remarks were received 
had subsided. Colonel Loomis reported from a 
committee, a series of resolutions which were of- 
fered as expressive of the sense of the meeting, 
upon the subject to which they relate. They are 
couched in the following terms: 

"Whereas, Our distinguished townsman and 
friend. Major General John A. McClernand, is 
about to leave us to assume an important com- 
mand assigned him by the President in the De- 
partment of the Gulf, be it 

'•'•Resolved, That we remember his history as a 
Representative of Illinois in the councils of the 
Nation, as one who dignified the position with 
all the qualities of a just and able statesman; one 
who, when the dignity and honor of the Govern- 
ment were assailed and the perpetuity of the 
Nation endangered by traitors, was among the 
very first to raise his voice to sustain the legally 
constituted authorities and to demand the rigid 
enforcement of the laws, regardless of past 
political associations, personal prejudices or 
private interest, and in his bold and manly sup- 
port of the Government before the people to 
prove that of all else, he loved his country best. 

'■^Resolved, That after voluntarily surrendering 
his seat in Congress, and taking up the sword in 
defense of the position he there assumed, we 
have watched his course in rallying his friends, 
the people, to the battle standard of the Union, 
his command in the army of the West on those 
fields which have made the luster of our arms 
imperishable, with feelings of the profoundest 
scratitude. 




9ir;(pr>£^ bac^-^.nvu/-: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUN FY 



34'; 



"Hesolved,' That our most earnest sympathy, 
wishes and prayers accompany him from home 
and friends to the scenes of future conflict. His 
past services, his name and fair fame will be re- 
membered as among the names whom a loyal 
people will delight to honor." 

The final resolution expressed hearty commen- 
dation and approval of the President's order as- 
signing General McClernand to a prominent 
position in General Bank's command, and antici- 
pated their cordial co-operation to conserve the 
interests of Constitutional Government and 
human freedom. 

Governor Yates, Colonel Matheny, Hon. Jack- 
son Grimshaw and others, followed in glowing 
tributes to the services rendered by General 
McClernand, at and since the commencement of 
the war; and to the gallantry and unwavering 
constancy of the Thirteenth Corps. The resolu- 
tions were adopted in the same spirit they 
breathed, that is with unanimous acclaim. 

We have dwelt upon these incidents as evi- 
dencing what was the co-temporaneous opinion 
of eminent and well informed men in respect 
to General McClernand's military merits, and 
the unexpected order that retired him for a time, 
from the command of the Thirteenth Corps and 
active service in the field, and so barred him 
from sharing the final fruits and glory of the 
memorable campaign against Vicksburg. We 
have dwelt upon them to vindicate the truth of 
history, and to dispel the vague and groundless 
rumors, which passing from mouth to mouth, 
have long clouded the path of an honest and 
desei'ving man, whose life and services are 
worthy of a place in the history of the Nation, 
as well as of Illinois. 

On the 15th of February, General McClernand 
reported in person to General Banks, at his 
headquarters in New Orleans. 

On the 20th, General Banks made the follow- 
ing order: 

"By the direction of the President, Major 
General John A. McClernand, United States 
Volunteers, will relieve General E. O. C. Ord, in 
command of the Thirteenth Army Corps." 

On the 23d, General McClernand issued the 
following order: 

"Headquarters Thirteenth Army Corps:— 
The undersigned hereby resumes command of 
the Thirteenth Army Corps. All officers on|staff 
duty at these headquarters, except Major General 
Ord's personal staff, will continue in discharge 
of their present duties until otherwise ordered. 

" Comrades ! In thus renewing our former 
relations, I cannot forbear the expression of ray 

40— 



gratification at so welcome an event. The 
memories of our common trials and successes in 
the service of our beloved country have en- 
deared you to me. I never will cease to admire 
your heroism and applaud your virtues. Arkan- 
sas Post, Richmond, New Carthage, Port Gib- 
son, Grand Gulf, Champion Hills and Big IJlack 
are so many testimonials to your gallantr,y and 
good conduct. These brilliant victories, rapidly 
achieved, together with the triumph of Major 
General Banks in reducing Port Hudson, re- 
opened the Mississippi river to the pining 
commerce of the grateful millions who inhabit 
its valley. Your assaults of the 19th and 22(1 of 
May upon the defenses of Vicksburg, will ever 
justly rank among the prodigies of military 
daring and constancy. All that I claimed for 
you in that and other respects, in my congratu- 
latory order of the 30th of last May, stands un- 
shaken by time and ofllcial scrutiny. Indeed, 
its contents, as the plain and simple truth, have 
become a part of the authentic history of the 
war. That I was not permitted to share in the 
consummation of the Mississippi campaign, by 
leading you into Vicksburg, is my misfortune, 
rather than my fault. My non-participation in 
that memorable event was involuntary and con- 
strained, and is deeply regretted by me. 

" I am profoundly thankful to the President 
that he has interposed to restore us to each other, 
after a separation that has been, to me, so long 
and painful. Your services, meantime, in this 
department are unfamiliar to me, but I doubt 
not that they are worthy of your antecedents, of 
the character of the distinguished commander 
whom I succeed, and of the able and successful 
chief of this important department. 

"Comrades! New fields of duty and peril are 
before us. Let us hasten to make them historic 
with the valor and success of American arras. 
Our cause is a just one; approved, as we trust, 
l)y God and the civilized Avorld. Our country- 
men are spectators of our conduct; their hearts 
throb in unison Avith our ardor, our courage, and 
our devotion. Let us not disappoint their just 
expectations." 

This stirring appeal was not miscalculated; a 
pre-existing military and popular sentiment in 
New Orleans was eager to welcome it. General 
McClernand's arrival at that city was hailed with 
congratulations, notably by a body of the Second 
Illinois Cavalry, which had re-enlisted, and was 
about to return on leave of absence to their 
homes. 

The General returned their congratulations in 
brief but grateful terms; " wishing them a safe 



3-i-s 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



trip liorjue, a happy time there, a speedy return, 
and the country an early and permanent peace." 

The press echoed the feeling of the rank and 
file and the people; announcing the " expectation 
that he Avould resume command of the corps;" 
adding, " Nothing could be more eminently 
proper. No commander ever enjoyed the con- 
fidence and affection of his men to a greater ex- 
tent. And the confidence was mutual. It was 
the Thirteenth Corps that won the General's 
laurels, and it was under his gallant leadership 
that the corps became immortal." 

The General, however, found that the corps 
had been dismembered, and scattered in detach- 
ments all the way from the Mississippi to the 
Rio Grande. This was a painful vicissitude to 
veterans who had so long maintained an intact 
organization, and who were wedded to each other 
by the memories of their common sufferings and 
giory. 

General Banks was now busied with prepara- 
tions for the Red river expedition. General 
McClernand, meanwhile, was informing himself 
of the condition and particular geographical 
dispositions of the different detachments of the 
corps, and desired, if it might be, that these de- 
tachments should be re-combined for effective, 
independent, co-operative service. But contrary 
to his desire, it fell out that shortly before Gen- 
eral Banks embarked for the Red river expedi- 
tion, he ordered General McClernand to proceed 
to Matagorda Island and assume the control of 
military affairs on the coast and frontier of 
Texas, and after arriving there to visit the sev- 
eral principal points occupied by the United 
States forces, and to report frequently and fully 
to the department headquarters, making such 
suggestions as he may deem for the good of the 
service. 

In order to a full apprehension of the latent 
as well as the express import of this order, it is 
necessary to indulge at least a partial survey of 
the cotemporaneous situation within and on the 
coast, and southern frontier of Texas. Within, 
loyal citizens were hunted down as wild beasts 
by marauding bands of rebels. Often they 
were murdered without regai'd to age or sex; 
often their dwellings were burned; often they 
were impressed into the rebel army; in short, 
ever exhibition of patriotism, either by act or 
word was visited with a swift and vengeful ex- 
piation. Hope was yielding to despair. 

On the coast, and across the Rio Grande, a 
stealthy but extensive trade was carried on in 
the exchange of cotton for arms and munitions, 
which were used to sustain the rebellion. This 



trade was in violation of the laws of war, and 
President Lincoln's proclamation of blockade. 

Civil war was distracting and desolating 
Mexico; a civil war, waged on the one side by 
the Emperor Maximillian, supported by the arms 
of the disaffected Mexicans and the French — the 
whole deriving its inspiration from Napoleon 
III.; on the other side bj'^ the Republic of 
Mexico, represented by President Juarez. The 
imperial forces of Maximillian, flushed with 
success, were sweeping down to the Rio Grande, 
driving before them the tottering and fleeing 
government of the republic, and must soon, if 
not arrested, confront the United States forces 
on the narrow line of that stream. The "Mon- 
roe doctrine," a traditional American protest 
against the extension of the monarchical systems 
of the Old World to the Western Continent, 
and dedicating that continent to the destiny of 
popular government was in these events already 
violated, and, as was believed, perhaps, by the 
great body of the American people, because our 
own domestic strife invited it by opportunity 
and a supposed immunity. 

At the same time a horde of the most turbu- 
lent and dissolute characters of Texas, congre- 
gated at Metamoras, Mexico, in view of the 
United States forces, was conspiring by offensive 
bearing and the calumnies of a press in that 
city, inspired and owned by themselves, to em- 
broil the United States with the Imperial Gov- 
ernment of Maximillian and Napoleon. In these 
delicate and fortuitous circumstances, an act of 
portentious interferance, a random shot, nay any 
untoAvard accident might suffice for that pur- 
pose, or to entail some other unhappy complica- 
tion. 

Thus General Banks' order virtually charges 
General McClernand with the part and respousi- 
biliiies of a publicist and diplomatist and a com- 
mander. He was to make suggestions on pass- 
ing and possible events which might enter into 
the motives or action of his government in mo- 
mentous affairs aff'ecting the peaceful or bellig- 
erant relations of nations. 

Crossing the Gulf, he arrived at Matagorda 
Island on the 8th of March, established his head- 
quarters there, saw the outpost at Indianola 
withdrawn in obedience to General Bank's or- 
der, reorganized the forces so withdrawn with 
those on the island into brigades, and a division, 
assigning to each a commander, drove back the 
reconnoitering parties of the enemy, and sent 
counter parties of reconnoisance into the inte- 
rior, established relays of mounted couriers 
from his headquarters twenty miles to the foot 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY. 



340 



of the island, to bring information of any hos- 
tile attempt to cross by a shallow reef from the 
mainland to the rear of his camp, offered the 
refuge of this camp to fugitive loyalists, aug- 
mented his supplies, and on the 30th embarked 
with his staff on the steamer Clinton, for other 
posts. On the same day the vessel was driven 
by a gale on the bar off Arkansas Post, and 
probabl^^ would have been lost in sight of other 
wrecks, but for the assistance lent by the Gen- 
eral and his staff to the officers and crew of the 
vessel. After seven hours peril, the vessel es- 
caped and anchored over night in a neighboring 
pass. 

On the three succeeding days, the General 
visited the posts respectively on Mustang Island 
and at Brazos, Santiago, and Point Isabel, in- 
specting them and their garrisons, and re- 
viewing the latter, and left such orders as 
their condition and service seemed to re- 
quire. 

The ruins of the works commemorative of 
General Taylor and the war with Mexico, were 
viewed by General McClernand hard by; but, 
on a survey of the situation and relations of the 
post at Point Isabel, he determined to abandon 
it, and build a railroad from Brazos to a point 
on the Rio Grande below^ Brownsville, for the 
transportation of troops and stores, and as an- 
swering a better purpose. 

On the 2d of April, he arrived by stage at 
Clarksville, an American town nearly opposite 
Bagdad in Mexico. At Clarksville, he saw off 
the mouth of the Rio Grande a fleet of mer- 
chant vessels flying the flags of different nations, 
and waiting, presumably, for cargoes of contra- 
band cotton, brought to Metamoras and Bagdad, 
from Texas. He also saw a French ship of war 
riding at anchor, and learned that another had 
the day before sent a small boat around with a 
cannon to sound the approach to the mouth of 
that river. These circumstances were viewed 
by him as carrying a sinister and ominous im- 
port, but, much to his satisfaction, he found a 
United States man-of-war on the look-out for 
what might happen. 

After inspecting the garrison at Clarksville, 
and impressing the ofticer in charge of it with 
the importance of vigilance and flrmness in the 
discharge of his trust, he resumed his journey 
by stage, and arrived at Brownsville at 8 o'clock 
that night. Here he heard of mutual estrange- 
ment and suspicions between General Ilerron, 
who was in immediate command on the frontier, 
and Cortina, who w^as Governor and C/ora- 
mandant of the State of Tamaulipas. 



On the 3d, General McClernand determined 
on rebuilding old Fort Brown upon a larger 
scale of area and defences, in order to meet the 
contingency of any attack which the Mexicans, 
French and Confederates might make colleist- 
ively or separately, and also appointed a review 
of the troops for the same day and invited Gov- 
ernor Cortina to visit it, who, accepting the 
invitation, did so, accompanied by his civil and 
military staffs. The review was of the second 
division of the Thirteenth Corps, consisting of 
infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineers, assem- 
bled near old Fort Brown, wearing new uni I orms 
and carrying bright arms. The appointmpnts of 
the corps were complete. It passed in review in 
splendid style, and executed several mand'uvers 
Avith practiced skill and promptitude. Governor 
Cortina was delighted, and, turning to General 
McClernand, exclaimed: "Oh! that our forces 
wei*e so perfectly equipped. Then we would be 
able to turn back the tide of victory against the 
Imperialists." 

The military exercises finished, the Governor 
and his staff returned with General McClernand 
and a number of his officers to partake of a ban- 
quet, which had been ordered by the latter, and 
had been spread by a German comrade and 
admirer of General Houston, of Texan renown. 
Confidence now restored betAveen the military 
authorities on both banks of the Rio Grande, 
the GoA^ernor the next day sent an invitation to 
the General and his staff and other officers to 
partake of a State dinner at Metamoras, the 
capital of Tamaulipas, and they, accepting, were 
met by the Governor, attended by his staff and 
a cavalry guard, at the river and escorted to the 
city, amid the acclaim of church bells and 
salvos of artillery. The banquet was a sumptu- 
ous and elegant one, and, when it was over, the 
General unbelted his sword, and, advancing iu 
the presence of the assembly, presented it to the 
Governor, remarking that "it was offered as a 
token of his personal sympathy for the cause of 
the Mexican Republic, and in the belief that it 
would be as faithfully used in that cause as it 
liad been in the cause of the American Union." 
The effect Avas electrical, the spectators enthusi- 
astically approved, and the Governor himself, 
falling upon the General's breast, passionately 
replied: "I will try to prove myself worthy of 
the gift and the honor it imparts. We are 
friends to the death. I offered my services to 
the Union cause in the beginning. I will offer 
them again, Avith those of my adherents who 
will not fall away, if the French should unhap- 
pily driA^e me out of my country. I am familiar 



35U 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



with Texas, aud can be useful to yoii there." 
The banquet was supplemented with a magniti- 
cent ball at the })alace, attended by the Gov- 
ernor, wife and daughter, and all the elite of the 
city. At a late hour the dancing ceased, and 
the General and his party were escorted back to 
the river with the same state they had been 
escorted from it. On the way back the General, 
reverting to the strained state of the Mexican 
finances, urged the Governor to seize and sell 
the large stores of cotton at Metamoras, and 
turn the money received into the public treasury 
for public use, and to banish from the city the 
turbulent host of American rebels that infested 
it. The Governor replied, " He had the good 
will to do so, but whether of his own motion 
was a delicate question." Resuming the sub- 
ject next day, through one of his officers, he 
offered to send an agent with any that the Gen- 
eral might send, to urge it upon the favorable 
consideration of the Government, then at Mon- 
terey, and, as an evidence of his earnestness, 
without delay repressed rebel machinations and 
disorders at Metamoras. Governor Hamilton 
and Colonel Haynes, both of Texas, by appoint- 
ment of General McClernand, and joined with 
an agent appointed by. Governor Cortina, pro- 
ceeded to Monterey on this mission, of which, 
under date of the 27th, near Brownsville, Col- 
onel Haynes made full report, from which we 
take the following extract: 

"In an interview with the President (Juarez), 
at which was present the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, I urged upon him the importance to their 
Government of availing themselves of your 
proposition, and represented to them the open 
violation of the laws of neutrality long con- 
tinued on this frontier, in furnishing the rebels 
with arms, ammunition, and all supplies of war; 
and that the continuance of this trade through 
their territory was not calculated to increase the 
good-will which yourself, as well as the great 
body of the people felt, in this country, for the 
Mexican nation in its struggle for nationality. 

'•The President replied that no trade in ar- 
ticles contraband of war should hereafter be car- 
ried on, and that such trade heretofore had been 
the work of Governor Vidanri, in contravention 
of orders from the Supreme Government; but as 
for the seizure of cotton in Mexico, for reasons 
already given, that could not be done. 

"A few days after, I requested an audience 
with General Negrete, the Minister of War, to 
whom I stated that, as he was a soldier, I should 
speak more freely. * ^«^ ^ I represented to 
him the injury done us by the immense supplies 



of material of war which had been openly car- 
ried into the hands of the rebels, through Meta- 
moras and Monterey, and that so far as we could 
see there had been no diminution of these sup- 
plies; that such trade could but be offensive; 
* * * that both cities were filled with rebel 
agents and spies, some of them m earing the 
rebel uniform; that they had been allowed to 
establish a newspaper at Monterey, to misrepre- 
sent and malign our government; that commis- 
sioners had been received and treated with about 
the cotton trade; * * that this cotton be- 
longed to the rebel Government, notwithstand- 
ing any flimsy pretense of ownership on the part 
of private owners '■'•' * . I represented * * 
the friendly feeling existing in our country to- 
wards his; * and asked him, if the cotton 
should be seized by force, * '■'' if his Gov- 
ernment would consider the seizure an act of 
hostility? His reply was, 'We would have to 
make a great outcry about it, but not a musket 
should be fired.'" 

Colonel Haynes adds that intelligence of the 
object of his mission having in some way trans- 
pired, it was jealously and actively opposed by 
interested agents waiting abuut the government. 
General McClernand left Brownsville on the 
8th with the intention of early returning and re- 
suming the work which he had commenced or 
projected at that place, and arrived at Matagorda 
on the 9th. 

On the I'rth, an order came from General 
Banks to General McClernand, much to the sur- 
prise of the latter, that he should hasten with re- 
inforcements and report to former, wherever he 
should be found on the Red river. Crossing the 
Gulf with the First Division of the Thirteenth 
Corps, to New Orleans, General McClernand 
learned there the details of the failure of the Red 
river expedition, and the fearful decimation of 
a detatchment of that corps as one of its calam- 
itous incidents. Re-embarking at New Orleans 
on river transports, he arrived at Alexandria, 
Louisiana, wnth the First Division about night- 
fall of the 24th, and immediately reported the 
fact to General Banks, who welcomed him in 
terms of surprise and compliment. The same 
night he disembarked his forces and marched to 
the front. Fortunately, he arrived in time to 
assist in the work of averting further disaster. 

On the 26th, he advanced his forces, and cov- 
ered the retreat of a cavalry picket, of which 
he caused rejDort to be made to General Banks, 
as also of his purpose to accept or force an en- 
gagement with their pursuers. General Banks 
at first sent a message of approval, but followed 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



351 



it by another, ordering General McClernand to 
fall back with his forces to a defensive line quite 
near Alexandria. Had this engagement trans- 
pired, there is persuasive reason to believe that 
it would have issued in a victory, reversing the 
current of the campaign, and redeeming its 
character, for it was a fact, subsequently ascer- 
tained, that only a portion of the rebel forces 
lingered about Alexandria, while the rest had 
been sent in two detachments — one to cooperate 
with General Price in Arkansas, the other to cut 
our communication by water below Alexandria. 
Beating the force lingering about Alexandria, 
we could have turned upon the one descending 
by the right bank of the river, and beaten it 
also, and then have marched into Texas to meet 
General McGruder, or into Arkansas to co-op- 
erate with General Steele against Price at our 
discretion. In other words, opportunity served 
for a venture to cut off the enemy's forces in de- 
tail. This was in accordance with the spirit of 
the General's part in the great campaign upon 
the Cumberland, the Tennessee, the Arkansas, 
and Mississippi. Without daring, great oppor- 
tunities are sometimes lost. 

The evacuation of Alexandria was now, no 
doubt, in the contemplation of General Banks, 
but an obstacle presented itself, which deeply 
agitated the minds of all. The Red river was 
subsiding, and the Mississippi Flotilla, moored 
above the rapids near Alexandria, unless it was 
extricated before the evacuation took place, 
must be left to fall into the hands of the enemy. 
Such a catastrophe would have sent a shudder 
through the minds of all loyal men. It engaged 
General McClernand's anxieties, in common 
with those of the whole army; and, although he 
was now confined to his tent by severe sickness, 
he lent his co-operation, through the skill and 
energy of his pioneer corps and a regiment of 
Wisconsin infantry in the work of extrication, 
which was finally crowned with success, amid 
great joy. 

About the 12th of May, the curtain dropped 
upon the painful scene of evacuation, and the 
gunboats and the army started on their doleful 
return to the Mississippi. At the same time 
General McClernand was carried on stretchers 
on board a transport, already crowded with the 
sick and wounded, and accompanying female 
nurses, started down the Red river for New 
Orleans. Intelligence of the boat and of the 
identity of the boat carrying him, had in some 
way as was subsequently learned, reached the 
rebels, who waylaid the boat for some distance 
and fired into it from the cover of trees and 



houses. The pilot was wounded and replaced 
by another, and men and women terrified by the 
danger, resorted to the General lying helpless on 
his cot, with an appeal to order the colors to be 
struck, and the boat to be landed and surren- 
dered. Instead, he ordered that a wall of boxes, 
beds, and chairs should be raised on the guards 
and about the pilot house as a defense, and that 
the boat should continue her passage until she 
escaped or went to the bottom. This ended the 
question of surrender, and the boat kept on her 
way to Fort de Russe, where the General was 
transferred to a hospital boat and carried to New 
Orleans. For a while after his arrival there, 
his physicians despairing of his recovery, he 
beckoned them to him and whispered: "Take 
courage, I am not dead yet, but with help will 
recover." He lingered there, however, until the 
12th of June, when he was borne on stretchers 
to a steamer and carried by it to Illinois. 

When he had so far recovered as to be able to 
resume service, he asked to be re-assigned to duty 
in the field or permitted to raise and command a 
special corps to itinerate the Mississippi between 
St. Louis and New Orleans on armed steamers, 
for the purpose of protecting the commerce of 
that river, and to relieve and remit to their 
several organizations in the field the multitude 
of garrisons disposed along that river. Waiting 
for a reply and receiving none, on the twenty- 
eighth of July he tendered his resignation, but 
failing to be assigned to duty and the tender of 
his resignation not being accepted, he renewed 
the latter in November, 1865, putting it upon the 
ground, among others, that he was "unwilling to 
retain an office without opportunity to exercise 
its functions." His resignation was finally ac- 
cepted. 

Thus ceasing his connection with the military 
service, he addressed himself to the task of 
regulating his private affairs, and in 1870 re- 
sumed the practice of the law. In the same year 
he was invited by the Legal Bar of Springfield 
to become a candidate for Judge of the Circuit 
Court, and, accejjting the invitation, was elected 
to that station without opposition. 

As -Judge he evinced the same qualities of 
diligence and readiness that had characterized 
him as a commander. His learning, abilities, 
and impartiality were admitted; and clearing the 
docket, encumbered with cases which had been 
accumulating for years, he ceased his judicial 
functions in June, 1873. 

In 1876, as President of the Democratic Na- 
tional Convention at St. Louis, he delivered an 
address which, for both style and matter, was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



nincli admired and commended; and in 1878, as 
marshal of tbe day, he conducted the ceremonies 
which signalized the transfer of the colors and 
battle flags of the Illinois ^"olnnteers from the 
old Arsenal to the hall prepared for their re- 
ception in the new State House, and on the same 
occasion delivered an eloquent address. 

THE BEGINNINCi OF THE END. 

On Monday morning, April 3, 1865, at eight 
o'clock, General Weitzel entered the city of 
Richmond, at the head of his troops, it having 
been evacuated by the rebels the day previous. 
The news was quickly flashed over the wires, 
and before night of that day it was known all 
over the land that Richmond was ours, and the 
flnal victory was near at hapd. Richmond, the 
seat of rebel power, the stronghold of rebel 
armies, after having been fortified by every ap- 
pliance of skill and science, and having with- 
stood all the assaults of the Union armies for 
four years — had at last fallen! 

There was great rejoicing in every city, vil- 
lage and hamlet throughout the country, and 
nowhere more so than in the homes of the loyal 
citizens of Sangamon county. But this was only 
the beginning of the good news. Every suc- 
ceeding day brought the cheering news that other 
rebel strongholds had fallen; thousands of pris- 
oners had been captured, and the rebels had been 
disheartened. No one doubted the dark war 
cloud had been pierced by the sunlight of peace 

On Sunday, April 9, General Lee surrendered 
hits entire army to General Grant, and on the 
morning of the 10th, the State Journal celebra- 
ted the victory in startling head lines, as follows: 

victory! 

glory to god in the highest. 

peace and good will. 

the beginning of the end. 

lee surrendered. 

his whole army captured. 

last act in ihe grand drama. 

the union triumphant. 

treason crushed. 

A mass meeting was called, in the following 
terms, for Monday evening, to celebrate the vic- 
tories : 



"The loyal citizens of Springfield and vicinity 
who rejoice over the recent success of the Union 
armies in Virginia, and their triumph over the 
hosts of treason and rebellion, and who would 
do honor to the names of Grant, Sheridan, and 
their brave compeers, whether ofticers or sol- 
diers, and to all others, both of the army and 
navy, who have contributed in any way to those 
glorious successes, are invited to assemble at the 
State House, this (Monday) evening, April 10, 
for the purpose of commemorating the capture 
of Richmond and the brilliant victories lately 
won. Let the thunder of the cannon, the ring- 
ing of the bells, the brilliant display of fire- 
works, processions, music, bon-fires and illumin- 
ations test the joy of the people. 

"There will be speaking in the Representa- 
tive Hall and the rotunda of the State House, by 
the following gentlemen: Governor Oglesby, 
General Isham N. Haynie, Hon. Shelby M. Cul- 
lom, Colonel James H. Matheny, Hon. James C. 
Conkling, Hon. William H. Herndon, John E. 
Rosette, Charles S. Zane and E. L. Gross. 

"Let all turn out to do honor to our 'brave 
boys in blue,' and exchange congratulations in 
view of a speedy return of permanent peace, 
with the Union preserved, the Constitution 
vindicated, rebellion punished and freedom 
triumphant." 

When the foregoing call was issued it was not 
known that General Lee had surrendered, 
although the call and the news of the surrender 
were published in the same paper. As soon a8 
the fact was known, however, at a very early 
hour Monday morning, all business came to a 
standstill; flags leaped as if by magic from pub- 
lic buildings and private residences all over the 
city. One hour later, and the business houses 
about the square were principally closed, and 
almost the entire population sought the square 
and public thoroughfares to congratulate each 
other on the glorious news that came borne on 
the wires from Old Virginia. Another hour and 
the excitement became intense; the enthusiasm 
of the citizens knew no bounds, and their feel- 
ings found expression in hurrahs and songs, pro- 
cessions of various kinds, and to make the scene 
more joyous, the church and fire bells rang a 
merry peal, which was kept up for some hours, 
until the whole air was filled with the many 
sounds of a general jubilee. Flags were attached 
to houses, horses vehicles, hats, coats, and 
finally almost every place where a flag could be 
displayed. Flags were seen upon houses where 
they were never seen before. The enthusiasm 
was contacfious. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



353 



At about 2 o'clock tlie Pioneer Fire DeparL- 
ment, preceded by a band of music, the Pioneer 
Hose Company, the Journal Cart, with a fine 
escort with flags, and the Star of the West Hose 
Company, appeared in procession upon the 
streets and marched around the square and 
through several of the principal streets. This 
was an impromptu procession and attracted con- 
siderable attention. 

During the afternoon a novel sight appeared 
upon the public square, which elicited shouts 
and the applause of the multitude. The show 
consisted of a large mule covered with a blanket, 
bearing the inscriptions, on one side, "Jefl: 
Davis' Last Ride," and on the other "Jeff Davis 
and Suit," while over the tail of the animal 
hung the inscription, "Lee's End." Upon the 
mule was mounted an individual personating 
Jeff Davis, and by his side walked an attendant 
in niask and wearing ragged regimentals, fol- 
lowed by a forlorn looking escort. Shouts arose 
from every quarter wheie Jeff and his attendant 
passed. There also appeared a company in 
black masks, headed by a "six foot" fellow in 
a blue mask, on horseback, who marched his 
brigade from point to point, much to the amuse- 
ment of the crowd. Hacks, buggies, wagons 
and drays, filled with a joyous, jubilant set of 
fellows, waving flags, singing, and shouting, 
were driven around the square. 

The square was profusely ornamented with 
flags and drapery of red, white, and blue. Among 
the most conspicuous houses decorated were 
those of Stuart & Lutz, Matheny & Co., C. 
M. Smith & Co., J. Thayer & Co., R. F. Ruth, 
E. B. Hawley & Co., Kimber & Ragsdale, 
C. A. Gehrman, John Williams & Co., and 
Hammerslough Bros. The headquarters of Ad- 
jutant General Haynie, Marshal Keys, and Cap- 
tain Campbell were most beautifully decorated 
with flags. Governor Oglesby displayed from 
his mansion the gallant Eighth regiment flag, 
under which he and his regiment fought at Fort 
Donelson. From the former residence of Pres- 
ident Lincoln, a splendid flag was displayed. 

At about four o'clock the Twenty-fourth Mich- 
igan regiment arrived from Camp Butler, under 
command of Brigadier General Morrow, and 
marched around the square, preceded by the 
splendid post band of Camp Butler, and after- 
wards paraded the State House yard, where they 
were addressed by Governor Oglesby and Brig- 
adier General Morrow. 

About half-past six o'clock, a salute of twenty 
guns wa^ fired, after which there was a grand 
display of fireworks. Immediately after the 



fireworks, tlie Fire Department h id a yrand 
parade and torchlight procession, in wiiich all 
the companies of the Fire Department joined, 
also a large number of the Fenian Brotherhood, 
wearing their badges and carrying a banner 
which elicited the admiration of all. "Old 
Bob," a splendid old horse of dark bay color, 
with the eye of an eagle, swelling nostrils, and 
a proud and elastic step, formerly the property 
of President Lincoln, was led in the procession 
by a colored groom. He attracted a large share 
of attention, from the fact that he had carried 
President Lincoln many hundred miles during 
his political campaign. "Old Bob" sported a 
rich blanket of red, white, and blue, thickly 
studded with flags, and bearing the inscription, 
"Old Abe's Horse." The flags were nearly all 
secured by the people as mementoes. 

About 8 o'clock a large and enthusiastic meet- 
ing was held at Representatives' Hall, addressed 
by those mentioned in the call. Never was such 
enthusiasm and joy manifested as on this oc- 
casion. The day will long be remembered by 
the citizens of Springfield. 

The general Government now issued orders to 
stop drafting and recruiting, believing the war 
to be almost at an end. General Johnston with 
his command was the only considerable force 
our army now had to contend. True, scattered 
detachments of rebel forces were throughout 
the South, but the number was small. After 
considerable negotiations, Johnston surrendered 
his forces on the 28th day of April, on the same 
terms granted to Lee. 

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

Amid all the rejoicing over the evacuation of 
Richmond, the capture of Lee, and other Union 
victories, the startling intelligence was flashed 
across the continent that President Lincoln was 
assassinated. Instantly every expression of joy 
vanished, and sorrow filled the hearts of all. 
Abraham Lincoln, the great, the noble and good, 
struck down by the hand of an assassin! The 
news was too dreadful to believe, and each hoped 
against hope there was some mistake in the in- 
telligence. The news was received in Spring- 
field at a very early hour on the morning of the 
loth of April, and spread rapidly through the 
city. Citizens began to gather upon the streets, 
listening to the dispatches, or discussing the 
horrible details. The minds of loyal men and 
women were overwhelmed with mingled horror 
and sorrow, in view of the event which had de- 
deprived them of a valuable friend and former 
townsman, and the Nation of an honored and 



354 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



patriotic President. Before 8 o'clock the news 
had spread generally through the city. The 
business houses which had been opened were, 
by common consent, closed almost immediately, 
and the stillness of the Sabbath prevailed, ex- 
cept as indicated in the anxious faces and hur- 
ried inquiries upoH the streets. 

As soon as the telegraph office opened, the 
anxiety to procure further details became in- 
tense, and the appearance of the bulletins was 
awaited with impatient and eager interest. Soon 
came the intelligence that the President was 
dead. All feared the worst, but still clung to 
hope. The announcement fell with a crushing- 
weight upon all loyal hearts, though all had rea- 
son to expect the event. By-and-bye there came 
a rumor that Secretary Seward was dead also. 
All felt that the Nation had suffered the loss of 
two of its noblest leaders. Then came the 
rumor that Booth, the assassin of the President, 
had been captured. This, though unconfirmed, 
gave great satisfaction. In the afternoon the 
intelligence came that Mr. Seward was not dead, 
and that his wounds were not considered mortal. 
This relieved, to some extent, the painful anxiety 
that pressed upon all. 

Soon after the death of President Lincoln be- 
came known, the principal business houses were 
draped in mourning. Flags were draped and 
placed at half mast, and various other emblems 
of the general sorrow were displayed. Among 
the buildings draped were the State House, and 
offices of the different State officers; the head- 
quarters of General Cook, commanding the dis- 
trict, of General Oakes, Assistant Provost Mar- 
shal General of the State, and of Captain 
Keyes, Provost Marshal of the District; the hall 
of the Fenian Brotherhood and Union League; 
the Postoffice, the chambers of the City Coun- 
cil, all the business houses on the public square 
and principal streets, the principal hotels, 
churches, the hoiises of the different fire compa- 
nies, newspaper offices and the Soldiers' Home. 
In many cases black was gracefully intertwined 
with white or the National colors. Much the 
larger portion of private houses were similarly 
draped, or bore some emblem of mourning. 
The bells of the different churches and engine 
houses were tolled during the morning. At the 
State Arsenal the cannon were tastefully draped 
with the American flag", and over the entrance 
the stars and stripes were artistically arranged 
and draped in mourning, whilst from the flag- 
staff floated a dark colored pennant at half mast. 
The whole city presented a funeral aspect, as if 
the Death Angel had taken a member from 



every family. Never was there a day of such 
universal solemnity and sadness seen in this or 
any other city. 

A meeting of the City Council was held in 
the morning, and in response to a call issued in 
the course of the forenoon, a very large and 
solemn meeting of citizens assembled at the 
State House to take into consideration the ter- 
rible calamity that had befallen the city and 
Nation. At 12 o'clock, m., the meeting was 
called to order by Hon. S. M. Cullom, who said: 

'■'■ Fellow- Citizens: — We are met together to 
mourn over a great calamity. Abraham Lin- 
coln, your fellow citizen, who went out from 
this city four years ago, called by the American 
people to preside over the Nation, is no more. 
He has been stricken down by the hands of a 
dastardly, bloody assassin. In view of the long 
acquaintance, and the sympathy existing be- 
tween that great and good man and our fellow 
citizen, J. K. Dubois, I nominate him to preside 
over our meeting." 

The nomination was unanimously confirmed 
by the meeting, and upon assuming the chair, 
Mr. Dubois spoke briefly and pertinently, allud- 
ing to the long and friendly intercourse between 
himself and the lamented dead. 

The following named were chosen Vice Pres- 
idents of the meeting: Stephen T. Logan, John 
Williams, William b.Elkin, Elijah lies, N. H. 
Ridgely, E. B. Hawley, Thomas Condell, James 
L. Lamb, Gershom Jayne, Ricliard Latham, A. 
G. Herndon, Rev. Albert Hale, and Rev. J. G. 
Bergen. For Secretaries, were chosen James C. 
Conkling, E. L. Baker, and E. L. Merritt. 

John T. Stuart addressed the audience, con- 
doling with it upon the deep grief which had 
befallen the American people, and relating some 
interesting circumstances connected with his 
last interview with the martyr President. On 
his motion, the following-named were appointed 
a Committee on Resolutions: John T. Stuart, 
S. M. Cullom, S. H. Treat, Milton Hay, Law- 
rence Weldon, William Jayne, O. M. Hatch, B. 
S. Edwards, and Alexander Starne. The com- 
mittee, thereupon, after retiring a few minutes, 
reported the following, which Avere adopted: 

"Whereas, We have learned by telegraph 
from the City of Washington of the assassina- 
tion of President Lincoln; 

"And, wiiEREAS,We, his neighbors and friends, 
regard his death as a great and irreparable Na- 
tional calamity. 

^'- Besolved, therefore, T\i2it Ave, his neighbors 
and friends, without distinction of party, forget- 
ting all past differences of opinion, unite in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



solemn accord in the expression of our deep 
sympathy for liis family, his friends, our coun- 
try, and the peace of mankind, for this his un- 
timely death, in this hour of our country's 
struggle, when were to be called into exercise 
those high qualities of head and heart which 
have endeared him as a man, and made him 
distinguished as a President. 

^^ -Resolved, That since the unexampled success 
of our arms, we have with patriotic pride be- 
held indications upon the part of Mr. Lincoln 
of a policy of restoration and reunion, in the 
consummation of which the peace of the coun- 
try and the wonted National integrity would 
again be restored to our stricken Union. 

'■'■Resolved, That in this National bereavement 
it is the duty of all good citizens to rely with 
confidence and hope on the over-ruling Provi- 
dence of God, preserve calmness, and faithfully 
submit and adhere to the sovereign laws of the 
land. 

" T^eso^yed, That, inasmuch as this city has for 
a long time been the home of the President, in 
which he has graced with his kindness of heart 
and honesty of purpose all the relations of life, 
it is appropriate that its 'city of the dead' 
should be the final resting place of all that on 
earth remains of him that is mortal, and to this 
end we respectfully request the appointment of 
a committee on the part of the City Council, to 
act in conjunction with the Governor of the 
State, with a view of bringing his remains for 
interment." 

The City Council, at a called meeting, passed 
the following resolutions: 

"Whereas, A sad and deplorable calamity 
has befallen the Nation in the violent death of 
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, 

"Whereas, It becomes us, a people, to bow 
solemnly in awe to the mysterious dispensations 
of Providence; and, 

"Whereas, To us the sudden dispensation 
may seem dark and inscrutable, and, trusting as 
we do in the guardian kindness of Him who 
'holds the Nations in the hollow of His hand;' 
therefore, be it 

'■'■Resolved by the Comynon Council of the City 
of Springfield, That we, in common with every 
true American heart, deplore the sad calamity 
befallen us as a people, and join the universal 
sorrow that hangs upon the Nation to-day, like 
the pall of death. 

'■'■Resolved, That in this terrible hour of sad- 
ness and gloom, when darkness shadows the 
counsels and judgments of men, and a strange 

41— 



and unnatural fear is chilling every heart, and 
fearful forebodings of coming disaster gather 
gloomily about us, it becomes us to turn trust- 
ingly and hopefully to the God of Nations, and 
in lunnbleness and humility receive the stroke of 
His chastening rod; but yet feeling an abiding 
faith that in this, the hour of our desolation, that 
He will be to us, for all time to come, ' 'as the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 

"■Resolved, That although the murderous hand 
of treason has stricken to death the chosen Ex- 
ecutive of the Government, yet the Government 
itself ' still lives,' and will live, as the glorious 
embodiAent of political life, liberty, and human 
hope. 

'■'■Resolved, That we, the Common Council of 
the City of Springfield, deeply sympathize with 
the bereaved family, and much deplore the heavy 
loss which they have sustained in the unexpected 
and sudden death of a husband and father. 

'■^Resolved, That the City Council Chamber be 
clothed in mourning for sixty days. 

'■'■Resolved, That the members of the City 
Council wear the usual badge of mourning for 
sixty days." 

On a preceding page is given the address of 
the martyr President on taking his departure for 
Washington. The scene at the depot was an 
impressive one. The simple and touching elo- 
quence of the great and good man saddened 
every heart and moistened every eye, and many 
turned away, as the train moved off, with mis- 
givings and forebodings for the future. He was 
as he said, "going to assume a task more difficult 
than that which devolved upon Washington." 
The oppressive sadness which seemed to hang 
over him was shared by many friends. There 
seemed to be prophecy in the last sentence of 
his speech — "With these few words I must leave 
you, for hoxo long Iknoio not. Many felt that 
they were portentous of the dreadful death which 
at last overtook him. Mr. Lincoln never re- 
turned to the city of his adoption alive. 

" Bow low your heads, 
Prone on the earth, and grovel in the dustl 

Bow low your heads — 
The last sad tribute to the good and just! 

Bow low your heads! 
The greatest grief that e'er befell "mankind 
Lies on the heart, and preys upon the mind! 

" Weep for the loss, 
O Freedom! of thy greatest champion. 

Weep for the loss, 
O Greatness! of thy brightest diadem. 

Weep for thv loss, 
O Honesty and Truth! O Patriot Worth! 
Thy loss and ours — the loss of all the earth. 



356 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



•' A Nation's tears 
Bedew the bier wliereon his dust doth lay; 

A Nation's tears 
Are hallowed in their contact with his clay. 

A Nation's tears 
From it's deep heart upwell in bitter woe. 
Nor seeks to check their still increasing flow. 

" O Martyr pure, 
Thy country's altar's sanctified anew; 

O martyr pui-e, 
Slain for thy love and faith unto the true. 

O martyr pure, 
As thou hast died for Freedom, so do we, 
Her children, dedicate our lives to thee!" 

On Wednesdaj^, April 19, the funeral obse- 
quies of President Lincoln occurred in Wash- 
ington. In accordance wdth the recommenda- 
tions of the Acting Secretary of State at Wash- 
ington, and the proclamation of Governor 
Oglesby, services for the purpose of solemnizing 
the occasion, were held at the First Presbyterian, 
Second Presbyterian, Third Presbyterian, Meth- 
odist Episcopal, North Baptist, German Catholic, 
English Lutheran and First Baptist Churches. 
All places of business Avere closed. 

It having been announced that the remains of 
Mr. Lincoln would be brought to Springtield for 
interment, in accordance with a universally ex- 
pressed desire, it was arranged that the firneral 
train should make stops at several points on the 
road in order to give the people an opportunity 
of viewing the lifeless body of him who was of 
the people, and wdiom the people loved. At 
Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, 
Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indian- 
apolis and Chicago, many thousands turned out, 
public and private buildings were draped in 
mourning, and such honors were paid to the 
dead as were never given any hero of ancient or 
modern times. 

Extensive preparations were made in Spring- 
field to receive and deposit in their last resting 
place the remains of one they loved so well. 
Thursday, May 4th, was appointed for the fun- 
eral. On the previous day the long funeral 
train arrived. Never was there a day in the an- 
nals of the city so fraught with solemn interest. 
A day in which the remains of the beloved 
Chief Magistrate of a great people were returned 
to the midst of his friends and neighbors, who 
loved and revered him through a long life, for 
final sepulchre. All former demonstrations on 
the death of great and good men were insig- 
nificant compared with the grief and sorrow on 
this occasion. The day broke bright and beau- 
tiful upon the vast crowds which at an early 
hour had sought the city to witness the return 



of all that was mortal of the late President. 
Long previous to the time appointed for the ar- 
rival of the remains, crowds of people, number- 
ing thousands, were gathered at the Chicago & 
Alton depot, and along the line of the road for 
a long distance. Every building and house-top 
in the vicinity was covered with anxious and 
solemn men, eager to see the funeral train. 
Never was there such an assemblage gathered 
under such solemn circumstances. Every class 
was represented in the throng of human beings 
and intense was the feeling and anxiety that had 
called them together. 

Previous to the arrival of the funeral train, 
minute gtms were being fired by a section of 
Battery K, Second Missouri Light Artillery. 
The deep booming of the guns gave a solemn 
interest to the scene. 

The funeral train had been announced to ar- 
rive at 8 o'clock a. m., but did not make its ap- 
pearance until a few minutes before 9 o'clock. 
When the " pilot engine," dressed in mourning, 
made its aj^pearance, which was understood to 
precede the funeral train by ten minutes, the 
feelings of the people were intense, but only 
manifested by the almost breathless silence 
which pervaded the vast crowd. 

Just previous to the arrival of the train, which 
consisted of nine cars beautifully draped in 
mourning, one of which contained the remains 
of the late President, the committee of recep- 
tion, the military, and the members of the sev- 
eral delegations made their appearance and 
formed according to programme on Jefferson 
street, under direction of General Cook. The 
remains were then transferred from the funeral 
car to the beautiful hearse tendered by the Mayor 
of St. Louis to the Mayor of Springfield, drawn 
by six superb black horses, draped in mourning 
and wearing plumes upon their crests. The 
heai'se was also draped, the corners being sur- 
mounted with black plumes, the whole present- 
ing a solemn and magnificent spectacle. 

After the procession was formed it proceeded 
to the Hall of Representatives, where the ca- 
tafalque, resting on the dais underneath the 
canopy, and opened by the embalmer, after 
which the guard of honor took their stations 
around the remains, guards being placed in va- 
rious parts of the hall and at the entrances. The 
coffin, when opened, revealed the marked and 
well-known features of the noble dead, which 
wore a calm expression, — and had it not been 
for a slight discoloration of the face, it would 
have appeared as though he had "fallen into a 
a quiet sleep." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



:357 



At a few minutes past ten o'clock a. m., the 
arrangements having been completed, the vast 
crowd was admitted to review the remains. In 
doing so, they entered at the north entrance of 
the capitol, and passing through the Hall, along 
the side and around the head of the coffin, thence 
into the rotunda, leaving by the south door. It 
was estimated that twenly-five thousand persons 
entered the Hall in the course of ten hours. 

The scene inside the Hall was most solemn 
and impressive; the elegance and appropriate- 
ness of the decorations, the rich catafalque un- 
derneath a splendid canopy, the silent dead, the 
officers and guard, making up a sad picture. The 
decorations were in most excellent taste; the 
general arrangement being such as to make them 
correspond with the room, which is a semi-circu- 
collonade of eleven Corinthian columns, support- 
ing a half-dome, the straight side being toward 
the west, in the centre of which was the Speak- 
er's chair (which was removed for the occasion). 
At the apex of the dome was a rising sun, radi- 
ating to the circumference. On the floor a dais 
was erected, ascended by three steps; on the 
dais, a hexagon canopy supported on columns 
twelve feet high, the shaft covered with black 
velvet, the capitals wrought in white velvet, 
with silver bands and fillets; the canopy rising 
seven feet in the centre, tent-shaped, covered 
with heavy black broadcloth in radiating slack 
folds, surmounted at the apex and at each angle 
with heavy black plumes with white centre, 
with draped eagle on the center of each crown- 
mould; the cornice, corresponding with the cap- 
itals, covered with black velvet, the moulding 
and bands of silver; the lining of the canopy 
was of white crepe, in radiating folds over blue, 
thick set with stars of silver, with black velvet 
and silver fillets inside the cornice; between 
columns a rich velvet valance, in folds, with 
heavy silver fringe, from under which depended 
velvet curtains extending from each column 
two-thirds of the distance from the capitals to 
the cornice, looped with bands, the whole 
so disposed as to exhibit both columns and cap- 
itals inside and out. The efi'ect of the canopy, 
with its supports and drapery, was very impos- 
ing, the whole being unique and elegant, com- 
bining lightness with massiveness with great 
effect. Twelve brilliant jets of gas, burning in 
globes, shining from the columns, lit the in- 
terior, reflecting from the folds of the canopy a 
soft and pleasing light. 

The catafalque was covered with black velvet, 
trimmed with silver bands, and adorned with 
thirty-six stars of burnished silver — twelve at 



the head, and twelve at each side. The floor of 
the dais was covered with evergreens strewn 
with white flowers. The steps of the dais were 
covered with massive broadcloth drapery, bor- 
dered with silver. 

The columns of the Hall were draped with 
black crepe, and the capitals festooned and en- 
twined with the same, and ornamented with 
rosettes. The cornice was appropriately draped, 
and bearing around the entire circumference, in 
large, white letters, on a black ground, the words 
of President Lincoln at Independence Hall, 
Philadelphia, February 22, 1861: "Sooxek 

THAN SURKENDER THESE PRINCIPLES, I WOULD 
BE ASSASSINATED ON THE SPOT." In frOUt of 

the gallery, were black velvet panels, nine feet 
by two and a half, having silver bands and 
fringe, with crossed olive branches in the center. 
Above the gallery were looped curtains of black 
crepe, extending around the semi-circle. Below 
the gallery were white crepe cui'tains, with black 
looped upon it. Each column was ornamented 
by a beautiful wi'eath of evei'greens and white 
flowers. 

On the top of the gallery, and extending 
around, was a wreath of evergreens. The Cor- 
inthian cornice is continued on the west, at each 
side, twenty-three feet, toward the center, sup- 
ported by pillars of the same order, the space 
between being surmounted by an obtuse arch, 
reaching within one foot of the apex, projecting 
six inches, leaving a depression resembling a 
panel, thirty-three feet wide by thirty-seven feet 
high at the extreme height. In the upper por- 
tion of this was placed a blue semi-circular field, 
sixteen feet across, bearing stars six inches in 
diameter, and from which radiated the thirteen 
stripes of the American flag in delicate crepe, 
two feet wide at the circumference of the blue 
field, increasing in width to five feet at the ex- 
treme lower angle, breaking on the dais below, 
and the pilasters on either side, the whole sur- 
mounted by cloud work in blue and black crepe, 
and so disposed as to correspond with the blue 
field, stars, and radiated panel of the ceiling. 
The center red stripe falls opposite the opening 
in the curtains at the head of the catafaUjue. 
On the cornice, each side of the flag work, were 
placed two mottoes, corresponding to that on 
the semi circular cornice, forming together one, 
in these words: " Washington the Father; 
Lincoln the Savior." A life-sized portrait of 
Washington, the frame draped in blue crepe, 
stood at the head of the catafalque. The in- 
terior decorations were perfected under the di- 
rection of G. F. Wright, the catafalque by 



358 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Colonel Schwartz, and the exterior of the build- 
ing by E. E. Myers. 

The coffin was probably the handsomest ever 
constructed in this country. It was mahogany, 
lined with lead, and covered with black cloth of 
the richest and most expensive quality, heavily 
fringed with silver, with four silver medalions 
on each side in which were set the handles. 
The outside of the coffin was festooned with 
massive silver tacks, representing drapery, in 
each fold of which was a silver star, the outer 
edges adorned with silver braid, with live tas- 
sels, five inches in length, each side having 
upon it four massive handles, and at the head 
and foot were stars. Upon the top was a row 
of silver tacks, extending the entire length on 
both sides, about two inches from the edge. 
Upon the center was a silver plate encircled by 
a shield, formed also of silver tacks, and the 
face lid and top were united with five silver 
stars. The inside of the face lid was I'aised 
white satin, the centre piece being trimmed with 
black and white silk braid festooned at each 
corner with four silver stars. 

The buildings around the public square, and 
a large majority of the private residences of the 
city, were beautifully draped, manifesting the 
sorrow of the people at the tragic death of a 
loved one. The late President's house was 
tastefully decorated with the National mourn- 
ing colors and evergreens. It was visited by 
many visitors from abroad. The following 
poem, without credit, was published in the 
Journal: 

"Lincoln! thy Country's Savior, hail! 
We bid thee welcome, but bewail; 
Welcome unto thy chosen home; 
Triumphant, glorious dost thou come. 

" Before the rebels struck the blow 
That laid thee in a moment low, 
God gave thy wish: it was to see 
Our Union safe, our Country free. 

" A countrj' where the gospel truth 
Shall reach the heart of age and youth, 
And move, unchained, in majesty, 
A model laud of liberty. 

" When Jacob's bones, from Egypt borne, 
Regained tlieir home, the people mourn, 
Great mourning then at Ephron's cave, 
Both Abraham's and Isaac's grave. 

" Far greater is the mourning now; 
Our land one emblem wide of woe; 
And where thy coffin-car appears, 
Do not the people throng in tears? 

" Thy triumph of a thousand miles. 
Like eastern conqueror with his spoils — 
A million hearts thy captive led, 
All weeping for their Chieftain dead. 



" Thy chariot, moved with eagle's speed 
Without the aid of prancing steed. 
Has brought thee to thy destined tomb; 
Springfield, thy home, will give thee room. 

'' Lincoln, the martyr, welcome home! 
What lessons blossom on thy tombV 
In God's pure truth and law delight. 
With lirm unwavering soul, do right. 

"Be condescending, kind and just; 
In God's wise counsels put thy trust. 
Let no proud soul e'er dare rebel. 
Moved by vile passion sprung from hell. 

" Come, sleep with us in sweet repose, 
Till we, as Christ from death arose, 
Shall in His glorious image rise 
To dwell with Him beyond the skies.'' 

The crowd in Springfield on this occasion 
was very great. Thousands could not obtain a 
place to lay their head during the long night of 
Wednesday, May 3. All night long the sound 
of tramping feet was heard upon the pavement 
as the weary night watches wore away. The in- 
terest to see the remains was unparalleled, and 
ere it was light upon Thursday morning, the 
crowd was pressing in long columns toward 
Representatives Hall. At about 10 o'clock, a. 
m., the coffin was closed, and the beloved feat- 
ures were shut out from the people forever. 
While these preparations were being made a 
choir of two hundred and fifty singers assem- 
bled on the steps of the Capitol, and under the 
direction of Professor Meissner, sang "Peace, 
troubled soul," by Paesillo. The harmony was 
very fine and it had a solemn but pleasing 
effect. As the remains were being brought out 
of the Capitol to be placed in the hearse, the 
choir sang with fine effect, Pleyel's hymn, 
"Children of the Heavenly King." 

After the remains were placed in the hearse, 
the procession was formed and wended its way 
to Oak Ridge Ceraeteiy. It was one of the 
most imposing ever seen in this country. On 
its arrival at the cemetery, the remains were 
placed in the tomb, after Avhich the choir sang 
the " Dead March in Saul" — "Unveil thy Bo- 
som." Rev. Albert Hale then made an eloquent, 
feeling and appropriate prayer, after which the 
choir sung the following dirge, composed for 
the occasion. Music by George F. Root; words 
by L. M. Dawes. It was sung with much feel- 
ing and effect: 

FAREWELL, FATHER, FRIEND AND GUARDIAN, 

'' All our land is draped in mourning, 

Hearts are bowed and strong men weep; 

For our loved, our noble leader, 
Sleeps his last, his dreamless sleep. 

Gone forever, gone forever, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



359 



Fallen bj' a traitor's baud; 
Thousli preserv'd his dearest treasure, 
Our redeem'd beloved land. 
Rest in peace. 

''Through our night of bloody struggle, 
Ever dauntless, firm and true, 
Bravel}', gently forth he led us, 

Till the morn burst on our view — 
Till he saw the day of triumph, 
Saw the field our heroes wou; 
Then his honor'd life was ended. 
Then his glorious work was done. 
Rest in peace. 

" "When from mountain, hill and valley. 
To their homes our brave boys come. 
When with welcome notes we greet them; 

Song and cheer and peeling drum; 
When we miss our loved ones fallen, 

When to weep we turn aside; 
Then for him our tears shall mingle. 
He has suttered — he has died. 
Rest in peace. 

" Honor'd leader, long and fondly 
Shall thy mem'ry cherished be; 
Hearts shall bless thee for their freedom. 

Hearts unborn shall sigh for thee; 
He who gave thee might and wisdom. 

Gave thy spirit sweet release; 
Farewell, Father, friend and guardian. 
Rest forever, rest in peace. 
Rest in peace." 

A portion of Scripture was then read by Rev. 
N. W. Miner, after which the choir sang, " To 
Thee, O Lord," from Oratorio of St. Paul. The 
President's last Inaugural was read by Rev. A. 
C. Hubbard, when the choir sang the dirge, 
<'As when Thy cross was bleeding," by Otto. 
At the conclusion of the singing, Bishop Simp- 
son delivered a most eloquent funeral oration, 
which was listened to with marked attention, and 
at its conclusion, "Over the Valley the Angels 
Smile," was sung. After a few remarks by Dr. 
Gurley, the following hymn and doxology was 
sung: 

FUNERAL HYMN. 

" Rest, noble martyr! rest in peace; 

Rest with the true and brave. 
Who, like thee, fell in Freedom's cause, 

The Nation's life to save. 

" Thy name shall live while time endures, 

And men shall say of thee, 
' He saved his country from its foes. 

And bade the slave be free.' 

"These deeds shall be thy monument. 

Better than brass or stone; 
They leave thy fame in glory's light, 

Unrival'd and alone. 

" This consecrated spot shall be 

To Freedom ever dear. 
And Freedom's sons of every race 

Shall weep and worship here. 



"OGod! before whom we, in tears. 

Our fallen Chief deplore; 
Grant that the cause, for which he died, 

May live tor evermore." 

DOXOLOGY. 

"To the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

To God whom we adore. 
Be glory as it was, is now, 

And shall be evermore." 

After benediction by Rev. P. I). Gurley, the 
troops and the tire department re-formed and 
marched back to the city, where they were dis- 
missed to their respective headquarters. Thus 
ended the obsequies of the late President Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

THE END. 

While the funeral obsequies of President Lin- 
coln were taking place, our armies were fast 
gathering around the rebel hosts, and seldom a 
day passed but more or less of them were cap- 
tured. Jeff Davis, the rebel chief, lied from the 
capital of the Confederacy, Lee was a prisoner, 
and Johnston surrounded. A few days more and 
both Davis and Johnston were captured, and 
with their capture the Confederacy collapsed. 
Regiment after regiment of Illinois troops were 
dispatched to Camp Butler for final payment, 
and discharged during the summer and early 
fall. A royal welcome did they receive. The 
noble ladies of Springfield who labored earnestly 
and zealously to relieve their wants while in the 
field, now sought to show their regard by kind 
and thoughtful attention on their return. On 
the fourth day of July it was planned to cele- 
brate the day by a public reception and welcome 
to the returning soldiers. On that day, at an 
early hour, people began to arrive from the sur- 
i-ounding country, and by nine o'clock the 
streets wore the appearance of a gala-day. About 
half past nine oclock, a train of forty cars, 
drawn by two locomotives, filled with soldiers 
from Camp Butler, arrived in Springfield, where, 
after forming in line, they marched to the 
square, and from thence to Wright's Grove, 
west of the city. On arriving at the Grove, the 
soldiers were marched to the speakers' stand, 
when after prayer by Rev. Albert Hale, J. C. 
Conkling, President of the day, introduced Gov- 
ei-nor Oglesby, who spoke substantially as fol- 
lows: 

'■^ Mr. Fresidetit, Felloio Soldiers and Fellov 
Citizens: — The pleasant duty of extending a 
welcome to these brave soldiers has devolved 
upon me, and when this duty is performed you 
will listen to a prayer and oration; and when 
this part is over, the fair ladies and citizens of 



360 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



this place have cordially invited you to a good 
dinner, if not our best in all respects, it is good 
for the stomach. On the 4th day of July, 
1860, found us at peace with all the world and 
ourselves. We had been progressing in every- 
thing that constitutes a great people. Intellec- 
tual and material wealth had made us one of the 
tirst Nations of the earth. 

"The 4th day of July, 1861, found us at peace 
with the world but at war with ourselves. This 
year thirteen States, under the erroneous doc- 
trine of State rights, that a man's allegiance to 
his State took precedence of his allegiance to 
his Government, seceded from the Union, on 
what they called the ordinance of secession. On 
the 21st day of July, we stood dishonored be- 
fore the world by the events of Bull Run. Our 
beautiful and loved flag was dishonored and 
trailed in the dust. 

"The 4th of July, 1862, found us in better 
condition. We had captured Fort Donelson, 
had obtained possession of Kentucky, most of 
Tennessee, and had opened the Mississippi 
river two hundred and forty miles below Cairo. 
A large number of the bravest and best men of 
the country had responded to their country's 
call and had gone forth to fight its battles. 

"The 4th of July, 1863, found us in posses- 
sion of Vicksburg; we had won the battle of 
Gettysburg, and taken many important points. 
The disgrace of Btill Run had been wiped from 
our flag, and the seven days' battle and defeat 
had been wiped out, the rebels had been whip- 
ped. We now held the rebels by the neck by a 
cord of American soldiers, and they were pulling 
the cord at both ends." 

Continuing, the Governor spoke in glowing 
and eloquent terms of the 4th of July, 1864, 
when Grant swept the country, and with the 
army of the Potomac, held the rebels as in a 
vise. The fourth of July, 1865, was glorious. 
Glory to God, said he, for the grandeur and hap- 
piness of our condition; and thanks to the brave 
men as instruments in carrying forward the 
great ^i^ork of redeeming the country. Their 
names were written in the hearts of a grateful 
people, and should be inscribed on tablets of 
marble and of iron in testimony of their great 
and glorious services. He welcomed them home 
from the bottom of his heart — he welcomed them 
home in the name of the city and its brave and 
generous people. His duty was done; he did not 
come to advise them in relation to their deport- 
ment, or to tell them to be good citizens, but to 
tell them they were among men and women who 
respected and honored them as the brave defend- 



ers of their country. Without the presence of 
the brave soldiers, the people would net be so 
happy to-day. He referred in eloquent terms to 
the principles of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and asked them if they could stand upon 
the platform therein contained, as applied to 
rebels and traitors? We will hold them, he 
said, as we hold the rest of mankind: enemies in 
war; in peace, friends. As for himself, he was 
not exactly prepared for it — not exactly cool 
enough — could not adopt it just then. For the 
last four years they had been at war; they were 
his enemies, and he would think about adopting 
the sentiment hereafter. He closed his remarks 
amid the greatest applause. 

After the Veteran Reserve Band had dis- 
coursed some fine music, the President of the 
day introduced Robert J. Ingersoll, who de- 
livered an oration such as only he could deliver, 
after which a benediction was pronounced by 
Rev. N. W. Miner, and the soldiers formed in 
line and marched to the tables, where a grand 
charge was made upon the good things provided 
for the occasion, and all felt happy and thankful 
for the- blessings received and that the "cruel 
war" w^as over. 

After dinner, a large number of citizens as- 
sembled at the stand, where a number of toasts 
were read, among -^shich were the following: 

" The Day u-e Celebrate. — The principles of 
liberty promulgHTted in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, by our fathers of 1*776, have been 
triumphantly vindicated by their heroic children; 
and we meet in 1865 to rejoice in the fact the 
inspired maxims of that immortal instrument 
are no longer 'glittering generalities,' but the 
assured and absolute basis of the Government, 
and destined so to be, to the latest generation." 

" The /Soldiers of Illinois. — In vindicaticg 
the honor of the flag and preserving the Na- 
tional Union, they have conferred immortal 
honor upon their State." 

To this sentiment General Brayman responded 
in some eloquent and appropriate remarks, in 
the course of which he alluded to the lofty pat- 
riotism and self-denying spirit which led the 
volunteer soldiers to enlist in the great work of 
redeeming their country. He referred to the 
glorious day which was being celebrated, and to 
a restored country and a free people. His refer- 
ence to the noble and brave soldiers of Illinois 
was just and flattering to them and the State 
they represented. To the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln, he paid a just and eloquent tribute — 
no circumstances could daunt him; he was equal 
to every emergency. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



361 



" The Loyal Women of the North. — Their 
persistent devotion to the cause of their coun- 
try — their patient endurance, unwearied labors, 
heroic sacrifices, and inspiring cheerfulness and 
hope through the long midnight of agony and 
woe — all this is at once the most beautiful and 
sublime st spectacle of the war, God bless and 
reward the loyal women of America." 

Captain George R. Weber responded to the 
foregoing toast in some eloquent and appro- 
25riate remarks, which were received with great 
applause: 

" The Patriotic /Soldiery of Illinois. — Their 
patient endurance and impetuous valor have 
shed imperishible lustre upon the arms of the 
State that, delights to do them honor — braver 
and truer men never trod on battle-field — wel- 



come, thrice welcome from the fields of their 
renown." 

Colonel George H. Harlow responded in ap- 
propriate remarks: 

" Our Fallen Heroes. — We miss them here to- 
day. 'They sleep their last sleep, they have 
fought their last battle; no sound can awaken 
them to glory again' — but shrined in the hearts 
of a grateful people, their names and deeds 
shall live in immortal glory." 

This sentiment was received in silence. 

^^ Richard Yates. — The 'Cour de Leon' of the 
Uaion hosts of Illinois, during the four years of 
war. Traitors hated him as Governor; they 
will hate him worse as United States Senator." 

This sentiment was received with immense 
cheering, and music by the band. 



362 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XVIII. 



THE WAR FOR THE UNION— Continued. 



A history of Sangamon county, without a rec- 
ord of her brave sons in the field, would indeed 
be incomplete. The reader can well understand 
the historical sketches of the regiments must be 
short; and even then, only those can be given 
that are represented by any considerable num- 
ber of men from Sangamon county. A full and 
complete list of soldiers from the county is 
given, as far, at least, as can be compiled from 
the Adjutant-General's reports. When possible, 
the list of the various regiments have been re- 
vised by some one familiar with the names. 

SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

The Seventh Infantry Illinois Volunteers is 
claimed to be the first regiment organized in 
the State of Illinois, under the first call of the 
President for three months' troops. The Seventh 
was mustered into the United States service at 
Camp Yates, Illinois, April ^5, ISHl, by Captain 
John Pope, U. S. A.; was forwarded to Alton, 
St. Louis, Cairo and Mound City, where it re- 
mained during three months' service. 

The Seventh was re-organized, and mustered 
for three years' service July 25, 1861, by Captain 
T. G. Pitcher, U. S. A.; proceeded to Ironton, 
Missouri, and joined the command of Brigadier 
General B. M. Prentiss, August 23, 1861 ; march- 
ed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where it re- 
mained some time; Colonel Cook commanding- 
post. The garrison consisted of a brigade: Sev- 
enth and Twenty-eighth Illinois and McAllis- 
ter's battery. General Grant commanded the 
District of Cairo. 

Was with the reconnoitering expedition under 
General Grant, in the rear of Columbus, Ken- 
tucky. During the battle of Belmont, was sent 
to Elliott's Mills, just above Columbus. On 
February 3, 1862, embarked for Fort Henry, 
and on the 12th for Fort Donelson; taking part 
in the investment and siege of that place, Feb- 



ruary 13, 14 and 15, and was in the last charge 
on the left of the enemy's works. At Donelson, 
the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Col- 
onel Babcock. Colonel Cook was commanding 
Third Brigade, Second Division; Major General 
C. F. Smith commanding. Loss, three killed, 
including the gallant Captain Mendall, of Com- 
pany I, and nineteen wounded. 

February 21, 1862, left Fort Donelson for 
Clarksville, Tennessee, Major Rowett command- 
ing; Lieutenant Colonel Babcock, absent — 
sick and Colonel Cook commanding brigade. 
Ordered to Nashville, and afterwards to Pitts- 
burg Landing, where it arrived February 22, 
1862. Was engaged continually, April 6 and 7, 
at the battle of Shiloh under command of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Rowett, Colonel Babcock being 
absent — sick, and Colonel Cook having been 
promoted to Brigadier General on the 21st of 
March. 

Loss at battle of Shiloh. — Two commissioned 
officers and thirteen men killed, and seventy- 
nine wounded. 

Was engaged up to May 30, with Third bri- 
gade, Second division, and in centre of right 
wing, moving upon Corinth — meanwhile having 
several skirmishes with the enemy. On evacua- 
tion of Corinth May 30, by the enemy, the 
regiment marched to Farmington and Boone- 
ville Mississippi, repairing roads and bridges 
and returned to Corinth June 11, 1862. At bat- 
tle of Corinth, October 3 and 4, 1862, the regi- 
ment was engaged both days entire, on right of 
Third brigade and still in Second division. 
Colonel Babcock was in command. On 5th of 
October marched in pursuit of enemy as far as 
Ruckerville and returned on 10th. 

Loss at Corinth. — Two commissioned officers 
and six men killed, forty-six wounded. Also 
twenty-one prisoners, who were afterward ex- 
changed and returned to duty. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



3G5 



December is, marched to Lexington Missouri, 
in pursuit of guerrillas, April 16, 1863, marched 
Avith General Dodge's command through luka, 
Glendale and liarnsville to Bear Creek, on the 
Alabama line. 

On lYth, deployed as skirmishers, drove the 
enemy fi'om the creek, and as soon as the cav- 
alry had crossed, companies C and K pushed for- 
ward at a double quick, in support of a battery. 

The remainder of tlie brigade then crossed, 
and moving forward to Cherokee, engaged the 
rebels. The Seventh on the right killed twelve 
of the enemy, and captured two prisoners. At 
dark retired, and next morning removed back to 
Bear Creek. 

April 25, again moved forward to Tuscumbia, 
and the same evening to South Florence, joining 
the Ninth Illinois (mounted) infantry. The 
next day, moved with main column to Town 
creek. April 28, crossed Town creek, and drove 
the enemy three miles, and remained on the 
ground during the second night with the Second 
Iowa infantry. On 29th, re-crossed, and re- 
turned to Corinth with the command, arriving 
May 2. Loss during this expedition, one man 
killed — accidentally shot. 

May 12 to June 8, 1863, guarded railroad from 
Bethel to Jackson, Tennessee. June 18, mounted 
by order of Major General Dodge, and the re- 
mainder of the month was scouting through 
West Tennessee. July 7 to 9, on scout. July 
26 to August 5, on expedition, under command 
of Colonel Rowett, of the Seventh, capturing 
forty-two prisoners, including one Colonel and 
two Captains, and many horses and mules. Lost 
one man, accidentally killed. Again Avent out 
with 100 men of the Tenth Missouri cavalry. 
Had several skirmishes, and captured twenty 
prisoners. 

September 26, commenced a four days' expe- 
dition with the Seventh Kansas cavalry, Colonel 
Rowett in command. Had some very brisk 
skirmishes, and captured thirty prisoners and 
several horses and mules. October 4, relieved 
Eighteenth Missouri at Chervalla, and was again 
relieved on the 28th. 

October 26, proceeded to luka. Here guarded 
approaches until the 6th of November, when 
marched to Eastpoi't, and crossing the Tennessee 
river, moved on flanks of Dodge's command, cap- 
turing horses, etc., and fighting guerrillas until 
November 12, when camped atPulaska. Novem- 
ber 17 to 19, scouted to and beyond Lawrence- 
burg, captui'ing thirty prisoners. Deceml^er 10, 
ordered on scout toward Shreve creek and Flor- 
ence, Alabama. Engaged Moreland's battalion, 

42— 



and captured thirty -live prisoners, including four 
commissioned officers. 

The enemy left eight dead on the field, and 
many wounded. 

Besides the above skirmishes and marches, 
detachments of . the regiment had been con- 
stantly employed carrying dispatches, and have 
had many small skirmishes, captured many pris- 
oners, etc. December 22, 1863, the regiment re- 
enlisted as Veteran Volunteers, and January 7, 
1864, started to Springfield for the Veterans' 
furlough. 

The regiment was mustered out July 9, 1865, 
at Louisville, Kentucky, and arrived at Camp 
Butler, July 12, 1865, for final j^ayment and dis- 
charge. 

In the three months' service, Sangamon county 
Avas represented by the Colonel of the regiment 
and Companies G and I. In the three years' 
service it had, when organized, the Colonel, 
Lieutenant Colonel, Surgeon, and a large nnm- 
ber of men, as will be seen in the accompanying 
roster. 

The promotions, during the service, of men 
from Sangamon county, in the Seventh Infantry, 
was as folloAVs: Colonel Cook, to Brigadier 
General; Andrew .T, Babcock, from Lieutenant 
Colonel to Colonel; Edward S. Johnson, from 
First Lieutenant to Captain, and then Major; 
Thomas N. Francis, from Second to First Lieu- 
tenant and Adjutant; Solomon T. Flint, from 
Sergeant Major to First Lieutenant; Benjamin 
F. Smith, to First Lieutenant, and then to Gen- 
eral Cook's staff; Edward R. Roberts, from Sec- 
ond to First Lieutenant and Captain; Alexander 
Adams, to Second Lieutenant; John E. Sullivan, 
from Sergeant to Second and First Lieutenant 
and Captain; Joseph S. Fisher, to Second Lieu- 
tenant; William E. Norton, from private to First 
Lieutenant. 

ROSTER OF THREE MONTHS' MEN. 

Regimental Officers. 
Colonel— John Cook 

COMTANY G. 

Officers. 
Captain — William t?auds 
First Lieutenant— Daniel L Canfield 
Second Lieutenant- Walter G. Kercheval 
First Sergeant. 
Henry W. Allen 
Sergeants. 
Kobert D. Walker George Sloan 

Adam E. Vroorman 

Corporals. 
John W. Tomlinson William Grissom 

George W. Tipton M. Belleville Griffin 



366 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



John L. Kiiin 



Musicians. 

Ireuus P. Howell 

Privates. 



Adlong, Lewis 
Browu, Charles N. 
Brown, Frederick C. 
Barr, Henry C. 
Bedy, Patrick L. 
Burgoon, Columbus W. 
Barr, William A. 
Cantrall, George W. 
Deck, Valentine 
Drake, Henr}' B. 
Daly, John 
Duulup, John K. 
Early, William A 
Edwards. Archie L. 
Farmer, Samuel L. 
Fink, Earnest 
Foster, William 
Garnet t, George 
Gambrel, Joseph C. 
Haselrigg, Ash ton 
Hobbs, William M. 
Hivily, Adam 
Hanon, Andrew J. 
Haines, Benjamin K. 
Hudson, Frank M. 
Hurd, Stephen 
Howell, Stephen S. 
Hemustead, George 
Haines, William F. 
James, William 
Kepler, Matthias 
Killmartin, James A. 



Lowe, Charles C. 
McCray, William B. 
Mayers, George 
Mantle, John 
Marshall Jeremiah 
Morgan, Byron E. 
Morgan', John W. 
Oats, James 
Pilcher, John 
Pebham, William B. 
Rush, Archer H. 
Rucker, Alexander 
Renne, James S. 
Sanders, William 
Short, James L. 
Schwitzer, John 
Scott, Walter M. 
Shepherd, Oscar F. 
Stone, John B. 
Sturmer, Jamefi B. 
Tiptcm, Isaac H. 
Troy, James 
Tomlinson, William 
Taylor, John W. 
Walsh, Walter 
William, Thomas J. 
Wilcox, John H. 
Wacherlee, George 
Wood, Albert S. 
Wood, Bazzle M. 
Wallers, James A. 



D. 



COMPANY I. 

Officers . 
Captain— Andrew J. Babcock 
First Ijieutenant- Thomas G. Moffatt 
Second Lieutenant — Noah E. JNIendell 

First Sergeant. 

Edward S. Johnson 

Sergeants. 

John C. Reynolds William A.. Dubois 

Henry C. Vanhotl' 

Corporals . 

Edward R. Roberts Thomas L. Bishop 



John H. Canfield 
Albert M. Kane 



John M. Pearson 
Musicians. 

Alexander Adams 



Ft 

Armstrong, John W. 
Alden, William 
Alsop, Henrv 
Arnold, Alfred V. 
Butler, Thomas H. 
Butts, Thomas 
Boring, William 
Clark, William H. 
Cook, Thomas H. 
Caultield. JohnC. 
Decker, John C. 
Dickerson, Samuel 
Early. Cliarles J. 
Fessendeu, George T. 
Francis, Thomas N. 
Ferguson, Robert L 



ivates. 

Morris, Thomas A. 
McClease, John 
Mclntire, Marshall M. 
Nixon, William A. 
Norton, Luke 
Newman, William 
Naval, Joseph D. 
Opdyke, Thomas G. 
Post, Truman S. 
Polusky Daniel R. 
Rerse, Lauson 
Ruth, J. Diller 
Ruby, Andrew M. 
Russell, Samuel H. 
Riley, Asher B. 
Richmond, John S. 



Strickland, Edward P. 
Sullivan, John E. 
Spriggs, Frederick R. 
Saunders, Henry A. 
Shankland, John H. 
Steel, Ruben M. 
Svveainguin, Thomas A. 
Stockdale, William G. 
Thorpe. Thomas 
Treman, Ortin 
Taylor, Charles A 
Uhler, Martin J. 
Wells, Charles H. 
Wilson, William S. 
Wyatt, Frank 
Williams, Louis 



Fisher, Joseph S. 
Fox, James 
Gourley, Charles S. 
Green, Francis M. 
Gregory, Peter F. 
Gib.son, John 
Hickox, Silas W. 
Higgins, Edwin L. 
Heskitt, Benjamin L. 
Ide, Albert L. 
Johns, Chester 
Jayne, Henrj'^ 
Klippel, Jacob 
Keslin, George W. 
Keefner, George 
Lawhead, Charks C. 
Manning, George G. 

ROSTER OF THREE YEARS' MEN. 

Regihtental Officers. 
Colonel— John Cook. 
Lieutenant Colonel— Andrew J. Babcock 
Surgeon — Richard Metcalf. 
First Assistant Surgeon — James Hamilton 
First Assistant Surgeon — Elijah P. Burton 

COMPANY C. 

Officers. 
First Lieutenant — Edward R. Roberts 
Privates. 
Campbell, John H. Thayer, Clarence C. 

COMPANY G. 

Officers. 
Cai)tain — Henry W. Allen. 
First Lieutenant — George W. Tipton 
Second Lieutenant — Adam E. Vrooman 

COMPANY I. 

Opicers. 
Captain— Noah E "Mindell 
First Lieutenant — Edward S. Johnson 
Second Lieutenant — Newton Francis 

First Sergeant. 

John E. Sullivan 

Sergeants. 

Joseph S. Fisher Luke Norton 

Charles H. Traver John H. Shankland 

Corporals. 
William H. Clark Jacob Klippel 

William Boring John W. Campbell 

Charles J. Myers Charles M. Fellows 

William B. Baker Onen Gunstunson 

Wagoner. 
Joseph O. Pulliam 

Privates. 



Baker, D.J. 
Bollyjack, John 
Brown, J. V. 
Bussnan. George W. 
Barrel], Henry C. 
Bruce. Henry E. 
Cameron, William 
Campbell, Anderson A. 
Craven, James 
Crowley, Patrick 
Daniels Seth J. 
Davis, William 
Edwards, Elbert 



Mav, John 
McAtti, Thomas J. 
Millard, Lawrence J, 
Miller, Peter 
McGinnis, Marcus F. 
Morgan, Byron E. 
Nelson, John 
Norton, William E. 
O'Harra. John 
O'Keep, David 
Phillijjs, John M. 
Porter. 01 e 
Pyle, Lorenzo 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



361 



Edwards, Willium M. 
Ecker, William J. 
Elder, Samuel 
Flint, Solomon F. 
Flauuagau, Thomas J. 
Gambrol, James L. 
Hamilton, Henry H. 
Hamilton, Seth 
Heskell, Benj. L. 
Hill, Thomas 
Hilling, Gustave F. 
•Marsh, George 
McDonald, Dugald 

CONSOLIDATION OF COMPANIES I AND G. 

Sergeants. 
William Sanders Isaac H. Tipton 

Charles Lewis 

Corporals. 
George T. Sayles Thomas J. Robinson 

William H. Lowe 
Privates. . 



Rape, James H. 
Rapplye. Levi A. 
Rosier, William C 
Rogers, William S. 
Royal, Thomas M. 
Sargent, William J. 
Stonebarger, Geo. W. 
Tipton, Bryant 
Toner, Michael 
Unkley, John 
Walsh, Michael L. 
Walleus, Robert G. 



Brown, William, jr. 
Baldwin, Williani A. 
Bailey, James L. 
Bashaw, Hiram 
Brown, Fred C. 
Daly, John 
Dougherty, John H. 
Hillis, Joshua 
Mitts, Thomas J. 
Nicholson, William G. 
Schiller, John 
Thomas, Silas 
Williams. Albert C. 
Delauy, Thomas 
Duffy, Patrick 
Ely, John L. 
Formau, Thomas 
Francis, Charles S. 
Gibland, John 
Gunstonson, John 
Hervev, George M. 
Helms, Isaac 
Hillis. Joshua W. 
Humphries, Urias 
Hall, James B. 
O'Conner, Michael 
Picott, Edmund 
Phelps, Jonathan C. 
Parker, Jacob J. 
Pletz, Andrew 
Ryan, James 
Rosback, Peter, 
Riggans, Nathaniel D. 
Robinson, William L. 
Scott, Alfred W. 
Sollars, William 
Smith, Andrew 
Tipton, George W. 
Tipton, Landon P. 
Tomlinson, John W. 



Workman, James G. 
Andrews, James 
Ball, James P. 
Billen, Robert I. 
Brasstield, James T. 
Crowley, William 
Ciowley, James 
Camp, Alvah 
Cincier, Anthony 
Jenson, Owen 
Johnson, John W. 
Kilgore, Jas. W. 
Karns, Lewis 
Kent, James H. 
Kaine, John 
Lacy, James 
Leonard George 
Massey, William T. 
McLelland, Thomas J. 
McLelland, Robert W. 
Meyer, Lewis 
Nelson, Ole 
Nichols, David 
Newman, William H. 
Vesey, George 
VanTassell, W'lliara 
Wallace William F. 
Walker, David 
Walker, Robert 
Walker, William 
Wyatt, Benjamin F. 
Gunstonson, Oweu 
Kepple, Jacob 
Lowe, William H. 
Marsh, George 
Pulliam, Joseph O. 
Shankland, John H. 
Thomas, Silas 
Williams. Albert C. 
Tomlinson, Thos. H. B. 



Ungles, Squire. 

COMPANY K. 

Privates . 
Hoges, James McCuU}', Richard 

Gaggard, Samuel Valentine, Harvey L. 

Unassigned . 
Showalter, Thomas 



NINTH INFANTRY. 

Sangamon county was represented in thi.s regi- 
ment by but few men, as given below. James 
Oates was promoted from Sergeant to Second 
and then First Lieutenant. The following are 
the names of those from this county: 

COMPANY F. 

Sergeard. 
Thomas C. Kidd 
Corporals. 
R. J. Simpkins Robert Crump 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Jones, .John 

COMPANY K. 

Sergeant. 

James Oates 

Corporals. 

George Meyers James Troy 

Privates. 

George Kirseh 



Tomlinson, Wm. 
Jones, John 



August Meisel 



TENTH INFANTRY. 

Company I of this regiment, in the three 
months' service, was 'from this county; but as 
re-organized for the three years' service, "but few 
men went out from here. The folloAving is the 
original roster of names from Sangamon county: 

COMPANY I. 

Officers . 
Captain — Caleb Hopkins 
First Lieutenant — James P. Flood 
Second Lieutenant — Wills Bertram 

First Sergeard 

Bartram Ward 

Sergeants. 

Isaac Bigelow 
Jacob Scott 



Alexander Bush 



John J. Robbins 
Abel Putney 



Allender, Samuel 
Avenniti, Thomas 
Bowers, Amos 
Billington, James 
Barr, James 
Burchelburg, Rudolph 
Brown, William W. 
Bowers, George 
Bowen, Patrick 
Bass, Hugh 
Bowen, Lawrence 
Beerup, Charles 
ChicK, Robert 
Conway, Peter 
Clark, James 



Corporals 

Robert A. Connelly 
Fredrick Hartwick 
Privates, 

Kringbourn, Richard 
Lee, Fredrick W. 
Louridge, Edward 
Murry, Thomas C. 
Maginis, John 
Mclntyre, Thomas C. 
McCarty, James 
Mock, .Jacob Y. 
Marvin, George H. 
Metlock, John 
Metlock, Micajah* 
Mosher, Lang 
Moore, William 
McCauley, Patrick 
Pringle John 



368 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Culver, Pliineas N. 
Crosby, James 
Connell, Thomas N. 
Cole, Edgar 
Davis, Napoleon 
Duan, John 
Edmons, John W. 
Fox, Thomas 
Frank, John W. 
Garner, Elijah 
Galvin, Daniel 
Gibson, Benjamin 
Grimsley, James 
Grisom, Albert N. 
Hays, William 
Johnson, George W. 
Kennedy, Thomas W. 



Pringle, James 
Pratt, Charles L. 
Penney, Nicholas 
Roach, Henry 
Rogers, A. W. 
Reynolds, Thomas M. 
Robertson, Jesse 
Spath, George 
Seaman, Joseph 
Sharp, Henry 
Sweeny, James 
St. John, Francis 
Tedrow, William L. 
Welland, Christopher 
Wheeler, F. G. 
White, Edward H. 
West, Charles. 



TENTH REGIMENT THREE YEARS. 

Officers. 
Lieutenant — Richmond Wolcott 

Privates. 
McConnell, Zacheus Mappin, John J. 

Tuthill, George W. 

ELEVENTH INFANTRY. 

In the three months service of the Eleventh 
infantry, Sangamon county is quoted with the 
following named: 

COMPANY B. 

Officers. 

Captain— Frederick W. Shaw 

First Lieutenant— Greenbury L. Fort 

Second Lieutenant— John M. McClanahan 

First Sergeant. 

Thomas Ellis 

Sergecmts. 
Merwin Black Henry Burk 

Benjamin F. Blackstone 

Corporals. 
Ralph S. Tuttle George Wright 

Samuel Cutler Richard H. Maxwell 

Musicians . 
Israel Coburn Albert W. Gore 



Privates . 



Addington, Willian S. 
Buck, Jerry M. 
Boice, Welcome H. 
Bauer, John 
Blanchard, Nathaniel 
Bender, James T. 
Bommer, John 
Barnhart, Jacob 
Carney, James T. 
Carmichael, Isaac 
Corrigan, John 
Corrington, George D. 
Drake, Andrew 
Dean, Samuel B. 
Elsenhawer, Casper 
For, Amos 
Fuller, John W. 
Felmou, William 
Gay, George W 
Gray, Thomas 



McDonald, Arthur 
McKiiizie, John 
McMahou, Daniel 
McAuley, Robert P. 
Newport, Thomas E. 
Ogg, George E. 
Powers Alexander 
Piatt, James 
Peck, Warren 
Ryan, Charles 
Rump, Harmon 
Rump, August 
Rogers, Michael 
Sebring, James M. 
Scholl, Philip 
Shaw, George B. 
Smith, Johii A. 
Scott, Walter 
Scott, Alonzo 
Stenger, David 



Hatton, Andrew 
Hess, Alexander 
Hurlbut, Egbert R 
Hurlbut, Willis 
Hower, Solomon H. 
Hall, Peter A. 
Jenkins, Edwin 
Justice, Harvey 
Jones, Fred B, 
Kuhl, Jacob 
Lewis, Thomas N. 
Liend, John W. 
Ljam, George 
Latourette, Joseph 
Leighton, Andrew J. 
Moren, Terrence 
Murry, Elijah 
Miller, John W. 
Morley, Howard C. 
Maurice, William G. 
Madden, James H. 
McDonald, Charles 



Sewall, Martin W. 
Thompson, Hemy B. 
Traver, Jesse 
Traver, Harvey W. 
Traver, August P. 
Tompson James 
Varney, Horace A. 
Vanantwert, Hiram 
Wies, Peter 
Wilson, Cornelius 
Wright, Calvin 
Wright, Daniel W, 
Walker, Joseph 
Wiar, Solomon 
Wyner, John M. 
Wesley, James W. 
Worley Loren A. 
Wilcox. Alfred B. 
Wright, James W. 
Walker Anderson 
Zimmerman, Franc 



COMPANY c. 

Officers. 
Captain — Aaron L. Rock wood 
First Lieutenant — S. P. Jones 
Second Lieutenant — J. C. Jewell 

First Sergeant. 
George C. McKee 

Sergeants. 
JohnF. Whitney Hugh F. Mc Williams 

George W. Lewis 

Cor^^orals. 
Antony W. Young William J. Ribley 

Charles Arthur William Howe 

Musician. 
Marcus Perry 

Privates. 



Andirsch, Anton 
Bluthart, Adolphus 
Burnet, Franklin 
Buckley, Benjamin 
Baker, Peter 
Burk, Edmou H. 
Brookins, William A. 
Bartlett, William 
Clark, Thomas H. 
Carter, Richard H. 
Christy, Robert H. 
Cain, James 
Cameron, Robert A. 
Crabtree, George W. 
Clements, John M. 
Cameron, William 
Dailey, John R. 
Eagle, Theodore 
Egger, William 
Free, Leroy 
Fowler, Oscar B. 
Falkner, Agaris 
Golan, Henry 
Groch, Jacob 
House, Robert J. 
Hamilton, James 
Hathaway, Val. E. 
Harratt, James F. 



Jehu, Robert 
Jollitf, Elijah 
Keller, Jacob 
Katthofler, John O. 
Kies, Josiah 
Lents, Charles 
Leiter, Charles 
Lane, William 
Moffitt, Tunis A. 
Morris, Franklin 
Moore, Joseph 
McWilliams, John S. 
Nelms, Archie T. 
Perry, John S. 
Parkhurst, Byron W. 
Purdie, Joseph 
Pugh, Joseph W. 
Pitts, Joel 
Pride, William 
Pettcher, George 
Roper, Charles A. 
Smith, Henry W. 
Smith, Martin A. 
Sinclair, James J, 
Smith, John F. 
Snyder, Henry F. 
Seawell, Densey 
Teets, Benjamin F. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



369 



Houston, John B. 
Hutter, William 
Hadsall, Dauiel W. 
Hanson, Thomas 
Hill, James L. 
Hoskins, William A. 
Hamilton, William G. 
Johnson, Alonzo 



Taylor, Thomas B. 
Thomas, John E. 
Teichncr, Theodore 
Willis, Spellman F. 
Walden, Jesse 
Watson, James M. 
Walsh, Raymon 
Willis, Theophilus F. 



COMPANY D. 

Officers. 
Captain — Garret Nevius 
First Lieutenant — Rhensdyne A. Bird 
Second Lieutenant — William D. E. Andrus 

First Sergeant. 
Henry H. Dean 

Sergeants. 
Randolph D. Hobart James H. Manny 

Charles B. Hull 



Edward F. Lugrin 
Thomas Anyon 



Corporals. 



Orin C. Town 
Frederick Brown 



John A. Hobart 



Musicians. 

Mills F. 
Privates. 



Needham 



Arnold, Charles E. 
Atkins, William 
Bander, Leander 
Barker, Alfred 
Bryan, Thomas J. 
Butolph, David O. 
Brown, Henry L. 
Beatson, John 
Brown, Alpheus D. 
Blakesley, Alpheus M. 
Brown, George C. 
Bentson, Benjamin 
Beddoes, Thomas 
Cole, Thomas W. 
Cram, Orin W. 
Clark, Andrew 
Champlain, Bradford A. 
Cooling, Henry W. 
Clark, Ervin E. 
Clark, William W. 
Comptom, Richard A. 
Crooker, Philip 
Clark, Charles D. 
Darling, George W. 
Dolphin, George E. 
Daggett, Elisha S. 
Dunham, Charles L. 
Davis, John L. 
Davis, Nathan A. 
Eaton, Charles B. 
Ellison, Judson A. 
Elliott, John 
Engalls, Peter 
Frost, William D. 
Gifford, Almond 
Hemenway, Harvey 
Holmes, Derastus 
Hosmer, Simon 
Hawkinson, Charles 
Hest, Leoren R. 
Horsman, Frederick I. 
Hitchcocl', G. Jerome 



Love, Harrington 
Lee, Daniel E. 
Mosher, Neri R. 
McGuire, John 
Maguire, George W. 
Magee, Edward E. 
Manlove, George J. 
Manchester, George W. 
Mesick, William L. 
Pitteneer, Charles 
Price, Charles W. 
Pitney, Levi 
Posson, Frederick L. 
Pierce, Luman G. 
Penoyer, Floyd B. 
Peake, Rudolph W. 
Putnam, William M. 
R©berts, Charles 
Reckard, Walter 
Struuk, Shepard P. 
Schlunt, Louis 
Shields, Joseph 
Stevens, Erastus C. 
Skeed, William H. 
Strong, Henry P. 
Stearns, Ambrose 
Southgate, J. Murry 
Shank, Christopher C. 
Stevens, James M. 
Stevens, Thomas A. 
Smith, Edward S. 
Swift, Edwin 
Thomas, Edward P. 
Van Patten, Riley 
Wagner, John 
Whitney, Rufus L. 
Wartield, John W. 
Warner, John 
Winter, William 
Wilkin, George 
Weed, William G. D. 
Wakeman, Francis B. 



COMPANY E. 

Officers . 
Captain — Thomas E. G. Ransom 
First Lieutenant — Loyd D. Waddell 
Second Lieutenant — Alvin H. Morey 

First Sergeant. 
Harrison C. Vore 

Sergeants. 
William Murdock Schuyler Bascome 

Jo W. Leith 

Corporals. 

Henry Armstrong 
Christian Monroe 



Milligan Reed 
John Goodbake 

Musicians. 
James McQuillin Henry M. Ricker 

Privates. 
Armstrong, Edwin N. Jones, George W. 
Booth, Edward W "" 



Baker, Bolin 
Brown, Amos 
Breese, Jacob 
Beach, Franklin 
Craig, William C. 
Craig, Thomas W. 
Cook, Jacob A. 
Cansey, John W. D'F. 
Carter, Joazer A. 
Comfort, John 
Cram, George W. 
Chase, David W. 
Davidson, LaFayette L. 
Driskell, Jeremiah 
Dolson, Jamfes 
Dolson, Oscar 
Dixon, William H. 
Daggett, Charles R. 
Day, Charles 
Ervin, James M. 
Fancher, Isaac J. 
Fuller, Nelson W. 
Goodrake, Solomon 
Gumane, James 
Harrison, William 
Hall, Franklin 
Humphrey, Luther L. 
Hopkins, Ira 
Halsted, William 
Jenkins, Thomas R. 
Johnson, Hiram 
Johnson, Carrol T. 
Jarrett, William C. 



Kelly, Thomas S. 
Lacey, Thomas S. 
Lacey, William F. 
LeBron, Lawrence 
Long, Jonathan 
Langdall, Richard 
Mathis, George W. 
Morin, John 
Maybry, James C. 
McConkey, Theodious 
Miller, August 
Maher, Steven 
McGirt, Michael 
Nifong, Walter 
Pieronette, Charles 
Ransom, Fred E. 
Rushin, Robert 
Richardson, Daniel L. 
Rockwood, William D. 
Reese, B. Franklin 
Stewart, Edwin B. 
Sim, Thomas F. 
Stevens, Henry C. 
Simonton, Joseph 
Shaffer, Simon C. 
Smith, Samuel 
Smith, William C. 
Shirts, Georsre 
Troter, Dantel 
Williamson, Silas 
Woolsey, James H. 
Wallace, John 
Wells, Harry H. 
Ziller, Benjamin 



COMPANY F. 

Officers . 
Captain — William T. Hopkins 
First Lieutenant — Samuel Ellon 
Second Lieutenant — George S. Doane 

First Sergeant. 
Philip Sulbach 

Sergeants. 

Robert E. Rogers William Armstrong 

William W. Webber 

Corporals. 

Geor^ H. Hopkins Job P. Dodge 

JohnS. Fairman C. Henry Mcllvaiu 

Musicians. 
William D. Field Thomas Hoyt 



3V0 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Private 
Abbott, Wesley L. 
Abbott, John 
Brodt, Peter 
Bradshiiw, Robert R. 
Bradshaw, Francis M. 
Berrisford, William 
Barber, Robert C. 
Boyle, Frank 
Blair, Cyrus 
Better, Fritz 
Brunk, William 
Beckwith, Samuel H. 
Bardwell, David 
Clark, John 
Carpenter, Marion 
Carney, John 
Comegys, David W. 
Clapp', Elmer F. 
Dedsall, Martin 
Darvean, Louis D. 
Dove, Henry 
Davis, Henry 
Dispenuett, John 
Freeman, William 
Frary, George B. 
Fey, Henry 
Fisk, Charles W. 
Fry, Philip 
Gutzwiller, Joseph 
Gibson, William S. 
Hochkiss, Charles T. 
Henry, Martin 
Hughes, Thomas 
Harvey, Michael 
Heth, Isaac 
Horsley, George W. 
Jones, Lewis 
Johnson, William C. 
Johnston, Peter 
Kappet, Sebastian 
Litsey, William 
Linsday, Davis W. 
Lyne, John 



Lyon, Edward 
Longhead, Thomas 
Liddle, John 
Leith, Thomas 
Lawton, Joseph 
Malcolm, Stephen R. 
Moody, George W. 
Maycroft, William T. 
Marshall, Thomas 
Murdock, William 
Norman, Henry H. 
Noel, William 
Plumbley, Guy W. 
Rider, William H. 
Robinson, Charles 
Robb, John W. 
Rugg, Isaac 
Small, Rufus M. 
Sherman, Stephen R. 
Stevens, Alonzo 
Skinner, Morgan A. 
Stocker, William 
Scott, Francis A. 
Stocker, Charles 
Shutte, William 
Sutherland, Mathias K. 
Thompson, Fredrick E. 
Throckmorton, James. 
Towns, Joshua C 
Twitchell, Napoleon L, 
VanValkeuburg, B. J. 
Watkius, John 
Watkins, William Pitt 
Whelan, James 
Walroth, George A. 
Walsh, Thomas 
Welch, John W, 
White, Harrison 
Williams, Curtis 
AVilling, James T. 
Weldon, James 
Washburn, Oscar 



COMPANY G. 

Officers. 
Captain — J. Warren Filler 
First Lieutenant — John H. J. Lacey 
Second Lieutenant — George W. Parks 

First Sergeant. 
Albert W . Lecrosse 

Sergeants. 
Merritt B. Redding James H. Sprinkle 

Clarence Laird 
Corporals. 
David P. Murphy William J Boyce 

George E. Abbott Hiram A. W. Newcomb 

Musicians. 
Vincent A. Wright Josiah Buckner 

Privates. 



Ashbaugh.^William W. 
Asberry, Cornelious G. 
Barkley, John F. 
Brewster, George W. 
Bean, George W. 
Bumgardner, Wm. M, 



Miller, John W. 
Martin, John T. 
Martin, Darrell 
Moore Calvin 
Meek William 
McLarun, John C. 



Bumgardner, Andrew J. 
Bumgardner, Isaiah 
Batey, William C. 
Bailey, Wyatt 
Bailey, Nathaniel M. 
Buurk, Thomas 
Combs, Andrew 
Carpenter, Isaac F. 
Carroll, John R. 
Caldwell, Henry D. 
Caroll, George R. D. 
Coleman, Beniamin A. 
Carey, Robert' T. 
Cooley, John J, 
Ducher, John H, 
Defebaugh, James C. 
Daner, David J. 
Elliott, Augustus L, 
Francisco, Samuel 
Forest, Daniel 
Ginter, William O, 
Hughes, Henry H. 
Hammond, Russel B. 
Henry, Aaron A. 
Hukin, Joseph 
Kellogg, Joseph 
Kershner, John W. 
Lee, Lucious L, 
Leatherman, Daniel 
Lecrone, William C. 
Lay, John W. 



Murphy, William B. 
Miller, George W. 
Mint on, James 
Mulliner, Liberty P. 
Nelson, Jonathan R. 
Pinstou, Louis L. 
Park Jonathan E. 
Parks, Lafayette A. 
Parks, William H. 
Parks, Samuel A. 
Parish, Wickham 
Proula, Frank 
Phillips, William R. 
Peters, John 
Skipper, Nathan 
Schooley, Fidelluss B. 
Shore, Amansel L. 
Storms, John N. 
Short, William 
Smith, John H. 
Schneithergan, Harmon 
Taylor, George N. 
Unspaw, M ichael 
Wrigh'-, Morgan W. 
Wilson, William 
AVallace, David R. 
Wilcox, William 
Weston, John 
Wise, Simon 
Welker, Marvin 



COMPANY H. 

Officers. 

Captain — Theodore C. Gibson 

First Lieutenant — Benjamin F. Hochkiss 

Second Lieutenant — Douglas Hasseman 

First Sergeant. 

QuincyD. Whitman 

Sergeants . 

James H. Leland Alex H. Carpenter 

Charles Huston 

Corporals . 

William P. Gregg Seldon B. Griswold 

George J. Cloud Henry A. Jackson 

Musicians . 
Jeremiah Sample Cyrus Leland 

Privates. 



Armstrong, William S. 
Allen, Warren 
Andress, Charles A. 
Allen, Jeremiah 
Bardeen, Henry F. 
Baldwin, Samuel B. 
Barber, Eliphalet 
Barber, Moses 
Brush, David T. 
Camptiell, Emery J. 
Curtis, John 
Collins, Henry 
Clark, Dorr M. 
Dean, Josiah W. 
Gillham, Orsimus B. 
Hudson, William L. 
Hammond, John 
Hibbs, Lacy 
Hopkins, Alonzo 



Miller, Harrison J. 
Macomber, William S. 
Murdock, David 
Melaise, Charles 
Morse, Willard N. 
Nicholson, Stephen 
Olmstead Samuel B. 
Phelps, Fletcher R. H. 
Pratt, Charles R. 
Rood, James P. 
Ready Jesse 
Rowe. James L. 
Romary, Henry 
Sample, Joseph 
Spradling, Enoch J. 
Snelling, John A. 
Slattery, Daniel 
Smith, James M. 
Sanderson, Oliver 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



371 



Johnsou, Itichartl 
Johnson, Darlington 
Kellogg, Creorge 
King, Richard W. 
Kennedy, Lewis N. 
Lanigan, James A. 
Lewis, William A. 
Lewis, Georffe 
Ladd, Erastus E. 
L'ncoln, Edward 
Marston. James Jr. 
Morse, Charles C. 
Mason, James P. 
McLaury, Hamilton S. 



Stewart, William K. 
Spiller, John 
f^niirnoft' Alexander 
Toombs, George B. 
Ternary, John W. 
Wirani, Caleb 
Waketield, George W. 
Wickersham. Ewing ]\L 
Wentz, George G. 
Weeks, Thomas 
Wara, George W. 
Wilkinson, William 
Wooden, George S. 
Whipple, Josiati L. 



COMPANY I. 

Officers. 
Captain — William L. Gibson 
First Lieutenant — Joseph E. Skinner 
Second Lieutenant — E. A. Mullett 
Fir 1st Sergeant. 
Charles Stout 
Sergeants. 
Orville R. Powers Cyrus E. Dickey 

Patrick Buckley 
Corporals. 
AbnerW. Hollister James Cameron 

Ralph W. Buchanan . Henry Mayo 

Musicians. 
Wilson L. Smith Alfred J. Doolittle, 

Privates. 
Barney, Thomas Lathrop, Francis 

Barritt, Mor"is Lane, Samuel 

Brundager. Charles F. Lammey, William 



Baker, T. Spencer 
Collins, Nathaniel 
Cooper, George A. 
Clarke, Charles 
Crawford, Henry B. 
Coffin, Francis M, 
Cavarly, Henry 
Doty, John S. H. 
Dewey, William F. 
Demmens, William 
Dewey, Ransom P, 
Dennfson, William H, 
Donnar, William 
Elting, William 
Ebersol, Albert H. 
Elder, Peter 
Elder, William A. 
Eberhard, Norval W. 
Freden burgh, Henry 
Febus, James H, 
First, Joseph 
Guard, Henry 
Graham John 
Grant, Orrin B. 
Gurry, John 
Hamilton, Henry 
Hinmm, Charles P. 
Harmony, Webster 
Hall, Augustus S. 
Harris, John D. 
Knapp, William H. 
King, Francis 
Kellogg, Frank 
Kneadter, John J. 
Lewis, Ebenezer 



Lawrence, Phillip 
Meanney, Richard 
Mallett, George H. 
McCormick, Bruce 
Martin, Charles 
Norton, Henry 
Nichols, James H. 
Pickens, Theodore L. W. 
Parker, Samuel 
Reedy, Thomas 
Roberts, John Q. 
Reed, Franklin 
Reed, Elias P. 
Russell, James M. 
Stout, James 
Simp on, Robert 
Scott, John 
Stumph Elisha H. 
Smith, Jarvis B. 
Swap, Andrew 
Shaw, Charles M. 
Skinner, Charles J. 
Strawn, Christopher C. 
Schermerhorn, Edward 
Sergeant, Henry B. 
Tambling, Villroy A. 
Tompson, Levant M. 
Vallearean, Gustavus 
Van Doren, Lucus W, 
Van Dorean, Chester W. 
Wyman, Peter 
Widneer, John H. 
Williams. Lewis 
Wilson, Homer A. 
Wright, Henry Q. 



ELEVENTH IXFAXTRV. 

Sangamon cotinty had but two representatives 
in this regiment, both privates, 

Dearborn, Frank Murray, John B. 

TWELFTH INFANTRY. 

In this regiment of three months' men Sanga- 
mon county was represented as follows: 

COMPANY E. 

Officers . 

Captain — Vincent Ridgely 

First Lieutenant — John W. Fisher 

Second Lieutenant — Nathaniel Sanford 

First Sergeant. 
Henry V. Seller 

Sergeants. 
Quincy'J. Drake Henry E. Blynn 

John W. Neal. 

Cor 2^ orals. 
Henry C. Harding Francis M. Ewing 

Joshua M. Hogan Samuel A. Lodge 

Musicians . 
James H. Smith James Cofield 



Pri 
Athor, Nathaniel D. 
Appleby, Robert 
Baker, Henry 
Beyles, Henry C. 
Blackmar, Daniel B. 
Ronser, William H. 
Bowders, J. H. 
Bush, Franklin L. 
Campbell, John F. 
Celvin, Amos 
Clark, Elisha 
Craig, Samuel 
Cassell, Augustus 
Davis, Henry W. 
Dewey, Isaac M. 
Dowdess, Edward P. 
Drinkell, Jonathan M. 
Dole. William R. 
Dickinson, William W 
Elliott, Robert J. 
Elliott, Ira K. 
Elliott, George W. 
Elliott, William J. 
Flood, James 
Foulke. William L. 
Gooldy, Oscar H. 
Goodman. John 
Hannah, John W. 
Hartley, Marshall A. 
Hartley. William, jr. 
Hall. Henry B. 
Henson, "W illiam J. 



vates. 

Hansam Adam 
Huntine, Charles H. 
Johnson, Leonard M. 
Kohc, Benjamin E. 
Koogle, John A. 
Link, John E. 
Ljcan, Leander. 
Long, Strodcr M. 
Legrange, Jacob S. 
Miller. Joseph F. 
Mallonee, Wm. A. 
McDonald, Wm 
McElvey, IS^athaniel 
Moss, Washington 
Moss, John C. 
Neeley. Wm, M. 
Nelson, Joseph K. 
Osborne, Francis M. 
Patton, Benjamin B. 
Phillips. Charles H. 
Parish. David C. 
Ruby, George D. 
Runion, Jesse R. 
Stout, Cyrus 
Smith, Williamson 
Simpkins, Wm. H. 
Sanders. Hiram V. 
Trevis, Bill D. T. 
Varice, James A. 
White, George W. 
Wallace, John 
Wyeth. James 
York, Henry C 



In the three years' service were: 

Corporal. 
John L. Wilson 

Privates. 

John S. Williams Lloyd Kill 



372 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



FOURTEENTH INFANTRY. 

The following named form the quota of 
Sangamon county in the Fourteenth Regiment: 

Regimental Officers. 
Surgeon— George T. Alleu 
Surgeon — Benjamin F. Stephenson 

COMPANY G. 

Officers. 
Captain — Louis C. Reiner 
First Lieutenant — Adam Smith 
Second Lieutenant — Jacob Rippstein 

First Sergeant. 
Fredrick Steinly 

Sergeants. 
Charles Milde Charles Shevan 

Corporals. 
Phillip Beil Casper Resser 

George Relnhart Max Helmick 

Henry Apt August Barthling 

Wagoner. 

Christ Heinemann 

Musician. 

George Luero 



Privates. 



Alberto, Fred 
Falk, Johann 
Gutzman, August 
Hees, George 
Huberty, Matthias 
Kniesel, Charles 
Klein, Louis 
Myers, Frank 
Miller, John 
Preisser, John 
Ruemhn, Fred 
Schwartz, Fred 



Schocnthal, William 
Schluter, Christ 
Segen, Adolph 
Stroish, Charles 
Schidler, Jacob 
Strop, Heinrich 
Simon, Frank 
Walk, Nicholaus 
Hauenstein, Jacob 
Koehler, Carl 
Sanders, Andreas 
Schnidler, Jacob 



Recr^lits. 
Barthume, William Lemmer, Paul 

Grebe, Balthasar Stuber, Frederick 

Hauenstein, Jacob Schafer, Joseph 

Jake, Jacob Sanders, Andreas 

Kibele, Oscar 

COMPANY H. 

Keeton, Samuel 

COMPANY I. 

Barger, William F. Neal, William A. 

VETERANS. 
COIPANY B. 

Yakel, Jacob 

COMPANY D. 

Havenster, Jacob Reed, John 

Koehler, Carl 

COMPANY E. 

Quinu, Andrew 

In the line of promotions from the men of 
this county are the following: George T. Allen, 
from regimental to brigade surgeon; Balzer 
GrebSj from the ranks of Second Lieutenant. 

This regiment was first called into the State 
service for thirty days under the "Ten Regi- 
ment Bill." It rendezvoused at Jacksonville, 



Illinois, and was mustered into the service of 
the State for thirty days, on the 4th of May, 
1861. 

On the 25th of the same month it was mus- 
tered into the United States service for three 
years, by Captain Pitcher, U. S. A. 

The regiment remained at Camp Duncan, 
Jacksonville, until the latter jjart of June, for 
instructions; then proceeded to Quincy, Illinois, 
and from thence to Missouri, July 5, where, in 
connection with the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, 
it did good service in keeping down the rebel- 
lion. 

The forces under Martin E. Green, were dis- 
persed, and James Green, United States Senator, 
a fomenter of secession, was captured and 
paroled. The regiment left Rolla, Missouri, for 
Jefferson City, accompanying General Fremont 
on his memorable campaign to Springfield, Mis- 
souri, after General Price; then returned and 
went into winter quarters at Otterville. 

In the month of February, 1862, the regiment 
was ordered to Fort Donalson, where it arrived 
the day subsequent to its surrender; was brig- 
aded with the Fifteenth and Forty-sixth Illinois, 
and Twenty-fifth Indiana, and assigned to the 
Second brigade. Fourth division, under Briga- 
dier Geneal Stephen A. Hurlburt. 

In the meantime, Colonel Palmer had been 
promoted, and Major Hall, Seventh Illinois cav- 
alry, originally Captain of one of the compa- 
nies, had been promoted to Colonel. 

From Fort Donalson the regiment proceeded 
to Fort Henry, where it embarked on transports 
and proceeded up the Tennessee river to Pitts- 
burg Landing. 

In the sanguinary engagements of the 6th and 
Yth of April, when the regiment first smelt 
powder from the enemy, the loss in killed and 
wounded was fully one-half the command en- 
gaged. The colors which came out of this 
bloody conflict, with forty-two bullet holes 
through them, fully attest the gallantry of the 
command in the memorable struggle. In the 
grand charge on the enemy, of April 7th, which 
was the consummation of that splendid victory 
over the hosts of rebels, the Fourteenth Illinois 
was in the advance and led by Colonel Hall. 
In the official report of General Veach, com- 
mander of the brigade, to which the Fourteenth 
was attached, the following language is em- 
ployed. " Colonel Hall, of the Fourteenth Illi- 
nois, led with his regiment that gallant charge 
on Monday evening, which drove the enemy be- 
yond our lines and closed the struggle of that 
memorable day. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



373 



The regiiueiit took an active part in the 
siege of Corinth. After the evacuation, it pro- 
ceeded to Memphis, and thence to Boliver, Ten- 
nessee. 

October 4, lSii3, the Fourth Division, under 
General Ilurlbut, was ordered to proceed to 
Corinth, as a "forlorn hope," to relieve the be- 
leaguered garrison at that place; but the gallant 
Rosecrans, belore Corinth was reached, had al- 
ready severely punished the enemy, and the 
" forlorn hope " met the retreating rebels at 
the village of Metamora, on the Hatchie river. 
In the glorious victory that followed eight 
hours' hard fighting, the Fourteenth Illinois 
well sustained its i-eputation earned at Shiloh. 

The regiment constituted a part of the right 
wing of Grant's army, in the march into Nor- 
thern Mississippi, through Holly Springs, to Ya- 
conee Patalfa, under the immediate command of 
the lamented McPherson. VanDorn having re- 
captured Holly Springs, and General Sherman 
being unable to effect a dislodgment of the 
rebels from Vicksburg, Grant's army was obliged 
to retreat; and on January IS, 1863, the Four- 
teenth Illinois went into vv'inter quarters, at La- 
Fayette, Tennessee. 

Early in the spring the command was ordered 
to Vicksburg, where it took part in the siege of 
that stronghold until its final fall, July 4, 1863. 
Also, accompanied the expedition to Jackson, 
Mississippi; taking part in the siege until its 
evacuation. 

In August, proceeded to Natchez, and formed 
part of the force which marched across the 
great swamps of Northeastern Louisiana, to Har- 
risonburg, on Wichita river, and captured Fort 
Beauregard, where, the spring before, the ram 
" Queen of the West " had been sunk. It ac- 
companied General Sherman on his Meriden 
raid. After the return, a large portion re-en- 
listed as veterans, — though its time would have 
expired in a few months. Returning from the 
North, where it had been on veteran furlough, 
it formed a part of the army in the advance on 
Atlanta. 

Here the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Illinois 
Veterans, ever together since the fall of 1862, 
sharers of each others' sorrows and joys, weary 
marches and honorably earned laurels, were con- 
solidated into the " Fourteenth and Fifteenth 
Illinois Veteran Battalion." 

The battalion was detailed to guard railroad 
communications at and near Ackworth, Georgia, 
a most important aud dangerous duty, as it was 
the only route by which General Sherman could 
supply his immense army with subsistence, etc. 

43— 



In the month of October, 1864, when the rebel 
General Hood made his demonstration against 
Sherman's rear, a large number of the battalion 
were killed and the major part of the balance 
were taken prisoners and sent to Andersonville 
prison. Those who escaped capture were 
mounted, and, on the grand march to the sea, 
acted as scouts, and were continually in the ad- 
vance, being the first to drive the rebel pickets 
into Savannah, Georgia. 

During the long and weary march through 
North and South Carolina, the battalion was on 
duty day and night, being constantly in the 
presence of the enemy, gaining notoriety as 
skirmishers. The battalion was the first to 
enter Cheraw, South Carolina, and Fayetteville, 
North Carolina, and also took part in the battle 
of Bentonville. 

At Goldsborough, North Carolina, in the 
spring of 1865, the battalion organization was 
discontinued, a sufficient number of organized 
companies of recruits having arrived by way of 
New York and Morehead City, North Carolina, 
to fill up the two regiments. Colonel Hull 
again being assigned to the command of the 
Fourteenth. 

After the capitulation of Johnson, the regi- 
ment marched to Washington, D. C, where, on 
the 24th of May, it took part in the grand re- 
view of Sherman's army. It afterwards pro- 
ceeded by rail and river to Louisville, Kentucky, 
thence, by river, to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; 
thence marched to Fort Kearney, Nebraska Ter- 
ritory, and back. 

Mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 
September 16, 1865, arriving at Springfield, Illi- 
nois, September 22, 1865, where it received final 
payment and discharge. 

The aggregate number of men who have be- 
longed to this organization was one thousand 
nine hundred and eighty, and the aggregate 
mustered out at Fort Leavenworth was four hun- 
dred and eighty. During its four years and four 
months of arduous service the regiment marched 
four thousand four hundred and ninety miles; 
traveled by rail, two thousand three hundred aud 
thirty miles, and by river, four thousand four 
hundred and ninety miles, making an aggi'egale 
of eleven thousand six hundred and seventy 
miles. 

Sangamon county was represented by men in 
Companies G H and I, the greater number being 
in Company G. Only one promotion made; 
Balger Grebe being promoted from private to 
Second Lieutenant. 



374 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



eiCtHTEenth infantry. 
Adjutant— William B. Fondey. 

EE-OEGANIZED EIGHTEENTH INFANTRY. 

Lieutenaut Colonel — Jules C. Weber. 
Private — Nelson Judd. 

NINETEENTH INFANTRY. 

This regiment was raised in the summer of 
1861, and in the organization were the following 
named from Sangamon county: 

Officers . 
First Assistant Surgeon — Preston H. Bailhache. 

COMPANY E. 

Corporals. 
William Davidson James McGraw 



Privates. 



Atwood, Amos 
Barr, Thomas 
Blackaey, Samuel 
Cuuuiugham, Edward S 
Elmore, Travis 
Grove, Augustus 
Kelley, Marlin 
McGuire, John 
McEvoy, Daniel 

Wignall, 



Murphy, William 
O'Brien, Daniel 
Patterson, William 

, Pettit, William C. 
Strong, Steplien 
Schmidt, Philip 
Thrasher, James H. 
Witherow, Isaac N. 
Walsh, Thomas C. 

Thomas 



Griflin, Samuel 
Kellog, Oscar D 
Monteice, Cornelius W 
Moor, Christopher 
McCormack, Andrew 
Myers, James 



COMPANY P. 

Privates . 

Mitchell, Henry 
Rhinebarger, Ira D. 
VanBrunt, John 
Wentworth, John 
Welch, William 
Zane, William 



TWENTIETH INFANTRY. 

Privates . 
Holloway, John Sweeney, Thomas 

TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 

This regiment is known as General Grant's 
regiment, and did noble service during the war. 
Sangamon county had a few representatives in 
six of its ten companies, as follows: 



COMPANY A. 



Ruby, John 
Lee, Robert S. 



Privates. 

Wise, John T. 
Woodman, Elwood 



COMPANY B. 

Privates. 
Biglow, William H. Wright, Richard 

Lake, Andrew J. Filson, James 

COMPANY C. 

Privates. 
Britt, Patrick Nicholson, Robert 

Ban lion, .John Harker, Silas 

Jackson, Andrew W ,Byrne, Charles 

McLaughlin, John Finey, Patrick 

Maynehan, Michael 



COMPANY D. 

Private . 
Rhinebarger, William 

COMPANY F. ' 

Privates . 
Burn, John Goodenough, Elliott 

Carver, William Pigit Leander 

Doneges, Killian Prestof, William 

COMPANY G. 

Privates. 
Pierson, Silas C. Sutherland, John 

Romang, Christopher Houlhi, Larry 

COMPANY H. 

Privates . 
Cope, Peter W. Miller, Jacob 

Harnady, Noah Ross, Josliua B. 

JJnassigned. 

Davis, E. H. 

HISTORICAL MEMORANDA — BY LIEUTENANT-GEN- 
ERAL U. S. GRANT. 

I was appointed Colonel of the Twenty-first 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry by Governor Richard 
Yates, some time early in tlie month of June, 
1861, and assumed command of the regiment on 
the 16th of that month. The regiment was 
mustered into the service of the United States 
in the latter part of the same month. 

Being ordered to rendezvous the regiment at 
Quincy, Illinois, I thought for the purpose of 
discipline and speedy efficiency for the field, it 
would be well to march the regiment across the 
country, instead of transporting by rail. 

Accordingly, on the 'Id of July, 1861, the 
march was commenced from Camp Yates, 
Springfield, Illinois, and continued until about 
three miles beyond the Illinois river, when dis- 
patches were received, changing the destination 
of the regiment to Ironton, Missouri, and direct- 
ing me to return to the river and take a steamer, 
which had been sent there for the purpose of 
transporting the regiment to St. Louis. The 
steamer failing to reach the point of embark- 
ment, several days were here lost. In the mean- 
time, a portion of the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, 
under Colonel Smith, were reported surrounded 
by the enemy at a point on the Hannibal & St. 
Joseph railroad, west of Palmyra, and the 
Twenty-first was ordered to their relief. 

Under these circumstances, expedition was 
necessary; accordingly, the march was aban- 
doned, and the railroad was called into requisi- 
tion. 

Before the Twenty-first reached its new desti- 
nation, the Sixteenth had extricated itself. The 
Twenty-first was then kept on duty on the line 
of the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad for about 
two weeks, without, however, meeting an enemy 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



375 



or an incident worth relating. We did make 
one march, however, during that time from Salt 
river, Missouri, to Florida, Missouri, and re- 
turned in search of Tom Harris, who was re- 
ported in that neighborhood with a handful 
of rebels. It was impossible, however, to get 
nearer than a day's march of him. 

From Salt river, the regiment went to Mexico, 
Missouri, where it remained for two weeks; 
thence to Ironton, Missouri, passing through St. 
Louis on the Yth of August, ■where I was as- 
signed to duty as a Brigadier General, and turned 
over the command of the regiment to that gal- 
lant and Christian officer. Colonel Alexander, 
who afterwards yielded up his life, whilst nobly 
leading it in the battle of Chickamauga. 

U. S. (trant. 
Lieutenant General. 

The Seventh Congressional District Regiment 
was organized at Mattoon, Illinois, on the 9th 
of May, 1861. On the 15th of May, it was mus- 
tered into the State service for thirty days, by 
Captain U. S. Grant. 

On the 2Sth of June, it was mustered into 
United States service for three years, by Cap- 
tain Pitcher, U. S. A., with Captain U. S. Grant 
as Colonel. Colonel Grant was commissioned 
Brigadier General, August 6, ISbl, and was suc- 
ceeded by Lieutenant Colonel J. W. S. Alex- 
ander, who was killed, September 20, 1863, at 
Chicamauga. On the 4th of July, 1861, the 
regiment marched for Mosoure. On the 22d, 
arrived at Mexico, where it remained until Aug- 
ust 6, when it proceeded by rail to Ironton, Mis- 
souri. October 20, marched from Ironton, and 
on the 2l8t participated in the battle of Fred- 
ricktown. Remained at Ironton until January 
29, 1862. Marched with General Steele's expe- 
dition to Jacksonsport, Arkansas, where it was 
ordered to Corinth, via Cape Girardeau. Ar- 
rived at Hamburg Landing, May 24, l!-62. On 
the evacuation ot Corinth, pursued the enemy 
from Farmington, Mississippi, to Booneville. 
Returning from the pursuit, it formed a part of 
an expedition to Holly Springs. On the 14lh of 
August, 1862, was ordered to join General Buell's 
army, in East Tennessee. Marched via East- 
port, Mississippi; Columbia, Tennessee; Flor- 
ence, Alabama; Franklin, Murfreesboro and 
Nashville, Tennessee; and arrived at Louisville 
September 27, 1862. Engaged in the battle of 
Perryville, October 8, and Chaplin Hill. Com- 
pany F, Captain David Blackburn, was the first 
in Perryville. From thence marched to Crab 
Tree Orchard and Bowling Green, Kentucky, 
and to Nashville, Tennessee. 



When the army marched from Nashville, 
December 26, 1862, this regiment formed a part 
of the Second Brigade, First Division Twen- 
tieth Army Corps, and was in the skirmish at 
Knob Gap. 

On December 30, in connection with Fifteenth 
Wisconsin, Thirty-eiglith Illinois, and One Hun- 
dred-and-First Ohio, it had a severe engagement 
with the enemy near Murfreesboro, where it 
charged the famous Washington (rebel) Light 
Artillery, twelve Parrott guns, and succeeded in 
driving every man from the battery, when it was 
compelled to fall back by a division of rebel 
infantry. During the battle of Murfreesboro it 
was fiercely engaged, and did gallant duty, los- 
ing more men than any other regiment engaged. 

The Twenty-first was with General Ro^ecrans' 
army from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga, and 
was engaged in a severe skirmish at Liberty Gap, 
June 25, 1863. Was engaged in the battle of 
Chickamauga, September 19th and 20th, where 
it lost two hundred and thirty-eight officers and 
men. 

Colonel Alexander being killed, and Lieuten- 
ant Colonel McMackin being wounded. Captain 
C. K. Knight took command of the regiment. 

After the battle of Chickamauga, the Twenty- 
first was attached to First Brigade, First Divis- 
ion, Fourth Army Corps, and remained at Bridge- 
port, Alabama, during October, November, and 
December, 1863. 

Mustered out December 16, 1865, at San An- 
tonio, Texas. Arrived at Camp Butler January 
18, 1866, for final payment and discharge. 

TWEXTT-SECOKD INFANTRY. 

Private. 
Herman Bellett 

TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 

Private . 
Michael Burke. 

TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 

The following named compose those credited 
to Sangamon county in the report of the Adju- 
tant General, at the close of the war: 
Sergeant Majors. 
James W Booker Robert C. Reed 

Princiiial Musician.s. 
Morgan Beldon 

COMPANY B. 

Private. 
Slater, Albert S. 

COMPANY D. 

Officers . 
Captain— John B. Harris 
First Lieutenant — William W. Foutch 
Second Lieutenant— George W. Kerlin 



376 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



First Sergeant. 
A sail Carson 

Sergeants. 
John S. Ricliniond James W. Booker 

Robert C. Reed James Malyon 

CoriporaU. 
Ezra Bradford James E. Slice 

Thomas W. Harmon William R. Clark 

William H. II. Cline John S. Wilson 

Richard L. Ballard Thomas Westfall 



Morgan Belden 



M'usician.<i. 

Richard F. Ellis 

Privates. 



Arloth, Augustus 
Bruner, John 
Boehme, Conrad 
Bingham, John 
Burns, Andrew 
Baine, Jesse 
Breeden, Russell 
filaney, Joseph H. 
Cole, "John 
Carson, Towusend 
Clark, James L. 
Conrad, Ilenr}- 
Canon, Patrick 
Clark, Andrew 
Delauey, William 
Diehl, Cinly 
Fugate, John W. 
Foster, Isaac 
Grant, Horatio W. 
Gilpin, John H. 
Gilpin, James 
Gil], Michael 
Gebhart. John 
Harris, John 
Hammonds, John A. 
Hammonds, John 
Harvey, John 
Hansen, Ole A. 



Hicks, Charles W. 
Jenl-ins, John H. 
King, Samuel Noble 
Maxwell, Abner Y. 
Morris, Edward T. 
JMeacham, Meredith '. 
Mai in, Thomas 
Owen, Napoleon 
Proctor, William H. 
Pease, Calvin A. 
Riley, William 
Slosser, Andrew 
Scott, David R. 
Snider, Leonard N. 
Simpson, Jackson B. 
Sheets, Isaac 
Sneider, Peter 
Seal, Morel and 
Seelig, Franz 
Smith, William 
Williams, Reuben C. 
Wilson, Ellas H. 
Wilson, Robert J. 
Welch, Wdliam H. 
Wilson, Charles 
Yates, James H. 
Zane, George B. 



Veteran.><. 



Booker, James W. 
Bradford, Ezra 
Blaney, Joseph H. 
Belden, Morgan 
Bruden, Russell 
Clark, William R, 
Cline, William H. II. 
Corson, Town send 
Clark, James L. 
Canon, Patrick 
Clark, Andrew 
Diehl, Cinley 
Gilpin, John II. 
Gilpin. James 
Gebhart, John 
Hicks, Charles W. 
Hammonds, John A. 
JMorris, Edward T. 

Becruits. 
Avenz, Robert \Y Erickson, William 

Corson. Richard Hays, James 

Ciaik, John R, Richaids, James P. 

Costley, William II. Reed, Wiley J. 

Eaton, Horace G. Starks. Homer E. 



Meacham, Meredith L. 
Malyon, James 
Mai in, Thomas 
Richmond, John S. 
Riley, William 
Snider, Leonard N. 
Sheets, Isaac 
Snyder, Peter 
Seal, Moreland 
Westfall. Thomas F. 
Wilson, Ellas H. 
Wilson, Robert J. 
Wilson, John S. 
Wilson, Charles 
Welch, William II. 
Yates, James II. 
Zane, George B. 



COMPANY E. 

Private, 
Seeker, Mathias. 

COMPANY F. 

Private, 
Whalen, George. 

COMPANY' G. 

Privates. 
x\rnold, John A. Garrett, George 

Wells, William 

Unassigned. 
Flemming, Fred I. Proutz, William H. 

The following promotions were made of San- 
gamon county men: John B. Harris, from Cap- 
tain to Major; Morgan Belden, from Musician 
to Adjutant; Samuel N. King, from private to 
Second and First Lieutenant; George W. Ker- 
lin, from Second to First Lieutenant, and Cap- 
tain; John S. Richmond, from Sergeant to Cap- 
tain; Calvin A. Pease, fi'om private to Second 
and First Lieutenant; William H. H. Cline, 
from Corporal to First Lieutenant; Ashel Cor- 
son, from Sergeant to Second Lieutenant; 
James W. Booker, from Sergeant to Captain. 

The Twenty-sixth Infantry, Illinois Volun- 
teers, was mustered into the United States' 
service, with seven companies at Camp Butler, 
Illinois, August 31, 1861, and were ordered to 
Quincy, Illinois, for the protection of that 
place. Not having been armed, the regiment 
did general duty with hickory clubs. 

During the autumn, the regiment did duty on 
the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad, and were 
armed with old English Tower muskets — Colo- 
nel John Mason Loomis, commanding post at 
Hannibal. 

Prior to January 1, 1862, three more compa- 
nies were raised, completing the organization. 
February 19, 1862, left Hannibal, Missouri, for 
the South, stopping at Commerce, where the 
regiment was assigned to Brigadier General J. 
B. Plummer's brigade. Brigadier General Schuy- 
ler Hamilton's division, Major General John 
Pope's coips. 

Arriving at New Madrid, March 3d, and were 
engaged in action there. Marched to Point 
Pleasant, and arriving on the 6th, engaged rebel 
gun boats, sharp shooters, and prevented the 
landing of the enemy. 

Marched to intercept the flying enemy from 
Island No. 10, and assisted in capturing many 
prisoners. 

After remaining some time at New Madrid, 
joined an expedition against Fort Pillow. Re- 
turning, proceeded up the Ohio and Tennessee 
rivers to Hamburg Landing. Took part in the 



lllSTOliY OF SANGAMON COUNT V. 



377 



siege of Corinth. May 8 and 9, were engaged 
at Farmington, the regiment losing five killed 
and thirty wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Charles 
H. Tinkhani was among the wounded. 

Colonel Loorais commanded brigade, and Gen- 
eral Stanley the division. May 28, engaged the 
enemy one mile from Corinth, the regiment 
losing four killed and twenty-five wounded. 
Major Gil more was wounded. 

Company G, of the Twenty-sixth, was the 
first to enter Corinth on evacuation by enemy. 
Engaged in pursuit to Boonville, and returned 
to Clear Creek, four miles from Corinth. June 
23, ordered to Danville, Mississippi, where it re- 
mained till Augustiy, 1861, at which time joined 
brigade commanded by Colonel R. C. Murphy 
(Eighth Wisconsin), and marched for Tuscum- 
bia. Arrived 21st. September 8, with Forty- 
seventh and Twenty-sixth, Lieutenant Colonel 
Tinkham commanding. Marched to Clear 
creek. 

September 18, marched for luka; 19th, were 
engaged with the enemy in a brigade com- 
manded by Lieutenant Colonel J. A. Mower, of 
the Eleventh Missouri. Enemy evacuating in 
the night, it joined in pursuit, arriving at Corinth 
October 3, and participating in the battle of 
Corinth. 

After the battle, followed the retreating 
enemy as far as Ripley, ten days afterward arriv- 
ing again at Corinth, where it stayed until No- 
vember 2. Marched, via Grand Junction, Holly 
Springs, and Lumpkins Mill, toward Tallahatchie 
river, the enemy being fortified on south side of 
river. Regiment was here detailed to guard a 
commissary train to Hudsonville, during the 
trip losing two men killed and two wounded, by 
guerrillas. 

Ordered to Holly Springs for guard duty; 
thence to Oxford, Mississippi, where remained 
until December 20. 

Ordered to Holly Sj^rings, to prevent the cap- 
ture of that place. On 21st, reached that place, 
enemy having fled. Remained here during the 
year, Colonel Loorais commanding the post, and 
Lieutenant Colonel Gilmore as chief of out- 
posts. 

In the beginning of the year 1863, the post 
at Holly Springs was broken up, and the army 
fell back to Lagrange, Tennessee, where the 
regiment was assigned to duty as provost guard, 
Colonel Loomis commanding the post. Here it 
remained until March sth. 

March 3, the regiment was brigaded with the 
Nineteenth Illinois, Twelfth and One Hundredth 
Tndinnn. Cnlnnol Lonmis, cnmnianding. 



March 8th, the brigade marched from La- 
grange to Collierville, Tennessee, where they 
remained three months, engaged in fortifying 
the place and defending the railroad against 
guerrillas and bushwhackers. 

June 7th, left Collierville for Memphis. The 
following day they embarked for Harnes' Blufl^. 
The regiment subsequently went into camp at 
Oak Ridge, where it remained until after the 
fall of Vicksburg. 

On the afternoon of July 4th, started in pur- 
suit of the retreating forces of General John- 
son. The siege of Jackson was marked by se- 
vere skirmishing, in one of which Captain 
James A. Dugget, of Company C, was instantly 
killed by a round shot through the breast, and a 
number of men were killed and wounded. 
About the 22d of July, began the march back 
to Yicksburg, and when the troops crossed Black 
river they went into camp fur the summer. 
September 28. the camp was broken up and the 
regiment marched into Vicksburg and there em- 
barked for Memphis, where it arrived on the 7th 
of October. 

Here a few days was given for the purpose of 
outfitting the men, preparatory for the long 
march across the country from Memphis to 
Chattanooga, to relieve the besieged Army of 
the Cumberland. 

The march began at 8 a. m., October 11th. 
Arrived at Bridgeport, November 15th, and on 
the 24th and 25th, took an active part in the 
battle of Mission Ridge, losing in killed and 
wounded, one hundred and one ofticers and 
men. Among the officers severely wounded 
were, Lieutenant Colonel Gillmore, Captain 
James P. Davis, company B, Adjutant Edward 
A. Tucker, and Lieutenant William Polk, com- 
pany B. 

The next morning started before daylight in 
pursuit of the defeated and flying enemy, fol- 
lowed them to Rmgold, Georgia; burnt the 
bridges and destroyed the railroad; then re- 
turned to make the march of two hundred miles, 
without supplies, cooking utensils, camp equip- 
ages or change of clothing, to the relief of Gen- 
eial Bunsides, atlvnoxville. Returned to Bridge- 
port in the latter part of December; were re- 
clothed, paid ofl", and marched to Scottsboro, 
Alabama, and went into winter quarters. 

On the Ist of Jaiiuary, 1864, there were five 
hundred and fifteen men ))resent for duty, of 
whom four hundred and sixty-three re-enlisted 
as veterans. Of sixty-one men present in com- 
pany K, sixty re-enlisted. January 12, started 
home on veteran furlough. At the expiration 



3V8 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of furlough, returned to the field with ranks 
well filled with recruits. Arrived at Scotshoro' 
March 3, and remained until May 1, when it 
started on the great Atlantic campaign. The 
regiment was actively engaged in all the 
marches, skirmishes and battles which finally 
resulted in the capture of Atlanta. On the "Jd 
of August, a detail of nine hundred men was 
made from the division to charge the enemy's 
skirmish line. The charge was to be made over 
an old field, covered with high grass, a distance 
of about four hundred yards. When the signal 
was given, the men started on a keen run for the 
rebel works. John H. Wilson, of company D, 
which was raised in Sangamon county, a stout, 
active fellow, out-ran the rest, and soon found 
himself in front of a rebel pit, which had been 
concealed by the tall gi-ass, tilled with seventeen 
men and a commissioned officer. He drew up 
his musket, and told them "to fight or run, and 
that blamed quick." All surrendered except 
the officer, who started to run, when Wilson shot 
him. It was laughable to see " Buck," as he 
w^as called, marching back with his seventeen 
prisoners. By order of General Logan, he re- 
tained the officer's sword and a fine Whitney 
rifle, found in the pit, and now has them at 
home as mementoes of his gallantry. After the 
fall of Atlanta most of the old officers were 
mustered out at the expiration of their term of 
service. Only two of the original officers re- 
mained, one of whom, Captain Ira J. Bloomfield, 
company K, was made Colonel of the regiment. 

About the same time, the Fourth Division, 
Fifteenth Army Corps, was broken up, and the 
regiment was transferred to the First Division 
of the same corps, Avith which it remained until 
the close of the war. The regiment did some 
hard marching; following Hood up toward Chat- 
tanooga, and off into Northern Alabama; thence 
returned to Atlanta; were paid and re-clothed, 
preparatory lo '' marching through Georgia." 

The Twenty-sixth was engaged in the action 
of Griswoldville, siege of Savannah and capture 
of Fort McAlister. A short time after the fall 
of Savannah, the regiment was ordered to Beau- 
fort, South Carolina, and remained on duty there 
and at Port Royal Ferry, until the commence- 
ment of the northward march through the Caro- 
linas. Were among the first regiments into Col- 
umbia, und were hotly engaged in the battle of 
Bentonville. Here the regiment was ordered to 
carry the bridge, across Mill creek, which was 
strongly guarded by the enemy. The regiment 
charged, and carried it, but lost a number of 
good men. Sergeant Smith, of Company K, 



color-bearer, was charging, at the head of the 
column, across the bridge, and was shot, the 
colors falling into the stream. The enemy 
rushed forward to secure them, but Lieutenant 
Webster, with Company E, charged, drove them 
back, and saved the colors. Colonel Blotanfield 
had his horse shot under him, and narrowly 
escaped himself. Remained at Goldsboro, Norlh 
Carolina, a few days; and April 10, began the 
march against Raleigh. Left Raleigh, May 1, 
for Washington, via Richmond. Participated 
in the grand review at Washington. Trans- 
ported by rail to Parkersburg, Virginia; thence 
by boat to Louisville, Kentucky, where it re- 
mained in camp until July 20, 1865, when it was 
mustered out of service and started for Spring- 
field, Illinois, for final payment and discharge. 
July 28, the regiment was paid off and dis- 
banded. 

The regiment had marched during its four 
years of service, six thousand nine hundred and 
thirty-one miles; fought twenty-eight hard bat- 
tles, besides innumerable skirmishes. They 
were permitted by the orders of the command- 
ing Generals to place upon their banner, "New 
Madrid," " Island No. 1 0," " Farmington," " Siege 
of Corinth," "luka," "Corinth, 3d and 4th Oc- 
tober, 1862," "Holly Springs," "Vicksburg," 
"Jackson, Miss.," "Mission Ridge," "Resacca," 
"Kenesaw," "Ezra Church," "Atlanta," "Jones- 
boro," "Griswoldville," "McAlister," "Savan- 
nah," "Columbia," "Bentonville." 

TWENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Major— Hall Wilson 
Adjutant — Henry A. Rush 
Surgeon — Henry C. Barrell 

Privates. 
Campbell, John G. Lynch, Patrick 

Castello, Michael On, Archibald B. 

Hammann, Frederick 

TWENTY-EIGHTH INFANTKY. 

Private. 
George Strode. 

TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 

Sangamon county had about one hundred men 
in this regiment, distributed as follows: 

Begimental Officers. 
Major — Mason Braymau 
Fife Major— Joseph F. Foultz 

COMPANY A. 

Private. 
Gentry, David C. 

COMPANY c. 

Private. 

Frame, James J. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



379 



COMPANY D. 



Privates. 



Brown, George W. 
Gholsom, Willam T. 
Glasscock, John J. 
Henrj^ Charles 
Humphreys, George W. 
Henson, Thomas 
Luther, Martin 
Mobley, James 0. 
O'Haiu, John 



Rodgers, David 
Rodgers, Williams 
Sanders, James W. 
Vinson, Robert D. 
Vinson, Elias D. 
Vinson, David 
Varrover, Wm. P. C. 
Webb, Asa 
Webb, Benjamin A. 



COMPANY E. 

Private . 
Easley, Ambrose 



COMPANY G. 



Privates. 



Baker, James 
Edwards, Charles 
Edwards, Milton 
Haney, John 
Kiser, Daniel 
Quigley, Phillip C. 
Starkey, Jesse 
Williams, McDonald 
Yates, James A. 
Boleryjack, John E. 
Bowers, George 
Cook, Charles, 
Davis, Alfred 



Edwards, John 
Earless, Columbus 
Greer, William H. 
Greer, William 
Harvey, Felix A. 
Hunt, Thomas 
Joyner, Archibald W. 
Kiser, Williim P. 
McGhee, George 
Porter, Thomas J. 
Payner, James J. 
Tarrant, William H. 
Tronsdale, William A. 



COMPANY I. 

Officers. 
Captain — Augustus O. Milliugton 
First Lieutenant — Marshall M. Mclntire 
Second Lieutenant — Samuel H. Russell 

First Sergeant. 
Truman L. Post. 

Corporals. 
Joseph C. Campbell Marion T. Huston 

William Smith Josiah Cox 

Samuel Fairbanks 

Musicians. 
Alvah Doud 

Privates. 
Herbert, Thomas Portcrfield, L. Y. 

Mullott, John Smith, Henry 

May, Jacob Smith, Julius B. 

McDonald, John Thornton, Richard 

O'Donnell, Andrew Vaughn, Crawford 

Parker, John L. Woods, John M. 

Pollard, James 

Veterans. 
Barkhurst, Nathan Hofer, Frank 

Carter, John Webb, James 

Fairbanks, Samuel 

COMPANY K. 

Private. 
Campbell, Andrew B. 

Unassigned. 
Fulk, Nelson S. Nash, John T. 

Hall, William J. Pearson, Wiliam 

Little, Henry C. Scott, Lewis 

Moore, Alfred 

As reported to the Adjutant Geneial, tlie fol- 
lowing were the promotions of Sangamon county 



men: Mason Brayman, fiuni Major to Colonel 
and Brigadier General; Samuel H. Russell, from 
Second to First Lieutenant and Captain; Truman 
S. Post, from Sergeant to Second and First 
Lieutenant and Captain. 

HISTORY OF TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 

The Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteers was 
mustered into the United States service at Camp 
Butler, Illinois, August 19, 1861, by Captain T. 
G. Pitcher, L^. S. A., and was commanded by 
Colonel James S Reardon, and was assigned to 
the brigade of Brigadier General John A. Mc- 
Clernand. 

Early in September it was ordered to Cairo. 
In October, formed a part of an expedition under 
the command of Colonel E. J. Oglesby, to Bloom, 
Missouri. In January, 18(52, regiment was as- 
signed to the brigade of Colonel R. J. Oglesby, 
(Eighth, Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth 
and Thirty-first Illinois), and division Brigadier 
General McClernand. This command was the 
first to enter Fort Henry after its evacuation. 

In the battle of Fort Donelson, the brigade 
formed the extreme right of the line of invest- 
ment, meeting the enemy first and fighting them 
longer than any o'her j^ortion of the army. 
Regiment lost one hundred men killed, of which 
thirty were killed on the field. 

March I, 1862, regiment was assigned to Co- 
lonel L. F. Ross' Brigade, composed of the Sev- 
enteenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-third and Forty- 
ninth Illinois Volunteers, and proceeded to Sa- 
vannah, Tennessee. Twentieth of March, pro- 
ceeded to Pittsburg Landing. April 1st, Cap- 
tain E. M. Ferrill was promoted to Lieutenant 
Colonel vice Dunlap, resigned, The regiment 
bore a most honorable part in the battle of Shi- 
loh, April 6 and 7, 1862. With an effective 
strength of four hundred men, it lost one 
hundred killed and w^ounded. 

April 15, 1862, Major M. Brayman was pro- 
moted Colonel vice Reardon, resigned. Regi- 
ment was constantly engaged during the siege 
of Corinth, May, 1862. June 6, was assigned 
to brigade of Colonel C. C. Marsh, composed of 
the Eleventh, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth and 
Thirty-first Illinois, and during the month made 
frequent incursions into West Tennessee. Oc- 
tober 1, sent to reinforce General Eosencrans at 
Corinth. Arriving too late for the battle, 
formed to advance of the advance of pursuit to 
Ripley, Mississi])pi, and returned to Jackson. 

September, 25, Lieutenant Colonel C. M. Fer- 
rill, promoted Colonel vice M. Brayman, pro- 
moted Briijadier General. 



380 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Adjutant Loren Kent, promoted Lieutenant 
Colonel. 

December 1, regiment proceeded to rear of 
General Grant's army, at Cold Water, Missis- 
sippi, and shortly afterwards went into camp at 
Holly Springs. On 18th Lieutenant Colonel 
Kent, with two companies (D and K,) went to 
Jackson, Tennessee, to protect that place. 

December 20, Colonel R. C. Murphy, of the 
Eighth Wisconsin Volunteers, surrendered Holly 
Springs to rebel General Van Dorn, in a most 
cowardly and disgraceful manner. Eight com- 
panies of the regiment were paroled and sent to 
Benton Barracks. The camp and garrison equip- 
age and books and records of the Twenty- 
ninth were destroyed. 

The eight paroled companies were kept at 
Benton Barracks until July, 1863, when they 
were exchanged and returned to duty. The two 
remaining companies were assigned to the 
Western Navy in February, 1863, where they 
served with distinction during the siege of 
Vicksburg, losing one officer and several men in 
running the batteries at Vicksburg and Grand 
Gulf. 

October 16, 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Kent 
was relieved, at his own request, as Provost 
Marshal General of the Army of the Tennessee, 
and assumed command of his regiment, which 
was assigned to General Logan's Division of the 
Seventeenth Army Corps. 

October 19, the One Hundred and Thirty-first 
Illinois volunteers was consolidated with the 
Twenty-ninth, and Lieutenant Colonel Kent 
promoted Colonel, vice Colonel Ferrell, re- 
signed. 

December 1, 1863, moved to Natchez, and re- 
mained on garrison duty. In January, 1864, the 
regiment re-enlisted, and was mustered as vet- 
erans; and July 19, received veterans' furloughs 
from Springfield, JUinois. 

Moved from Springfield, August 22, 1864, and 
arrived at Natchez the last of the month, and 
remained until October, then moved to the 
mouth of White river, having been assigned to 
Third brigade reserve corps. Military Division 
of West Mississippi. A short time afterward 
was ordered to Memphis, and thence to Paducah, 
arriving October 20, 1864, for protection of Ken- 
tucky from enemy's cavalry, which appeared on 
the border. November 26, embarked for Mem- 
phis, camping in that city November 29. De- 
cember 21, mai'ched with expedition into the in- 
terior of Tennessee. 

Hard mai'ching, cold weather, and bad roads. 
Returned December 31. January 1, 1865, em- 



barked for New Orleans. Camped above the 
city at Kenner on the 5th. 

February 11, assigned to Third Brigade, First 
Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, Colonel Kent 
commanding brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel 
J. A. Callicott commanding regiment. Em- 
barked for Mobile. Landed at Dauphin Island 
on 15th February. March 17, embarked for 
Fort Morgan, and landing, bivouacked on the 
beach. During eight succeeding days, were 
toiling over almost impassable roads to Spanish 
Fort, arriving on the 26th. Took an active part 
in the siege. Moved to Fort Blakely April 2, 
and was engaged in the whole siege, supporting 
the charge made by our Second brigade on the 
9th, which resulted in the capture of the entire 
rebel army. Regiment lost during the cam- 
paign twenty-six men killed and wounded. 

April 10, marched for Mobile. Arrived on the 
12th, and remained in camp. June 26, embarked 
on steamship Scott for Texas. Arrived off Gal- 
veston July 1. The sea being quite rough, two 
or three days were required to disembark. Soon 
after were ordered to Millican, Texas, on Texas 
Central Railroad; arriving on the 9th. 

July 26, Regimental Headquarters moved to 
Hempstead; two companies remaining at Milli- 
can, two at Brenham, and one at Beaumont. 

The regiment being in Provisional Division 
Department of Texas, Major General F. Steele 
commanding, the regiment reported to Major 
General J. A. Mower, commanding Eastern Dis- 
trict of Texas, until November 6, 1865, when it 
was mustered out of the United State's service, 
B. W. Ladd, Ninty-eighth Ohio and A. C. M. 

Placed en route for the State, November 8, and 
arrived 26th, receiving final j^ay and discharge 
November 28, 1865. 

HISTORY OF TmRTlETH INFANTRY. 

The Thirtieth Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, 
was organized at Camp Butler, Illinois, August 
28, 1861, Colonel P. B. Fouke commanding. 

September 1, 1861, moved to Cairo, Illinois, 
and was assigned to Brigadier General McCler- 
nand's Brigade. Brigadier General U. S. Grant, 
commanding District of Cairo, and Major Gen- 
eral John C. Fremont, commanding Department 
of Missouri. October 22, went on scout into 
Kentucky, near Columbus. November 7, was 
engaged in the battle of Belmont. The regiment 
did gallant service during this action, and cap- 
tured the celebrated "Watson's New Orleans 
Battery." 

January 10, 1862, moved from Cairo, on recon- 
noisance into Kentucky, and returned on the 22d. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



331 



February 4, moved up Tennessee river; 6th, 
was in tlie attack and taking of Fort Henry, in 
Colonel Oglesby's brigade. Was engaged in 
the siege and taking of Fort Donelson, 13th, 
14th and 15th of February, 1862. 

Arrived at Pittsburg Landing April 25. Took 
part in the siege of Corinth, in Colonel Logan's 
brigade. June 4 and 5, marched from Corinth 
to Bethel; on the Sth, occupied Jackson, Tennes- 
see; 13th and 14th of August, marched to Este- 
naula, and 31st to Denmark. 

September 1, 1862, marched toward Meriden 
Station on the Mississippi Central Railroad, and 
about four miles froin that place met the 
enemy's cavalry, six thousand strong, under 
General Armstrong, and after four hours of hard 
fighting, drove the enemy from the field, gain- 
ing a brilliant victory. 

The Thirtieth was commanded by Major War- 
ren Shedd, Colonel Dennis commanding brigade 
of Twentieth aud Thirtieth Illinois Infantry, 
one section Schwartz's Illinois Battery, Captain 
Foster's company of Independent Ohio Cavalry, 
and thirty-four men of Fourth Illinois Cavalry. 
On 2d September, marched to Mendon; 3d to 
Jackson, 2d of November marched to La- 
grange. On 11th marched toward Water Valley, 
Mississippi, arriving December 19; 21st, marched 
for Memphis, Tennessee, arriving January 19, 
1863. Were stationed at Memphis, Tennessee, 
in Colonel Leggett's brigade, Major General 
Logan's division. Major General McPherson's 
corps. 

February 22, 1863, moved to Lake Providence, 
Louisiana. Moved soon after to Vista's Planta- 
tion. 

April 1 '7, to Milliken's Bend, Louisiana. Joined 
Grant's army and moved to Bruinsburg, Missis- 
sippi — crossing Mississippi river. May 1st 
moved to Thompson's Hill, moved to Hankin- 
son's Ferry, on Black river; skirmish with the 
enemy en route. Moved to Raymond, Missis- 
sippi, engaged in the battle of Raymond, May 
12. Moved via Clinton to Jackson. Pursued 
the retreating enemy after their defeat of 14th 
of May. 

May 16, engaged in the battle of Champion 
Hill, losing heavily. Crossed Black river with 
the army, and arrived in the rear of Vicksburg 
19th of May, 1863. 

May 25, moved with expedition to Mechauics- 
burg, under General Blair. Returning actively 
participated in the siege of Vicksburg until 
June 23, and then moved to Black river, under 
General Sherman, to watch the rebel General 
Johnston. 

44— 



Moved with General Shermnn's army to Jack- 
son, and assisted in the investment of that place, 
after which the regiment moved to Vicksburg, 
anivitig July 25. Remained in camp until 
August 20, when it moved to Monroe, Louisi- 
ana, returning on the 28th. 

October 14, moved under General McPherson 
toward Canton, Mississippi. Was in engage- 
ment atRagachitta creek. Returned same month. 

January 1, 1864, mustered in as a veteran or- 
ganization; 10th, moved with expedition up the 
Mississippi river against guerrillas, and returned 
on 15th. February 3, left Vicksburg on Meri- 
den campaign, under General Sherman. 

Participated in several skirmishes with the 
enemy, and arrived at Meriden, February 15. 
Returned March 3. Distance, 300 miles. 

March 5, left Vicksburg on veteran furlough 
to Illinois, arriving at Camp Butler March 12. 
April 18, left Camp Butler, and on the 28th 
left Cairo with "Tennessee River Expedition," 
under General W. Q. Gresham. 

Arrived at Clifton, Tennessee, on the 30th. 
March 5, marched via Pulaski, Tennessee, and 
Athens, Alabama, to Huntsville, Alabama. May 
25, moved to Decatur, crossing the Tennessee 
river on 2'7th. Thence via Warrentown, Ala- 
bama, to Rome, Georgia; thence via Kingston, 
joining General Sherman's "Grand Army" at 
Ackworth, June 8. On 10th, moved to Big 
Shanty, and commenced skirmishing with the 
enemy. On the 27th, moved out to make a 
demonstration in front, losing about 20 killed 
and wounded. 

On the night of July 2, moved with Seven- 
teenth Army Corps to the right of General Sher- 
man's, and on the 5th moved to Nickajack creek; 
9th, regiment sent to guard Department Head- 
quarters. 

On 12th, moved to Sweet Water creek. July 
17, moved toward Decatur via Marietta, crossing 
the Chattahoochie at Roswell's, and arriving at 
Decatur on 20th. 

Was in battle of July 21 and 22, and lost 
heavil}'^, and were actively engaged until the fall 
of Atlanta and Jonesboro. Camped at East 
Point September 6th. October 4, 1864, moved 
northward in the pursuit of General Hood, via 
Kenesaw Mountain, to Resaca, and returned to 
Smyrna Camp Ground via Galesville, Alabama, 
arriving November 5. 

November 13, moved to Atlanta, and on the 
15th moved with General Sherman's army in the 
"March to the Sea;" participating in the cap- 
ture of Savannah, Georgia, December 21. Left 
Savannah January 4, 1865, and moved by water 



382 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to Beaufort, South Carolina. Left Beaufort 
January 13, and participated in the capture of 
Pacotaligo, on the 15th. Remained at Paco- 
taligro until 30th; then marched with Sherman's 
army to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where the 
regiment arrived March 25, 1865. Was engaged 
during the march in the capture of Orangeburg, 
Columbia, Cheraw, South Carolina, and Fayette- 
ville. North Carolina; besides, destroying rail- 
road track, etc. 

A})ril 10, moved to Raleigh, arriving there on 
the I4ih, and remained in camp until the surren- 
der of the rebel army under (reneral Johnson. 

April 29, marched northward, via Richmond, 
to Alexandria, Virginia, arriving May 19. 

The regiment took part in the grand review. 
May 2 4, 18(35, at Washington, D. C; camped 
near Washington; and left June 7, vut Balti- 
more and Ohio railroad, arriving at Parker's, 
Virginia^ on the 9th. Proceeded by steamboat 
to Louisville, Kentucky, and remained at Louis- 
ville. Mustered out of United States service 
July 17, 1865, by First Lieutenant Aug. P, 
Noyes, A. C. M., Third Division, Seventeenth 
Army Corps. 

Arrived at Camp Butler, Illinois, July 20. 
Received final payment, and discharged July 
27, J865. 

THIRTIETH INFANTRY. 

This ngimeut was organized at Camp Butler, 
August 28, 1861, and commanded by Colonel P. 
B. Fouke. The following named men were 
from Sangamon county: 

COMTAJJY B. 

Officers . 
Cnptain — .lolm P. Davis 
First Lieutenant — William R. Goodell 
becond Lieutenant — William Hiiffmasster 

First Sergeant. 
Allison W. Cheeney 

Sergeants. 
David P. Colburn Isom Cotlett 

William H. So well Henry Taylor 

Corporals 
Charles L. Stevenson Stephen Workman 

D.,vid S. Alexander Henry C. Neal 

John D. Vanderin Jeremiah D. Sanborn 

Marcus Lindsay 

Musician. 
Arthur Harmond 



AdwuU, John 
Alsbury, Charles 
Alsbury, William 
Brown, Daniel 
Brown, Mason 
Burk, Patrick 
Collier, Henry M. 



Privates 

McKee, William D. 
McMau, Robert 
Martin, Arthur 
McClure, Anderson J. 
Murdock, Albert 
Murdock, Jacob C. 
Pearce, Israel F. 



Cawthorne, Chapman 
Cassity, John F. 
Covington, Jesse H. 
Davenport, James H. 
Davis, James N, 
Eaton, Sidney W. 
Fisher, John B. 
Greening, James 
Hinton, John R. 
Kenney, Lorenzo 
Kellams. Calvin D. 
Lyons, Myron D. 
Landers, James P. 

rete 
Advvell, John 
Brown. Daniel 
Burke, Patrick 
Colburn, David P. 
Covington, Jesse H. 
Fitzgerald, James 
Fowls, Henry 
Greening, .James 
Hammond, Arthur C. 
Huff, John S. 
Landers, James P. 

Beer 
Allen, Robert H. 
Brister, Joseph 
Barnes, William A. 
Colburn, Francis L. 
Colburn, John W. 
Dawson, Aaron J. 
Dodd, William N. 
Eppler, Herman G. 
Edwards, Achilles 
Greening, John W. 
Holley, Marshall B. 
Hilderman, AVilliam 
Henry, William 
Hall, John C. 
Hatch, Charles W. 
Kinney, Martin V. 
Kitchen, John T. 
Lucas, Edward W. 
Lambert, Joseph 
Lane, William 
Large, John H. 
Landers, William 



Phelps, Austin 
Rctherford, Martin V. 
Ray, George W. 
Robertson, Hamilton 
Smith, George P. 
Shumate, Joseph M. 
Tungate, William M. 
Taylor, George 
Veach, Samuel 
Veach, Jamet F. 
Vermillion, Charles W. 
Workman, Samuel M. 
Wycofi", John M. 

ra?is. 

Lucas, Edward W. 
Murdeck, Albert 
Murdock, Jacob C. "* 
Pillion, Thomas 
Pierce, Israel F. 
Ray, George W. 
Retherford, Martin V. 
Shumate, Joseph M. 
Taylor, George A. 
Vermillion, Charles W. 
Veatch, Samuel 

uiis . 



Large, Stephen 
Miller, William 
McGinnis, Irvin 
Morris, William H. 
Maxcj', Richard H. 
Norris, Edward A. 
Price, Andrew J. 
Porter, Henry 
Reynolds, George W. 
Seals, Samuel H. 
Stratton, Joseph C. 
Swink, H. William 
Smith, John 
Summers, Elijah C. 
Shelters, Martin V. 
Stintland, F. M. 
Taylor, Eli 
Underwood, Jesse T. 
Wyckatf, Henry C. 
Workman, David 
Williamson, Erastus 
Young, Edward A. 

COMPANY H. 

Lanhan, William N. Woodruff, Robert M. 

Rinker, John Beadleston, John 

Lewis, Listen L. 

COMPANY I. 

Burk, Benjamin F. Buck, Benjamin F. 

McClease, John 

COMPANY K. 

Weldon, Henry C. 

Unassigned. 
Green, Albert Greer, Martin 

THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Arnes, Fisher _ Parsley, William K. 



Johnson, George K. 
Kalaim, Thomas J. 
McCormack, Thomas 



Sarrell, William T. 
Wood, John 



HISTOBY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



383 



THIKTY-TIIIRD INFANTRY. 

In this regiment will be found the following 
named who re[)resent the county: 

COMPANY c. 
Privates. 
Barnes, Robert A. Hodge, Richard 

Ducoing, Henrj' Hungerford, Thomas J. 

Grabendike, Hiram 

COMPANY D. 

Sergeants. 
Cleophas Breckenridge 

Corporal . 
Simpson DriscoU 

3h(,sieian. 
James Bateman 
Privates. 
Driscoll, Lewis Farmer, Ephraim 

George, William Havener, Wesley 

Holland, Aaron Howard, Thomas D. 

Loyd, Reuben Little, John 

Martin, William Martin, Isaac 

Morgan, Tarthus McDonald, James 

Pelhara, Daniel C. Ross, John W. 

Taff, James W. Willis, James D. 

Willis, Adam Wackley, George 

William, George Timothy, Regan 

Bateman, James Bateman, .James 

Grady, Robert M. Kelly, Thomas 

Schorndorf, Charles 

Recruits. 
Baker, Walter Carter, Alfred 

Driskell, Joseph Dounabarger, John 

Elkin, John H. Estell, William H. 

Howey, Lewis Harris, William W. 

Hammond, George F. Havenar, Samuel 
Jones, Haskins Leary, Richard 

Lemon, John Mosteller, John 

McCoy, Samuel Nettletou, Stephen 

Pike, Thomas Roseugraut, Hiram H. 

COMPANY I. 

Privates. 
Jenkins, Mark Maag, Charles W. 

Dwire, John Wilkinson, William H. 

COMPANY K. 

Officers. 
First Lieutenant— William A. Nixon 

First Sergeant. 
Edward Higgins 

Privates. 
Kent, Daniel Kilgore, William H, 

Hinchie, James M. Luce, Henry 

The following promotions were made: Hiram 
H Rosengrant, private, to Captain; \Vm. George, 
private, to Second Lieutenant; Wm. A. Nixon, 
First Lieutenant, to Captain; Edwin L. Higgins, 
sergeant, to Second and Firs't Lieutenant and 
Captain. 

The Thirty-third Illinois Volunteers was or- 
ganized at Camp Butler, Illinois, in the month 
of September, 1861, by Colonel Clias. E. Hovey, 



and mustered into the United Slates service, by 
Captain T. G. Pitcher, U. S. A. 

September 20, moved to Ironton Missouri, via 
St. Louis. Remained at Ironton during the win- 
ter, with occasional scouts into the country. On 
one of these, the battle of FredricktOMn was 
fought; Company A on the skirmish line. 

March, 1862, moved with the command of 
General Steele, southward; passing into Ar- 
kansas at Pitman's Ferry, and marcliing via Po- 
cahontas and Jacksonport, to Batesviile, Avhere 
it joined General Curtis' army; thence via Jack- 
son, Augusta and Clarendon, to Helena. Was 
engaged in the battle of Cache, and in many 
skirmishes. At the battle of Cotton Plant, Com- 
pany A on the skirmish line, met and checked a 
charge of two thousand Texas Rangers. During 
July and August, were camped twenty miles 
west of Helena, and engaged in eight expedi- 
tions up and down the river, September 1, was 
moved up the river to Sulphur Springs, and 
thence to Pilot Knob, where it arrived the mid- 
dle of October, 1862. November 15, moved to 
VauBuren, Arkansas, in Colonel Harris' Brigade, 
Brigadier General W. P. Benton's Division, of 
General Davidson's Corps. Made winter cam- 
paign in Southeast Missouri; passing through 
Patterson, VanBuren, West Plains, Eminence 
and Centerville, and returned to Bellevue Val- 
ley, near Pilot Knob, about March 1, 1863. 

The Thirty-third was then ordered to Ste. 
Geneveive, Missouri, where, with the command, 
it embarked for Millikin's Bend, Louisiana. 
Attached to the First Brigade, First Division, 
Thirteenth Army Corps, it was engaged in all 
its battles; participating in the Port Gibson, 
Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, assault 
and siege of Vicksburg, and the siege of Jack- 
son. 

In August, moved to New Orleans Avith the 
Thirteenth Army Corps, In October, with brig- 
ade of Colonel Shunk, Eighth Indiana, Major 
General C. C. Washburne's Division and Major 
General E. O. C, Ord's Corps, engaged in the 
campaign up the Bayou Teche; returned to 
New Orleans in November, Thence ordered to 
Brownsville, Texas; but before landing, were 
ordered to Arkansas Pass. 

Disembarked on St. Joseph Island; marched 
up St. Joseph Island and Matagorda Island to 
Saluria; participating in the capture of Fort Es- 
peranza. Thence moved to Indianola and Port 
Lavaca 

The First Brigade; while on the main land of 
Texas, was commanded by Brigadier General 
Fitz Henry Warren. 



384 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



January 1, 18G4 the regiment re-enlisted as 
veterans, and March 14th, readied Bloomington, 
Illinois, and received veteran furloughs. April 
18, 18G4, the regiment was re-organized at Camp 
Butler, Illinois, and proceeded to New Orleans, 
via Alton and St. Louis — arriving on the 29th, 
and camping at Carrollton. 

May 17, ordered to Jirashear City, Louisiana. 
Soon after its arrival the regiment was scattered 
along the line of the road as guard, in the fol- 
lowing order: Companies F, C and K, at Bayou 
Boeuf; company I, Bayou L'Ours; companies A 
and I), at TigerYille; company G, at Chacahoula; 
company E. Terre Bonne; company B, at Bayou 
Lafourclie and Bayou des Allemands; company 
H, Boutte; regimental headquarters at Terre 
Bonne. The district was called the "District of 
Lafourche," commanded by Brigadier General 
Robert A. Cameron. Headquarters at Thibo- 
daux. September 17, 1864. the non-veterans of 
the regiment were started home via New York 
City, in charge of rebel prisoners, and were 
mustered out at Camp Butler, about October 11, 
1864. 

March 2, 1805, w^ere ordered to join the Six- 
teenth Army Corps. Near Boutte Station the 
train was thrown from the track, and nine men 
were killed and seventy Mounded. On the 18th 
the regiment embarked on Lake Ponchartrain, 
for Mobile expedition. Company K remaining 
behii^d to guard transportation, joined the regi- 
ment April 11, at Blakely; moved via Fort 
Gaines and Navy Cove, landed on Fish river, 
Alabama, and marched with General Canby's 
army up east side of Mobile Bay. The regiment 
was in the First brigade, C-olonel W. L. Mc- 
Millian, Ninety-Fifth Ohio; First Division, Gen- 
eral J. McArthur; Sixteenth Army Corps, Major 
General A. J. Smith. 

March 27 arrived in front of Spanish Fort, 
the main defense of Mobile, and until its cap- 
ture, April 8, was actively engaged. 

After the surrender of Mobile, marched April 
13, 1865, with Sixteenth Corps, for Montgomery, 
Alabama, where it arrived on the 25th, and en- 
camped on the Alabama river. Here it received 
the news of Lee and Johnston's surrender, after 
which its operations were not of a hostile 
character. May 10, marched to Selma, and May 
17, by rail, to Meridian, Mississijipi. Here re- 
mained. In the latter part of July the regiment 
was filled above the maximum by men trans- 
ferred from Seventy-second, One Hundred and 
Seventeenth, One Hundred and Twenty- 
second, and One Hundred and Twenty-fourth 
Illinois. 



Moved to Vicksburg April 14, 1865, and re- 
mained at that place until mustered out of ser- 
vice, November 24, 1865, and ordered to Camp 
Butler, Illinois, for final payment and discharge. 

THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 

Prirates. 

Duffey, James M. Har-is, William H. 

Hair, Patrick 

THIRTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Cunningham, Arthur Kensey, John T. 

Johnson, Jumes 

THIRTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 

Private. 
Peter Larson 

THIRTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

The Thirty-eighth Infantry, organized late in 
the summer of 1861, contained the following 
named men from Sangamon county: 

Regimental Officers. 
Surgeon — Henrj^ C. Barrel 1 
Adjutant — Arthur Lee Bailhache 
Commissary Sergeant — John C. Young 

COMPANY A. 

Officers. 
Cai)tain — Henry N. Alden 
First Lieutenant — George H. Alcoke 



Charles II. E'deston 



Sergeants. 



John Can- 



Corporals. 
Andrew Farley Chavlcs Hoxworth 

John Ymmg Beugamin Egleston 

Pembroke J. Patterson John Nutt 

Mvsician . 
Thomas J. Robertson 



Pr 
Allison, James M. 
Burke, Patrick 
Briggs, Henry 
Bloomer, Christopher 
Cairigan, Edward 
Clancy, Patrick 
Clare, Daniel 
Daws, Henry 
Day, Thomas 
Dillon, Daniel 
Howey, Thomas 
Hogau, John 
Hemphill, James 
Jones, Newton C. 
Judge, John 
Killiuger, Jacob S. 
Kohl, Nicholas 
Lightfoot, Reuben H. 
Lawyer, John W. 
McCandless, Robert 
McElroy, John 
McCasland, Thomas 

Recruits. 
Brewer, James D. Mulqueerc, Patrick 

Campbell, Robert J. McPherson, John 



ivates. 

ISorton, James 
Peddicord, Barney 
Rensler, John 
Ryan, Daniel 
Rouch, Michael 
Rollins, Gilbert 
Rahner, William 
Ringhouser, Theodore 
Rav, Joseph 
Smith, Joshua 
Smith, Charles H. 
Sheeuliau, Thomas 
Shoemaker, Augustus 
Theileu, George 
Tobin, Patiick 
Venemer, Theodore 
Welsh, William 
Owens, Henry C. 
Richards, John C. 
Robertson, Thomas J, 
Woodford, Samuel 



lilSTOUV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



385 



Carey, Joseph L. 
Curreu, Owen 
Carlin, Thomas B. 
Dougherty, Thomas 
Hand, James 
Harrisoa. William 



Reynolds, Reuben A. 
Rice, Zebedee H. 
Rice, Joshua M. 
Rude, Samuel W. 
Waddle, James 
Walker, James 



Moore, Charles, or Jas. Wool ford, Samuel 

COMPANY U. 

Private. 
Lowerl3^ John 

COMPANY C. 

Sergeard. 
Peter Conway 

Privates. 
Anderson, John Fitzpatrick, Patrick 

Campbell, Josejih Fox, Charles 

COMPANY' D. 

Privates. 
Goodman, Joseph Warren, Christopher C. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Stephenson, Lee T. 

The following were the promotions of men 
from this county: Henry N. Alden, from Cap- 
tain to Major; Charles Fox, from private to 
First Lieutenant. 

HISTOKY' OF THE THIRTY'-BIGIITII INFANTRY'. 

The Thirty-eighth Infantry, Illinois Volun- 
teers, was organized at Camp Butlei", Illinois, in 
September, 1861, by Colonel William P. Carlin. 
September 20, was ordered to Pilot Knob, Mis- 
souri, receiving its arms en route. Colonel Car- 
lin was placed in command of the post. Octo- 
ber 20, marched to Fredericktown, and 21st was 
engaged in the battle at that place, with the 
enemy under Jeff Thompson. 

The regiment remained at Pilot Knob during 
the winter. March 3, 1862, moved to Reevers' 
Station on Black river. March 31, regiment 
removed from Reevers' Station to Doniphan, and 
April 17, crossed Currant river on 2l8t reached 
Pocahontas, Arkansas. April 30, marched for 
Jacksonport, Arkansas, May 10, the Twenty- 
first and Thirty-eighth were ordered to Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, two hundred and twenty 
miles distant. This march was made in ten 
days, a day and a half of which time was spent 
ferrying Black and Current rivers. May 24, ar- 
rived at Hamburg Landing, moved to the front, 
and were before Corinth during the last days of 
the siege. 

Was in Second Brigade, Fourth Division, left 
wing, Army of tlie Mississippi, Colonel Carlin 
commanding brigade. Brigadier General Jeff C. 
Davis commanding division, and Major General 
Joliii Pope. 



Marched to Danville, Booneville, back to 
Corinth, and to Jacinto. During the last of 
June marched to Ripley, and returned by forced 
marches. Remained in camp till August 14, 
when marched with the division to join the 
Array of the Ohio, under General Buell. Pass- 
ing through I Ilka, Mississippi, crossed the Ten- 
nessee at Eastport; then marched to Louisville, 
arriving September 26, 1862, having marched 
night and day about five hundred miles. Octo- 
ber 1, marched from Louisville in the Thirty- 
first Brigade. October S, engaged in battle of 
Perryville, Major D. H. Oilman, commanding, 
and captured an ammunition team, two caissons 
and about one hundred prisoners. Was hon- 
orably mentioned in General Mitchell's report of 
the battle. Joined in pursuit of Bragg as far 
as Crab Orchard, and then marched through 
Lancaster, Danville, Lebanon, and Bowling 
Green, to Edgefield Junction, near Nashville. 
Went on a scout to Harpeth Shoals with Fif- 
teenth Wisconsin, and returned November 20, 
having destroyed a large quantity of salt, and 
captured a rebel Avagon train and one hundred 
horses and mules. 

Advanced from Nashville, December 26, 1862, 
and with the brigade charged a battery at Knott 
Gap and captured two guns. Regimental loss, 
three killed and eight wounded. Engaged in 
the battle of Stone River from December 30, 
1862, till January 4, 1863. 

December 3l8t, the brigade was heavily en- 
gaged, and repulsed three heavy charges and 
held the position until the enemy having driven 
Johnston's Division, came heavily on the flank 
and forced the line to retire. Regiment lost in 
engagement thirty-four killed, one hundred and 
nine wounded, and thirty-four missing. Regi- 
ment at Murfreesboro until June. Sleantime 
the right wing was changed to the Twentieth 
Army Corps. 

When the enemy advanced on Tuilhoma, the 
Twentieth Army Corps moved on Liberty Gap, 
and engaged the enemy, June 24lh, 25ih and 
26th; on the 25th the Thirty-eighth was or- 
dei-ed to relieve Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania, 
of General Willick's brigade, who were hotly 
pressed by the enemy. The Thirty-eighth 
charged across a plowed field, under heavy fire, 
and drove the enemy from their works, captur- 
ing the flag of the Second Arkansas. 

June 26th, skirmished with the enemy all 
day, losing three killed and nineteen wounded. 
That night the enemy withdrew. 

Marched through Alanchester and camped at 
Winchester, Tennessee. August 17, 1863, crossr d 



386 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the Cumberland Mountains to Stevenson, Ala- 
bama. Thirtieth, crossed Tennessee river at 
Carpenter's Ferry. Crossed Sand Mountain 
and camped in Wills Valley. September crossed 
Lookout Mountain and camped at Broomtown 
Valley, about fifty miles south of Chattanooga. 
September 13th and 14th, re-crossed Lookout 
Mountain to Wills Valley; 16th ascended Look- 
out Mountain, and marched twenty-five miles 
on the top to Stevens' Gap. Seveuteeth, en- 
tered McLemore's cave and laid in line of bat- 
tle before Dry Gap, in Pigeon mountains. On 
the 19th, entered the battle of Chickmauga, 
near Gordon's Mills; double-quicking, a line Avas 
formed under tire, and was hotly engaged until 
dark. 

September 20th, was moved to the left 
wing into position at 10 a. m., and was heavily 
engaged. The enemy pressing through a gap 
made by the withdrawal of General Woods' 
Division, forced the line back, and the brigade 
narrowly escaped capture. Was re-formed on 
the hills in the rear of the battle ground and 
marched toward Rossville. Was then marched 
toward the right, where General Thomas was 
continuing the fight. After dark, returned to 
Rossville. Loss, Lieutenant Colonel D. H. Gil- 
mer, killed, and Major Alden severely wounded; 
of three hundred and one men who entered the 
fight, one hundred and eighty were killed, 
wounded or missing. September 2l8t, Captain 
W. C. Harris took command of regiment, and 
on the 22d moved into Chattanooga and re- 
mained till the last of October, working on 
fortifications, etc. 

The Twentieth Army Corps was broken up 
and the Thirty-eighth Illinois was assigned to 
the First Brigade, First Division, Fourth Army 
Corps. 

October 25, 1868, marched to Bridgeport, 
Alabama, and went into winter quarters. 

January 26, 1864, moved through Chatta- 
nooga to Ooltawah. On the night of February 
17th, moved out with a detachment of Fourth 
Michigan Cavalry, and at daylight surprised and 
captured a rebel outpost a few miles from Dal- 
ton, Georgia, and returned to camp in the after- 
noon. 

February 29, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted, 
and was mustered March 16, 1864. Started for 
Illinois, March 28th. Arrived at Springfield 
April 8th. Rendezvoused at Mattoon. May 
14th, moved from Mattoon to Louisville. Lieu- 
tenant Colonel W. T. Chapman took command 
of the regiment at Louisville, May 17 th. Ar- 
rived at Nashville 21st. 



On the 22d, a train bearing part of the regi- 
ment was thrown from the track by a torpedo 
and several men injured. 

May 27, left Chattanooga for Ackworth with 
a drove of cattle, which was increased at 
Resaca to 1,700 head. On 9th, rejoined the bri- 
gade; 10th, moved upon the enemy at Pine Top; 
engaged at Pine Top till 18th, and at Keuesaw 
Mountain until July 3. July 5, reached the 
Chattahoochie river, and crossed it on the l2th 
at Power's Ferry; 20th, crossed Peach Tree 
creek, and on the 22d threw up works before 
Atlanta; 26th, moved to works, protecting rear 
and left of lines; August 25, withdrew from 
lines in night, and 26th was rear guard and had 
a brisk skirmish; September 1, engaged in the 
battle of Jonesboro; September 2, moved to 
Lovejoy, and on the 8th the regiment camped at 
Atlanta. 

Loss of the Thirty-eighth in the campaiga, 
four killed, thirty-six wounded, three missing. 

October 3, marched in pursuit of Hood to 
Gaylorsvilie, Alabama, and after halting a few 
days, marched to Chattanooga, arriving October 
30, 1864. 

October 31, the First Brigade started as escort 
to wagon train of Fourth Corps for Huntsville. 
The remainder of the corps going by rail, 
crossed the Cumberland Mountains at Tantallon, 
and rejoined the corps at Pulaski, Tennessee, 
November 12, 1864. 

November 22, Lieutenant Colonel Chapman 
died, and the command devolved upon Captain 
A. M. Pollard. 

Arrived at Columbia, Tennessee, November 
24, and November 25 and 26, threw up works 
and skirmished with the enemy. Crossed Duck 
river on the night of 27th, and next day threw 
up works on left flank. Withdrew ia the night 
and marched through Spring Hill, passing a 
large rebel camp. Marched alongside the train 
to Franklin, with rebel cavalry on the flank; 
30th, entered Franklin. About half past four 
the enemy advanced, driving in our skirmishers, 
but were driven back by the main line. With- 
drew at midnight, and crossing the Harpeth 
river, reached Nashville. December 1, was 
occupied in building fortifications and doing 
outpost duty. On 15th was placed in position 
near the Hardin pike, and at 4 p. m. were in the 
charge on Montgomery Hill, and among the 
first to enter the enemy's works; was in the 
reserve line and joined in pursuit, when the 
enemy's line was broken; was in pursuit to 
Lexington, Alabama. Arriving at Huntsville 
January 5, 1865, and remaining until March 13, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



387 



1865, Lieutenant Colonel Ed. Colyer taking 
command Fel)ruary 1. 

March 13, proceeded to Strawberry Plains, 
Tennessee; on 24th moved to Lick creek. April 
3, brigade was ordered on an expedition to 
Ashville, North Carolina; returned 11th, and on 
20th took cars for Nashville. June Tth, the 
non-veteran regiments having been mustered 
out, the Twenty-first and Thirty-eighth were 
assigned to Second Brigade, Colonel J. B. C. 
Leeman commanding. 

June 17, moved to Johnsonville; 19th em- 
barked on Steamer Palestine, and on 25th 
landed at New Orleans. July 12, embarked on 
steamer Clinton, and landed at Indianola, Texas, 
15th; iTth marched to Green Lake. August 8 
and 9, marched through Victoria and camped 
on the Gaudaloupe river. December 31, 1865, 
regiment mustered out and ordered to Spring- 
field for final payment and discharge. 

THIRTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 



Barley, John T. 
Haguns, Daniel 
Hashman, Lewis 
O'Harra, James 



Privates, 



Rush, James 
Taylor, John 
Woods, William 
Wyatt, Edward 



FORTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 

Sergeant. 
Simon R. Appletou 
Privates. 



Kelley, James 
Kino-, Robert N. 
Krone, De Witt C 
Majors, Charles M. 



Becktel, Victor 
Cochran, Henry N. 
Harrington, Cornelius 
Hendrick, David N. 
Hill, William W. 

FORTY-FOURTH INFANTRY, 

Private. 
Paul L. Steinman 

FORTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 

Private. 
Charles H. Clay 

FORTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

Officer, 
Adjutant — William Prescott 

Privates. 
Austin, Joshua McKinney, Israel 

Campbell, John A. Osborne, John 

Mitchell, John G, Scott, Miles 

Mitchell, Samuel S. Walters, Moses 

Mitchell, David M. 

FORTY-NINTH INFANTRV. 

Privates. 

Herman Michael 



Bensinger, Emil 
Birmingham, Michael 
Gray, William J, 
Grove, John H. 
Harrison, William 



ISIanzy, Robert G. 
Moore, Charles 
Murjihy, Patriek 
Tompkins, Benjamin 



FIFTIETH INFANTRY. 

Offi.ctr. 
First Lieutenant — Charles J. Earley 

Private. 
John Brewer 

FIFTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 

Private. 
Theodore Franz Veitz. 

FIFTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 

Private. 
Carl Stern 

FIFTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 

About a score of men from Sangamon were 
in this regiment, as follows: 



COMPANY G. 



Elias T. Lee 
Bechtel, Victor 
Blankenship, Robert W. 
Baughmau, Daniel 
Baughman, Jacob 
Borin, John T. 
Cochran, Henry N. 
Craig, John A. 
Clink, William 
Crane, Benjamin F. 
Dickerson, Samuel 
English, James D. 



FultoL, Alpheus 
Flock, Andrew 
Goodnight, .John 
Housley, Presly D. 
Hendricks, David W. 
Hill, William W. 
Havener, Mitchell R. 
Krider, Calvin 
Miller, Henry C. 
Patrick, Henry L. 
Rickard, Robert W, 



COMPANY K. 



Plummer, Nathan 
Wilson, Washington A. 



Krome, Dewitt C. 
Kelly, James 

FIFTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Brown, David Goodsby, William 

FIFTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

Privates. 

Anderson, August Massey, John 

Anderson, John G. Nord, John M. 

Burnison, Eric Palmer, John 

Johnson, Charles J. Slygh, Henry S. 

FIFTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

In companies A, B, C, E, F, I, and K, will be 
found men credited to this county, as follows: 

COMPANY A. 

Privates. 

Fahey, John McGowan, Milton B. 

Musiol, James 

COMPANY B. 

Private. 
Scott, Samuel 

COMPANY c. 

Private. 
Clark, Joseph 

COMPANY E. 

Privates. 
Clark, John P. Marquart, Adolph 

Curtis, Francis M. Marciuart, Gusta\ e 



388 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Crosby, Daniel 
Flanigiin, Peter 
Harley, John II. 
Holmes, John 
Kole, Fredrick 
Matlock, William M. 



Six, George W. 
Spellman, John 
Taylor, Alvin 
"Wagner, August 
Walters, William 
Wilkinson, William 



COMPANY F. 

rrivates. 
Bell, Joseph Duback, Fredrick 

Cooper, Henry Falls, McCharles 

Dickmann, Henry Hender, John 

Young, Adam 

COMPANY I. 

Prii-ate. 
Rooney, Felix 

COMPANY K. 

Privates. 
Brennan, John Tinsman, Charles E. 

FIFTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY (consolidated). 

In the consolidated Fifty-eighth, Sangamon 
county has credit for the following names: 

COMPANY A. 

Attwood, Amos Ivin, James E. 

McGowan, Milton B. 

COMPANY B. 

Officer. 
Second Lieutenant — Jacob Rippstein 

Corporal. 

William Fouke 

Privates. 

Burr, Lyman Scofield, Joseph 

Edmuns, Andrew J. Sheppard, Obediah 

COMPANY c. 



Clark, Joseph 
Kitchen, Amos 



Miller, Perry 
Young, Adam 



COMPANY D. 

Corporals . 
John H. Harley Mathias Glasener 

William M. Mattock August Homan 

Privates. 

Alexander, Lasser McCawley, George 

Dunlen, Charles Marquart, Adolph 

Flannagan, Peter Marquart, Gustave 

Griffin, Charles Pilgram, John 

Harrington, George W. Sassa, Charles 
Jones, William H. 
Kuger, Eustice 
Lungner, Oscar 



Rice, Nat. 



Stephen, Christian 
Waddle, James 
Wilkinson, William 
Unassigned. 

Shea, John 
Wines, Geo. W. 



SIXTIETH INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Bergerback, Hammond Coltes, William 

SIXTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 

Officer. 
Major— Simon P. Ohr 

Private. 
Charles McDaniels. 



SIXTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 

Officers. 
Adjutant — Edmund K. Wiley 
Second Lieutenant — Philip C. Suit 
Privates. 
Button, William Miller, William W. 

Flood, Joseph Moore, William 

Lewis, Paul Pennell, Evander 

Lewis, Neriah Pennell, William 

McCleave, Hiram 

SIXTY-THIRD INFANTRY, 

Private. 
Robert L. Leggett. 

SIXTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 

In this regiment are found the following 
named from Sangamon: 



Major- 



Begimental Officers . 
-Frederick W. Matteson. 



COMPANY C. 



Officer. 
Captain — Christian B. Keasey 
Privates. 



Ball, Joseph 
Booth, Wesley 
Burns, Thomas 
Bell, John F. 
Brady, Bernard B. 
Ballweabner, John 
Boyd, James H. 
Burke, Patrick 
Collins, John 
Capps, Josiah 
Connelly, James 
Elder, John W. 
Fry, John 
Foley, Patrick 
Horner, Thomas P. 
Hilgenberg, Wilhelm 
Henry, Thomas 
Hadley, John H. 



Hadlej', Robert 
Henderson, Charles 
1 awler, Michael 
McKeown, Michael 
Murphy, John W. 
Nicholson, William J. 
O'Conner, Willis 
O'Meara, John 
Probaker, John 
Smith, George A. 
Shelley, John 
Yance, Joseph 
Washburne, Erastus P. 
Wallace, Nels S. 
Wright, Marion 
Wichser, Frederick 
Whitcomb, John W. 
White, Jonathan R. 



Veterans 

Brady, Bernard D. Probaker, John 

BuUweabner, John Seamon, Isaac W. 

Collins, John Smith, Thomas J. 

Conley, James Washburne, Erastus P. 

Deihl, Daniel Wrekser, Frederick 
Lawler, Michael 

COMPANY F. 



Johnson, William 
Jones, Thomas 
McGuire, Frank 
Parker, John O. 



Privates. 



Pedro, Daniel 
Somer, Frederick 
Scott, John C. 



COMPANY H. 

Gibbons, William R. 



Smith, William 



Unassigned. 

Webber, John H. 



SIXTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

Second Lieutenant — S. Wheaton West 

Private. 
Joseph D. Beaver 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



389 



SEVENTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Banicklow, James T. Huugorford, Thomas 

SEVEXTY-THIRU INFANTRY. 

This regiment is largely represented by San- 
gamon county men, as will be seen by the fol- 
lowing: 

COMPANY A. 

Fh-st Lieutenant— Edward W. Bassett 
Second Lieutenant — Thomas G. Underwood 

Firsi Sergeant. 
Emanuel Cross 

Sergeants . 
Thomas W. Fortune Charles B. Mantle 

Samuel C. Bobbins Jacob A. Lindsey 

Corporals. 
John L. Hesser Pierson H. Keiser 

James T. Armstrong William S. Bullard 

Thomas C. Perry Oliver McDaniel 

James Kelly 

Musicians. 
Jacob W. Ayres Erastus Jackson 

Privates. 

Aylsworth, Varnum T. McDauiel, C. B. 

Beaver, Harnes J. McGrath, Andrew 

Bechtel, David H. Meredith, William K 

Baker, Richard McElfresh, John T. 

Baker, Thomas Miller, Isaac 

Bird, Richard C. Marion, John 

Baughman, Joseph McCurdy, Robert 

Blaukenbaker, John S. Montgomery, William 

Chambers, Jeremiah M. Misner, Christopher 

Cautrill, Edward Mantle, John 

Cass, Henry M. Mergeuthaler, William 

Crone, Nelson Neer, Lewis 

Copple, Alfred North, John W. 

Constant, William R. Neer, William 

Fletcher David C. Oliver, Richard B. 

Ferguson, Samuel O'Neil, James 

Fortune, Francis A. Powell, Samuel B. 

Griffitts, John W. Prior, Isaiah T. 

Gadberry, William Rufle, Jacob 

Hudson, Joe Ridgvvay, Alexander 

Hudson, Philo D. Rutherford, John T. 

Hudson, George Robbins, John A. 

Hampton, Harrison P. Ridgway, Samuel F. 

Hampton, Preston B. Sanders, William J. 

Hadden, William H. Sanders, Jesse 

Huckelberry, John W. Spitler, John 

Hiatt, A. B. Sprinkle James A. 

Hirst, John W. Shrake, Stephen E. 

Humphrey, Jesse Shrake, George 

Huckelberry, Eli L. Shrake, Emanuel 

Hartman, Frederick W. Shade, John T. 

Heiss, M. L. D. M. Shamblin, James W. 

Johnston, William H. Short, Stephen A. 

Kizer, John S. Tall, William 

Kidd, James M. Taff William H, 

Lanterman, John L. Tally, John 

Langley, John C. Williams, Joseph 

Miller, Benjamin Withrow, Milto"n 

Maxwell, William H. Watkins, John M. 

Recruits . 

Bullard, William H. Perry, Andrew J. 

Gray, John Robertson, Charles 

45— 



COMPANY B. 

Officers. 
Captain— AVilder B. M. Colt 

Corporal . 
Thomas P. Wright 

Privates. 
Bell, Simou P. Wright, Alexander II. 

COMPANY E. 

Private . 
McKuight, William 

COMPANY F. 

Second Lieutenant — Edwin Alsop 

COMPANY (t. 

Privates . 

Arnold, Robert Connover, William 

Hudson, Ivan D. Jourdou, William H. H. 

Lemon, Frederick McCormack, William H. 

O'Flaherty, James Price, James L. 

Robinson, Benjamin Sinclare, John 

Vannaitan, Joseph Yannattan Norman A. 

Welcome, Jacob Bartram, Wells 

Emery, Josiah Hogan Patrick 

COMPANY H. 

Musicians. 
Theodore C. Northcott Mull, John M. 

COMPANY I. 

Officer. 
Second Lieutenant— James M. Turpin 
First Sergeant. 
Adna Phelps 

Sergeants. 
John N. Williams William V. Greenwood 

Elisha T. McComas William B. Crooker 

Corporals. 
David Cook Daniel G. Foster 

Thomas N. Baker Green W. Ansbrey 

Alexander M. Cassity David S. Burton 
Calvin J. Hinman 

Musician . 
James O. Weir 

Wagoner . 
Charles R. Campbell 

Privates. 

Anderson, Benjamin M. Harper, George W. 

Baker, Cyrus W. Hall, John W. 

Beasley, Henderson luglish, William F. 

Clark, Ashf ord W. Joy, William E, 

Currey, Clark S. Jay, James M. 

CoflEman, Hiram T. Joy, John W\ 

Clower, John C. Joy, Joseph O. 

Colburn, Gilbert O. Kelley, Francis M. 

Drennan, John S. Lacey, William K. 

Dennina, William H. Luckey, John 

Dodd, William H. Lyon, Jason 

Dodd, William S. Landgrebe, George F. 

Denny, James W. Mills, James 

Emmons, Leonidas W. Miller, William G, 

Foster, John R. McClure, James C. 

Foster, Samuel G-. McLaughlin, Hugh 

Fortuer, William Moxson, Cole 

Fortner, Wiley Osboru, James W. 

Fortner, James Parrish, Andrew J. 

Fenstermaker, Henry Pettis, Morgan B. 



390 



IIISTOIIY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Fisher, Isaac N. Roberts, Robert R. 

Fisher, John W. Savage, Miles O. 

(iamble, William C. Strickland, Theodore F. 

Cireciiwood, Thomas Tya-^, George 

Gould, Lucius F. Thorp, Eleven C 

Hull, Henry H. Turpin, William A. 

Herley, James P. Whiting, Jacob N. 

rnassigned. 

Helley, William N. Kelley, Jersey 

The promotions were as follows: Emanuel 
Cross, Sergeant, to Second and First Lieuten- 
ant and Captain; Edward W. Bennett, First 
Lieutenant to Captain; Thomas W. Fortune, 
Sergeant to Second and First Lieutenant; Pier- 
son IL Kiser, from Corporal to First Lieutenant; 
Edwin Allsop, Second Lieutenant to Captain; 
James M. Turjnn, Second to First Lieutenant; 
Adna Phelps, Sergeant to Second and First 
Lieutenant. 

MEMORANDA OF SEVENTV-TIIIRD REGIMENT. 

The regiment was organized at Camp Butler, 
Illinois, in August, 1862, and immediately 
became part of General Buell's army. Fought 
nobly at Perryville; finished under General 
Thonias at Nashville. The Seventy-third Illi- 
nois A'olunteer Infantry was in every battle 
fought by the Army of the Cumberland from 
October, 1862, until the rout of General Hood's 
army, at Nashville, and the winding up of the 
whole matter. 

The dead of this regiment are found at Per- 
ryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Mission 
Ridge, away in East Tennessee, and then in the 
succession of battles from Chattanooga to the 
fall of Atlanta. When Sherman pushed down 
south, the Seventy-third remained with General 
Thomas. It formed a part of Opendyke's 
brigade at Franklin, which saved the day and 
gave him his star, and lost its last man killed in 
driving Hood's army from Nashville. It has 
more than once been complimented by its gen- 
erals. It lost heavily in Murfreesboro, Chicka- 
mauga, Missionary Ridge and Franklin. It had 
two Majors and two Adjutants killed and nearly 
every officer of the regiment wounded at some 
one time — several of them many times. It left 
the State one of the largest and returned one of 
the smallest regiments. 

Its officers and men, and especially the men, 
have never been surpassed for bravery, indur- 
ance and devotion to the country. Probably 
two-thirds of the organization wasted away, 
either by disease, death or battles during the 
three years' service. 

SEVENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 

Officer. 
Major— William A." Dubois 



SEVENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

Offlcer. 
First Lieutenant — John W. Paulon 

SEVENTY'-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

Officer. 
Second Lieutenant— Isaac N. Kinchcloe. 

EIGHTY-FOURTH INFANTRY'. 

Privates. 
Campbell, Alford Draybring, Henry 

NINETIETH INFANTRY'. 
COSIPANY F. 

Officer 
Second Lieutenant — William White 
Sergeant. 
Thomas White 

Corporals. 
James O'Donuell Micnael Mahoney 

John Kelley 
Privates. 
Buike, Edward Howard, Ulick 

Barry, Daniel Kelley, William P. 

Durkin, Patrick Mathews, Alexander 

Fayhee, Patrick Moore, Alexander 

Foster, William Purcell, Henry 

Gilmore, James Quirk, Jeremiah 

NINETY'-FIRST INFANTRY'. 

Privates. 
Lane, Alexander Malcolm, Joseph 

NINETY'-SECOND INFANTRY'. 
COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Norton, Edward W. Remley, Henry 

Rector, Frederick Shafer, Sheldon W. 

Reed, James L. Wilcoxon, George I. 

COMPANY E. 

Privates. 

O'Kane, William 
Portner, Samuel 
Spriugner, George A. 
Schwininger, Casper 

COMPANY H. 



Alaban, Elaxis 
Brubaker, Jacob 
Delmar, William 
Johnson, Lewis 
L\'le, Robert W 



Privates. 
Tilton, Alouzo F. Tilton, George W. 

Tagney, John 

NINETY-FOURTH INFANTRY'. 

Privates. 
Carrier, Lemuel Johnson, George W. 

Jacobson, Charles Killer, John 

NINETY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 

Private . 
Henry Hart 

NINETY'-SEVENTII INFANTRY. 

Private. 
John Krims 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST INFANTRY". 

COMPANY G. 

First Sergeant. 
Cyrus D. Curtiss 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUN FY 



391 



Corporals. 
Ruben C. Goss Adoiiinun Carter 

Francis H. Wemple William Dwyer 

Privates. 

Masters, Chauncy M. 



Boyd, Andrew J. 
Burch, William 
Besou, James K. 
Bushnell, Lyman S 
Scott, John W. 
Duwan, John 
Farmer, Charles A. 
Fitzgerald, Francis 
Kirwan, Lawrence 



Mil ledge, Stephen S. 
McPhersou 
Neecet, James H. 
Sackett, Harvey L. 
Salter, Charles W. 
Van note, Charles 
White, William 



COMPANY H. 

Privates . 
Roberts, John H. Brodrie, George 

Unassigned. 
Honskeer, George 

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY A. 

Officers. 
Captain — Henry Yates Jr. 
First Lieutenant— George W. Harmon 
Second Lieutenant — Horace O. Clark 

First Sergeant. 
John W. Foster. 

Sergeants . 
Andrew F. Hunter John J. Phillips 

John W. Shufi" William Earnest 



Edwin Batty 
James R. Grant 
Eli A. Boutwell 
Thomas Pollock 



John Blair 



Blaney, Edward B 
Bair, Charles W. 
Bellows, Charles S 
Bennett, John J. 
Brewer, Augustus 
Bucher, Moses 
Blaue, Samuel 
Clark, Thomas A. 
Carlock, Abraham 
Craig, William 
Caskien, John 
Comer, John F. 
Cockerel, Jesse 
Davis, Martin 
Day, Edward 
Day, William 
Dowes, Jonathan 
Dibert, John 
Eaton, Henry P. 
Farley, James H. 
Green, William 
Graves, Thomas 
Heredeth, William 
Henson, William 
Joice, Thomas 



Corporals. 

Newcomb, J. Demarv 

John A. Dodd 

John Clawson 

Levi McNeely 
Musicians. 

George P. Wagner 
Wagoner. 
John Moore 
Privates. 

Kirby, Edward 

Kirby, Langford 

Logan, James 

Myers, Henry K. 

Maxwell, Ludlow 

McDaniel, James B. 

McDaniel, James 

Meachem, William B. 
P. Meachem, Lewis A. 

Morris, Edwin 

McLaughlin, Thomas Y. 

McMann, Edward 

Moore, Wilson 

Meigs, AbnerG. 

Nicholson, George R. 

Reagor, William 

Roth, Christian 

Rude, Alexander R. 

Roe, Salem J. 

Suter, Henry 

Sands, Ezra B. 

Smith, Ndah F. 

Suter, John R. 

Sheets, Thomas W. 

Steveson, Gilmore R. 



Kirk, James 

Knows, Wesley 
Knows, William K. 
Kent, John 

Bonney, Dwight 
Bell, Thomas M. 
Cray to, Alfred 
Hall, Charles B. 
Knows, Cyrus 
King, Robert 



Sikes, Joseph 
Taylor, Henry H. 
Wilcox, John F. 

Peer nits. 

Patten, Samuel 
Palmer, Arthur 
Scott, Daniel H. 
Smith, George D. 
Sikes, Edwin 
Taylor, George A. II. 



McLauuhlin, Christopher Yates, Marshall 
Marsha'll, Henry C. 

COMPANY B. 

First Sergeant. 
David H. Harts 

Sergrant. 
George L. Barney. 

Corporals. 
John F. McWilliams McWilliam, T. H. 

Samuel Musick Bolt, Benjamin 

James, Benjamin F. Manlich, John C. 

Shepard, Leander Covert, John J. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Murphy, James H. 

The promotions of Sangamon county men were 
as follows: Henry Yates, from Captain to Lieu- 
tenant Colonel and Colonel; George W. Harman, 
Lieutenant, to Captain; John W. Shuff, Sergeant, 
to First Lieutenant and Captain; John J. Phil- 
lips, Sergeant, to First Lieutenant; Thomas Pol- 
lock, Corporal, to Second and First Lieutenant; 
A. J. Henths, Sergeant, to Second Lieutenant; 
David H. Harts, Sergeant, to Second and First 
Lieutenant and Captain. 

HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH IN- 
FANTRY. 

The One Hundred and Sixth Infantry Illinois 
Volunteers was organized at Lincoln, Illinois, in 
August, 1862, by Colonel Robert B. Latham, and 
mustered into the United States service Septem- 
ber 18, 1862. Moved from camp November 7, 
1862, via St. Louis, to Columbus, Kentucky, ar- 
riving November 10; from thence moved to .Jack- 
son, Tennessee. Colonel M. K. Lawler com- 
manded the Post of .Jackson, and Brigadier 
General J. C. Sullivan the District. 

The regiment was mustered out of service 
July 12, 1865, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and ar- 
rived at Camp Butler, Illinois, July 24, 1865, 
where it received final payment and discharge. 

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

Privates. 
Bishop, David Hull, Isaac H. 

Carter, Thomas W. Hull, Henry H. 

Ellis, Henrv A. Howell, William B. 

Ellis, LeGrand Miller, John W. 



392 



lilSTUKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Frazier, Stephen R. 
Haines, Levi 
Haines, John 
Ilenlliorn, James P. 



Porter, Alexander M. 
Richards, John W. 
Spangler, John B. 



ONE HUNDREJJ AND EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

Privates . 
Gue, William F. Summers, Andrew 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH INFANTRY. 

In this regiment will be found the following- 
named: 

COMPANY A 

Whittemore, Joseph 

COMPANY ( . 

Bowman, William H. Rogers, Martin W. 

Dooley, Jfimes Scott, John 

Hirllahi, Christian Statler, Martin W. 

Kenna, John Schlipf, Charles 

Ka\anaugh, Michael Sohlipf, Gotleib 

Mullhollen, John K. Saunders, Alvin 

Nelson, Samuel Vere, Toney 

COMPANY D. 

Doolej', James Hamilton, James 

COMPANY F. 



Nicholes, William 
Wood, Isaac 



Hurt, James A. 
Pettis, Martin 
Pike, Thomas 

COMPANY I. 

Hurt, James Strode, George W. 

Wines, George W. 

COMPANY K. 

Kronce, William Marm, William 

Brerz, Christian Price, D. L. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH INFANTRY. 

This regiment may properly be termed a San- 
gamon county regiment, as both officers and 
men are principally from this county. The fol- 
lowing is the original roster: 

Regimental Officers. 
Lieutenant Colonel — John F. King 
Adjutant — William H. Latham 
Quartermaster — George W. Mober 
First Assistant Surgeon — Alvin S. French 
Second Assistant Surgeon — Henry VanMeter 
Sergeant Majors. 
John C. Sprigg James F. McNeill 

Commissary Sergeant. 
William H. Planck 

Hospital Steward. 
Alvin S. French 

Musicians. 
George D. Ferris Martin C. Bridges 

COMPANY 15. 

Officers . 
Captain— Benjamin H. Ferguson 
First Lieutenant— Edward P. Strickland 
Second Lieutenant— Joseph D. Zeigler 

First Sergeant. 
Samuel Lewis 



Sergeants. 
Asher Riley Madison Batterton 

William H. Meriweather James W. Dodds 

Corporals. 
George W. Smith Ashbill H. Soles 

John Pennick Robert Batterton 

William T. Duncan La Emerson 

William L. Thornton John C. Hughes 

Musicians . 
Mai tin V. Bridges Randolph Ludlam 

Privates. 

Askins, Joseph J. Hall, James 

Ashford, Samuel F. HicKs, Jesse V. 

Allen, Robert Humphrey, Walter 

Bolin, John Hart, James M. 

Bradford, Virgil Johnson, Needham R. 

Beirstadt, Charles Keischling, George S. 

Ball, Smith Ludlam. Leaming 

Baker, Jackson Leise, William 

Ball, Thomas H. B. Laudermilk, Wilson 

Beerup, Thomas Levi, Louis 

Conner, Monroe McDermott, John 

Cheney, Leander Nelson, Louis 

Capron, William C. Newlan, William G. 

Concer, Napoleon Ogg, William L. 

Clavier, Peter Pulliam, James H. 

Connelly, Michael C. Pools, Charles 

Dreunon, Geoi-ge L. Patten, Robert S. 

Drennon, William M. Ransom, Edward H. 

Deneberger, David Raematt, William 

Dickerson, Benjamin Stephens, JulmH. 

Dunham, Nathaniel L. Smith, Peter 

Evans, Aquilla S hmidt, Frederick G, 

Evans, Franklin Smith, William 

Fitzsimmons, James Smith, George 

Fletcher, Benjamin F. Smith, James 

Grissom, George W. Thomas, William H. 

GrilHth, William Todd, Martin V. 

George, William J. Thompson, John 

Goodman, John P, Terrell, Ephraim 

Gordon, Joel White, William 

Huber, William Wilson, James 

Hood, William F. Williar, John F. 

Hill, John D. Watson, Samuel P. 

Hoy, James M. Willis, William T. 

Hall, Andrew Widerfelt, Theodore L. 

Recruits. 

Bradley, Allen Miller, George W. 

Bridges, Willis Roberson, Lriah 

Bowman, Charles H. Seamon, David 
Lockridge, John W. 

COMPANY C. 

Officers . 
Captain — William Mallory 
First Lieutenant — Oramel H. Able 
Second Lieutenant — Jesse Cantrall 
First Sergeant. 
Irwin Johnson 
Sergeants. 
Henry F. Brown William Cantrall 

Albert A. Cantrall 

Corporals. 

William King William H. Holland 

Munson Headrick 

Musicians. 

Judy H. Banister James Hall 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



393 



Blue, William M 
Bi-itton. William T. 
Burch, Benjamin 
Bryant, Homer N. 
Barnes, Allen, 
i'onniugton, James 
Cahill, Matthew 
Cantrall, John P. 
Cautral, Hiram 
Council, Hardy F. M 
Council, William C. 
Cover, Francis 
Downs, James 
Frisby, Charles 
Grove, John H. 
Gillespie, Byron 
German, Henry 
Hunt, James 
Hornbaker, William 
Jones, Charles S. 
Kiunamon, Andrew J. 
Kinnamon, Anthony W 
Lytle, Sinreon 
Lawrence, William 
Mitchell, James H. 
Major, George 
Moore, Charles H. 
Mitts, John 
May, William 



Privates. 

McClelland. Thomas S. 
Marliu, George 
Milliuger, Samuel 
Nelson, John 
Parks, Heniy 
Parker, Charles S. 
Staples, William 
Satford, Jerome B. 
Stephens, John 
Smith, William O. 
Smith, John 
Stantield, Martin B. 
Steffen, Henry C. F. 
Samson, William 
Samson, Charles H. 
Samson, John W. 
Sebriney, Peter 
Sheehan, John 
Simons, Joseph 
Tufts, Cliarles C. 
Tuttle, Sylvanus 
Thomas, Elisha 
Wilson, Clinton 
Wilson, John W. 
Yokum, William, jr. 
Yokum, Jefferson 
Crabbs, Edward M. 
Headrick. William 
McCoy. William 



Brown, James B. 
Bumford, William 
Cover, Addison 



Recruits. 



Hoffman, James C. 
Seyes, Benjamin F. 
Satford, Edward B. 



COMPANY E. 

Officer.^. 
Captain — Samuel N. Shoup 
First Lieutenant — Adam Hively 
Second Lieutenant — Louis R. Hedrick 

First Sergeant. 
Samuel H. Moores 

Sergeants . 
Ashley Pettibone Davis L. Rusk 

James W. Southwick Peter Hertle 

Corporals. 
George W. Friend Moses A. Jones 

Charles Merridith Thomas B Deardotf 

George B. Boyd Josci)h Breckenridge 

Davis W. Lawley John W. TafE 

Musician. 
Edward Pernell 



Albert, Henry 
Aldrich, Percival L. 
Auxier, Benjamin L. 
Armstrong, James 
Baker, William H. 
Bell, James T. 
Bradshaw, Thomas 
Breckeuridge, Pres., 
Can trail, Edward T. 
Daigh, George W. 
Day, David G. 
Deardotf, George 
Downing, Virgil S. 
Fe-ris. GeorEre^D. 



Privates 



Menary, Jesse C. 
Milslagle, William 
McConahay, John B. 
McLaughlin, William 
Orr, William H, 
Owens, Eugene 
Owens, William 
Personett, Marshall 
Persouctt, Jasper 
Personett, Charles E. 
Petticord, Higginson 
Porter, John H. 
Prunk, Charles J 
Rhodes, William K. 



Franklin, Luther 
Frey, John F. 
Fudge, George W. 
Funderburk, Alexander 
Gray, William S 
Grew. Ellas 
Hamilton, Andrew S. 
Henderson, Granderson 
Henderson, Peter 
Higgins, William A. 
Hill, William F. 
Howey, Preston 
Humphries, Thomas E. 
Hurdle, Henry H. 
Johnson, Elias J. 
King, William 
Lawrence. Henry F. 
Lemons, Joseph 
Mathews, John P. 
Mahar, Robert 



Ridgeway, Oliver 
Ridgeway, Thomas J. 
Saffey, John H. 
Smith, Charles 
Smith, Jesse D. 
Snodgrass, Elie D, 
Southwick, William H. 
South, Leonard 
Tobin, Isaac R. 
Yigal, John F. 
Von Felden, Harmon H. 
Wallace. Benjamin F. 
Wells, John 
Welch. James G. 
Westbrook, Barnet 
Williams, James H. 
Wilson. William S. 
Wills, Nathan 
Woodson, David 



Recruits. 



Bell, Stephen 
Clark, George E 
Endimon. Christian J. 
Funderburk, William F. 
George, James M. 
Henderson, Martin 
Lawley, James P 
Lawley, Elijah D 



Monev, Perry 
Phillips, W^iiliam H. 
Porterfield, William H. 
Personett, George W. 
Rusk, Archiliald H. 
Ryan, John 
Simpson. William 
Y'oung, James M . 



COMPAKY F. 

Captain — Absalom Miller 

First Lieutenant— Willett B. Taylor 

Sergeant. 
A. Newton Parvance 

Musician. 
Jacob Brown 



Privates. 



Bohnert, Daniel 
Campbell, Jasper I. 
Corson, Charles P. 
Campbells, John H. 
Combs, N. H. 
Hurd, John A. 
Harrison, Reuben H. 
Holliugshead, Henry W. 
Holeman, Franklin 
Ice, Fredrick 
Kearns, Perry A. 



Mostellcr, James M. 
Mosteller, John 
Miller, Riley G. 
Penney, William H. 
Sharon, James W. 
Willis, John M 
Plunket, John N. 
Stone, Cyrus F. 
Screpter, Holland M. 
Stevenson, John C. 
Y'oakum, Thomas 



COMPANY C4. 

Oncers. 
Captain — John L. Wilson 
First Lieutenant — Henry L. Vanhoff 
Second Lieutenant — John S. Canfield 

First Sergeant. 
Alouzo H Church 
Sergeants. 
Eugene 1). Whitmore Joseph F. Fowks 

'Thomas L. Bishop James Lake 

Corporals. 
Frank A. Morton Pembr' ok J. Patterson 

John C. Sprigg William H. Planck 

Milton Woodi-ufE Alvin S. French 

Manuel DeFreitas Nathan Constant 

Musicians . 
Amos W. Shick Clay Newton 



394 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Pri 
Adiims, Charles 
Armstrong, Leander 
Black, Walter C. 
Black, Francis J. 
Buck, John 
Brown, Albert 
Bowser, John 
Barclay, James H. 
Barr, Thomas C. 
Carnell, Simon C. 
Cotton, Frederick J. 
Craig, Henrj' H. 
Craig, Robert A. 
Christlei-, Philip 
Chenery, Cyius E. 
DeFreitas, Joseph 
DeFreitas, Thomas J. 
DeFreitas, Francis 
DeFreitas, Frank F. 
DeFreitas, Antonio 
Donner, George 
Dewyer, John 
Elkin, William L. 
Fox, Summers 
Ferrarer, James 
Fowkes, John F. 
Glenen, William J. 
Gomes, John D. 
Haynes, Henry 
Houston, William T, 
Higgins, Alexander D 
Ingles, William V. 
Knert', Benjamin F. 



vates. 

Knights, Luman 
Kalb, John W. 
Kalb, Daniel G. 
Kalb, James W. 
Lake, John S. 
Mooney, Thomas 
McCleese, Henrj' 
McMann, James 
Moore, James I. 
McNeill, James F. 
Nappier, John 
Nappier, Wren 
Nichohon, Philip W. 
Pearson, Theodore F. 
Planck, Charles E. 
Rea, J. Hlbert 
Reis, Peter 
Runkles, John T. 
Robinson, Daniel A. J. 
Shriver, Joseph 
Simmons, Levi 
Soost, Wilhelm 
Shick, Urias 
Todd, James T. 
Tipper, Joseph 
Trumbull, George R. 
Vasconcellas, Antonio 
Welsh, Josiah 
Wells, Chauncey W. 
West, William D. 
Wiley, Alexander C. 
Workman, John W. 



Brown, James B. 
Burkhart, John 
Dinkle, George J. 
Elliott, Robert 
Ferguson, Robert I. 
Goodness, Augustus 



Becruits. 



Ham, John W. 
Kalb, William E. B. 
Leeson, George E. 
Moody, Cadwell 
Owen, James 
Ramey, Moses M. 



COMPANY u. 

Officers . 
Captain— George W. Bailey 
First Lieutenant — Jerome M. Foster 
Second Lieutenant — Charles W. Stanton 
First Sergeant. 
William H. Pointer 

Sergeants. 
John I. Sbanahan John W. Sexton 

Lomana L. Scott David M. Tosh 

Corporals. 
Isaac Miller Jeremiah Plew 

Jeremiah Robbins James Grant 

John Hale Benjamin Green 

George W. Parvin John R. Wells 

Musicians . 
Jesse Lucas Jonathan Palmer 



Privates. 



Bruce, Benjamin 
Ballorby, Thomas 
Beriy, Charles 
Bridges, Willis 
Bryan, James 
Bowman, Charles H. 
Campbell, William 
Cooley, Willis 



Kinney, Joseph 
Lamb, John 
Largant, Marion 
Lacy, Jacob 
Lacy, John 
Leggett, Joseph 
Lockriage, John 
Meecham, Joshua 



Chadsey, Jatnes M. 
Coleman, Thaddeus 
Conner, Wilson 
Constant, Adam H. 
Duncan, James 
Drone, Isaac 
Drone, Eli 
Drone, Milton 
Donnar, James W. 
Donaldson, Andrew J. 
Eckler, Edward 
Evans, William 
Frederick, Simon 
Goodman, George W. 
Goodman, Martin 
Goodman, John 
Goole, Lewis W. 
Herron, Joseph 
Hampton, William 
Hurst, Robert 
Hopwood, Nicholas 
Hensley, Robert 
Hensley, Lorenzo D. 

Becruits. 

Barker, Andrew J. 
Bashaw, William 
Broddrick, George H. 
Campbell, Robert 
Cantield, Isaac J. 
Chancy, Alexander 
Guuterman, Willis or Wm. 



McKee, Samuel 
McKee, Arthur W. 
Monroe, Calvin 
Maloney, JNIichael 
Parish, James 
Plunket, John N. 
Rob, Pleasant 
Spencer, John 
Shanks, Samuel 
Speaker, Jacob 
Snelson, Hampton 
Sneed, William 
Smith, Patrick 
Sears, Benjamin 
Sergeant, George 
Scripture, Morrison R. 
Seaman, David 
Timgate, William 
Tyler, James S. 
Van Meter, Thomas 
Vandergraft, Henry 
Yocum, Jesse J. 
Yocum, Henry 

Hicks, Boice S. 
Palmer, Hiram 
Robinson, Richard 
Thornley, John 
Thomas, Clemant 
Workman, William S. 
Winters, Andrew J. 



COMPANY I. 

Captain — John Gibson 

First Lieutenant — Egbert O. Mallory 

Second Lieutenant— Daniel Bailey 

First Sergeant. 

James D. Malory 

Sergeants. 

John Dougherty Benjamin F. Clark 

John Allen Melvin King 

Vori) orals. 
James A. Haggard Job Allen 

Abner T. Ford Robert Gibson 

Eli C. Herbert Daniel Spencer 

Samuel Woodron Henry Mhson 

Musicians. 
John Finfrock Thomas A. King 

Privates. 



Atkinson, Robert V. 
Alexander, James O. 
Allen, Andrew 
Anderson, George W. 
Biock, Elias 
Brock, William H. 
Beadle, William 
Bull, William 
Cooley, David I. 
Cavender, Henry 
Cant rail, George W. 
Constant, Alfred S. 
Dawson, Lewis 
Dunaway, William 
Dearborn, George W. 
Dail, Jackson 
Dougherty, George 
Fox,"Melvin 



Nutt, William 
Neer, Henry C. 
Norrred, Charles H. 
Nutt, Joseph 
Parent, William 
Penman, Richard W. 
Rodgers, Samuel 
Richardson, James 
Runnells, Jesse 
Rennells, Willis 
Rubison, William B. 
Ridgew^ay, George 
Robinson, John F. 
Riehl, John 
Randall, George W. 
Scroggin, James 
Snodgrass, John 
Snodgrass, Ambrose 



1II8T0RV OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



395 



Fcnton, Joseph 
Gibson, Hugh 
Griffltts, Asbeiy 
Grenniug Gushem 
Houston, Ji)hu A. 
Haucy, Jol.u 
Howard, Charles 
Johnson, Orrcn D. 
Johnson, Isaac N. 
Knox, James M. 
Lusbouffh, Jeremiah 
Law, Mark 
Martin, Robert 
Mills, John A. 
Morgan, John W. 
Miller, Charles E. 
Myer, John 
McCune, William 



Sansbur}', Samuel 
Slater, Isaac 
Scroggin, Jefferson T. 
Scroggin, Banon 
Sayle, Amos 
Stone, Amos B. 
Sanders, Alvesons E. 
Turley, William 
Trotter. William 
Trotter, George 
Thomas, Levi 
Thomas, Joseph 
Viar, William 
Warren, William 
Workman, William H. 
WoodrutF, Cornelius 
Workman, Henry C. 
Workman, Edward A. 



Recruits. 
Alexander, William H.H. Gobin, Davis H. 
Barnes, Thomas F. Lovelace, Jasper N. 

Constant, Adam H. Mann, Thomas H. 

Cooley, Joseph T. Mann, William 

Dickson, Eben Neely, James H. 

Etter, Paris O'Conner, Isaiah G 

Ford, Sylvester 

The promotions were as follows: John F. 
King, Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel; Samuel 
N. Shoup, Captain to Lieutenant Colonel and 
Colonel; Oramel H. Abel. First Lieutenant to 
Adjutant; Henry L. Vanhoff, First Lieutenant to 
Adjutant; Henry VanMeeter, Second Assistant 
to Surgeon; Edward P. Strickland, First Lieu- 
tenant to Captain; Joseph D. Zeigler, Second to 
First Lieutenant; Jesse Cantrall, Second to First 
Lieutenant; Irwin Johnson, Sergeant to Second 
and First Lieutenant; Adam Hivel, First Lieu- 
tenant to Captain; Louis R. Hedrick, Second to 
First Lieutenant; James W. Southwick, Ser- 
geant to First Lieutenant; John S. Caulfield, 
Second to First Lieutenant; Egbert O. Mallory, 
First Lieutenant to Captain; Daniel Bailey, 
Second to First Lieutenant; James D. Mallory, 
Sergeant to Second Lieutenant.* 

The One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment, 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was organized in 
the months of July and August, and mustered 
into the tlnited States' service at Camp Butler, 
Illinois, September 18, 1862. 

Companies A and D were from Cass county. 
Companies B, C, E, G, H and I from Sangamon 
county, Companies F and K from Menard 
county. The regiment left Camp IJutler for 
Memphis, Tennessee, November 8, 1862, arriv- 
iag November 16th, and remained there on 
picket duty until November 26th. It then 
started on the Tallahatchie campaign, being at- 
tached to the First Brigade of Brigadier Gen- 

*Mr. Mallory returned his commission. 



eral Luman's Division. Arrived at C >llege 
Hill, Mississippi, December 4th, where it re- 
mained until December 23d. Then left for 
Jackson, Tennessee, which was threatened by 
the rebel General Forrest, where it arrived after 
two weeks' very hard marching, on January 8, 
1863, and remained, doing picket duty, until 
February 9th. It then returned to Memphis, 
doing guard duty on the Memphis & Charleston 
railroad. 

On March 17, the regiment left Memphis on 
transports, bound down the rivei*. Ordered to 
Young's Point, Louisiana, where it arrived April 
2, and was assigned to the First Brigade, First 
Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, commanded by 
Major General W. T. Sherman, and ordered into 
camp at Duckport, Louisiana. 

On the 2d of May, the regiment left for Vicks- 
burg, and on May 14, was engaged in the battle 
of Jackson, Mississippi. Loss, five men killed 
and wounded. 

Arrived in the rear of Vicksburg May 18, and 
participated in the siege; loss, twenty men killed 
and wounded. On the surrender of Vicksburg, 
the regiment was ordered to move against the 
rebel General Joe Johnston, who retreated to 
Jackson, Mississippi, during the siege of which 
place the loss of the regiment in killed and 
wounded was seven men. When Johnston evacu- 
ated Vicksburg, they followed him as far as 
Brandon, and then returned to Camp Sherman, 
near Vicksburg ; and remained there doing picket 
duty until September 3. While in camp there, 
Colonel Judy resigned, and was succeeded in 
command by Lieutenant Colonel King. 

The regiment was then ordered to Oak Ridge, 
Mississippi, and while doing picket duty there, 
had several skirmishes with guerrillas. Lieuten- 
ant McClure, Company A, was killed and two 
men captured while on duty. While there the 
regiment participated in two scouts. 

About the 20th of November, left on trans- 
ports for Memphis, and and on the 26th of No- 
vember, went on provost duty there. 

February 5, 1864, regiment left on a scout, 
and engaged the enemy at Wyatt, Mississippi; 
enabling the cavalry under General W. S. Smith 
to cross the Tallahatchie river above, at New 
Albany. Then returned to Memphis, and went 
again on provost duty. 

April 20, went on another scout, under Gen- 
eral Sturgis. After a couple of weeks' hard march- 
ing returned to Memphis, and was put on jticket 
duty. 

June 1, went out again under General Sturgis, 
and engaged the enemy under Generals Forrest 



396 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and Lee, at Guntown, Mississippi. The action 
commenced early in the afternoon betAveen the 
enemy and the advance cavalry. 

The infantry was immediately hurried for- 
ward, at more than double quick, for about three 
miles, and the day being one of excessive heat, 
numbers fell from the ranks from fatigue and 
sunstroke. 

Almost exhausted, the troops were pushed 
into the fight, and, after a severe engagement of 
five or six hours, the lines were everywhere 
repulsed, and commenced falling back. The 
One Hundred and Fourteenth remained as rear 
guard, assisting in holding the enemy in check 
during the whole of the first night's retreat. 

The regiment lost out of three hundred and 
ninety-five men, two hundred and five in killed, 
wounded and missing. 

Assistant Surgeon A. S. French was here 
killed, while nobly performing the duties of his 
position Among the wounded were Adjutant 
Henry L. Vanhoff, Captain J. M. Johnson of 
Company A, and Lieutenant T. S. Berry of 
Company D; Lieutenants E. P. Strickland and 
J. D. Zergler of company D, captured. 

The regiment again fell back to Memphis, 
and after two weeks' of picket duty, left again 
under General A. J. Smith, for Tupelo, Missis- 
sippi. 

On July 1?, the brigade to which the regi- 
ment was attached was surprised by the enemy, 
near Harrisville, Mississippi, and, after a sharp 
engagement, the rebels were repulsed and driven 
back, the One Hundred and F'ourteenth receiv- 
ing the thanks of the brigade commander, on 
the field, for the gallant and effective charge 
made by it. On the next morning the fight was 
renewed, the rebels being repulsed in repeated 
charges made during the day and succeeding 
night. The next day — the object of the expe- 
dition having been accomplished — the troops 
started back to Memphis, and, on going into 
camp in the evening, were attacked by the 
rebels, under General Forrest. 

The regiment participated in the charge by 
which the enemy was driven from the field. 
Captain Berry, of Company D, who was com- 
manding the regiment, and Lieutenant Chadsey, 
commanding Company H, were quite severely 
wounded. 

The regiment lost in these engagements, in 
killed and wounded, forty men. Returning to 
Memphis, the regiment remained there until 
August, when it went out under General A. J. 
Smith on another expedition into Mississippi, 
Major J. M. McLean commanding (Lieutenant 



Colonel King being sick), and upon iis return 
to Memphis was sent, under General Joseph 
Mower, to report to General Steel at Uuvall's 
Bluff", Arkansas. 

Went into camp at Brownsville, Arkansas, 
leaving there after General Price; marched to 
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in seventeen days, on 
ten days' rations, arriving October 6th. It then 
embarked on transports for Jefferson City, Mis- 
souri, and disembarking, under command of 
Major McLean (having left Lieutenant Colonel 
King sick at St. Louis), was transported by rail 
to Otterville. Then continued the pursuit by 
long and tedious marches to Kansas City, at 
which point was ordered to St. Louis, arriving 
there November 15th. The regiment was then 
ordered to Nashville, Tennessee, and was en- 
gaged in the battles of the 15th and 16th of 
December, making several charges during the 
engagements. The One Hundred and Four- 
teenth was attached to McMillan's Brigade, Mc- 
Arthur's Division of General A. J. Smith's Corps, 
which brigade was specially complimented in 
General Thomas' report to the war department, 
for charging and capturing the salient point of 
the enemy's line. 

In making this charge a rebel battery was 
captured, which Captain John M. Johnson with 
a few men of the regiment, and some involun- 
tary assistance compelled from some captured 
rebels, immediately brought to bear upon the 
retreating ranks of the enemy, aiding materially 
in their disorder and capture. 

The loss of the regiment was fifteen men in 
killed and wounded — Captain J. M. Johnson, 
of Company A, commanding regiment, being 
slightly wounded. The regiment was engaged 
in the pursuit of Hood's forces as far as Pul- 
aski, Tennessee. 

It then went by transports from Clifton, Ten- 
nessee, to Eastport, Mississippi, and was de- 
tached at that place as pontooneers of Sixteenth 
Army Corps. Left Eastport on ti'ansports Feb- 
ruary 9, 1865, for New Orleans, Louieiana, ar- 
riving there February 22. 

On March 23, embarked on steamer, at Lake 
Ponchartrain, for Spanish Fort, Alabama, and 
was engaged during the siege of Spanish Fort. 

Lieutenant Colonel King having resigned, and 

Major McLean having died. Captain S. N. Shoup, 

of Company ¥j, here received a commission as 

Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain J. M. Johnson, 

' of Company A, as Major. 

On the night of the 13th of April the regi- 
ment was to attack Forts Tracy and Hugee, sit- 
uated in Mobile Bay. The movement was made 





^/ 



r:^ 



H18T0UV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



399 



in pontoon boats, and on arriving as the forts, 
they were found to have been just evacuated. 

After the surrender of Mobile, the regiment 
marched to Montgomery, Ala.; arriving April 
24, and bridging the Alabama river with pon- 
toons, and remained on duty at the bridge, when 
it was ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi, for 
muster-out. The regiment was mustered out 
of the United States service August 3, 1865. 

Arrived at Camp Butler, Illinois, August Y, 
and received final payment and discharge Aug- 
ust 15, 18(35. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY K. 

[Officer. 
Second Lieuteaaat — Phillip K\\ey 

Sergeant. 
John Morgan 

Corporals . 
James Strode William Bailey 

Wagoner . 
Francis B. Aldrich 



Pr 

Allison, James M. 
Brezendine, James B 
Center, Edward 
Demen. Daniel 
Durtnall, John 
Edens, William B 
Finfrock, Isaiah- 
Gamble, Andrew 
Gates, Frank W. 
Goltra, George W. 
Hargis, Thomas J. 
Heudee. Peter 
Judd, Nelson H. 
Meagher, Michael 
Newhart, Lawrence 
Neale, John W. 



ivates. 

Neale, Samuel 
O'Brien, Thomas 
Plunkett, James 
Pickering, Thomas 
Reynolds, John T. 
Reipe, Frederick 
Roberts, James R. 
Stafford, Edwin D. 
Strode, John A. 
Smith, William J. 
Staples, William 
Walker, John 
Walters, William M. 
Waterhouse, George C. 
Wells, William 
Ferguson, John D. 



Philip Riley was promoted from Second to 
First Lieutenant and Captain. 

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH INFANTRY. 

First Sergeant. 
William N. Streeter 
Privates. 
Graham, Thomas Havener, Joseph 

COMPANY ir. 

Private. 
Raymond, John C. 

COMPANY I. 

Privates. 
CoUens, E. R. Yonger, Josiah 

Yonger, John Q. 

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY B. 

Private. 
Shepherd, George 

4G— 



COMPANY C. 

Sergeant. 
Samuel R. Whittaker 

COMPANY A. 

Private. 
Molts, George W. 

COMPANY B. 

Privates. 
Ikerd, Logan H. Baisley, John S. 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH INFANTRY. 

Offlcer. 
Surgeon — James Hamilton. 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 
COMPANY G. 



Beatty, John 
Baird, John 
BeiTy, James F. 
Clark, Francis H. 
Campbell, Edward 
Campbell, Charles W 
Jones, George H. 
Moffett, John B. 



Privates. 

Miller, Alfred 
Vansil, Charles M. 
Yansil, William M. 
Warwick. George E. 
W arwick, Daniel H. 
Babbitt, Francis C. 
Evers, Henry B. 



ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Highland, Samuel 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY C. 

Officers. 
Captain — Henry L. Field 
First Lieutenant — John W. Terry 
Second Lieutenant— James Rickey 

First Sergeant. 

Lewis Dorian 



John Vierbone 

P. H. Conant 
Loyd M. Kilby 



Sergeants . 

C. M. Cassett 

Corporals. 

Noah Hodge 
Joseph E. Wood 

Musicia7i. 
B. E. Bartlett 



Wagoner. 
Solomon Fullenwider 



Pr 

Allender, Samuel S. 
Burrows, Charles H. 
Burrows, Jones H. 
Brown, Conrad 
Butler, R. C. 
Beard, R. N. 
Cook, J. J. 
Culver, J. L. 
Coward, D. C. 
Converse, C. H. 
Cadwalader, Eli 
Crane, Levi 
Constant, James 
Eubank, J. J. 
Fleming, .John S. 
Gregg, Reuben 



ivates. 

Grubendyke, William 
Grubendyke, George 
Hawker, David 
Havener, John 
Hansel, J. P. 
Lee,R. M. 

Lauhem, George W. 
Miller, B. F. ^ 
Manning, William 
Manning, MattheAv 
Ross, Thomas 
Sill, L. D. 
Shinkle, F. A. 
Stoker, F. M. 
Tindalc, Robert 
Wickersham, AV. H. 



4U0 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Recruits. 
Booth, Tiinoth}' Hiiiuline, Edward 

Duquoin, Henry Hodge, Richurd 

Folds, Elisba McCrelis, Mason 

Grabendike, Hiram Van Winkle, H. M. 

COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Kellcy, Edward Parker, Sylvester 

COMPANY K. 

Offi,cers. 
Second Lieutenant — Stephen N. Sanders 

First Sergeant. 
William H. Carter 
Sergeants. 
Levi Mengnl Peter C. Rape 

Corporals . 
Wesley Hudgens, Benjnmin K. Proctor 

Thomas J. Sanders Balaam N. Brown 

Privates. 

Able, John C. Lusk, Absalom 

Brooks, William H. Mengal, Ethan M. 

Bradley, Philip W. Norton, Daniel 

Campbell, William Ovle}', Newton A. 

Craddock, William A. Proctor, Jacob B. 

Easley John Y. Robinson, John M. 

George, James W. Rape, Alfred N. 

Hudson, Shepherd Sliultz, Johnson F. 

Halley, Fountain W. Trousdale, William 

Harden, Joseph B. Wilburn Thomas H. 

Harden, George Williams, Presley E. 
Loftis, John 

Becruits. 

Lupton, Job S. Sanders, John F. 

McByres, George Sanders, Andrew D. 

Sanders, Martin L. Wilkinson, Henry A. 

Henry L. Field was promoted from Captain 
to Major; Lewis Dorlon, Second to First Lieu- 
tenant; Stephen N. Sanders, Second to First 
Lieutenant, and Captain. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-fourth In- 
fantry Illinois Volunteers, was organized at 
Camp Butler, Illinois, in September, 1862, by 
Colonel Thomas J. Sloan, and was mustered in 
September 10, by Lieutenant DeCourcey. Moved 
from Camp Butler, October 6, arriving at Jack- 
son, Tennessee on the 9th and was assigned to 
Third Brigade, First Division, Thirteenth Corps. 

On the 28th, dro^e the enemy across the Tal- 
lahatchie, and advanced to the Yocona river. 
The regiment was in B^irst Brigade, Colonel 
John E. Smith; Third Division, Brigadier Gen- 
eral John A. Logan, commanding; Seventeenth 
Army Corps, Major General James B. McPher- 
son commanding. December 24th, arrived at 
the Tallahatchie river, and January V, 1863, ai 
Lagrange. Brigadier General I. N, Haynie 
took command of the brigade. 

On the 23d of February, 1863, moved down 
the river, from Memphis to Lake Providence. 
On March 15, Colonel Sloan took command of 



the brigade, and on the iVth went into camp at 
Berry's Landing. 

Aptil IS, moved to Milliken's Bend. On the 
25th commenced the campaign against Vicks- 
burg. On the 30th crossed the river, sixty miles 
below Vicksburg, and, May 1, was engaged at 
Thompson's Hill. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-fourth was en- 
gaged in the battles of Raymond, May 12; at 
Jackson, 14th; at Champion Hills, 16th; and 
during the entire siege of Yicksburg, including 
the charge on the fortifications. May 22, and as- 
sault on Fort Hill, June 26. During the latter 
part of the siege. Brigadier General M. D. Leg- 
gett commanded the brigade. On the 31st of 
August, went on campaign to Monroe, Louisiana, 
Brigadier General John D. Stephenson com- 
manding. 

October 14, went with McPherson's campaign 
to Brownville, and was in the battle at that 
place October 16 and 17. 

On November 7, moved camp to Black river. 
On the 25th of November, the regiments of the 
First Brigade, viz: Twentieth, Twenty-ninth, 
Thirty-first, F'orty-fifth and One Hundred and 
Twenty fourth Illinois, and Twenty-third Indi- 
ana, engaged in a prize drill, the Thirty-first Illi- 
nois excelling in drill, and the One Hundred 
and Twenty-fourth in picket duty, etc. But at 
a subsequent contest for a prize banner, offered 
by Brigadier General Leggett, commanding di- 
vision, the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth 
received the banner, inscribed "Excelsior Regi- 
ment, Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps," 
from the hands of Major General McPherson, 
for excelling in soldiery appearance, discipline, 
and drill. 

On February 3, 1864, commenced the raid to 
Meriden. On the 14th, had a severe skirmish 
with the enemy at Chunkey Station. Returned 
to Vicksburg, March 4th. On May 4th, under 
Brigadier General McArthur, moved toward 
Benton and Yazoo City. Was engaged at Ben- 
ton on the 7th and 10th, and returned on the 21st. 

From July Ist to 9th, the regiment moved 
with General Slocum on his Jackson campaign, 
and was engaged in the sharp fights at Jackson 
Cross Roads, July 5th and 7th. 

From October 14th to 26th, was in campaign 
to White river and Memphis. Remained at 
Vicksburg on provost duty February 25, 1865, 
when the regiment moved to New Orleans, and 
was assigned to the Third Brigade, Colonel 
James A, Geddes, Eighth Iowa, commanding; 
Third Division, Brigadier General Carr com- 
manding. 



IIISTOliY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



401 



On March 12th, embarked for Mobile. Moved 
to Dauphine Island and up Fish River and com- 
menced siege of Spanish Fort, March 29th. 

The regiment was the extreme left of the in- 
vesting line, and with one-half deployed as 
skirmishers, drove the enemy vv'ithin their forti- 
fications. 

The brigade consisted of Eighth Iowa, Eighty- 
first, One Hundred and Eighth and One Hund- 
red and Twenty-fourth Illinois, and was en- 
gaged until the surrender of the fort. On the 
13th of April, started for Montgomery. 

On July 1*7, 1865, the regiment started home 
for muster-out. Arrived at Chicago, Illinois, 
August 3d, and was mustered out August 15, 
1865, by Captain George W. Hill, United States 
Army. 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY K. 

Private. 
JenkiDS, William F. 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY I. 

Privates. 
Hall, James M O'Conner, Michael 

Maloney, Thomas Smith, Milton 

Stanton, Charles 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY D. 

Private. 
Green, William M. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH INFANTRY. 

Regimental Officer. 
Lieuteant Colonel — James H. Malheny 

COMPANY A. 

Officer. 
First Lieutenant — Anderson J. Smith 

Private. 
Sabine, Sheridan 

COMPANY B. 

Officers. 
Captain — William Prescott 
First Lieutenant— Francis M. Pickrell 
Second Lieutenant — Jacob W. Fauliu 

Sergeants. 
Frank Rice, James B. Johnson 

Thomas Thorpe Daniel L. Dunlap 

Corpo7'als. 
Samuel Grubb, Jr., Orrin S. Webster 

Enoch P. White Charles L. Stevenson 

Ezekiel Malone Peter Babeuf 

George W. Council Perry Sapp 

Mvsicians. 
Amos Baumgardner Alpheus Karns 

Wagouer. 
William Hass 



Pricate,'^. 



Albright, Charles 
Baker, Thomas 
Babeuf, Julius 
Beck, Alfred W. 
Beck, William 
Beach, Edward M. 
Bhizier, Pierson R. 
Bowman, George 
Brown, William 
Brarthwood, William 
Bird, David R. 
Bruns, Henry E. 
Cochran, James A. 
Crisscy, Stephen T. 
Con over, Henry J. 
Cummins, William 
Dickerson, Alexander C. 
Darden, Thomas J. 
Davis, Alfred 
Drennan, James W. 
Enos, William S. 
Fletcher, Benjamin F. 
Fitter, John 
Garner, Elijah 
Goflfnett, Celestine 
(xoor, John 
Hendricks, John R. 
Hickman, William H. 
Henton, James J. 
Irvine, John 
Johnson, William 
Johnson, Thomas 
Johnson, John Hw 



Kalb, William A. 
Koerner, John 
Letterman, Andrew 
Morton, Thomas H. 
Martin, Patrick 
McGinnis, Smith R. 
McGinnis, John 
McKeever, Thomas 
McMurray, George L. 
Milner, Robert 
Powell, WiUiam M. 
Riddle, Hamilton R. 
Riddle, Francis A. 
Rayfield, John 
Ranee, Henry J. 
Rogers, William H. 
Reeves, William H. 
Ruienberg, Frederick 
Somar, William 
Sallie, William H. 
Shelton, John R. 
Smith, Abram 
Simms, John 
Steelman, Thomas B. 
Steelniiin, Andrew S. 
Volz, George 
VanDoren, Ebenezer H. 
Whiteman, Thomas J. 
Ward, William 
Yocum, George S. 
Yocum, Jacob 
Yocum, James W. 



Recruits. 



Ankrom, William H. 
Ankrom, Jacob R. 
Cartwright, Henry C. 
Cowgill, William B. 
Dickerson, Duke 



Frederickson, John 
Gains, Wilbam 
Kelley, Martin 
Montanya, John C. 
Ramstee, J. J. 



COMPANY D. 

Corporal. 
John Hazlett 

Private. 
Berry Jacob 



Wilkerson, John 



COMPANY o. 

Privates . 



Waugh, James 



COMPANY I. 

Corporals. 
Manuel F. Gomes William R. Dickenson 

Privates. 

Gomes, Joseph 
Gains, William F. 
Howey, Robert 
Murphy, Michael 
McKay, Donald 
Nonts, Theodore 
Ornilles, Julius 
Refind, Anto. Defrastus 
Ro3'er, Jesse 
Ro5'er, John C. 
Sowerby, William H. 
Vila, John 
Vira, Joseph 



Beardon, Simeon 
Barrett, Frank 
Beach, Job A. 
De Santos, Antone 
Defratus, Jeston 
Dickerson, John 
Eckler, Robert 
Eckler, William H 
Francis, Vincent 
Frank, Einanuel 
Ferrea, Augustus 
Flowers, George 
Farlev, Jnuies 



402 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Eecruits. 
Martin, John P. Watls, John C. 

Sims, Thomas A. Wilkerson, J. T. 

Waugh, James A. Wilson, James N. 

Un assigned. 

Carl, Frank Johnson, Peter 

French, Lyman B. Moore, Stephen W. 

Howard, Joseph Maberry, George 

Hussey, Stephen A. O'Connell, James 

Hussey, William F. Rogers, Charles A. 
Jackson, George 

The One Hundred and Thirtieth Infantry 
Illinois Volunteers was organized at Camp But- 
ler, Illinois, in October, 1862, by Colonel Na- 
thaniel Niles, and was mustered in October 25. 
Moved from Camp Butler November 10, and 
arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, on the ISth, and 
was assigned to provost duty. 

The regiment was mustered out of service 
August 15, 1865, at New Orleans, Louisiana, 
and arrived at Camp Butler, August 26, 1865, 
where it received tinal payment and discharge. 

William Prescott was promoted from Captain 
to Major; Jacob W. Purlin, Second to First 
Lieutenant. 

ONE HUNDEED AND THIRTY-THIRD INFANTRY 

Regimental Officers. 
Adjutant — William I. Allen 
Q. M. Sergeard. 
Francis A. Vickery 

Principal Musicians . 
.John G. Ives. 

COMPANY A. 

Officers. 
Captain — Norman B. Ames 

First Sergeant. 
Jamts F. Canlield 

Sergeants. 
Marion T. Hutson John M. Amos 

James S. Harkey 
C or xj orals. 
William M. Babcock Benjamin F. Neher 

John T. Anderson Dallas J McGraw 

Orren Curvey Joseph Snape 

Mc. C. Webb Andrew Moore 



Armstrong, Albert H. 

Abrams, Charles 
Aptisdel, Willard 
Ayers, Sylvanus D. 
Black, Albert M. 
Brooker, Orlando W. 
Brownlie, George D. 
Bull, Boswell 
Broadwell, Willis P. 
Bancroft, Coburn 
Buckmun, Benjamin 
Baker, John A. 
Brougham, Henry 
Collins, William 
Conner, William H. 



Privates. 



Lockridge, James M. 
Miller, James W. 
McCoy, Thomas 
Montgomerj% Hiram 
Megredy, Charles 
Moore, Volney 
Mitchell, William 
Morse, Robert E. 
Magee, Uriah 
Net}', Jonathan 
Prather, William D. 
Price, Phillip K. 
Pratt, Charles 
Pulliam, John R. 
Peacock, Benjamin F, 



Puley, Joseph 
Ransom, Isaac N. 
Roberts, Charles D. 
Robb, David 
Reynolds, H. G. 
Springer, Charles W. 
Shellhouse, Charles M. 
Schaffer, Joseph 
Stone, James A. 
Seaman, Charles 
Smith, John 
Smith, Daniel F. 
Snider, James 
Stults, Silas 
Stone, Charles O. 
Trumbo, James P. 
Thomas, Clement 
Turner, Samuel B. 
White, James H. B. 
Wilson, Samuel L. 
Wallace, Samuel R. 
Whitmer, Charles 



Cook, Albert G. 
Crouch, William H. 
Dobbins, Nicholas W. 
Douglass, George 
Dunton, Rufus S. 
Day, Robert 
Elkiu, Edwin S. 
Flynn, Patrick 
Francis, Charles S. 
Gourley, Albert F. 
Gist, Albert 
Gist, Mordecai 
Goodrich, Charles H. 
Huntington, George L 
Hedrick, William 
Humphrey, Squire H. 
Humphreys Zachery 
Irwin, AVashiogton 
Ives, John G. 
Jackson, VMlliamW. 
Kent, Josiah P. 
Kimble, Newton 
Lawson James T. 

COMPANY E. 

Officers. 
Captain — Wilson A. Duggan 
First Lieutenant — John O. Piper 
Second Lieutenant — Columbus Woods 

First Sergeant. 

Lewis E. Garrett 
Sergeants. 
Joseph Wickersham Abner Coats 

Frederick Hartwick Hezekiah C. Clark 

Corporals . 
Francis A. Sampson William H. Walker 

George Spath Peter Boggs 

Privates. 

King Charles 
Liver, Joseph 
McKinnie, William . 
Masterson, Henry C. 
McCormick, Henry R. 
Neal, John M. 
Neer, James 
Pea, Tnomas F. 
Pettibone, Sanford 
Robinson, Richard 
Smith, Noah 
Shumate, Hiram 
Shark, Emanuel 
Salts, William 
Shocky, Joseph 
Torrence, Charles 
Turpin, Charles 
Thorp, John A. 
Thomas, William 
White, John W. 
Whitney, Joseph B. 
Weber, George 
Warden, Stephen 



Brewer, James 
Bynum, Isaac N. 
Cannon, Theron 
Cottermau, Andrew 
Childers, William 
Detheridge, Joseph 
Dempsy, John 
Decounter, Frederick 
Elmore, Nelson 
Elkin, Charles 
Englebright, Henry 
Finch, Maicus 
Fox, Smith 
Green, William 
Gudrum, Herbert 
Getherdf., Malou 
Grinnell, George B. 
Harris, George W. 
Howell, Pierson 
Hays, William 
Judd, Harvey 
Johnson, B. F. 
Johnson, George R. 
Kavanaugh, Dan 

COMPANY I. 

First Sergeant. 

William T. Wylie 

Sergeants. 

William W. Judd Ebenezer H. Welch 

George Clemens Albert D. Miller 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4U:^ 



Corporals. 
Joseph R Miller Simon R. Cothern 

A-llen C. Constant Edward H Culver 

Charles Stap es William Conwell 

William A. Yeamans William H. Miller 



Privates. 



Alien, Charles 
Anderson, Mathew 
Branson, William H. H. 
Barrett, Wdliam B. 
Bane, John 
Barr, Melitus E. 
Blacldjurn, James F. 
Cogdel, Tarlton 
Canby, Thomas L. 
Cass, Ilardin 
Crosswaith, Albert S. 
Cover, Addison 
Davis, Isaac 
Duskin, Robert B. 
Duff, James 
Davis, Lewis 
Davis, J. J. 
Elmore, Travis 
Faith, John B. 
Frudenberger, Edvpard 
Gibson, Augustus 
Goff, John A. 
Gabbart, Thomas 
Green, Scott, 
Garner, Anderson 
Hopkins, George W. 
Hussey, Stephen A. 
Hickman, James F. 
Hottman, James C. 
Houser, John H 
Hewett, Samuel P. 
Hannon, Calvin G. 



Lewis, William H. 
Lockard, Granville 
Morgan John R. 
Morgan, Cliarles F. 
Mori is, Ilaidin R. 
Matthews. William H. 
Myers, John L 
McGowen, Luke 
Oliver, James F. 
Cleston, Oie 
Perry, Charlie 
Perry, Charlie B. 
Primm, James D. 
Palmer, Charles H. 
Pry or, Isaiah T. 
Reimers, John P. 
Randall, Julius H. 
Ray, Henry 
Smith, Joseph 
Schmicky. William 
Smith, Newton W. 
Steinburger, Wm. W. 
Strode, John D. 
Samples, William T. 
Twiner, Andrew 
Tilford, Alexander 
Vaunatton, Thomas 
Vlerebone, Wm. C. 
Weese, Patterson 
Walters, John M. 
Wells, Jordan W. 
Yocum, William S. 



COMPANY K. 

Private, 
Way, John C. 

HISTORY OF ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THIKD 
INFANTRY. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-third Infan- 
try, Illinois Volunteers, was organized at Camp 
Butler, Illinois, by Colonel Thaddeus Phillips, 
and mustered in lor one hundred days May 31, 
1864. 

On the 3d of June, moved to Rock Island 
Barracks, and was assigned to duty, guarding 
prisoners of war. The regiment performed the 
duty faithfully and efficiently during its term of 
service. 

On the 24th of September, 1884, was 
mustered out of service at Camp Butler, Illi- 
nois. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY G. 

Private . 
Drinkle, Philip 



ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY Fit TH INFANTRY. 

(lOO Days.) 

COMPANY E. 

Privates. 
Cooley, Joseph T. I.adien, August 

Doake, Thomas B. McGraw, John 

Hendricks, Joseph Miller, John H 

Rubey, Charles 

COMPANY G. 

Private. 
Johnson, Geoige 



COMPANY H. 

Privates. 



Bishop, Josiah M. 
Constant, James H. 
Derry, Joseph 

COMPANY K 



Holfman, Philip 
Hillman, John A. 
Jones, Jesse 



Private. 
Wilson, Andrew W. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY K. 

Officer. 
Second Lieutenant— George Q. Allen. (Promoted 
to First Lieutenant.) 

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY A. 

Officers . 
Captain — William E. Wenholz 
First Lieutenant — James W, Howard 

First Sergeant. 
J. W. Kellogg 

Sergeants. 
James Ellis James Hall 

Levi Cohn Rufus W. Parks * 

Cor2)orals. 
Andrew J. Woodside Albert D. Miller 

Felix Armitage Henry Austin 

William Ashley 

Musicians. 

Christopher Showalter 



John Leary 



Wagoner. 
Hiram Wells 



Privates . 



Austin, Henry 
Brown, Jacob 
Brown, Thomas 
Brooks, Samuel J. 
Baker, Thomas 
Coney, Patrick 
Cole, James 
Corcoran, William 
Campbell, William J. 
Copple, William 
Dill, Augustus 
Duby, Joseph H. or A. 
Driscoll, Michael 
Drafton, William 
Egbert. George A. 
Foltz, Bcniamin 
Giles, Will'iam 
Gilmore, James 



Jackson, Joshua 
Jackson, Jordan 
Keat ng, Thomas 
Lee, James E. 
LoAiy, William 
Locker, John E. 
Maley, William 
Martin, George 
Moonej^ Thomas 
MoodJ^ Oscar 
McCune, James 
Reid, Charles J. 
Robinson, George 
Shiple3^ Jesse J. 
Steward, William 
Stone, William 
St. Clair. Lewis 
Smith, John W. 



404 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Goodrun, Herbert 
Holmes, John 
'Huddlestou, Samuel 
Huddlfsloa, William N. 
Huddlestou, Jolm W. 
Jones, John 



Schaal, August 
Wells, Jeremiah 
Wells, Jordan W\ 
Wilkinson, Christopher 
Yeager, John 



Bond, John 
Copple, Morgan 



Recruits. 



Demp'sey, John 
Kent, Thomas 



COMPANY F. 

Private. 
Jenkins, Isaac K. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Hardin, Richard 

The One Hundred and P'orty-nintli Infantry 
Illinois Volunteers, was organized at Camp But- 
ler, Illinois, on February II, 1865, by Col. Wil- 
liam C Kueffner, and mustered in lor one year. 
On February 14, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, 
and from thence to Chattanooga. Was assigned 
by Major General Steadman to duty guarding 
railroads. On May 1, was assigned to Colonel 
Felix Prince Salra's Second Brigade, Second 
Separate Division, Army of the Cumberland, 
and on the 2d, moved to Dalton, Georgia. On 
July 6, moved to Atlanta. On -iOth, being 
assigned to duty in the Fourth sub-district of 
Allatoona, it was assigned to guard duty in that 
district. 

Mustered out January 27, 1866, at Dalton, 
Georgia, and ordered to Springfield, Illinois, 
wherS it received final payment and discharge. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY I. 

Privates. 
Cahill, Leo Lowder, William P. 

Davis, George W. Shryer, James H. 

Prince, James S. Wright, William H. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 



Hiram F. Sibley 



Bancroft, Coburn 
Flemming, John 
Griffin, Hugh F. 
Gibbs, William 
Hornback, William 
Hatfield, Francis M. 
Irwin, Julius H. 
Leach, Eugene T. 
Malty, Curtis J. 



COMPANY A. 

Sergeants. 

Lycurgus S. McNeely. 
Pri'vates. 

Phillips, Andrew J. 
Pilcher, William 
Propst, Edward A. 
Reeves, Abraham B. 
Reed, Andrew J. 
Rourke, John 
Stine, Gabriel 
Slocum, George B 
Sherfield, Jordan 



Nichols, Andrew J. 

COMPANY B. 

Sergeant. 
George W. Clouser 



Corporals. 

Peter L. Edwards William F. F. Smith 

Robert Weller 

Musicians. 
Randolph Cook Edward M. Humphrey 

Privates. 



Anderson, William T. 
Burns, Robert 
Bishop, William H. 
Cady, Dyer D. 
Crumbaker, Marion V. 
Clark, John W. 
Dowell, Thomas 
Dowell, John L. 
Fisher, John 
Gibson, James 
Hamilton, Joshua P. 
Holmes, Horatio 
Hopkins, Alvcrtus 
Herbert, William O. 
Henline, Salathiel 
McMackin, Henry C. 
McFarland, Warren 
Mucan, Richard 



Plumb, William B. 
Porteas, James 
Smith, David 
Smith, Royston 
Stephens, David C. 
Sackett, Joseph 
Smith, Matthias 
Shrake, Samuel M. 
Spawr, William 
Thompson, Louis C. 
Thompson, Charles 
Vance, or Nance, Albert 
White, James T. 
Wright, David A. 
Wright, Josiah W. 
Waldon, William 
Weed, Charles 
Young, James 



The One Hundred and Fifty-second Infantry, 
Illinois Volunteers, was organized at Camp But- 
ler, Illinois, by Colonel Ferdinand D. Stephen- 
son, and was mustered in February 18, 1865, for 
one year. 

On February 20th, moved to Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, and thence to Tullahoma, reporting to 
Major General Millroy, February 28, 1865. 

The regiment was mustered out of service to 
date, September 11, 1865, at Memphis, Tennes- 
see, and arrived at Camp Butler, Illinois, Sep- 
tember 9, 1865, when it received its final pay- 
ment and discharge. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 
COMPANY K. 

Privates. 
Ames, John Grace, John 

Brown, William Marrety, John 

Cliilord, James Murphy, Andrew W. 

Culvertson, George W. Williams, Charles 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIFTH INFANTRY, 
COMPANY F. 

Privates. 



O'Neal, Frank 



Clark, John 
Clark. Daniel 



Woods, George W. 

COMPANY G. 

Privates. 

Cunningham, Theodore 
Connelj^ Thomas 

COMPANY K. 

Privates. 



Lamb, Robert G. 



Whi<;e, Joshua 



FIRST CAVALRY, 
COMPANY F. 



Officers. 
Captain — John Burnap 
First Lieutenant — Garrett Elkin 
Second Lieutenant — John C. Parks 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



405 



First Sergeant. 
Daniel S. Whittenhall 

Q. M. Serf/eant. 
David W. Tliomas 
Sergeants. 
John Q. A. Floyd Tliomas B. Brown 

Peter Livergood Frederick Henry 

Corporals . 
John F. Pritchard Heaton Hill 

George Breckenbaiigh William Graham 
William H. H. Center Jacob Newman 
H. L. Hinman Robert A. Jones 

Buglers. 
Napoleon B. Utt Charles J. Scbryver 

Saddler. 
William Barnhill 

Wagoner. 
Nicholas Prater 

Blacksmiths. 
Charles Gathard Cyrus Youst 

Privates. 

Lane, Abram B. 
Lisk, Frank 
Lewis, Andrew 
Mahan, Charles 
Mathews, Henry 
McCoy, Peter 
McGuire, Barney 
Meyer, William H. 
Penny, Jacob W. 
Pinckard, Thomas S. 
Russell, John 
Stevens, John J. 
Spring, John W. 
Thompson, Andrew J. 
Taylor, Richard S. 
Wall, Johnson C. 
Waddle, Alfred 
Whi taker, James 
Welch, Ebenezer H. 
Wright, Marion 
Wallace, Nels S. 
Zimmerman, George 

Becruits. 

Lindsay, Thomas J. 
Leland, John T. 
Leclair, Francis 
McCormack, John 
Melville, Charles 
Murray, David 
McCluskey, James 
McGurk, James 
McCoy, Robert 
Moore, William E. 
Neal, Richard 
Oliver, George H. 
Philips, George G. 
Parsons, Francis M. 
Palmer, James R. 
Phillips, James 
Reading, David T. 
Reading, Theodore A. 
Skinkle, William 
Smith, Louis D. 
Smith, Robert C. 
Sullivan, Thomas H. 



Armstrong, Samuel A. 
Barry, William 
Brown, John H. 
Burdoas, John 
Coles, William E. 
Cole, Stephen D. 
Curtis, Charles A. 
Dibble, Emery 
Easley, Thomas H. 
Ernst, John 
Ervin, John 
Foster, Miner A. 
Frey, George W. 
Gilmore, Henry 
Harris, Charles F. 
Haas, Michael J. 
Herndon, Edward G. 
Johnson, Irvin 
Kiser, James 
Lindsay, John D. 
Lee, Thomas W. 
Layton, Charles 



Brickley, John 
Biggins, Patrick 
Binker, Joseph 
Brown, Orlando 
Bane, George W. 
Boone, William 
Cahill, Michael 
Chesley, Ed. A. 
Cord, J. J. 
Claik, William H. 
Chandler, Jasper 
Caykendall, John R. 
Caykendall, H. G. 
Deal, John 
Emery, Josiah 
Emery, Perry 
Fitzpatrick, Sol 
Flynn, Dennis R. 
Goughran, John 
Grubb, James 
Graham, George W. 
Graham, John J. 



Hubbel, Charles N. 
Hancock, Lyman D. 
Helvey, Sylvester 
Hutchison, Amos C. 
Johnson, John 
Knight, James W. 
Knox, David A. 
Lobdill, Orin L. 
Lance, Daniel D. 



Str«fie1(l, Patrick 
boiuhwlck, Adum 
Spiece, John 
Thompson, Andrew J. 
Tinsley, Janies 
Whitney, Jacob 
Welch, John S. 
West, Benjamin F. 
West, John 



SECOND CAVALRY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Adjutant — William Stadden 
Chaplain — James R. Locke 

COMPANY A. 

Private. 
Sanford, Richmond 

COMPANY E. 

Private. 
Cox, Ambrose M. 

COMPANY F. 

Privates. 
Cline, Simeon Fairchild, John 

Fisher, Hiram Nesbit, William 

McKean, Zadoc 

COMPANY H. 

Officer . 
Second Lieutenant — John C. Reynolds 

Blacksmith. 
John Q. Hinz 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Martin, George 

COMPANY K. 

Private. 
Specht, James W. 

TInassigned. 
Harris, William H. 

Thomas S. Pinckard was promoted from pri- 
vate to First Lieutenant; John Q. A. Floyd, Ser- 
geant to First Lieutenant. 

THIRD CAVALRY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Lieutenant Colonel — Lal'aj-ette McCrillis 
Major — John McConnell 
Quartermaster — John B. Brice 

COMPANY B. 

Officers . 
First Lieutenant — Andrew J. Taylor 
Second Lieutenant— Joshua Tuthill 

First Sergeant. 

Joshua Tuthill 

Sergeants . 

Richard H. Ballinger Jesse W. Bice 

James W. Kincaid John B. Bierce 

Harrison L. Bruce 

Corporals. 
Talcott Norton William R. McGready 

Sheridan S. Sabine Archer H. Rush 

William J. Brown Benjamin H. Hailey 

Alfred W. Parsons 



406 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Bu filer. 
Archibald Gantremont 

Privates 
Alien, William E. Jones, Audrcw J 



Aldnch, Washington 
Bierce, Edward B. 
Bruce, Arba H. 
Brooks, Merchant J. 
Buck, Jeremiah 
Byers, Joseph W. 
Brewer, William M. 
Cassidy, Henry C. 
C'jnnors, Michael 
Curtis, Harvey S. 
Eberhard, Henry A. 
Fauchilds, Isaac B. 
Fehr, Henry 
Gorham, David 
Greenstreet, Sephaniah 
Hailey, Edward 
Harding, Howard 
Hawley, David C. 
Hoffman, John 
Hewitt, Samuel J. C. 
Hillman, Charles 
Henderson, Edwin 
Henderson, Joel 
Henderson, Edward F. 
Hurd, Stephen 
Hamilton, James 
Highlands, Samuel A. 



Knop, Joseph H. 
Kueedy, William D. 
Lake, John F. 
Little, Joseph A. 
Lampson, Morris C. 
Mitchell. John 
McElwain, Thomas 
McCue, Thomas 
Mills, Abraham G. 
O'Neil, William 
Owen, Nathan 
Parsons, William 
Purvis, Smith 
Purvis, Isaac 
Purvis, Francis M. 
iihodes, Thomas B. 
Ritter, William 
Rodgers, John 
Stake, George E. 
Stewart, William A. 
Southwick, David 
Schmitzer, John 
Schich, John J. 
Taylor, Samuel H. 
Von Daken, Charles 
Waggoner, Christian 
Weiss, Gottleib 
Whitney, Barney C. 



Highlands, John W 

Recruits 
Allen, William E. Harvey, James 



Armstrong, John W 
Armstrong, John A. 
Allen, Isaac 
Buzzard, Utho 
Buthe, Thomas S. 
Bailey, Charles W. 
Davis, John W. 
Graves, Marshall 
Hewitt, Alden W . 
Ham, William P. 



Lawhead, Charles C. 
Norton, Charles F 
Richster, John F. 
Sweet, John T. 
Sweet, William 
Sweet, Marion A. 
Stevivcns, John P. 
Wickner, Henry 
Winters, Frederick 
Williams, Reason 



Dooley, John 



COMPANY E. 

Privates. 

Garrett, 
Yates, Simeon 

COMPANY C. 

Private . 
Parsley, William N. 

COMPANY H. 

Private. 
Ross, Lyman 

COMPANY M. 



David 



Privates. 



Alson, Moses D. 
Chatam, Thomas 
Howard, Samuel 
Heintz, John 
Laughlin, Archy, O. 
Merryman, James 



Roach, David 
Roe, Robert 
Ferryman, James 
King, Nelson L. 
Sullivan, William H. 
Williams, James W. 



Reese, James 
Wilson, Samuel 
Marshall, James 
Hill, James 
Haskell, William 
Paddock, Frederick 



Sullavin, Adam 
Daugherty, James 
Williams, Andy 
Hill, Thomas 
Mooncy, James. 
Taylor, William 



COMPANY G. 

Sarat, John Fletcher Frame, Henderson 

McCaslim, Manon S. Ogg, George W. 



The Third Regiment of Cavalry was organ- 
ized at Camp Butler, Illinois, by Colonel E, A. 
Carr, in August, 1861. 

The regiment moved to St. Louis, Missouri, 
September 25th, October Ist, moved up the 
Missouri river to JeflFerson City, and from thence 
marched to Warsaw, arriving October 11th. 

On the 23d, marched toward Springfield, Mis- 
souri, in Colonel Carr's Brigade, Brigadier Gen- 
eral Asboth's Division. On November 2d, Gen- 
eral Hunter took command of the Army. On 
November 13th, the First and Second Battalion!? 
moved with the army on Rolla, Missouri. The 
Third Battalion, Major Ruggles commanding, 
remained with Siegel's Division, and was the 
last to leave Springfield. 

Arriving at Rolla, November 19th, the regi- 
ment remained until December 29th, when it 
moved in the advance of General Curtis' Army 
for the Southwest. On February 11th, the reg- 
iment in Carr's Division moved to Marshfield, 
and on the 1 3th to near Springfield, where cav- 
alry fought the first engagement and won the 
first victory of Curtis' campaign. 

On February 14, 1862, occupied Springfield, 
Missouri. On the 15th, came up with Price's 
retreating army, at Crane creek, capturing some 
prisoners. On 18th, at Sugar creek, Arkansas, 
the Third Battalion participated in a cavalry 
charge, routing the enemy. On the 20th, the 
Second Battalion marched to Cross Hollows, 
and on March 5th fell back to Pea Ridge. On 
the 6th, the First and Third Battalions marched 
with Colonel Vandever's Brigade from Ilunts- 
ville, forty-eight miles. 

On the 7th, the First and Third Battalions in 
Dodge's Brigade, and the Second in Vandever's 
were engaged all day, losing ten killed and forty 
wounded. 

March 19th, moved to Keetsville. Lieuten- 
ant Colonel McCrillis and Major Hubbard ar- 
rived and went on duty. April 10th, arrived at 
Forsyth, and on 9th moved to West Plains, and 
May 1st started for Batesvil'e, arriving on 3d, 
On May 14, 1862, moved to Little Red river. 
On 25th, while crossing White river. Captain 
McLelland and five men Avere drowned. On 
June 4, the regiment fell back to Fairview. 

On the 7th, Captain Sparks, wath sixty-six 
men, was surrounded by three hundred of the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



40: 



enemy's cavalry, and cut his way out, losing 
four wounded and four prisoners. 

Returned to J^atesville on the 11th. June 11, 
marched to Jacksonport. July 5, moved, with 
the army, for lielena, where it arrived on the 
15th, and went into camp. During the stay at 
this point, detachments of the regiment were 
sent on scouts and expeditions to different 
places, including Captain Kirlcbridge's raid to 
St. Francis river, and live companies with Gen- 
eral Hovey's raid to Grenada, Mississippi. 

December 23, 1802, six companies, B, C, D, H, 
I and L, Captain Kirkbridge commanding, em- 
barked for Vicksburg, under Major General W. 
T. Sherman. 

Companies E and G were on duty with Gen- 
Carr, at St. Louis. Companies A, K, F and M, 
Captain Carnahan commanding, reported to 
Brigadier General Steele, at the mouth of the 
Yazoo river. 

At Chickasaw Bayou, the regiment was 
detailed as pickets and escorts for commanding 
generals, and did good service in the disastrous 
attack on Vicksburg. Companies A, K, L and 
M, being the last to embark after battle. 

In the Spring of 1863, Colonel McCrillis, with 
a battalion, moved to Memphis, leaving Com- 
pany L, as escort to Major General McClernand 
and Captain Carnahan, with Companies A, G, 
K and E, with Brigadier General P. J. Oster- 
haus and the Thirteenth Corps. This battalion 
took part in the battles of Port Gibson, Cham- 
pion Hills, Black River Bridge, and the siege of 
Vicksburg. 

August 16, 1863, reporting to Major General 
N, P. Banks, was assigned to Brigadier General 
Lee's Cavalry Division, and took part in the 
Western Louisiana campaign, and at Verrailion- 
ville, Opelousas and Carrion Crow Bayou. 

In December, 1864, Major O'Connor took 
command of the battalion, and it moved to Port 
Hudson, and thence to Memphis, Tennessee, 
rejoining the regiment. The regiment had 
meantime particij^ated in the battles of Tupelo, 
Okolona and Guntown, Mississippi. 

During the month of July, a large portion of 
the regiment re-enlisted as veterans. The non- 
veterans under Major O'Connor were stationed 
as garrison at Germantown, Tennessee. In July, 
1864, a portion of the regiment, Captain Carna- 
han commanding, went on a scout through west- 
ern Kentucky. August 24, the non-veterans 
having been mustered out, the veterans were 
consolidated into a battalion of six companies, 
and Captain Carnahan promoted to Lieutenant 
Colonel. 

47— 



On September 27, tliey left Memphis and 
crossed the Tennessee at Clifton, and confronted 
Hood's army. Fell back skirmisliing, and took 
part in the battles of Lawrencelnirg, Spring Hill, 
Campbellville, and Franklin. 

On December 15, in the First Brigade, Fifth 
Division, Brigadier General Hatch commanding, 
Avas on the right of the army when it turned the 
enemy's left, and was first in the enemy's works. 

In January, 1865, the enemy having been 
driven across the Tennessee, the cavalry under 
General Wilson camped at Gravelly Springs, 
Alabama, and in February moved to Eastport. 

In May, moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and 
thence to St. Paul, Minnesota, reporting to Major 
General Curtis. 

On July 4, started on an Indian expedition 
over the plains of Minnesota and Dakota — north 
to the British lines, and south and west to Devil's 
Lake and Fort Bartholet — and returned to Fort 
Snelling, October 1. Arrived at Springfield, 
Illinois, October 13, 1865, and was mustered out 
of service. 

The promotions from Sangamon county were 
as follows: Lafayette McCrillis, Lieutenant 
Colonel to Colonel; Jesse W. Bice, Sergeant to 
First Lieutenant, Captain and Major; Joshua 
Tuthill, Second to First Lieutenant; Harrison L. 
Bruce, Sergeant to Second and to First Lieuten- 
ant; James W. Kincaid, Sergeant to Second 
Lieutenant. 

FOURTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Burge, John Higley, Theodore F. 

COMPANY E. 

Officer. 
Lieutenant — Simon String. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Stewart, Andrew J. 

COMPANY L. 

Private. 
Taylor, William H. 

COMPANY M. 

Privates. 
Eiseubise, Nicholas W. O'Brien, Michael 
Prill, Peter 

Unassigned. 
Flanuagan, Jackson Sidner, James 

FIFTH CAVALRY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Colonels— Hall Wilson. 

John McConncll. 
Major — Speed Butler. 



408 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



COMPANY B. 

Privates. 
Cothirn, William R. Foley, Edward 

Wise, Charles 

COMPANY C. 

Privates. 
Dufiy, James Smith, William 

Florey, Oscar J. P. Smith, Benjamin 

COMPANY E. 

Private. 
Fory, Georoje 

COMPANY F. 

Private. 
Melres, Henrjr 

COMPANY G. 

Privates. 
Houston, Robert R. Johnson, •^William T. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Leonard, William 

COMPANY L. 

Private. 
Boker, Charles M. 

COMPANY M. 

Private. 
Davis, Willard C. 

JJnassigned. 
Lewis, William H. 

SIXTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY C. 

Privates. 
Flynn, Patrick Montgomery, Samuel 

Bockewitz, William Werner, Christopher 

Wcicken, Frederick 

COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Mullens, David Redicker, Henry W. 

COMPANY L. 

Privates. 
Anderson, George W. Dennis, Isaac N. 
Lombard, Harvey Randle, Charles W. 

Unassigned. 
Kelley, John 

SEVENTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY A. 

Wilder, Edward C. Wood, William R. 

COMPANY B. 

Corporals. 
John N. Worden W. M. Sturdevant. 

Privates. 
Solomon, Shafer Dennis, Cornell A. 

Hughes, Levi Heramingway, Chas. T. 

Cross, Edwin BufRngton, William 

Reis, Peter Halt, George S. 



Recr 
Allen, Thomas 
Bartley, David L. 
Birge, Robert or Alber 
Barton, Sylvester 
Baker, George 
BufRngton, Jonas 
Cross,"Charles E. 
Davis, Joseph M. 
Fifield, John C. 
Hodgdon, Isaac H. 
Hyde, Joseph 
Hough, James 
Johnson, James H. 
Keeney, Ira W. 



uits. 

McGuirc, John 
Miller, Henry 

t Monroe, Henry 
Pratt, Calvin , 
Pratt, Arthur R. 
Rogers, Dochter 
Rose, Warren C. 
Rhan, Peter 
Shultz, Abraham 
Stull, William 
Selemier Henry 
Schriner, Frederick 
Titus, Alfred 
Tiffany, David 



COMPANY E. 



Avery, William 
Dailey, Michael 
Dennis, Jerry 
Dorance, John 
Phillbrick, George 
Sution, Alexander 



Privates. 



McCurdy, James H. 
Niman, Jolin D. 
Pruitt, Daniel B. 
Potter, Thomas G. 
Higginson, Henry 
Lay, Jasper 



COMPANY F. 

Privates . 
McCoukey, Latham A. Foulds, Henrj' 
Smith, Thomas Warnick, John R. 

Dingee, Edgar H. 

COMPANY G. 

Private. 
Gleason, Samuel 

COMPANY H. 

Private. 
Petters, William H. 

COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Davis, William 

COMPANY K. 

Officer. 
Second Lieutenant — Henry Jaynes 

Privates. 
Fox, Thomas Whitmore, James C. 



Coilen, Hiram 



COMPANY L. 

Privates. 

Sperlini 
Scott, Patrick 

COMPANY M. 



Lewis G. 



Privates. 

Adams, Robert L. Moates, George W. 

Dupue, William H. McManus, Peter 

Frink, Horace R. Strang, William 

Gaylord, A. C. Spellman, Thomas 

Mason, Edward Winter, Isaac 

Unassigned. 

Davis, Elias Smith, Gage 

Haselton, Eugene A. Short, John 

Lynch, James L. Steele, William 

Liber, Joseph F. Wells, Joseph 

O'Harra, William Whetmore, James C. 
Smith, William M. 

EIGHTH CAVALRY. 

Unassigned. 
Brennan, Charles J. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4 0!> 



NINTH CAVALRY. 

COMPANY D, 

Private. 
Wesley, Johnson 

COMPANY E. 

Privates. 

Ed sell, Thomas Newberry, Leonidas 

Swanke, Benjamin 



Bruster, Albert 
Clinton, John H. 
Cheatham, Willis 
Fowler, Josiah 
Fulford, Oliver C. 
Layman, James 
Lee, James M. 
McBride, Patrick 



COMPANY K. 

Privates. 

McBride, John 
McBride, Lewis M. 
Miller, DeWitt C. 
Massa, Jesse 
Pierce, James K. 
Porter, John 
Turner, Josiah 



COMPANY L. 

Privates. 
Gifford, Daniel A. Henson, John R. 

Gifford, Albert A. Ward, Solomon R. 

Unassigned. 
Ballard, John Jarrett, William 

Cross, James Preston, Hiram 

Sommers, Samuel 

TENTH CAVALRY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Colonel — John A. Barrett 
Lieutenant Colonel — Dudley Wickersham 
Major — Joseph 8. Smith 
Adjutant — James Stuart 
Surgeon — Augustus A. Shutt 
Quartermaster — John H . Barrett 
Chaplains — Francis Springer 
Julies Elliott 

Battalion Officers. 
Adjutant — Eli H. Hosea 
Quartermasters — Daniel L. Canfield 
John P. Kavanaugh 

COMPANY A. 

Officers. 
Captain — Garrett Elkin 
First Lieutenant — Alfred A. North 

First Sergeant. 
Thomas O'Connor 

Sergeants. 

Thomas H. Butler 
Richard Large 
Corporals. 

Green Campbell 



Julius Eliott 



John H. Morgan 



Bugler. 
Edward Mosteller 



Privates. 



Bowman, John 
Blackburn, Michael 
Dunham, Albert H. 
Ernest, John 
Ellison, James 
Gutt, John 
Kindred, James 
Large, Lewis 



Sesron, Albert 
Segwick, Fredrick 
Sullivan, Timothy 
Sharnell, John 
Wilkins, Andrew T. 
Wills, James 
Dunn, George B. 
Kyes, James 



Monoghan, Dennis 
Maione, Jordan 
Malone, Francis M. 
Ross, James C. 
Reed, Charles C. 
Rhodes, James 



Laige, Richard G. 
McGath, James 
Masterson, William 
Russell, Samuel F. 
Redmon, William 
Wood, William 



H. 



Recruits. 



Alfred James 
Boutwell, Milo 
Campbell, Wiley 
Campbell, Franklin 
Cumming, Andrew 
Field, Wesley 
Foster, Norman F. 
Gallighan, Michael 
Johns, Joseph C. 



Keegan, Lawrence 
3'Ielville, Charles 
Murphy, Michael 
Alurphy, Patrick 
Nagangast, George 
O'Brien, John 
Pelham, John IL 
Sackett. Enos or Amos 
White, Francis 



COMPANY B. 

Officers . 
Captain — Samuel N . Hitt 
First Lieutenant— Agustus A. Shutt 

First Sergeant. 
Thomas J. Hughej^ 

Sergeants. 
James L. Short John G. Springer 

Warren J. Parks 
Corporals. 
Robert A. Lockridge Byron L. Crouch 

Archy L Edwards Andrew J. West 

Samuel L. Farmer George Roberts 

Buglers . 
Edward J. Short George F. McReynolds 

Farrier. 
John McCarty 

Wagoner. 

Benjamin F. Hutton 

Privates. 

Ransom, William A. 



Barbree, William 
Breckenridge, Hugh 
Cassity, Levi 
Campbell, Samuel 
Clark, Henry R. 
Codfield, Enoch 
Conolly, Bernard 
DufE, Abram 
Duff, Abraham 
Davis, John, Jr. 
Drennan, Andrew 
Drennan, Smith 
Dean, Dwight 
Enix, Thomas F. 
Estis, Nathaniel G. 
Flowers, Aaron A. 
Flowers, James A. 
Filer, Josiah 
Garvej^ Martin 
Harris, William H. H. 
Headley, Daniel S. 
Headley, James G. 
Hill, John W. C. 
Hill, PaulH. 
Hollis, John 
Hutton, Noah M. 
Knotls, Joseph 
Lewlamayer, Max 
Liston, Jesse 
Lowin, Benjamin F. 



Reed, Martin V. B. 
Romeril. Fletcher 
Roody, Thomas P. 
Roberts, Erastus 
Reager, David 
Shutt, Carroll O. S. 
Siramington, John L. 
Smith, Abram 
Steel, Henry 
Suuthwick, Adam 
Sargeaut, John W. 
Sargeant, William H. 
Sharp, Sanford 
Sharper, Isaac B. 
Sillowaj', Levi 
Taylor, George W. 
Tipton, Silas 
Veatch, James M. 
Vrcdeuburg, Thomas S. 
Warren, Henry 
Wickersham, Noah S. 
Williams, Samuel 
Wardlow, James 
Butler, James E. 
Bates, DeWitt 
Edwards, Archy L. 
McMullen, Samuel 
Mayer, Michael 
McReynolds, George F. 



410 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Lockiige, Mtirion G. 
Myers, John A. 
Mathews, Norman C. 
McGill, James 
O'Brien. Patrick 
P.irk, George 
Parkmson, John 
Quinu, John 



MeKee, James S. 
McKee, John B. 
Park, Warren J. 
Roberts, George 
Short, Edward 
Tuttle, David B. 
West, Andrew J . 
Westbrook, Joseph 



Recruits. 



Barbre, John A. 
Crouch, Dayton J. 
Gary, Thomas L. 
Gary, George W. 
Dullard, James 
Duff, George 
DuU; Richard R. 
Day, John W. 
Edwards, James J. 
Eniilish, Charles W. 
Edwards. William E. 
Ezell, George 
Fortune, William J. 
Fortune, Willbert E. 
Greenwood, Chris. C. 
Grovenke, Charles 
Gregory, Henry 
Groaner, Thomas 
Greenwood, George 
Groaner, Zack 
Hodgarson Young M. 
Harris, William 
Hill, Chri-^topher 
Hill, Andrew 
H lughey, Thomas J. 
Hen rly, Patrick 
Harrison, George 
Keller, Patrick 
Kuvanaugh, John P. 



Kelley, Michael 
Kelley, Thomas J. 
Little, Alson J. 
McMullen, Samuel 
McCue, John 
McCoy, Alfred^ 
McMurry, Elihu 
McDermott, Edwin S. 
Morgan, JohnF. 
Miller, R. E. 
O'Neal, John 
Palmer, William 
Phillips, Thomas 
Riley, Thomas 
Robertson, John 
Ranuebarger, Philip 
Rannenbarger, Joseph 
Rollins, Martin 
Short, William 
Smitters, Samuel 
Smitters, Noah 
Spelleay, James 
Torrence, William A. 
Teel, James E. 
Vredenburg, John S. 
Whalen, John 
Withrow, Isaac N. 
Walker, Samuel 



COMPANY C. 

Ojficer. 
First Lieutenant — Hiram C. Walker 

Privates. 
Harris, Almeron N. Walker, Elmer W. 

COMPANY D. 

Officers . 
Captain — William Sands 
First Lieutenant — Richard C. Keilcy 
Privates. 



Averate, Nathan W. 
Burnes, James 
Cox, Frederick 
Clarke, Wesley 
Doyle, James 



Dingman, Richard 
Ford, William 
McCormick, John 
Morgan, Norman 
Stoneheart, Albert 



COMPANY E. 

Privates. 
Brewster, John Kirk, Michael 

Cassell, Frederick Nottingham, Almeron 

Esdale, Harvey 



Recruits. 



Anderson, Barret 
Ford, George 
Howey, Edwin E. 
Holden, Edw^ard M. 
Harmer, James M. 



Jones, John P. 
Karnes, David H. 
Murdock, George W. 
Patrick, John M. 
Ward, Thomas 



Dallas, George M 
Davis, Dallas 
G'Brian, John 



COMPANY F. 

Privates. 

Welch, Mathew 
Blatmer, Adolpli 
Hofferkamp, Herman 

CO\rPANY G. 



First Sergeant. 
Augustus F. Myers 

Quartermaster Scrgea?it. 
Frederick R. Sprigg 
Sergeants. 
Wm. A. ]V[ontgomery John C. Decker 

Corporals. 
Henry Alsop Joshua W. Short 

Thomas F. Henry Alexander Rucker 

William Blytlie Charles H. Judd 

Buglers. 

Frederick Tropp Samuel R. Gordon 

Privates. 

King, John 



Adloug, Lewis 
Barr, William A. 
Brunn, August 
Brooks, Jefferson J. 
Bishop, Caleb E.- 
Cantrell, Thomas J. 
Chambers, Edward R. 
Casnet, Franklin 
Clark, William 
Conner, William 
Camp, George W. 
Dysert, John Z. 
Freeman, William W. 
H'Uis, Alexander 
Hoffman, George 
Hays, William 
Herndon, James N. 
Hosea, William 
Hall, Benjamin 
Hoffman, Christian 
Kibby, Converse 



Koch, Simon 
Lasuer, William 
Litterscheit, Ferdinand 
Lewis, James 
Maughor, John 
McKinney, Thos. L. S. 
McCarty, Thomas 
Maloney, Timothy 
McCarty, Thomas 
Mills, Marcus R. 
Prince, William P. 
Raumbarger, John 
Reynolds, John 
Russell, John 
Seaman, George 
Seaman, Joseph 
Spengler, Philip 
Spaulding, John 
Trower, John E. 



Arreghi, Antonio 
Blyth, William 
Barr, William A. 
Clark, William 
Camp, George W. 
Evans, William 
Elgan, William 
Fagan, John F. 
Hoffman, George 
Hibbs, James 
Judd, Uz 
Judd, Charles H. 
King, John 
Lantermaii, John H 
Lasure, William 



Veterans. 

Mills, Marcus R. 
Marker, William H. 
Magary, Robert F. 
Meyeis, Augustus F. 
Morris, George H. 
Maloney^ John 
Manghar, Patrick 
Quinu, Dennis 
Reynolds, John 
Robinson, George H. 
Sprigg, Friderick R. 
Spengler, Philip 
Sheiry, Daniel 
Seaman, Joseph A. 
Tomliuson, Elisha 



Recruits 
Abbott, Thomas D. Morris, George 

Buff, Henry 
Bowers, Asa 
Bancroft, George 
Burgess, John 
Brown, James or John 
Crowder, Henry 
Camp, William J. 
Dinkle, John A. 
Evans, William D. 



Morris, Eli T. 
Martin, John 
Robinson, George H. 
Renne, James 
Sheiry, Daniel 
Strode, William B. 
Tomlinson, Elisha 
Tomlinson, James 
Tomliuson, L. A. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



411 



Fagan, John F. 
Fasran, Brice H. 
Kesler, Abruliain 
Keiser or Kizer, John 
Lewis, David 
Manghar, Patrick 



Wardliauiiii, Ricliard E. 
Weber, Jolm H. 
Weber, Charles E. 
Yoimg, Lysander B. 
Touuger, John Q. 



COMPANY H. 

Offleers. 
Captain — Thomas S. Craftou 
Second Lieutenant — John W. Crafton 

First Sergeant. 
James B. Campbell 

Quartermaster Sergeant. 
Tavner B. Pierce, 



William Grissou 



Sergeants. 



A-. B. Rogers. 



Corporals, i 
Joseph Gambrel Edward H. Woods 

Peter Bradley William Riley 

Buglers . 
Charles Fox John Bell 

Privates. 
Beard, Martin Murray, Davis 

Burton, George Walker, William M. 

Brewster, John Peters, Jacob 

Carney, John Moore, John R. 

Cline, John. Pilcher, A. M 

Freeman, William H. Pilcher, James W. 

Harme, John Pilcher, Jolm 

Johnson, Joseph Roberts, William 

Leab, Louis Sampson, William 

Layton, James Searle, E. J. 

Muekle-iton, J. B. Webster, Bradley B. 

Miller, Frederick Young, James C. 

McGinnes, Samuel Young, John W. 

McDonald, John or E. J. 

Veterans. 

Bell, John Sampson, William 

Campbell, James B. Tippey, Leroy 

Freeman, William H. Vermillion, William 

Gambrell, Joseph Wood, E. H. 

Harmes, John Young, John W. 

Koontz, John Young, James C 
Riley, William 

Recruits. 

Britt, John W. Deck Valentine. 

Burton, Jas. or Henry I. Dyer Thomas E. 

Crafton, Newton R. Gambrell, Andrew J. 

Carter, William Koontz, John 

COMPANY I. 

Offlcers. 
First Lieutenant — Daniel L. Canfield 
Second Lieutenant — John G. Springer 

Privates. 
Wright, Jonathan Robins, Samuel 

Wallace, Nathan 

COMPANY K. 

Private. 
Neil, Jacob S. 

COMPANY I.. 

Officers. 
Captain — Thomas V. Wilson 
First Lieutenant — John G. Roberts 
Second Lieutenant — Thomas D. Vredcnburgh 



Sergeants. 
Andrew J. Maxfield Henry S. C. Sanders 

Privates. 
Becraft, Walter Gravat, Charles P. 

Becraft, George Johnston, James K. P. 

Beard, Walter W. Kelly, Michael 

Carpenter, Levi Kelly, Thomas 

Connelly, Samuel Mathews, Aaron V. 

Cook, Levi Moon, John B. 

Evans, Joseph Swiss, John 

Recruits. 
Gilman, Nathan Miller, William H. 

Andrews, Jacob Talbot, Thomas 

Conner, David C. Winsur, George W. 

Guthen, James G. 

COMPANY M. 

Officers. 
First Lieutenant — Elhanen J. Seaile 
Second Lieutenant — Silas Hickox 

Privates. 
Buckley, Newton Conner, Richard 

Bishop, Caleb E. Dunn, Elenezer 

Leonard, Benjamin Fields, James 

Garbin William Hall, Sylvester 

Hasenbrig, William H. Malone, James H. 

Unas-ngned. 
Bennett. James ' Pace, Elisha L. 

Brown, James Ross, Lyman O. 

Bell, John A. Smith, James 

Brewer, Isaac Sutton, Anton 

Basher, William S. Seligman, Martin 

Barnes, Warner Sprague, Robert 

Baker, John W. Scott, John 

Clark, John Stark, Henry 

Elliott, James H. Schenkle, John W. 

Fox, Joseph B. VanDorf Edward 

Farland, James O. Veatch, Joel 

Grant, Charles P. Weber, Joseph 

Larney, Owen W. Webb, Joseph 

Mikesell, Simon Weber, James W. 

Martin, Henry Webb, Stephen G. 

Nolan William H. Young, Francis 

O'Conner, John Yost, Cyrus 

Of Sangamon county men, the following pro- 
motions were made: Dudley Wickersham, from 
Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel; James Stuart, 
Adjutant to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel; 
Samuel N. Hitt, Captain to Major and Lieuten- 
ant Colonel; Marshall L. Stephenson, Major 
and Colonel Arkansas Volunteers; Gideon 
Bi-ainard, to Adjutant; Henry Turney, Battal- 
ion Adjutant; Thomas D. Vredenburgh, Second 
to First Lieutenant, Battalion Adjutant and 
Major; Thomas O'Conner, Sergeant to Second 
and First Lieutenant and Captain; Jopeph C. 
Johns, Private to Second and First Lieutenant; 
Byron L. Crouch, Corporal to Second and First 
Lieutenant and Captain; John S. Vredenburgh, 
Private to Second and First Lieutenant and 
Captain; John P. Kavanaugh, Private to Sec- 
ond Lieutenant; James E. Butler, Private to 
Second Lieutenant; William Sands, Richard C. 
I Keiley, First Lieutenant to Captain; William A, 



412 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Montgomery, Sergeant to First Lieutenant; 
Alexander Rucker, Corporal to Second Lieuten- 
ant; Tabner B. Pierce, Quartermaster Sergeant 
to First Lieutenant, Captain and Major; Barton 
W. Fox, Private to Second Lieutenant; John 
A. Koontz, Private to Second Lieutenant; John 
G. Roberts, First Lieutenant to Captain; El- 
hanen J. Gearle, First Lieutenant to Captain, 
and Lieutenant Colonel First Arkansas regiment. 

ELEVENTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY B. 

Privates. 
Green, Aaron Herwig, Augustus 

Haines, William A. Whitney, Sylvester 

COMPANY C. 

Privates. 
George, George Foster, Charles A. 

COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Lairmore, Green N. Moore, William 

COMPANY F. 

Privates. 
Mackey, Patrick Venters, John H. 

Matthews, Thomas 

COMPANY K. 

Private. 
Strock, Abraham 

COMPANY M. 

Privates. 
Cudney, Ezekiel Love, Benjamin F. 

Unassigned . 
Alden, Frank Bandal, George 

Goodwin, Charles Wood, Robert G. 

Mclntyre, Charles E. 

TWELFTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY A. 

Privates. 
Kelly, John M. Ashton, James 

Small, Cypreon P. Small, Rual A. 

COJIPANY B. 

Privates. 

Resse, Louis Necknich, Conrad 

COMPANY c. 

Privates. 
Barney, Henry Dyson, William J. 

Lamberton, Jeremiah Walcott, Enos 

Drurey, Richard A. Majors, Richard 



Dowmie, John 



COMPANY D. 

Privates. 

Hatch, Eugene A. B. 



COMPANY E. 

Privates. 
Bedard, Flavian Hudson, Arthur 

Butcher, JSfelson Jarebest, Julius 

Flemming, Edward Moore, Oliver 

Gardner, James Reed, Benjamin 



COMPANY F. 

Privates. 
Gilliland, Joseph Huitt, Jonathan N. B. 

Wallis, Richard Curvey, Owen 

Easley, Robert H. Lewis, David 



Lewis, Samuel 
Phelps, John W. 
Wilson, Cyrus A. 



Ogg, James A. 
Sanders, Stephen N. 
Wilson, Samuel L. 



COMPANY G. 

Private. 
Hensley, Robert 

COMPANY K. 

Pricates. 
Lane, Andrew McConahey, Frederick 

COMPANY M. 

Private . 
Tennis, Franklin 

Unassinged. 
Bessy, Washington Eckhart, George 

Orrick, Henry C. 

THIRTEENTH CAVALRY. 
COMPANY C. 

Private. 
Miller, Charles 

COMPANY G. 



James T. Roach 



Corporals. 

Richard D. Roberts 

Blacksmiths. 
Enoch Kenls 



Privates, 



Belk, Chamberlain 
Brown, Joshua B. 
Creek, Samuel J. 
Draper, John 
Egan, Michael 
Gibbs, Charles N. 
Granke, John 
Grauke, Frederick 
Groves, Joseph 

Tribble, 



Herdman, Daniel F. 
Jones, Thomas 
Jones, Charles H. 
.Jones, Timothy 
Jones, Edward 
Runyon, Gilbert 
Shepard, Thomas 
West, Richard 
Chance, Joseph 
Allen B. 



THIRTEENTH CAVALRY (CONSOLIDATED), 

Officer. 
Adjutant— George F. Williams 

FOURTEENTH CAVALRY. 

Officer. 
Surgeon — Preston H. Bailhache 

COMPANY B. 

Teamster, 
John Oetter 

Private. 
Smith, Joseph 

COMPANY D. 

Officers. 

Captain — Ebenezer L. Foote 

First Lieutenant — Thomas L. Masters 

Second Lieutenant — John Miller 

Corporals. 
Benjamin F. Bradt Frank Martin 

John Rogan 



HISTORY OF SANGAIMON COUNTY. 



413 



Wago7ier. 
John L. Dow 



Atkinson, John 
Butler, Albert O. 
Bower, Henry 
Fowler, John 
Goyer, Charles B. 



Privates. 

Hamilton, John 
McDonald, John A. 
Smith, William 
Turner, John J. 



COMPAKY L. 

Privates . 
Richmond, Charles C. Valentine, Silas 

FIFTEENTH CAVALRY. 

Officers. 
Adjutants — Nathaniel C. Mitchell 

Louis Souther 
Quartermaster — Samuel Stewart 

COMPANY D. 

Private. 
Eubanks, Charles 

COMPANY I. 

Private . 
Jackson, Samuel 

SIXTEENTH CAVALRY. 

Officer. 
Surgeon — Nathaniel W. Webber 

COMPANY ]). 



Privates. 



Barrett, John 
Dluffosch, Joseph 
Frey, Albert 
Guhlke, John 
Gollar, John 
Garvel, Joseph 
Gohmert, William 
Hahn, Peter 
Hanenstein, Cornelius 
Kazmazeck, John 
Kiolbassa, Ignatz 
Lundzin, George 



Obiella, John 
Obsten, Frank 
Peregs, Giovanni 
Rzeppa, John 
Renser, Louis 
Rummel, Fredrick 
Schrocter, Gottlieb 
Schildknicht, Gustave 
Schweikardt, Fredrick 
Woelfel, Richard 
Zowata, Vincent 
Eller, Maximillian 



COMPANY E. 

Officer . 
Commissary Sergeant — Julius Miller. 

Privates. 
Frass, Louis Fritz, Joseph 

Wohringer, Freidrick 

CO>rPANY G. 

Officer . 
Second Lieutenant — Adolph Streiber. 
Privates. 
Bowler, William Straber, Adolph 

Ballow, Anderson J. Siduer, James 

Kummell, Christian Colburn, Thomas 

Nelson, John Phillips, or Phelps, D. 

Russing, Louis 

COMPANY H. 



Privates. 



Hurmanus. Hubert 
Kurn, John 
Kroschel, Louis 
Milton, Napoleon B. 
Williams, Jesse D. 
Bundenstein, Theo 
Johnson, Edward 



Henni, Jacob F. 
Kaiser, Balthaser 
Liirkiu, Thomas 
Weiss, Otto 
White, George 
Colby, Smith 
Myers, Andrew N. 



COMPANY I. 

Private. 
Dunn, Robert T. 



COMPANY K. 



Brown, Jacob 
McCabe, Patrick 



Privates . 

Crawford, William 
Claywell, Francis M . 



COMPANY L. 



Corporal. 
Otho L. McLain 



Privates. 



Anderson, Begaleel B. 
Ashby, John 
Bradford, William C. 
Durvilbes, George 
Derby, Lemuel L. 
Dooley, James 
Fagan, James 



Rudd, Thaddeus 
Taylor, William 
Taylor, Alexander 
Phillips, William H. 
Weaver, David 
Watts, William 
Robinson, Albert T. 



COMPANY' M. 

Corporal . 
Lewis A. Townbridge. 
Musician. 
John Saberville. 

Privates. 
Butler, Pleasant G. Edwards, William H. 



Franco, Bernado 
O'Hara, James 
Smith, William 
George, Coleman C. 
McCoy, Samuel 
Pettebone, Ellas 



Ganone, John 
Stevens, Albert S. 
Wright, Marion 
Martin, John E. 
Robinson, James 
Williams, Elias 



Unassigned. 
Kelley Michael 

FIRST ARTILLERY^. 
BATTERY' D. 

Privates. 
Brockway, Nelson B. Hickey, Bartholomew 

BATTERY E. 

Private. 
Briggins, Patrick 

BATTERY F. 



Pricates . 



Losee, Joseph P. 
Brock, Andrew 
Blair, William 
Dally. Thomas 
Driscoll, David 
Eads, Nathan G. 
Gleason, Peter 
Horen, Charles 
Haight, Eugene N. 
Hartford, Perr}' 

Weaver, 



Lewis, George J. 
Mit.s, Thomas J. 
McCoy, Martin 
NcManus, Michael 
Phillips, William 
Renland, Peter 
Risley, Ezra B. 
Risley, John W. 
Schuyler, El am A. 
Tober, Joseph 
George 



BATTERY G. 

Officer. 
Captain — Arthur O'Leary 
Privates. 
Romange. John Eberhardt, George 

Miller, James S. 

BATTERY' II. 

Officers. 
Captain — Axel, Silfversparie 
Second Lieutenant — EdAvard Adams 



414 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



BATTEllY Q. 

Frivaten. 
Thompson, John Bond James 

BATTERY M. 

Erivate. 
McAllister, John G. 
Unassiyned . 
Gugerke, Conrad Mullen, Daniel 

Goss, Victor Sheehan, John 

Gudgel, Thomas Sullivan, John 

Hoffman, Samuel Wynne, Hugh 

Wardaugh, George 

SECOND ARTILLERY. 

Regimental Officers. 
Colonel— Thomas S. Mather 
Majors— Adolph Schwartz 

James P. Flood 
Adjutant— Isaac N. Higgins 

Private. 
Triebel, William 

BATTERY C. 

Officers. 
Captain — Caleb Hopkins 
First Lieutenant — James P. Flood 
Second Lieutenant — Alexander Bushby 

Sergeant Major. 
Elijah V. Moore 
Sergeants. 
Eben Willey Thomas Mclntyre 

Corporals . 
James Pringle James Ban- 

Napoleon Davis 

BATTERY D. 

Private. 
Brennenstall, R. R. 

BATTERY F. 

Privates. 
Cowardiu, John Cooper, D. 

Layhaner, Jeremiah Peterling, John J. 

BATTERY H. 

Privates. 
Ball, Emery S. Hartman, Augustus 

Ashurst, Perry Ritcher, Otto 

BATTERY I. 

Privates . 
Fanning, John or Jahue Murphy, Samuel S. 

BATTERY K. 

Privates . 
Stingier, John M. Bassett, Marquis 

Reynolds, George D. Wallace, John 

BATTERY L. 

Private . 
Riggs, Daniel U. 

Unassigned. 
Galligan, Michael Smith, John L. 

CHICAGO BOARD OP TRADE BATTERY. 

Private . 
Lynch, Michael 



CHICAGO MERCANTILE BATTERY. 



Privates. 
Crosby, John F. 
Bell, William 
Beckembaugh, George 
Burns, Francis 
Billington, James 
Barr, Henry C. 
Culver, Phineas N. 
Cayhoe, John R. 
Doselbcrt, John 
Denny, William 
Drennan, Delos 
Hopkins, Charles 

Beer 
Babcock, Jasper D. 
Chriswell, Samuel F 
Clay, Henry 
Delay, William 
Durbin, Gabriel 
Garner, Isaac N. 
Haines, Francis 
Harris, Jopriah 
Harris, Nodley 



Haynes, John G. 
Haynes, Benjamin K. 
Howell, Stephen S. 
Parrisli, Samuel 
Putney, Abel 
Smith, John 
Smith, Robert 
Saunders.Richard or D'd 
Tabor, Delonna 
Wellaud, Chris 
Barr, James 
Suttle, John A. 

uits. 

Howard, Mortica 
Harney, John 
Price, James 
Pulley, Francis M. 
Bobbins, John J. 
Short, William 
Shields, Cliarles 
Wood, Thomas 
Yocum, Robert F. 



SPRINGFIELD LIGHT ARTILLERY. 

Officers. 
First Lieutenant — Edward B. Stilling 
Second Lieutenant — Louis D. Rosette 

Sergeant Major. 
Louis B. Smith 

First Sergeant. 
Alexander Busby 

Q. M. Sergeant. 

William E. Fitzhugh 

Sergeants. 

Ward Bartram August Schilds 

John McCormack 

Corporals. 
Marcel DuBoice John W. Spring 

Charles Lay ton Isaac Vaughn 

Jacob S. Newman 

Guidon. 
Asa W. Mason 
Ariiticers. 
Oriu S. Lobdell Patrick Ring 

Bugler. 
Adolph Traurig 

Wagoner. 
Thomas Fox 



Privates . 



Bahn, Charles 
Barry, Henry E. 
Baumuuk, Henry 
Bourke, Michael J 
Burgess, Ridi,ard V. 
Burns, Barney 
Burch, George 
Burns, John 
Chick, Robert 
Colvin, Robert 
Cottet, Jules 
Cull, Michael 
Cullum, Joseph 



Henry, LeviE. 
Irwin, James 
Knight, James W. 
Luswell, James 
Lyons, James 
Meyer, James 
Mentemever, Chas. F. 
Millette, Frank 
Miller, Jacob 
McClure, William 
O'Brien, James 
Pilcher, William S. 
Pitman, James G. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



415 



DjQucUy, Edward C. 
Donnelly, John T. 
Fadclis, Henry S. 
Forrell, William C. 
Fuller, Miner S. 
Flood, Albert 
Gordon, John H. 
Hartman, John 
Harman, Peter 
Hiachee, William W. 



Schlemmer, John 
Segin, Henry 
Shipton, Thomas 
Stevanson, James 
Vliet, Joseph 
Werts, John 
Williams, William ' 
Wales, William F. 
Wall, Johnson C. 
Wright, William J. 



Recruits. 



Butler, David 
Crafts, Lewis W. 
Caldwell, John 
Davis, Henry 
Donlan, John 
Doran, James or John 
Downey, Patrick 
Elder, Hugh A. 
Estes, John 
Hilve tz or Helvety 
Victor, F. 
Hayes, John 
Jacobs, Daniel 
Johnston, Charles 
Kinsley, William 
King, Alexander J. 
Kiley, John 
List, Nicholas 



JVIcCandlass, James 
Morehead, William 
McKeever, Thomas 
McFall, John 
Marrin, Conner 
E.Pritchard, John F. 
Pendergast, Thomas 
Peabody, Edwin R. 
Russell, John J. 
Ragan, Timothy O. 
Ryan, James 
Shields, John C. 
Smith, George M. 
Smith, James G. 
Smith, John H, 
Smith, Benjamin F. 
Smith, Thomas H. 
Squires, Thomas B. 



This battery was organized at Camp Butler, 
Illinois, by Captain Thomas F. Vaughn, and 
was known as the " Springfield Light Artillery." 
It was mustered in August 21, 1862. 

November 1, moved to Columbus, Kentucky, 
and on the 8th, to Bolivar, Tennessee. Decem- 
ber 18, moved to Jackson with the command of 
Brigadier General M. Brayman. Was engaged 
in several expeditions from Jackson during the 
winter. On June 6, 1863, left Bolivar, and was 
stationed on the Memphis & Charleston railroad 
— one section at Moscow, Lieutenant Thomas 
commanding; one at Germantown, Lieutenant 
Stillings cotnmanding, and one at Collierville, 
Lieutenant Colby commanding. 

On June 20th, the battery was united, and 
assigned to Second Brigade, First Division, 
Sixteenth Army Corps, Colonel James M. True 
commanding brigade, and started for Little 
Rock, Arkansas, and participated in its capture 
September 10, 1868. 

One section of the battery. Lieutenant Colby 
commanding, was ordered to Lewisburg, where 
it remained until March 16. 1864. The battery 
was then assigned to the Second Brigade, First 
Division, Seventh Army Corps. 

It then moved with General Steele's expedi- 
dition to Camden, Arkansas, participating in 
the several skirmishes of the campaign, and the 
battles of Prairie D'Arm and at Jenkin's Ferry, 
when the battery, being with the rear guard, 

48— 



at midnight, repelled a cavalry charge with 
grape and canister. 

Returned to Little Rock May 8, 1864, and 
remained until ordered to Springfield, Illinois. 
Was mustered out June 30, 1865. 

TWEXTY-Nf>rTII COLORED INFANTRY. 
COMPANY D. 

Privates. 
Hodge, Willis See, James 

Waddle, John 

FIRST ARMY CORPS. 
COMPANY 1. 

Privates. 
Maul, Henry Masters, William 

Bassett, Francis E. 

COMPANY 7. 

Privates. 
Willis, George W. Frazier, John F. 

Hollingsworth, William Henry, John 

COMPANY 11. 

Private. 
Sanford, Edmund 

RECRUITS FOR REGULAR ARMY. 
THIRTEENTH U. S. INFANTRY. 

Privates. 



Armstrong, Robert 
Austion, Oliver 
Anderson, John 
Ballard, George W. 
Blair, Robert 
Buchanan, Isaac 
Brister. John 
Barker, Charles 
Bargei , John R. 
Boux-ke, Patrick 
Callingburg, Louis 
Canterbury, James A. 
Cumming, George A. P. 
Calvert Thomas 
Curry, Aaron 
Chapman, Isaac 
Conner, John O. 
Deerner, Orlin H. 
Dome, James 
Fitzsimmons, Michael 
Finney, Dennis 
Fleck, William 
Fletcher, Fisher F. 
Gallagher, Patrick 
Howard, Thomas H. 
Hiukle, William H. 
Hendley, John 
Hughes, William 
Higgins, Silas C. 
Holsey, John H. 
Hargraves, Henry 
Johnson, William J. 
Jackson, George W. 
Jones, Lewis 
Johnson, John A. 
Keel, William 
Kendall, George W. 
Lacey, James 
Loveless, George W. 
Lashlev, Samuel C. 



Leahana, Jeremiah 
Lynam, Zenas G. 
Maa, John 
Moore, John 
Moore, Thomas 
Morgan, William 
Mirl, Jacob 

McCambridge, Patrick 
McAndrews, Michael 
Miller, Wilhelm 
Mahoney, Michael 
Morgain, James 
•McDonald, William 
O'Brien, Maurice 
O'Neill, William 
Perrinne, Erastus 
Pilcher, Newton J. 
Pillion, Thomas 
Rull, Jacob 
Reid, Cyrus M. 
Sidener, Samuel W. 
Snider, Lo lis 
Slawson, Howard F. 
Stearns, John 
Shipley, James R. 
Shafuer, George * 

Shortzer, Joseph G. 
Spears, Myron 
Scull, William 
Smith, George P. 
Turner, William H. 
Troy, James 
Tipple, Henry 
Thurston, Frank 
Wood, John 
Wav, Allen W. 
Willis, William 
Wells, James 
Watkins, John W. 



416 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



NINETEENTH UNITED STATES INFANTUY. 

Private. 

Walsh, John 

Hospital Steioard United States Army. 

Robinson, James 

ROLL OF HONOR. 

"It is sweet and honorable to die for one's 
country." Thus it can be written over the 
graves of many thousands of men who now 
sleep the "sleep of death" in soldiers' graves. 
Sangamon county has furnished her quota of 
noble dead, as will be seen by the following 
roll, embracing names of some of the bravest 
and best of her sons. They are gone, but their 
names are I'everently remembered by a grateful 
people. They are gone, but their deeds are re- 
membered. Let them sleep on, while their 
praises are being sung through all coming time. 
Following are the names: 

Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States and 
Commander-in-Chief, 

Colonel Simon P. Ohr, died September 14, 1864. 

Major Frederick W Matteson, died August 8, 1S62. 

Capto-in Henry W. Allen, killed b}' a Sergeant. 

Captain John E. Sullivan, killed in action, October 
5, 1864. 

Captain Noah E Mendell, killed at Fort Donelson. 

C.ipta n Edwin AUsop, killed in battle, December 31, 
1862. 

Lieutenant Adam E. Vrooman, died at Cape Gi- 
rardeau, Missouri, September, 1861. 

Lieutenant William W. FoutcH. deceased. 

Lieutenant Marshall M. Mclntire, killed at Fort 
Donelson. 

Lieutenant John F. Cassity. Died. 

Lieutenant John P. Kavanaugh, killed in battle, 
August 27, 1863, 

Lieutenant Edward Adams, killed July 10, 1863. 

Lieuienant EMjah V. Moore, killed February i;, 1863. 

Lieutenant William Bishop, killed in battle, Septem- 
ber 20, 1S63. 

Lieutenant William Earnest, died July 14, 1S63. 

Lieutenant Thomas J. Williams, died at Cotton Hill; 
Illinois, Norember 5, 1862. 

Surgeon Alvin S French, killed at Guntown, Missis- 
sippi, June 10, 1864. 

Adjutant Arthur Lee Bailhache, died. 

Adjutant William H. Latham, died at Springfield, 
Illinois, December 21, 1862. 

Atkinson, John, died in Andersonville prison, Sep- 
tember 25, 1864. 

Alden," Frank, died at Camp Butler, Illinois, March 

Anderson, Benjamin M., died afe Nashville, Tennes- 
see, January I, 1863. 

Ashbill, H. Soles, died at Memphis, April 30, 1S64. 

Ashford, Samuel F., died at Memphis, November 25, 
1862. „^ 

Allen, Robert, died at Memphis, September 13, 1864. 

Armstrong, James, died at Camp Butler, Illinois, 
October 3. 1862 

Aylesvvorlh, Ezra M., First Sergeant, killed at 
Chickatnauga, September 20, 1863. 



Avaritt, Nathan, killed at Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas, 
August 8, 1863. 

Alfred, James, died at Springfield, Illinois, June 2, 
1862. 

Alison, Moses D , died at RoUa, Missouri, December 
18, 1861. 

Boardman, Moses, died at Camden, Arkansas, April 
22, 1S64. 

Bushby, Alexander, died at Springfield, Illinois, July 
21, :S64. 

Burgess, Richard V., died at Bolivar, Tennessee, 
March 19, 1863. 

Bollyjack, John, killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 

Brown, J. V., died at Mound City, November 27, 1862. 

Ballard, Richard L , killed at Mission Ridge, Novem- 
ber 25, 1863. 

Bruden, Russell, killed at Ressaca, Georgia, May 13, 
1S64. 

Brown, Mason, died at Monteiey, Tennessee, June 
4, 1S63. 

Burk, Benjamin F , died at Andersonville prison, 
August 15, 1864. 

Broderick, Goorge IL, died at Davis' Mills, Missis- 
sippi, January i, 1863. 

Biukhart, John, killed at Guntown, Mississippi, June 
10, 1864. 

Brewer, James D., died at Danville, Virginia — pris- 
oner of war. 

Bums, Thomas, died at Memphis, Tennes-see, Febru- 
ary 29, 1864. 

Burricklow, James T., died at Memphis, Tennessee, 
March 12, 1865. 

Blankenship, Robert W., died in Indiana, May 27, 
1865. 

Bartram, Wells, died at Bairdstown, Kentucky, 
October 12, 1862. 

Bucher, Moses O., died at Paducah, Kentucky, Sep- 
tetnber 17, 1863. 

Bowman, William H., died at Memphis, August 16, 
1864. 

Bowman, Charles H., died at Memphis, September 
6, 1863. 

Blue, William M., killed at Guntown, Mississippi, 
June 10, 1864. 

Bunifoj-d, William, killed at Tupelo, Mississippi, 
July 13, 1864. 

Breckenrid"'e, Joseph, died in Christian county, Illi- 
nois, October 31, 1863, 

Black, Francis J., died near Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. 

Berrv, Charles, died at Memphi>, December 5, 1864. 

Brock, Elias, died at Memphis, December 5, 1862. 

Bradshaw, Thomas, died at Duckport, Louisiana, 
May 4, 1864. 

Burton, George, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, No- 
vember I, 1863. 

Baird, John, killed in action at Parker's Cross Roads, 
Tennessee, December 31, 1S62. 

Bailev, William, died at Tullahoma, T. , August 31, 
1863 

Burge, John, died at Memphis, March 7, 1864. 

Buffington, William, killed by guerillas near Phila- 
delphia, Mississippi, April 24, 1863. 

Boutwell, Milo, died at Oldtown Landing, Arkansas, 
September 22, 1863. 

Brum, August, died at Oldtown Landing, Arkansas, 
September 11, 1862. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



417 



Byers, Joseph W., died at Helena, Arkansas, Novem- 
ber I, 1863. 

Buff, Henry, died at Van Biiren Hospital, Louisiana, 
June 27, 1864. 

Beard, Martin, died at Bloomfield, Arl ansas, Sep- 
tember 6, 1S63. 

Crawford, William, died in AnL'ersonville prison 
June 15, 1864. 

Colburn, William, die<l in Andersonville prison 
Augnst 14, 1864. 

Colburn, Thomas, died in Andersonville prison 
June 20, 1864. 

Craven, Jame«, killed at Shilol", April 6, 1862. 

Chriswell, Samuel F., died at Fort Donelson, Decem- 
ber 29, 1864. 

Combs, Silas T., died ar Memphis, Tennessee, De- 
cember 31, 1863. 

Cope, Peter W., died in Richmond prison Decem- 
ber 6, 1863. 

Carson, Tovvnsend, killed at, Dallas, Georgia, May 
27, 1864, 

Canon, Patrick, killed at Kene«aw Mountain, June 
14, 1864. 

Campbell, Joseph C, died at Chatham, Illinois, Sep- 
tember 15, 1863. 

Cox, Josiah, died April, 1862. 

Carter, Alfred, died at New Orleans, April 18, 1865. 

Carrigan, Edward, died January 13, 1863, of wounds. 

Clark, Benjamin F., died at Memphis, February 28, 
1865. 

Clare, Daniel, died January 30, 1863, of wounds. 

Campbell, Joseph, died Reeve's Station, Missouri, 
March 17. 1862. 

Cary, Joseph L., died in Andersonville prison. 

Cooper, Henrv, killed at Yellow Bayou, Louisiana, 
May 18, 1864. 

Curreji, Owen, died in Andersonville prison. 

Crone, Nelson, died at Nashville, Tennessee, January 
25, 1863. 

Colburn, Gilbert O., died in Andersonville prison 
July I, 1864. 

Clark, Thomas A., died at Little Rock^ Arkansas, 
October 17, 1863. 

Conley, James, died at Springfield, Illinois, February 

10, 1864." 

Cantrall, William, died at Memphis, July 9, 1864. 

Christler, Philip, died at Vicksburg, November 9, 
1863. 

Corson, Charles P., killed at Tupelo, Mississippi, 
July 13, 1864. 

Cantrall, Albert A., died at Wilmington, Nor;h 
Carolina, March 2, 1865. Caused by starvation while in 
rebei prison. 

Cantrall, Edward T., fifer, died at Vicksburg, July 

11, 1863. 

Conner, Wilson, died at Camp Butler, Octcber 29 
1862. 

Cooley, Willis, died at Memphis, April 21, 1864. 

Cantrall, George, W., died at Chickasaw Springs, 
June 29, 1863. 

Center, Edward R., died in Andersonville prison, 
September i, 1S64. 

Copple, William, died at Nashville, Tenn., March 8, 
1865. 

Copple, Morgan, died at Chatanooga, March 5, 1S65. 

Clark, William H., died at Benton Barracks, Mo., 
June 29, 1S62. 



Cross, Edwin, died at Farmington, Mi^-s., July iS, 1862. 

Cox, Frederick, died at DuvalTs Bluff, Ark , Tune 27, 
1S63, 

Campbell, Samuel, died at Little Rock, Ark., October 
29, 1S62. 

Chambers. Edward R., died at Little Rock, Ark., 
October 15, 1864. 

Charles Fox, died at Bayou Metre, Ark., September 

14, 1863. 

Campbell, Joseph, died at Springfield, 111 , March 28, 
1864. 

Derby, Lemuel C, died at Richmond, Va.,July 16, 
1864, while prisoner of war. 

Dooley, James R., died in Andersonville prison, July 

15. 1864. 

Davis, William, died at Springfield, HI , May 21, 1863. 

Carey, Ira, killed at AUatoona Pass, Ga., October c, 
1864. 

Delaney, William, died at Danville, Miss., Julv 11, 
1S63. 

Driscoll, Simpson, killed at Vicksburg, May 21, 1S63. 

Driscoll, Lewis, died at Ironton, Mo., December c, 
1S61. 

Dwire, John, killed at Vicksburg, May 30, 1S63. 

Daws, Henry died in Andersonville prison. 

Daugherty, John, died at Memphis, July 20, 1864, of 
wounds. 

David Cook, died at Chickamauga, September 20, 
1863, of wounds. 

Dodd, William H., died at Perryville, Ky., October 
8, 1S62. 

Deardoff, Thomas B., died at Memphis May 8, 1864. 

DeFreitas, Frank, F., killed at Nashville, December 
15, 1S64. 

Darden, Thomas J., died at Memphis, February 2^, 
1863. 

Dickenson, Alexander C.,died at St. Louis, Septem- 
ber 16, 1^63. 

Davis, John W., died at home, August 21, 1863. 

Davis, Willard D., died at Vicksburg, November 30, 
1864 

Duff, Abraham, died at Quincy, 111., February 18. 1862. 

Early, Ambrose, died at St. Louis, May 10, 1862 

Eckler, Edward, died at Camp Butler, 111., January 
24, 1864. 

Edmans, Andrew J., Died at Camp Butler, 111., Janu- 
ary 13, 1865. 

Emerson, Ira, died May 16, 1S65, 

Evans, Aquille, died at Memphis, May 6, 1864. 

Easley, Thomas H., died at Benton Barracks, ;March 
14, 1862. 

Edwards, James J., died at Hazlewood, Mo., March 
7, 1863. 

Evans, Joseph, died at Quincy, 111., February, 20, 1862. 

Frey, Albert, Sergeant, died in Andersonville prison, 
April 13, 1864. 

Fowler, John, died in Andersonville prison, April 13, 
1S64. 

Frass, Louis, died in Andersonville prison, April 8, 
1864. 

P^ox, Thomas, drowned in Arkansas river, at Little 
Rock, Ark., March 12, 1863. 

Fuller, Miner S., died at Little Rock, Ark., July 3, 
1864. 

Flanagan, Thomas J., died at Fort Holt, Ky., October 
I s, 1861. 



418 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Farmer, Thomas, died at Ironton, Mo., November lo, 
i86i. 

F^armer, Ephraim, died at Ironton, Mo., November 
28. 1 861, 

Fisher, John B., died at Cairo, December 13, 1S61. 
Frankh'n, Luther, 'died June 10, 1864, of wounds. 
Fortune^ Francis A., died at Nashville, Tenn., Feb- 
ruary 6, 1863. 

Foster, Daniel G. ,died at Chicamauga, September 20, 
1863, of wounds. 

Foster, John R., died at Chickamauga, September 20, 
1863, of wounds. 

Frisbj, Charles, died at Jackson, Mississippi, Febru- 
ary 3, 1863. 

Fullenwider, Solomon, died at Camp Butler, Illinois, 
January 10, 1864. 

Flemming, John, died at Nashville, Tennessee, July 
8, 1865. 

Fisher, Hiram, died Februar}' 6, 1864. 

Fehr, Henry, died at Black River Bridge, Mississippi, 
July 25, 1863. 

Frink, Horace, died at Okalona, Mississippi, June I4, 
1S65. 

Foley, Edward, died at Vicksburg, September 10, 1864. 

Fagan, Brice H., died at Little Rock, Arkansas, De- 
cember 10, 1863. 

Fanchilds, Isaac B., died June 28, 1S62, of wounds. 

Gover, Charles B., died at Jeftersonville, Indiana, 
April 7, 1S63 

Gleason, Peter, died ^ at Athens, Illinois, September 
22, 1863 

Gambrel, James L., died at Camp Dennison, Ohio, 
May 7, 1862. 

Griffin, Samuel, killed at Stone River, December 31, 
1862. 

Gibland, John, killed at Pittsburg Landing, April 5, 
1862. 

Galigan, Michael, died September 24, 1863. 

Grubendyke, died June 27, 1863, of wounds. 

Garner, Elijah, died at; Memphis, January 29, 1S63. 

GotTnett, Celestine, died at Carrollton, Louisiana, 
September 14, 1863. 

Gorham, David, died at St. Louis, October 6, 1862. 

Green, William M., killed at Peach Tree Creek, 
Georgia, July 20, 1864. 

Griffitts, Asbery, died at Memphis^ May 18, 1864. 

Griffitts,John W.,died September 20, 1863, of wounds. 

Greenwood, Thomas, died at Nashville, Tennessee, 
January 16, 1863. 

Gordon, Jackson, supposed to be dead. 

Greer, Martin, died at Camp Butler, March 31, 1864. 

Gritlith, William, died at Memphis, January 6, 1864. 

Gholson, William T., died July 7, 1863. 

Goodenough, Elliott, killed at Stone River, December 
30, 1862. 

Hensley, Robert, died at Springfield, Illinois, March 
28, 1862. 

Haight, Eugene N., died at Nashville, Tennessee. 

Hartford, Perry, died at Pittsburg Landing, July 12, 
1862. 

Hickey, Bartholomew, died at Vicksburg, August 24, 
1862. 

Hamilton, Seth, killed atShiloh, April 6, 1862. 

Humphries, Urias, drowned in New river. South Car- 
olina, January, 1865. 

Hammonds John, died at Grand Junction, Tennessee, 
November 17, 1S62. 



Henson, Thomas, died at Vicksburg, November 25, 
1863. 

Holland, Aaron, killed at Vicksburg, May 21, 1863. 
ILirris, William H., died at Murfreesboro, July 13, 
1863. 

Hensley, Lorenzo D., died at Memphis, November 19, 
1863. 

Harrington, George W., died at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, February 5, 1865. 

Hemphill, James, died at Atlanta, November 10, 1863, 
prisoner of war. 

Hudson, Philo D., killed at Franklin, Tennessee, No- 
vember 30, 1864. 

Hudson, George, died at Chattanooga, June 10, 1864, 
of wounds. 

Hudson, Iven D , died at Nashville, Tennessee, No- 
vember 28, 1862. 

Herlev, James P., died at Nashville, December 3, 
1862. 

Heredith, William, died at Memi)his, September 19, 
1863. 

Henson, William, died at Berlin, Illinois, September 
17, 1S63. 

Hadley,John H., died at Ruft's Mills, Georgia, July 
4, 1864. 

Henderson, Granderson, died at Jackson. Tennessee, 
March 8, 1863. 

Headrick, Munson, died at Vicksbui-g, October 12, 
1863. 

Hull, Henry H., died at Knoxville, Tennessee, De- 
cember 19, 1863. 

Hurd, John, died at Duckport, Louisiana, June 17, 
1863. 

Hawker, David Cor., died at Vicksburg, November 
24, 1863. 

Houston, John A., died at Springfield, Illinois, May 
22, 1863. 

Hendrick, John R., died at Camp Butler, Illinois, 
March 14, 1864. 

Hickin. William H., died at Memphis, January 20, 
1863. 

Henline. William O., died at Nashville, Tennessee, 
April 26, 1862. 

Harris, George W., died at Rock Island, Illinois, 
August 26, 1864. 

Heaton, Hill, died of wounds received at Lexington, 
Missouri, September 18, 1861. 

Hurd, Stephen, died at Memphis, September 12, 1S62. 
Ham, William P., died May 11, 1862. 
Harvey, James, died at Arkansas Post, January 11, 
1863. 

Holt, George 8., died in Andersonville prison, Octo- 
ber 27, 1864. 

Hughes, Levi, killed at Summerville, T., December 26, 
1S63. 

Harrison, George, died at Nashville, Tennessee, April 
27, 1864. 

Headly, Daniel S., killed at Mud Town, Arkansas, 
December 30, 1S62. 

Henrv, Thomas F., died at St. Louis, May, 1862. 
Hillis", Alexander, died at Memphis, September 14, 
1863. 

Ingles, William V., died at Springfield, October 12, 
1862. 

Inglish, William F., died at Chickamauga, !;^eptember 
20. 1863, wounds. 

Ice, Fredrick, died at St. Louis, May 8, 1863. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



419 



Jones, James, died at Helena, Arkansas, October 2, 
1862. 

Jarnagin, Spencer L , died at Mound City, Illinois, 
December 15, 1862. 

Johnson, John W., killed at Alatoona Pass, October 
4, 1864. 

Johnson, Giles, died at Fort Holt, Kentucky, January 
29, 1S62. 

Jones, Moses A., died at Memphis, January 10, 1863. 
Jourdan, William H. H., died at Tenn, March 18, 
1863. 

Johnson, William, died atTuscum creek, June i, 1863, 
ot" wounds. 

James W. Dodds, killed near Tupelo, Mississippi, 
July 15, 1864. 

Johnson, Orrin D., died at Memphis, January 18, 1864. 
Johnson, Thomas, died at New Orleans, October 30, 
1863. 

Johnson, Joseph, died at Springfield, Missouri, Mav, 
1862. 

Kroschel, Louis, died in Andersonville prison, April 
15, 1864, 

Kelly, Martin, Accidentally killed on the Ohio & 
Mississippi railroad, September 17, 1861. 

Kalb, William E. B., killed at Guntown, Mississippi, 
June 10, 1S64. 

Kavanaugh, Michael, died at Selma, Alabama, No- 
vember II, 1864. 

Kearns, Perry I., died at Mobile, Alabama, August 
10, 1S64, while prisoner of war, of wounds. 

Kneff, Benjamin F., died near Vicksburg, August 3, 
1863. 

Kalb, James F., killed near Tupelo, Mississippi, July 
15, 1S64. 

Killinger, Jacob S., killed at Stone River, Decembei- 
31, 1862. 

Kohl, Nicholas, died January 18, 1863, of wounds. 
Kidd, James M., died at Bowling Green, Kentucky, 
November 3, 1S62. 

Kilby, Loyd M., died at Lagrange, Tennessee, De- 
cember 7, 1862. 

Kalb, William A., killed at Vicksburg, May 19, 1863. 
Knop, Joseph H., died at Helena, Arkansas, August 
10, 1862. 

Kelly, Michael, died at Little Lock, Arkansas, De- 
cember 12, 1863. 

Koch, Simon, died at Springfield, Missouri, June i, 
1862. 

Kelley, Thomas J , killed at Marsh ville, Missouri, 
October 22, 1S62. 

Lewis, Charles, killed at Pittsburg Landing, April 6, 
1862 

Lane, William, died at New Albany, Indiana, Sep- 
tember 23, 1864. 

Lovd, Reuben, died at Ironton, Missouri, November 
5, i86[. 

Lamb, John, died at Duckport, Louisiana, June 28, 
1863 

Lake, James, died at Mobile, Alabama, June 24, 1864, 
o wounds. 

Ligiitfoot, Reuben H., died January 5, 1863, wounds. 

Lan erman, John L., died at Murfreesboro, Tennes- 
see, April 3, 1S63. 

Lewis, Paul, died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Augusts, 
1864. 

Lands, Ezra B., died at Duvall's Blufi", Arkansas, 
September 8, 1S65. 



Landlam, Leaming, died at Montgomery, Alabama, 
March 24, 1865, while prisoner of war. 

Lytle, Simon, died in rebel prison at Florence, South 
Carolina, February 7 1S65. 

Lawrence, Henry F., ditd at Memphis, Ma}- 10, 1864. 
Lanhem, George W , died June 27, 1S63 of wounds. 
Lottis, John, died at Memphis, February 21, 1863. 
Little, Joseph A., died at Helena, Arkansas, October 
12, 1862. 

Lockridge, Robert A., died at Marshfield, Missouri, 
November 18, 1862. 

Lowin, Benjamin, died at Glasgow, Iowa, July 5, 
1862. 

Lewis. James, died at St. Louis, December 29, 1S62. 
Mason, Henrv, died at Chickasaw Springs, June 7, 
1S63. 

Mclntyre, Charles E., died at Carhp Butler, Illinois. 
McCoy, Samuel, died at Annapolis, Maryland, April 
2, 1864. 

McManus, Michael, died at Springfield, Illinois, 
April 8, 1864. 

McCormick, John, drowned at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
March 12, 1863. 

Mentemeyer, Charles F., died at Little Rock, Arkan- 
sas, September 13, 1863, of wounds. 

My r-:, Charles J., killed at Altoona Pass, Georgia. 
Oc'ober 5, 1864. 

Morgan, Byron E.. died at Louisville, Kentucky 
April 22, 1862. 

McGraw, James, killed at Nashville, Tennessee, Sep- 
tember 12, 1862. 

Mclnarny, Patrick, died January 1st, 1863, from 
wounds. 

Maxwell, Abner Y., died at Berlin, Illinois, Decem- 
ber 26, 1863. 

McGhee, George, died at Jackson, Tennessee, Octo- 
ber 23, 1862. 

Murdock Albert, killed near Atlanta, Georgia, July 
22, 1864. 

Miller, William, died at Vicksburg, March 14, 1864. 
Maag, Charles W., killed at Vicksburg May 22, 1863. 
McDonald, James, died at Pilot Knob, Missouri, 
January 4, 1863. 

McCasland, Thomas, killed at Stone River, Decem- 
ber 31, 1862. 

Mulqueen, Patrick, died at Nashville, November 15, 
1863, of wounds. 

McP^erson, John, killed at Stone River. December 
31, 1862. 

Misner, Christopher, d'ed at Louisville. Kentucky, 
December 2, 1862. 

McCormack, William H., died at Nashville, Ten- 
nes ee, August 5, 1864. 

Mantle, Charles B., killed at Stone River, December 
31, 1862. 

McComas, Elisha T., died at Murfreesboro, January 
6, 1863, of wounds. 

Mills, James, died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Jan- 
uarv 6, 1863, of wounds. 

Matthew, Alexander, killed at Mission Ridge, No- 
vember 21;. 1SG3 

Malcomb, Joseph, died at New Orleans, March i, 
1864 

Moore. John, died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Novem- 
ber 6, 1864 

Morris, Edwin, died nt Berlin. Illinois, October S, 
T'=63. 



420 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



McDaniels. James, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
October iS, 1863. 

McClure, Hiram, died at Ken^on, Tennessee, No- 
vember 28, 1S62. 

Miller, George \V , died at Camp Butler, Illinois, 
February 6, 1S65, 

Murray, Jesse C, died at Memphis, December 23, 
1863. 

Morgan, George W., died Eastport, Mississippi, Jan- 
uary 21, 1S65 

Mathews, John P , died in Sangamon county, HH 
nois, November 30, 1863. 

Morton, Frank A., died a' Carlinville Illinois, Oc- 
tober 16, 1862. 

Milton, Woodruff, killed at Guntown, Mississippi, 
June 10, 1864. 

Moore, T^irnes L., killed at Guntown, Mississippi, 
June 18, 1864. 

McC eese, Henry, died at Springfield, Illinois, Oc- 
tober 12, 1862. 

McCawley, Geo'ge, k'lled at Fort Blakely, Alabama, 
April 5, 1865. 

Manning, Matthew, killed at Spanish Fort. Alabama, 
April 6, 1S63. 

Miller, Alfred, died at Memphis, Tennessee. 

Mengal, Levi B., died at Le Providence, Louisiana, 
April 12, 1862. 

McKean, Zadock, died at Baton Rouge, April 15, 
186^, • f wounds. 

Miller, William H., died at Rock Island, August 28, 
1864. 

Malone, Francis M., died at Li'tle Rock, Arkansas, 
September 15, 1S63. 

Maloue, Jo<hua, died at Benton Barracks, Mii^souri, 
March 28, 1862. 

Myers. John A., died at Benton Barracks, Missouri, 
April I f, 1862. 

Mathews Norman C, died Rochester, Illinois, Jan- 
uary 13. 1S64. 

McGinnis, Samuel, died at Camp Butler, Illinois, Jan- 
uary 27, 1864. 

Nichols, David, died near Corinth, Mississippi, June 
2, 1862. 

Nutt, John, died June 3, 1863. of wounds. 

Napper, Wren, died near Vicksburg, October 2, 
1S62. 

Nicholson, George R., died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 
November 22, 1864. 

Nelson, Samuel died at Memphis, Tennessee, Sep- 
tember 5. 1864. 

Newhart Lawrence, died at Franklin, Tennessee, 
March 30, 1863, 

Niman, John D., died at Ea-tport, Mississippi, May 
13, 1865. 

Xewberry, Leonidas, died at Eastport, Mississippi, 
April 19. 1865. 

Obiella, John, died in Anderstnville prison. June 24, 
1864. 

Obsten, Frank, died in AndersonviVe prison, June 
15, 1864. 

O'Biien, James, died at Little Reck, Arkansas, No- 
vember 8, 1863. 

O'Brian. Daniel, died Chattanooga, October i. 1S62. 

Owen, Napoleon, died at Farmington, Mississippi, 
July 12, 1S62. 

Owens, Henry C, killed before Atlanta. August G, 
1864. 



O'Neill, James, killed at Stone River, December 31, 
1862. 

Orr, William H, died at Memphis, Tennessee, De- 
cember ^5, 1863. 

Osborn, John, died at Fort Henry, Manh 5, 1862. 

Phillips, or Phelps, D., killed in action near Tunnel 
Hill, Georgia, May 12, 1864. 

Pettibone, Elias, died at Richmond, Virginia, March 

13, 1864, while prisoner of war. 

Phillips, William H. S., Corporal, died in Anderson- 
ville prison, April 10, 1864. 

Pitman, James G., died at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
February 20, 1865. 

Porter. Ole, killed at Fort Donelson. 

Picott, Edmund, killed at MifHin, Tennessee, October 
1,1865. 

Pitts, Francis G., died at Monterey, Tennessee, fune 

14, 1862. 

Prestof, William, died January 12, 1863. 

Peddicord, Barney, killed at Liberty Gap, Tennessee, 
June 26, 1863. 

Parker, John L., killed at Fort Donelson, February 
15, 1863. 

Pierson, Silas C, died at Danville, Virginia, Febru- 
ary 27, 1S63. 

Price, James L., killed at Stone River, December 31, 
1862. 

Patten, Samuel, died at Memphis, February 25, 1864. 

Parker, Charles L., First Sergeant, died in rebel 
prison at Cahawba, Alabama, March 4, 1865. 

Parks, Henry, died at Chickasaw Bluff, May 28, 1863. 

Pernell, Edward, died at home, November 13, 1863 

Penny, Williaiu H., died in Andersonville prison, 
February 26, 1S65. 

Pointer, William A., died at Memphis, April 17, 
1864. 

Proctor, Benjamin K., died at home, July 31, 1864. 

Palmer, James R., killed at Lexington, Missouri, Sep- 
tember 20, 1 86 1. 

Plum, William B., died at Tullahoma, Tennessee, 
March 10, 1865. 

Potter, Thomas G., died October 23, 1862. 

Rezeppa, John, died in Georgia, about July, 1864. 

Run von Gilbert, died at Jefterson Barracks, March 
22, 1862, 

Robinson, James, returned prisoner, died at Camp 
Butler, Illinois, April 10, 1865. 

Rudd, Ihaddeus, died in Andersonville prison, June 
10, 1864. 

Riggand, Nathaniel D., killed at Springfield, April 
25, 1864. 

Ross, Joshua B., died March 16, 1S63, of wounds. 

Ruby, John, killed a*: Stone River, December 31, 1862-, 

Rinker, John, died at Vicksburg, September 13, 1863. 

Ross, John W., died at Vicksburg, May 29, 1863, of 
wounds. 

Rhodes, William, died at Memphis, March 19, 1863. 

Robbins, Samuel C, died at Nashville, Tenn., March 
30, 1863 

Robinson, Benjamin C, died at Nashville, Tenn., 
January 6, 1863. 

Rude Alexander R., died at Memphis, August 8, 1863. 

Raematt, William, died at Memphis, November 15, 
1S62. 

Randall, George W., killed near Tupelo, Miss., July 
15, 1864. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



421 



Rutenberg, Frederick, died at Memphis, January 20, 
1863. 

Ranee, Henry J., killed at Vicksburg, May 22, 1863. 

Ross, Lyman, died at Memphis, March 5, 1864, of 
wounds, 

Reis, Peter, died in Rebel prison. 

Roberts, Erastus, died at Auburn, 111., December i, 
1863. 

Robertson, John H., killed at Little Rock, Ai-k., 
September 10, 1S63. 

Schweikardt, Frederick, died at Knoxville, Tennessee, 
July 8, 1864, of wounds. 

See, James, died at Point of Rocks, Virginia, March 
3, 1865. 

Saunders, Richard, or David, died at Fort Donelson, 
May 4, 1864. 

Squires, Thomas B, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
Noveml)er 16, 1861^. 

Smith, William, died in Andersonville prison, August 
3, 1864. 

Smith, Martin, died at Fort Henry, Tennessee, Feb- 
ruary 9, 1862. 

Schweirtz, Frederick, killed at Shiloh, April 7, 1862. 

Strenz, Stephen, died at Ciiattanooga October i, 1862. 

Segen, Adolph, died September 8, 1S63. 

Simpson, Jackson B., died at Farmington, Mississippi, 
May 19, 1862. 

Scott, David R., died at Island Grove. Illinois, Mav 
iS, 1S62. 

Smith, William, died at Farmington, Mississippi, 
May 15, 1862. 

Shelters, Martin V., died August3, 1864, of wounds. 

Swink, William H., died at Vicksburg, September 
6, 1S63. 

Smith, Jidius B., died January 5, 1863, of wounds. 

Shick, Amos W., died at Duckport, Louisiana, April 
22, 1S63. 

Stephens, John H., died in the rear of Vicksburg, 
May 20, 1865. 

Sinclair, John, died near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 
February 20, 1863. 

Scmidt, Frederick G., killed at Guntown, June 10, 
1863. 

Samuel, H. Moses, died at Young's Point, Aoril 14, 
1863. 

Smith, William O., died at home, October 15, 1862. 

Sampson, John W., died at Florence , South Carolina, 
Febiuary 15, I865, while a prisoner of war. 

Sebrinev, Peter, died at Duckport, Louisiana, May i, 
1863. 

Seves, Benj. F., died February 26, 1865, of wounds 

Simpson, William, died at Jackson, Tennessee, Feb- 

ary 25, 1863. 

Smith. Patrick, died in Andersouville prison, Octo- 
ber 15, 1864. 

Shanks, Samuel, died at Oak Ridge, Mississippi, Sep- 
tember 20, 1S63. 

Shriver, Josiah, killed near Tepulo, Mississippi, July 
13. 1S64. 

Spencer, Daniel, killed at Guntown, Mississippi, June 
12, 1864. 

Simmons, Levi, died at St, Louis, June 4, 1863. 

Snod^rass, Ambrose, died at Annapolis, Maryland, 
December 2, 1864. while a paroled prisoner of war, 

Scroggin, Jefterson T., killed at Nashville, Tennessee, 
December 16, 1864 



Strode, James B., killed at Cliicrimauga, September 

20, 1863. 

Sell, L. D , died on the steamer Crescent City, Julv 
9, 1863. 

Southwick, Adam, died at RoUa, Missouri, May 6, 
1S62. 

Sullivan, Timothy, died on hospital boat, September 

2, 1S62. 

Spaulding, John, died near Old Town Landing, Ar- 
kansas, August 15, 1862. 

Seaman, George, died at St. Louis, November 4, 1862. 

Sharper, Isaac B., died June 5, 1862. 

Simmington, John S., died at Little Rock, Arkansas. 
October 9. 1863, of wounds. 

Swim, John, died at Quincy, May 15, 1865. 

Tribble, Allen B., died at St. Louis, November 2:;, 
1862. 

Townbridge, Louis A., Corporal, died at Anderson- 
ville prison, April 6, 1864, 

Thorn, John L., killed at Jonesville, Virginia, Januarv 

3, 1S64, 

Tober, Joseph, died in Tennessee, December 31, 1864, 

Titus, Alfred, died at Hunts\ille, Alabama, August 
9,1865. 

Thompson, Andrew J., died at Benton Barracks, 
March, 1S62. 

Tabor, Delonna B., drowned at Paducah, Kentucky. 
October 3, i86i. 

Tiplon, Isaac H., died at Louisville, Kentucky. April 
2, 1862. 

Taft", James W., died at Ironton, Missouri, October 
30,2861. 

Tobin, Patrick, died January 17, 1863, of wounds. 

Taylor, Alvin, died in Louisana, April 17, 1864. 

Thomas, C. Perry, died in Rebel prison at Richmond, 
Virginia, January 21, 1864. 

Tyas, George, died at Nashville, Tennessee, Novem- 
ber 30, 1862. 

Turpin, William A., died at Nashville, Tennessee, 
December 26, 1862. 

Thorp, Eleven C, died at Resaca, March 14, 1864, of 
wounds. 

Thornton, William L., died at Holly Springs, Missis- 
sippi, December lo, 1862. 

Tufts, Charles C, died at Vicksburg, November 3, 
1863. 

Tuttle, Sylvanus, Corporal, killed at Vicksburg, May 
19, 1863. 

Trey, John F., died at Mound City, Illinois August 
1 1 , 1 863 . 

Tosh, David M., died at Jackson, Tennessee, March 
16, 1863. 

Trappe, or Taafe, John, died at Little Rock, Arkan- 
sas, May 5, 1865, 

Trotter, William, died at Memphis, March 17, 1863. 

Ungles, Squire, died at Mound City, November i, 
1861. 

Valentine, Silas, died at Knoxville, Tennessee, Jan - 
uary 23, 1864. 

Venters, John H., died at Memphis, Tennessee. Mav 

21, 1865. 

Vaughn, Isaac, died at Camp Butler, Illinois, Octo- 
ber 25, 1S62. 

VanBrunt, John, died November 27, 1S63, of wounds. 

Vinson, Elias D., died at Mound Citv, April 20, 
1863. 



422 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



\'aughn, Crawford, died at Mound City, January 15, 
1862. 

Vermillion, Charles W., died at Nashville, October 
15, 1S64. 

Vere, Toney, died at St. Louis, March 11, 1864. 
V^rooman, Adam E, died at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 
September. 1S61. 

Vigal, John F., killed while in action, July 15, 1S64. 

Vierbona, John, died May 12, 1863, of wounds. 

Vira, John, died at St. Louis. October 5, 1863. 

Wright, William J., died at Camp Butler, Illinois, 
January 22, 1864. 

Wilson, Cyrus A., died at New Orleans, August 12, 
1864. 

Wall, Johnson C, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
April 24, 1865. 

Weiss, Otto, Corporal, died in Andersonville prison, 
August 3, 1865. 

Weaver, David, died in Andersonville prison, Aug- 
ust 5, 1S64. 

Watts, William W., died in Andersonville prison 
July i6, 1864. 

Walsh, Thomas C, died April 10, 1863, of wounds. 

Williams, Reuben C, died at Farmington,^Mississippi, 
May 15, 1862. 

Woolman, Elwood, killed at Stone River, December 
31, 1862. 

Wise, John T., killed at Stone River, December 31, 
1862. 

Workman, Samuel M., died at Cairo, Februarv 10, 
1S62. 

^Weldoii, Henry C, killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 
22, 1864. 

Wackley, George, died at Vicksburg, May 27, 1S63, 
of wounds. 

Westbrook, Barnet, died at Memphis, March i:;, 
1865. 

Williams, Joseph, killed at Kenesaw Mountain, June 
27, 1864. 

Weir, James O., died at Chattanooga, CclGber7, 1S63 
of wounds, 

Wells, William, killed at Resaca. Georgia, May 13, 
1S64. 

Wilcox, John F., died at Brownsville, Arkansas, Au- 
gust 20, IS64. 

Wood, Isaac, died at Memphis, June 10, 1SS4. 

Weber, John H., accidentally shot August 11,1864, 
at Bayou Metre, Arkansas 

Wilderfelt, Theodore L., died at Memphis, Noven,ber 
30, 1863. 

Willis„ William T., died June 10, 1864, of wounds. 

Wilson, John W., died at home, October 14, 1862. 

Wills, Nathan, died in Sangamon county, Illinois, 
November 14,1362. 

Willis, John M., died at Duckport, Louisiana, March 

5, 1863. 

Welsh. Josiah, died at Mobile, Alabama, August 10, 
1864, of wounds. 

Workman, John W., died at Memphis, January 5, 
1863. 

Woodson, Samuel, died at Keokuk, Iowa, January 
" 20, 1863. 

Ward, William, died at St. Louis, October 27, 1863. 

Williams, Reason, died at Fort Hudson, Louisana 
April 25, 1863. 

Wise, ("harles, killed 'near Jackson, Mississippi, July 

6, 1864. 



Wills, James D., died at Springfield, Missouri, June 
22, 1862. 

Wilkins, Andrew T., died at Springfield, Illinois, Feb- 
ruary 15, 1864. 

Williams, Samuel, died at Brownsville, Arkansas 
September 7, 1863. 

Young, Ly Sander B., died at Young's Point, Louis- 
iana, June 25, 1863. 

Yates, Simeon, died at RoUa, Missouri, February 8, 
1862. 

Yonger, Josiah, killed at Vicksburg, July 2, 1863. 

Yocum, Jesse J., died at Memphis, March 11, 1864. 

TRANSFER OF THE BATTLE FLAGS. 

When the boys came marching home they 
brought with them their war-worn battle flags, 
and deposited them in the State Arsenal. When 
the new State House was built, a room was pre- 
pared as a memorial hall, in which were to be 
deposited the flags and such trophies tliat were 
captured or collected during the war. 

A grand re-union of the boys in blue was 
made the occasion for the transfer of the flags 
and trophies. Grand preparations were made 
and a programme of ceremonies was arranged, 
and Thursday, May 23, 1878, was appointed the 
day in which the transfer would be made. 
Thousands of boys in blue and citizens were 
upon the street at an early hour. The Illinois 
National Guards and the Veterans were formed 
in line. Shortly after noon the column moved, 
headed by the Marshal-in-Chief, Major General 
John A. McClernand, and his aides. Then 
came the Second Brigade I. N. G., as escort, 
with Brigadier General Reece and his staff; the 
brigade being composed of the Fifth Regiment, 
Colonel J. H. Barkley, commanding, and com- 
panies above noted of other regiments, and a 
section of Captain Mack's Battery, another sec- 
tion being engaged tiring a National salute. 

The Second Division, General John McCon- 
nel, Marshal, was composed of representatives 
of the First to the Seventeenth Cavalry, and 
presented a fine appearance. Besides the di- 
vision commander and staff, there were sixty- 
four cavalrymen in line. 

The Third Division (artillery) was commanded 
by General Thomas S. Mather, who, with his 
aides and command, marched in line. They 
were representatives of the First and Second 
Regiments, Vaughn's, Henshaw's, the Mercan- 
tile, and the Board of Trade Batteries and the 
Artillery Brigade. Following came the surviv- 
ing members of Governor Yates' War Adminis- 
tration and the orators of the day, in carriages. 
After the Fifth Regiment band, came the First 
and largest division, commanded by Major Gen- 
eral John M. Palmer, with General Richard 





^^'-^^^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



425 



liowelt aud other prominent military officers as 
aides. 

The Infantry division included numerous rep- 
resentatives hum every Illinois regiment, ex- 
cept the One Hundred and Third. The men 
inarched with the old time military "swing." 
In the line, and noticeable, was a one-legged 
veteran, John T. Sergeant cf the Thirty-second, 
whose other leg was left on the battle iield at 
Shiloh. He, with a cripple in the Artillery 
Division, attracted more than ordinary attention 
on the line of march. The infantry, exclusive 
of division and staff officers, numbered seven 
hundred and seventy-four men, and there were 
also in line thirty-two veterans of the Twenty- 
ninth United States Infantry, colored. 

Colonel Dudley Wickersham commanded the 
next division, wnich was c imposed of eighteen 
veterans of the Mexican war, twenty-seven of 
the Black Hawk and Winnebago wars, and 
twenty-seven veterans of other States, among 
the number a Massachusetts officer, who had 
served on General Benjamin F. Butler's staff. 

The column moved according to the order of 
march previously announced. Along the line 
there was waving of handkerchiefs from the 
windows of private residences, and every dem- 
onstration of pleasure in the presence of the 
veterans. In passing Ex-Mayor Jayne's resi- 
dence, where a handsome portrait of Governor 
Yates was conspicuously displayed and decorated, 
there were cheers all along the line. The pro- 
cession then moved south and halted at the 
State Arsenal, where the old battle flags were 
delivered to the veterans, and many of them 
receiving the colors, were those who had borne 
them amid the carnage of battle. 

While the flags were being delivered, the 
bands played the Star Spangled Banner and 
other national airs, and there was much enthus- 
iasm, which a heavy rain shower that suddenly 
set in did not dampen. From the Arsenal, the 
procession moved south on Fifth street, and 
turning to Eighth, the old Lincoln home was 
passed, amid cheers all along the line. Turn- 
ing west again, the column passed through the 
Executive Mansion grounds. Governor CuUom 
and his staff reviewing the same from the 
steps. The procession then moved direct to the 
State House. The Artillery Division had re- 
ceived a recruit by the way, in the person of 
Master Tingley Wood, Jr., who wore a small, 
but regulation, heavy artillery uniform. 

Upon arrival at the Capitol, when the Gov- 
ernor and staff, with General A. C. Ducat and 
staff, reviewed the troops, from the east corri- 

49— 



dor steps, the veterans formed en masse, 
"bunching colors," in front of the principal 
entrance, and were surrounded by the Illinois 
National Guard. The colors being massed, 
Chief Marshal McClernand made his report to 
the Govern<jr, in the following elo(}uent re- 
marks : 

"Governor: — As Marshal of the day, I have 
the honor to report to your Excellency that, 
agreeable to arrangement, I have brought the 
treasured flags and trophies, lately hxlged in 
the public arsenal, to this place. It remains for 
the Adjutant General of the State, formally and 
officially, to present them to your Excellency, 
for such order for their final disposition as your 
Excellency may be pleased to make. This said, 
I may be permitted to add that, in the part as- 
signed to me on this occasion, I have had the 
hearty co-operation of a body of the veterans of 
the several wars, and of a portion of the organ- 
ized militia, who attend the veterans as an 
honorary escort. Honor to both ! While the 
militia, by their soldierly bearing, attest the 
signal zeal applied by yotir Excellency to foster 
the martial spirit of Illinoisans, the veterans, on 
their part, afford an expressive memorial of duty 
victorionsly performed in the times that tiied 
men's souls. It is true, some of them are 
maimed of an arm, or a leg, or an eye; that 
some of them are wrinkled by age and the wear 
and tear of long and arduous campaigns, yet 
they are here once more, to lift their loving and 
moistened eyes upon the tattered ensigns which 
they undauntedly upheld amid the fire and 
thunder of siege and battle. Alas ! many of 
their former comrades are absent. Where are 
they ? Silence answers : they are dead I Let 
us pause to dwell for a moment upon the mem- 
ories of at least a few of these. Foremost of 
this revered list is Abraham Lincoln, variously 
the poor and friendless boy, the genial com])an- 
ion, the able lawyer and dialectician, the wary 
statesman, the patriotic President, the honored 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of 
the Ignited States. Jackson, "the military," 
one of his predecessors, had aforetime sup- 
pressed the seed of disunion, taking the spe- 
cious form of nullification, by the threat of de- 
fiance; but, in later and more disorderly times, 
sometliing more was required to cut oft" this 
second growth. Lincoln, the man of peace and 
gentleness, .was equal, nay, superior to the 
emergency. With one hand he scattered the 
swarming assailants of the Union; with the 
other, he raised up an enslaved race to freedom 
and equality before the law. Thus, at the same 



42() 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



time performing a double act of salvation, 
national and individual, unsurpassed in the 
annals of man. His sentiments were in accord 
with his deeds. He taught the doctrine of the 
broadest democracy : that ours was ' a govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, for the 
people.' 

"He exemplified the broadest precei)ts of 
humanity, ' Charity for all; malice toward none.' 
His tragic martyrdom struck the Nation dumb, 
while it completed the pathos of his life 
and character. Illustrious man I his name will 
ring through the coming ages as one of the 
noblest of liberators and benefactors. 

"Another of the worthy dead is Richard Yates, 
a remarkable man. To portray his character is 
a difHcult, if not an impossible task. It was a 
mosaic; its shades set out its brighter hues in 
striking and lustrous relief. He was a man to 
be judged by his own standard. He was 
chivalrous and honorable; impulsive and gener- 
ous; ardent and imaginative, ambitious and 
patriotic. Viewing everything from an eleva- 
tion, he clothed it with the classic beauty of his 
own ideals. His eloquence was as the harp in- 
laid with gems, and strung with strands of gold 
to the softest or wildest melody. At times it 
swayed the Senate; at times it stirred or stilled 
the wondering multitude. Executive vigor and 
detei'mination won for him the title of the 
great War Governor of Illinois. His virtues 
noticed, his intirraaties are not denied. He had 
his faults, but they were the excess and reaction 
of an excitable and impressionable nature; of a 
preternatural exultation and perturbation of 
mind and sense, born of a stormy period of con- 
flicting ideas, sentiments and opinions. It was 
of him like the great bard of Avon sung, 'A 
rarer spirit never did steer humanity; but you 
Gods, you will give us faults to make us 
mortals.' 

" Wallace, Ransom, Raith, Mudd, Schwartz 
and a host of others are also dead. Braver and 
truer men never lived. Not a few of us here 
have seen them kindled with the intoxicating 
transport of the conflict; have seen them mount 
the deadly breach, deliver and resist the head- 
long onset and conquer, when all was upon the 
hazzard. No more shall we receive and return 
soldierly congratulations. No more shall we 
hear them, with laughing jest, recount their des- 
perate encounters and hairbreadth escapes. No 
more shall we see them, until we have passed 
that bourne from which no traveler returns. 
Our tears bedew their graves, which are strewn 
with the garlands of our afflictions. The triumph 



of their country shall be indistinct yet eloquent 
memorials to future generations. War over, let 
the bitterness which engendered it pass away 
forever. Peace returned, let all our paths be 
now the paths of peace. Let all our councils, 
North and South, East and West, everywhere 
through our broad land, which extends from 
ocean to ocean, be the counsels of accord, fra- 
ternity and unity." 

Adjutant General Ililliard followed briefly in 
formal presentation of the flags, and the Gov- 
ernor responded with the following address, be- 
ing frequently interrupted by applause: 

" General and Soldiers of Illinois arid of the 
Union: It gives me great pleasure to address 
you for a few minutes on this interesting occa- 
sion. I have not words to express to you the 
feelings of my heart as I stand before you. As 
you have said you are here in response to orders' 
and invitations, bringing with you those price- 
less battle flags, which you have carried before 
on many a bloody battle fleld, and clung to in 
victory and defeat. 

"I recognize among you men who, as soldiers, 
served the country in the early history of our 
State, in the Black Hawk war, clearing the way 
in this garden region of the West for the civil- 
ization which followed, and which we now enjoy. 
The colors you carried there have decayed and 
gone. I see before me soldiers who were in the 
Mexican war, who volunteered to defend our 
National honor. Your flags and banners, too, 
are gone. The numbers of patriotic men who 
served the country in the wars with the Indians 
and with Mexico, are comparatively few. Your 
ranks are thinned out in the march of time, and 
in a few more years your patriotic record alone 
will be left to tell the story of your devotion to 
your country. It will not be long before the 
men who fought by the side of Hardin, Harris, 
Baker, Bissell, and Shields on the fleld of Buena 
Vista, all of whom were as brave and ))atriotic 
men as ever stepped to the music of the Union, 
and all but the last of whom have long since 
rendered their account to the great Ruler of 
men and nations, and the last of whom is now a 
living example of courage, energy, and patriot- 
ism, will pass away, and history will take their 
places, to tell the generations to come what they 
did in response to their country's call. I see 
before me not a few, but thousands of citizen 
soldiers, who were in the last great war — men 
who fought for the integrity of the Union 
against a causeless and wicked rebellion. You 
come here to-day, carrying with you your old 
flags and banners. Your presence as old sol- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



427 



diers speaks louder and stronger to the people of 
the State and Nation than words. \'oluines 
would not contain all your presence implies 
About thirteen years ago you were returning 
home after years of struggle with the enemy. 
The ranks of your companies and regiments 
w^ere depleted. You came back to your State, 
whose honor and glory you so nobly sustained, 
tired, worn out, and sick, yet with buoyant 
hearts, because you were coming home to your 
families and friends with victory inscribed on 
your banners and the integrity of our grand old 
Union established. Y^ou had these old flags 
with you then. As now, they were tattered and 
torn — blood-stained — some of them nearly shot 
away. Many of them had been presented to 
you by your wives, sisters, and friends when you 
started to the war. Y^ou brought them back, 
and as one regiment after another came home 
and was mustered out, you placed those colors 
in the old arsenal in charge of Adjutant-General 
Haynie, a gallant soldier, now gone to his long 
home, where they have remained until to-day. 

"The Constitution and laws of our State re- 
quire that the military records, banners and 
relics of the State shall be preserved as an en- 
during memorial of the patriotism and valor of 
Illinois. In obedience to these provisions, and 
for the safe-keeping of the flags, the time has 
come for transferring them to a safer place. You 
now place them where they will remain and be 
cared for, and safely guarded, aye, for genera- 
tions to come. 

" They, and you who carried them in the time 
of National peril, represent the life, the integ- 
rity of the Nation. The history of our State 
chronicles three struggles in which Illinois men 
took part: The war with the Indians, in 1812; 
the Mexican war, in 1846-7; and the great civil 
war, in 1861-5, besides the Mormon and Winne- 
bago wars. Nations, as a rule, do not become 
established on right principles and great, without 
struggles in which the power of the sword is in- 
voked. Our Government has not been an ex- 
ception to the rule. Its progress and develop- 
ment has met with resistance. Civilization never 
makes progress without opposition. Its victories 
are all won, and the condition of the world im- 
proved only by the brave men pressing forward 
in support of right principles, and by hard fight- 
ing at every step. Such men are benefactors of 
the race. When Government is assailed it must 
be defended, or fall; and the men who take their 
lives in their hands, and go forth to defend their 
country and flag, and, as in the late great war, 
defend liberty and the Union and raise the civ- 



ilization of the people to a higher plane, are 
truly benefactois of the race, and entitled to the 
eternal gratitude of their fellows. You represent 
every struggle in which the country has been 
engaged since Illinois became a State. You have 
successfully defended the Nation's life and 
honor. I look upon these old battle flags as you 
carry them the last time. They represent the 
glory and nationality of our country. The 
American flag is dear to every patriotic heart in 
the land, but those flags and banners are dearer 
to you who carried and followed them on the 
march and field, than to anyone else. 

"That flag is respected everywhere, on land 
and sea. It represents power; it represents 
Union and Liberty, and it represenis 'a 
government of, by and for the people.' While 
you are engaged in the pleasant duty of trans- 
ferring the flags, banners and relics, you are 
doubtless remembered of the time when yen en- 
listed for the war; you are reminded of the old 
rallying song: 

'We will Tally 'round the flag, boys, 

We will rally ouce again, 
Shouting the battle ciy of Freedom.' 

And that other song: 

'We are coming Father Abraham, 
Tliree hundred thousand strong.' 

"Y'^ou are reminded of the battles in which you 
fought; of the gallant comrades who fell by 
your side; of the wonderful escapes you made; 
of the terrible sufferings you endured in hosj)ital 
and prison, and of the victories you won. You 
will think over the long list of battles, among 
which are, Belmont, Donelson, Pittsburg Land- 
ing, Vicksburg, Arkansas Post, Pea Ridge, 
Perryville, Nashville, Chickamauga, Mission 
Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Corinth, Atlanta, and 
the Grand March to the Sea, and the hundreds 
of terrible struggles. East and South, which I 
cannot stop to enumerate. 

"As you hold those banners you are reminded 
of the two hundred and tifty thousand other 
brave Ulinoisans who went out Avith you, and of 
the long death-roll of gallant boys who never 
returned. As you stand here you think of the 
gallant and eloquent War Governor, Richard 
Yates, the soldiers' friend, and the members of 
his administration, Dubois, Butler, Hatch and 
Bateman, two of whom, with him, have passed 
away; you do not forget that other great and 
good man, the dearest son of our noble State, a 
martyr to the cause of Liberty and Union, who 
was your Commander-in-Chief, Abraham Lin- 
coln, whose ashes rest beneath a monument near 
by, reared by patriotic people. I am reminded 



428 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of those beautiful words uttered by him, 
which cannot fail to touch the heart of every 
man, 'The mystic chords of memory stretching 
from every battle-field and patriot grave to 
every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the 
Union when again touched, as surely they will 
be, by the better angels of our nature.' What 
poetry, sweetness and music in these lines. 

"But I must not prolong my remarks. Upon 
the close of these proceedings, the curtain 
drops, and the last act is ended of the great 
drama in which you have taken so noble a part. 
May your services and sacrifices never be needed 
again to preserve the integrity of our Nation. 
A portion of the Illinois National Guard, more 
than half of whom are old soldiers and served 
with you, have done themselves and you the 
honor of coming here to serve as your escort, 
while you are performing this last service to 
3^our old flags and banners. They are in the 
service of the State and ready at a moment's 
notice, over six thousand strong, to do duty as 
soldiers, either for the State or Nation, if their 
services shall be required to maintain the public 
peace. Now, soldiers, I will detain you no 
longer. I welcome you, one and all, to the Cap- 
ital of our State, and the Adjutant General, by 
your aid, will place the colors and trophies you 
bear in the apartments designed for them, where 
they will be diligently cared for and guarded, I 
trust, so long as they shall endure." 

After the speech of Governor Cullom, Gen- 
eral Palmer was called for, but not immediately 
responding, General C. E. Lippincott was 
called, and was received with much favor. He 
said: 

'•The voice of these flags is eloquent beyond 
any need or any power of human words. We 
will do well simply to pause, in the first still 
hour that shall come to us, and listen to the 
solemn teaching of these battle worn flags. 
They are not merely ashen staves upon which 
flaunt heavy silks, adorned with stripes and bear- 
ing golden stars w^hich catch the eye when they 
are unfurled to the breeze of Heaven, and by 
their beauty waken the beholder's admiration. 
Beautiful as is the flag of our country among all 
the banners of the Nations of earth, its chief 
excellence is in the noble history of which it is 
the result, and the lofty ideas and principles of 
which it is the symbol. Its history may be said 
to have its beginning on that day when force 
was first challenged by right, and to represent 
the long struggle of the people against those 
who for ages had set themselves against ' the 



strong upward tendencies of the Godlike soul of 
man ' 

" It was the beautiful flower of freedom which 
burst in beauty upon the world's sight when, 
after so many years of slavery, the sublime words 
of the Declaration of Independence rang out 
from the American Congress upon the world: 
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 
man was created equal and endowed by the 
Creator with certain inalienable rights, among 
which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- 
ness.' 

"Coming into existence, as it appears, without 
a known designer, it made its way by sheer force 
of its beauty and appropriateness, to the hearts 
of our struggling fathers — preferred everywhere 
to all emblems suggested by influence, and de- 
vised by the trained taste of many eminent per- 
sons. It was baptized in the blood by Wash- 
ington, and adopted, almost in the present form, 
by the Congress of the Colonies. It became, at 
last, when the revolution was over, when the 
weakly confederation of separate States had 
given away to the cohesive Government of the 
United States, it became one Nation's flag as 
soon as our Nation was born. Co-equal with 
our Government in its history, it has been, and 
is, let us pray and believe it ever will be, the tit 
and perfect emblem of all the holy ideas which 
are woven into our Nation's structure, and make 
the enduring rock on which it is founded. Such, 
friends and comrades, is my idea of the American 
flag. Such my notion of its sacred history and 
of its holy symbolic character. But we are es- 
pecially here to-day to look on these flags, to bear 
them to their resting place, and to take into our 
hearts the especial lessons which they teach. 

"Oh I but it does seem to me that words are 
idle and worse than weak. How, in the pres- 
ence of these memorials of the constancy of 
Illinois in the times which tried the temper of 
States and of men, can anyone talk as it deserves 
of that recent history? So recent is it, that to 
the men and women of my age, and even those 
much younger, it is still a part of our present 
life, and the pulses of our hearts beat in quick 
response to every mention and memory of the 
great drama; not as something of the past, but 
as if its crowded incidents were now about us 
and before us and with and of us, making the 
life that we live, the emotions which we feel, 
in the very present and actual now. 

"Again comes to us the thrill of horror as the 
wires bear us word that the flag is fired upon. 
Again comes to us the resolve that the holy 
symbol shall not be disgraced, nor the principles 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



429 



whose triumph it means be lost to our country 
or to mankind. Again we are in the midst of 
the enthusiasm and high devotion of an aroused 
people. Again we feel how patriotism elevates 
and ennobles individuals; how it sanctities the 
hearthstone, making it the very altar of God; 
how it gives to beauty a lovelier glow, to love 
an added sweetness, and to manhood the conse- 
cration of a purer, a nobler, and a stronger aim. 
Again we hear the tread of the mustering 
thousands, and are in sympathy with the no- 
bility of that time of unselfishness and high de- 
votion. Again we realize the trials of the 
tedious camp and the weary march. Again our 
hearts beat high and fast with the fierce fever 
and exulting joy of battle. Again we melt in 
sorrow at the sound of the muffled drum, and 
shed bitter tears at the gaps in our battle lines, 
and learn a new and deeper love of country as 
we realize how much rich and manly blood its 
redemption has cost. Yes! Let the common- 
wealth keep these torn and sacred rags with 
tender care. They are sacred. Around their 
ashen staves have been clasped brave hands of 
the noble sons of Illinois, who thought their 
life blood none too precious to be spilt in their 
defense; and as the storm of battle surged 
along the line of those who fought to save the 
Nation's bfe, the iron hail fell thickest, and 
noble blood was shed freely under the immedi- 
ate shadow of these flags. Noble men, with 
hearts treasuring the deepest love of home, and 
the tenderest thoughts of the maiden to whom 
their deep faith was plighted, and beating with 
perfect consciousness of the ability to win their 
way to the high place of honor among men, 
have grasped these flags and carried them with 
firm step, and flashing eye, and exalting joy 
into the proud triumph of a certain death. Yes, 
keep them with proudest care, for they are not 
emblems of the freedom, the power, the saved 
unity of our Nation; but of a heroism loftier 
and i)uier than ever before, since history began, 
was embodied in an array, and triumphed in the 
achievements of battle. 

" Let any one who, since the war, has been 
led away by the seductions of selfish ambition 
to desert his comrades and talk nonsense — be 
that deserter private or president — say what he 
will; we know, and the world knows, and all 
the future shall know, that there was a differ- 
ence in the inspiration and the heroism which 
widely distinguished those who fought under 
these flags, and those like them from other 
States, and that other and brave army which 
fought under a hostile flag to destroy what these 



banners soared over a thousand battle-tields to 
maintain and preserve. 

"No one can yield readier praise and honor 
than I can, and do, to the bravery and high per- 
sonal gallantry of those whose mistaken cause 
went down before these flags. But their lost 
cause was a wrong cause, and the world while it 
remembers and admires forever the brave devo- 
tion of those who fought for it, will yet remem- 
ber that their blood was vainly shed to establish 
a Government whose corner stone should have 
been slavery, and that their cause was trampled 
into the red mire of battle for, those who fought 
to preserve and maintain the life of the Republic, 
whose only life is freedom. These flags are the 
emblem of no hate, no animosity, no feeling of 
sectional or individual superiority. The language 
which they hold, the lesson which they teach, 
with all the force of all their associations, is the 
lesson of brotherly love for all who dwell under 
the flag of our Nation. 

" These flags, about whom we can almost fancy 
still cluster the spirits and cling the affections of 
those who died under them, speak in one voice 
to the hearts of men all over our broad land ex- 
horting all, of every State, to sink every smaller 
and more ignoble feeling in one of confidence 
and respect for each other, as comrades of the 
army of the present and the future, whose tie is 
that of a common patriotism, and whose de- 
votion is to a saved, a restored, and forever 
united Nation." 

Governor Palmer then responded to repeated 
calls in a few extempore remarks, as follows : 

"The Governor, very sensibly, deprecated 
any further prolonging of the ceremonies in 
speech-making, as the boys were already im- 
patient for dinner. He remarked, that as he 
had observed the flags taken from their late 
depository and borne through the streets to 
Memorial Hall, which the people of the State 
had prepared for these mementoes, he had felt 
that the occasion was one so grand as to be be- 
yond the reach of oratory. A more sublime 
triumph could not be desired than would be 
won by him who could, in fitting language, 
describe the emotions the appearance of these 
flags awakened in every mind and every patriotic 
heart. These banners were mementoes of the 
greatest and most dreadful struggle this Nation 
ever had, or ever could pass through. Seventeen 
years had passed awaj' since he, and many of those 
who now confronted liim, had sworn to uphold 
these banners and these things they symbolized. 
They had gone out, and in battle upheld them. 
Many of them had been by 'angel hands to 



430 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



valor given,'' and had floated bravely over en- 
sanguined fields. To-day would see them con- 
signed to their final resting place to be no more 
disturbed. The ceremony is emblematic of 
those that finally would finish the career, in 
this life, of all Avho took part in the tremendous 
drama of which this was the closing scene." 

The following poem, by Lieutenant S. F. 
Flint, of Galesburg, of the Yth, was read: 

THE MUSTEE OF THE Fi^AG. 

" O, comrades, such a day as this, 

Of solemn and exultant tears, 
Tor what we meet, and what we miss, 

Comes not again in all the years. 

" Go bring them out, their tattered strands. 
They shall their own brave story tell. 

Unroll them all with reverent hands. 
The old flags that we knew so well. 

"Aye, lift them up! A few fair stars. 
Flash from their faded field of blue, 
'Gleaming amid the rents of spars, 

When t^lie wild leaden storm tore through. 

"They catch the breeze! They hail the sky, 
Stained-shoru-out with a Iook as ]iroud 

As where ot old they streamed on high 
Like rainbows o'er the battle cloud. 

" There spoke the guns! Do I not dream? 

Comrades, fall in and forward all! 
Did I not iiear their eagles scream 

An answer to that fearful call? 

"Nay, that is past, thank God! No more 
We' wait for that deep echoing boom 

To mark dauntless eagle's soar — 
Close up the ranks — and march to doom! 

" Then let their war-worn glories float 
And fondle with the breeze of spring; 

And let the alad procession shout — 
Drums roll and crash and cymbals ring. 

" Sound, bugles, sound the rallying call, 
And wal<e again the thundering gun. 

So few! so few? Where are they allv 
Fall in, you men of sixty-one! 

" From Georgia's bare and gullied steeps, 

To Carolina's wilds of sand; 
From Mississippi's forests deep, 

To Patomac's storied strand. 



" On the green hills of Cumberland, 
By the lone streams of Tennessee, 

They rise a grim and shadowy baud — 
Their silent, sad salute I see. 

" 'On duty,' speaks that silent sign, 

Until the last great reveille. 
And this stern message down the line 

Breaths from that mighty grave to-day. 

" So bear them on and guard them well 

In yonder proud Memorial Hall; 
The flag— the cause for which we fell — 

Swear, brothers, it shall never fall. 

" Stand up, despite the shattered limb, 

Here is a creed we all believe: 
Dash off the tears of ej-es that swim, 

Aye, reck not of one empty sleeve. 

" No traitor hand its glory mars, 

While yet a man is still alive 
Who bore the banner of the stars 

From sixty-one to sixty-five." 

The Veterans then entered the State House 
basement from the north entrance, and the flags 
were deposited in Memorial Hall, in the racks 
prepared for them. Dinner followed, and the 
Veterans and National Guards surrounding the 
immense tables were served with a bountiful 
repast of substantial food, by the ladies, who 
were heartily cheered for efficiency in dispensing 
the supplies of the commissary department. An 
idea of the extent of this grand camp-fire lunch 
may be gained wnen it is stated that the troops 
were furnished with eighteen barrels of coffee. 
Upwards of three thousand one hundred were 
served. 

The dinner over, the Veterans and the (Guards- 
men were dismissed, and visited the State 
House throtighout, and other points of interest 
about the city, thus occupying the time until 
the evening festivities. Through the corridors 
in the State House, the Fifth RegimeJit Band 
playing in the rotunda, the Veterans and ladies 
promenaded, and at a late hour dancing was in- 
dulged in quite extensively. 

Thus ended the re-union and transfer of battle 
flags. That these, nor similar flags, will have 
again to be unfurled in a like cause, is the sin- 
cere prayer of every loyal heart. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



431 



Chapter XIX, 



OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY 



A society for the preservation of historical 
events of a Nation, State, county or town, is a 
commendable affair. The lessons of the past 
teach us the duties pertaining to the future. The 
fires of patriotism, the love of country or of 
home is strengthened b\^ a narration of such im- 
portant events as tend to stir the blood or quicken 
to life those divine affections in man. Many a 
youth has chosen the life of a soldier from read- 
ing accounts of the great battles and glorious 
deeds of an Alexander, a Hannibal, a Napoleon, 
a Wellington, or our own brave and noble \Vash- 
ington. The lists of statesmen have been aug- 
mented by the example of a Pitt, a Webster, a 
Clay, or Calhoun. Patriotism and love of country 
have been awakened by reading the sublime ut- 
terances of Patrick Henry, John Adams, Thomas 
Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen A. 
Douglas. The love of home, love of parents and 
kindred have been strengthened by oft-told tales 
of the aged father or mother, especially of 
that pioneer father and mother who toiled 
early and late, hard and long, in order to 
give their descendants the priceless boon of a 
home of plenty and of peace, of refinement 
and love lor God and humanity. 

In the spring of 1859, Pascal P. Enos, a well- 
beloved pioneer, who now sleeps the " sleep of 
the just," and who is gratefully remembered by 
thousands in Sangamon county, circulated the 
following call : 

Old Settlers' Meeting.— The undersigned, desir- 
ous of preserving the earl}^ history of the city of Spriug- 
fiekl and of Sangamon county, now known in a great 
degree to a few pioneers, would suggest a meeting at 
the Court House, on the first day of June, of all the 
settk^rs who became residents of the count}" previous 
to '"the winter of the deep snow" (1830-31), for the pur- 
pose of organizing a pernuinent societj'^ in furtherance 
of this object. 

Pascal P. Enos, 
A. G. Bergen, 
Elijah lies, 
N. W.Mathenv. 



Pursuant to the call, a meeting was held June 
1st, and adjourned to the 15th, at which time 
the society was fully organized and the follow- 
ing constitution was adopted: 

Article 1. This Society shall be called the "Old 
Settlers' Society of Sangamon County," and shall have 
for its object the collection and preservation of the 
early history of Sangamon county and the city of 
Springfield. 

Article 2. The officers of this Society shall con- 
sist of a President, two Vice Presidents, Correspond- 
ing Secretary, Recording Secretary and Treasurer, who 
shall hold their offices until their successors are elected. 

It shall be the duty of the President to call all meet- 
ings of the Society and preside at the same, and in his 
absence this shall be performed bv one of the Vice 
Presidents. 

It shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to 
keep a record of the Society's proceedings, and pre- 
serve all manuscripts, papers and books belonging 
to the society, and to keep a book in which all qualified 
persons desirous of becoming members ma}" enroll their 
names. 

It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary 
to attend to the correspondence of the Society and to 
preserve the same . 

Article 3, All persons residents of Sangamon 
county previous to "the winter of the deep snow," 
viz: 1830-31, are qualified for membership in this So- 
ciety, and after the first day of January, 1860, appli- 
cants for membership must show a residence of twen- 
ty-five years previous to the time of application. The 
roll of the Society shall constitute the only evidence 
of membership. 

Article 4. The election of officers shall be an- 
nually on the first Monday in .June, and shall be de- 
cided by a majority of members voting, and in the 
same manner at any meeting of the Society. Notice 
at a former meeting having been given, this constitu- 
tion may be altered, amended or abolished, and a code 
of by-hiws may, in the same manner and at any meet- 
ing, be adopted, at the discretion of the Society. 

Until the first Monda}" in June, the offices of this 
Society shall be filled as folloAvs: 

Thomas Mofiott, President. 

Elijah lies and A. G. llerndon. Vice Presidents. 

Pascal P Enos, Recording Secretary. 

N. W. Matheny, Corresponding Secretary. 

E. B. Hawley, Treasurer. 

Article 5. , 181—, the day on which the 

first ciblu was erected in Sangamon county, shall be 



432 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



known in the jji-oceedings of this Society as " Old 
Settlers' Day," and shall be annually celebrated. 

It will be observed there is a blank left in 
the last article. A committee was appointed 
to inquire on what day the first cabin was 
erected, which committee afterwards reported, 
and it was decided that October 20, of each 
year, should be celebrated as "Old Settlers' 
Day," in honor of the first cabin in the county 
having been raised by Robert Pulliam, October 
20, islo. 

The committee having decided, a call was 
issued for the 

FIRST ANNUAL CELEBRATION. 

The locality selected for the occasion of the 
celebration was very properly the spot upon 
which the first house in the limits of the county 
was erected, being on Sugar creek, about twelve 
miles south of Springfield, and four miles south- 
east from Chatham, on section twenty-one, 
township fourteen, north of range five west 
The exact date on which the cabin was com- 
menced or raised, is not known, but the state- 
ment w\as made by Martin Pulliam, a son of 
Robert Pulliam, that it was in October, 1816. 
It was put up by Mr. Pulliam for the purpose 
of sheltering himself and four hired men while 
herding cattle during the following winter. In 
the winter of 1817-18, the Indians burned oxtt 
the range, and Mr. Pulliam did not bring his 
family to the place until May 26, 1818. Mean- 
while another cabin had been put up a quarter 
of a mile distant, by Mr. Shellhouse, and there 
he temporarily lodged his family. 

The spot pointed out on which the Pulliam 
cabin stood, is in an immense grove of ash, oak 
and sugar trees, a number of which have since 
fallen and their trunks cumber the ground. 
The cabin was about sixteen feet square, and 
fronted east, with the chimney on the south 
side. The ground slopes off towards the north- 
east and draining into Sugar creek, which is 
but a short distance from it. No trace in 1859 
was remaining of the house, except a small 
mound, showing where the chimney stood, and 
a little hollow showing where there was a cellar. 
Several trees, ten or twelve inches thick, are 
growing on the spot. To the south was pointed 
out where an apple nursery was planted by Mr. 
Pulliam in the spring of 1817, and the trunk of 
an old burr oak of immense size, which still 
lays there, was said to have been used as a por- 
tion of the fence which inclosed the patch. 
The Pulliam cabin was long and familiarly 
known as the "Sugar House," from the fact 



that sugar was made in it in subsequent 
years. 

The weather on the occasion of this first cele- 
bration was gloriously fine the day being a 
sample of the glorious "Indian summer " days, 
and the number of persons brought together 
was probably not less than fifteen hui.dred, 
among whom were many of the pioneers of 
Sangamon county. 

The exercises of the day were commenced by 
a procession formed at the edge of the timber 
and headed by a band of music engaged for the 
occasion. Making a circuit through the timber, 
the procession marched to the identical spot 
where the first cabin had been erected. Two 
wagons had been placed over the spot, in which 
the officers of the society, the orator of the day, 
and invited guests, had arranged themselves. 
Judge, Moffett then called the meeting to order, 
and the festival was opened by prayer by Rev. 
Mr. Prentiss, Presiding Elder of the Springfield 
' Methodist Episcopal Circuit. The invocation 
of the reverend gentleman was singularly beau- 
tiful and ap})ropriate to the occasion, and in the 
solemn forest which surrounded, seemed to touch 
a chord in the breast of all who were present. 
The band then started u]) "Three Cheers for the 
Red, White, and Blue," after which James H. 
Matheny, the orator of the day, was introduced. 
As well for its appropriateness and eloquence, 
as for its being a part of the proceedings of the 
day, the address is here given. Said Mr. Ma- 
theny: 

'■'■ Ladies and Gentlemen: — We meet to-day for 
a singular purpose. We, the remnant spared 
by time from an almost forgotten past, meet to 
revive fading reminiscences of other days — 
meet to re-kindle recollections almost extinct. 
We come with varied emotions. Some of you, ^ 
almost at the foot of life's hill, look back and 
upward at the path you have trod, while others, 
who have just reached life's summit, gaze down 
into the valley of tears with many a hope and 
fear. You, gray-headed fathers, you have done 
your work; you have done it well; and now, as 
the stinset of life is closing around you, you are 
given the rare boon of enjoying the fruits of 
your own labor. You can see the land won by 
your good right arm from its wilderness state, 
and from a savage foe, pass to the hands of your 
children, and your children's children, literally, 
'a land fiowing with milk and honey' — a land over 
which hovers the white-robed angels of Religion 
and Peace — a land fairer and brighter and more 
glorious than any other land beneath the blue 
arch of Heaven. You have done your work well, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



43:{ 



and wlieii the time of rest shall come, you will 
sink to the dreamless repose with the calm con- 
sciousness of duty done. 

"In this hour, let memory assert her strongest 
sway — -tear aside the thin veil that shrouds in 
gloom the misty past —call up before you the 
long-forgotten scenes of years ago — live over 
once again the toils, the struggles, the hopes 
and fears of other days. Let this day be a day 
sacred to the memory of the olden time. In 
th?t olden time, there are, no doubt, scenes of 
sadness, as well as of joy. Perhaps you remem- 
ber standing by the bedside of a loved and 
cherished, but dying, wife — one who, in the 
days of her youth and beauty, when you pro- 
posed to her to seek a home in a new, wild 
land, took your hand in hers and spoke to you 
in words like these: 'Whither thou goest, I 
will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; 
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my 
God; where thou diest, will I die, and there w^ll 
I be buried — the Lord do so to me and more 
also, if aught but death part me and thee.' Or, 
perhaps, some brave boy, stricken down in the 
pride of his strength; or some gentle daughter, 
fading away in her glorious beauty; or some 
little prattling babe, folding its weary eyes in 
the 'dreamless sleep.' If so — if there are mem- 
ories like these, and the unbidden tear wells up 
to the eye, let it come, and to-day one and all 
shed a tear or two to the memory of the ' loved 
and lost.' 

" It is not my purpose to deal in historical 
facts connected with the early settlement of this 
county. These are now being gathered by other 
hands, and will, in due time, be given to the 
world. To one event I am permitted to allude, 
and that one is the fact that we this day 
commemorate the building of the first log cabin 
in the county of Sangamon. 

" Forty-two years ago the stillness of the un- 
broken forest was startled by the clangor of an 
axe in a strong maa's hands. That day he had 
rested from a weary journey, but as he stood 
and gazed upon the beauty of the strange wild 
scene ab ut him, there arose a longing in his 
heart to linger there. With that class of men 
to whom he belonged, to decide was to act. 
Soon his weary team Avas loosened from their 
heavy load, and as we have said, the clangor of 
his axe rung out, wild and clear, and some brave 
old tree that had stood the storms of a hundred 
years, crashed headlong to the earth. Weary- 
ing of his toil for that day, the camp-fire was 
kindled, and the rude evening meal prepared 
and partaken of, and he laid himself down to 

50— 



sleep. We do not know whether in that stilly 
hour, when all alone with nature and nature's 
God, he formally kneeled down upon the green 
e;irth and offered up a prayer for |)rotection 
through the lonely hours of that first Jiight in 
tne strange land to which he had come, but we 
feel that there must at least have been in his 
heart a calm and unshaken trust that the guard- 
ian care of a kind Providence was around about 
him, to shield and protect him from every harm. 
This was a singularly marked characteristic of 
the early pioneers of the West. They had 
'faith in God' — an unswerving trust in His 
Providence. The stern faith of our fathers, and 
the calm, gentle trust of our mothers, in an 
over-ruling Providence, presents a broad con- 
trast to the hesitating belief of their cljild- 
ren. I have always thought that the most l)eau- 
tiful of all life's mysteries, is that calm and 
unshaken trustfulness in a kind Providence, 
that cheers and sustains in the darkest hum-; 
that brings a ray of sunshine, hidden though it 
be to the outer world, to the saddest and loneliest 
of hearts — an abiding faith that a kind Father 
is ever guarding, with a sleepless watchfulness, 
the welfare of his wandering children. How 
desolate would earth be without this beautiful 
faith in the Providence of God. 

"Wonderful are the changes that forty years 
have made since that lone man halted his weary 
team on that autumn evening. The wilderness 
that then lay before him in its unbroken solitude, 
now blooms and blossoms as the rose; the red 
Indian has gone from his favorite hunting 
ground, far toward the setting sun; the buffalo, 
in his untamed wildness, is roaming over other 
lands, and the frightened elk has wandered 
away from his accustomed haunts. All has 
changed! Could that old man now come from 
his silent grave, with what a wondering awe 
would he gaze upon the scene that now meets 
our vision. Let us call him from his lonely bed, 
let us arouse him from his dreamless sleep. In 
imagination I can see him coming — in fancy's 
ear I hear his solemn tread. Slowly he comes, 
with uncertain tread, as though seeking for the 
old familiar pathway; now he stands by my 
side; now he is gazing upon the forms before 
him. Ah, see! With a mournful shake of the 
head he turns away. The old familiar faces, 
where are they? Alas! too many have gone 
away, and gone forever, and strange forms now 
fill their places; and now, with wearied, disap- 
pointed look he goes back to his dreamless bed. 
Sleep on, old man, sleep quietly. There are 
many here who still remember thee, and it may 



4:54 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



be that on some other day, these strangers whom 
you pioneered to this goodly land, will gather 
about yonr humble grave, and erect some monu- 
ment lelling to coming generations where you 
are sleeping the ' dreamless sleep.' 

"A wondrous change, indeed, has come since 
that autumn day. What was then a wild and 
unbroken wilderness, is now the smiling home 
of thousands, blest with all that makes life joy- 
ous and bright. Cities have sprung into existence 
since that day; churches upon every band point 
their spires heavenward; the whitened school 
house is to be seen in well nigh every grove; 
the busy hum of traffic and trade burdens the 
very air; and the sweet laugh of merry-hearted 
children floats like music upon every breeze. 
Ah, yes! a change indeed, a change glorious 
beyond all conception. It is well for the world's 
developnient that man is a creature of change; 
that he is never satisfied with the present, but is 
always struggling for better things in the com- 
ing future. It is this restless principle in man's 
nature that is ever prompting him to seek in 
new scenes happiness that older places seem to 
deny him. So strong is the principle in some 
men that everything else in life bends to it. The 
ties of home, kindred and friends are readily 
torn asunder; the familiar places of childhood 
are abandoned forever; the comforts and lux- 
uries of life are scornfully trodden under foot, 
and alone, or perhaps only accompanied by wife 
and child, they strike out into untrodden paths 
in the still further West, to battle until life's 
close with the rough realities of a fresher and 
newer existence. And what is it, where man is? 
What matter the circumstances surrounding 
him? Happiness is not a creature of time, cir- 
cumstance or place; man can be happy in any 
spot upon which shines God's bright sun, and in 
every land can he find a home. 

"A somewhat varied life, checkered with much 
of sunshine, and some little of shade, has fully 
taught me this one truth, that 'tis home where 
theheart is — 'tis home, and only home where 
the loved ones dwell. It is a matter of small 
moment what our outward surroundings are — 
whether in the untrodden wild, or in the city 
full, whether the rude log cabin or the costly 
palace shelter us from the beating storm; 
whether we are an-ayed in 'purple and fine 
linen,' or clothed in the humble garb of poverty; 
all these matter but little if the heart is within 
us; if the loved ones surround us, it is home 
wherever we are. What is all life worth, un- 
brightened by home's glad sunshine? How poor 
an exL-hantre does he make, who barters the calm 



contentment of a peaceful home for the honors, 
the distinctions and riches of earth? How 
worse than dross are all these, when after years 
of weary toil we gain them. How the tired 
heart pauses on its weary way, and with many a 
sad regret, feels that it is bartering the true joys 
of life for 'dead sea apples,' that turn to ashes 
and bitterness on the lips. 

" It will be the fulfillment of a beautiful hoj^e, 
if the hour shall ever come, when every man 
and woman in all our broad land, shall own 
some spot, no matter how small, hallowed by the 
name of home. It would be a time of wondrous 
beauty; all earth would put on a happy smile; 
songs of gentle melody would roll on from hill- 
top and valley, gathering force and power, until 
at last they would swell into one perpetual an- 
them of gladness and joy, for it is a truth that 
well-nigh all that is glorious in life emanates 
from a love of home. Man with unfaltering 
heart and unwearied arm is toiling ever to dec- 
orate and embellish the chosen spot, and woman, 
with her gentle voice and beautiful smile, is 
there to cherish and sustain in every weary 
hour. 

" This earth is full of music; glad songs are 
continually welling up from happy hearts, but 
the best of them all, the one that nestles closer 
and fondlier around every heart, is the gentle 
strain of ' Home, Sweet Home.' 

"Nor has the physical earth alone changed. 
Man, in his social, moral and civil aspect, has 
felt the influence of thirty years, and yielded to 
an irresistible tide of an onward progress. How 
changed in a social point of view. Then a broad 
humanity, like golden sunshine, rested upon 
whole communities. The kindly sympathies of 
the human bosom held full sway. If it was not 
an age of mind it at least was an age of heart. 
If misfortunes came sudden, swift and sure, 
warm hearts and strong hands came unasked to 
sympathize and assist. Then the latch string 
always hung on the outside of the batten door; 
now it is not only pulled in, but the panel door 
is bolted on the inside. If a neighbor's house 
then took fire and burned up, they came for 
miles around and built him another; now the 
unfortunate victim, whose house is consumed, is 
simply turned over to the tender mercies of the 
insurance agent. 

"Men sickened and died then and whole com- 
munities came with solemn tread and followed 
them to the rude, unfenced graveyard, and 
although the dead was placed in a rough, un- 
planed oaken coffin, yet weeping friends, with 
their own hands, bore the loved form and laid 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



4:55 



it inside its last resting place, and with uncovered 
heads stood aronnd until friendly hands had 
heaped up tlie little mound above where the 
loved one was laid. Now men die and a rose- 
wood coffin, lined with costliest silks and satin, 
receive their remains; they are borne to the 
fashionable burying ground in a hearse all 
decked with waving plumes; a half dozen or so 
of the costliest carriages in the community carry 
a few acquaintances to the graveyard; they are 
lowered to their narrow bed, and at the first 
rumble of a clod upon the coffin lid, the living 
all hurry away, and, without thought of the one 
just gone, plunge into the busy whirl of life. 

" In those days there were such things as boys, 
not merely boys in size, but in character and 
thought. Pure specimens of unadulterated 
nature in her roughest and most uncouth form. 
We have no such things now as boys — they have 
been entirely superseded by a new genius denom- 
inated young gentlemen. The real boy is a lost 
race — as totally extinct as the mysterious ani- 
mals of the past, about which geologists tell us. 
I would give a good deal to once again see a real 
hoyxa fide boy, such as lived in Springfield thirty 
years ago, when I was one of that now extinct 
species — but they are all gone. I never expect 
to see one again; yet I love to think of them. I 
love to call up reminiscences of my boyish days. 
I love to think of the unsophisticated trustful- 
ness of our natures, of our abiding faith, that 
everything in life was earnest, true and beatuiful. 

"One little circumstance comes to memory that 
will perhaps better illustrate the unsophisticated 
nature of the boys of thirty years ago, than any 
words that I can employ. The rumor one day 
went abroad through our boyish community that 
a stranger boy had come to town with his father, 
who had just moved from the East, but what was 
startling and totally incomprehensible to us was, 
according to the same rumor, he absolutely wore 
broadcloth clothes; this was asking a little too 
much, more than we could believe. Our loftiest 
ambition, our wildest dream had never gone be- 
yond a wool hat and a mixed jeans coat. It is 
true that we had heard of broadcloth; we knew 
there was such a thing; we knew that preachers, 
doctors, and law^yers sometimes, but only upon 
rare occasions, wore it; but to be told that a boy, 
no bigger than ourselves, wore broadcloth, it was 
entirely too much. The news spread rapidly 
from boy to boy; the excitement ran higher and 
higher; night after night w^e met to talk over the 
wonderful news, and finally we resolutely re- 
solved that if such a wonderful thing was true, 
we must see and know it for ourselves. This 



was on Saturday night. We had been told that 
the stranger boy would go to meeting Sunday 
with his broadcloth coat on; we knew the route 
he would take; and a committee of three was ap- 
pointed to hide in a corner of the fence, near 
which he would pass, and see if the wonderful 
story could be true, and then report to us. The 
balance of us were to wait in an old mill until 
the truth should be known. The three went 
forth upon their mission; we waited in silence 
for their return. Shortly they came; we saw at 
once by their solemn, awe struck countenajices 
that the truth had been told us, and one by one 
we left the old mill and passed to our homes, 
perfectly satisfied that a superior being was in 
our midst. This was thirty years ago, but all of 
us, since that day, have fully learned the true 
estimate to place upon broadcloth, tinsel and 
show. 

"What a change thirty years has made in the 
worship of God. Come go with me, and let us 
visit one of the old-time meetings. Itis a beauti- 
ful sunshiny day, and as we go up — 

' We strike iDto the pathway all worn in the sod. 
By the people who went up to the worship of God.' 

"It is a rude, rough looking building; yet let 
us enter. Step lightly, for there are no carpets 
to deaden the sound of our feet. Up the rough 
aisle, tow^ards the pulpit we make our way; upon 
every side they are moving and inviting us to a 
seat. Now let us sit down — the rough old bench 
is rather rude, and don't you lean back, for you 
may fall into somebody's lap. Now look around 
at the congregation; scan well their faces and 
tell me what they came here for. You answer 
promptly and at once: 'They came here to wor- 
ship God.' See the humble preacher rise from 
his seat, hear him line out the grand old hymn: 

" 'God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform, 
He plants His foot upon the sea, 
And rides upon the storm.' 

"With one accord they rise to their feet and 
pour forth the untaught melody of grateful 
hearts. The song is ended, and ' Let us pray ' 
falls solemnly upon every ear, as they kneel be- 
fore their God, and when the preacher's earnest 
lips pronounce the 'amen,' it is echoed back 
from evei'y heart. And now listen to the simple 
story of a Redeemer's love, told with a kindling 
fervor that warms and electrifies every soul. 
Now the benediction is given, and they wend 
their way homward, happier and better men and 
women. 

" Now let us visit one of modern fashionable 
churches. We ascend marble steps; wide, fold- 



4;J6 



HISTORY OF SANGAxMON COUNTY. 



ing doors open to give entrance; we are tread- 
ing down the carpeted aisle; not a soul moves 
upon their cushioned seats to bid us welcome; 
not a pew door opens to bid us enter. At the 
extreme back end of the church we noticed 
some uncushioned seats unoccupied; let us go 
back and take a seat there; we retrace our steps. 
It is true we can't hear much way back here, 
but then we can see. Now look around upon 
this congregation; scan well their faces and tell 
me for what purpose they came. Y"ou answer 
promptly and at once, 'To see and be seen.' 
Now look at that pulpit, all dressed in crimson 
and purple; its occupant casts one glance over 
the congregation, to see if they are all looking 
at him I With what a studied grace he rises to 
his feet; how gracefully he pulls that cambric 
handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the 
imaginary perspiration from his brow; how 
pompously he unclasps that golden bound hymn 
book and reads — 

" 'Vdin, delusive world, adieu, with all of creature 

good, 
Only Jesus I pursue, who bought me with His blood; 
All thy pleasures I forego — I trample on thy wealth 

aud pride, 
Oal\' Jesus will I know, and Jesus crucified.' 

" And the choir takes up the song, and, with 
faultless execution, renders the music to perfec- 
tion. Now the minister again rises with the 
game studied grace, and daintily opens the gor- 
geously embossed Bible, and turns it over, leaf 
by leaf, until the sought for passage is found. 
He tlien runs his eye over the gorgeous decora- 
tions of his church, all painted and frescoed 
until even the innocent walls are made to de- 
ceive you; and then turn over his gay and 
worldly audience, and then in tones that really 
sounds serious, reads — 

" ' Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' 

" And then proceeds to deliver a learned dis- 
course on the sinfulness of earthly vanity; 
warns his hearers to guard against, as deadly 
sins, 'the lusts of the eye and the pride of 
life.' 

"The ambition of the fashionable minister 
of our day seems to prompt them to be brilliant 
and witty, rather than good. The simple truths 
to be taught arc lost in metaphysical fogs. The 
humble narrative of the child in the manger 
can be told only in the jargon of the schools, 
adorned with all the graces of oratory. The 
beautiful prayer of our Saviour is simple and 
unmeaning, in their estimation, unless embel- 
lished with rhetorical flourishes. Their own 
prayers are nothing more nor less than abre- 



viated orations. Y^ou may listen to one of their 
sermons from the text to its close, and, although 
they kindle up your fancy, draw largely upon 
your imagination, appeal logically to your judg- 
ment, yet so far as any effect upon your heart is 
concerned, it will not have any. You may say 
what you please about it, deny it as much as 
you may, yet nevertheless it is true, that under 
the influence of modern progress, religion itself 
is losing all its old vitality, and is fast becom- 
ing a matter of tinsel, parade and show. It 
will take but little more of the religious pro- 
gress of the present day until you will hear 
these gay worshipers in their magnificent temples 
denying scomfrdhj that t}<eir Savior ever slept 
in a manger. 

"Now let us for a little while contemplate 
mankind in a civil point of view. What a sad 
change thirty years has made in the politics and 
politicians of our land. Perhaps in this point 
of view the change has been more marked and 
the contrast more painful than in any other 
aspect in which that change or that contrast can 
be viewed. At that age there was an unsophis- 
ticated notion prevailing that offices wei'e cre- 
ated for the benefit of the people, rather than 
for the benefit of the office-holder. They had 
another quaint and curious idea, and that was, 
that ' honesty was the best policy' even in pol- 
tics, as well as it was in morals. There is an- 
other curious fact illustrated in their life, that 
they were so foolishly patriotic that they posi- 
tively loved their country better than they loved 
themselves. There is another thing, perhaps 
more wonderful still, and that is that the peo- 
ple of that day really thought that an integrity 
of character and an honesty of purpose were 
necessar}' characteristics in a political leader. 
We of course laugh at such crude and unsophis- 
ticated notions as these. Such political verdancy 
is really refreshing in this age of intellectual 
progress. All such ideas as these we have long 
since buried in the tomb pf old fogyism. But 
seriously, the only thing perhaps at which an 
American citizen should blush or be ashamed of, 
in this our day, is the party politics of the age, 
and their embodiment, the very patriotic politi- 
cian, and it is very difticult to decide whether 
one should laugh or cry over their recklessness 
and folly. 

"I am disposed to look upon the great mass 
of the party ])olitics of the present day, classi- 
fied by whatever name you choose, as a great 
pool of festering iniquity, and I hesitate not to 
say that if left to politicians alone, this glori- 
ous confederacy would soon be shivered to a 



llLSTOiiV OF SANGAMON COUNTV 



thousand fragments. The only thing necessary 
to perfect in its corruption the seething caul- 
dron of the witches in Macbeth, would be to 
throw in a specimen or two of politicians, taken 
from each of the great parties of the country. 
It would then be ready for the most horrid con- 
jurations. 

"I thank God, however, that those who traffic 
and trade in politics have but little to do with 
the prosperity of the country; that it is an in- 
creasing, swelling tide that rolls on with or with- 
out them. Yet these creature politicians have 
their uses; they are an exhaustless source of 
amusement to the great thinking mass of the 
land. And they are useful in another respect; 
they are living monuments, warning us how 
frail a thing poor human nature is. Go to Wash- 
ington City, and hear them rant and mouth their 
fiery denunciations. They seem to think that 
they are the people; that they are not only 
the source of power, but the power itself; they 
seem to forget that they are but the creatures of 
a day; thej^ cease to remember that they are but 
bubbles blown into shape and dimension by the 
popular breath. One party proposes a measure, 
the other for that reason only opposes it, and in 
their mad fury, they threaten that if that meas- 
ure does or does not become a law, that they 
will dissolve the Union! Let them dare try it, 
and they will find that the people, their masters, 
will have something to say about it. 

" Politics at the present day has got to be a 
species of trade, and it is so recognized and 
classified by all. We speak of a good farmer, a 
skillful mechanic, a successful lawyer, and a 
shrewd politician. AVhen you go to erect a 
dwelling house or procure the building of ma- 
chinery, you naturally select the most skillful 
mechanic of your acquaintance. So when party 
leaders have any new move to make, or any 
oftice to fill, they of course select their shrewd- 
est politician ; not him who is the purest patriot ; 
the truest man ; not him who will best manage 
the affairs of the country, but him who will give 
to his party what his whole country has a right 
to claim — his every energy. Now it is well that 
all this matter be perfectly understood. Every 
body knows, so far as the great prosperity of 
the country is concerned, that politics, in its 
party sense, means just nothing at all, and 
every body equally well knows that the patriot- 
ism of party is nothing but the patriotism of 
self. Ilence from all this, nothing really injur- 
ious can ever result to the welfare of the country. 
The merchant and the politician alike, unmo- 
lested, go into the market ; the merchant traffics 



and exchanges his goods and wares for produce 
and money, and the politician barters and sells 
his principles for ofKce and place. It is alike 
expected of both and recognized onlv in the 
light of a business transaction. 

"If you will permit me to illustrate by a figure, 
I will compare this Republic to a brave oak tree 
towering in majestic beauty above some green 
and fiowery plain, wooing to its gentle shade all 
way-worn and storm-tossed wanderers. Beneath 
its 'boundless contiguity of shade,' millions of 
earth's wearied ones are reposina; in calm dig- 
nity—joyous, happy and free. ~' Occasionally 
the winds come, and even the storms shout 
through the topmost branches of that brave tree, 
and these branches may lash each other in wild 
confusion. Yet at the base it stands unmoved, 
and those that are reposing beneath are scarcely 
conscious of the storm above. It would be 
amusing, yet profitable, to spend a little season 
in analyzing the peculiarities presented to our 
gaze in and about the tree. Let us for a moment 
or two turn aside and gaze upon the scene. 

"How proudly and how grandly that brave 
tree rears itself aloft. No dead or withered 
twig mars its green and vigorous beauty, and on 
its topmost bough the Eagle — Liberty's own 
bird — makes its eyrie. Beneath its broad and 
genial shade, see those teeming millions of 
nature's noblemen, illustrating and developing 
the glories of God's own work. Acknowledg- 
ing no master save the Eternal One, they stand 
up unawed and front the eternal stars — tramp- 
ling in the dust the hoary falsehood that kings 
rule by divine right. Chaining mind to the car 
of labor they have become gods, and the wild 
elements cower in submissive subserviency to 
their will. At the farmer's magic touch the 
green-robed earth pours forth her million treas- 
ures. From the brain of the mechanic the al- 
most thinking machine leaps, like Minerva, from 
the hand of Jove, full armed to do battle as 
man's servant in life's contest. These are they 
that repose at the base of that glorious tree, 
calm in the consciousness of their own power, 
and these are they who will guard it from every 
harm and guard it forever. 

" But now cast your eye to the higher branches 
and amuse yourselves with the antics of the po- 
litical monkeys who have scrambled to the top. 
See them leap from limb to limb, and you may 
bet your life that the limb to which they leap is 
the one where the acorns grow. See how fierce 
and savage they get; how they snap and snarl 
at one another; how they tug and toil and sweat 
to push and pull each other off the limbs .where 



4;5S 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the acorns are. and I think the fact is now pretty 
fully demonstrated that the only beauty that 
they see in our grand old oak is that it bears 
acorns. For, take the most fierce and savage of 
them all, and feed him well on them, and in a 
wonderfully short period all his ferocity will 
vanish away, and he will 'coo yon gently as a 
sucking dove.' 

"Politics, in ils truer and better sense, is un- 
questionably the highest earthly duty of man, 
and more especially is this true in this land of 
ours, where the people are the whole source from 
which emanates political power. It is not only 
their privilege but their earnest duty to grapple 
with and thoroughly master every new thought 
or principle enunciated or proclaimed in the 
world of politics. He who does less than this 
falls short of discharging his whole duty as a 
member of a free community. When I say that 
we should all be politicians, I desii-e no one to 
understand me as meaning that we should sink 
ourselves into the miserable blind paitisan — the 
mere follower in the party camp — the mere 
worshipper of the god of party — but I mean 
that more noble thing, thinking and acting for 
ourselves like men who are really free. 

" To the people of this country a great trust has 
been committed — to their keeping the Ark of 
Human Liberty has been intrusted. Let us 
watch it with a jealous care; guard it with a 
sleepless eye; never let the miserable, crawling 
demagogue, whose only aim is self, lay his un- 
hallowed hands upon it. 

" There are those who have thought that when 
official corruption should, unabashed, rear its 
miscreated front in the high places of govern- 
ment, and official purity becomes contaminated 
with the baser passions of the heart, that the 
inevitable consequence would be the total sub- 
version and destruction of our Republic, and 
they point to tl e ruined and decayed govern- 
ments of the old world to prove the truth of 
their position. Yet, I apprehend that their con- 
clusions are false, because they are groundless. 
Between this goveinment and the governments 
of the old world no analogy can fairly be 
drawn — their inception is totally different. 
There, power descends from the throne — here, it 
ascends from the people. It is true that when 
the source of power in a government becomes 
corrupt it must fall, and it is equally true that so 
long as the seat of power in a government 
remains true to itself it will stand. Hence the 
conclusion is irresistible that this government 
will live until the people themselves become 
abased and corrupt — and that can never be. At 



least it can never be until religion and intelli- 
gence, the guardian angels of a free people, 
leave our shores forever. And it cannot be that 
they will ever depart. It cannot be that igno- 
rance and infidelity will ever descend u])on this 
bright land and brood over it with their gloomy 
wings. If religious altars are ever thrown down 
and the light of intelligence extinguished, then 
it may be that those bright guardians of free- 
dom's temple will prepare to wing their ever- 
lasting flight; and sad, strangely, wildly sad, 
will be that hour. 'Piles of clouds whose dark- 
ness will be palpable,' even in the midnight, 
will brood upon the saddened earth. 'Let us 
go hence,' will be their song of sorrow. 'Let 
us go hence,' will swell out in mournful cadence 
upon the starless air. 'Let us go hence,' will 
be reverberated by the sad echoes of the moun- 
tains, and all earth shall darken in the rayless 
night of despotism. 

" Yet, wherefore, thoughts like these — for us 
no such gloomy fate awaits our coming. Our 
country is the final earthly home of truth and 
liberty. Here they make their last great staiui; 
here they are preparing themselves for their 
great mission, the regeneration of the earth; 
here they are arming themselves for their last 
great battle; here they are forging the thunder- 
bolts that are to shatter to fragments the bul- 
warks of tvranny. 

" Although I have said and spoken as I 
believed when I said it, that politics and politi- 
cal leaders, in the main, have become corrupt, 
yet it is a pleasure to have the privilege of 
truthfully saying that there are some exceptions 
to this general rule. You will find them in the 
various political parties of the day. Differing 
though they do upon matters of lesser import, 
yet agreeing in the one great desire for the pros- 
perity and glory of our common country. These 
amid the general corruption, stand like the 
Abdial of old, amid the faithless, faithful still- 
stand like lighthouses amid the general gloom, 
and serve as beacon lights by which Freedom 
guides her bark through the gathering storm. 
And it is for us to gather around such men 
wherever found, and by whatever party name 
they may be called, and to do to them as was 
done to the Prophet of old, hold up their hands 
while they prophecy against the enemies of our 
country, and so long as we do this we shall tri- 
umph over every foe. 

'' It is a matter of no great import what 
are the slightest changes in the written 
parchment laws of a country, free and en- 
liijhtened like ours. It is still less a matter what 



HIS TOR V OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



439 



party man guides aud controls its political 
destiuy; for after all, the great unwritten com- 
mon laws of truth, religion and freedom that 
find their home in the American heart, gives 
shape and direction to our onward march, and 
will guide us, even in freedom's glorious path- 
way. 

" God has stamped in every enlightened soul 
these great truths— to be happy you must be 
free, and to be free you must be virtuous. By 
the light of these great truths let us ever walk, 
and the accumulating glories of our after history 
shall gleam in unclouded splendor, brightened 
b)^ the smiles of an approving God, and we 
shall become to the political what the sun is to 
the physical world, a light, a joy, and a glad- 
ness. We shall become the pillar of cloud by 
day, and the pillar of tire by night, pioneering 
the nations of earth through the wilderness of 
despotism to freedom's promised land." 

At the conclusion of Mr. Matheny's address 
Erastus Wright was called out and gave the 
origin of the name " Suckers," as applied to the 
people of this State. When Mr. Wright con- 
cluded Judge Moffett gave an account of the 
origin and aims of the society. 

At half past twelve o'clock dinner was an- 
nounced, and the procession was again formed 
and marched to the tables which were m'ist 
bountifully spread with substantial food and 
relishes, furnished by the people of the neigh- 
borhood. The dinner was eaten with much rel- 
ish, and it was an interesting sight to notice the 
genial and pleasant conversation of the pioneers. 
The topic discussed was "old times," and each 
pioneer had some anecdote, or incident, or scrap 
of history to tell. 

As soon as the wants of the inner man had 
been supplied, the meeting again organized and 
Martin G. Pulliam, a son of the first settler, was 
called out. He stated his father's first place 
was Henry county, Virginia. He emigrated to 
Kentucky, and from that to this State, to what 
is now Madison county, but which was then St. 
Olair, whence he came in 1816 to the " Sanga- 
mo" country. His father had six children — 
Nancy, who raaried John Bronnell, of Macoupin 
county; Martin G. Pulliam, of Sangamon; Mary, 
wife of Mr. Ferris, who removed to Iowa; Mar- 
garet, who married S. Peters; and George 
Washington Pulliam, the youngest, who was 
born in the shell-house cabin, which formerly 
stood only a few hundred yards distant. 

Mr. Pulliam said he was fifty-two years old on 
the l7th of September; that he had seven sons 
and five daughters, and eleven grand children; 



that he had not an unsound Li'otli in his head; 
that he had never smoked a pipe or a cigar, or 
used a quid of tobacco in his life; and for many 
years had not tasted a drop of intoxicating liq- 
uors. He said he was born about five miles 
from Alton, on the old E(3 wards ville road; he 
could just remember that when a boy, the In- 
dians came down and murdered many of the 
whites of the settlement, among others the 
family of Abel Moore. The men were shot in 
the field while they were plowing. They then 
went to the house and tomahawked the women, 
who were boiling soap, and the children were 
put in soap kettles and boiled up. This hap- 
pened only one mile from his father's house. 

E. D. Taylor, of Chicago, though a former 
citizen of Sangamon, Munson Carter, Dr. Shields, 
Elder Prentice, and P. P. Enos made remarks, 
and the crowd was then adjourned. 

RE-ORGANIZATIOX OF THE SOCIETY. 

The year following the first annual celebiation 
of the society was that of 186'0. The political 
excitement at that time being so high, it was 
deemed best to postpone the annual meeting. 
The war following, in 1861, continuing over four 
years, it was impossible to gather men and 
women together for seasons of rejoicing while 
fathers, husbands and brothers were upon the 
tented field, hourly exposed to dangers incident 
to a time of war. Even after the close of the 
war, it required time for the minds of men to 
assume their regular channels. In 1868, the fol- 
lowing call was issued and signed by the names 
accompanying it: 

"For the purpose of renewing old associations 
and reviving recollections of the distant past, the 
undersigned propose and suggest that on the 
twentieth day of August next, the old settlers 
and pioneers of the county meet at Clear Lake. 
The reunion will be a happy one — the place 
selected, one of the most desirable in the county. 
All persons will bring refreshments with them. 
The selection of the grounds and other arrange- 
ments Mall be attended to by the ' old settlers ' 
residing in the neighborhood of Clear l^ake. 
George L. Huntington N. W. Matheny 
N. B. Whitesides Charles Arnold 

John Wilson S. G. Jones 

David Crouch Peyton L. Harrison 

John F. King James H. Mathenv 

O. P. Hall Daniel Pea 

C. C. Brown .lacob N. FuUenwider 

William Lavely J. Bunn 

George Woods John Uhler 

John T. Stuart Thomas Mofl:'ett 



440 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



¥j. Kveigh B. S. Edwards 

E. B. Aerndou H. G. Fitzhngh 

I. C. Bone A. B. Irwin 

Edward George S. I. Harrison 

Preston Breckenridge C. B. Stafford 

S. G. Nesbitt R. S. Coats 
August 5, 18(38." 

The meeting was accordingly held, and of the 
re-organized society may properly be termed the 

FIRST ANNUAL MEETIXG. 

The beautiful park on the east side of Clear 
Lake was the place selected for the occasion, 
and by 10 o'clock a large crowd had assembled, 
including old and young. 

After music by the Washington Silver Cornet 
Band, Strother Jones, of Dawson, called the 
meeting to order, and a prayer was offered by 
Rev. Mr. Stafford. At the close of the prayer, 
Munson Carter, of Rochester, was introduced, 
and proceeded to make an interesting address, 
in the course of which he related many inci- 
dents of his early life and first appearance in 
Sangamon county. He said that twenty-eight 
years ago the -JOth of August, he opened a 
school one and a half miles from Clear Lake, 
and those who saw the place 'rom 1840 to 1843, 
little expected to see a gathering like the one 
now on the shores of Clear Lake. He referred 
to Sangamon county as being the first in the 
State in all that constitutes agricultural wealth. 
Cook county exceeds it in commercial wealth, 
but in nothing else. He w^as proud to say that 
he lived in Sangamon county. He remembered 
with pleasure the first days he spent in this lo- 
cality. He was a Yankee, and did not deny his 
colors. He was then a young pedagogue; but 
the first days he spent in Clear Lake were the 
bread and butter days of his life. Then the 
people. had great hearts, and liberal hospitality 
prevailed, and the people were glad to entertain 
strangers without price. In this connection, he 
referred to the early times, \a hen farmers cut 
their wheat with a sickle, and the neighbors 
aided each other in the work. Those were good 
days, and rememl)ered with pleasure by those 
now present. 

David England was next introduced. He 
stated that in the spring of 1819, his father set- 
tled on what was then called Higgins' creek, 
now Cantrall's creek. He was born in 1811, in 
Kentucky, and went with his father to Ohio, and 
from that State came to Sangamon county. He 
remembered passing through the locality now 
called Springfield, where there were then a few 



Indian wigwams. There is a tie, he said, be- 
tween the old settlers, fresh and strong to-day. 
He referred to the time when his father, 
Stephen England, would call a few of the set- 
tlers together and preach to them the word of 
God, and as he warmed up with his snbject, he 
would pull off' his coat. Frequently there would 
be Indians present at these meetings. He also 
referred to the conduct of the settlers towards 
emigrants. They were supplied with corn and 
wheat, as their necessities required, without 
money and without price. If a family were 
sick with the ague, they were cared for. But 
things are changed with the increase of popula- 
tion. He spoke of the time when men who 
lived within six or ten miles were considered 
neighbors. Then they had wild honey and an 
abundance of fresh fish for the taking. Then 
no man was charged for entertainment — all was 
free. In this connection, he referred to the 
great contrast between the present and past with 
respect to churches and schools. He closed 
with wishing that the children of the settlers 
and their children's children might live to enjoy 
the advantages which came from increased in- 
telligence of the people in religion and all the 
arts of civilization. 

George Anderson, of Springfield, and Samuel 
Williams, of Rochester, made appropriate re- 
marks, and the meeting adjourned for dinner, a 
proceeding that few generally objected to. 

After dinner, Preston Breckenridge was called 
out, and commenced with referring to the time 
he came from Kentucky, and in this connection 
told many anecdotes illustrating the state of 
society at that time. When he came to Illinois, 
Sangamon county was about forty-nine miles 
square, and in 1834 he did not think there were 
as many people in Sangamon county as there 
were people on the grounds to-day. People had 
then to get seasoned to fever and ague, for 
everybody had it, and when he inquired how 
long it required for a person to get seasoned, he 
was informed nine years, but in his case it 
required fifteen years. He said that in 1835 
there was rainy weather for nearly forty days. 
There were about forty-two deaths between 
Buckheart Grove and the South Fork between 
October, 1834, and October, 1835. Then we 
had no ready-made coffins, and when he first 
saw an advertisement of ready-made coffins he 
thought the man wanted everybody to die. 
They had to hunt then forplanks for coffins. 
He had known two persons to be buried in one 
grave. The people should be thankful that 
they had passed from the times of 1834-5-0. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



441 



Al ihis stage of the proceedings a lieaulil'ul 
boquet was presented to Irwin Piiliiain, the old- 
est settler present. 

James H. Ma lieny was the next speaker. He 
began by saying that he did not know when he 
came to the county, but his first recollection was 
that he was here. His father came to Spring- 
field in 1821, and the change since that time 
had been great and wondrous. From a wild 
waste, beauty had sprung into existence. He 
had been in various sections of the country, and 
in all his wanderings he had found no place like 
Sangamon county. If he did not know to the 
contrary, he should think the Garden of Eden 
had been located here, and he wondered that a 
man could be seduced from it by an apple. He 
said that the first child born in Springfield was 
that day being borne to her long home — Mrs. 
Lyman Trumbull, the daughter of Dr. Gershom 
Jayne. We were all passing away, and soon 
those that know us would know us no more. 

The meeting was in every respect a success. 
Strother G. Jones was elected President. 

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING, 

The second regular annual meeting was held 
at Clear Lake, August 20, 1869. The meeting 
was called to order by S. G. Jones, President, 
and an appropriate prayer was offered by Rev. 
Mr. Holton, of Springfield. 

Rev. J. G, Bergen, of Springfield, M'as intro- 
duced, and said he loved to see both old friends 
and young ones, for he loved them all. He re- 
counted scenes of his early life, and pointed to 
changes which time had wrought in the fair, 
bright and beautiful Sucker State. In his youth 
it required a year and a half to circumscribe 
the world, and now seventy days suffice to ac- 
complish that object. A mighty God controlled 
all things, and in His hands the prosperity and 
glory of the land were unchangeably fixed. 

liev. C. B. Stafford then spoke. He had known 
this country as a howling wilderness, and in his 
boyhood nothing but the whoop of the Indians 
and howl of w^olves were heard. Now see the 
change which had taken place in forty-eight 
years. When he first came to this country he 
rocked his child in a sugar trough. They were 
compelled to plow corn at night, for the prairie 
flies nearly tortured their hoi'ses to death during 
the day. It took three persons then to ]>lant a 
rov^ of corn — now we farm on a different scale. 
We should love God for his good work. 

David England was introduced. He remarked 
that in the spring of 1820 his father built a 
church — the first in the county. Provisions 
then had to be hauled one hundred miles \Yhere 

51— 



the State House now slauds, deer were as plenty 
as in the far west to-day, and they were here 
killed every day. His father married Philo 
Beers to Miss Stillman, and he l)elieved it was 
the first marriage in the county. It was a won- 
derful event when it happened. 

At the conclusion of Mr. England's remarks 
dinner was announced, and the meeting ad journed 
for that purpose. 

After dinner, Rev. J. W. Taylor, of Illiopolis, 
Preston Breckenridge and James H. Matheny 
made some excellent remarks. 

The following named officers were elected: 
Preston Breckenridge, President; Samuel Pres- 
ton, S. G. Jones, Vice Presidents; John F. King, 
Secretary. 

MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. 

The following named enrolled their names as 
members of the Society, annexing thereto the 
place of their nativity, and the year in which 
they came to Sangamon county: 

B. Turley, Sangamon, 1831. 
Thomas Correll, Tentucky, 1830. 
M. O; Reeves, Ohio, 1830. 
H. C. Myers, Peausylvaaia, 1836. 

B. C Simpson, New Jersey, 1835. 
JohnC. Woltz, Virginia, 1840 
John W. Newman, Tennessee, 1828. 
R. H. Withrow, Kentucky, 1825. 
Nancy Giger, Tennessee, 1820. 

M. D. Eigman, Sangamon county, 1831. 

T. J. V. Owen, Sangamon county, 1824. 

James Herron Kentucky, 1833. 

V. C. Wilson, Ohio, 1828. 

J. M. "Wise, Sangamon, county, 1827. 

John D Keedy, Sangamon county, 1839. 

George Power" Kentucky, 1831. 

C. Hopkins, Massachusetts, 1830. 
David England, Ohio, 1819. 

J. W. Elliott, Sangumon county, 1822. 

Davis Meredith, Ohio, 1829. 

John S. Hillman, Peuusvlvauia, 1827. 

A. Knott, Virginia, 1818' 
E.Porter, Ohio, 1831. 
G.Keycs, Virginia, 1830. 

G. J. FietcheV, Kentucky, 1830. 

J. H. FuUenwider, Kentucky, 1834. 

Isaac Taylor, Kentucky, 1818. 

N. B. Whiteside, Kentucky, 1831. 

J. N. FuUenwider, Kentucky, 1834. 

Samuel Ray, Kentucky, 1825. 

W. T. Bashaw, Kentucky, 1829. 

Jacob Baker, Kentuckv, 1828. 

G. W. Puffenbarger. Maryland, 1839. 

John Langer, Ohio, 1846. 

Preston Breckenridge, Kentucky, 1834. 

B. A. Giger, Sangamon coimty, 1827. 
G. H. Miller, Kentucky, 1830. 

G. M. Saunders, Kentucky, 1828. 
Polly Miller, Kentucky, 1830. 
Anna Jones, Sangamon county, 1828. 
J. W. Keyes, Virginia, 1831. 
Mary McClees. England, 1820. 



44::: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Sanih Robbius, Kentucky, 1839. 
Lucy Robinson, Sangamon county, 1820. 
Rebecca Burnes, Kentucky, 1830. 
E. A. Dickerson, Kentucky, 1831. 
Edward Clark, England, 1819. 
Sarah Donuer, Kentucky, 1830. 
J. M. Loiran, Kentucky, "1840. 
Felix Carver, Ohio, 1830. 
Elizabeth W. Logan, Kentucky, 1819. 
Thomas Rucker, Kentucky, 1832. 
* Mrs. L. M. Ridgeway, Kentucky, 1837. 
W. T. Jones, Kentucky, 1834. 
Lucj^ Jones, Kentucky, 1836. 
Daniel Morgan, Ohio, 1826. 
J. McBride,''Kentucky, 1827. 
W. R. Brassfield, Kentucky, 1833. 

D. P. Robinson, Kentucky, 1821. 
J. C. Sutton, New Jersey, 1839. 
0. Correll, Illinois, 1839. 

John Williams, Kentucky, 1824. 
C. W. Matheny, Illinois, 1821. 
W. S. Pickreli, Illinois, 1828. 
George Fisher, Pennsylvania. 1840. 
J. S. Saunders, Kentucky, 1824. 
P. A Saunders, Illinois, 1828. 
Hugh Turner, Indiana, 1819. 

E. Whipple, Illinois, 1835. 
Oatley Miller, Illinois, 1830. 

C. S. Churchill, Kentucky, 1828. 

Daniel Tavlor, Illinois, 1829. 

S. G. Jones, Kentucky, 1836. 
I J. M. Wise, Sangamon, county, 1827. 
s^Linsey Ridgeway, Kentucky, 1829. 

A. Cooper, Tennessee, 1823. 

William Wi throw, Kentucky, 1824. 

Thomas Cloyd, Kentucky, 1824. 

Thomas A. King, Kentucky, 1831. 

Samuel Houston, Virginia,' 1828. 

G. Groves, Pennsylvania, 1836. 

G. Baker, Kentucky, 1828. 

J. G. Caldwell, Kentucky, 1841. 

O. F. Matthew, Indiana, 1833. 

William Yoacum, Kentucky, 1828. 

J. Warden, Virginia, 1835. 

J. W. Taylor, Kentucky, 1833. 

THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. 

The annual meeting for 1870 was held on the 
3l8t day of August, at Clear Lake. A much 
larger attendance of old people were present 
than at any former meeting. The day was warm 
and pleasant, making the shade of the grove 
delightful. 

At about 10 o'clock the meeting was called to 
order by S. G. Jones, and Rev. Francis Springer 
was introduced. After imploring Divine guid- 
ance upon the meeting, Mr. Springer proceeded 
to address the audience. His remarks took a 
wide range with reference to the progress of the 
country. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Springer's address, 
General Anderson was introduced and made a 
speech in which he reviewed the organiz3,tion of 
the county, and related several anecdotes illus- 
trating early times in Sangamon county. He 



stated that he came to this county in 1829 and 
had $30 in money when he came. He borrowed 
money to pay for the first eighty acres, for which 
he paid fifty per cent, interest. In the course of 
his remarks, he gave an account of how he 
labored in the field while his wUe worked in the 
house manufacturing cloth to clothe the chil- 
dren. He had raised twelve children, and had 
been able to give each one a home and had 
enough for himself. 

Elislia Price, of Menard, next made a few re- 
marks, when David England M'as introduced, 
and made a characteristic speech. He was fol- 
lowed in turn by Samuel A. Grubb, of Spring- 
field; Samuel Williams, of Rochester; Thomas 
Bond, of Taylorville; Joab Wilkinson, of Macon 
county, and Job Fletcher. The following is the 
address of Mr. Williams: 

INCIDENTS AND ITEMS OP FRONTIER LIFE, BY 
SAMUEL WILLIAMS, 

" I was born in Windsor county. State of Ver- 
mont, on the 24th day of April, A. D. 1800. 
When I was about four years of age, my father, 
with his family, emigrated to ICssex county, in 
the State of New York. But few improvements 
had been made among the forests and there were 
still some deer in the woods, and I remember 
that, after a long chase, my father and several 
of the neighbors killed a large moose. 

"During .the summer of IBOti I attended 
school three months. I was present on the day 
of the great eclipse of the sun, when stars were 
seen. 

"In the summer of I807 my father removed 
again, to Tioga county, Pennsylvania; where the 
improvements were small and some considerable 
distance apart. 

"After remaining in this place some over one 
year, my parents, with their four children, started 
for the West. 

" Marvelous stories were told by persons from 
their recent travels in the new State of Ohio. 
Such wheat, rye, oats and corn had never before 
been seen as grew on Sciota and Miami river 
bottoms. They said that they grew so high and 
thick that if a hen were thrown into the field of 
grain, there would be no possible chance for it 
ever to get out by its own exertions, and the 
corn grew so large and high that when the 
women went for roasting ears they had to take 
an axe and cut down the stalks before they could 
obtain a supply. One morning, my father re- 
turned from the lower ])art of town, and said to 
his family, 'I have sold the wagon and horses, 
and engaged our passage on a boat to Ohio, and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



443 



by night we had embarked, with two other fam- 
ilies. After numerous delays, we disembarked, 
five miles above Cincinnati. We lived three 
years on the Little Miami river, two or three 
miles above tlie mouth of the river. Here, in 
1810 and 1811, between spells of the ague, I 
went to school, three months more, at a distance 
of three miles. 

"In 1812, my father removed to Butler county, 
near Oxford. The timber was tall, large, and of 
very thick growth, and ray younger brother and 
myself were engaged in chopping and clearing 
most of the time for several years. 

"One spring, I remember taking part in eigh- 
teen log-rollings. It was the custom to select 
two captains, and they to choose their men; then 
the ground was carefully divided into two parts. 
Three or four gallons of whisky were furnished 
by the proprietors of the premises, as was said, 
to make the men better able to endure the toil 
of the day. 

" There was generally considerable ambition as 
to who was to get done first. When all was 
completed, the proprietor was generally called 
on to furnish a bucket of eggnog, as a sequel to 
the occasion. 

" There were no temperance societies then ; but, 
seeing the evil resulting from the prevailing 
custom of dram drinking, I determined never 
to indulge in the useless and pernicious habit. 
The sneers and taunting remarks that I had to 
endure on these and other public occasions, as 
being the only one who would neither taste the 
raw liquor or any of its combinations, may not 
be imagined. But, though strictly temj^erate 
for more than half a century, I think my health 
will compare very favorably with anyone who 
has used it for any length of time. During the 
year 1814, I attended school three or four 
months more. At the end of the term, I could 
read readily and spell better than some of my 
mates who had more favorable opportunities. 

"I could not write very much, and had onl}' 
proceeded as far as simple reduction in arithme- 
tic; but resolved to improve my stock of knowl- 
edge. During the winter I usually labored at 
chopping; at night I would take home a load of 
hickory bark, for a light; and after my l)rothers 
had retired I would frequently spend three or 
four hours at my studies, four or five hours of 
sleep being as much as I required out of the 
twenty-four. 

"I also improved other spare minutes at 
my studies or in trying my skill on mechanical 
principles, such as cross-bars, wind-mills, etc., 
etc. 



"My stock of tools consisted of a Barlow 
knife and a gimlet. On June 29, 181Y, I con- 
fessed my faith in Christ, and was baptized into 
His church. 

"In 1819, my father emigrated to Indiana, 
where he settled near the head of a stream called 
the 'Little Flat Rock.' There were no persons, 
except one family, living within six miles of us. 

"In the spring of 1821, my father purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of land, situated in 
the north part of the bounty tract, between the 
Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Having made 
the purchase, he commenced making prepara- 
tions to move to it, as early in the fall as possi- 
ble. 

"During the intervening time, an old acquaint- 
ance of my father, in Ohio, living on Hlue river, 
named Elias Thompson, concluded to accom- 
pany us to the State of Illinois. Some time 
early in September, Orange Babbit, a brother- 
in-law of Mr. Thompson, on his w^ay with his 
family from New York to Illinois, called on Mr. 
Thompson and insisted that he should make im- 
mediate preparations, and with bis family, ac- 
company him to Illinois, which, after some medi- 
tation, he concluded to do. My father was not 
ready; he had several head of cattle, besides his 
two ox-teams, and Mr. Thompson had several 
head of cattle and some hogs which he wished 
to take along. After consultation, it was deter- 
mined that the stock should be put together, 
and that I should accompan}^ Mr. Thompson and 
Mr. Babbit and assist in driving the stock, while 
the range by the way was still good. JMy father 
and the rest of the family to follow as soon as 
possible. 

"So, being ready, we started with one ox-teara 
and Mr. Babbit's fatigued two-horse team, he 
had driven from New York; so we could make 
but moderate progress. After some days' travel 
we reached the White river, and saw as we 
passed down its bottoms that quite a number of 
persons had settled here at different points. 
They had suffered much from ague, and some 
had left their houses vacant and returned to 
their old homes. After leaving White river the 
next we arrived at was Terre Haute, then 
known as Fort Harrison. We had to lay by 
here for repairs to our wagons and recruit the 
teams, for it rained more or less for seventeen 
days, making the roads very bad. 

" When ready we started again, crossed the 
Wabash river, and after traveling a few miles 
through timber, we came to the edge of the 
prairie just at sunset, on a beautiful October 



444 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



evening. I thouglit it one of the most beautiful 
sights I ever saw. 

"The next morning we commenced crossing 
the prairie. For a road we had only the track 
made by a party who had preceded us perhaps 
not more than four or five weeks, and after 
several days' travel, we arrived at a grove on a 
high eminence in the prairie. The growth was 
almost exclusively lynn, and many of the trees 
had been peeled by the Indians; I have since 
been informed that this was a camping place 
during the war of 1812. 

"The next evening we arrived at a beautiful 
grove on the principal branch of the Okaw. We 
arrived among almost suffocating cloiids of 
smoke, which arose from the immense amount 
of burning grass, set on fire for hunting pur- 
poses, by a large party of Indians, most of whom 
encamped in the grove not far from our wagons. 
They were very civil. 

"The next evening a little after dark we arrived 
at the North fork of the Sangamon river. 

"After perhaps about three days' drive we came 
to the head of some timber on a considerable 
stream of water, approaching the North fork 
from the south, perhaps nearlj^ opposite Decatur. 

"Next niofht we camped at the head of the 
timber on Mosquito creek. One blustry day's 
travel more brought us to the beautiful grove of 
large timber near the head of the Buck-heart 
creek. After a late start in the morning, on ac- 
count of rain, when we had traveled five miles 
or more the way the track led us, about sun-set 
the hogs lield up their heads and all started to 
the south on a running gait for a mile or more. 
I endeavored in vain to stop them, when in the 
dusk of the evening, to my great surprise, I 
came to a fence, around a field of Illinois corn. 
It was situated near Campbell's point, in Chris- 
tian county. The teams soon came up. Mr. 
Titus Gragg, who lived there, received us very 
kindly, and we slept in a house that night, the 
first one we had seen since we left the Wabash 
river. 

"From Mr. Gragg's we crossed the south fork 
of the Sangamon river and Clear creek, and tar- 
ried over night with Mr. Jacob Gragg, who then 
lived about a half a mile south-east of where 
Brecl<enridge's mill now stands. 

"Next day we passed on to Mr. Henry Funder- 
burk's, on Horse creek. 

"After careful in(iuiry, we could learn nothing 
of a road leading to the military bounty lands, 
or even to the Illinois river, and the range hav- 
ing been killed by hard frosts, we concluded to 
spend the winter somewhere in the neighborhood. 



"Mr. Thompson stopped at Gideon Hawley's, 
on the west side of the south fork of the Sang- 
amon river. 

"Mr. Babbit made an arrangeraent'with the 
widow Knotts, living on the west side of Sugar 
creek, to gather her fine field of corn for her for 
one-fourth of the crop, she to find him house 
room for his family. I accej^ted Mr. Babbit's 
proposal to winter Math him, and to assist him 
in gathering the corn. My part was sufficient 
to winter the seventeen head of cattle which I 
had driven from Indiana. 

"Mr. Draper and family wintered in a small 
log cabin near Mr. Funderburk's. Under the 
puncheon floor a former occupant had dug a 
large hole, as a repository for potatoes. In this 
Mr. Draper, being short of bedding, put a quan- 
tity of prairie hay, and at night he would raise 
up the end of one of the broad hewn puncheons 
and put his children down, where, among the 
hay, they would sleep soundly till morning. 
Thus it was that a Boston merchant's family 
spent their first winter in Illinois. I think Mr. 
Draper went to Morgan county, where, as I 
heard a year or two after, he filled the oftice of 
sheriff with much ability, and I have never been 
able to hear from or see him or his family since. 

"On our way to Mrs. Knott's residence, Mr. 
Babbitt obtained a supply of cornmeal at a band 
horse mill, owned by Mr. Joseph Drennan; the 
meal cost twenty-five cents per bushel. 

"Having arrived at winter quarters, Mr. Bab- 
bitt and I commenced gathering corn. On un- 
favorable days for gathering corn, we made rails 
for a Mr. Pulliam. Such rails as pleased him 
(large ones) we made for thirty-seven and a half 
cents a hundred, in trade, and found ourselves. 

"After the corn was gathered, I called in one 
evening at Mr. Pulliam's, where, for the first 
time, I had the pleasure of being introduced to 
Mr. Charles Wright (a brother of Mr. Erastus 
Wright, of Springfield, 111.), who was soon to 
commence teaching school near the band-mill 
spoken of before. In course of my conversa- 
tion with him, I told him that for years I had 
regretted my inability to attend school, as my 
inclination to become a good scholar was very 
great, and it was now seven years since I had 
been able to go even a single day. I found Mr. 
Wright a very affable man. He invited me to 
attend his school whenever I could, if for only 
a few days at a time; he would consider it a 
pleasure to render me all the assistance he 
could. 

"I attended twenty-one days, and found him 
to be an excellent teacher. I improved very 



IIISTORV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



445 



much in my reading, writing and spelling 
during my twenty-one days. While attending 
school, I would take my arithmetic and slate 
home with me and cover it with examples, 
which I would carry to Mr. Wright for his 
examination, after which I was ready for another 
day's hard labor. 

" From the commencement of the single rule 
of three to that of square root, I did every ex- 
ample by rule, with but little assistance. With 
this start, I was able, by the assistance of the 
rules in my arithmetic, to pass through ex- 
change, the cube root, and other succeeding 
rules without assistance. 

"In January, my parents and a family named 
Deardoff and George Brunk arrived. They en- 
countered a severe storm, and with much diffi- 
culty escaped losing their way on the smooth 
burnt prairie, on the day of their arrival at the 
large grove above the Okaw timber. 

"In the spring of 182::i, my father rented a 
part of a farm in Fork Prairie, of Field Jarvis. 
(He raeaisured six feet and eleven inches in 
height.) The premises now belong to Robert 
Bell (the south part of his farm). 

" During the summer, my brother Joseph broke 
thirty-six acres of prairie for Mi*. Jarvis, for 
^1.50 per acre, in trade. 

"There were many swarms of bees here in the 
timber in 1822, not having been hunted out so 
early in this part of the State as the north part. 
Early this spring, my father and I concluded on 
a bee hunting excursion. Being ready, we put 
into a covered wagon two large new vessels, as a 
repository for honey, two or three buckets, some 
cooking utensils, provisions, corn for the oxen, 
axes, a tent cloth, some dressed buckskin, and 
thread to repair torn pants, two or three books, 
etc. About the 10th of March, we started east. 
The first night, we encamped in the Buck Hart 
grove, the second night on Mosquito creek, op- 
posite to the two mounds in the prairie. The 
next day being too cold for bees to liy, we passed 
on to the creek before spoken of, entering into 
the north fork from the south. Here we pitched 
our tent, and remained three or four weeks, not 
more than one or two days, or parts of days, in a 
week being warm enough for bees to fly. 

"My father usually kept camp, assisted in 
cutting trees, etc., but I did the hunting. 

"In the timber on this stream, I found thirty 
or thirty-three bee trees. 

" Here, on one very favorable day, I found 
ten, the greatest number I ever found on one 
day, the common average on good days being 
from two to seven. 



"We returned home with about forty -five 
gallons of honey, and fifty or sixty pounds of 
beeswax. 

" Soon after our arrival at home I went to 
town to sell the wax, in company with two or 
three other persons This was my first visit to 
Spi'ingfield. The south fork of the Sangamon 
was high. Here, for the first lime, I saw Mr. 
Edward Clark and his brother Philip. They 
with several hands, were busy preparing timbers 
for their mill. They sent over a man and their 
canoe to assist us in crossing. We had to swim 
our horses over by the side of the canoe, one at 
a time. When all was over we proceeded on 
to town. Mr. Elijah lies was the only merchant 
here then; he kept his store in a log house, some 
distance northwest of what afterwards became 
the public square. I found him at leisure, he 
was quite social, and we soon made a trade, he 
giving me twenty-five cents per pound, chiefly 
in goods. There was not more than a dozen 
houses in town, if that many. In the fall, my 
father and I went out again to hunt bees; camp- 
ing the first nights at the same localities as in 
the spring. We proceeded on slowly, hunting 
up the North Fork timber till we came to the 
place where we struck it when moving. The 
bees were not plenty on this stream; we found 
about forty bee-trees this time. My father was 
unwell here for several days, which detained us 
longer than we had anticipated. 

"There was much rainy weather at this time. 
During the first afternoon of our encampment 
here, a Pennsylvania Dutchman arrived at our 
camp on horseback, in a drenching rain. He 
was on his way to the Military Tract, to ex- 
amine a piece of land. He passed the night 
with us, and seemed quite intelligent on general 
matters, but was much discouraged. 

"Looking down the blufi" at the North Fork he 
enquired its name. On being told, he seemed 
much dejected, and exclaimed, in his Dutch ac- 
cent: "If that is the Sangamon river, of which 
I heard so much, I was badly deceived." He 
was on the point of turning back for home when, 
from the number of his land, my father thought 
it might be valuable, and pursuaded him to go 
and see it. 

"He went on and found it a valuable tract in 
the Koss settlement, about twelve or fifteen 
miles from the mouth of Spoon river. 

"He returned the day before we were intending 
to return home. He was in good spirits, now 
that his one hundred and si.xty acres were valua- 
ble, and he intended to make his final home 
there. He was very thankful to my father for 



440 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



his advice, and in the morning, after breakfast, 
we bade each other a friendly adieu, he starting 
for his lionie and we for ours. 

" Duringall our travels of these two excursions 
we saw no white man save the Dutchman. On 
the fourth day of March, 1823, my father and I 
started east for another bee-hunt. The third 
day being warm, I found three trees on Mosquito 
creek, near its head. From this point we struck 
off to the right of the North Fork and found 
seventy trees on the first branches of the OkaAv, 
or Kaskaskia, river. We cut forty and left three 
others to stand till fall. In August my father 
died, and in the fall one of my brothers accom- 
panied me to cut the bee-trees left standing in 
the spring. In the spring and fall of 1824, I 
w^ent in the employ of Mr. Thompson to hunt 
bees. 

"I think at the end of the season we came out 
even, finding one hundred and fifty trees each. 
If Major lies has his oldmerchantile books they 
will show that Mr. Thompson and I dealt with 
him on a liberal scale in bees-wax. In all our 
hunting this year i'or miles up and down the dif- 
ferent branches of the Okaw, Ave found no place 
where a white man had either settled or com- 
menced an improvement. We admired much 
of the beautiful prairie situated on the east and 
south sides of the North Fork, and some sit- 
uated on the Okaw; but we entertained no idea 
that one hundredth part of what we saw would 
sell for Congress prices during a common life 
time. 

"So much in reference to bee-hunting, and 
the uninhabited country of Central Illinois, seen 
between the spring of 1822, and fall of 1824. 

"Late in the fall of 1822, my father and I 
started on foot for the military bounty land to 
examine the land, and ascertain the situation of 
the one hundred and sixty acre-tract, purchased 
while in Indiana. We passed north from 
Springfield, crossed the Sangamon river at the 
ferry, near where the bridge was afterwards 
built. Then we soon turned to the left and 
crossed Salt creek near its mouth. 

"Not far from this we saw the ashes, yet 
fresh, where a Mr. Hawley had encamped on his 
way to convey a widow woman to some place, 
but in attempting to ascertain the depth of the 
ford, was drowned. Though I had never seen 
the man, my sympathy went out to his bereaved 
family when they heard the sad news. We 
went on till near the Illinois river, where we saw 
a man, but he could tell us little about the coun- 
try. He thought there might be one or two set- 
tlers on the south side of the Spoon river, eight 



or ten miles above its mouth, he was not certain. 
We had with us some provisions, a gun, a 
hatchet, and a pocket compass. 

"W^hen we arrived at the Illinois river we got 
some Indians to take us over in a canoe. The 
land we wished to see lay in township twelve 
north, range two west, the southwest quarter of 
section thirteen. We traveled west from the 
river for some distance, and after a long search 
in the timber found a surveyor's corner. I knew 
how the sections were numbered, beginning at 
the northeast corner of each township. On ex- 
amination, I found we were about sixty miles 
south of the land. 

"Mr. Babbit's land lay in town, five or six 
north, range two east. We got to it, finding it a 
rather broken, hickory and oak land. It ap- 
peared poor to us and so we reported it to him, 
buit perhaps it is valuable now. Our provisions 
run short, and finding no game, we turned down 
Spoon river but could find no houses. We tried 
to cross over to the Ross settlement, but the 
river was very high, running swiftly over the 
bottoms, and we could not cross, so we conclu- 
ded to return; and re-crossed the Illinois river 
where we did before. We had now traveled 
sixty or seventy miles, over the military lands. 
Part of our route was over rough, broken tim- 
bered land, and part over rolling prairies. We 
did not see one white man or a bouse, west of 
the river. From this point we returned home 
by the same road that we came. 

"Sometime in September, 1825, 1 started alone 
to see the military lands. I rode part of the 
way this time, and besides other necessary 
things took a hatchet with me, to cut off the 
new growth which now partly covered the sur- 
veyor's marks. I crossed the Illinois and Spoon 
rivers, near the mouth of the latter, and passed 
the night at a house, perhaps twelve miles dis- 
tant on my way. 

"In the night my horse escaped and could not 
be found in the morning. So with my hatchet 
and some provisions, I started ori foot to prose- 
cute my purpose. I found the way rather rough 
for some distance in the vicinity of the Spoon 
river and some of its tributaries, but as I passed 
further, I found beautiful, rich rolling prairies, 
extending far to the north, intersected occasion- 
ally with points of timber. After miles of travel 
I arrived at a small stream of water surrounded 
by beautiful timber, and running a northwest, 
course for several miles. 

"After searching sometime in the timber I 
found a surveyor's line, traced it on west, to a 
corner stone, and found I was six miles east of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



447 



the southeast corner of the land which I wished 
to see. I had to gaiess as nearly as I could 
where the land lay. I passed on until I supposed 
I had reached the center of the tract. The 
stream I supposed to be a branch of Henderson 
river, passed through the land; it was here about 
twelve or thirteen inches deep, with a swift cur- 
rent. It was now growing dark, my tinder had 
become damp and with only my knife and flint 
I could not start a tire, and being unable to do 
better, I laid down by the side of a big fallen 
tree with a light blanket over me, in a rain 
storm till morning. When I arose, so far as I 
could ascertain, there was no settlement or road 
leading in the direction of this land nigher than 
thirty-flve or forty miles; hence, the idea of at- 
tempting to settle on it under existing circum- 
stances, while good land was plenty in Sanga- 
mon county, seemed to me to be unadvisable. 

" On my return, having walked a hundred 
miles or more, and camped out every night, I 
was glad to obtain my horse again. The man at 
whose house I staid over had found it soon after 
I left. After two or three days travel I reached 
home not caring much for the one hundred and 
sixty acres, except that it had been the primary 
means of inducing us to leave the back country 
for the l)eautiful State of Hlinois. These events 
all occurred before the close of the fall season in 
1825. 

"Among the numerous privations endured by 
some of the earliest settlers of Sangamon county, 
none Avas felt more sensibly than the lack of 
schools. In different localities one or two fam- 
ilies might be found having few or many child- 
ren.- The parents felt anxious to see their intel- 
lectual faculties cultivated; but what were they 
to do? three or five children were too few to 
constitute a school. In connection with this, if 
in some neighborhoods a small school could be 
made up, where was a competent teacher to be 
found to instructthem? But this state of things 
could not long- last in Sangamon county. Em- 
igrants were coming in from both the Southern 
and Eastern States, and children in sufficient 
numbers to make up schools would not long be 
lacking. 

"In the summer of 1824, Daniel Parkinson 
and one or two others insisted that I should teach 
their children. I was aware that my limited ed- 
ucation and experience rendered me inadequate 
to perform so great a task, and I expressed my 
feelings freely to Mr. Parkinson. In reply he 
said that the few children in the neighborhood 
greatly needed instruction; that the most of them 
had never been to school, and that to teach them 



to read and spell was all that was necessary in 
the present instance. After some hesitation I 
coiiisented to teach for a few days — not for any 
limited time. 

" With a little band of ten or twelve dutiful 
children I labored for the space of three months. 
Tiie children made good progress in their studies, 
and at the end of the school I had the pleasure 
to know that my employers were well satisfied. 

"Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Warwick, and one or 
two others were patrons of the school. Also 
Francis Cooper, who afterwards married George 
Dickson, attended. 

" I placed but little confidence in the predic- 
tions of some that in process of time the inex- 
perienced teacher would become a good school- 
master. 

" About this time Mr. Parkinson loaned me 
Lindley Murray's Grammar to peruse; it was the 
first grammar I think that I ever held in my 
hands. 

"I soon saw that it would afford me much use- 
ful knowledge, so purchased it for my own pri- 
vate use, not supposing at the time I would ever 
teach again. 

"Late in November, 1823, Mr. Thomas Black, 
who lived on Sugar creek, Rent word that he 
wanted to see me. I went and found him in his 
cornfield, with his boys, busily engaged gathering 
corn. He was glad to see me, and said he had 
heard of my teaching in the 'forks' (of the 
Sangamon river), and had sent for me. He went 
on to state that there were several children in 
the neighborhood who ought to be at school, but 
not persons enough who would send to make up 
a school by subscription. Under these circum- 
stances, he had concluded to hire some one to 
teach three months for the benefit of his own 
children and others that could be induced to 
attend. He proposed if I would teach to give 
me |12 in trade per month and board me, I to 
teach all children that should attend for a term 
of three months. I told Mr. Black that my 
opportunities for obtaining an education had 
been very unfavorable, so much so that I knew 
I was not well prepared to teach school. He 
thought as none of the children were far ad- 
vanced, and the most of them Avould have to 
commence with the a, b, c's, I would be fully 
competent to teach the school. After some 
hesitation I accepted the offer. 

"About the 1st of December, 1823, I com- 
menced. I cannot now recollect the names of 
the persons who sent to this school, but will 
name those who are remembered: Thomas 
Black, James Patton, William Woods, Herman 



448 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Husbands, Widows Paine and Stout, Mr. Crow 
and Noah Mason. Besides these, Ezekiel Dren- 
nan (son of old William Drennan) attended 
most of the winter and Charles D. Nnckotis 
several days; most of the scholars called him 
Dab Nuckolls. Such orderly and studious 
scholars as attended this school are a credit to 
any community. I now considered my position 
as a very responsible one, and I, not to betray 
such confidence as had been reposed in me, 
therefore improved my spare hours in studying 
my grammar, dictionary and other available 
helps, that I might improve myself and be the 
better able to teach my pupils. 

In December, 1824, I commenced a school on 
Horse creek. The employers' names were, as 
far as I can remember: Joseph Dickson, Henry 
Funderburk, Mn Neely, two of the Fergusons, 
Mordecai Hamilton, Elias Thompson and James 
Snodgrass, Jr. Besides these, some other per- 
sons sent occasionally. 

"In the summer of 1825 I taught in the Soiith- 
wick settlement. The employers were Mr. 
Southwick, Dexter Pease, William Seeley, Zack- 
ariah Peter, Mr. Stout, Widow Paine, Mr. Twist, 
and a Mr. Harty. I still remember with pleasure 
many agreeable hours spent with my employers 
ai'ound their social firesides. 

"In December, 1825, my brother Elias and I 
concluded to go to Edwardsville to see a man 
who had advertised some land to sell in the Mili- 
tary Tract. We hoped to be able to obtain some 
on terms within our reach, and if we did not suc- 
ceed in this, we would search for employment 
for which we could obtain our pay in money; 
there being no chance to obtain money in San- 
gamon. With some provisions in an old knap- 
sack, and between two and three dollars in 
money, and not a garment except those in use, 
we started on a clear bnt cold December day for 
Edwardsville. We reached Macoupin point late 
in the afternoon, but thought we could make the 
nearest point on the St. Lonis (twelve miles dis- 
tant) road before dark, but got on the wrong 
road and had to travel about eight or ten miles 
farther, when we came to a Mr. Stewarts, seven 
miles from Hillsboro; we enquired how far we 
were from Macoupin Point, and he said twenty- 
one miles. The reason I mention this is to show 
how far it was in 1825 from Macoupin Point to 
the first house on the Hillsboro road. As we 
proceeded toward Edwardsville the houses be- 
came rather more frequent. On inquiry we 
found that the man we had come to see was not 
at home, and as we could get nothing to do, w^e 
proceeded on toward St. Louis; the weather be- 



ing very cold. We tarried over niglii at a house 
in the Great American Bottom, but could hear of 
no demand for labor in this neighborhood, so 
started the next morning for St. Louis. When 
WQ arrived at Wiggins' ferry, opposite St. Louis, 
we found we would have to Avait, as the boat 
could not cross on account of running ice in the 
river. We here met Governor Ed-wards, who 
was very talkative and jolly. The Governor 
came to us and asked us where we were going, 
and where we were from? When I had told 
hira what had induced us to leave our home in 
Sangamon, he said as it was now winter, and as 
there are many blacks in St. Louis, I think the 
chances for employment there must be unfavor- 
able; but times are good down Missouri, at the 
lead mines, on Sandy creek, thirty-five or forty 
miles below St. Louis, and I think you can da 
better there, as labor is in demand. We told 
him that we were used to hard labor, but that we 
had heard that there were many rough characters 
at the mines, so felt a degree of hesitancy about 
going to that place. 

"The Governor replied: 'I am aware that 
what you say is true, but I think you can do 
well at the mines; industrious men who are 
quiet, will find friends, and be respected there, 
and he added: I am acquainted with Mr. Glas- 
gow and Bryant, proprietors at the Sandy Mines, 
and if you will conclude to go down I will write 
a line or two to them, and state your case to 
them.' 

"After some consultation with Ellis, we con- 
cluded to go to the mines. To think that so in- 
telligent a man as Governor Edwards should 
manifest so warm an interest in behalf of two 
youthful strangers, was very encouraging to us. 

"After taking leave of the Governor we 
started for the lead mines. About night of the 
second day we arrived at the ferry opposite the 
Herculaneum. The ice was still running in the 
river, in the morning. After some delay we 
crossed and reached the mines, eight miles dis- 
tant, in good time. We staid there fifteen 
months, cutting cord wood and working in the 
lead mines. We then went to Galena, where we 
staid two years and nine months, making in all 
about four years we were in the mines." 

FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

Cherry gi'ove, or Irwin's grove was selected 
as the place for the fourth annual meeting of 
the Old Settlers of Sangamon county. Cherry 
grove is a beautiful and romantic spot, contain- 
ing forty acres of most magnificent timber, per- 
fectly cleared from undergrowth and brush, and 






^^,- 




^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



4.-)l 



preseuLiog a deep, unbroken shade, with a car- 
pet under your feet of the deepest green. The 
speakers' stand was beautifully decorated with 
wreaths, evergreens and bloomiu'^- tio vers, over 
which floated that grand old banner, the stars 
and stripes. A large number of dignihed look- 
ing old settlers, attired in their best, and appear- 
ing as young as the youngest settlers in the 
crowd, graced the platform. Among others 
were William Drennan, Wilson Dodds, Elijah 
lies, S. (t. Nesbitt, Samuel Cloyd, Samuel Grubb, 
John B. Weber, J. C. Bone, Henry Converse, 
Isaac and E. B. Hawley, Jacob Ball, R. Coley, 
George Miller, Job Fletcher, Robert Wilburn, 
James Parkinson, D. Wadsworth, James W. 
Patton, Squire Campbell, E. Barnes, George 
Weaver, P. Wyman, James Scott, Ui'iah Mann, 
D, H. Shennan, Joel Johnson, J. R. Coleman, 
John Brownell, Davis Meredith, John DeCamp 
and William Sutton, together with Mother 
Archer, seventy-eight years of age, and who has 
lived in the county since 1821, making her the 
oldest lady settler. 

After prayer by Daniel Wadsworth, the Pres- 
ident, Preston Breckenridge, called the meeting 
to order and expressed his gratification at meet- 
ing so many old friends. Samuel Williams vv^as 
then introduced and made a few remarks, after 
which John M. Palmer was introduced and pro- 
ceeded to deliver one of his happiest and most 
effective speeches. He said ii was a true, sin- 
cere pleasure to be present at this meeting. He 
saw gentlemen before him who had known this 
county when it contained less than three hun- 
dred people; when Springfield existed only in 
name. We can hardly comprehend the past 
and its difference from the present. Young- 
ladies can hardly comprehend that the women 
of other days could be beautiful, wearing only 
their own hair, and yet those women were as 
lovely as those of to-day. Thank God, this 
idea will last for a life-time. We see not the 
change in the faces of those we love, but love 
them more and more as time goes steadily on. 
He knows a wealthy citizen of Sangamon who 
came here on foot, with only a horse, axe and 
gun. That was the stuff of the old settlers. 
We love and honor the memory and associa- 
tions of men of the past, for they are worthy 
our love and respect. At one time in his life he 
thought the driver of a six-horse team occupied 
the highest position in the world. He had been 
strongly democratic in his opinions in regard to 
the rights of the people, among which were cut- 
ting timber where they wished, and taking up 
hogs running at large. The people in early days 

52— 



considered this legitimate, and he must confess 
at this time he thought so to. He remembered 
how sparking was performed forty years ago, 
and had taken a part in it himself. The best 
plan was to take a sweet young lady behind you 
on horseback, and this method was thought 
style. If you had no horse, you must do your 
sparking in some other style, for it had to be 
done. He wore a linsey coat down to his knees, 
and his father a dress coat, brass buttons, and a 
bell-crowned hat. He granted the superiority of 
the educational advantages of to-day, yet educa- 
tion could not make purer, sterner, better men 
than the men of the past. Now the noblest of 
all colleges, the common school, is open to all, 
and God bless the efforts of our young men to 
make themselves great and good. His reading 
book was called " Citizen of the World," and 
each scholar read such works as he could get. 
He remembered the singing schools, when the 
girls sang "fine hand," and squealed high up. 
The men who are passing are worthy the imita- 
tion of the present generation, and it was his 
fervent prayer that they would follovv tiie bright 
example set them by their fathers, who liad gone 
before. The Governor concluded with a bril- 
liant and touching tribute to the old settlers, 
and was greeted at its close with three hearty 
cheers. 

A letter of regret was read from John A. Mc- 
Clei'nand, and short speeches were made by 
James H. Matheny and John T. Stuart. The 
following resolution was then adopted: 

'■^Resolved, That whereas his Excellency, the 
Governor, an eminent statesman and profound 
lawyer, in his address this morning, clearly 
showed that two of the old settlers of this 
county, to-wit: Weber and Hawley, were not 
entitled to vote, in consequence of their being 
unnaturalized citizens, not having had the ague 
or chills and fever during their residence of 
forty-nine or fifty years; that it respectfully 
requests that his Excellency, the Governor, and 
all good citizens, unite in using their influence 
in effecting the passage of an act of the next 
legislature of the State, whereby the said par- 
ties may be properly entitled to the rights of 
franchise." 

Preston Breckenridge was re-elected Presi- 
dent; Noah Mason, Vice President, and Thomas 
Parks, Secretary. 

FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

The thirtieth day of August, 1872, was the 
day set apart for the fifth annual meeting of the 
Old Settlers' Society. On that day the pioneers 
again met together. 



452 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



As a change in the usual programme, the so- 
ciety proceeded at once to the election of officers 
for the ensuing year. Job Fletcher was elected 
President, with seventy Vice Presidents, and 
Noah W. Matheny, Secretary, After dinner, 
General John A. McClernand was introduced and 
spoke about three-fourths of an hour in a chaste 
and eloquent style. The next speech was by 
Rev. William J. Rutledge. He said that thirty- 
three years before he had run a saw-mill on 
Spring creek and sawed stringers used in laying 
tlie track of the lirst railroad ever built in the 
State of Illinois. The latter part of his speech 
was exceedingly humorous and closed amid a 
roar of laughter. Major Elijah lies then took 
the stand and in a conversational way related 
many interesting incidents of his experience 
among the early settlers. He was followed by 
Revs. J. D. Randall, of Edwardsville, and 
AVilliam S. Prentice and F. H. Wines, of Spring- 
field. George R. Weber made the closing speech, 
and the meeting adjourned. 

SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING, 

This meeting was held at Irwin's grove, near 
Pleasant Plains, August 29, 187:3. Job Fletcher 
called the meeting to order, and John Slater, of 
Pleasant Plains, delivered an address of wel- 
come. John M. Palmer was the first speaker. 
He said: 

" Fifty years may be easily spoken — it is easy 
to pronounce the words — yet the term includes 
the lifetime of the majority of men and women 
of the country, and speaks the entire history of 
the State. If I inquire what was the condition 
of the country fifty years ago, Major lies, or 
other ladies and gentlemen here, could tell; yet 
if I were to tell the young people here of the 
comforts and conveniences of those early times, 
they wouldn't believe it. 

"You have now more comforts, but no more 
happiness, than had we; you have a great many 
things to be thankful for, and so had we; and 
you have things to make you uncomfortable that 
we didn't have. Look over the young ladies' 
t I'jgery of to-day — the flounces, the rufties, and 
— Idon't know what you call them. Thirty or 
forty years ago, we didn't have them, and didn't 
even know what they were. Now a young 
gentleman and lady about getting married, or, 
raiher, just married, require a house with six 
rooms, while we had no trouble, forty or fifty 
years ago, getting along with but one room, and 
to have two rooms and a kitchen was considered 
extravagant. Then we had only an axe, a saw, 
and an augur with which to build a house; then 



these tools composed a full carpenter's kit; and 
we sometimes had only the axe and saw. 

"Now, I will just make two heads to my 
speech, and will speak to the young first; they 
will be the old settlers hereafter. The number 
behind you, young people, is becoming more 
numerous, and the number before you less. By 
and by, you will go into an audience, and find 
yourself among the oldest. It was so in my case. 
I used to find myself in an audience when I was 
among the youngest; then again I would find 
myself younger than a few present; but now it 
is frequently occurring, in a chance meeting, 
that I am the oldest in the party. I said a little 
while ago that the young here wouldn't believe, 
if told what the country was forty or fifty years 
ago, and the reason is plain. A boy here cannot 
realize a country without railroads, for since his 
childhood he has seen the railroad. Young 
people can't realize the fact that forty or fifty 
years ago men traveled by 'taking a point,' for 
there were no roads, and by thus sighting a di- 
rection, made their way. I have, myself, within 
forty years, sighted a point, and, as it were, 
struck out on a 'bee line,' meeting plenty of 
deer on the prarie; but there are no deer now. 

No, the young people cannot realize this. I 
came into Madison county forty-two years ago. 
It was not common to be sued then; it was con- 
sidered disreputable, and a suit was called a 
' patch upon the back.' To have a mortgage 
upon your farm was whispered around as a 
calamity. The habits of life then were frugal 
and simple, and the people were simple and 
plain, and perhaps as corrupt as now. I was 
talking to a gentleman, the other day, who was 
speaking of the corruption now, and its lack in 
the past; but, as I said to him, there was nothing 
to steal but a horse. A horse then was the most 
valuable property, and if a man stole a horse, 
he was apt to hear of it again; then the means 
of catching a thief were more simple and direct 
than now. Horse theft was a capital offense, 
and killing a man a — serious offense." 

Referring to domestic experiences of forty 
years ago, the Governor said: 

" The houses ol that day Avere not like those 
of the present. I recollect of but one brick house 
between Madison and Sangamon — it was near 
where Waveily noAV stands. [Water was here 
handed the speaker in a gourd, and drinking it, 
he remarked it smacked of old times.] In those 
days when a young couple married, the neigh- 
bors turned out to make boards for the house, 
and puncheon floors were put down. Still the 
couples were happy; as happy as couples are 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



453 



now. Now when a young couple many, the car- 
penters come, and the upholsterers, and prepare 
the house, and thousands of dollars are spent in 
fixing it, and often with regret that there was no 
more money to spend. 

"I recollect attending a wedding party when I 
was quite a young man. There was no band, 
but instead, the real old-fashioned orthodox fid- 
dle. After dancing all night, my feet were quite 
sore in the morning, but I had enjoyed myself. 
The reason my feet were sore was because I 
danced in my bare feet; but my partner did the 
same. There was a story told about finding toe 
nails upon the fioor ( it was a puncheon floor ) — 
but I didn't believe the story. 

"You young ladies and gentlemen have ideas 
about social pleasures that we knew nothing 
about. You have carriages; and coming here 
to-day I noticed one young lady and gentleman 
riding on horseback, but they had two horses. 
We didn't do that way, one horse only being 
used, and the girl was taken up behind. I well 
recollect the pleasantest ride I ever had in my 
life. I had the finest horse, but as the saying 
was, it was a 'borred one.' I took the girl to 
church, seven miles, and she rode behind me. I 
felt ticklish and bashful and so was she, and she 
could hardly take hold of rae at first to hold on, 
but she got used to it, as, nearing the church, 
she found others mounted the same way. There 
was always a strife as to who had the i^rettiest 
girl and the best horse, but I always thought I 
was ahead in that respect. Now we couldn't 
ride double, as the lady is even larger than my- 
self, and I am no pigmy; and we couldn't get a 
horse to carry us. But now let a gentleman ask 
a young lady to ride, and she will say, 'Where 
is the buggy?' I didn't know what a buggy was 
then; I knew about a 'Dearbon' and a 'gig.' 
The first gig I ever saw Judge Smith, of Madi- 
son, owned. I was proud when I got a gig after- 
wards. I got it when at court in Montgomery 
county, and was so proud that I got my wife a 
new dress that cost $4.50, and there was seven 
yards iu it." 

Referring to the arduous duties of the pioneer 
wives, to whom he paid a glorious tribute, the 
Governor related an anecdote of a woman re- 
turning to Tennessee, who declared that "Illi- 
nois was a good place for men and horses, but 
the devil on women and oxen." 

Addressing the early settlers, the Governor 
said: 

'•We had indeed our troubles and trials, and 
the abandoned graves of early settlers are a part 
of our early history; for we sorrowed then as 



now. We, too shall pass away, and fifty years 
from now these young people will meet here to 
tell theyoung people of that day the customs, then 
doubtless considered outlandish, of this time. 
Civilization will continue to advance. We can 
scarce conceive progress of the ails and sciences 
of the next fifty years, but I do not wish to see 
it. I do not wish to be ti'ampled upon by the 
rapidly advancing strides of civilization; and it 
is a dispensation of Providence that having 
acted our part, having fulfilled our destiny, hav- 
ing done that work which was set apart for us 
to do, we can then depart and peacefully pass to 
the other shore. To the old women lei me say: 
No wives ever so well acted their parts as the 
wives of the pioneers; and passing away they 
will not be forgotten. So of the pioneers — not 
in monuments, but in more lasting memoirs, the 
works which 'live after them,' will their 
memories be cherished by their descendants for 
whom they have worked." 

Upon the conclusion of Governor Palmer's 
address, and music by the band. Captain 
Fletcher, the president of the society, with 
humorous alhision to the food of other days — 
venison, corn bread and onions, and that about 
noon was the old settlers' dinner hour, declared 
the celebration adjourned for dinner. 

Among the old settlers present at this meet- 
ing were Mrs. Peter Cartwright, Mrs Richard 
Latham, Mrs. James Parkinson, Elijah lies, 
John Williams, M. K. Anderson. Job Fletcher, 
Martin Heuber, S. M. Wilson, Edwin Perkins, 
Joel Johnson, George R. Webei', the Mathenys, 
and others. 

After dinner D. L. Phillips was introduced, 
and said: 

" If I live a month or two longer I shall have 
lived in the State fifty years, and my memory 
goes back to the time of the cotton gins. I re- 
member the removal of the seat of government 
from Vandalia to Springfield; and I recollect, 
too, the grumbling of the people when it was 
said that the capital had been removed way up 
in the Indian country. 

" I remember the picking of flax and of cotton, 
and the meeting at night for that purpose. The 
wearing apparel of that period, to which allus- 
ion has been made, I do not forget. There were 
no schools then. Governor Palmer has spoken 
of the young men of the present day, felicitously 
situated with reference" to educational facilities, 
and as they are; but the youth of those days 
struggled hard for an education. It was not an 
illiterate age, nor an age of ignorance or lack 
of mental culture. I have no reputation to lose 



454 



IIIS'I'OIIV OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



in saying that 1 never went to school three 
months in my life. 

" Governor Palmer referred to the felicitous 
situation of the young men of the present day 
in other respects. Do they recollect the hard- 
ships of the past? I have seen young men and 
women who had walked bare-footed to the church 
door putting on and lacing their shoes previous 
to entrance. 

" The tribute paid to the wives of pioneers, 
by Governor Palmer, thrilled me. His eulogy 
of the hard-working women of that day I most 
heartily endorse, because in these days there is 
a tendency on the part of the people to degrade 
the working women, to characterize the attend- 
ance to domestic duties as domestic servitude." 

Referring to the moral and religious influences 
of that day, the speaker eloquently paid tribute 
to it: 

" They were religious in the primitive and or- 
thodox manner. Why, had it been announced 
that the great man, the pioneer preacher, whose 
honored remains, I understand, lie in your vi- 
cinity, would preach upon a certain occasion, 
not a house, not a barn, scarcely any building- 
would contain the people who would flock to 
hear him expound the gospel. How different 
now in this materialistic age! Who cares who 
preaches next Sunday in Springfield? How fewl 
Is the fame of your preacher so limited? 
Then you heard nothing of the protoplastic 
theories of this materialistic age. 'Twas reli- 
gion pure and simple then. To the moral 
ideas of that time, thus inculcated, is due the 
prosperity of Illinois, and I bear testimony to 
that fact. 

" The early settlers in these manifold trials 
grappled with the Indians; grappled with dis- 
eases and overcome them. They spent honored 
and glorious lives, and who does not honor those 
who have placed this State fourth in the Union, 
with more acreage under cultivation than any 
other State, and given it better settlers than 
the State ever before had. For all this you are 
indebted to the old settlers at this re-union to-day. 

" May the departure of the old settlers be a 
I'eaceful one, and may we gather at the river 
and be permitted to enter the shining gates upon 
the other side." 

Russel Godfrey, of Menard county; John 
Thompson, of Cass county; R. W. Diller, of 
Springfield; Isaac Cogdell, of Menard county; 
M. K. Anderson and George R. Weber, each 
made remarks. 

S. M. Wilson, of Pleasant Plains, was elected 
President; James Parkinson, of Curran, Vice 



President; Noah W. Matheny, of Springfield, 
Secretary. 

SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

The seventh annual meeting of the society 
was held September 10, 18V4. Crow's mill, a 
most romantic spot, situated about eight miles 
southeast of Springfield, was the place selected. 
The day was excessively warm, but still all 
seemed to enjoy themselves well. In a dense 
and beautiful grove the stand was erected. Upon 
the stand were seated many of the oldest and 
best known citizens of the county, among whom 
were R. W. Diller, George Gregory, A. B. Ir- 
win, Craig White, S. G. Jones, Davis Meredith, 
Joseph Meredith, William Burtle, J. W. Keyes, 
Dr. Shields, S. G. Nesbitt, Philomen Stout, M. 
Wilmot, Preston Breckenridge, D. Funderburk, 
Job Fletcher and Jacob N. Fullenwider. 

The first speaker introduced was the genial 
and popular old settler, James H. Matheny. 
The Judge was in his happiest vein, and ap- 
peared fully to enter iato the spirit of the occa- 
sion. His speech was one of his best and hap- 
piest efforts, replete with wit, poetry and senti- 
ment, overflowing with genuine and pure 
eloquence. It sparkled, it flashed and dashed 
full of ha})py conceits and beautiful thoughts. 
He recalled the days of the early settlement of 
the county; paid an eloquent and deserving tri- 
bute to the old settler; spoke of his privations 
and trials, and gave him all due and proper 
credit for his exertions, his efforts and his toils. 

John M. Palmer, Andrew Simpson, William 
M. Springer, Joseph Meredith and Mr. Slater 
were called out, and responded with appropriate 
remarks. 

William Burtle was elected President for the 
ensuing year; A. B. Irwnn and Davis Meredith, 
Vice Presidents; N. W. Matheny, Secretary. 

EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

Can trail's Grove, in the north part of the 
county, was the place selected for the eighth an- 
nual meeting, and Menard county old settlers 
had been invited to meet with the old settlers of 
Sangamon. The meeting was late in being 
called to order. Eev. Mr. Vawter, of Cantrall, 
delivered the address of welcome and offered 
prayer. 

Governor Palmer was the first speaker. After 
a general introductory the Governor luade some 
home thrusts in opposition to the fulsome flat- 
tery often indulged in on old settlers' days. He 
quoted and expanded upon a remark of Judge 
Gillespie that they might talk now'-adays about 
" women's rights," but it took the old settlers to 



[HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



455 



do justice to the question; for a striking charac- 
teristic of the old settler was an indisposition to 
meddle in the affairs of women, who, in these 
days, were quite secure in all their prerogatives. 
Who ever knew an old settler to do his wife's 
milking, or to lend her any help whatever about 
the house? 

Isaac Cogdell, of Menard county, was the 
next speaker, and was followed by D. L. Phillips. 
The last speaker paid a glowing tribute to the 
old settler, and also to the civilization of the 
nineteenth century. " For this sturdy civiliza- 
tion," said the speaker, "we are indebted to the 
old settler more than we know. But the life of 
an old settler was at best but a hard one; de- 
prived of the advantages of free schools and 
condemned to labor. Governor Palmer, in his 
speech, had ascribed happiness to the old set- 
tlers; but they could not be so happy as now 
under more favorable circumstances, and in fact 
they did not expect it. The very preaching of 
that day was of trials and troubles, and the 
necessity for submission. A gloomy, sombi'e 
view of life was taken, and the teachings of 
that day was to expect no ease or comfort here, 
but to look for it beyond." The speaker com- 
pared the lack of advantages for farming as late 
even as the period of 1840, with the facilities 
now offered for the production of crops; and his 
account of going to mill, in his boyhood, astride 
of a bag of corn, to wait all day and all night 
for his grist, was well told. 

Elder John England, of Ogle county, in re- 
sponse to a call, said that he would indulge in a 
few off-hand remarks. This gathering, said he, 
was one of old settlers. His father had come 
here in 1818, and, had he time, he would like to 
recount incidents connected with his playing 
with Indian boys — for fear of Indians was not 
then one of the trials and tribulations of pioneer 
times. The old settlers met now to show what 
it cost to lay the foundation of such a civiliza- 
tion as the present. They often went to church 
bare-footed, and like Governor Palmer, he was 
proud of his first pair of boots, which, by the 
way had been made for him by Wyatt Cantrall, 
now here on the platform. Hospitality distin- 
guished the early settler, as well as liberality of 
religious sentiment. A traveling preacher was 
gladly entertained, his denomination not asked, 
and he was received by all as a brother. 

James C. Conkling next mounted the stand 
and delivered a short, but excellent address. 

Alexander B. Irwin was elected President, 
and E. C. Matheny, Secretary. 



NINTH ANNUAL MKKTING. 

The ninth annual re-union of old settlers was 
held at the Fair Ground, near Springfield, August 
31, 1876, and attracted an audience numbering 
thousands. Among the old settlers occupying 
places in and about the stand were R. A. liaz- 
iett, W. T. Boyer, Albion Knotts, George Mc- 
Daniels, S. T. Cantrall, J. W. Jones, H. U. Lyon, 
Moses Laswell, Horace Hickox, J. R. Sanders, 
W. A. Whiteside, Mrs. J. R. Sanders, George B. 
Merryman, Mrs. George B. Merryman, James M. 
Reed, John Sims, M. K. Anderson, J, H. Fullen- 
wider, S. Wood, E.R. Perkins, John M. Matthew, 
W. H. Herndon, J. H. Matheny, John North, S. 
E. Wilcoxson, Goodrich Lightfoot, Samuel Mil- 
ler, E. F. McConnell, George R. Weber, W. H. 
Marsh, C. S. Cantrall, A. R. Robinson, H. Alkire, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Sollers, John Capps, William 
Shumate, Joseph Shepherd, R. D. Brown, John 
Busher, William S. Burch, Preston Brecken- 
ridge, Mrs. N. J. Le Claire, D. P. Robinson, 
Russell Godby, James Good, J. D. McMurray, 
James Parkinson, J. M. Cartmell, J. H. Ellis, 
Samuel Fredge, M. A. Cartwright, A. J. Kane, 
John De Camp, William A. Grant, Isaac Berry, 
John Williams, J. L. Shinkle and others. 
"The meeting was called to order by M. K. 
Anderson, who introduced James H. Matheny, 
who made one of his old-fashioned speeches. 
Alfred Orendorff was next introduced. He re- 
ferred in glowing terms to the progress being- 
made in the development of the countrj^ and the 
part the pioneers bad taken in the work. " Illi- 
nois," said he, "the State they had reclaimed 
from Indian barbarism to civilization had a 
grand history, and especially so Central Illinois. 
The State's career of prosperity now ranked it 
third in the Union. But look at her men; look 
at her brilliant coterie of intellect which thirty 
years ago moved amid these scenes — Baker, the 
orator and soldier; the gallant Shields; our own 
Judge Logan, still with us, the illustrious lawyer 
of that time; Stephen A. Douglas, the statesman 
and patriot, whose last act was to sacrifice parti- 
sanship in the interest of patriotism; and then 
Lincoln, a name synonymous through the world's 
greatness, with honor and fidelity and goodness; 
a name reflecting the world's honor upon this 
section of country. With such a history Sanga- 
mon county should be proud and go on in its 
career of prosperity." 

William H. Herndon, the next speaker, had 
never, save last year, attended the Old Settlers' 
re-union. He came now prepared to speak in 
his own way. On behalf of the President of 
the Society he extended a hearty welcome to all 



Use 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



present. "Look into the history of Sangamon 
county. Geographically, it is abont the centre 
of Illinois, and nearly the centre of the United 
States. Here is fertility of soil greater than 
elsewhere, and people the equal of any. But 
this was not always so. The advantages now 
enjoyed, our prosperous condition, was largely 
due to the pioneers who coming here grappled 
with the trials incident to a pioneer's life. It 
took men and women of nerve to battle with 
life in the wilderness, and the result of that bat- 
tling was seen here to-day in our prosperity and 
the happy presence of the old settlers and their 
decend^nts. It was well. The like of such pi- 
oneers we should never see again, unless in the 
far west." The speaker illustrated the trials of 
pioneer life by an incident in his childhood's 
days, when, his father being absent, his mother, 
by almost superhuman exertions, saved her fam- 
ily from an attack of an Indian war band. Al- 
luding to the mode of life in early days, he said 
crime was almost unknown; social life was char- 
acterized by the largest hospitality to strangers. 
Now selfishness ruled — " every man for himself." 
Early religious effort was fervent; men and 
women were unmistakably pious; there was true 
worship. Now we mainly worship form and 
fashion rather than the Deity. He paid a high 
compliment to the missionary zeal of Peter Cai't- 
wright, one of whose sons occupied a place on 
the platform. There were now great changes; 
but having faith in an illimitable Supreme Being, 
he hoped the changes might be improvement, 
opening to a grander sphere. Specifically allud- 
ing to these changes, Mr. Herndon said: — "Now 
let us look at some of these changes, wonderful 
changes that have taken place since the county 
of Sangamon was organized. First, let us look 
at this question commercially, and to do so we 
will take the substance of a merchant's adver- 
tisement in the Sangamon Journal of 1836: 

NEW /STORE. 

" 'The undersigned will keep constantly on hand a 
splendid assoitment of dry goods, hardware, cutlery, 
groceries, drugs, medicines, books, boots and shoes, 
harness and saddles, queensware, glassware, nails, 
iron chains, etc., etc., which will be sold cheap for 
cash or country produce, such as beeswax, dry hides, 
feathers, butter, bacon, pork, etc., etc' 

" Now what a change. Dry goods, groceries, 
hardware, etc., are sold in separate stores. The 
old kind of stores are split up into specialties, 
where only one thing is sold, such as drugs, 
boots and shoes. Instead of being merchants of 
all things they are merchants of but one. Thus 
professions, trades, callings of every sort divide. 



split and develop into a special, and here lies the 
cause, so to speak, of the progress of mankind. 
"Agriculturally, the sickle gave its place and 
power to the cradle, and it in time gave its place 
and power to the reaper. The wooden mould 
board plow gave place to the iron one, and the 
common little bar shear gave place to the shovel, 
and it to the double shovel, and it in turn to the 
cultivator. The short, old Dutch-English scythe 
gave place to the blacksnake, and it in turn gave 
up its place to the mower. In these cases, as in 
a thousand others, the muscles of man was re- 
lieved by the muscles of the horse and the pow- 
ers generated by mechanics, and so it is and 
ever will be, and yet we in the West are hewers 
of wood and drawei's of water, and yet I dare 
not say 'and so it is and ever will be.' God 
forbid. The wooden flail gave place to the 
treading, round-going ox, and he to the thresher. 
The cotton sheet, in a storm of wind, cleaning 
the grain, was succeeded by the fanning mill, 
and all these gave up their place and power to 
the threshers. The wooden rake has been suc- 
ceeded by the horse rake. The whip-saw has 
given up the ghost before the mill-saw; the 
muscles of man to the forces of nature. Origi- 
nally in the West the ox did all the work; he 
hauled everything, worked everywhere, and at 
all times ; he hauled goods from St. Louis at one 
dollar per hundred, and from Beard stown at 
forty cents per hundred ; he plowed, threshed, 
hauled, tread the mill ; if not obedient was 
goaded and whipped by their angry masters, and 
for his great services was fattened, killed and 
eaten by those whom he had enriched. God, it 
is said, is merciful to man, but how is it with the 
poor ox? It was once shortly and pungently 
said that 'Illinois was hell on oxen and 
women.' The ox-mill and the horse-mill, as 
well as the water-mill, that ground out every 
hour about as much as a good hazle-splitting sow 
with a litter of pigs could eat, has succumbed — 
has all been surpassed by the steam mill grind- 
ing out its thousand barrels daily. The mode 
of travel, originally, was by two-horse stage ; it 
was followed by the four-horse stage, with two 
seats, and it by the nine passenger. Now our 
mode of travel is by rail on iron tracks, and 
driven by steam, having many cars, with thous- 
ands of seats and carrying thousands of passen- 
gers across the continent in a few days. We 
now live by steam, and die and write our will by 
electricity. The flax wheel and the large wool 
and cotton spinning wheels, as well as the hand 
loom, driven by the hand and foot of woman, 
have all in their place given way to the power 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



457 



loom, etc., driven by steam. You know the lit- 
tle wheel, the larger one and the hand loom, 
how they all used to whirl, whiz, sing and slam 
and crash, and you know the loom house where 
it used to stand, and know how it looked, and 
saw your old mothers sitting there toiling away 
night and day shoving the shuttle. Do you? 
If so, remember the past, and the good, gone 
up, up to Heaven. The little old log cabin, with 
deerskin door, clapboard roof, puncheon floor, 
stick chimneys, daubed with clay and straw, 
covered with boards taken from the oaks by 
hands, and held down by weight-poles, have 
given place to palaces, so to speak. The old log 
school house, with slab benches, puncheon floors, 
greased paper for glass, together with the ill- 
natured school master, w^ith his ferule and whip, 
thank God, are gone, and in their place we have 
schools and colleges on every hand. Our court 
house, costing some -t/O, has been succeeded by 
one costing some $200,000. Our State house, 
costing some -$3,000 or $4,000, has been suc- 
ceeded by one costing as many millions. Origi- 
nally, we sent letters and messages by horse, 
now we send them by steam and electricity, as 
it were, beating in speed, time itself. So we 
have lived, are living, and will continue to live. 
The past is nothing, the present is nothing, the 
great future will be all. Man, the race of man, 
is but in its infancy — is a mere child, yet rocked 
in the cradle of Mother Nature. The world is 
young, time is long, and the race eternal, with 
unbounded forces. His capacity has no bounds, 
and his progress no limit. He will master every- 
thing but the unmasterable, know everything 
but the unknowable. He will be free and un- 
fettered in all the walks of life or drench the 
world in blood. He will be master of himself; 
he will have no fetters on his limbs, his tongue, 
nor his brain, nor his business; he will be master 
of the forms of matter and the forces of nature; 
he will make these work for him, toil for him, 
groan and sweat and bleed for him, so to speak, 
while he climbs towards his anticipated, looked- 
for heaven." 

Oil the conclusion of Mr. Herndon's address, 
the meeting adjourned for dinner, after which 
short speeches, recounting the time of their ar- 
rival, reminiscences of their early life here, and 
amusing anecdotes, were delivered by George 
R. Weber, Godbey, D. W. Clark, M. K. Ander- 
son and others. 

Alexander B. Irwin was i-e-elected President; 
M. K. Anderson, Vice-President; E. C. Matheny, 
Secretary. 



TENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

The tenth re-union was held at Loami, Sep- 
tember 4, 1877. The number estimated present 
on the occasion was from five to seven thousand. 
The meeting was called to order by William 
McGinnis, and prayer offered by Rev. J. G. 
White. James M. Turpii] delivered the address 
of welcome. John T. Stuart was then intro- 
duced as the orator of the day. The address of 
Mr. Stuart will be found on page 194. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Stuart's address, Al- 
exander B. Irwin, of Pleasant Plains, delivered 
one of his pleasant, off-hand talks. After din- 
ner R. W. Diller read one of Will Carlton's 
poems, " Betsy and I are out," in a style that 
would have done credit to a professional elocu- 
tionist. 

Preston Breckenridge, an ex-President of the 
society, and John Carroll Power, the historian, 
were introduced together. Mr. Breckenridge 
said: "Mr. Power, I have the pleasure of pre- 
senting you, on behalf of myself and other 
friends of yours among the early settlers, with 
a copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, as 
a slight token of your herculanean labor of 
writing and publishing your History of the 
Early Settlers of Sangamon County." Then, 
turning to the audience, he continued by express- 
ing the opinion that it had no equal in any 
county in the State, and perhaps not in the 
United States, and that in fifty years from now 
it would be consulted with even greater interest 
than at the present time. 

Mr. Power responded by saying that he was 
placed in a position requiring him to make an 
Old Settler's speech, a thing that he never ex- 
pected to do in his life, that he could not do the 
subject justice, but that he would treasure the 
work as a reminder of two of the most pleasant 
years of his life — the two years spent in visit- 
ing from house to house among the early set- 
tlers, while gathering material for the history. 
"Ordinarily," said he, "I would recommend 
every family in the United States to supply 
themselves, first, with the Bible and then with a 
copy of this dictionary; but for Sangamon 
county a good library would be a copy each of 
the Bible, Dictionary, and the History of the 
Early Settlers of this county." 

Characteristic speeches were then made by 
Reverends J. G. White and J. L. Crane. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Harbour was introduced and some 
events of her life related by William McGinnis. 
At ten years of age she was with her parents in 
Hill's Fort, near what is now Greenville, Bond 
county, and witnessed the fight that took place 



458 



HIsroilY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



there August 27, 1814, when the Indians under- 
took to capture the fort. She saw Thomas Ilig- 
gins as near shot and cut to pieces as a man 
could be and live; she also saw John Journey, 
John Grates, and Major William Hewitt killed, 
the latter of whom was in command of the fort. 
Mrs. Harbour had with her the chain used by 
her father, Simon Lindley. After the town of 
Springfield was laid out there was a discrepancy 
between that town and the former town of Cal- 
houn. Mr. Lindley was called on to re-survey it, 
which he did, harmonizing all diiferences. She 
keeps that chain as an heirloom. Mrs. Harbour 
also remembers the Indian ranger who died and 
was buried, September, 1813, at Sulphur Springs 
cemetery. His name was William Hewitt. 

Davis Meredith was elected President, and E. 
C. Matheny, Secretary for the ensuing year. 

ELEVF.XTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

The following account of the Old Settlers' 
Meeting, on the occasion of the eleventh annual 
meeting, held at Pleasant Plains, August 22, 
1878, is taken from the Sangamo Monitor, and 
was doubtless written by the editor: 

"The day was only a little too hot for com- 
fort, but pleasant when the shade was found, 
and the cooling breezes fanned the brow and 
converted the shade of the tall trees of the 
forest into bowers of comfort. These retreats 
for the weary ones who sought them to rest 
their bones or talk over events and stir up mem- 
ories full of pleasure to both the narrator and 
listener, were perfect havens of rest to many an 
old settler on the occasion. 

"The grounds had been well selected and but 
few places present so many natural invitations 
to partake of its shades and grassy carpet, to 
enjoy the gentle zephyrs that waft themselves 
through the magnificent foliage as that of the 
grove selected by the committee for the purpose 
of celebrating the nineteenth anniversary of 
the organization of the Old Settlers' Association 
of Sangamon county. The stand stood in the 
south of the amphitheatre, protected from the 
rays of Old Sol, and decorated with green boughs 
and emblems of the free. It was so arranged as 
to accommodate the patriarchal portion of the 
association, and those who were to take part in 
the services to add another pleasure to declining 
days and a new ray of hope to fading lives. 

" On the right were seated the choir, selected 
and trained for the occasion by Professor Griffin, 
one of the most indefatigable and patient vocal 
instructors in the county. This choir is made 
up of not a few who have made reputation for 



voice and musical talent, in other d,iys and on 
similar occasions. Its composition is as follows: 
Miss Fannie Meredith, organist; leading so- 
prano, Miss Ida Crow, Misses Belle Johnson, 
Ettie Shoup, Lizzie Stout and Mollie Forbes; 
alto. Misses Delia Herndon and S. J. Lockridge; 
tenor, Clark Dragoo, Will Knotts, AVilliam 
Dodds and J. R. Lockridge; basso, C. C. and E. 
R. Headley, Job Megrady and George Harnett. 
During the day's performance the choir per- 
formed in a most decidedly musical and popular 
manner the following programme: 'Glory to the 
New Born King,' 'Ijovc Divine,' 'The Hunters,' 
'Pilgrim Fathers,' 'Hold Your Head Up Like a 
Man,' 'My Boyhood,' and closed the day with 
' Merrily Onward We Bound.' Too much can- 
not be said of the pleasure contributed by these 
ladies and gentlemen in the exercise of a talent 
which none who heard their efforts can refuse 
to accord to each of them. 

"On the left sat the 'cause of it all,' the ven- 
erable and honorable landmarks of the past to 
whom the present are indebted for all the glory 
of a Christianized civilization. As they sat 
there with uncovered craniums, some of them as 
hairless as a billiard ball, others with silvered 
strands Mowing as gracefully as the flaxen wave- 
lets from the head of infancy, a new veneration 
for age seemed to possess the youthful portion 
of the vast throng as they would speak the names 
of their grand sires in the most reverential tones 
of affection and tenderness. 

" We saw there the venerable, and we might 
add handsome. President of the Association, 
Davis Meredith, Esq.,with the honors of forty- 
nine Illinois winters whitening his locks. Pres- 
ton Breckenridge, Esq., with forty-four years of 
labor in the soil of Suckerdom to entitle him to 
honor from her sons and daughters; and Joshua 
Dillon, .lohn Miller, Nathan Carson, Maxwell 
Campbell, William Batterton, Isaac Wallace, 
Abner Knotts, John Gaines, James Parkinson, 
Jacob Epler, Samuel Williams, Robert Cum- 
mings, R. W. Diller, the patriarchal Captain Job 
Fletcher, and the returned pilgrim to other lands, 
who fifty years since was the ruling spirit of the 
young and vigorous manhood of Springfield, 
Major Mobley, and Alexander Irwin, John Har- 
rison, Logan McMurry, B. E. Baker, William M. 
Butler, John Slater, Mat Cartwright, Thomas 
and John Garrett, two of as noble representa- 
tives from the Isle Erin as ever made a track in a 
furrow and lived to enjoy the fruit of their hon- 
est toil. And there sat John Lightfoot with the 
flowing beard, the youngest old man in America, 
and the tall form of William Yates was seen 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



451) 



looming above the others, and D. G. Kalb, the 
well proserved old settler of Round Prairie. 
These were on the stand as specimen bricks 
from the 'Kiln of Time' during the times that 
might well be said to have ' tried men's souls.' 
These were not all of the 'old folks at home' 
who had come out to the 'Eating Bee' at the 
Plains, and as we stroll around the 'grounds we 
shall try to introduce some of them to you. 

"It is a little remarkable that it should be, 
and not so much to be wc ndered at either, that 
all picnics must be decorated with chin music. 
But it is deplorably the case that the programme 
of fifty years since must still be religiously ad- 
hered to, if it 'break a trace.' The speaking 
was not so numerous as it should have been, al- 
though some of the very best. 

"The Rev. John Slater was never more happy 
than when welcoming the vast crowd to the hos- 
pitality of his fellow citizens of the Plains and 
the Association. We have such an utter repug- 
nance to the publication of speeches on such 
occasions that we never allow ourselves to take 
more than outlines, on the principal that they 
are made like Tom Lewis' butter used to be 
made — for present use — and those not there 
were the losers, while those who heard them are 
satisfied. Brother Slater's speech was well- 
timed, sensible and well spoken, just as those 
who know him would expect him to j^erform a 
task of the kind, and we will cover the whole 
case in a word, when we say it was pleasing to 
those who heard it and detracted no laurel from 
the Rev. Johns' brow, earned in days gone by. 

"Judge Matheny was an ' Old Settler' in earn- 
est, dealing in reminiscences of the days of 
puncheon floors and 'honest people, delivered in 
the conversational or narrative style. It was full 
of the most graphic and pleasing incidents of 
men and the times and held his audience like a 
vice. We have too much regard for Colonel 
Matheny to mar the pleasure he gives an audi- 
ence of any character by attempting to place on 
paper the peculiar phraseology and the more pe- 
culiar Matheny-oratory with which he gives his 
speeches to his hearers. 

"Of him it may be said more truthfully than of 
any other speaker we now have in remembrance, 
'his speeches must be heard to be fully and de- 
servedly appreciated.' 

"If success in first forcing the human face into 
its greatest length by some serious line into 
which he may choose to lead his listeners; then 
spreading their mouths like the lease of a poor 
man from ear to ear, now o'ercasting their face 
with the most sympathizing cast of countenance 

53— 



and causing the briny messengers of grief to 
chase each other down the furrowed and fat cheek 
alike, then banishing gloom as the God of day 
would the mist of a foggy morn, is effective 
speaking, then our County Judge and cherished 
Matheny is your man; but dont ask the Monitor 
man to waste time and printers' ink in an effort 
to report him. We will leave that to newspa- 
pers who^e reporters believe in quantity and 
not quality. 

'■ Mr. James Stout's recitation was well done, 
well received, and reflected credit on the good 
taste of the gentleman, both in the selection and 
recitation of tlie poem. 

'"Oijit of the old house into the new,' by the 
worthy son of a noble sire. Rev. W. H. Milburn, 
the ' sightless orator of America,' whose face 
and form begin to show the marks of time — 
since he first aroused in the souls of his hearers 
of years ago, a holy love and veneration for the 
God in whose service he had embarked — was 
among the many attractive features. He is still 
the soul of eloquence, the fountain of oratory, 
who with his mine of finished gems, when un- 
locked by the key of some soul-ins]3iring theme, 
has astonished thousands in his native land, and 
by our neighbors over the waves which separate 
the continents, established his repute as one of 
the most gifted of America's orators. 

"As we beheld him in his graceful gestures 
with his rivited audience hanging on every word 
uttered, leaning to catch his brilliant gems of 
thought as they left him clothed in the most at- 
tractive style, we scarcely knew which to most 
admire, the genius of the speaker or the respect- 
ful attention of his hearers. His speech fur- 
nished food for thought, which we doubt not 
will be carried to many a home, and, like the 
bread cast upon the waters, the work of the 
'blind man eloquent' will be seen growing in 
many a homestead when he has filled the meas- 
ure of his days and gone to gaze upon the scenes 
of Heaven, of which the beauties he is now de- 
prived of seeing are but the faintest type. 

"Rev. Mr. Short, of Jacksonville, we learned, 
made another speech after the meeting had been 
announced as closed, and many had gone, but 
which we also were informed was well received. 
These comprised the services at the stand, ex- 
cept in one particular. The music of Butler's 
Band was no small factor in making the attrac- 
tions at that and other points during the day. 
The band was out in full force, and never played 
better to a more admiring crowd. Indeed, the 
performance at the Old Settlers' pic-nic would 
have been tame, had it not been for the inspir- 



460 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



ing notes from the instrumental efforts of this 
reputable band. Their playing was timely, music 
appropriate, and in no company of players can 
be found those more proficient in their calling. 

WHAT OF THE DINNER? 

"Ah! gentle reader of the Monitor, this ac- 
count would be incomplete and a failure, most 
inglorious, did we allow the very thing above 
all others for which the Old Settlers and the new 
settlers were bent on doing in style when they 
started for the grounds on yesterday morning. 
To get a good view of an Old Settlers' pic-nic, 
or, in fact, any kind of a pic-nic, you have got 
to take them at feeding time. Now, to do this, 
by a hungry reporter, is no small task. It re- 
quires a good deal of self-sacritice, and as news- 
paper men are supposed by some people to sub- 
sist on wind, we thought we would not rob them 
of the delusion, by being caught in an attempt 
to fill oitr yearning vacuum. We took a cold 
snack from our friend, Tom White, of the Plains, 
and with Faber in hand and Ed. Bierce to hold 
copy, we made a dash around to see who was 
there and what they ate. 

" W. G. and Oscar and Aunt Jane Purvines, E. 
S. Bone, and Tom White were trying to fill 
Uncle Joe Ledlie, Ed. Bierce, and the hungri- 
est-looking newspaper man on the ground. They 
were abundantly repayed, however, by the solemn 
style of the newspaper man's vote of thanks for 
their success in astonishing Bierce with a square 
meal, and fattening Uncle Joe until his best 
friends fail to recognize him. Mr. Sam Valen- 
tine and family were hiding chicken on the 
double quick style, with a board fence to keep 
them away from Ben Trenary, Billy Parker, A. 
C. Smith, and their families, consisting of about 
forty-seven young Rock Creekers, all in good 
health. - 

"Then we spied Charlie Watson and his esti- 
mable better half, fooling away about sixty-five 
pounds of wholesome and delicious, in an effort 
to inflate Ezra White, Garret Elkin, and a squad 
of 'Pharaoh's lean kine' of folks of the Ed. 
Bierce stripe of eaters. 

"There sat Jack Gardner and his family, en- 
gaged in a similar sport. Then we ran head 
first against ' Hi' Gardner, trying to get rich 
keeping boarding house with Ben Caldwell, 
Colonel Mobley, Henry Latham, Will Gardner, 
of Chatham, and all their families, particularly 
Henry Latham's. As we left the scene, we 
pitied Miss Kendel, Miss Gardner, and some 
young lady friends who were well-nigh worked 
out in their effort, and Ben Caldwell's little 
blonde baby crying for more. 



"And there sat John Hardin and Billy Barrett 
foraging on one of Sangamon's cleverest men, 
Wm. Stitt, who had called to his aid Berryman 
Hurt, Esq., and still failed, for Hardin was coax-- 
ing our old friend Epler, whose white table cloth 
gleamed with chicken and ham, to give him a 
drum-stick to chew on. Had it not been for 
Squire Hamilton, Purvines, Ware, and their 
families, who protected friend Epler, we guess 
John would have got enough. 

" There sat J. P. Smith, Joe Hayes, Dr. Ather- 
ton, Dan Staples, of Beardstown, a relic of the 
Black Hawk times, and Johnny Wolgamot, with 
their families, looking for all the world as if they 
had been boarding with Noah in the Ark, and 
the provisions had given out after twenty days 
of the storm. 

" Here we are in front of Will Converse and 
Tom Little, and the old gentleman, Henry Con- 
verse, with children, grand-children, and great 
numbers of children, swinging in a hammockj 
and eating ' yaller-legs,' until they all looked like 
Methodist preachers, particularly Grandpa Tom. 

" 'How are you?' said we, as approaching a 
nest of croics with more mooves than any county 
can turn out, and more to eat than would have 
fed a whole company of clever folks like 'em. 

" Then we saw Old Man Yeakle and Squire 
Waddle trying to outeat Hardy Conant. Captain 
Bradford was at the same time performing a 
friendly office in helping a lady friend who had 
eaten until she got down with the exercise. 

"If one desired to see a company of ' old set- 
tlers' when they tackled a table, behold the array: 
Captain L. Smith, George McMurphy, F. B. 
Smith, S. L Lindsey, B. O. Pearl and Cash 
Lynch, assisted by several other good judges of 
'wittles well done' — of the female persuasion. 
Ah! there is my friend H. F'ayart, and our friend 
Shibley and their families, taking the rural snack 
and washing it down with pure juice of the 
grape. ' No, I thank you, we have had our din- 
ner or you bet we would;' and we pass on. 

" Ed. Elkin and Joe Reavely, Will Mowery 
and Harm Gatten, and several other fellows just 
as hungry looking as Ed., are making the grub 
look as if the table had been struck by a tor- 
nado, and no help arrived. 

" Then John Harnett, J. H. Classpill, Rev. 
Wilson and Professor Griffin had been running 
a boarding house for the tuneful ones who fur- 
nished the music. But it was no go. Mrs. Pond 
and Miss Annie Wilson, and Thomas Wilson, 
the Grand Marshal, all looked weary in well do- 
ing, and the voice of the singer still sang for 
more. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4G1 



"Here is Our Own Humphrey, of Farming- 
dale, with his happy family under a tree, hiding 
a few things oF a delicious Havor to stay nature. 

" Pearson Roll, Martin Rites, W. J. Shroyer 
and several others are trying the same little 
game on themselves. 

"Look what an appetite for the good things 
Hense Robinson still possesses. 

" Who said Judge Matheny was backward or 
diffident in the presence of a spring chicken 
when robbed of its clothing? 

"But here is the place to get a nice dinner. 
It is on watermelon, or at least that is all the 
Monitor man saw them investigating when he 
took a view of their table, about eleven feet 
long and covered with melons. Misses Ida 
Hughes, Frankie London, Helen Sanders, Dora 
Adams, and her sisters. Miss Caddie Priest, and 
Messrs. Saunders, Dow Matheny, M. Furlong, 
Sam Runyan, and Elliott, all taking melon 
straight. 

"We became so tired watching others we 
give it lip before we got around, and concluded 
to stand and see who wei'e there and what they 
were at. Old settlers began to crowd around us, 
who we failed to see on the stand, and many was 
the grasp of the hand we gave and took as we 
met our friend Captain R. H. Constant, of Black 
Hawk fame. There goes Bob Pirkins. Here 
comes Bill Springer, as happy as a new nominee. 
Henry Converse shakes with Hardin Ellmore, 
S. Q. Harrison passes looking as young as he 
did twenty years since. 

"We spied Wm. Lynn, Riley Pirkins, Wm. 
Houghton and 'Hickory,' his brother. Squire 
Fink, and Ellis Wilcox with his cane, and Henry 
Foster, George Harmon, both no older, only 
more hairless; Isaac Hawley and Bin)^ Burch, 
from the city; Peter Cox, from l>all; Billy 
Brown, who must now be considered an O. S., 
from Berlin; Newt. Purvanse, Thomas Watts, 
and here comes George Trumbo and our friend 
Hall, from Mechanicsburg. How do you do, Mr. 
Arnold and M. A. Carter, of the Plains. John 
Hardin is now an O. S.; and so also is Harness 
Trumbo and Henry Bugg, 'Brug.' Pirkins and 
J. B. Pirkins when he can boast of a big grand- 
son. 

"Here is Thomas Hessy and John DeCamp 
and Zim Enos and Doc. Jayne — all ri])e Old 
S.'s. So is Tom Averett and Tom Talbott, and 
'Doc' with his family of great big sons and 
lovely daughter. 

"Here is Mrs. Dillon and Mrs. Renshaw and a 
whole host of old ladies whose venerable appear- 
ance bears evidence of having seen this world 



away back at a period which makes them count 
their days by the seventy and eighty years. 

"There stands Joshua F. Amos, one of the 
first carpenters that ever struck Springfield; 
James L. Hill, John Fagan, C. W. VanDeren and 
Christian Crow, from Cass county; and there is 
Ed Watts and his family, and our farmer friend, 
Elliott B. Herndon, Esq., who, with his better 
half, had viewed the land between Springfield 
and the plains behind the faithful horse. Here 
comes John A. Miller, of Rochester, and Ira 
Winchell, the honest smith, Mr. and Mrs. Ben- 
nett, from east of the city, and here is our friend 
J. M. Turpin, from Loami, and W. F. Foley, B. 
F. Short and B F. Cummings, who were both 
born about the same time and came to the State 
together. 

"And here is a whole batch we struck from 
Rochester: M. D. McCoy, Georare Green, Wm. 
Derrv, Wm. Whiteside, J. T. Twist, Wm Taft, 
J. S. High more, D. T. Ott, J. Alcott. H. John- 
son, H. Fairchild, J.' Poffenbarger, Dr. Babcock, 
N. Campbell, S. Williams, C. Humphry, J. Gra- 
ham, G. Forden, John Johnson, H. Clark, Sam- 
uel Johnson, J. Everhart, Joe Miller, George 
Deyo, N. Deyo. 

"Young settlers who demanded some of our 
attention while passing around: Miss Dora 
Bennett and the Misses Bevens, Jas. A. Wins- 
ton, Dr. Correll, Mrs. McElhany, Miss Burchett, 
Mrs. Sibley, Mrs. Fayart and Mrs. Cross — pass- 
ing around on a review of the outside world, 
wherein peanuts, pop-corn, patent blacking, 
horse swings. and rope-walking were the attrac- 
tions, and in which they were joined by nearly 
the entire young settlers and all of the old. 

" Mrs. S. H. Richardson, the Misses F^ink, our 
old friends of twenty years since, Mr. and Mrs. 
Edwin Tomlin, and Mrs. Dr. Harrison and her 
two single daughters and married one, Mrs. 
Beekman. The very prince of old settlers, Noah 
Mason, Esq., and Ben. Caldwell and Al. Watts 
trying to find out which of the babies had the 
blondest head of hair. Marshal Stevens and 
our very clever young lady friends. Miss Julia 
Routh and Julia Frohner, Mrs. Whitcomb, Mrs. 
Maxwell and the venerable wife of the new 
President of the society, Mrs. Campbell, Bob 
Hazlett and Miss Belle Bradford and a thousand 
others we have not room to name." 

Maxwell Campbell was elected President of 
the society for the ensuing year, and James H. 
Matheny, Secretary. 

TWELFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

The following is the Illinois State Register's 
account of this meeting: 



462 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



" The annual reunion of the Sangamon County 
Old Settlers' Society was held on Wednesday, 
the 2Uth ult., in Abell's grove, just north of the 
pleasant village of Rochester, and it proved to 
be a grand success in every point of view. The 
day was line, although a trifle warm, the attend- 
ance was immense, and the exercises were of a 
more interesting character, if possible, than is 
usual on such occasions. The committee, as- 
sisted by the good people of Rochester, had made 
ample preparations for the accommodation of 
the crowd. A stand for the speakers and musi- 
cians had been erected, seats sufiicient to accom- 
modate a large number of people were in position, 
and a number of barrels of ice Avater had been 
provided. The people from the siirrounding 
country came flocking in at quite an early hour 
in the forenoon; a large crowd went out on the 
Ohio & Mississippi road on the nine o'clock 
train, another on the ten-thirty train, and still 
another on the one p. m. train. The appearance 
of the ground did not differ materially from 
what one is accustomed to see on such occasions. 
There were acres of horses and vehicles, and 
'oceans' of people — old people, middle aged 
people, young people, men, women and children 
— rich men and poor men, stylishly dressed 
women, with the flush of health on the cheek 
and the sparkle in the eye — women — good old 
mothers of Israel, with furrowed cheek and age- 
dimmed eye. Then there were the usual number 
of refreshment stands and catch-penny contriv- 
ances that have been so often seen and just as 
often described, and upon which we do not pro- 
pose to dwell, preferring to talk more particu- 
larly of the old people and the exercises in 
which they were interested. 

"On and immediately around the stand Avere 
many old men and women, to whom we are in- 
debted for much of the civilization that we now 
enjoy. Among the number, the Megister reporter 
noticed Mesdames Daniel Barr, John Cassity, 
John Lock, David Crouch, Melvina Miller, Polly 
Bashaw, Jane Butler, Eliza Taft, Polly Tor- 
rance, Rachel Poft'enbarger, Eliza Miller, 

Levi, Cloyd, Julia Johnson, N. Harris, Le- 
vi ssa Richards, Taylor (Taylorville), 

Rape. Messrs. Munsen Carter, D. G. Kalb, 
Andry Kalb, Rev. S. M. Smith, M. K. Anderson, 
G. Goodridge, John Lightfoot, Moses Laswell, 
R. W. Diller, Alexander B. Irwin, N. Harris, 
Noah Mason, Davis Meredith, Andrew Hollen- 
beck, I. A. Hawley, Samuel Grubb, George 
Poffenbarger, John T. Stuart, Preston Breckin- 
ridge, J. G. Ransom, E. Sanders, Charles Lamb, 
James Magredy, W. R. Ford, James Bell, B. A. 



Giger, George Green, L. Kidgeway, S. R. San- 
ders, Rev. A. Hale, Abner Knotts, Henry John- 
son, A, Barber, Daniel Wadsworth, M. G. Wads- 
worth, Harness Trumbo, Samuel Williams, Dr. 
Able, Dr. Babcock, J. M. Morse, Moreau Phil- 
lips, L. P. Matthews, J. E. McCoy, M. D. Mc- 
Coy, John Lock, Strother Jones, William Shu- 
mate, C. W. Van Deren, Isaac Watts, Uriah 
Mann, J. Palmer, Henry Converse, John De 
Camp, Philemon Stout, and last, but not least, 
the venerable John T. isenham, bending beneath 
the weight of ninety-one years, and who was 
doubtless the oldest man on the ground. 

"The exercises at the stand commenced at 
about half-past ten or eleven o'clock. M. D. Mc- 
Coy called the assemblage to order, and a choir, 
led by Mr. McCoy, sang, with fine effect, 'All 
hail the power of Jesus' name.' Then Rev. G. 
W. Dungan, pastor of the Rochester Methodist 
Episcopal Church, invoked- the blessings of 
Almighty God upon those present, and upon the 
occasion, after which the choir sang 'Rock of 
Ages;' then Dr. E. R. Babcock, of Rochester, 
delivered a neat address of welcome. Alex. B. 
Irwin, of Pleasant Plains, one of the vice presi- 
dents of the society, then took charge of the 
meeting, having been requested to do so by 
President Campbell, who was absent. After a 
few preliminary remarks, he introduced Hon. 
Milton Hay as the orator of the day, and that 
gentlemen proceeded to deliver a highly inter- 
esting and instructive address, of which we can 
present but a brief synopsis. 

" The speaker said the printed programme ad- 
vertising an ' oration' from h)m, on this occasion, 
was all wrong. He had promised only to make 
a short talk. Judge Matheny should be called 
upon personally to make good the promise set 
out in the programme, as he was abundantly 
able to do it. Addressing himself to the occa- 
sion, he said: ' The Old Settlers' Society of 
Sangamon had now become one of the perma- 
nent institutions of the county, as it rightfully 
should be. It might have been the idea of the 
founders of the society that it was to be kept up 
only as long as the few pioneers who began our 
earliest settlements should survive, but we have 
outgrown that idea. As one generation succeeds 
another, the elder generation yet upon the stage 
of life would always constitute and bear the re- 
lation of 'old settlers' to the new growth of pop- 
ulation. In that sense we should always have 
old settlers amongst us, and hence we would 
have the elements and material for an old set- 
tlers' society. In the process of time the society, 
it is true, would lose its characteristic of being 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



468 



composed of the first settlers, but it could still 
retain its characteristic of being old settlers. 
The old as well as the poor, we shall always 
have with us. 

"In this comparatively early history of the 
society, however, we had the advantage of hav- 
ing amongst us as yet, so that we meet them, 
face to face, a few of the very earliest pioneers; 
men and women who had stood, as it were, upon 
Mount Pisgah, and gazed upon the trackless 
prairies and forests of these regions; men who 
saw that the land was fair and who were the 
first to enter upon it and take possession. The 
experience of these old settlers was an experi- 
ence that no other generation of settlers could 
possibly have. At that early day these regions 
were not considered so inviting as to cause any 
rush or haste in their settlement. A few located 
doubtingly and cautiously, and these at consid- 
erable intervals of time. It was no part of the 
expectation of these pioneers that they would 
realize suddenly great wealth or great success of 
an)^ kind by being the first upon the ground. 
But little information had been disseminated as 
to the chaiac'.e. of the country, but there was a 
general irapiess on that its characteristics were 
tho.<e of a d'isert. 

"There was doabt and question then as to 
wijether a praine country was inhabitable. The 
means and modes of access to the country were 
slow and difficult, and only those were tempted 
to come who were already frontier men, or who 
for some exceptional reason preferred the free 
life of a wilderness to the comforts of the older 
settled parts of the country. There was at that 
day no rushing tide of emigration from all parts 
of the world. There were no speculators, land 
grant railroad companies, and newspapers en- 
gaged in 'whooping up' the country. There 
were many discomforts and deprivations which 
the early settler had to undergo; but there were 
compensations also. The early settler was al- 
most 'monarch of all he surveyed.' He could 
enjoy the great natural beauty of the primitive 
scenery of the country, before it was broken and 
profaned by roads, buildings and fences. He 
had no disagreeable neighbors to fret or annoy 
him. With his gun and faithful dog for com- 
pany, and the wild game all around him, he 
cared nothing for the society of men. Of course 
only a class of men who had long habituated 
themselves to a life on the outer borders of civ- 
ilization could enjoy such a life in its full per- 
fection. 

"In process of time came a class who desired 
progress in improvements and civilization, and 



these men began the work. Not content with 
building for themselves the cabin to live in, they 
built the early log school houses and churches. 
They began the work of cultivating the soil for 
something more than their own personal wants; 
of opening farms and laying out roads. Then 
began the location of trading points and towns, 
and traders and mechanics came in to supply the 
wants of population. And so, step by step, pop- 
ulation and improvement slowly increased. All 
this, however, had progressed under circumstan- 
ces in which the primitive condition, habits and 
usages still largely prevailed. Our trading was 
mostly a system of barter; an exchange of one 
article of produce for another; of corn for cat- 
tle, or cattle for horses, and of the produce of 
the farm for labor, manufactures or merchandise. 
Money as a medium of exchange was scarcely to 
be had, and hence but little was used. All this 
belonged to the period anterior to the introduc- 
tion of railroads. With the facilities afforded 
by railroads for reaching quickly the great mark- 
ets, came cash buyers and ready sales. These 
iron rails not only connected us with the com- 
mercial world, but along them came the quick- 
ened pulsations of a more commercial life. This 
quick and ready intercourse with the commercial 
world, soon affected our old habits and usages, 
our fashions and modes of doing business. ^Ye 
set about to adapt ourselves to a changed condi- 
tion of affairs. 

" We were somewhat unconscious of the ex- 
tent of these changes as they occurred, but in 
the course of a few years, we opened our eyes 
widely to the fact. Then we began sadly to re- 
call the old days and the old times. Then we 
began to look around for the remnant of that 
pioneer band of 'early settlers,' whose exper- 
ience and memory of a far different condition 
of things would prove interesting to a genera- 
tion which knew nothing of that by-gone time, 
but from tradition. It was then the idea was 
conceived of bringing those 'old settlers' to- 
gether once a year, to talk over the old times, 
and refresh each others' memories with the old 
time experiences and incidents. 

"As before remarked, our changed life and 
habits was the result of many causes operating 
through a space of years; yet some of these 
causes were so powerful and direct in their oper- 
ation as work material changes in a very short 
period. 

"If the speaker were going to fix a period or 
dividing line in point of time between the new 
and the old, so far as this region of the countrj- 
was concerned, it would be at the introduction 



464 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of railroads. Undoubtedly to this was attribut- 
able the greatest changes in the material condi- 
tion and usages of this part of the country. 

"The effect was marked and direct upon al- 
most every pursuit and calling of life. Old 
habits and old industries to a great extent dis- 
appeared on the appearance of the locomotive. 
Some were dropped and lost sight of; others 
greatly changed in the manner of pursuit or 
performance. Not only our home-made manu- 
factures, but our home-made life and habits in 
a great measure disappeared. The ox and the 
Carey plow, the spinning wheel and the loom, 
disappeared together. We began to build houses 
of a different style and with different materials. 
We farmed not only with different implements 
but in a different mode. Then we began to in- 
quire what the markets were, and what product 
of the farm we could raise and sell to the best 
advantage. The farmer enlarged his farm, and 
no longer contented himself with the land that 
himself or his boys could cultivate, but he must 
have hired hands and hired help to cultivate his 
enlarged possessions. 

"Then it was our families discovereil their 
inability to do the housework of the family, and 
required hired assistance. Customs in religious 
exercises even underwent a change. The ' forty- 
minute' sermon began to be preached; men and 
women no longer divided off on each side of 
the church; the minister ceased to line off the 
hymn for the congregation, and the congrega- 
tion quit singing. 'Choirs' and fiddles made 
their first appearance in the churches. 

"Almost concurrently with the introduction 
of railroads, it was discovered that the school- 
master was abroad in the land. Our free com- 
mon school system had its origin about the same 
period. Along with the new impetus given to 
the material condition of the country, and, as it 
were, hand in hand with it, came the free com- 
mon school system, to give new development 
and growth to the mental and intellectual life of 
the country. 

"The old schoolmaster and the old school 
books were either discarded or put under new 
regulations, so that a new generation was rap- 
idly growing up that had learned to scout at 
Webster's spelling book and Daboll's arith- 
metic. 

"Very few of the boys of this generation 
know anything of that bad boy who was found 
in the apple tree stealing apples, as told in Web- 
ster, and none of them would pay any attention 
to the excellent 'moral' with which the story 
concluded. 



"But the common school system, enlisting, as 
it did, in its organization and machinery, a large 
portion of the adult population, as well as teach- 
ers and children, wonderfully increased the 
mental activity of the country. 

" Turning to the characteristics of the early 
settlers, the speaker said it was a mistake to 
characterize them as containing all the virtues 
enjoined in the decalogue. There were good 
men and bad men amongst them. So far as 
morals were concerned, they might be described 
as an average lot of humanity, but they were 
mostly men of sti'ong and marked traits of 
character. They had the vices and virtues pecu- 
liar to men whose lives had been spent upon the 
frontiers. Self-reliance, bravery, fortitude and 
shrewdness of judgment were striking character- 
istics. With these there was a general kindli- 
ness of disposition, which the necessities of their 
situation called into frequent exercise. Notwith- 
standing all this, however, the inherent mean- 
ness and vice of the human character frequently 
manifested itself. Some were given to brawls 
and violence; some were malicious, and would 
vent their malice in slandering a neighbor or in- 
juring his property. The early records of our 
courts show that much of the litigation of that 
early period arose from these causes. This was 
the character of litigation in which our early 
lawyers won their renown. In case of victory 
the fee was not great, but the glory was. Still 
it was true that there were better types of old 
settlers — men whose lives were blameless, and 
who furnished no grists to the lawyers or the 
courts ixnless in self protection. These were the 
men who were laying well the foundations of a 
future orderly and peaceable community; whilst 
others might be engaged in brawls, these were 
engaged in founding the church and the school 
house. In any reflections cast upon any portion 
of the early settlers, it must be understood that 
this did not include the women of that day. 
There is great concurrence in all the testimony 
we have of that period that the patient, untiring 
devotion of the women of that day, to all the 
duties of their situation, was without exception; 
and that the failings and shortcomings of many 
a trifling husband were more than supplied by a 
patient and industrious wife and mother. 

"The speaker discussed the useful as well as 
pleasureable purposes that the Old Settlers' So- 
ciety could accomplish, and argued that the so- 
ciety should perpetuate itself and become perma- 
nent. 

•' However this might be, he hoped that so long 
as any of those entitled to be considered genu- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



465 



ine 'early settlers' were living, these annual 
meetings should be held, and be the occasion for 
the meeting and commingling of all those men 
and women, yet upon the stage, whose bravery, 
fortitude, patience and industry, and whose trials, 
hardships and virtues, had laid iirmly the foun- 
dations of society here. Let those who have 
come after, meet with them on these occasions, 
and let this latter generation see with their own 
eyes these early pioneers, and hear with their 
own ears the experiences of these men and 
women, to the end that the memory of those 
early days might be handed down to posterity." 
"At the conclusion of Mr. Hay's address, which 
was listened to with the closest attention by a 
large proportion of the assembly. Acting Presi- 
dent Irwin announced that a recess would be 
taken for dinner, and then the contents of sun- 
dry huge baskets and boxes were dragged to 
light, a number of tables were improvised, and 
these were filled with almost everything that 
good Sangamon county farmers' wives could 
prepare with which to tempt the human appe- 
tite. At one of these, that prepared by the 
family of Uncle Pres. Breckinridge, of Cotton 
Hill, the Register representative and his 'better 
half were fortunate enough to be entertained. 
It was a right royal feast and no mistake — 
chickens, sliced ham, choice bread and butter, 
jellies, preserves, pickles, everything, in fact, 
that could be desired, and while the ladies were 
preparing the feast the jovial, whole-souled Uncle 
I'res. was scouring the grounds in search of 
hungry people to feed. Nobody declined an in- 
vitation from such a source, ot course, and his 
spread was speedily surrounded. His daughter, 
Mrs. Lucy D. Hunter, and his daughters-in-law, 
Mesdames Lillie and Hugh Breckenridge, as- 
sisted by other members of the family, grace- 
fully dispensed the hospitalities, and succeeded 
admirably in their very evident determination to 
make their guests feel 'at home.' Uncle Pres. 
presided with his usual urbanity, and all satisfied 
the cravings of their appetites to the fullest ex- 
tent. There were at the table Mrs. Louisa 
Stokes, Mrs. Bashaw, Mrs. Sophia Thomas, Miss 
Elizabeth Evert, two daughters of Mr. Samuel 
Johnson, Mr. Will Berry, Mr. Ben AYaters, Mr. 
I. Stokes, Mr. William Stoneberger, Mr. Samuel 
Williams, Mr. S. P. Mathews, Mr. William D. 
Hunter, Dr. Abel. Roland Thomas, Alex. Breck- 
inridge, Harder Breckinridge, Cleophus Breck- 
inridge, Masters Arthur Abel, Taylorville, ]3ur- 
tie Breckinjidge, Ida and Inez Breckinridge, 
and other grandchildren too numerous to men- 
tion. There were many other fine spreads by 



hospitable people. Mesdames Neal and Sl Clair, 
of Rochester, had a fine table, and entertained 
largely in splendid style." 

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL RE-UNION.* v • 

" The place selected for this year's meeting was 
the grove back of the residence of Mr. Daniel 
Jones, in Cotton Hill township, five miles south- 
east of Crow's Mill. Mr. Jones and his family 
had done all that was possible to provide for 
the comfort and convenience of those attending, 
and they are deserving of the highest praise for 
the generous hospitality extended to all comers. 
But it was impossible to render the place se- 
lected a satisfactory one, in such a dry season 
and upon such a hot day. It must be admitted 
that the old settlers are relieved of many annoy- 
ances by holding their re-unions at some distance 
away from town and from a railroad, so that no 
one ought to grumble at the inconvenience ne- 
cessitated in reaching the location chosen. Of 
course, all the roads were terribly dusty, but a 
refreshing breeze afforded compensation for all 
annoyances. Upon the roads leading to and 
through the grounds, however, the dust was 
much worse than upon any of the roads outside, 
and, the grove being situated down in a hollow, 
the heat was insufferable. Owing to the unus- 
ual drouth, the water supply was cut off, and the 
management were only able, by making great 
exertions, to supply the throng of suffering hu- 
manity Avith an occasional drink of water. As 
a result, everybody was decidedly uncomfortable 
throughout the day, and. felt much more as if 
they had become for the time being veritable 
pioneers than as if they were enjoying a social 
holiday. But it must not be imagined from 
what has been said that the affair was not a suc- 
cess, for it certainly was a decided success, de- 
spite all these drawbacks and others that could 
be mentioned. The attendance was very large, 
but there was no opportunity of fairly estimat- 
ing the number present. The woods were liter- 
ally full of horses and vehicles of every descrip- 
tion, and this made it very evident that a very 
large number of persons M^ere present. But at 
no time was the crowed about the speaking stand 
particularly large, the visitors being scattered 
all over the grounds, wherever shady nooks 
could be found, enjoying themselves socially. 
As usual, the affair partook largely of a social 
character, although the programme at the stand 
was carried out successfully and very satisfac- 
torily. But the real attraction of the gathering, 



From the Illinois State Journal. 



466 



HISTOKV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to rao8t of the attendants, was the opportuni- 
ties it afforded of renewing old acquaintances, 
and of rehearsing again and again with them 
the oft-told, but ever interesting, stories of trials 
encountered and difficulties overcome by the 
sturdy pioneers of Sangamon county. Hot as 
it was in the shady grove, the veterans could re- 
member almost innumerable occasions when 
they suffered much more, and the frequent men- 
tion of the ever-memorable 'deep snow' seemed 
to occasionally impart a rather refreshing frig- 
idity to the atmosphere, 

"Springdeld was not as well represented as 
usual, though quite a good delegation was pres- 
ent. The gathering was largely composed of 
the farmers of the county, who were accom- 
panied by their families, to whom the occasion 
afforded a well-earned and well-deserved day of 
recreation. Among the old settlers in attend- 
ance, were noticed the following, the figures in- 
dicating the time of their arrival. 



R. W. Diller, 1844. 
Thompson Spicer, 1833. 
Joshua Porter, 1826, 
Wm. J. Wheeler, 1852. 
John H. Pauline, 1855.. 
N. J. Insley, 1832. 
Jacob Ensinger, 1850. 
Alexander Jones, 1849. 
M. A. Davis, 1854. 
Mary Ann Williams, 1835. 
Philomon Stout. 1836. 
Anna Salisch, 1836. 
Garred Young, 1837. 
Joseph Dodds, 1834. 
Caroline Plummer, 1834. 
Z. Burtle, 1826. 
M. R. Thayer, 18:2. 
Robert Blue, 1843. 
John Harnett, 1854. 
Joseph Ledlie, 1846. 
Robert E. Berry, 1840. 
James L. Norris, 1835. 
J. M. Martin. 1835. 

F. M. Neal, 1833. 

G. VV. PofEenberger, 1839. 
J. M. Millslegle, 1838. 



W. V. Greenwood, 1826. 
W. W. Meader, 1839. 
D. J. Drenuan. 
Thos. B. Shepherd, 1836. 
M. A. James, 1837. 
A. Breckenridge, 1834. 
J. H. Herman, 1831. 
Wilson Brownell, 1825. 
J. W. Shake, 1829. 
W. W. Crowl, 1845. 
H. W. Walker, 1828. 
Joseph Bean, 1828. 
Robert L. Pirkins, 1825. 
Jacob Henkle, 1825. 
Wm. H. Vigal, 1832. 
John White, 1840. 
W. H. Boyd, 1837. 
Horace Wells, 1850. 
George H. Miller, 1838. 
J. W. Haines, 1826. 
Alex. B. Irwin, 1820. 
Daniel Jones, 1825. 
Noah Mason. 1824. 
A. T. Thompson, 1836. 
J. 0, Bone, 1824. 
J. H. Matheny, 1821- 



"The public exercises took place at the stand 
constructed for the purpose, which had been 
placed in a good position in a shady grove. 
This temporary structure was occupied by the 
band, the singers and several of the older per- 
sons present. At the back was displayed a ban- 
ner bearing the words, 'Welcome Old Settlers.' 
Evergreens were wreathed above and about the 
stand, and the whole was surmounted by a large 
fiag. This platform was surrounded during the 
exercises by an intensely interested gathering, 
conspicuous among whom were a number of the 
oldest settlers in the county. 



" The exercises of the day began with music 
by the band, after which Mr. John B. Weber of 
Pawnee, delivered the reception address, appro- 
priately welcoming the members of the society, 
their families and friends, and members present. 
'Brookfield' was well rendered by the choir, and 
prayer was offered by Rev. Josiah Porter. 

"The exercises were conducted under the ef- 
ficient management of the President of the so- 
ciety, Mr. R. W. Diller, of thi.s city, who next 
delivered the President's address. A synopsis 
would fail to do justice to this address, which 
was given in happy, conversational style, and 
was replete with entertaining reminiscences and 
sensible suggestions. 

"After singing by the choir, Mr. John Harri- 
son, of Pleasant Plains, made a brief address. 
Mr. Harrison has lived upon the same farm for 
fifty-seven years, and knows all about the trials 
and experiences of Sangamon county's early 
pioneers. The county was almost a wilderness 
when he first arrived, and six months before that 
time those residing in his neighborhood were 
obliged to go eighty miles to mill. He related 
several interesting stories about the mills of 
those early days, and told how the pioneers were 
obliged to carry scythes, with which to cut grass 
for temporary bridges across the numerous 
sloughs that were not bridged. Mr. Harrison 
concluded by extolling the advantages now pos- 
sessed by Illinois and especially by Sangamon 
county, saying that he was unable to see why 
any farmer should desire to go West after gold, 
because the products of the farms of this coun- 
try were much more valuable than all the gold 
and silver in all the hills of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and were easier to get at. 

"Judge H. M. Vandever, of Christian county, 
then gave the audience one of the most unique 
specimens of oratory, if such it can be called, 
which the writer has ever listened to. He speaks 
forcibly, though with considerable effort, and 
seemed determined to convince his hearers that 
he was an ardent admirer of the 'good old 
times,' and customs of the past. In fact, he 
seemed to be rather indignant because people 
lived more comfortably in these days than did 
the early pioneers. The object of his remarks, 
so far as they could be understood, seemed to be 
to impress his hearers with the thought that the 
early pioneei'S Avent forth animated by a deter- 
mination to conquer all the earth, fearing neither 
man, ffesh or the devil; and that their descend- 
ents ought to be inspired by the same feelings. 
They heard too much of the great achievements 
of great men which were not possible to ordi- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4(5 i 



uary people, and thought too little of the prac- 
tical benefits to be derived from the early expe- 
riences of their own ancestors. The Judge's 
address seemed iu please the audience. 

" The election of officers being next in order, 
was disposed of by re-electing the present efficient 
President and Secretary, Mr. Diller and Judge 
Matheny, on motion of Mr. Weber. After more 
music, 'the best of all,' the dinner hour, was an- 
nounced, and soon all were engaged in supplying 
the wants of the inner man. None were allowed 
to go hungry, and those who had not provided 
themselves with baskets were hospitably and 
bountifully cared for by the generous farmers, 
whose picnic dinners are always remembered 
with pleasant recollections by those who partake 
of them. At two o'clock a larger audience than 
before assembled to listen to Hon. Jas. C. Rob- 
inson, of this city. 

"After the usual musical inti'oductory, Mr. 
Robinson made a rather brief address, which 
proved very entertaining, being interspersed 
with characteristic anecdotes. He reviewed the 
great changes that had taken place since the day 
when the early pioneers settled in the county, 
and eulogized the moral character, integrity and 
industry of the early settlers, in whose footsteps 
the rising generation could follow with profit. 

" Mr. Robinson's remarks closed the regular 
programme, but the audience were not ready to 
disperse, and willingly listened to brief recitals 
of their early experiences by Mr. Van Deren, of 
Chatham, and Mr. Baker, of Christian county. 
The choir was then called upon for several songs, 
which were enjoyed more than any other feature 
of the programme, and President Diller was at 
last reluctantly compelled to declare the exer- 
cises of the day ended. 

"Many of those in attendance immediately 
made a break for their homes, while others re- 
mained to indulge in social converse with neigh- 
bors and friends, preferring to drive home after 
sundown, by which time the grove was deserted, 
and the hundreds who had participated in the re- 
union had separated, to await the coming of the 
next reunion." 

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. > : 

A two days' session was decided upon for the 
meeting, and Wednesday and Thursday, August 
24th and 25th, the time, and Salisbury the place, 
for the Fourteenth Annual Re-union. 

The accommodations in the way of tents for 
those who wished to sleep upon the grounds the 
first night, were ample. The tents, which were 
of the regular army make, water-proof, were 

54— 



erected on the outskirts of the grounds, and all 
were occupied with as jolly and happy a class of 
people as has been seen in many a year. 
It was no camp-meeting crowd, if we may judge 
by the music, sentiment of songs, and the local 
speeches heard from the occupants up to the 
small hours of the morning. Everything was 
orderly during the night, but simply a little 
jolly. "Uncle Joe" seemed to be popular upon 
the grounds, judging from the loud calls made 
for him during the night. 

The speaker's stand was erected in a small 
depression and slope, with plenty of shade, the 
seats being after the usual style on such occa- 
sions — planks laid upon logs. The stand was 
prettily ornamented with colored paper in lace 
patterns, and in front bore the inscription: 
"Welcome to the Old Settlers," surrounded with 
a very neat design. The young ladies of Salis- 
bury probably had a hand in the decoration of 
the stand. Several large and beautiful bouquets 
graced the table in front of the stand 

At about eight o'clock Wednesday evening, the 
first exercises of the Old Settlers' Meeting for 
1881, were held by the few who were present. 
The audience numbered about one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred The exercises were some- 
what informal, as they were intended to be, and 
consisted of some fine singing by a company of 
young ladies and gentlemen from Pleasant 
Plains, under the leadership of Professor W. B. 
Griffin, all doing credit to themselves and their 
teacher. Several amusing stories were told by 
Rev. Mr. Clark, Squire Parkinson and R. W. 
Diller, of Springfield, all illustrating some inci- 
dent in their early life and the customs and 
habits of the people of the country some forty 
or fifty years ago. Those who know the speak- 
ers can appreciate somewhat the amusement 
affoi'ded the crowd on the occasion. The meet- 
ing adjourned bj'^ singing the Doxology, " Praise 
God," etc. 

Mr. Diller announced a prayer meeting for 
the morning, at seven o'clock, after which the 
audience dispersed to their respective tents, but 
probably not to sleep until towards morning. 

On the morning of the second day the over- 
cast sky and the mutterings of the distant 
thunder and flashes of lightning, gave indica- 
tions of rain at an early hour, but none came 3.S 
expected. At 9 o'clock the sun showed itself 
through the clouds. At an early hour the 
people began to arrive. The old settlers were, 
of course, important personages; you could tell 
one as far as you could see him, by his digni- 
fied bearing and apparent good feeling which 



468 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



lighted up his countenance. Their comely wives 
shared in the general good feeling which pre- 
vailed, and without them the interest would van- 
ish Most of the early settlers came to the 
gathering in their carriages, drawn by a pair of 
over-fed horses, a striking contrast to the mode 
of traveling sixty years ago, when the convey- 
ance was on horseback, with saddle and pillion. 
Tliey have a right to be proud of their success 
in life, which they suffered so much to attain. 

The meeting was called to order by John H. 
Harrison, and Elder Stevens made a prayer ap- 
propriate for the occasion. Singing was fur- 
nished by a choir led by Professor Griffin. 

Mr. John B. Miller made the address of wel- 
come, but would not, he said, make a speech. 
He asked the question, "Why have we come 
here — why leave our homes and gather under 
this shade? We have come to meet each other 
— to see and be seen. But we should have this 
in moderation. This is an Old Settlers' meeting, 
of Sangamon county." He spoke of the aston- 
ishment of an Englishman who should meet us 
here for the first time; we should have to explain 
the matter to him. In this connection he refer- 
red to the changes that had occurred in the last 
two hundred years. The red man had changed; 
the canoe had given place to the steamboat. 
And this change had changed the whole world, 
in an important sense. Who has made this 
change? It had been caused by the old settlers; 
but they will soon pass away. We have some 
of them hei'e to-day, and give them a cordial 
welcome, and will give them that reverence 
which we should do under the circumstances. 
We say again, we give you all a cordial welcome 
to Salisbury." 

RESPONSE. 

Mr. R. W. Diller made the response in be- 
half of the old settlers. He thanked the gen- 
tleman for the kind words of welcome. He was 
not an old settler, but he had drifted into it; he 
had been here only thirty-two years, but Mr. 
Harrison, who is here, had been here sixty-two 
years. He here referred in an interesting man- 
ner to the improvements — railroads, sewing ma- 
chines, and all kinds of machinery. All these 
changes had been made in about thirty years, 
and perhaps in thirty years from this we may be 
going to Philadelphia in a balloon. We cannot 
tt'U what may come. He then referred to the 
last night's meeting. He then said that of the 
twenty-five vice-presidents of the society, ail are 
alive — not one has been taken, and most of them 
are here, for which he was most thankful. Af- 
ter some remarks about how the meeting hap- 



pened to be changed, etc., he spoke in compli- 
mentary terras of the forthcoming History of 
Sangamon County, and advised all the people to 
have one of them when published. He closed 
with wishing that all might have a good time, 
and bid all good-bye. 

The response was followed by a song by the 
choir. 

Mr. Harrison then came forward and said he 
was an old settler. His father moved to Ken- 
tucky, and he came here on the 4th of Novem- 
ber, 1S22, and had lived at the same spot since 
that time. He lived in a log house of one room, 
18 by 22. We entered the loft by a ladder, 
which was placed outside. The number of per- 
sons that lived in that room the first winter, was 
ten grown persons and six children. We live a 
little better now, and have grown some since 
that time. Mr. Harrison then introduced Mr. 
Jacob Hinkle, the oldest settler of Sangamon 
county. He came here with his father in 1818, 
and is the youngest of eleven children, and is 
the only one living. He lives on the same place 
where he came to first, and had it not been for 
the old settlers' meeting he would never have 
have seen this portion of Sangamon county, and 
was surprised to know there wag such land in 
this section. 

GOV. S. M. CULLOM's SPEECH. 

At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. R. W. 
Diller, President of the society, introduced 
Governor S. M. Cullom, who commenced by say- 
ing: 

'•'■Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen. — I am 
with you to-day in response to an invitation to 
attend the annual reunion of the old settlers of 
Sangamon and Menard counties. It is the first 
time in my life that I have appeared before an 
audience of old settlers to make an old settlers' 
speech. I was informed that I was invited to be 
present, not as governor, but as Shelby M. Cul- 
lom. I thank my old friends for the complment 
of the invitation and the manner of giving it. 

" This is an old settlers' meeting. What kind 
of a meeting could be more enjoyable if we enter 
into the true spirit of it as we may. Such occa- 
sions should be entirely fi*ee from unnecessary 
restraints and conventionalities; every man, 
woman and child should feel at home. Let the 
old fashioned hearty friendship be stirred up 
to-day. Let a spirit of good will be rekindled 
upon the altar of our hearts. 

"I come here to have a good time with the 
people I have lived among now for twenty-eight 
years. Some times I think the infiuence of our 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4G0 



civilization as it grows older, to some extent 
smothers out that warm-hearted, active sympa- 
thizing spirit for our neighbors and friends that 
used to burn brightly in the hearts of the people 
of this country. We go along now a days and 
meet our neighbors, and under the pressure of 
business and money making and fashion, we 
scarcely speak to our best friends. The country 
people are not quite so indifferent. You cherish 
the habits and friendships of your fathers, but 
not so to the same extent in our cities. There 
is not enough of hearty social feeling among the 
people of these days of high pressure, any where. 
The result is the very fountains of our better 
natures are in danger of being dried up. Unless 
we keep alive our friendships and attach- 
mients we will scarcely know after a while 
whether we have any friends we care for, and 
when people get to that point they will surely 
have no friends who will care for them. 

" If there is anything which makes life worth 
the struggle, it is the sympathetic, the social 
part of our natures, the feeling that all the 
world is akin, the feeling that there are warm 
hearts in the breasts of God's noble men and 
women beating in sympithy with our own. 
Smother out this part of our natures and the 
world would be cold and gloomy, and humanity 
would dwarf into littleness, and soon become 
utterly selfish and mean. Then, fellow-citizens, 
old settlers and young, let us renew our friend- 
ships to-day, and we will leave here better men 
and women, feeling better satisfied with our- 
selves and the world around us. 

"What is the significance of the term, an old 
settlers' meeting? It does not mean simply a 
gathering of persons who have lived to a good 
old age in the community, though many of you 
who bear the distinction of being an old settler, 
are now bending beneath the weight of many 
yeai's, and your ranks, as you have heard to-day, 
are being thinned each year by the SilentReaper. 
In the sense in which the term is used to-day, it 
means more — it means a gathering of pioneers 
in the community. Many of you may justly be 
called pioneers in this region of country. Pio- 
neers cannot be found in the older States of the 
East. There the proverbial oldest inhabitants 
came into the world and passed his life amid 
scenes of advanced civilization and crowded 
population. He sees about him, in his old age, 
the same familiar objects that crowd the recol- 
lection of his youthful days; the home his father 
lived in he perhaps lives in. The farm where 
his father, and possibly his grandfather, passed 
their lives, he is laboring on and getting a 



scanty reward for his toil. The stories of hard- 
ships endured by the pioneer settlers of those 
old States live in history and in family tradition, 
but the men and women enduring the hardships 
are gone; they are not there to tell the story. 
Not so in our State. Some of the gray-haired 
men before me to-day have seen this county, now 
smiling with civilization, in which only bold, 
hardy spirits, men wnth brave hearts and strong 
arms ventured to make a home. When we listen 
to the statements of these men and women, who 
have lived in Illinois and Sij.ngamon and Menard 
counties forty, and fifty, and some of them nearly 
sixty years, who came when, in a large part of the 
State, the red man made his home, when on our 
prairies there could scarcely be found the foot- 
prints of civilization, and then look about us 
and see our State vast as an empire, filled with 
populous cities, covered with fruitful farms, its 
territoi-y crossed and re-crossed by thousands of 
miles of railroads, and reflect, that the span of 
a single life has marked all these vast changes, 
what a suggestion, yes, what an exhibiliun of 
rapid growth and progress. Some of you oldest 
people have seen it all. It has been the growth 
of fifty years. 

"I know that much has been said about our 
rapid growth, but I fancy it is a subject which 
never ceases to be of interest, and we cannot 
study it without profit. One of the chief ob- 
jects of these gatherings is to keep alive the 
memories of the primitive days of our State 
and to impress their lessons upon those who are 
to come after us. I do not think I am a very 
old man and technically I am not an old settler of 
Sangamon or Menard county, though when ray 
father and mother came to this State with their 
family, now nearly fifty-one years ago, and set- 
tled in Tazewell county, it was only three years 
after it was taken off of Sangamon and made a 
county of itself. So you see, my friends, I am 
a tolerable old settler after all." 

After referring to the organization of the 
county, the Governor continued: 

"The first men who ever resigned oflSice in 
this county were Matheny, Kelly and Latham. 
The first election ever held in the county was in 
1821, at John Kelly's house. The first road 
located was from Springfield to Jacksonville. 
The first bridge was over the Sangamon. In 
1829, the State made an appropriation of $1,000 
to improve the navigation of the Sangamon. 
One steamboat got to Springfield, or as near as 
the river runs to it, but had to back out in order 
to get away, which ended the business of navi- 
gating the Sangamon. 



47f) 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



"But I was talking about the changed condi- 
tion and the growth in this country. ' When 
you and I were young' we found our pastime in 
hunting and fishing, in log rollings in corn 
huskiugs and quilting bees. When the young 
people forty or fifty years ago danced, they 
danced, not in a stiff, delicate sort of a way, but 
they danced in earnest. Do you remember how 
long it took the old fiddler to tune up and how^ 
impatient you were to begin. In those days 
everybody's house was open to all and all were 
welcome, and when we went visiting we went in 
earnest, taking along the whole family. I think 
the dinners our mothers used to get up when 
the friends would come in were better than we 
often see in these days. Everything cooked was 
set on the table at once, and everybody helped 
themselves. In those days when anybody got 
religion and joined the church, you could hear 
him tell about it a mile off. The preachers of 
those days were their own educators and they 
were mightily in earnest. They meant what 
they said and said what they meant. The late 
Peter Cartwright, for example, whose old home 
in which he lived for more than a half century, 
is near by. They belonged to the church mili- 
tant and were as ready for a fight, if that was 
required to keep down the unruly, as they were 
for a sermon. They were full of zeal and served 
the Lord fervently, and helped to sow the seeds 
of temperance and truth, which are bearing good 
fruit to-day. 

"Let us look a little at the history of our 
State. 

"Illinois became a Sovereign State in 1818, 
with a population of fifty thousand, nine hund- 
red souls. It is now the fourth state in the Na- 
tion and the census of 1880 shows a population 
of over three millions. But its present proud 
position has not been reached unhindered by 
serious obstacles. 

" Early in its history, financial troubles encum- 
bered its progress and tested to the utmost the 
wisdom and sagacity of the statesmen of that 
day. Many of you older men remember well 
the dark days when a cloud of debt hung over 
ns that for a time seemed as though it would 
break in an overwhelming storm, when muttered 
talk of repudiation became almost outspoken. 
]^ut you remember how those mutterings were 
smothered, how the legislature and the people 
declared in favor of the honest discharge of all 
just obligations. And to-day, as a State, we may 
proudly look the world in the face, for we owe 
no man. 



" The vast system of internal improvements 
which involved the State so deeply in debt, the 
digging of the canal and the attempt at building 
railroads has been looked upon as a great error 
on the part of the statesmen of those days, and 
while it is true they undertook enterprises out of 
all proportion to their resources, time has, in a 
measure, vindicated the far reaching wisdom of 
their acts, for our rapid growth and develop- 
ment are, in no small degree, due to these im- 
provements. 

"The privations which the early settlers in 
eastern states endured and which are recorded in 
history, were repeated in the experience of those 
who ventured to make a home in Illinois in its 
earliest days. But the Jesuit missionaries who 
came first to Illinois with the purpose of 
Christianizing the Indians, and the traders and 
adventurers who soon followed them, reported a 
land fairer and more blessed in soil and climate 
than any under the sun, and soon, bold hardy 
men were willing to brave the dangers and hard- 
ships of a frontier life in order to live in and 
develop a land so fair. It was not, however, 
until the twenties and thirties that the develop- 
ment of Illinois fairly began. By that time the 
hunter's suit and coon-skin cap had given away 
to the home-spun garments; villages and soon 
cities had taken the place of the Indian camp. 
A few school houses were built which supplied 
the bare necessities of the people. In 1825 the 
State first undertook the establishment of com- 
mon schools by apj)ropriating |2 out of every 
hundred of State revenue for school purposes, 
which was divided pro I'ata between the counties 
as now. The free school system amounted to 
very little, however, until in 1855 when a new 
start was taken. We have a grand system now. 
W^e have forty one thousand nine hundred and 
sixty-four public schools in the State, over twen- 
ty-two thousand teachers, and seven hundred 
and four thousand one hundred and four pupils. 
Up to the year 1850, Illinois had only one rail- 
road, fifty-five miles long. In 1823 Chicago was 
a village of about one hundred and sixty-four 
people. Governor Reynolds, I believe, described 
it as a little village on Lake Michigan, in Pike 
county. 

"A story is told of Governor Reynolds, that 
when he opened the first circuit court as judge 
in his county, the sheriff went into the court 
yard and said: 'Boys, come in, our John is go- 
ing to hold court.' I believe it is related of him 
also that when he had to pronounce a sentence 
of death upon a man found guilty of murder, 
he said to him, 'Mr. Green, the jury in their 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



4V1 



verdict say you are guilty of murder, and the 
law says you are to be hung. Now, I want you 
and your friends down on Indian creek to know 
that it is not I, but the jury and the law who 
condemn you. When would you like to be 
hung?' 

"My friends, this section of the State has long 
been noted for its fertility and attractiveness. 
As early as the war of 1812, the troops and 
rangers in their expeditions against the Indians 
on Peoria Lake, noted the country of Sangamon 
as one of great fertility. The Indians appreci- 
ated this, for, in the Pottawattamie tongue, San- 
gamo means 'the country where there is plenty 
to eat.' Tlie 'St. Gamo Kedentry,' as it was 
called, became famous, and in the autumn of 
1819, Mr. Kelly, with his family, camped on 
Spring creek, near the present location of Spring- 
field. In May, 1821, a term of court was held 
in his cabin. In 1823, the public lands having 
been surveyed, a town was laid out and called 
Calhoun, but as the settlers came in that name 
• was dropped and the name of Springfield 
adopted. 

"Fellow citizens, you have lived in the w^orld's 
greatest period of advancement, you have seen 
the transformation produced by the engine and 
the iron wheel over iron roads; the invention of 
the telegraph and its controlling power in busi- 
ness and commerce, so that at any time during 
the day we may know the markets of London, 
Paris and New York, the three great centers of 
the world. By the telephone, friends may hold 
cjmmunion with friends miles apart in their 
own voice. By rail w^e may travel at any speed 
up to sixty miles an hour. All these discoveries 
and improvements you have witnessed. 

"In the political world you have seen vast 
changes, a great civil war, a country saved, slav- 
ery abolished, the Constitution amended, ar^d 
one of your own old settlers of Sangamon, whom 
you all knew, elected President of the United 
States. You have seen the capital of our own 
State removed from Vandalia to Sj^ringfield, 
you have seen the states grow from twenty to 
thirty eight, and you have seen great improve- 
ment in agriculture. The improvement in agri- 
cultural implements is wonderful. You ride and 
cut and bind your grain, you ride and cut your 
grass, you ride and plow, and three men with 
your present advantages can do more than a 
dozen forty years ago. 

"The world, my friends, has made its greatest 
leap of progress within the last forty or fifty 
years. It is as if some magician's hand had 
cast a spell of improvement over the age in 



which we live, and had called forth all the 
mighty engines of mother nature to make the 
world grow as it never did before. 

" Illinois has been peculiarly fortunate in the 
possession of a class of pioneer citizens and 
statesmen far above the average of men. The 
first settlers of this country were remarkable 
men, strong in intellect, strong in will, and up- 
right in character. The State has been greatly 
favored and honored by the men who have been 
prominent as its lawyers and statesmen. With 
such men as Edwards, Cook, Bond, Coles, Pope, 
Breese, Duncan, Thomas, and Lockwood, and 
Lincoln, Logan, Douglas, Browning, Hardin, 
Bissell, Yates, Stuart, Harris, Shields, Dement, 
and a host of others I might name, the prosper- 
ity and greatness of our State was firmly secure. 

"They all helped to mould our early institu- 
tions. They left the impress of their thoughts 
and lives, not only to adorn the annals of our 
own State, but to add new luster to the historic 
page of the Nation and the world. 

" But, fellow-citizens, I must close. We have 
a great county. State, and country. It is our 
duty to take care of the inheritance handed 
down to us, for those who are to come after us. 

"Our State and Nation have a grand future. 
I have briefly referred to the growth and prog- 
ress of our State, but it has only fairly entered 
upon its career of prosperity. Soon we shall 
pass off the stage, our children Avill take our 
places. When fifty years more shall have 
passed away, may it be truly said of us, as we 
say of our fathers and mothers who have gone, 
that we were worthy of our time and country." 

The speech of the Governor was listened to 
with marked attention, and was received with 
applause. 

At the conclusion of the Governor's speech, 
the meeting adjourned until two o'clock for din- 
ner, after singing the Doxology, " Praise God, 
from whom all blessings flow." 

After dinner, the meeting was again called to 
order, when the election of officers took place 
R. W. Diller and James H. Matheny were each 
re-elected President and Secretary, together with 
the following-named Vice Presidents: 

Moses G.Wadsworth, Auburn; Davis Mere- 
dith, Ball; John T. Constant, Bufl'alo Heart; 
John T. Stewart, Capital; James Parkinson, 
Currau; John Wilson, Clear Lake; Alex Irwin, 
Cartwright; Daniel G. Jones, Cotton Hill; Cyrus 
VanDeren, Catham; Daniel Waters, Cooper; 
J. Ray Dunlap, Fancy Creek; David Talbott, 
Gardner; Samuel O. Maxcy, Island Grove; 
Charles Cuntrall, Illiopolis; Josej)h L. Wilcox, 



412 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Loami; Oliver P. Ball, Mechanicsburg; Thomas 
Ray, New Berlin; John B. Weber, Pawnee; 
Milton D. McCoy, Rochester; Goodrich Light- 
foot, Springfield; M. A. Stevens, Salisbury; John 
Ennis, Talkington; George Pickrell,Wheattield, 
Isaac J. Taj-Tor, Williams; Harness Trumbo, 
Woodside. 

Mr. Kennedy, of Springfield, was then intro- 
duced and proceeded to address the meeting, 
and we regret we can only give a very imperfect 
synopsis of it. 

The address carried the old settlers back 
two hundred years ago, when Marquette ex- 
plored the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and 
interviewed the Indian savages living on their 
borders. He then portrayed the saintly charac- 
ter of the Jesuit missionary — the first to plant 
the cross on the wilderness of the northwest, 
and elevating the mind to the noblest concep- 
tions of the future life. Allusion was made to 
the stand taken by the French settlers of Kas- 
kaskia, who, under the direction of Father Gi- 
bault, welcomed with hospitable hearts. General 
Clark and his distressed regiment, and rendered 
valuable assistance in the colonial struggle for 
freedom. These were worthy of the highest 
gratitude— first to the pioneer missionary, and 
second to the French settlers, closely allying 
them with the Illinois settlers of the present. 

Mr. M. A. Stevens, of Salisbury, was next 
introduced and addressed the people briefly up- 
on matters of interest to the old settlers present. 
He was happy to see so many present, both old 
and young. The young to honor the old set- 
tlers, and the old to see and greet each other as 
old friends. He referred to the land marks of 
the old settlers on every hand — schools, churches 
and other institutions. He closed with words 
of welcome to the old settlers to Salisbury. 

James H. Matheny then came forward and 
made a characteristic speech. We can only give 
a brief synopsis: He said he did not know as 
he could be heard, as he was not in a very 
good condition, as they could all see that he had 
more cheek than the government alloM'ed. He 
was proud of Salisbury, for in this meeting they 
had done honor to themselves. He spoke of the 
time when be and others of his friends were 
boys, and related some amusing anecdotes that 
set the audience in roars of laughter. He also 
told of how the boys obtained money to go to 
shows; they dug 'ginseng' to the amount of 
twenty-five cents, and then they were sure of the 
show, particularly if it was in summer — if in the 
winter, it was not so sure. He then spoke of the 
advances that had been made in all afi'airs of 



domestic life — and cited as illustrations the food 
seen on the tables, etc., set upon the grounds to- 
day. He related, with inimitable humor, his 
first visit to St. Louis, and his experience at the 
Planters' House with a bill of fare, and the mis- 
takes he made in calling for food by the aid of 
this bill of fare. He then spoke eloquently of 
the advancement of our country and the people, 
making it one of the grandest and most glorious 
lands in the world. None could compare with it 
in all that made a people happy. He was glad 
to be here once more, and to meet old friends; 
it was to him the happiest day of the year; but 
he understood well that the time was not far 
distant when he would not be here. He had a 
list of the names of the old settlers who had gone 
to the other country, and soon others would fol- 
low, and the band of old settlers would be thin- 
ned one by one. 

The closing remarks were eloquent and touch- 
ing, and were received with great applause. 

Mr. Alexander Irwin then made a report of 
the deaths of old settlers in Pleasant Plains, 
Cartwright township. 

Maxwell Campbell; born in Cobarrus county, 
North Carolina, October 29, ITOS; departed this 
life August 10, 1881; aged about eighty-six 
years. 

Mrs. A. W. Hays; born in Pennsylvania, 
Lancaster county; married in May, 1834; died in 
March, 1881; aged sixty-seven years and four 
months. 

Horace Howard; born in Vermont, April 6, 
1803, and departed this life May 4, 1881; aged 
seventy-eight years and one month. 

Thomas Mostiller; born October 8, 180*7, in 
Butler county, Ohio; married in Franklin county, 
Indiana; came to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 
1830; died February 22, 1881; aged seventy-tour 
y.ears. 

Mark A. Mowrey; born July 12, 1815, in 
Smithfield, Rhode Island; married August 13, 
1840; settled in Sangamon county in 1849; died 
April 24, 1881; aged sixty-five years, nine months 
and eighteen days. 

Mrs. Anna M. Johnson; born in Champaign 
county, Ohio, June 6, 1830; departed this life 
April 9, 1881; aged forty-four years, ten months 
and three days. 

After reading the list he made a humorous 
but brief speech about our country, which was 
well received by the audience, but for want of 
space we must omit even a synopsis. 

General Anderson came forward, and said 

that he probably had as mixch vanity as anyone, 

I but he had not vanity enough to attempt to make 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY, 



473 



a speech, and he would not do it. He would 
say that he had been here over fifty years, and 
had seen all incidents to a settler's life. He 
borrowed money to purchase his first eighty 
acres. He gave an interesting account of how 
he was obliged to do in early days, and closed 
with giving some good advice to the young 
people present, and closed by thanking all for 
their attention. 

Hon. James H. Matheny offered the follow- 
ing preamble and resolutions, which were unan- 
imously adopted : 

Whereas, The President of the United 
States has been shot down by the hand of a cow- 
ardly assassin, and now lies in a critical condi- 
tion at the Executive Mansion, 

Resolved, That the old settlers and friends 
assembled deeply deplore the calamitj^ which 
seems about to befall the country — a calamity 
which would be none the less deplorable than 
the assassination of our old friend and pioneer 
settler, Abraham Lincoln. 

Resolved, That our prayers will ascend to the 
Throne of Grace for his speedy recovery, and 



that our deepest sympathies be extended to his 
family and to the Nation, in this, their great 
affliction. 

At this stage of the proceedings Mr. L. Hu- 
ber, of Cartwright township, exhibited an in- 
strument little known at the present day, called 
a " hackle," which he found here when he came 
in 1855. The instrument was used in prepar- 
ing flax and hemp. It excited considerable atten- 
tion. 

President Diller then made some compli- 
mentary remarks in relation to the meeting in 
Salisbury. He had not seen a drunken man dur- 
ing the meeting, which had not occurred at any 
other meeting, and he was proud of Salisbury, 
and her citizens had reason to be proud of the 
meeting. In conclusion he told the people that 
they could go home, as the old settlers' meeting 
for 1881 was closed, or in other words was ad- 
journed. 

The old settlers, after a general hand- 
shaking, left for their respective homes with 
pleasant thoughts of the old settlers' meeting 
for 1881. 



474 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XX. 



EDUCATIONAL. 



Few even of the older States of the Union 
have an educational history more rich, varied and 
instructive than that of Illinois. When that his- 
tory shall be written and due honor shall be 
given to those who have raised the State to the 
high position which she now holds, wortliy men- 
tion shall be made of that association of young 
men, who, early in 1829, while pursuing their 
studies in Y^ale College, devoted themselves to a 
life-work in the cause of education and religion 
in the then new State of Illinois. The names of 
those seven men wei'e Mason Grosvenor, Theron 
Baldwin, John F. Brooks, Elisha Jenney, Wil- 
liam Kirby, Asa Turner and Julian M. Sturte- 
vant. The first fruits of their exertions was the 
establishment of Illinois College at Jacksonville. 
The after fruits of their united and individual 
action, both general and special, cannot be esti- 
mated. 

The first educational convention in the State, 
was held at Vandalia, February 13,1833, by gen- 
tlemen from different parts of the State, desirous 
of encouraging education and especially common 
schools. After an address on education by 
James Hall, an association was organized un- 
der the title of the " Illinois Institiite of Educa- 
tion.* An effort was made to procure statistics 
and information in regard to schools and the 
condition of education, but with little success. 

A second convention was held at V.andalia, 
December 5 and 6, 1834, at which sixty delegates 
were present from over thirty counties of the 
State, principally members of the General As- 
sembly, then in session, among whom were 
Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and 
others, whose names became well known in the 
State. Hon. Cyrus Edwards was chosen Presi- 
dent, and Stephen A. Douglas, Secretary. 
Through the influences of this convention some 
important changes were effected in the previous 
school laws of the State, of 1825, 1829 and 1833. 



In February, 1841, was formed the "Illinois 
State Education Society " at Springfield, " to pro- 
mote by all laudable means, the diffusion of 
knowledge in regard to education; and especially 
to render the system of common schools through- 
out the State^as perfect as possible." Its first 
officers vere Hon. Cyrus Edwards, President; 
Col. Thomas Mather, Hon. William Thomas, 
Hon. S. H. Treat, Dr. W. B. Eagan and Onslow 
Peters, Vice-Presidents; A. T. Bledsoe and C. 
R. Wells, Secretaries; and P. C. Canedy, Treas- 
urer. A memorial was prepared and presented 
to the legislature then in session, urging the ap- 
pointment of a State School Superintendent, and 
other amendments to the school system. A new 
school law was passed, which, however, embraced 
but few of the desired improvements. 

Another effort was made by the friends of 
popular education to secure through the legisla- 
ture of 1843, the establishment of the office of 
Superintendent of Schools, which was now re- 
garded as essential to a comprehensive system of 
public instruction. Petitions in this behalf 
were widely circulated for signatures, but it 
was found that the people generally were them- 
selves opposed to the change, chiefly on the 
ground of supposed expense, and consequently 
nothing was done by the legislature. Notwith- 
standing this ill success, it was believed by many 
that the time was ripe for the proposed measure, 
and that a general convention should be called 
together, of the right men, not for investigation 
and discussion merely, but to devise a system of 
common schools that might be recommended 
with confidence to the succeeding legislature.. 
The proposition was very favorably received, 
and an appointment was made for a convention 
of delegates, teachers and friends of education, 
to meet at Peoria, October 9, 1844. 

The convention was not largely attended, but 
was unanimous in favor of a State Superin- 








^'-c<^y^ 



^^>'-^;?*42^X'i'i"-^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY' 



411 



teiideucy, and taxation for the suppoi't of schools. 
A plan of school system was drawn up and a 
long and able memorial to the legislature pre- 
pared by a committee. The proposed bill was 
explained and sustained by J. S. Wright before 
the legislative committee. The result was a 
general revision of the school laws, and the pas- 
sage of an act making the Secretary of State 
ex-ojficio Superintendent of Schools, authorizing 
special taxation for school purposes, and intro- 
ducing other decided improvements upon the 
former system. 

An educational convention met in Springfield, 
December 16th, 17th, 19th and 23d, 1846. Va- 
rious topics of educational interest were dis- 
cussed and a committee instructed to memorialize 
the legislature for amendments to the school 
law, especially in making the school superin- 
tendency a distinct oftice to be filled by the 
legislature. 

A convention met at Springfield January 15th 
to 18th, during the session of the legislature. 
A committee was appointed to prepare a memo- 
rial to the legislature and draft a bill for a 
school law that should embrace the following 
principles: That the property of the State should 
be taxed to educate the children of the State; 
that the office of State Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction should be separate and distinct 
from every other office; that the County Com- 
missioners should receive reasonable compensa- 
tion for their services as ex-officio County Super- 
intendents of Schools; and that a portion of the 
college and seminary funds should be devoted to 
aid in the education of common school teachers. 
These several principles were now for the first 
time pressed upon the attention of the legisla- 
ture, but, though the school law was revised at 
this session, the system was left essentially as it 
was before. 

On the 26th of December, 18-)3, there was 
convened at Bloomington an educational con- 
vention, composed more strictly of teachers, 
superintendents and commissioners of schools 
and other friends of popular education. Com- 
mittees were appointed to petition the legisla- 
ture for a State Superintendent of Schools, for 
the establishment and support of a Normal 
School, and a school system without taxation. 

The petition was at last favorably received by 
the General Assembly, and a separate depart- 
ment of education was created, and Hon. Ninian 
W. Edwards, of Springfield, was appointed the 
first State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
by whom a free school law was prepared, which, 
in its main features, is in force to-day. Thus, a 

55— 



citizen of Sangamon county became the author, 
virtually, of our common school law. 

The present Superintendent of Public Schools 
is James P. Slade. Shortly after his election to 
the position, a teacher wrote the New England 
Journal of Education of him as follows: 

''We have a new State Superintendent — a 
teacher, and the choice of the teachers. We 
are so elated at this victory of the profession 
over politicians, that I want to tell you some- 
thing of our new chi^f. 

"James P. Slade has long been a familiar name 
upon the rolls of our State Teachers' Association 
and of our State Association of County Super- 
intendents. Always present at their meetings, 
always performing with marked ability every 
duty assigned, he has long been accounted one 
of the ' stand-bys;' executive committees knew 
that when they placed his name upon the pro- 
gramme they were sure of a good exercise. His 
business capacities were so generally recognized, 
that since a time to which the memory of man 
(or Avoman) runneth not to the contrary, he has 
been treasurer of both these State Assoc'ations. 
He has also filled acceptably other offices, usu- 
ally those requiring much hard work and making 
very little show; and this is characteristic of the 
man. He is a quiet, diffident man, never put- 
ting himself forward, unless there is some hard 
work to be done which nobody else is ready to 
undertake. He is not a college-bred man; but 
so far from boasting of it, as some so-called self- 
made men do, he feels it to be a disadvantage, 
and all his life has regretted that the circum- 
stance of his early years forbade his receiving 
that thorough mental training which a good col- 
lege can give. But he is a born student, and 
his whole life has been given to study, — the 
study of books, of nature, and of men. Thus, 
outside of college walls, he has gained that men- 
tal discipline which some fail to gain even 
within them. That he has gained this is attested 
by the fact that he holds a State certificate for 
Illinois, and that the honorary degree of A. M. 
was conferred upon him in 187:3 by Shurtleff 
College. 

" Mr. Slade was born in Westerlo, Albany 
county. New York, February 9, 1837. His father 
was a farmer in very moderate circumstances. 
The story of his boyhood, is the familiar one of 
the struggle between an intense desire for an 
education and hard, unrelenting poverty. Only 
a few months each year could he go to school; 
the rest of the time was spent in work upon the 
farm. The spring he was seventeen his school- 
time was extended two months, during which 



478 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



time he attended the Chesterville Academy, two 
miles from home, boarding at home and doing 
chores nights and mornings. That summer, 
while helping to gatber the scanty harvest from 
the not over-generous soil of a small farm, he 
persuaded his father to send him to school the 
following winter. The necessary money must 
be borrowed; but the boy, who had already de- 
termined what should be his life-work, promised 
to repay all with interest as soon as he could 
earn enough, by teaching to do so. As a result, 
he spent six months (1854-5) as a student in 
Fairfield Seminary, Herkimer county. New 
York. In the spring, being now eighteen years 
old he commenced teaching; for his first five 
months of pedagogic labor he received ^80 and 
' boarded round.' The following winter was 
spent in teaching, and the spring found him 
a student in Hudson River Institute, at Clave- 
rack. 

"The summer vacation was spent, as usual, in 
the harvest field. In September, 1856, antici- 
pating Greeley's advice, he went west to Belle- 
ville, St. Clair county, Illinois, which has ever 
since been his home. In less than a month he 
secured a country school for nine months, receiv- 
ing a salary of $35 per month. The next fall, 
being then but twenty years of age, he was 
made teacher of the grammar school of Belle- 
ville. From that time to this he has been con- 
stantly and closely connected with these schools, 
rising by sheer force of merit to the highest ed- 
ucational positions in his city and county, as 
now he has risen to the highest in his adopted 
State. 

"The circumstances connected with his elec- 
tion as Principal of the High School are sug- 
gestive. By agreement, each member of the 
Board made out a list showing his choice of 
teachers. On comparing these lists, made with- 
out any consultation together, it was found that 
each had the name of James P. Slade as Prin- 
cipal of the High School. This result was a 
complete surprise to Mr. Slade, who thus, at 
twenty -four, was put in this responsible j^osition. 
He filled it with marked success. Before me, as 
I write, lie letters from some of his old pupils, 
and these give, perhaps unconsciously to their 
writers, a better idea of Mr. Slade as a teacher 
than any words of mine can do. Says one: 
' He honestly and conscientiously dealt with his 
pupils, with a view, not only to their intellect- 
ual, but also to their moral, advancement.' 
Under date of July 19, 1866, one, just entering 
upon a university course, says: 'I think the 
principle he inculcated of knowing the why and 



the wherefore of things, and of getting, not so 
much what the hook said, but the sense, the root 
of a thing, will be of great use to me at the uni- 
versity. Among the most important things 
learned, or partially learned, while in his school, 
is the science of study, the manner of getting 
lessons, or, rather, the science of applying one's 
mind to the investigation of a subject.' 

"We could give pages of such testimony, 
were there room. 

" Mr. Slade continued principal of the High 
School for six years; then (1867) he was ap- 
pointed County Superintendent to fill a vacancy. 
At the expiration of this term, 1869, he was 
elected for the full four years' term, by a major- 
ity of more than 1,200 votes over two competi- 
tors. These six years were devoted to the super- 
vision and visitation of the schools of St. Clair 
county, and they wrought wonders in those 
schools. He was re-appointed principal of Belle- 
ville High School, and continued to hold this 
position until after his nomination for the oftice 
to which he has just been elected. 

"But the county could not spare his services. 
The County Superintendent died about a year 
after his election, and the Board of Supervisors 
persuaded Mr. Slade to take that position again; 
he did so, served out that term, and at the two 
elections since he has been re-elected by over- 
whelming majorities. 

"This is his record since, as a boy of nine- 
teen, he came into our State: One year's teach- 
ing in a country school; fifteen years in the 
Belleville schools, eleven of them as Principal 
of High School; ten years County Superintend- 
ent, six of these years devoting his whole time 
to the supervision of county schools, four of 
them serving both as Principal of High School 
and as County Superintendent. That he is a 
faithful and successful worker is proved by the 
fact that he was retained in the same schools so 
long, never leaving one situation except for one 
higher. 

" From the time he first commenced teaching, 
Mr. Slade has been a constant subscriber, and of 
late years a valued contributor, to one or more 
educational journals. Of his work in State and 
county educational gatherings I have before 
spoken. He has also attended several meetings 
of the National Association, and counts it as one 
of his greatest privileges that at the meeting at 
St. Louis he saw and heard Horace Mann. He 
is one of the leading spirits in the Southern Illi- 
nois Educational Association, which has done so 
much for the cause of education in our ' Egypt.' 
He has attended each of its three annual meet. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



470 



ings, and been once its Secretary and once its 
President. 

" So much for the professional I'ecord of our 
chief. In business capacity and executive ability 
he also stands approved. 

" His personal characteristics command the re- 
spect of all, and the tender devotion of those who 
know him best. He is a man of fine presence, 
and impresses you at once as a gentleman and a 
scholar. So modest is he that he says, ' Of three 
things I am certain: 1. I am not a great scholar; 
2. I am neither a rapid nor a skillful writer; 3. 
I am neither fluent or eloquent in speech.' But 
we, looking upon his work with unprejudiced 
eyes, know that he underrates his own abilities, 
and feel sure that, as Dr. Bateman predicts, 'he 
will justify the reasonable expectations of the 
many good men who are looking to him with 
confidence and hope.' " 

Progress in this county is nowhere better illus- 
trated than in connection with our Public 
Schools. In the early day good schools were 
like "angel visits, few and far between," and it 
was considered very fortunate indeed if an op- 
portunity was offered for obtaining even the rudi- 
ments of a common school education. A person 
competent to teach the three branches, common- 
ly and sarcastically spoken of as the three " Rs," 
"Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic," could sel- 
dom be obtained. Some of the few scattered 
settlements could not afi^ord to employ a teacher, 
and were therefore compelled to do without, or 
send their children through the timber or across 
the prairie to some more fortunate settlement 
where a school was in operation. Some were 
sent a distance of six to nine miles, walking the 
entire distance morning and night of each day, 
in order that they might avail themselves of the 
opportunity of acquiring a little knowledge of 
their mother tongue, and thus fit themselves for 
the duties of life. How different now! In every 
township there are from seven to eleven schools 
in successful operation. Competent teachei's are 
employed, many of whom have spent years in 
fitting themselves for their vocation, and who 
make teaching a profession, by preparing them- 
selves as thoroughly for this work as the lawyer, 
doctor, or divine are presumed to do. 

The description given elsewhere of the old 
log houses will answer for the old-fashioned 
school house. The school furniture was slab 
seats for the scholars, a three-legged stool and a 
hazel or birch rod for the teacher. As for books, 
but few were needed, the less the better, as the 
teacher could get along the more readily. The 
walls of the school room were decorated by the 



artistic hands of the scholars, with drawings of 
the teacher, instead of being hung with such 
beautiful and instructive maps as are now found 
in all our school buildings. Instead of the beau- 
tiful specimens of penmanship now-a-days set 
for our children to copy, teachers were then em- 
ployed who, in many cases could scarcely write 
their own names. Altogether, in the light of to- 
day, the schools of forty and fifty years ago 
were very dreary affairs. 

By law, the sixteenth section of every town- 
ship was to be used for school purposes, but 
there being little or no sale for land, and the 
government price of $1.25 per acre being all 
that could be realized from its sale, the income 
to be derived from it could amount to but little. 
Subscription schools, therefore, had to be de- 
pended upon. 

It was not until after the passage of the law 
framed by Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, that much 
w^as done in behalf of the free common schools. 
The various townships in the county were at 
once re-districted, and a thorough system of pop- 
ular education was undertaken. In the quarter 
of a century that has past, much has been done. 
School houses have been erected at almost every 
cross-road, and the advantages of the common 
school system are now appreciated by all. 

For the year ending June, 1881, as gleaned 
from the report of the County Superintendent 
of Public Schools, there were twenly-seven 
thousand, three hundred and thirty-eight per- 
sons under twenty-one years of age; between 
six and twenty-one, there were eighteen thous- 
and, eight hundred and sixty. There were en- 
rolled in the public schools, eleven thousand, 
one hundred and forty-one pupils. There were 
one hundred and fifty-two male and one hundred 
and eighty-five female teachers employed. Of 
brick school houses, there were thirty-four; of 
frame, one hundred and fifty. The highest 
monthly wages paid male teacher, was *;i50 per 
month; highest paid female teacher, $80; lowest 
paid male, |25; lowest paid female, $20. The 
estimated value of the school property outside 
of Springfield was $196,440. Estimated value 
of school property in Springfield, $120,000. 

ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY. 

The Literary and Theological Institute of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Chiirch at Hillsboro, was 
incorporated by an act of the legislature of Illi- 
nois, January, 184*7, and immediately went into 
operation. The institution was divided into 
two separate departments, the one collegiate, 
and the other theological, and so independent of 



4'-5 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY 



each other, that donations could be made to 
either department, and the donors have assur- 
ance t^.at their gifts would be appropriated to 
the object designated. While the theological 
seminary was designated for the special benefit 
of young men who were desirous of qualifying 
themselves for the ministry in the Lutheran 
Church, the collegiate department was open to 
all alike, without any discrimination as to re- 
ligious profession, provided only that their de- 
portment be conformable to the moral principles 
and precepts which are universally acknowl- 
edged by Christians of all denominations. 

The college began operation in 1849, and 
issued its first annual catalogue August, 1850. 
It had fair success during its existence in Hills- 
boro, but believing a better field to be open in 
Springfield, those most interested in its pros- 
]>erity secured the passage of an amendment to 
the charter, permitting its removal to the latter 
place and changing its name to Illinois State 
University. Among those instrumental in its 
i-emoval, living in Springfield, and who became 
members of its first Board of Trustees, were 
James C. Conkling, John T. Stuart, Eljah lies, 
John M. Burkhardt, E. R. Wiley, Thomas 
Lewis, Jacob Divelbiss, David Miller, John B. 
Weber, Revs. James Smith, Albert Hale, R. V. 
Dodge, Francis Springer, Edmund Miller, S. W, 
Harkey, and C. B. Thumrael. John T. Stuart 
was elected President of the Board; Rev. A. A. 
Trimper, Secretary; Thomas Lewis, Treasurer. 

The following named constituted the faculty 
as first organized: Rev. Francis Springer, M.A., 
President and Professor of Political and Moral 
Science; Rev. S. W. Harkey, D.D., Professor of 
Christian Theology and Natural Science; Rev. 
Edmund Miller, M.A., Professor of Mathematics 
and Principal of the Preparatory Department; 
Rev. C. B. Thummel, M. A., Professor of Ancient 
and Modern Languages. 

The college commenced operations April, 1852, 
in the building formerly occupied by the Mechan- 
ics' Union, and now used as a church by the 
German Lutherian Church. A new edifice was 
at once placed in process of construction, occu- 
pying a beautiful and commanding site about 
one mile northeast of the public square. The 
spot selected is high and healthy, having an 
elevation of twenty feet above that of the old 
State House. The edifice as originally designed 
was to be of brick, four stories in height, the 
main centre being 70x65 feet, with wings on 
each side 41 feet wide, or a total frontage of 1 52 
feet, the whole to cost 135,000. Only the main 
centre was ever completed. 



The trustees in their first annual announce- 
ment thus addressed the public: 

" The trustees, animated by a patriotic desire 
to render the institution to which their cases are 
devoted, alike the honest pride of the State, and 
honorable to themselves, are resolved to do all 
in their power, not only to furnish suitable build- 
ings, but also to supply the most accomplished 
and experienced instructors, and the best means 
for the literary and scientific improvement of the 
students. It is designed to carry into effect, as 
soon as possible, that provision of the charter 
which authorizes the trustees to establish separate 
departments of the learned professions, the 
science and arts, including, besides the usual 
departments of Theology, Medicine and Law, a 
department of Mechanical Philosophy, and also 
of Agriculture. The object to be attained is the 
establishment of a University fully capable of 
furnishing to all the great interests and pursuits 
of man, the rich blessings which learning, science 
and skill can impart. But the trustees do not 
venture to make this statement of their purposes 
and wishes for the sake of conveying an impres- 
sion that they are already in possession of the 
pecuniary means which such an enterprise re- 
quires. On the contrary, they desire to be un- 
derstood rather as making an appeal to the pub- 
lic for liberal and generous donations to enable 
them to carry forward to successful completion 
an undertaking which necessities of an intelli- 
gent and rapidly increasing community urgently 
demand. It will be perceived, also, that the 
trustees have a just appreciation of their respon- 
sibilities, and of the wants which the piiblic 
mind expect them to supply. In order to fulfill 
their mission by a proper discharge of their legal 
incorporation, they must rely on the intelligence 
and philanthrophy of their fellow man for the 
requisite funds and other needful co-opera- 
tion." 

The first session of the college occupied but 
a part of the year. Seventy-nine students were 
enrolled. The second year, ending June 29, 
1853, witnessed an enrollment of one hundred 
and forty-four students, a gratifying increase. 
The Mechanics' Union Building was still occu- 
pied, the new edifice not being completed. Dur- 
ing the summer of 1853, President Springer and 
Professor Harkey were engaged in collecting 
funds to finish the building. 

For the coming year the faculty were the 
same as the year previous, save Rev. Daniel 
Garber, A. B.. was substituted for Rev, C. B, 
Thummel, as Professor of Latin and Greek Lan- 
guages. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON C^OUNTY. 



481 



The summer of 1854. found the college build- 
ing still uncompleted, but it was finished in time 
for occupancy that .fall. The number of the 
students for the year 1853-4 was one hundred 
an(i sixty. 

In the year 1855, on account of a disagree- 
ment in some matters. President Springer re- 
signed, and Rev. S. W. Harkey performed the 
duties of President. In the fall of 1 856, the 
faculty M'as composed of the following named: 
Rev. S. W, Ilarkey, D. D., President, ])ro tern. 
Professor of Theology, Mental and Moral 
Science, Belles Lettres and the German Lan- 
guages; Rev. Edmund Miller, A. M., Professor 
of Mathematics; Rev. Benjamin C. Suesserott, 
A. M., Professor of Latin and Greek Languages; 
Alexander Pollack, Professor of History, and 
Principal of the English and Business Depart- 
ments. 

In the summer of 1858, the Faculty elected 
Rev. William M. Reynolds, D. D., President, 
and he was inaugurated and delivered an excel- 
lent address July 29, 1858. The faculty was 
then composed as follows: Rev. W. M. Rey- 
nolds, President, Professor of Intellectual and 
moral Philosophy; S. W. Harkey, D. D., Pro- 
fessor of Belles Lettres and German Language 
and Literature; Rev. B. C. Suesserott, A. M., 
Professor of Ancient Languages; Rev. L. P. 
Esbiorn, Professor of Scandinavian Languages 
and Literature, Chemistry; H. Croll, A. M., Pro- 
fessor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; 
Alexander Pollock, Principal of the English 
Department and Assistant Professor of Mathe- 
matics; J. G. Auglade, Professor of French and 
Spanish. 

After this time the University did not seem 
to prosper so well, but it continued to struggle 
along until 1867, when it ceased to be run as a 
University. But there has never been a time 
when a school of some kind has not been in 
existence in the building. The deed conveying 
the land requires that a school shall be main- 
tained, or the title to the property shall revert to 
the original heirs of the donor, Pascal P. Enos. 

Between 1867 and 1874 the title in the prop- 
erty was vested in Rev. Mr. Passavant, of the 
Pittsburg Synod, and by him transferred to the 
Missouri Synod of the German Evangelical 
Lutheran Church. 

Rev. Francis Springer, D.D., the first Presi- 
dent of the Illinois State University, was born 
March 19, 1810, at Roxbury, Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania. When a young man he learned 
the business of sign and ornamental painting. 
He received his literary education in Pennsyl- 



vania College, and his theological studies weie 
pursued at the Theological Seminary of the 
Lutheran Church, both located at Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania. He also studied under two dis- 
tinguished ministers, one at Otsego, and the 
other at Schohaire, New York. He paid his ex- 
penses by occasionally working at his trade and 
teaching school. He was licensed to preach by 
the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, 
October 18, 1836, and was ordained by the same 
body, October 17, 1837. He was married April 
11, 1837, to Mary Kriegh, at Clear Springs, 
Washington county, Maryland. He taught 
school and preached in that vicinity from Octo- 
ber, 1836, for about two and a half years. They 
moved to Springfield, Illinois, arriving May, 
1839. In 1847 he moved to Hillsboro, Illinois, 
and in 1855 moved back to Springfield. 

Rev. Francis Springer commenced teaching 
soon after his arrival in Springfield, and contin- 
ued to teach and preach until 1847, when he 
moved to Hillsboro, Illinois, as President of 
Hillsboro College. That institution was moved 
to Springfield in 1852, as Illinois State Uni- 
versity. These were both under the direction 
and patronage of the Lutheran church. He re- 
signed in 1855. He was afterwards school com- 
missioner of Sangamon county, and was Super- 
intendent of Schools for the city of Springfield, 
which position he resigned, and became chaplain 
of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, soon after the be- 
ginning of the rebellion in 1861. A short time 
after the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas — 
December 7, 1862 — he united with Dr. James 
Johnson in raising a loyal regiment in Arkansas, 
of which he became chaplain. It was the First 
Arkansas Infantry. He was appointed in 1863 
post chaplain at Fort Smith, which he held until 
1867, when he resigned, and returned to his 
family, at Springfield. In 1870 he moved to Ir- 
ving, Montgomery county, Illinois, and contin- 
ued preaching until the fall of 1873, when he 
was elected superintendent of schools for Mont- 
gomery county, with his ofiice at Hillsboro, Illi- 
nois. 

In the summer of 1881, Mr. Springer returned 
to Springfield. He continues to preach as op- 
portunity offers, believing the minister of God 
should always be faithfully employed. Rev. 
Francis Springer is a man of lively sympathy 
with the rest of mankind, without regard to race, 
color, nationality or religion. He has large 
faith in the perfectability of the human race by 
means of the labors and experiences of the life 
that now is, and the hereafter. His orthodoxy, 
as a religious man, does not descend to the min- 



483 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ute particulars of a creed, but confides mainly 
in the cardinal fact of Christianity, that the only 
true enobling of the race must be wrought out 
under the recognized leadership of the world's 
Redeemer "the Christ of God." 

The degree of Doctor of Divinity was con- 
ferred on Rev. Francis Springer in 1869, by 
Wittenlurg College, Springfield, Ohio. 

GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONCORDIA 
SEMINARY. 

This institution of learning, the successor of 
the Illinois State University, is the outgrowth of 
a similar institution started in Fort Wayne many 
years ago. 

In 1838 Wyneken came from Germany to 
America and settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
where he was subsequently ordained a minister 
in the German Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
and as such for several years acted as a mis- 
sionary in Ohio, Indiana, and the southern part 
of Michigan, traveling almost constantly, preach- 
ing the word wherever he went. 

In 1844 he put in practical operation a scheme 
he had for the education of young men and ^:)re- 
paring them for the sacred ministry. Two 
young men placed themselves under his instruc- 
tion that year, and traveled with him wherever 
called, studying as the opportunity was afforded 
them, and receiving the instruction of the zealous 
missionary. This was the beginning of the 
flourishing Concordia University now in exist- 
ence in Fort Wayne. The two young men thus 
instructed became zealous and efficient workers 
in the Master's cause. One of them died a few 
years since, the other yet labors "in season and 
out of season" in preaching the "glad tidings of 
salvation." 

In 1845 Mr. Wyneken was called to the pas- 
torate of a church in Baltimore, where he re- 
mained five years. In 1850 he was called to St. 
Louis, and soon after elected President of the 
Joint Missouri Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and 
as such removed to Fort Wayne, a more central 
location, from which place he visited the 
churches throughout the bounds of the Synod, 
and where good could be accomplished. In 
this oflice he seived for several years with 
profit to the people and churches within his 
charge. In 1864 he accepted a call from a 
church in Cleveland, Ohio, where he labored for 
eleven years. On account of failing health the 
congregation sent him to California in 18'75, 
where it was thought he might be restored to 
health and future usefulness. Early in May, 
1876, he made all arrangements to return home, 



and on the morning of the 4th, while dressing 
himself, he fell over on the bed and soon ex- 
pired. His last work on earth was done, and he 
was called to his reward. 

In addition to the institution of learning in 
Fort Wayne, which grew from the humble be- 
ginning as stated to the rank of a university, the 
Missouri Synod opened a school in the interior 
of Missouri, which was subsequently moved to St. 
Louis, a'ld became the present German Evangel- 
ical Lutheran College. Students in both these 
institutions became so numerous they could not 
be accommodated, and the property of the old 
Illinois State University being for sale it was 
thought advisable to purchase it. Preparatory 
to this end, early in January, 1874, about sev- 
enty-five pupils were transferred to this place, 
under charge of Professor Kroening. In Octo- 
ber, 1874, the deed to the property was transfei'- 
red to the Missouri Synod, under whose charge 
the three institutions are conducted. Professor 
Kroening remained in charge until the fall of 
1875, when all needful preparations had been 
made to carry on a successful school. The fac- 
ulty as organized at this time consisted of Pro- 
fessor A. Cramer, Director, who for twenty-five 
years previous had been connected either at Fort 
Wayne or St. Louis; Professor H. C. Wyniken, 
second theological Professor, and Professor G. 
Kroening, in the Preparatory Department. These 
gentleman yet remain in the institution, and 
in addition in the fall of 1881, J. S. Simon, for 
twenty-eight years teacher in the senior class of 
the parochial school of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Congregation at Monroe, Michigan, was called 
as assistant Professor in the Preparatory De- 
partment, and entered upon the discharge of 
his duties, November 1. 

Since the property passed into the hands of 
the present operators, the buildings and grounds 
have been greatly improved, four new residences 
for the faculty have been built, and other good 
work accomplished. As fast as means are 
secured other improvements will be made. 

The college is supported by donation through 
various German Evangelical Lutheran Churches 
throughout the United States, and a student 
upon entering must state his firm determination 
to become an espouser of the doctrines to which 
the church adheres, and must have had a three 
years' course in a preparatory college situated 
at Fort Wayne, Ind. Its future is easily to be 
seen, with an attendance of nearly one hundred 
and tAventy-five students, and yearly growing in 
proportion, it promises in the near future to 
rank among the first of its kind in the State, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



483 



and it is, in reality, to be hoped that these most 
sanguine expectations will be verified. Let the 
good work commenced proceed and bear its 
fruit. 

Rev. A. Cramer, D. D., Director of Concordia 
Seminary, was born in Germany. 

Rev. H. C. Wyneken was born in Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, December 15, 1844. lie is the 
son of Rev. Mr. Wyneken, a sketch of whom 
has already been given in connection with this 
article. The younger Wyneken went with his 
parents to the various places already mentioned, 
save California. While living in St. Louis, he 
attended the German Lutheran Parochial School, 
and also the English High School. He entered 
Concordia College, in St. Louis, in 1858, and 
subsequently was transferred to Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, where he graduated in 1865. He then 
entered the Theological Seminary of the Ger- 
man Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Louis, 
and pursued a three years' course, graduating in 
1868. He was prepared to accept a call from 
some congregation, but on account of ill health 
was sent to Europe, in January, 1869, where he 
remained nearly two years. On his return he 
was called as an assistant pastor to his father, 
from the church in Cleveland Ohio, and was 
duly ordained December 18, 18*70. He remained 
at Cleveland until his removal here in January, 
1S76. 

Professor Wyneken was united in marriage 
with Miss Couradine Schilling, of Bremen, 
Europe, June 29, 1871, by whom he has had five 
children, four of whom are now living. 

Like his father, Professor Wyneken is a thor- 
ough worker, and in addition to his labors in 
the school room, acts as a missionary among the 
Germans in the neighborhood of Springfield, 
and among the colored people of the city. He 
has managed for some time a Sunday School for 
the latter in the College chapel, having some 
thirty to forty pupils in attendance 

Professor G. Kroening was born in Martin- 
ville, Niagara county. New York, March 3, 1851. 
He is of German descent, his parents emigrating 
from the latter country, and settling in Martins- 
ville, in 1845, When ten years of age, he com- 
menced attending the common schools of Mar- 
tinsville, where he continued for five years, and 
then spent three years in assisting his father in 
agriculture and other pursuits, at the expiration 
of which time he entered Concordia Seminary, 
in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he remained six 
years, and entered the Concordia College at St. 
Louis, and studied theology for two years. In 
January, 1874, he accepted the professorship in 



the Seminary, and was immediately sent to 
Springfield as already stated. 

BETTIE STUART INSTIIUTE, SPRINGFIELD. 

This institution, though drawing pupils from 
all parts of the Union, may from its influence 
be emphatically called a home school, was organ- 
ized by Mrs. M. McKee Homes, a lady well and 
favorably known throughout the West as a suc- 
cessful instructor of young girls. The building 
that she first occupied being inadequate to her 
wants, and a number of her patrons recognizing 
her executive ability and superior fitness for 
conducting a Young Ladies' Seminary, made ar- 
rangements to provide for her a suitable build- 
ing. To accomplish this, in 1879, a Board of 
Trustees was incorporated under the general 
State law for academies. The names of the in- 
corporators were: Hon. John T. Stuart, J. Bunn, 
Hon. J. C. Conkling, Hon. John A. Chestnut, 
John Williams, and C. C. Brown. 

The residence of Mr. C. C. Brown was pur- 
chased, added to and remodled. The institution 
was named "Bettie Stuart Institute," in honor 
of the memory of the late Mrs. C. C. Brown, 
the lovely and accomplished daughter of the 
Hon. John T. Stuart. So far as the educational 
work of the school is concerned, it has been 
under the sole control of Mrs. Homes, who has 
done her work faithfully and thoroughly. She 
has called to her aid the best teachers in every 
department of study. Some of the most efticient 
she found in Springfield, others have come from 
the best schools of this country and Europe. A 
characteristic feature of the Board of Instruc- 
tion is a union of feeling, and a concentration 
of interest in the work they have undertaken to 
accomplish. 

A high grade of scholarship has been estab- 
lished and maintained in evei'y department. A 
diploma from this school entitles the holder to a 
high degree of respect. It signifies that she has 
attained, in all the varied studies of a four years' 
course, a satisfactory proficiency; that her at- 
tendance during that time has averaged well, 
and that her deportment has been above re- 
proach. Considering the fact that the institu- 
tion has been, thus far, self-supporting, its suc- 
cess and efticiency are wonderful. The annual 
average attendance has been over a hundred, and 
it has already graduated sixty-four young ladies, 
several of Avhom are sustaining a high reputation 
as teachers, while many more are presiriing with 
dignity over their own households. To show 
how important a factor this school is in educa- 
tional matters, we quote (from memory) the 



484 



HISTORVT OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



words of a distinguished divine, formerly of 
Springfield, uttered in a sermon preached to his 
people: "Few realize how much Springfield 
owes to Mrs. Homes' school. It has raised the 
standard of scholarship and laid the foundations 
for a broad culture, and where it has taken one 
pupil out of the Public Schools, it has put twenty 
in, by awakening a more wide-spread interest in 
the subject of education. Among the graduates 
are the daughters of many whose names are in- 
dissolubly connected with the history of the 
State in its various interests, military, political, 
financial and religious. Indeed, the school rep- 
resents in its patronage, all the professions and 
industries. Its founders and supporters are a 
class of people calculated to give added tone 
and dignity to its character, and it will doubtless 
be cherished with pride by the State, as it is 
now, by its capital city — Springfield. 

The following-named compose ihe present 
Board of Trustees: Hon. John T. Stuart, John 
A. Chestnut, Colonel John Williams, Hon. 
Shelby M. Cullom, Hon. J. C. Conkling, Dr. A. 
W. French, Jacob Bunn, Hon. Milton Hay. 

The following named comprise the faculty of 
the institution for 1881-2: 

Mrs. M. McKee Homes, Principal, Morals and 
Metaphysics. 

Miss Margerie Constant, History, Rhetoric, 
and English Literature. 

Miss Clara H. Page, Mathematics. 

Miss Lucy A. Du Bois, Latin and Natural 
Sciences. 

Mrs. Mary S. Wolcott, Natural Sciences and 
Intermediate Department. 

Miss Kate Constant, Principal of the Pri- 
mary Department. 

Miss Margaret Leeds (part of the year), Pri- 
mary Department. 

Miss Lucy M. Latham (part of the year). Pri- 
mary Department. 

Miss Marion Hall Drawing and Painting. 

Professor B. Meissner, Vocal and Instru- 
mental Music. 

M'me Kaufmann, German. 

Miss Mary L. McKee, Elocution. 

Mrs. M. McKee Homes, French. 

The graduates of the institution residing in 
Sangamon county are as follows: 



Emily G. Canfield, 1871 
Letdtia Brown, 1873 
Mary E. Haynie, 1872 
Elma L. Keuchler, 1872 
Kate Lewis, 1873 
Emma Burkliardt, 1873 
Sarah E. Fassett, 1873 
Ilia French, 1873 



Minnie H. Post, 1875 
Mary E. Watts, 1875 
Clara M. Brown, 1876 
Ella M. Kimble, 1876 
Kittie Cora Clark, 1877 
Leonora Huntington, 1877 
Mary Lewis, 1877 
Martha Hyde Lord, 1877 



Anna E. Keyes, 1873 
Carrie Post, 1873 
Hannie Stuart, 1873 
Mimie Whiteburst, 1873 
Sallie I. Bunn, 1874 



Mary Steele Bradford, 1878 
Katbarine L. Fox, 1878 
Lydia C. Hampton, 1878 
Mary N. McRoberts, 1878 
Sallie B. Perkins, 1878 



Katie J. Cbatterton, 1874 Carrie L. Wickeisbam, 1878 

Alice Conkling, 1874 Mary Farnetta Zane, 1878 

Ella G. Conkling, 1874 Annie Broadwell, 1879 

Lina K. Darnielle, 1874 Adelia, Dubois, 1879 

Ella C. Foster, 1874 Sonora French, 1879 

Eva C. Greene, 1874 Eloise Anna Giiffitb, 1879 

Emma B. Hickox, 1874 Mary Herman, 1879 

Ida May Brastield, 1875 Bertba E. Merriman, 1879 

Ella Cullom, 1875 Judeab M. Robinson, 1879 

Carrie Cullom, 1875 Arabella L. Seaman, 1879 

Jessie M. Day, 1875 Jesse L. Palmer, 1880 

Fannie French, 1875 Fannie Matbeny, 1881 

The Bettie Stuart Institute is situated on 
Fourth street, near the Executive Mansion, and 
in the most beautiful and eligible part of the 
city. The grounds are ample, and the building 
is large, commodious and well ventilated. 

No better recommendation of the school can 
be desired than the record of the past thirteen 
years. In this time it has graduated more than 
sixty young ladies, whose symmetrical develop- 
ment of intellectual and moral character fits 
them equally for society and the responsibilities 
of life. While aiuiing at thoroughnesss, the 
personal peculiarities of pupils are also studied, 
and the course of instruction adapted to indi- 
vidual needs. The highest advancement of 
scholars must ever be dependent upon an intel- 
ligent and sympathetic analysis of individual 
character. 

All the pupils of this school have written 
examinations the first Wednesday of each 
month, and oral at the close of each term. The 
pupils are not only made familiar with the con- 
tents of their text books, but are taught to apply 
the principles there learned and to reason inde- 
pendently. A special advantage of the Bettie 
Stuart Institute over boarding schools in general, 
is its home-like character. Not content with 
mere intellectual development, special attention 
is given to the social and moral culture of the 
pupils. A symmetrical Christian womanhood 
is the end desired in the system of education 
pursued. Parents may feel in leaving their 
daughters at the Bettie Stuart, that none of the 
home comforts will be missed by them; that 
their health will be carefully watched over, and 
that loving interest will be given them. 
ST. Agatha's school. 

This institution ot learning commenced oper- 
ations in 1881, and is under the supervision of 
Rt. Rev. George F. Seymour, D. D., L. L. A., 
Bishop of the Diocese. 




# 



486 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



St. Agatha's School is admirably situated in the 
central part of the city. It is on the same street 
with the State House, and is in the midst of a 
beautiful lawn and garden of over three acres in 
extent, affording the advantages of the country 
in the very heart of the city, secxxring the best 
air and opportunities for exercise for the pupils.^ 
The house is large, dry, well ventilated, and ev- 
ery attention paid to the health and comfort of 
the pupils. Misses Murdoch and Dusinberre 
give careful attention to the thorough education 
of those confided to their care; and the disci- 
pline firm, though gentle. All the usual branches 
are taught, and it will be the constant aim of the 
Principals to sustain a high standard of scholar- 



ship. The Primary Department receives care- 
ful attention; and in it, French and drawing are 
taught without extra charge. Unusual advant- 
ages are enjoyed for the study of Natural Sci- 
ences, and an experienced and accomplished 
teacher has been secured for that department. 
St. Agatha's School will not only afford its pu- 
pils a thorough course in the ordinary branches 
of education under experienced and efficient 
teachers, but it will do this under the eye of the 
Church, and in connection with that moral and 
religious training which is of the very first im- 
portance in the formation of a true and lofty 
womanhood. The school will embrace three 
courses — Primary, Academic and Collegiate. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



487 



Chapter XXI. 



ILLUSTRIOUS AND PROMINENT DEAD. 



" Earth to earth and dust to dust" is the com- 
mon lot of all men. Neither rank nor station in 
life will exempt one from a call from that grim 
monster, Death. His calls are made to suit the 
pleasure of none. He comes unbidden, and often 
chooses the fairest and the best. In this chapter 
are given a few, and but a few, of the illustrious 
and prominent men of Sangamon county who 
have been summoned to a brighter world, and 
whose memories are cherished by those who re- 
main this side the "valley and shadow of death." 

ABRAHAM UlSrCOLN. 

Abraham Lincoln, the great and the good, the 
martyr President. The historian, in the neces- 
sarily short sketches given, can but feel his in- 
ability to do justice to so worthy a name. The 
following is a copy of a letter written by Mr. 
Lincoln in December, 1850, to Jesse W. Fell, of 
Bloomington, Illinois. The letter was not writ- 
ten for publication, but, containing the only 
words ever written by Mr. Lincoln of himself 
and family, are worthy of preservation: 

"I was born February 12,1 809, in Hardin county, 
Kentucky. My parents were both born in Vir- 
ginia, of undistinguished families — second fami- 
lies — perhaps I should say. My mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family of the name 
of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, 
and others in Macon counties, Illinois. My 
paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emi- 
grated from Rockingham county, Virginia, about 
1781 or '82, where, a year or two later, he was 
killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, 
when he was laboring to open up a farm in the 
forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went 
to Virginia from Berks county, Pennsylvania. 
An effort to identify them with the New Eng- 
land family of the same name ended in nothing 
more definite than a similarity of Christian 
names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, 
Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like. 



" My father, at the death of his father, was but 
six years of age, and he grew up literally with- 
out education. He removed from Kentucky to 
what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in my 
eighth year. We reached our new home about 
the time the State came into the Union. It was 
a wild region, with many bears and other wild 
animals still in the woods. There I grew up. 
There were some schools, so called, but no quali- 
fication was ever required of a teacher beyond 
"readin'j 'ritin', and cipherin" to the rule of 
three. If a straggler, supposed to understand 
Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, 
he was looked upon as a wizard. There was ab- 
solutely nothing to excite ambition for educa- 
tion. Of course, when I came of age, I did not 
know much; still, somehow I could read, write, 
and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. 
I have not been to school since. The little ad- 
vance I now have upon this store of education, I 
have picked up from time to time, under the 
pressure of necessity. 

" I was raised to farm work, which I continued 
till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to 
Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon 
county. Then I got to New Salem, at that time 
in Sangamon, now in Menard county, where I 
remained a year, as a sort of clerk in a store. 
Then came the Black Hawk war, and I was 
elected Captain of Volunteers, a success which 
gave me more pleasure than any I have had 
since. I went the campaign, was elated; ran 
for the legislature the same year — 1832 — and 
was beaten, the only time I ever have been 
beaten by the people. The next, and three suc- 
ceeding biennial elections, I was elected to the 
legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. 
During this legislative period I had studied law, 
and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 
184G, I was once elected to the lower house of 
Congress; was not a candidate for re-election. 
From 18 49 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced 



488 



lll:?'iUKY OK SANGAMON COUNTY. 



law more assiduously than ever before. Always 
a Whig in politics, and generally on Whig elec- 
toral tickets, making active canvasses;! was los- 
ing interest in politics, when the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What 
I have done since then is pretty well known. 

"If any personal description of me is thought 
desirable, it may be said, I am in height, six 
feet four inches, nearly, lean in flesh, weighing 
on an average one hundred and eighty pounds, 
dark complexion, with coarse black hair and 
gray eyes; no other marks or brands recollected. 
"Yours, very truly, 

"A. Lincoln." 
Hon. J. W.Fell. 

Mr. Lincoln was always active in public af- 
fairs, and was always an acknowledged leader. 
As he remarked in uis letter, the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise aroused him, and he united 
with others in the forn?ation of the Republican 
party, becoming its acknowledged leaiJer. In 
1858, he was a candidate for United States Sen- 
ator, to succeed Stephen A. Douglas, whose term 
was drawing to a close. Contrary to the usual 
custom with candidates for that office, instead of 
aiming to influence the members of the legisla- 
ture, by whose votes the choice is made, the con- 
test was brought directly before the people, in 
order to influence their action in choosing mem 
bers of the legislature, who were to choose a 
United States Senator. That led to seven joint 
debates between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, 
in different parts of the State of Illinois. Mr. 
Douglas was elected as his own successor, but 
Mr. Lincoln's speeches in that campaign gave 
him a National reputation, and proved that his 
understanding of the slavery question was more 
clear and comprehensive than that of any other 
man in the Nation. This led to his being chosen 
by the Republican National Convention, which 
assembled in Chicago in June, 1860, as the can- 
didate of that party for the office of President 
of the United States. After an exciting cam- 
paign, he was triumphantly elected, in Novem- 
ber of that year, and inaugurated at Washing- 
ton, March 4, 1861. It is unnecessary to follow 
his career during the long and bloody war that 
followed. In that struggle, he placed his reli- 
ance upon the Almighty God, as is clearly shown 
in the following letter, written in September, 
1864, to a member of the Society of Fi'iends: 
" Executive Ma:nsion, \ 

"Washington, September 4, 1864, \ 
''Eliza P. Gurney: 

"My Esteemed Friend — I have not forgot- 
ten — probably never shall forget — the very im- 



pressive occasion when yo uself and friends vis- 
ited me, on a Sabbath forenoon, two years ago; 
nor has your kind letter, v\ ritten nearly a year 
later, ever been forgotten. In all, it has been 
your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. 
I am much indebted to the good Christian 
people of this country for their constant prayers 
and consolations; and to no one of them more 
than yourself. The purposes of the Almighty 
are perfect, and must prevail, although we err- 
ing mortals may fail to accurately perceive them 
in advance. We hoped for a happy termination 
of this terrible war long before this; but God 
knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall 
yet acknowledge His wisdom and our error 
therein. Meanwhile, we must work earnestly 
in the best light He gives us, trusting that so 
working still conduces to the great ends He or- 
dains. Surely, He intends some great good 
to follow this mighty convulsion, which no 
mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. 

"Your people, the Friends, have had, and are 
having, a very great trial. On principle and 
faith, opposed to both war and oppression, they 
can only practically oppose oppression by war. 
In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one 
horn, and some the other. For those appealing 
to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, 
and shall do, the best I could and can, in my 
own conscience, under my oath to the law. 
That you believe this, I doubt not; and, believ- 
ing it, I shall still receive, for our country and 
myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in 
Heaven. Your sincere friend, 

"A. Lincoln." 

No man ever discharged his duties more hon- 
estly, more faithfully, than did Abraham Lin- 
coln. With a heart full of tender mercy, he 
loved all mankind, and knowingly would wrong 
no man. The South never had a more trusty 
friend, and in his death they lost one who could 
and would have done them more good than pos- 
sible for any other man. On the evening of 
April 14 1865, while in attendance on a per- 
formance at Ford's Theater, in Washington, he 
was shot down by the hands of a cowardly assas- 
sin, and breathed his last on the morning of the 
15th. An account of the deep grief, the respect 
paid his memory, the great funeral cortege reach- 
ing from the Capital of the Nation to his late 
home in Springfield, Avill be found elsewhere in 
this work. His remains now lay in a beautiful 
tomb, erected by a grateful people, in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery, and is annually visited by 
thousands of people. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



480 



The following tribute to his memory is em- 
bodied in an address by Isaac N. Arnold, a life- 
long friend of Lincoln, before the Royal Histor- 
ical Society, of London, England, and is worthy 
of its author and the subject treated: 

"The noblest inheritance we Americans, derive 
from our British ancestors is the memory and 
example of the great and good men who adorn 
your history. They are as much appreciated and 
honored on our side of the Atlantic as on this. 
In giving to the English-speaking world, \Vash- 
ington and Lincoln we think we repay, in large 
part, our obligation. Their pre-eminence in 
American history is recognized, and the repub- 
lic, which the one founded and the other pre- 
served, has, already, crowned them as models 
for her children. 

" In the annals of almost every great Nation 
some names appear standing out clear and prom- 
inent, names of those who have influenced, or 
controlled, the great events which make up his- 
tory. Such were Wallace and Bruce, in Scot- 
land, Alfred and the Edwards, William the Con- 
queror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson and Wellington, 
in England, and such in a still greater degree 
were Washington and Lincoln. 

" I am here, from near his home, with the 
hope that I may, to some extent, aid you in 
forming a just and true estimate of Abraham 
Lincoln. I knew him, somewhat intimately, in 
private and public life for more than twenty 
years. We practiced law at the same bar, and, 
during his administration, I was a member of 
Congress, seeing him and conferring with him 
often, and therefore, I may hope without vanity, 
I trust that I shall be able to contribute some- 
thing of value in enabling you to judge of him. 
We in America, as well as you in the old world, 
believe that "blood will tell;" that it is a great 
blessing to have had an honorable and worthy 
ancestry. We believe that moral principle, phy- 
sical and intellectual vigor in the forefathers are 
qualities likely to be manifested in the descend- 
ants. Fools are not the fathers or mothers of 
great men, I claim for Lincoln, humble as was 
the station to which he was born, and rude and 
rough as were his early surroundings, that he 
had such ancestors. I mean that his father and 
mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and 
still further back, however humble and rugged 
their condition, were physically and mentally 
strong, vigorous men and women; hardy and suc- 
cessful pioneers on the frontier of American civ- 
ilization. They were among the early settlers in 
Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois, and knew how 
to take care of themselves in the midst of diffi- 



culties and perils; how to live and succeed when 
the weak would perish. These ancestors of Lin- 
coln, for several generations, kept on the very 
crest of the wave of Western settlements — on 
the frontier, where the struggle for life was hard 
and the strong alone survived. 

" His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his 
father, Thomas, were born in Rockingham 
County, Virginia. 

"About I'ZSl, while his father was still a lad, 
his grandfather's family emigrated to Kentucky, 
and was a contemporary with Daniel Boone, the 
celebrated Indian fighter and early hero of that 
State. This, a then wild and wooded territory, 
was the scene of those tierce and desperate con- 
flicts between the settlers and the Indians which 
gave it the name of ' The dark aud bloody 
ground.' 

"When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the 
President, was six vearsold, his father (Abraham, 
the grandfather oi the President,) was shot and 
instantly killed by an Indian. The boy and his 
father were at work in the corn-tield, near their 
log-cabin home. Mordecai, the elder brother of 
the lad, at work not far away, witnessed the at- 
tack. He saw his father fall, and ran to the 
cabin, seized his ready-loaded rifle and springing 
to the loop-hole cut through the logs, he saw the 
Indian, who had seized the boy, carrying him 
away. Raising his rifle and aiming at a silver 
medal, conspicuous on the breast of the Indian, 
he instantly fired. The Indian fell, and the lad, 
springing to his feet, ran to the open arms of 
his mother, at the cabin door. Amid such 
scenes, the Lincoln family naturally produced 
rude, rough, hardy, and fearless men, familiar 
with wood-craft; men who could meet the ex- 
tremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how 
to find food and shelter in the forest; men of 
great powers of endurance — brave and self-reli- 
ant, true and faithful to their friends and dan- 
gerous to their enemies. Men with minds to 
conceive and hands to execute bold enterprises. 

" It is a curious fact that the grand-father, 
Abraham Lincoln, is noted on the surveys of 
Daniel Boone as having purchased, of the gov- 
ernment, five hundred acres of land. Thomas 
Lincoln, the father, was also the purchaser of 
government land, and President Lincoln left, as 
a part of his estate, a quarter-section (one hun- 
dred and sixty acres), which he had received 
from the United States, for services rendered in 
early life as a volunteer soldier in the Black 
Hawk Indian war. Thus for three generations 
the Lincoln family were land owners directly 
from the government. 



490 



IIISTOKV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



" Such was the lineage and family from which 
President Lincoln sprung. Such was the environ- 
ment in which his charactei was developed. 

"He was born in a log cabin, in Kentucky, on 
the 12th of February, 1809. 

" It will aid you in picturing to yourself this 
young man and his surroundings, to know that 
from boyhood to the age of twenty-one, in winter, 
his head was protected from the cold by a cap 
made of the skin of the coon, fox, or prairie 
wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin 
breeches and hunt ng-shiit of the pioneer. 

'• He grew up to be a man of majestic stature 
and Herculean strength. Had he appeared in 
England or Normandy, some centuries ago, he 
would have been the founder of some great 
Baronial family, possibly of a Royal dynasty. 
He could have wielded, with ease, the two- 
handed sword of Guy, the great Earl of War- 
wick, or the battle-axe of Rk;hard of the Lion- 
heart. 

HIS EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 

"The world is naturally interested in knowing 
what was the education and training which fitted 
Lincoln for the great work which he accom- 
plished. On the extreme frontier, the means of 
book-learning was very limited. The common 
free schools, which now closely follow the heels 
of the pioneer and organized civil government, 
and prevail all over the United States, had not 
then reached the Far West. An itinerant school- 
teacher wandered occasionally into a settlement, 
opened a private school for a few months, and, 
at such, Lincoln attended at different times in 
all about twelve months. His mother, who was 
a woman of practical good sense, of strong 
physical organization, of deep religious feeling, 
gentle and self-reliant, taught him to read and 
write. 

Although she died when he was only nine 
years old, she had already laid deep the founda- 
tions of his excellence. Perfect truthfulness 
and integrity, love of justice, self-control, rev- 
erence for God, these constituted the solid basis 
of his character. These were all implanted and 
carefully cultivated by his mother, and he always 
spoke of her with the deepest respect and the 
most tender affection. 'All that I am, or hope 
to be,' said he, when President, 'I owe to my 
sainted mother.' 

"He early, manifested the most eager desire to 
learn, but there were no libraries and few books 
in the back settlements in which he lived. 
Among the stray volumes, which he found in 
the possession of the illiterate- families by which 
he was surrounded, were ^sop's Fables, Bun- 



yan's Pilgrim's Progress, a life of Washington, 
the poems of Burns, and the Bible. To these 
his reading was confined, and he read them 
over and over again, until they became as 
familiar almost as the alphabet. His memory 
was marvelous, and I never yet met the man 
more familiar with the Bible than Abraham 
Lincoln. This was apparent in after-life, both 
from his conversation and writings, scarcely a 
speech or State paper of his in which illustrations 
and allusions from the Bible cannot be found. 

"While a young man, he made for himself, of 
coarse paper, a scrap-book, into which he copied 
everything which particularly pleased him. He 
found an old English grammar, which he studied 
by himself; and he formed, from his constant 
study of the Bible, that simple, plain, clear An- 
glo-Saxon style, so effective with the people. 
He illustrated the maxim that it is better to 
know thoroughly a few good books than to skim 
over many. When fifteen years old, he began 
(with a view of improving himself) to write on 
various subjects and to practice in making polit- 
ical and other speeches. These he made so 
amusing and attractive that his father had to 
forbid bis making them in working hours, for, 
said he, 'when Abe begins to speak, all the 
hands flock to hear him.' His memory was so 
retentive that he could repeat, verbatim, the ser- 
mons and political speeches which he heard. 

"While his days were spent in hard, manual 
labor, and his evenings in study, he grew up 
strong in body, healthful in mind, with no bad 
habits; no stain of intemperance, profanity or 
vice of any kind. He used neither tobacco nor 
intoxicating drinks, and, thus living, he grew to 
be six feet four inches high, and a giant in 
strength. In all athletic sports he had no equal. 
I have heard an old comrade say, ' he could strike 
the hardest blow with the woodman's axe, and 
the maul of the rail-splitter, jump higher, run 
faster than any of his fellows, and there were 
none, far or near, who could lay him on his 
back.' Kind and cordial, he early developed so 
much wit and humor, such a capacity for narra- 
tive and story-telling, that he was everywhere a 
most welcome guest. 

A LAND SURVEYOR. 

"Like Washington, he became, in early life, a 
good practical surveyor, and I have, in my li- 
brai-y, the identical book from which, at eight- 
een years of age, he studied the art of survey- 
ing. By his skill and accuracy, and by the neat- 
ness of his work, he was sought after by the set- 
tlers, to survey and fix the boundaries of their 
farms, and in this way, in part, he earned a sup- 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY. 



491 



port while he studied law. In 1837, self-taught, 
he was admitted and licensed, by the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, to practice law. 

A I.AWYEK. 

"It is difficult for me to describe, and, per- 
haps, more difficult for you to conceive the con- 
trast when Lincoln began to practice law, be- 
tween the forms of the administration of justice 
in Westminster Hall, and in the rude log court- 
house of Illinois. I recall to-day what was said 
a few years ago by an Illinois friend, when we 
visited, for the first time, Westminster Abbey, 
and as we passed into Westminster Hall. 'This,' 
he exclaimed, 'this is the grandest forum in the 
world. Here Fox, Burke, and Sheridan hurled 
their denunciations against Warren Hastings. 
Here Brougham defeated Queen Caroline. And 
this,' he went on to repeat, in the words of 
Macauley, (words as familiar in America as here) 
' This is the great hall of William Rufus, the 
hall which has resounded with acclamations at 
the inauguration of thirty kings, and which has 
witnessed the trials of Bacon and Somers and 
Stafford and Charles the First.' ' And yet,' I 
replied, 'I have seen justice administered on the 
prairies of Illinois without pomp or ceremony, 
everything simple to rudeness, and yet, when 
Lincoln and Douglas led at that bar, I have seen 
justice administered by judges as pure, aided by 
advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as any 
who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster 
Hall.' 

" The common law of England (said to be 
the perfection of human wisdom) was adminis- 
tered in both forums, and the decision of each 
tribunal were cited as authority in the other; 
both illustrating that reverence for, and obedi- 
ence to, law, which is the glory of the English- 
speaking race. 

"Lincoln was a great lawyer. He sought to 
convince rather by the application of principle 
than by the citation of authorities. On the 
whole, he was stronger with the jury than with 
the court. I do not know that there has ever 
been, in America, a greater or more successful 
advocate before a jury, on the right side, than 
Abraham Lincoln. He had a marvelous power 
of conciliating and impressing everyone in his 
favor. A stranger entering the court, ignorant 
of the case, and listening a few moments to Lin- 
coln, would find himself involuntarily on his 
side and wishing him success. He was a quick 
and accurate reader of character, and seemed to 
comprehend, almost intuitively, the peculiarities 
of those with whom he came in contact. His 
manner was so candid, his methods so direct, s5 



fair, he seemed so anxious that truth and justice 
should prevail, that everyone wished him success. 
He excelled in the statement of his case. How- 
ever complicated, he would disentangle it, and 
present the important and turning point in a way 
so clear that all could understand. Indeed, his 
statement often alone won his cause, rendering 
argument unnecessary. The judges would often 
stop him by saying, 'If that is the case. Brother 
Lincoln, we M'ill hear the other side.' 

" His ability in examining a Avitness, in bring- 
ing out clearly the important facts, was only sur- 
passed by his skillful cross-examinations. He 
could often compel a witness to tell the truth 
where he meant to lie. He could make a jury 
laugh, and generally weep, at his pleasure. On 
the right side, and when fraud or injustice were 
to be exposed, or innocence vindicated, he rose 
to the highest range of eloquence, and was irre- 
sistable. But he must have faith in his cause to 
bring out his full strength. His wit and humor, 
his quaint and homely illustrations, his inex- 
haustible stores of anecdote, always to the point, 
added greatly to his power as a jury advocate. 

"He never mis-stated evidence cr misrepre- 
sented his opponent's case, but met it fairly and 
squarely. 

"He remained in active j^ractice until his 
nomination, in May, 1860, for the Presidency. 
He was employed in the leading cases in both 
the Federal and State Courts, and had a large 
clientage, not only in Illinois, but was frequently 
called, on special retainers, to other States. 

AN ILLINOIS POLITICIAN. 

"By his eloquence and popularity he became, 
early in life, the leader of the old Whig party, in 
Illinois. He served as member of the State 
Legislature, was the candidate of his party for 
speaker, presidential elector, and United States 
Senator, and was a member of the lower house of 
Congress. 

SLAVERY. 

"When the independence of the American Re- 
public was established, African slavery was 
tolerated as a local and temporary institution. 
It was in conflict with the moral sense, the re- 
ligious convictions of the people, and the political 
principles on which the government was founded. 

"But having been tolerated, it soon became an 
organized, aggressive power, and, later, it became 
the master of the government. Cor.scious of its 
inherent weakness, it demanded and obtained 
additional territory for its expansion. First, the 
great Louisiana territory was purchased, then 
Florida, and then Texas. 



492 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"By tbe repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of 
slavery north of the line of thirty-six degrees, 
thirty minutes of latitude (known in America as 
the 'Missouri Compromise'), the slavery ques- 
tion became the leading one i i American politics, 
and the absorbing and exciting topic of discus- 
sion. It shattered into fragments the old con- 
servative Whig party, with which Mr. Lincoln 
had, theretofore, acted. It divided the Demo- 
cratic party, and new parties were organized upon 
issues growing directly out of the question of 
slavery. 

"The leader of that portion of the Democratic 
party which continued, for a time, to act with the 
slavery party, was Stephen Arnold Douglas, then 
representing Illinois in the United States Senate. 
He was a bold, ambitious, able man, and had, 
thus far, been uniformaly successful. He had 
introduced and carried through Congress, against 
the most vehemeat opposition, the repeal of the 
law, prohibiting slavery, called the Missouri 
Compromise. 

THE CONTEST BETWEEN FREEDOM ANI) SLAVERY 
IN THE TERRITORIES. 

"The issue having been now distinctly made 
between freedom and the extention of slavery 
into the territories, Lincoln and Douglas, the 
leaders of the Free-soil and Democratic parties, 
V»ecame more than ever antagonized. The con- 
flict between freedom and slavery now became 
earnest, fierce and violent, beyond all previous 
political controversies, and from this time on, 
Lincoln plead the cause of liberty with an energy, 
ability and eloquence, which rapidly gained for 
him a national reputation. From this time on, 
through the tremendous struggle, it was he who 
grasped the helm and led his party to victory. 
Conscious ol a great cause, inspired by a gener- 
ous love of liberty, and animated by the moral 
sublimit}'^ of his great theme, he proclaimed his 
determination, ever thereafter, ' to speak for free- 
dom, and against slavery, until everywhere the 
sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind 
blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited 
to I.' 

THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. 

The great debate between Lincoln and Doug- 
las, in 1858, was, unquestionably, both with 
reference to the ability of the speakers and its 
influence upon opinion and events, the most im- 
portant in American history. I do not think I 
do injustice to others, nor over-estimate their im- 
portance, when I say that the speeches of Lin- 
coln published, circulated and read throughout 
the Free States, did more than any other agency 



in creating the public o])inion, which prepared 
the way for the overthrow of slavery. The 
speeches of John Quincy Adams, and those of 
Senator Sumner, were more learned and scholar- 
ly, and those of Lovejoy and Wendel Phillips 
were more vehement and impassioned; Senators 
Seward, Chase and Hale spoke from a more con- 
spicuous forum, but Lincoln's speeches were as 
philosophic, as able, as earnest as any, and his 
manner has a simplicity and directness, a clear- 
ness of illustration, and his language a plainness, 
a vigor, an Anglo-Saxon strength, better adapted 
than any other, to reach and influence the under- 
standing and sentiment of the common people. 

"■At the time of this memorable discussion, 
both Lincoln and Douglas were in the full ma 
turity of their powers. Douglas being forty-five 
and Lincoln forty-nine years old. Douglas had 
had a long training and experience as a popular 
speaker. On the hustings (stump, as we say in 
America) and in Congress, and especially in the 
United States Senate, he had been accustomed 
to meet the ablest debaters of his State and of 
the Nation. 

" His friends insisted that never, either in con- 
flict with a single opponent, or when repelling 
the assaults of a Avhole party, had he been dis- 
comfited. His manner was bold, vigorous, and 
aggressive. He was ready, fertile in resources, 
familiar with political history, strong and severe 
in denunciation, and he handled, with skill, all 
the weapons of the dialectician. His iron will, 
tireless energy, united with physical and moral 
courage, and gi'eat personal magnetism, made 
him a natural leader, and gave him personal 
popularity. 

" Lincoln was also now a thoroughly trained 
speaker. He had contended successfully at the 
bar, in the legislature, and before the people, 
with the ablest men of the West, including 
Douglas, Avith whom he always rather sought 
than avoided a discussion. But he was a courte- 
ous and generous opponent, as is illustrated by 
the following beautiful allusion to his rival, 
made in 1856, in one of their joint debates. 
' Twenty years ago. Judge Douglas and I flrst 
became acquainted; we were both young then; 
he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were 
both ambitious, I, perhaps, quite as much as he. 
With me, the race of ambition has been a 
flat failure. With him, it has been a splendid 
success. His name fills the Nation, and is not 
unknown in foi'eign lands. I affect no contempt 
for the high eminence he has reached; so 
reached, that the oppressed of my species might 
have shared with me in the elevation. I would 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



403 



rather stand on that emineuce than wear the 
richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's 
brow.' 

"We know, and the world knows, that Lin- 
coln did reach that high, nay, far higher emi- 
nence, and that he did reach it in such a way 
that the ' oppressed' did share with him in the 
elevation. 

"Such were the champions who, in 1858, were 
to discuss, before the voters of Illinois, and with 
the whole Nation as spectators, the political ques- 
tions then pending, and especially the vital ques- 
tions relating to slavery. It was not a single 
combat, but extended through a whole cam- 
paign. 

"On the return of Douglas from Washington, 
to Illinois, in July, 1858, Lincoln and Douglas 
being candidates for the Senate, the former chal- 
lenged his rival to a series of joint debates, to 
be held at the principal towns in the State. The 
challenge was accepted, and it was agreed that 
each discussion should occupy three hours, that 
the speakers should alternate in the opening and 
the close — the opening speech to occupy one 
hour, the reply one hour and a half, and the 
close half an hour. The meetings were held in 
the open air, for no hall could hold the vast 
crowds which attended. 

"In addition to the immense mass of hearei's, 
re}t )rters, from all the principal newspapers in 
the country, attended, so that the morning after 
eac'i debate, the speeches were published, and 
eagerly read by a large part, perhaps a majority 
of all the voters of the United States. 

'•The attention of the American people was 
thus arrested, and they watched with intense in- 
terest, and devoured every argument of the 
champions. 

" Each of these great men, I- doubt not, at that 
time, sincerely believed he was right. Douglas' 
ardor, while in such a conflict, would make him 
think, for the time being, he was right, and I 
know that Lincoln argued for freedom against 
the extension of slavery with the most profound 
conviction that on the result hung the fate of 
his country. Lincoln had two advantages over 
Douglas; he had the best side of the question, 
and the best temper. He was always good 
humored, always had an apt story for illustra- 
tion, while Douglas sometimes, when hard 
pressed, was irritable. 

" Douglas carried away the most popular ap- 
plause, but Lincoln made the deeper and more 
lasting impression. Douglas did not disdain an 
immediate ad caiytanduni triumph, while Lincoln 
aimed at permanent conviction. Sometimes, 
57— 



when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a 
storm of applause (which he could always do 
by his happy illustrations and amusing stories), 
he refused, saying the occasion was too serious, 
the issue too grave. 'I do not seek applause,' 
said he, 'nor to amuse the people, I want to 
convince them.' 

"It was often observed, during this canvass, 
that while Douglas was sometimes greeted with 
the loudest cheers, when Lincoln closed, the 
people seemed solemn and serious, and could be 
heard, all through the crowd, gravely and anx- 
iously discussing the topics on which he had 
been speaking. 

Douglas secured the immediate object of the 
struggle, but the manly bearing, the vigorous 
logic, the honesty and sincerity, the great intel- 
lectual powers, exhibited by Mr. Lincoln, pre- 
pared the way, and, two years later, secured his 
nomination and election to the Presidency. It 
is a touching incident, illustrating the patriotism 
of both these statesmen, that, widely as they dif- 
fered, and keen as had been their rivalry, just as 
soon as the life of the Republic was menaced, 
by treason, they joined hands to shield and save 
the country they loved. 

"The echo and prophecy of this great debate 
was heard, and inspired hope in the far-off 
cotton and rice-fields of the South. The toiling 
blacks, to use the words of Whittier, began 
hopefully to pray: 

" ' We pray de Lord. He gib us signs 
Dat some day we be free, 
De Norf wind tell it to de pines, 
De wild duck to de sea. 

" ' We tink it when de church-bell ring, 
We dream it in de dream, 
De rice-bird mean it when he sing, 
De eagle when he scream.' 

THE COOPEK-INSTITUTE SPEECH. 

" In February, 1860, Mr. Lincoln was called to 
address the people of New York, and, speaking 
to a vast audience, at the Cooper Institute (the 
Exeter Hall of the United States), the poet Bry- 
ant presiding, he made, perhaps, the most learned, 
logical, and exhaustive speech to be found in 
American anti-slavery literature. The question 
was, the power of the National Government to 
exclude slavery from the Territories. The orator 
from the prairies, the morning after this speech, 
awoke to find himself famous. 

" He closed with these words, ' Let us have 
faith that right makes inight, and in that faith 
let us, to the end, do our duty as we understand 
it.' 



494 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



*' This address was the carefully finished pro- 
duct of, not an orator and statesman only, but 
also of an accurate student of American history. 
It confirmed and elevated the reputation he had 
already acquired in the Douglas debates, and 
caused his nomination and election to the Presi- 
dency. 

"If time permitted, I would like to follow Mr. 
Lincoln, step by step, to enumerate his measures 
one after another, until by prudence and courage, 
and matchless statesmanship, he led the loyal 
people of the Republic to the final and complete 
overthrow of slavery and the restoration of the 
Union. 

" From the time he left his humble home in 
Illinois, to assume the responsibilities of power, 
the political horizon black with treason and re- 
bellion, the teriftic thunder clouds, — the tempest 
which had been gathering and growing more 
black and threatening for years, now ready to 
explode, — on and on, through long years of 
bloody war, down to his final triumph and 
death — what a drama! His eventful life ter- 
minated by his tragic death, has it not the dra- 
matic unities, and the awful ending, of the Old 
Greek tragedy ? 

HIS FAREWELL TO HIS NEIGHBORS. 

"I know of nothing in history, more pathetic 
than the scene when he bade good-bye to his old 
friends and neighbors. Conscious of the difii- 
culties and dangers before him, difiiculties which 
seemed almost insurmountable, with a sadness 
as though a presentment that he should return 
no more was pressing upon him, but with a deep 
religious trust which was characteristic, on the 
platform of the rail-carriage, which was to bear 
him away to the Capital, he paused and said, 
'No one can realize the sadness I feel at this 
parting. Here I have lived more than a quarter 
of a century. Here my children were born, and 
here one of them lies buried. I know not how 
soon I shall see you again. I go to assume a 
task more difticult than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washing- 
ton. He never would have succeeded but for the 
aid of Divine Providence, upon which, at all 
times, he relied. * * * I hope you, my dear 
friends, will all pray that I may receive that Di- 
vine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, 
but with which, success is certain.' 

"And as he waved his hand in farewell to the 
old home, to which he was never to return, he 
heard the response from many old friends, ' God 
bless and keep you.' ' God protect you from all 
traitors.' His neighbors ' sorrowing most of all,' 



for the fear ' that they should ^ee his face no 
more.' 

HIS INAUGURAL AND APPEAL FOR PEACE. 

" In his inaugural address, spoken in the open 
air, and from the eastern portico of the capitol, 
and heard by thrice ten thousand people, on the 
very verge of civil war, he made a most earnest 
appeal for peace. He gave the most solemn as- 
surance, that ' the property, peace, and security 
of no portion of the Republic should be endan- 
gered by his administration.' But he declared, 
with firmness, that the Union of the States must 
be 'perpetual,' and that he should 'execute the 
laws faithfully in every State.' ' In doing this,' 
said he, ' there need be no blood shed nor vio- 
lence, nor shall there be, unless forced upon the 
National Authority.' In regard to the difiicul- 
ties which thus divided the people, he appealed 
to all to abstain from precipitate action, assur- 
ing them that intelligence, patriotism, and a firm 
reliance on Plim, who had never yet forsaken 
the Republic, ' were competent to adjust, in the 
best way, all existing troubles.' 

" His closing appeal, against civil war, was 
most touching, ' In your hands,' said he, and his 
voice, for the first time faltered, ' In your hands, 
and not in mine, are the momentous issues of 
civil war.' * * 'You can have no con- 
flict without being yourselves the aggressors.' 
* * 'I am,' continued he, ' loth to 
close, we are not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies, though passion may strain 
— it must not break the bonds of aifection.' 

" The answer to these appeals was the attack 
upon Fort Sumter, and immediately broke 
loose all the maddening passions which riot in 
blood and carnage and civil war. 

" I know not how I can better picture and 
illustrate the condition of affairs, and of public 
feeling, at that time, than by narrating two or 
three incidents. 

DOUGLAS' PROPHECY, JANUARY 1, 1861. 

"In January, 1861, Senator Douglas, then 
lately a candidate for the Presidency, with Mrs. 
Douglas, one of the most beautiful and fascinat- 
ing women in America, a relative of Mrs. Madi- 
son, occupied, at Washington, one of the most 
magnificent block of dwellings, called the ' Min- 
nesota Block.' On New Year's day, 1861, Gen- 
eral Charles Stewart, of New York, from whose 
lips I write an account of the incident, says: 

" ' I was making a New Year's call on Senator 
Douglas; after some conversation, I asked him: 

" ' What will be the result, Senator, of the ef- 
forts of Jefferson Davis, and his associates, to 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY. 



405 



divide the Union?' We were,' said Stewart, 
* sitting on the sofa together, when I asked the 
question. Douglas rose, walked rapidly up and 
down the room for a moment, and then pausing, 
he exclaimed, with deep feeling and excitement: 

"'The Cotton States are making an effort 
to draw in the Border Slates, to their 
schemes of Secession, and I am but too fearful 
they Avill succeed. If they do, there will be the 
most fearful civil war the world has ever seen, 
lasting for years.' 

" Pausing a moment, he looked like one in- 
spired, while he proceeded: 'Virginia, over yon- 
der, across the Potomac,' pointing toward Ar- 
lington, 'will become a charnel-house — but in 
the end the Union will triumph. They will 
try.' he continued, 'to get possession of this 
Capital, to give them prestige abroad, but in 
that effort they will never succeed; the North 
will rise en masse to defend it. But Washing- 
ton will become a city of hospitals, the churches 
will be used for the sick and wounded. This 
house,' he continued, ' the Minnesota Block will 
be devoted to that purpose before the end of the 
war.' 

" Every word he said was literally fulfilled — 
all the churches nearly were used for the 
wounded, and the Minnesota Block, and the 
very room in which this declaration was made, 
became the 'Douglas Hospital.' 

" ' What justification for all this? ' said Stew- 
art. 

" ' There is no justification,' replied Douglas. 

" ' I will go as far as the Constitution will per- 
mit to maintain their just rights. But,' said he, 
rising upon his feet and raising his arm, 'if the 
Southern States attempt to secede, I am in favor 
of their having just so many slaves, and just so 
much slave territory, as they can hold at the 
point of the bayonet, and no more.' 

WILL THE NORTH FIGHT? 

" Many Southern leaders believed there would 
be no serious war, and labored industriously to 
impress this idea on the Southern people. 

'• Benjamin F. Butler, who as a delegate from 
Massachusetts, to the Charleston Convention, 
had voted many times for Breckenridge, the ex- 
treme Southern candidate for President, came to 
Washington in the winter of 1860-1, to inquire 
of his old associates what they meant by their 
threats. 

'" We mean,' replied they, ' we mean Separa- 
tion — a Southern Confederacy. We will have 
our independence, a Southern government — 
with no discordant elements. 



'"Are you prepared for war?' said Butler, 
coolly. 

"' Oh, there will be no war; the North won't 
fight. 

"'The North will fight,' said Butler, 'the 
North will send the last man and expend the last 
dollar to maintain the government. 

" ' But,' replied Butler's Southern friends, 'the 
North can't fight — we have too many allies there. 

'"You have friends,' responded Butler, 'in the 
North who will stand by you so long as you 
fight your battles in the Union, but the moment 
you tire on the flag, the North will be a unit 
againt you.' 'And,' Butler continued, 'you may 
be assured if war comes, slavery ends.' 

THE SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGEESS, JULY, 1861. 

"On the brink of this civil war, the President 
summoned Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 
1861, the anniversary of our Independence. 
Seven States had already seceded, were in open 
revolt, and the chairs of their representatives, in 
both Houses of Congress, were vacant. It need- 
ed but a glance at these so numerous vacant seats 
to realize the extent of the defection, the gravity 
of the situation, and the magnitude of the im- 
pending struggle. The old pro-slavery leaders 
were absent. Some in the rebel government set 
up at Richmond, and others marshalling troops 
in the field. Hostile armies were gathering, and 
from the dome of the Capital, across the Poto- 
mac, and on towards Fairfax, in Virginia, could 
be seen the Confederate flag. 

Breckenridge, late the Southern candidate for 
President, now Senator from Kentucky, and soon 
to lead a rebel army, still lingered in the Senate. 
Like Cataline among the Roman Senators, he 
was regarded^with aversion and distrust. Gloomy 
and perhaps sorrowful, he said, 'I can only look 
with sadness on the melancholy drama that is 
being enacted." 

"Pardon the digression, while I relate an inci- 
dent which occurred in the Senate, at this special 
session. 

" Senator Baker, of Oregon, w^as making a 
brilliant and impassioned reply to a speech of 
Breckenridge, in which he denounced the Ken- 
tucky Senator for giving aid and encouragement 
to the enemy by his speeches. At length he 
paused, and, turning toward Breckenridge, and 
fixing his eye upon him, he asked, 'What would 
have been thought if, after the battle of Canna?, 
a Roman Senator had risen, amidst the conscript 
Fathers, and denounced the war, and opposed all 
measures for its success?' 



496 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



" Baker paused, and every eye in the Senate, 
and in the crowded galleries was fixed upon the 
almost solitary Senator from Kentucky. Fessen- 
den broke the painful silence by exclaiming, in 
low deep tones, which gave expression to the 
thrill of indignation, which ran through the 
hall, 'Pie would have been hurled from the Tar- 
peian Rock.' 

" Congress manifested its sense of the gravity 
of the situation by authorizing a loan of two 
hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and em- 
powering the President to call into the field five 
hundred thousand men, and as many more as he 
might deem necessary. 

SURRENDER OF MASON AND 8LIDELL. 

" No act of the British Govei'nment, since the 
'stamp act' of the Revolution, has ever excited 
such intense feeling of hostility toward Great 
Britain, as her haughty demand for the surrender 
of Mason and Slidell. It required nerve, in the 
President, to stem the storm of pojjular feeling, 
and yield to that demand, and it was, for a time, 
the most unpopular act of his administration. 
But Avhen the excitement of the day had passed, 
it was approved by the sober judgment of the 
Nation. 

"Prince Albert is kindly and gratefully re- 
membered in America, where it is believed that 
his action, in modifying the terms of that de- 
mand, probably saved the United States and 
Great Britain from the horrors of war. 

LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 

"When, in June, 1858, at his home, in Spring- 
field, Mr. Lincoln startled the people with the 
declaration, 'This government cannot endure, 
permanently, half slave and half free,' and 
when, at the close of his speech, to those who 
were laboring for the ultimate extinction of 
slavery, he exclaimed, with the voice of a 
prophet, 'We shall not fail; if we stand firm, we 
shall not fail. Wise councils may accelerate, or 
mistakes delay, but, sooner or later, the victory 
is sure to come;' he anticipated success, through 
years of discussion, and final triumph, through 
peaceful and constitutional means, by the ballot. 
He did not foresee, nor even dream (unless in 
those dim, mysterious shadows, which some- 
times startle, by half revealing the future), his 
own elevation to the Presidency. He did not 
then suspect that he had been appointed by 
God, and should be chosen by the people, to pro- 
claim the emancipation of a race, and to save 
his country. He did not foresee that slavery 
was so soon to be destroyed, amidst the flames 
of war which itself kindled. 



HIS MODERATION. 

"He entered upon his administration with the 
single purpose of maintaining National unity, 
and many reproached and denounced him for 
the slowness of his anti-slavery measures. The 
first of the series was the abolition of slavery at 
the National Capital. This act gave freedom to 
three thousand slaves, with compensation to 
their loyal masters. Contemporaneous with this, 
was an act conferring freedom upon all colored 
soldiers who should serve in the Union armies, 
and upon their families. The next 'vas an act, 
which I had the honor to introduce, prohibiting 
slavery in all the Territories, and wherever the 
National Government had jurisdiction. But the 
great, the decisive, act of his administration, 
was the 'Emancipation Proclamation.' 

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 

" The President had urged, with the utmost 
earnestness, on the loyal slaveholders, of the 
Border States, gradual and compensated emanci- 
pation, but in vain. He clearly saw, all saw, 
that the slaves, as used by the Confederates, 
were a vast power, contributing immensely to 
their ability to carry on the war, and, that 
by declaring their freedom, he would convert 
millions of freedmen into active friends and 
allies of the Union. The people knew that he 
was deliberating upon the question of issuing 
this Emancipation Proclamation. At this crisis, 
the Union men of the Border States made an 
appeal to him to withhohi the edict, and suffer 
slavery to survive. 

"They selected John J. Crittenden, a ven- 
erable and eloquent man, and their ablest states- 
man, to make, on the floor of Congress, a public 
appeal to the President to withhold the procla- 
mation. Mr. Crittenden had been Governor of 
Kentucky, her Senator in Congress, Attorney- 
General of the United States, and now, in his 
old age, covered with honors, he accepted, like 
John Quincy Adams, a seat in Congress, that in 
this crisis he might help to save his country. 

"He was a sincere Union man, but believed 
it unwise to disturb slavery. In his speech, he 
made a most eloquent and touching appeal, 
from a Kentuckian to a Kentuckian. He said, 
among other things, 'There is a niche, near to 
that of Washington, to him who shall save his 
country. If Mr. Lincoln will step into that 
niche, the founder and the preserver of the Re- 
public shall stand side by side. * * Owen 
Lovejoy, the brother of Elijah P. Lovejoy, who 
had been mobbed and murdered, because he 
would not surrender the liberty of the press 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



49: 



replied to Crittenden. After his brother's mur- 
der, kneeling upon the green sod which covered 
that brothers grave, he had taken a solemn vow 
of eternal war upon slavery. Ever after, like 
Peter the Hermit, with a heart of fire and a 
tongue of lightning, he had gone forth, preach- 
ing his crusade against slavery. At length, in 
his reply, turning to Crittenden, he said, 'The 
gentleman, from Kentucky, says he has a niche 
for Abraham Lincoln, where is it'?' 

"Crittenden pointed toward Heaven. 

''Lovejoy continuing said, ' He points upward, 
But, sir! if the President follows the counsel of 
that gentleman, and becomes the perpetuator of 
slavery, he should point downward, to some dun- 
geon in the temple of Moloch, who feeds on hu- 
man blood, and where are forged chains for hu- 
man limbs; in the recesses of whose temple 
woman is scourged and man tortured, and out- 
side the walls are lying dogs, gorged with human 
flesh, as Byron describes them, lying around the 
walls of Stambool.' ' That,' said Lovejoy, ' is a 
suitable place for the statue of him who would 
perpetuate slavery.' 

" ' I, too,' said he, ' have a temple for Abraham 
Lincoln, but it is in freedom's holy fane, * * 
not surrounded by slave fetters and chains, but 
with the symbols of freedom — not dark with 
bondage, but radiant with the light of liberty. 
In that niche he shall stand proudly, nobly, 
gloriously, with broken chains and slaves whips 
beneath his feet. * * That is a fame 
worth living for, aye, more, it is a fame worth 
dying for, though that death led through Geth- 
semene and the agony of the accursed tree.' * 

" ' It is said,' continued he, ' that Wilberforce 
went up to the judgment seat with the broken 
chains of eight hundred thousand slaves! Let 
Lincoln make himself the Liberator, and his 
name shall be enrolled, not only in this earthly 
temple, but it shall be traced on the living stones 
of that temple which is reared amid the thrones 
of Heaven.' 

" Lovejoy's prophecy has been fulfilled — in 
this world — you see the statues to Lincoln, with 
broken chains at his feet, rising all over the 
world, and — in that other world — few will doubt 
that the prophecy has been realized. 

" In September, 1862, after the Confederates, 
by their defeat at the great battle of Antietam, 
had been driven back from Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania, Lincoln issued the Proclamation. It is a 
fact, illustrating his character, and showing that 
there was in him what many would call a tinge 
of superstition, that he declared, to Secretary 
Chase, that he had made a solemn vow to God, 



saying, ' If General Lee is driven back from 
Pennsylvania, I will crown the result with the 
declaration of freedom to the slave.' The final 
Proclamation was issued on the first of January, 
I8H3. In obedience to an American custom, he 
had been receiving calls on that New-Year's-day, 
and, for hours, shaking hands. As the paper 
was brought to him by the Secretary of State, to 
be signed, he said, 'Mr. Seward, I have been 
shaking hands all day, and my right hand is 
almost paralyzed. If my name ever gets into 
history, it will be for this act, and my w hole soul 
is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the 
proclamation, those who examine the document 
hereafter will say, 'he hesitated.' 

"Then, resting his arm a moment, he turned 
to the table, took up the pen, and slowly and 
firmly wrote Abraham Lincoln. He smiled as, 
handing the paper to Mr. Seward, he said, ' that 
will do.' 

"From this day, to its final triumph, the tide 
of victory seemed to set more and more in favor 
of the Union cause. The capture of Vicksburg, 
the victory of Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Chica- 
mauga. Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, 
Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Valley of 
the Shenandoah; Thomas' decisive victory at 
Nashville; Sherman's march, through the Con- 
federacy, to the sea; the capture of Fort ]\IcAl- 
lister; the sinking of the Alabama; the taking of 
Mobile, by Farragut; the occupation of Colum- 
bus, Charleston, Savannah; the evacuation of 
Petersburg and Richmond; the surrender of Lee 
to Grant; the taking of Jefferson Davis a pris- 
oner; the triumph everywhere of the National 
Arms; such were the events which followed 
(though with delays and bloodshed) the ' Proc- 
lamation of Emancipation. 

THE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

" Meanwhile Lincoln had been triumphantly 
re-elected, Congress had, as before stated, abol- 
ished slavery at the Capital, prohibited it in all 
the Territories, declared all negro soldiers in 
the Union armies, and their families free, and 
had repealed all laws which sanctioned or recog- 
nized slavery, and the President had crowned 
and consummated all, by the Proclamation of 
Emancipation. One thing alone remained to 
perfect, confirm, and make everlastingly perma- 
nent these measures, and this was to embody in 
the Constitution itself, the prohibition of slavery 
everywhere within the Republic. 

"To change the organic law, required the 
adoption by a two-thirds vote ot a joint resolu- 
tion, by Congress, and that this should be sub- 



498 



HISTORY 01'^ SANGAMON CX)l NTY 



raitted to, and ratified by two-thirds of the 
States. 

"The President, in his annual message and in 
personal interviews with members of Congress, 
urged the passage of such resolution. To test the 
strength of the measure, in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, I had the honor, in February, 1864, 
to introduce the following resolution: 

'■'■'■ Besolved, That the Constitution should be 
80 amended as to abolish slavery in the United 
States wherever it nov^ exists, and to prohibit 
its existence in every part thereof forever.' 
(Cong. Globe, vol 50, p. 659). This was adopted 
by a decided vote, and was the first resolution 
ever passed by Congress in favor of the entire 
abolition of slavery. But although it received a 
majority, it did not receive a majority of two- 
thirds. 

"The debates on the Constitutional Amend- 
ment (perhaps the greatest in our Congressional 
history, certainly the most important since the 
adoption of the Constitution) ran through two 
sessions of Congress. Charles Sumner, the 
learned Senator from Massachusetts, brought to 
the discussion in the Senate, his ample stores of 
historical il'ustration, quoting largely in its favor 
frem the historians, poets and statesmen of the 
past. 

"The resolution was adopted in the Senate by 
the large vote of ayes, 38; noes, 6. 

"In the lower House, at the first session, it 
failed to obtain a two-thirds vote, and, on a mo- 
tion to reconsider, went over to the next session. 
"Mr. Lincoln again earnestly urged its adop- 
tion, and, in a letter to Illinois friends, he said, 
' The signs look better. * * * Peace 
does not look so distant as it did. I hope it will 
come soon, and come to stay, and so come as to 
be worth keeping in all future time.' 

"I recall, very vividly, my New Year's call 
upon the President, January, 1864. I said: 

•"I hope, Mr. President, one year from to-day 
I may have the pleasure of congratulating you 
on the occurrence of three events which now 
seem probable.' 

"'What are they?' inquired he. 
"'1. That the rebellion may be entirely 
crushed. 

""2. That the Constitutional amendment, 
abolishing and prohibiting slavery, may have 
been adopted. 

"'3. And that Abraham Lincoln may have 
been re-elected President.' 

"'I think,' replied he, with a smile, 'I would 

be glad to accept the first two as a compromise.' 

"General Grant, in a letter, remarkable for 



that clear good sense and practical judgment 
for which he is distinguished, condensed into a 
single sentence the political argument in favor 
of the Constitutional Amendment, 'The North 
and South,' said he, 'can never live at peace with 
each other except as one Nation and that without 
slavery.' 

gaefield's speech. 

" I would be glad to quote from this great de- 
bate, but must confine myself to a brief extract 
from a speech of the present President, then a 
member of the House. He began by saying, 
'Mr. Speaker, we shall never know why slavery 
dies so hard in this Republic, and in this Hall, 
until we know why sin outlives disaster and 
Satan is immortal.' * * ' How well do 
I remember,' he continued, 'the history of that 
distinguished predecessor of mine, Joshua R. 
Giddings, lately gone to his rest, who, with his 
forlorn hope of faithful men, took his life in his 
hands and, in the name of justice, protested 
against the great crime, and who stood bravely 
in his place until his white locks, like the plume 
of Henry of Navarre, marked where the battle 
of freedom raged fiercest.' * * ' In its 
mad arrogance, slavery lifted its hand against 
the Union, and since that fatal day it has been a 
fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth.' 

" Up to the last roll-call, on the question of 
the passage of the resolution, we were uncertain 
and anxious about the result. We needed Demo- 
cratic votes. We knew we should get some, but 
whether enough to carry the measure, none could 
surely tell. 

"As the clerk called the names of members, 
so perfect was the silence that the sound of a 
hundred pencils keeping tally could be heard 
through the Hall. 

"Finally, when the call was completed, and 
the Speaker announced that the resolution was 
adopted, the result was received by an uncon- 
trollable burst of enthusiasm. Members and 
spectators ( especially the galleries, which Avere 
crowded with convalescent soldiers) shouted and 
cheered, and before the Speaker could obtain 
quiet, the roar of artillery on Capitol Hill pro- 
claimed to the City of Washington, the passage 
of the resolution. Congress adjourned, and we 
hastened to the White House to congratulate the 
President on the event. 

"He made one of his happiest speeches. 
In his own peculiar words, he said, 'The great 
job is finished.' 'I cannot but congratulate,' 
said he, 'all present, myself, the country, and 
the whole world on this great moral victory.' 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



499 



PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

"And now, with an attempt to sketch very 
briefly some of his peculiar personal character- 
istics, I must close. 

" This great Hercules of a man had a heart as 
kind and tender as a woman. Sterner men 
thought it a weakness. It saddened him to see 
others sufi^er, and he shrunk from inflicting pain. 
Let me illustrate his kindness and tenderness by 
one or two incidents. One summer's day, walk- 
ing along the shaded path leading irom the Ex- 
ecutive Mansion to the War Oflice, I saw the 
tall, awkward form of the President, seated on 
the grass under a tree. A wounded soldier, 
seeking back pay and a pension, had met the 
President, and, having recognized him, asked 
his counsel. Lincoln sat down, examined the 
papers of the soldier, and told him what to do, 
sent him to the proper bureau with a note, which 
secured prompt attention. 

"After the terribly destructive battles be- 
tween Grant and Lee, in the Wilderness of Vir- 
ginia, after days of dreadful slaughter, the lines 
of ambulances, conveying the wounded from 
the steamers on the Potomac to the great field 
hospitals on the heights around W^ashiugton, 
would be continuous — one unbroken line from 
the wharf to the hospital. At such a time, I 
have seen the President, in his carriage, driving 
slowly along the line, and he looked like one 
who had lost the dearest members of his own 
family. On one such occasion, meeting me, he 
stopped and said: ' I cannot bear this; this suf- 
fering, this loss of life — is dreadful.' 

" I recalled to him a line from a letter he had 
years before written to a friend, whose great 
sorrow he had sought to console. Reminding 
him of the incident, I asked him: 'Do you re- 
member writing to your suffering friend these 
words: 

' "And this, too, shall pass away, 
Never fear. Victory will come".' 

"In all his State papers and speeches, during 
these years of strife and passion, there can be 
found no words of bitterness, no denunciation. 
When others railed, he railed not again. He 
was always dignified, magnanimous, patient, 
considerate, manly, and true. His duty was 
ever performed, 'with malice toward none, with 
charity for all,' and with ' firmness in the right 
as God gives us to see the right.' 

NEVER A DEMAGOGUE. 

"Lincoln was never a demagogue. He re- 
spected and loved the people, but never flattered 
them. No man ever heard him allude to his 



humble life and manual labor, in a way to obtain 
votes. None knew better than he, that splitting 
rails did not qualify a man for public duties. 
He realized painfully the defects of his educa- 
tion, and labored diligently and successfully to 
supply his deficiencies. 

HIS CONVERSATION. 

"He had no equal as a talker in social life. 
His conversation was fascinating and attractive. 
He was full of wit, humor and anecdote, and, at 
the same time, original, suggestive and in- 
structive. There was in his character a singular 
mingling of mirthfulnessand melancholy. VVhile 
his sense of the ludicrous was keen, and his fun 
and mirth were exuberant, and sometimes almost 
irrepressible; his conversation sparkling with 
jest, story and anecdote and in droll description, 
he would pass suddenly to another mood and 
become sad and pathetic — a melancholy expres- 
sion of his homely face would show that be was 
' a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

HIS STORIES. 

"The newspapers, in America, have always 
been full of Lincoln's stories and anecdotes, 
some true and many fabulous. 

"He always had a story ready, and, if not, he 
could improvise one, just fitted for the occasion. 
The following may, I think, be said to have been 
adapted: 

"An Atlantic port, in one of the British 
provinces, was, during the war, a great resort 
and refuge for blockade-runners, and a large 
contraband trade was said to have been carried 
on from that port with the Confederates. Late 
in the summer of 1864, while the election of 
President was pending, Lincoln being a candi- 
date, the Governor-General of that province, 
with some of the principal officers, visited 
Washington, and called to pay their respects to 
the executive. Mr. Lincoln had been very much 
annoyed by the failure of these oflicials to en- 
force, very strictly, the rules of neutrality, but 
he treated his guests with great courtesy. After 
a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding 
to the approaching presidential election, said, 
jokingly, but with a grain of sarcasm, 'I under- 
stand, Mr. President, everybody votes in this 
country. If we remain until November can we 
vote?' 

" 'You remind me,' replied the President, 'of 
a countryman of yours, a green emigrant from 
Ireland. Pat arrived in New York on election 
day, and was, perhaps, as eager as Your Excel- 
lency to vote, and to vote early and late and 
often. So, upon his landing at Castle Garden, he 



500 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COl^NTY 



hastened to the nearest voting place, and, as he 
approached, the judge, who received the ballots, 
inquired, 'who do you want to vote for? on 
which side are you':" Poor Pat was embar- 
rassed, he did not know who were the candi- 
dates. He stopped, scratched his head, then, 
with the readiness of his countrymen, he said: 

" 'I am foment the government, anyhow. 
Tell me, if your Honor plases, which is the 
rebellion side, and I'll tell you how I want to 
vote. In old Ireland I was always on the rebel- 
lion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I'll stick to 
that same in America.' 

'• 'Your Excellency,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'would, 
I should think, not be at all at a loss on which 
side to vote!' 

THE BOOKS HE READ. 

" The two books he read most were the Bible 
and Shakspeare. With them he was familiar, 
reaiiing and quoting from them constantly. 
Next to Shakspeare, among the poets was 
Burns, with whom he had a hearty sympathy, 
and upon whose poetry he wrote a lecture. He 
was extremely fond of ballads, and of simple, 
sad and plaintive music. 

" I called one day at the White House, to in- 
troduce two officers of the Union army, both 
Swedes. Immediately he began and repeated 
from memory, to the delight of his visitors, a 
long ballad, descriptive of Norwegian scenery, 
a Norse legend, and the adventures of an old 
Viking among the fiords of the North. 

" He said he read the poem in a newspaper, 
and the visit of these Swedes recalled it to his 
memory. 

" On the last Sunday of his life, as he was sail- 
ing up the Potomac, returning to Washington 
from his visit to Richmond, he read aloud many 
extracts from Macbeth, and, among others, the 
following, and with a tone and accent so impres- 
sive that, after his death, it was vividly recalled 
by those who heard him: 

" ' Duncan is in his grave; 
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well ; 
Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison, 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
Can touch him furtherY' 

" After his assassination, those friends could 
not fail to recall this passage from the same play: 

" ' This Duncan 
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
Will plead like angels, trumpet- tongued against 
The deep damnation of his taking oft'.' 

HIS RELIGION. 

" It is Strange that any reader of Lincoln's 
speeches and writings should have had the hardi- 



hood to charge him with infidelity, but the charge, 
having been repeatedly made, I reply, in the 
light of facts accessible to all, that no more 
reverent Christian (not excepting Washington) 
ever filled the chair of President. Declarations 
of his trust in God, his faith in the efficacy of 
prayer, pervade his speeches and writings. From 
the time he left Springfield, to his death, he not 
only himself continuedly prayed for Divine 
assistance, but never failed to ask the prayers of 
others for himself and his country. 

"His reply to the negroes of Baltimore, who 
in 1864, presented him with a beautiful Bible, as 
an expression of their love and gratitude, ought 
to have silenced all who have made such charges. 
After thanking them, he said: 'This great book 
is the best gift God has given to man. All the 
good from the Savior of the world is communi- 
cated through this book.' 

" When a member of Congress, knowing his 
religious character, asked him ' why he did not 
join some church'?' Mr. Lincoln replied: 'Be- 
cause I found difficulty, without mental reserva- 
tion, in giving my assent to their long and com- 
plicated confessions of faith. When any chui'ch 
will inscribe over its altar the Savior's condensed 
statement of law and gospel, ' Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all 
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself,' that church will I join with all 
my heart.' 

WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED. 

" Let us try to sum up in part what he accom- 
plished. 

" When he assumed the duties of the execu- 
tive, he found an empty treasury, the National 
credit was gone, the little nucleus oP an army 
and navy scattered and disarmed, the officers, 
who had not deserted to the rebels, strangers; 
the party which elected him in a minority (he 
having been elected only because his opponents 
were divided between Douglas, Breckenridge 
and Everett), the old Democratic party, which 
had ruled most of the time for half a century, 
hostile, and even that part of it in the North, 
from long association, in sympathy with the in- 
surgents; his own party made up of discordant 
elements, and neither he nor his party had ac- 
quired prest'ge and the confidence of the peo- 
ple. It is the exact truth to say that when he 
entered the White House he was the object of 
personal prejudice to a majority of the Ameri- 
can people, and of contempt to a powerful 
minority. He entered upon his task of restor- 
ing the integrity of a broken Union, without 
sympathy from any of the great powers of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



501 



Western Europe. Those which were not hostile 
manifested a cold neutrality, exhibiting toward 
hira and his government no cordial good-will, 
nor extending any moral aid. Yet, in spite of 
all, he crushed the most stupendous rebellion, 
supported by armies more vast, by resources 
greater, and an organization more perfect, than 
ever before undertook the dismemberment of a 
Nation. He united and held together, against 
contending factions, his own party, and strength- 
ened it by securing the confidence and winning 
the support of the best part of all parties. He 
composed the quarrels of rival generals; and at 
length won the respect and confidence and 
sympathy of all Nati ns and peoples. He was 
re-elected almost by acclamation, and after a 
series of brilliant victories, he annihilated all 
armed opposition. He led the people, step by 
step, to emancipation, and saw his woik crowned 
by an amendment of the Constitution, eradicat- 
ing and prohibiting slavery forever throughout 
the Republic. 

" Such is a brief and imperfect summary of his 
achievements during the last five years of his 
life. And this good man, when the hour of 
victory came, made it not the hour of vengeance, 
but of forgiveness and reconciliation. 

" These five years of incessant labor and fear- 
ful responsibility told even upon his strength 
and vigor. He left Illinois for the Capital with 
a frame of iron and nerves of steel. His old 
friends who had known him as a man who did 
not know what illness was; who had seen him on 
the }>rairies before the Illinois Courts, full of 
life, genial, and sparkling with fun; now saw the 
wrinkles on his forehead deepened into furrows 
— the laugh of the old days lost its heartiness; 
anxiety, responsibility, care, and hard work wore 
upon him, and his nerves of steel, at times, be- 
came irritable. He had had no respite, had 
taken no holidays. When others fled away from 
the dust and heat of the Capital, he stayed. He 
would not leave the helm until all danger was 
past, and the good ship of state had made her 
port. 

"' I will not dwell upon the unutterable sorrow 
of the American people, at his shocking death. 
But I desire to express here, in this great City of 
this grand Empire, the sensibility M'ith which 
the people of the United States received, at his 
death, the sympathy of the English-speaking 
race. 

"That sympathy was most eloquently ex- 
pressed by all. It came from Windsor Castle to 
the White House; from England's Widowed 
Queen to the stricken and distracted widow at 

58— 



Washington. From Parliament to Congress, 
from the people of all this magnificent Empire, 
as it stretches round the world, from England to 
India, from Canada to Australia, came words of 
deep feeling, and they were received by the 
American people, in their sore bereavement, as 
the expression of a kindred race. 

"I cannot forbear referring in particular to 
the words spoken in Parliament on that occasien, 
by Lords Russell and Derby, and especially, by 
that great and picturesque leader, so lately 
passed away, Lord Beaconsfield. After a dis- 
criminating eulogy upon the late President, and 
the expression of profound sympathy, he said: 

" ' Nor is it possible for the people of Eng- 
land, at such a moment, to forget that he sprang 
from the same fatherland and spake the same 
mother tongue.' 

"God grant that, in all the unknown future, 
nothing may ever disturb the friendly feeling 
and respect which each Nation entertains for the 
other. May there never be another quarrel in 
the family." 

STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 

Stephen Arnold Douglas was born April 23, 
1813, at Brandon, Vermont, "a good State to 
emigrate from," as he said. His father, who 
died when Stephen was an infant of three months, 
was a physician of considerable emimence, and 
a native of New York. His grandfather was a 
Pennsylvanian and a soldier in the Revolution, 
being with Washington at Valley Forge and at 
Yorktown. His great grandfather was also na- 
tive born, but the remoteancestry was from Scot- 
land, and it has been said, traceab'e to the blood 
of the Douglas'. In youth, Stephen received 
the ordinary school education of his native 
State, and was an apt and diligent pupil. At 
the age of fifteen, unable to gratify an ardent 
desire to prepare for college, owing to his moth- 
er's straightened circumstances, he apprenticed 
himself to the cabinet trade. In eighteen months 
afterwards, finding it too hard for his constitu- 
tion, he abandoned it and entered the academy 
at Brandon. The following year, his mother 
having married a Mr. Granger, whose son had 
previously married his eldest sister, the family 
removed to Canadagua, New York, Here Stephen 
resumed his academical course, and also com- 
menced to read law. At the age of twenty he 
started West to seek an eligible location. At 
Cleveland he was long detained by sickness. 
Recovering, he went to Cincinnati, and thence 
by river to St. Louis, finding his way, late in the 
fall of 1833, to the village of Winchester, Scott 



602 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



county, Illinois, whither he walked from Jack- 
sonville, in quest of a school to teach, his ex- 
chequer being reduced to thirty-seven and a half 
cents. His first work was clerking at a. vendue, 
which yielded him six dollars, but he obtained, 
shortly after, a school of forty pupils at three 
dollars a quarter. He kept Up his law studies 
meanwhile, and the following March was admit- 
ted to the bar by the Supreme Court sitting at 
Vandalia. He now partook himself to the 
practice of the law, and speedily won distinc- 
tion in his profession. Within a year of his 
admission to the bar he was twenty-two years 
old, he was chosen by the legislature, Attorney- 
General of the State. In lSa6 he was elected to 
the legislature from Morgan county, being the 
youngest member in that body. At this session 
the Internal Improvement folly of the State was 
entered upon. In 1837 he was appointed by 
Van Buren, Register of the Land Office at Spring- 
field. The same year he was nominated for 
Congress, and at the election of August, 1838, 
came within five votes of an election out of 
thirty-six thousand cast, his opponent being the 
Hon. John T. Stuart, Whig. He now devoted 
himself assiduoiisly t ■> his new profession, and 
proved himself an able lawyer and successful 
advocate. His tact and skill in the examination 
of witnesses was unrivalled. In 1840 he entered 
with great ardor into the exciting Presidential 
campaign, canvassing the State thoroughly by ad- 
dressing two hundred and seven meetings in fa- 
vor of Van Buren. Upon the meeting of the 
legislature in December of that year he was ap- 
pointed Secretary of State by Governor Carlin, 
who was unable to withstand the pressure in his 
favor. During the session, from partisan mo- 
tives, the Supreme Court was re-organized, in 
which Douglas took an active part through lobby 
addresses, etc., and was also elected to a seat 
upon the bench, rendering the court Democratic. 
The Supreme Judges had to perform circuit duty, 
Douglas being assigned to tbe Quincy District. 
In the fourth volume of the "Law Reporter," 
Boston, 1842, may be found a letter fiom a law- 
yer, who had emigrated to Illinois, giving the 
following description of him on the bench: 
"The Judge of our circuit is S. A. Douglas, a 
youth of twenty-eight, who was the Democratic 
candidate for Congress in 1838, in opposition to 
J. T. Stuart, the late member. He is a Ver- 
raonter, a man of considerable talent, and in 
the way of dispatching business, is a perfect 
' steam engine in breeches.' This dispatch is 
the only benefit our circuit will derive from the 
change. He is the most democratic Judge I 



everiinew. While a case is going on he leaves 
the bench and goes among the people and mem- 
bers of the bar, takes a cigar and has a social 
smoke with them, or often setting in their laps, 
being in person five feet nothing, or thereabouts, 
and probably weighing about one hundred 
pounds. I have often thought we should cut a 
queer figure if one of our Suffolk bar should ac- 
cidentally drop in." 

But Douglas' manners upon the bench were 
unexceptional. He w^as studious, clear, compre- 
hensive and expeditious, and it may be said that 
a more popular judge never wore the ermine in 
this State, notwithstanding his youth and slight 
figure. 

In 1834, he was first elected to Congress by a 
majority of about four hundred. He was twice 
re-elected, his majority being increased each 
time — the last time to three thousand. In tbe 
loW'Cr house he is said to have been cautious 
and sparing of debate, studious and closely ob- 
servant, and when he did arise for a speech, it 
was apt, forcible and to the purpose. His early 
education was not so thorough and scholaristic 
as it might have been, as he well knew, but this 
fact could never have been gathered from his 
speeches. Ashamed to be either uninformed or 
misinformed, he was a studious toiler throughout 
his busy and boisterous political life, amidst all 
its engrossing cares and unceasing occupation, 
and a wide and varied reader of history and its 
kindred of politics and law. Contact with pub- 
lic affairs gave scope to his understanding and 
depth to his judgment, and his knowledge be- 
came vast, complete and accurate. One of his 
first masterly efforts in Congress to attract Na- 
tional attention was his speech on the bill to re- 
fund to General Jackson, the fine imposed upon 
him for placing New Orleans under martial law 
at the time of the battle in its defence on the 8th 
of January, 1812. The venerable hero of that 
glorious event subsequently thanked Douglas for 
this able vindication, saying, " I know when I 
proclaimed and enforced martial law^ that I was 
doing right; but never until I read your speech, 
could I express the reasons which actuated my 
conduct." In 1847, Douglas entered the Senate, 
which was the arena of his hurculean labors. 
His name, young as he was, became speedily as- 
sociated with the great National issues which 
affected the destiny of this people. He moulded 
and gave them direction in public affairs. Be- 
tween the aggressions of the South and the resis- 
tance of the North over the angry subject of sla- 
very in our Territories, it has been said that there 
is no escape from the conclusion that the genius 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



503 



of Douglas offered the only peaceable solution 
of a comtuon National ground upon which all 
could meet in the theory of Territorial sover- 
eignity. To it, through his labors, the Demo- 
cratic party was committed in 1856, gained a 
triumph at the polls and there, was basely betray- 
ed by Buchanan and the South. But Douglas 
was true and faithful to the last and defended it 
whenever and wherever assailed. And while he 
was personally pursued by bitter, implacable, 
open political opponents, his darling idea which 
was empire or ruin with him, was more grossly 
betrayed by perfidious friends who rode into 
power upon it. 

The most striking peculiarity in the physique 
of Mr. Douglas was his stature, which was great- 
ly below the medium height — not above five feet. 
His trunk was ample, compact and erect, with 
full chest and square, well defined, though not 
broad shoulders; but his extremities were dis- 
proportionately short. In the latter years of his 
life he grew stout, though not obese. His figure 
would have been fatal to the divinity of the Ap- 
pollo Belvidere. While his diminutive stature 
would arrest attention, his facile and natural 
dignity of manner, not to say grace, with an air, 
as if borne to command, would cause idle 
curiosity in the contemplation of his person to 
pass into speedy forgetfulness by the respect and 
attention which he inspired. His splendid head, 
covered with a heavy suit of dark hair, nicely 
poised upon his shoulders, and connected by a 
short neck, was massive in its brain development, 
conveying, under animation, the impression of 
almost infinite power. The ample forehead was 
squarely bui t up over the wide arches of his 
heavy brows, under which rolled a pair of large, 
restless, deep-set, dark blue eyes, capable of 
shooting out glances of electric fire, when under 
the impulse of the powerful brain battery back 
of them. His nose was broad and short; flai'ing 
nostrils, denoting coolness and courage. At its 
junction with the projecting forehead it left a 
peculiar transverse crease. His mouth was 
ample, cleanly cut, with lips finely arched, and 
whole evincing decision, and by the depressions 
at the angles, conveying a mingled idea of sad- 
ness and disdain His chin, backed by a firm 
jaw, squared well to the general outline of his 
face, indicating ardor, strength and vigor. He 
wore no beard, but presented smoothly shaven 
cheeks and handsome throat, with slight double 
chin. The general contour of his face was regu- 
lar, and its muscles wonderfully mol^il*^, giving 
a pleasing and winning countenance. His com- 
plexion, though somewhat dark, with his usually 



good health, was clear; the exuberance of his 
animal spirits was extraordinary. He was of 
the vital temperament. Such is a brief physical 
description of the "Little Giant." 

This soubriquet originated very early in his 
public life. In 18.33, President Jackson added 
to his refusal to re-charter the United States 
Bank, the removal of the deposits. Great was 
the consternation of the people, and a general 
panic prevailed. Party feeling ran extremely 
high, the President's supporters were unsettled 
in their views, and thousands differed with him 
on these measures. Douglas had just located at 
Jacksonville and opened a law office in a room 
in the court house. The Whigs of Morgan 
county, from their number and standing, were 
arrogant and audacious in their denunciation of 
the Administration. Douglas mingled freely 
with the people, who usually crowded the county 
seat on Saturdays, and among them was out- 
spoken in his approbation of the acts of the Ad- 
ministration. He, and the editor of the Demo- 
cratic paper at Jacksonville, deeming it advisa- 
ble to rally the undecided, effect an organization 
of the Administration party, and define its posi- 
tion, in opposition to the views of many friends, 
called a mass meeting, and prepared a set of 
resolutions endorsing the bank policy of the 
Administration. On the day of the meeting the 
court house was thronged with people ©f both 
parties. Douglas being comparatively a stranger, 
declined to offer resolutions, but as it soon be- 
came apparent unless he did, it would not be 
done, he boldly advanced and read them, follow- 
ing with a few brief explanatory remarks. Im- 
mediately upon his conclusion, Josiah Lamborn, 
a Whig of great influence and oratorical powers, 
attacked the resolutions and their reader in a 
severe and caustic manner. The blood of Doug- 
las was up; this was his first political effort, but 
he met his antagonist with such arguments, so 
vehement and effective, that the excitement of 
his friends reached the highest point of endur- 
ance; they cheered, seized and bore him aloft 
through the crowd and around the public square, 
in gratitude and admiration, applying to him 
such complimentary titles as "high combed 
cock," "little giant," etc., which last, by its pe- 
culiar appropriateness, adhered to him to the 
last. His effort that day, in a measure, changed 
the political destiny of Morgan county. It was 
long remembered, and the old veterans of Mor- 
gan always held that Douglas never equalled 
this speech of March, 1834. 

As an orator, Douglas possessed the peculiar 
magnetism of imparting to his auditory the hue 



504 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of his sentiments and views, swaying their will, 
or directing their sensibility, at pleasure. He 
affected no Senatorial airs, betrayed no aristo- 
cratic spirit, but naturally and easily identified 
himself with the democracy. He had been the 
genial companion of many an early pioneer, and 
his intimate knowledge of the people and sym- 
pathy with them enabled him on the stump to 
convey to their common understanding, in their 
own accustomed vehicles of thought, his reas- 
onings upon the political questions of the day, 
often enforcing and clenching an argument to 
those who remembered the frontier times, by a 
peculiar border figure, carrying conviction to 
their minds, as evinced by a spontaneous out- 
burst of applause at frequent intervals. But 
his most inseparable attributes were rapidity 
and boldness of thought, and his dexterity in 
debate, of which he became a consummate mas- 
ter, cropped out early in life, giving promise of 
unequaled power in his first efforts on the stump. 
He had the faculty of summoning all his mental 
resources with a promptitude which served ad- 
mirably the occasion, even if required instantly, 
in reply to a powerful antagonist in the Senate. 
Therefore, while his forte lay, to a certain ex- 
tent, in his matchless power upon the hustings, 
he swayed a no less power in the caucus or the au- 
gust Senate. 

His manner of treating a subject was bold and 
independent, always striking the hard and strong 
points. To halting friends, he appeared at times 
to be overbearing, and there was a vein of cold 
irony in his nature, which, with a defiant tone 
in his remarks, a haughty manner, and a curling 
lip, sunk deep into the heart of an enemy. En- 
ergy and activity, courage and fortitude, were 
of the essence of his nature. The assaults that 
would excruciate some men only excited a smile 
of derision on his intrepid face. Elastic in both 
body and mind, he was capable of performing 
an incredible amount of j^olitical labor in the 
open field. Thus, with sagacity as if inspired 
by genius, a mind matured by careful study, a 
judgment clear and decisive, a courage which 
shrank from no danger, amounting at times to 
apparent audacity, yet always tempered with 
discretion; a will to yield to no difficulty, and 
unappalled by any obstacle; appreciation of the 
people, and the faculty to lead them, Douglas 
was a statesman of the very first order. 

To further illustrate Douglas' power among 
the people we give the following graphic sketch, 
by the editor of the Newburyport (Mass.) Herald, 
who was a fellow passenger in the cars with Mr. 
Douglas, through Illinois, on occasion of opening 



the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, and after- 
ward: "That man with a big, round head, a 
brow almost as broad as Webster's, and a quick, 
active eye that rolls under the heavy, projecting 
brow, watching every other man, and not allow- 
ing a motion to escape him; with arms too short 
for his body, which is full and round, as though 
it never lacked the juices that supply life, and 
with small, duck legs, which, had ihey grown as 
thick as his back-bone (and'they would, probably, 
if Providence had not foreseen that he would 
want back-bone more than legs in his battle of 
life), would have made him of respectable stat- 
ure — that little man is no less than the great 
politician of the West, who has attracted more 
attention in the last four years than any other 
man of the Nation, and done more to give direc- 
tion to public affairs than even the President, 
with a million and a half of voters at his back, 
and the army, navy, and treasury of North 
America at his command. It is the ' Little 
Giant,' Stephen A. Douglas, with whom we 
parted company at Vincennes, and who has 
slowly come along, feeling the public pulse to 
learn the political health of the ' Suckers,' up 
to Springfield, the capital of the State. The 
means of success in Senator Douglas are very 
apparent. First, he is really and intellectually 
a great man. Eastern people, who view him 
only as a low politician, should disabuse their 
minds in relation to one who is to exercise a 
wide influence in the affairs of the country, and, 
very probably, for he is yet young, to be the head 
of the Republic. He is massive in his concep- 
tions, broad and comprehensive in his views, and 
in a good measure is endowed with all those 
powers of mind that make a statesman. 

"But he is greater still in energy of character. 
There are those that think that a defeat of him 
next year would be his death in politics; but the 
man who sprung from a cabinet-maker's shop in 
Vermont, and without father or friend worked 
his way to an honorable place upon the bench of 
judges, who entered Illinois with less than fifty 
cents in money, and not one cent in credit, and 
has acquired great wealth, and the highest sta- 
tion and influence, is not ready to be whipped 
out. But if he is great in mind, and greater in 
energy, he is greater in those winning manners 
for which the world calls him a demagogue. 
Scarcely a man, woman or child in the cars es- 
capes his attention, or passed by unspoken to. 
At one moment he talks with the old, stern- 
visaged politician, who has been soured by a 
thousand defeats and disappointments; in the 
next to that well-formed and genial Kentuckian, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



505 



who has just sought a free Stale; now he sits 
down with the little girl approaching her teens, 
and asks of her school studies; and he pats the 
little boy on the head, and in presence of his 
mother and proud father ( what father is not 
proud to see his boy noticed?) says a word of 
his mild eyes and glossy locks. Again the lady 
is approached with a fair word and a bland 
smile, and goes home pleased to tell her father 
how he looks, and then half a dozen are abont 
him, all standing together. He can talk religion 
with the priest as well as i)olitics with the states- 
man; he can congratulate the newly appointed 
Buchanan ofiice-holdei-, who has surplanted his 
friend, tell the displaced friend of the good 
time coming, when his wing shall be up; and at 
every station, more regularly than the conductor, 
Mr. Douglas is upon the platform with a good- 
bye to the leaving, and a welcome to the depart- 
ing traveler — a shake of the hand with one man 
that stands at the depot, and a touch of the hat 
to another. He knows everybody; can tell the 
question that effects each locality; call the name 
of every farm owner on the way; tell all travel- 
ers something of the homes they left, that they 
never knew themselves, and suggest what place 
they deserve in Heaven. Now, such a man as 
that, in contact with evei'ybody, knowing every- 
body, and at the bottom, wrapped up with the 
idea of preferment, power and dominion among 
men is not easily to be put down; and his op- 
ponents might as well believe at once, that when 
they fight him they fight a strong man — a little 
giant indeed. He would be popular in Boston 
or anywhere else, and half the ' three thousand 
clergymen' he denounced would have their 
hearts stolen if he could speak to them a half 
hour." 

Douglas' speeches contain few rhetorical 
flourishes. But they are models of exact lan- 
guage, orderly and systematic in thought, full 
and compi'ehensive in grasp. There is never a 
strained effort at mere beauty of word painting. 
The architecture of his sentences, as well as the 
ideas are solid, massive masonry, with broad 
foundation laid on firm rock, and the details and 
working plans so accurate as to be perfect in 
their adaptation, with nothing amiss or foreign 
and no surplus or waste material. So well and 
thoroughly are his sentences woven together 
that it is difficnlt to extract from his speeches 
any separate sentence conveying, text-like, a 
summary of the whole. While they are com- 
plete they yet seem parts necessarily connected 
with the whole. His arguments succeed each 
other like the weighty blows of an enormous 



trip-hammer, shaping the subject in hand with 
irresistible power, flattening the points opposed 
to him, and possibly the adversary under its 
mighty tilts. 

In the circle of Washington life, Douglas, 
with the honors of a Senator, appeared with a 
natural grace and dignity rarely excelled. At 
the social board, or in dinner-table conversation, 
Colonel Forney, in his sketches of public men, 
says: "Douglas was almost unrivalled. His 
repartee was a flash, and his courtesy as knightly 
as if he had been born in the best society." 

Stephen A. Douglas died in Chicago, June 3, 
1861. 

WILLIAM H. BISSELL. 

Though not a resident of Sangamon county 
until called to fill the gubernatorial chair, Jan- 
uary, 1857, he then made choice of it as his 
future home, and here in the beautiful cemetery 
near Springfield, where lie othermen of National 
fame, his body lies buried, while his spirit rests 
in a fairer world. 

William H. Bissell was born in Hirtwick, 
Otsego county, New York, April 25, 1811. He 
was self-educated, attending school in the sum- 
mer and teaching in the winter. Upon reach- 
ing manhood, he studied medicine, a-^d grad- 
uated in 1834, at a medical college in Philadel- 
phia. Subsequently he removed to Jefferson 
county, in this State, in 1838, but was prostrated 
shortly after his arrival, which used up what 
scanty means he had, and so far discouraged 
him that he was on the point of enlisting in 
the United States army, but was unable, on ac- 
count of debility, to pass examination Cross- 
ing over from Jefferson Barracks to Monroe 
county, he secured a school, which he soon, 
however, relinquished, and commenced with 
success the practice of his profession, at Water- 
loo, In 1840, he was brought out by the Demo- 
cratic party, and after an active canvass, elected 
a repiesentative in the legislature, redeeming 
Monroe county from the control of the Whigs. 
He at once acquired a reputation in the legisla- 
ture as a ready and vigorous debator, and upon 
returning home he was persuaded by his friends 
to study the profession of the law. Upon be- 
ing admitted t ) the bar, he formed a partner- 
ship with General Shields, and removed to 
Belleville. In 1844, he was elected State's At- 
torney for that circuit, and at once distinguished 
himself as an eloquent, successful and honor- 
able proscutor. In 1846, upon the breaking out 
of the Mexican War, he enlisted as a volunteer 
and was elected Captain of one of the St, Clair 
county companies, and was subsequently chosen 



506 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Colonel of the Second Illinois regiment without 
opposition. His services in that war, and es- 
pecially in the hard fought battle of Buena 
Vista, are well known to every reader of Amer- 
ican history. In 1848, he was elected a Repre- 
sentative in Congress of the Eighth District, 
without opposition; was re-elected in 1850, with- 
out opposition; and was again re-elected in 1852. 
During the winter of 1851, he was taken sick 
with partial paralysis, which continued to afflict 
him till the day of his death. He was so much 
indisposed in the summer of 1854, when the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill was under discussion in 
Congress, that he was not able to take his seat; 
but he was opposed to that measure, and declared 
that if his vote would defeat it, he would insist 
on being carried to the House that he might 
cast it. In 1856, without any solicitation on 
his part, he was unanimously nominated by the 
Republican convention for Governor of the 
State, and elected over his Democratic competi- 
tor, William A. Richardson. To the duties of 
tliis oftice he was devoting his undivided atten- 
tion at the time of his death. 

Governor Bissell was twice married; first, in 
1839, to a daughter of John James, of Monroe 
county. Two daughters were the issue of this 
union. He was married the second time to 
Elizabeth Kane, a daughter of Elisha Kent Kane, 
of Kaskaskia, a former United States Senator. 

The life of William H. Bissell was brilliant, 
honorable, and full of service. In every position 
in which he was placed, he not only ably and 
nobly sustained himself, but reflected luster upon 
his adopted State. As a professional man, as a 
soldier, as a legislator, as an executive oflicer, he 
was faithful, capable, honest and chivalrous. He 
was a politician, but despised demagogism. He 
was a statesman of enlarged views, and vigor of 
mind which comprehended and was able to apply 
the true principles of government. The dis- 
tressing disease which made him a cripple dur- 
ing the last ten years of his life, was the only 
preventative to the attainment of still higher 
honors. But for that he would in all probability 
have received the Republican nomination for the 
Presidency in 1856. He was a man of great 
elocutionary powers, and there was a vein of 
scathing and burning satire which occasionally 
run through his speeches. He was brave to a 
fault. As already intimated, in the battle of 
Buena Vista he won imperishable honors. In 
this battle Jeff Davis commanded a regiment of 
Mississippi troops. After the war, Davis, in the 
United States Senate, made a speech in which 
he attempted to claim for his regiment the glory 



which truly belonged to the Illinois troops, and 
especially to Bissell's regiment. Bissell, being 
a member of the House of Representatives, called 
the attention of that body to Davis' speech, and 
administered to hira a withering rebuke, and 
charged him with deliberate slander. Davis 
then sent him a challenge, which he promptly 
accepted, and having the choice of weapons and 
the distance, selected muskets loaded with buck- 
shot, at a distance of twenty paces. The friends 
of both parties interfered, and the matter was 
amicably settled. 

William H. Bissell died in Springfield, March 
18, 1860, and was buried in Hutchinson's ('eme- 
tery. Subsequently his body was removed and 
interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery, and a beautiful 
monument erected over the grave, which attracts 
the attention of every visitor. 

GOVERNOR MATTESON. 

Joel A. Matteson was born August 8, 1808, in 
Jefferson county. New York, whither his father 
had removed from Vermont, three years before. 
His father was a farmer in fair circumstances, 
but a common English education was all that 
his only son received, Joel first tempted for- 
tune as a small tradesman in Prescott, Canada, 
before his majority. He returned thence home, 
entered an academy, taught school, visited the 
large Eastern cities, improved a farm his father 
had given him, made later a tour south, worked 
there in building railroads, experienced a storm 
on the Gulf of Mexico, visited the gold dig- 
gings of Northern Georgia, whence he returned, 
via Nashville, to St. Louis, and through Illinois 
to his father's home, and married. In 1833, hav- 
ing sold his farm, he removed, with his wife and 
one child, to Illinois, and took a claim on gov- 
ernment land near the head of Au Sable river, 
in the present Kendall county. At the time, 
there was not exceeding two neighbors within a 
range of ten miles, and only three or four houses 
between his location and Chicago. He opened 
a large farm. His family was boarding twelve 
miles away while he erected a house on his claim, 
sleeping, during this time, under a rude pole 
shed. Here his life was placed in imminent 
peril by a huge prairie rattlesnake sharing his 
bed. In 1835, he bought largely at the govern- 
ment land sales. During the speculative real 
estate mania, which broke out at Chicago in 
1863, and spread all over the State, he sold his 
lands under the inflation of that period, and re- 
moved to Joliet. In 1838, he became a heavy 
contractor on the Illinois and Michigan canal. 

Upon the completion of his job in 1841, when 
hard times prevailed, business at a stand, con- 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY. 



50*7 



tracts paid in State scrip; when all tlie public 
works, except the canal were abandoned, the 
State oft'ei-ed for sale seven hundred tons of rail- 
road iron, whicli was purchased by Matteson at 
a great bargain. This he shipped and sold at 
Detroit, realizing a very handsome profit, enough 
to pay off his canal debts, and leave him a sur- 
plus of several thousand dollars. His enterprise 
next prompted him to start a woolen mill at 
Joliet, in which he prospered, and which, after 
successive enlargements, became an enormous 
establishment. In 1842 he was first elected a 
State Senator, but, by a bungling appointment, 
John Pearson, a senator holding over, was found 
to be in the same district, and decided to be en- 
titled to represent it. Matteson's seat was de- 
clared vacant. Pearson, however, with a noble- 
ness diflicult to appreciate in this day of greed 
for office, unwilling to represent his district 
under the circumstances, immediately resigned 
his unexpired term of two years. A bill was 
passed in a few hours ordering a new election, 
and in ten day's time, Matteson was returned, 
re-elected, and took his seat as Senator. From 
his well known capacity as a business man, he 
was made Chairmaji of the Committee on 
Finance, a position Avhich he held during this 
half and two full succeding senatorial terms, 
discharging its important duties with ability and 
faithfulness. Besides his extensive Avoolen mill 
interest, when work was resumed on the canal 
under the new loan of $1,600,P00, he again be- 
came a heavy contractor, and also subsequently 
operated largely in building railroads. He had 
shown himself a most enei'getic and thorough 
business man. 

Matteson's forte was not on the stump; he 
had not cultivated the art of oily flattery, or the 
falculty of being all things to all men. His 
qualities of head took rather the direction of 
efficient executive ability; his turn consisted not 
so much in the adroit management of party, or 
the powerful advocacy of great governmental 
principles, as in those more solid and enduring 
operations which cause the physical develop- 
ment and advancement of a State — of com- 
merce and business enterprise, into which he 
labored with success to lead the people. As a 
politician he was just and liberal in his views, 
and both in official and private life he stood un- 
tainted and free from blemish. As a man, in 
active benevolence, social virtues and all the 
amiable qualities of neighbor or citizen, he had 
few superiors. His messages present a per- 
spicous array of facts, as to the condition of the 
State, and are often couched in elegant diction. 



The helm of State was conffded to no unskill- 
ful hands. 

Governor Matteson died in Springfield. 

RICHARD YATES. 

Richard Yates was born January 18, 1818, on 
the banks of the Ohio river, at Warsaw, Galla- 
tin county, Kentucky. His father, in 1831, 
moved to Illinois, and settled (after stopping 
for a time in Springfield) at Island Grove, San- 
gamon county. Here, after attending school, 
Richard joined the family. Subsequently, he 
entered Illinois College at Jacksonville, where, 
in 1837, he graduated, with first honors. He 
chose for his profession the law, the Hon. J. J. 
Hardin being his instructor. After admission 
to the Bar, he soon rose to distinction as an ad- 
vocate. Gifted with a fluent and ready oratory, 
he soon appeared in the political hustings*, and, 
being a passionate admirer of the great Whig 
leader of the West, Henry Clay, he joined his 
political fortunes to the party of his idol. In 
1840, he engaged with great ardor in the excit- 
ing "hard cider campaign " for Harrison. Two 
years later, he was elected to the legislature, and 
such was the fascination of his oratory, ihat by 
1850, his large Congressional district, extending 
from Morgan and Sangamon north, to include 
La Salle, unanimously tendered him the Whig 
nomination. His opponent of the Democratic 
party was Major Thomas L. Harris, a very pop- 
ular man, who had won distinction at the battle 
of CeiTO Gordo, in the late war with Mexico, 
and who, though the district was Whig, had 
beaten for the same position, two years before, 
the Hon. Stephen T.Logan, by a large majority. 
The contest between Yates and Harris, animat- 
ing and persevering, resulted in the election of 
the former. Two years later, the Democracy 
ungenerously thrust aside Major Harris, and 
pitted John Calhoun against Yates, and, though 
Calhoun was a man of great intellect, and, when 
aroused, of unsurpassed ability as a political de- 
bater — whom Mr. Lincoln had said he would 
dread more in debate than anyman in Illinois — 
the result was as before. It was during Yates' 
second term that the great Congress, against 
which he early arrayed himself, and took de- 
cided and advanced anti-slavery ground, in a 
speech of rare oratory and remarkable power, 
which gained him National reputation, ftut we 
have seen that at the formation of the Republi- 
can party, the Whigs of Central Illinois, unwil- 
ling to join their fortunes with a sectional party, 
went with the Democracy, and in 1854, Major 
Harris being again his opponent for Congress, 



508 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Yates was defeated on the Nebraska issue, by 
only about two hundrea votes, in the district 
which had given Pierce, two years before, two 
thousand majority over Scott. Six years later, 
he was elected Governor by the party, for the 
aid in the formation of which he had suffered 
this defeat. 

Richard Yates occupied the chair of State 
during the most critical period of our country's 
history. In the fate of the Nation was involved 
the destiny of the States. The life-struggle of 
tlie former derived its sustenance front the loy- 
alty of the latter. The position of Governor of 
a great State was, therefore, important and 
responsible, as it was capable of being exerted 
for vast good or immense evil. Need it be said 
that in this trying period he discharged his duty 
with patriotic fidelity to the cause of the Nation? 
Governor Yates had many valuable attributes 
for his high station in this ordeal of the country. 
His loyalty was as undoubted as it proved itself 
true. He was the close personal friend of Presi- 
dent Lincoln. His ardent devotion to the Union 
was founded upon a deep love for it. While 
he had been early identiiied with the formation 
of the Republican party, he had not been con- 
nected with the old Abolitionists, among whom 
wei'e persons who preferred the success of their 
hobby to the safety of the Union. But above 
all, he had a deep hold upon the affections of 
the people, won by his moving eloquence and 
genial manners. He inspired strong attachments 
among his partisan friends. Nature had fash- 
ioned^him to be admired by the masses. Hand- 
some, erect and symmetrical in person, with a 
winning address and a magnetic power, few men 
possessed more of the elements of popularity. 
His oratory, into the spirit of which he entered 
with apparent forgetfuluess of self was scholarly 
and captivating, the hearer hardly knowing why 
he was transported. Though less logical than 
eloquent, he reasoned well, and always inspired 
deep and enduring partisan attachments. He 
was social and convivial to an eminent degree, 
traits of character which, however, were sub- 
jected to little of puritanical denial; but in the 
very excesses of his appetites he has carried 
with him the sympathies of the people, almost 
irrespective of party, on account of his many 
noble attributes of head and heart. 

The very creditable military efforts of this 
State during the war of the rebellion, in putting 
her quotas, aggregating the enormous number of 
two hundred thousand soldiers, in the field, were 
ever promptly and ably seconded by his Excel- 
lency; he was ambitious to deserve the title of 



the soldier's friend. His proclamations calling 
for volunteers are impassionate appeals, urging 
the duties and requirements of patriotism upon the 
people; and his special messages to the last Dem- 
ocratic legislature of this State, pleading material 
aid for the sick and wounded soldiers of Illinois 
regiments, breathe a deep feivor of noble senti- 
ment and feeling rarely equalled in beauty or 
felicity of expression. Generally his messages on 
political or civil affairs were able and compre 
hensive; though on these subjects, particularly 
the former, his style is, perhaps, too florid and 
diffuse. There were no State civil events of an 
engrossing character during Governor Yates' ad- 
ministration. Two years of it, however, were 
replete with partisan quarrels of great bitterness, 
during the sitting of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion of 1862, and the sessions of the last Demo- 
cratic legislature in 1863, which latter body he 
finally squelched by his act of prorogation. 

Mr. Yates was subsequently elected United 
States Senator, and served the full term of six 
years with great ability. He died in St. Louis. 

JAMES D. HENRY. 

James D. Henry was a native of Pennsylvania. 
]3eing compelled to labor for his support from 
early childhood, he was barely able to read and 
write when he arrived at the age of manhood. 
In 182-2, he emigrated to Illinois, and settled at 
Edwardsville, where he labored as a mechanic 
during the day and attended school at night. 
He next engaged in merchandizing there, and in 

1826 moved to Springfield, where he continued in 
the same business, and was soon after elected 
sheriff of Sangamon county. While discharg- 
ing his duties as sheriff, the Winnebago war of 

1827 came on. A battalion of four companies 
was raised, and under command of Colonel 
Thomas M. Neale, with Mr. Henry as Adjutant, 
started in pursuit of the savages. Six of the 
leaders gave themselves up, and thus ended the 
campaign. 

When the Black Hawk war began in 1831, 
Adjutant Henry was appointed to command the 
first of two battalions from Sangamon county. 
The Indians retreated before the soldiers crossed 
the Mississippi river, and the chiefs returned and 
made a treaty of peace June 30, 1831. In the 
spring of 1832, when the chief. Black Hawk 
again commenced hostilities. Colonel Henry was 
once more appointed to command a battalion; 
but before meeting the enemy, the term of en- 
listment of the whole eighteen hundred men in 
the field expired. A regiment was immediately 
organized oi those among the disbanded forces 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



509 



who were willing to volunteer for the purpose of 
holding the savages in check while more perma- 
nent forces could be raised. Colonel Henry, 
acted as Lieutenant Colonel of this temporary 
organization. Three thousand two hundred men 
were raised, and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry was 
appointed General of the third brigade of twelve 
hundred men. General Henry commanded in 
the battle ( ( Wisconsin, July 21 , and the battle of 
Bad Axe, August 2, 1832, winning both battles, 
which terminated the war. He had achieved 
these victories against not only the wishes, but 
machinations, of the officers of the regular army. 
On his return from the scene of conflict, the 
citizens of Springfield gave him a public recep- 
tion in recognition of his services; but owing to 
his extreme sensitiveness in presence of the la- 
dies, he never entered the apartment presided 
over by them. The exposures and hardships of 
the campaign brought on disease of the lungs, 
and he went South, hoping by spending the fol- 
lowing winter in a warm climate to avert its ef- 
fects; but it was too late. He died March 4, 
1834, in New Orleans. Such was his singular 
modesty that those in whose hands he fell for 
the closing scenes of his life, did not know until 
after his death that he was General Henry, the 
hero of the Black Hawk war. Governor Ford, 
in his History of Illinois, speaks of General 
Henry as the idol of the people, and says: " If he 
had lived he would have been elected Governor 
of the State in 1834, by more than twenty thou- 
sand majority; and this would have been done 
against his own will, by the spontaneous action 
of the people." 

ANDREW m'CORMACK. 

Andrew McCormack, one of the celebrated 
"Long Nine" members of the legislature from 
Sangamon county, was born in Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, April 27, 1801. His father was born near 
Dublin, Ireland, and his mother (whose maiden 
name was McFarren,) came from the north of 
Ireland. They were Protestants, and left their 
native country during the rebellion of 1788, and 
were married in America. They moved with 
their family from Nashville, Tennessee, to Flem- 
ming county, Kentucky, and Mr. McCormack 
died there about 1815, leaving the family, con- 
sisting of the mother, four brothers and three 
sisters, to the care of Andrew. He managed to 
keep them together until they were able to take 
care of themselves. Being studiously inclined, 
he worked in the day and studied at night. He 
brought his mother and all the children to San- 
gamon county about 1829, settling on Fancy 
creek. Shortly after he went to work in the Ga- 

no— 



lena lead mines, and during some Indian troub- 
les there, he was Captain of a company of vol- 
unteers. On his return he moved to Springfield, 
and was mai'ried July 27, 1834, on Sugar creek, 
to Ann S. Short. 

Andrew McCormack was a stone-cutter and a 
brick-mason. He represented Sangamon county 
in the State Legislature, and was one of the 
"Long Nine." He was mayor of the city for 
1843 and 1844, and was a man of great physical 
strength, standing six feet two and a half inches 
in height, and weighing two hundred and eighty 
pounds. 

Andrew McCormack died in Springfield, Janu- 
ary 24, 1857. 

ROBERT L. WILSOX. 

Another of the " Long Nine" was Robert L. 
Wilson, who was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, September 11, 1805. His parents 
were Scotch-Irish, their ancestors having emi- 
grated from Scotland and settled near the city of 
Belfast, soon after the conquest of Ireland by 
Oliver Cromwell, in the sixteenth century. In 
1778 they sailed for America, settling in York 
county, Pennsylvania. In 1782, they moved 
to Washington county, Pennsylvania, on pack 
horses, as there had not then been any roads 
made across the Allegheny mountains. From 
Washington county, where the subject of our 
sketch was born, the family moved in 1810 to 
Zanesville, Ohio, where his father died in 1821, 
and Robert L., then sixteen years of age, deter- 
mined to educate himself. He first qualified 
himself for teaching a country school, and taught 
until he laid up some money, with which he 
entered Franklin College, Ohio. He sustained 
himself during his college course in the same 
way, and graduated in four years. In the fall of 
1831 he went to Kentucky, where he taught an 
academy arid studied law. He was married 
March 28, 1833, in Sharpsburg, Bath county, 
Kentucky, to Eliza J. Kincaid, and admitted to 
the bar as an attorney at law. They soon after 
moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 
the fall of 1833, at Athens. That not now being 
a part of Sangamon county, he would not prop- 
erly be included as an early settler of this county, 
but his having been one of the " Long Nine " is 
sufficient reason for including his sketch here. 
Mr. Wilson was elected in August, 1836, as one of 
the seven Representatives of Sangamon county, 
who, with the two Senators, made up what was 
known as the "Long Nine" who served in the 
legislature of 1836, '37, and secured the removal 
of the capital of Illinois from Yandalia to Spring- 
field. He moved with his familv from San- 



510 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



gamon county in 1840, to Sterling, Whiteside 
county. 

Soon after Mr. Wilson moved to Sterling, he 
was appointed clerk of the Circuit Court, to 
which office he was elected five times, serving 
continuously until December 1, 1860. Eight 
years of that time he served as Probate Judge. 
He was in W^ashington, D. C, when Fort Sum- 
ter fell, and enlisted as a private in a battalion 
commanded by Cassius M. Clay, and cailed the 
Clay Guard. It numbered four hundred, mostly 
non-residents, and acted as night police, guard- 
ing the city at the most critical time in its his- 
tory. As soon as the New Yoi*k Seventh Regi- 
ment reached Washington, the Clay Guard was 
relieved and mustered out. Mr. Wilson returned 
to Sterling, Illinois, and assisted in raising Com- 
pany A, Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry, and was 
elected Captain, but declined in favor of the First 
Lieutenant. He started for W^ashington on the 
fourth of July, and called on President Lincoln 
on the seventh to tender his services in any ca- 
pacity where he could be useful. Mr. Lincoln 
said he had made out a list of his old friends 
before leaving Springfield, that he might ap- 
point them to office, and said, "I have appointed 
all down to your name. Now, what do you 
wish?" Mr. Wilson said he thought he could 
discharge the duties of quartermastei*. Mr. 
Lincoln said, "I can do better than that for you," 
and made him paymaster. His appointment 
was made out on the sixth, and he was confirmed 
by the Senate, August 7, 1861. He was placed 
on duty at Washington City, and was soon af- 
terward ordered to St. Louis. In the two suc- 
ceeding years he paid out nearly four million 
dollars, principally in the West and South. Af- 
ter the fall of Vicksburg he was ordered to 
Springfield, Illinois, and promoted to the rank 
of Colonel for meritorous services. He was 
mustered out November 15, 1865. During his 
four years and four months service he received 
and disbursed about seven million dollars, to 
near one hundred thousand soldiers, without a 
shadow of suspicion against his character. 

On the 10th of May, 1875, he started alone on 
a trip of observation and sight-seeing in Europe, 
He left New York on the steamer Rhein, one of 
the Bremen line. He arrived at Southampton 
May 20lh, and in London the same day, where 
he spent one week visiting objects of interest. 
From London to Dover, crossing the Straits to 
Calais, France, thence by way of Bolougne and 
Amiens to Paris, with its three millions of in- 
habilants. He spent three weeks in Paris, 
sight-seeing and gleaning knowledge from every 



source. From Paris he went by way of Foo- 
tainblue up the river Seine, through Mount 
Cenis tunnel to Turin, Italy, and through Genoa, 
Pisa, Leghorn and other Italian cities to Rome, 
where he spent two weeks visiting objects of 
historic interest. From Rome he went south to 
Naples, passed Appi F'orum and the three tav- 
erns. He visited Mount Vesuvius, and looked 
into its crater of boiling lava. Spent one day 
each at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and return- 
ing to Rome, went to Florence, where he spent 
a few days. Crossed the Appenines to Venice, 
the city built two miles from the shore, in the 
Adriatic sea. Ascended the river Po, through 
Lombardy, and the city of Verona, to Milan, 
Crossed the Alps by way of the Simplon Pass, 
reaching an altitude of twelve thousand feet 
above the sea. Descended the river Rhone and 
Lake Geneva to the city of Geneva and Berne, 
the capital of -Switzerland. From there he re- 
turned to Paris, thence to London, where be 
spent two weeks more. Visited other parts of 
England, thence to Edinburg, Stirling and many 
points of interest in Scotland. Went through 
Ireland and Whales, thence to Liverpool. Sailed 
on the steamer Baltic to New York and home. 
He was four months out, at a total cost of seven 
hundred and fifty dollars. 

Mr. Wilson died in Whiteside county in 1880. 

WILLIAM F. ELKTN. 

William F. Elkin was born April 13, 1792, in 
Clarke county, Kentucky. In 1811 he moved 
to Xenia, Ohio, and was there married to Eliza- 
beth Constant. In 1820, the family moved to 
Brownsville, Indiana, and then to Sangamon 
county, in 1825. In 1828, Mr. Elkin was elected 
a member of the legislature, and served one 
term. In 1831, he raised a company and was 
Captain of it in the Black Hawk War of that 
year. He was again elected to represent the 
county in the legislature in 1836 and in 1838, 
and was, consequently, a member of the legisla- 
ture that enacted the law for the removal of the 
capital from Vandalia to Springfield, and there- 
fore one of the "Long Nine" from Sangamon 
county. His last labors in the legislature was at 
its first meeting in Springfield in called session, 
December 9, 1839. In 1840 and 1842 he was 
elected sheriff of Sangamon county. He was 
appointed Register of the United States Land 
Office at Springfield, in September, 1861, by his 
old "Long Nine" colleague, Abraham Lincoln. 
In 1867 he moved to Decatur, but held the office 
in Springfield until 1872, when he resigned, 

William F. Elkin died about 1878. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



511 



JOHN CALHOUN. 

Though not a citizen of Sangamon county at 
the time of his death, John Calhoun lived so 
long hex'e, and was so well and favorably known 
that a sketch of him is not out of place in this 
connection. 

John Calhoun was born October 14, 1808, in 
Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1821 accompanied 
his father to the Mohawk Valley, in New York. 
After finishing his studies at the Canajoharie 
Academy, he studied law at Fort Plain, both in 
Montgomery county. In 1830 he came to Spring- 
field, Illinois, and resumed the study of law, 
sustaining himself by teaching a select school. 
He took part in the Black Hawk war of 1831-2, 
and after its close, was appointed by the Gov- 
ernor of the State, Surveyor of Sangamon 
county. He induced Abraham Lincoln to study 
surveying, in order to become his deputy. From 
that time the chain of friendship between them 
continued bright to the end of their lives, 
although they were ardent partizans of different 
schools of politics. 

John Calhoun entered the political field in 
1835, being the Democratic candidate that year 
for the State Senate of Illinois, but there being 
a large Whig majority in the county, he was 
defeated by Archer G. Herndon. In 1838 he 
was elected to represent Sangamon county in 
the State legislature. In 1841 he, with John 
Duff, completed the railroad from Jacksonville 
to Springfield, being the first to reach the State 
Capital. In 1842 he was appointed Clerk of the 
Circuit Court of Sangamon county, by Judge 
Treat. In 1844 he was one of the Presidential 
Electors of Illinois for President Polk. In 1849- 
'50-'51, he was successively elected mayor of 
Springfield. In 1852 he was one of the Presi- 
dential Electors of Illinois for President Pierce, 
and was selected by his colleagues to cany the 
vote to Washington City. In 1854 he was ap- 
pointed, by President Pierce, Surveyor General 
of Kansas and Nebraska, and moved his family 
to Kansas. 

Here he entered a political field with new and 
exciting sectional elements. He was elected a 
delegate to the convention that framed what has 
passed into history at the Lecompton Constitu- 
tion. He became the President of that body, 
which was composed of unscrupulous pro-slavery 
adventurers, with a small number of conserva- 
tive members, among whom was the President. 
That odious instrument would have been adopted 
by the convention without submitting it to a 
vote of the people, had it not been for the deter- 
mined opposition of President Calhoun, who 



threatened to resign, and opposed it by every 
method in his power, unless it was submitted; 
and when it came to the polls he voted against 
adopting the pro-slavery clause. That instru- 
ment provided that the President of the conven- 
tion should count the vote and report the result. 

Soon after this duty was discharged he started 
for Washington City, leaving all the returns and 
papers relating to the election with one, L. A. 
McLane, Chief Clerk of the Surveyor General's 
office. He has been described as "A brilliant 
clerk, but vain, vacillating and ambitious of do- 
ing smart things, and economical of the truth 
generally." The instructions given to him by 
General Calhoun before starting east, was to af- 
ford every facility to any body of respectable 
men to examine the returns, as evidences of dis- 
satisfaction were already apparent, and the con- 
viction soon became general that a stupendous 
fraud had been committed against the ballot. 
Soon the excitement became intense, endanger- 
ing the lives of some of the conspicuous actors, 
and McLane became alarmed. General Thomas 
L. Ewing, Jr. and Judge Smith called upon him, 
with a letter from Mr. Calhoun, instructing the 
clerk to let those gentlemen examine the returns. 
Mr. McLane falsely stated to Messrs. Ewing and 
Smith that the returns were not in his posses- 
sion; that General Calhoun had taken them 
with him when he left for Washington. A few 
evenings later, McLane attended a ball at Law- 
rence, where he was plied with good cheer, at- 
tentions and flattery, so grateful to his appetite 
and vanity, and after becoming mellow by the oc- 
casion, a Lawrence belle, acting the part of 
Delilah, drew from him the secret of the coveted 
papers. The next day he was called upon by a 
committee of the Territorial Legislature, who 
demanded the returns, when he again denied 
having them in his possession. He was then 
summoned before a committee of the legislature, 
and there stated under oath that General Calhoun 
had taken the returns with him. The cross-ques- 
tions revealed to him the fact that the Lawrence 
belle had betrayed him. Realizing his position, 
he returned that night to Lecompton, and with 
a few cronies, put the returns in a candle box 
and buried it under a wood pile. A porter in 
the Surveyor-General's office, by the name of 
Charles Torrey who had for a long time acted 
as a spy for the enemies of General Calhoun, 
watched the operation, and gave the informa- 
tion. A company of men from Lawrence soon 
after unearthed the box and bore away the prize. 

The exposure of McLane's villainy w^as now 
complete, and he precepitately fled the Territory, 



512 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



with a mob in close pursuit. Thus the odium of 
the dastardly acts of this man were unjustly 
visited upon General Calhoun. Unqialified 
abuse and misrepresentations were heaped upon 
him, and spread broadcast over the country by 
the press. That broke down his spirits, and he 
soon after left the Territory, went to St. Joseph, 
Missouri, and died there. He deserved a better 
fate. He was a man of genial, hopeful, generous 
temperament; ever ready to serve or defend a 
friend, but rarely defending himself, except on 
the spur of the moment; of great ability, and for 
a time was the best political orator in the State 
of Illinois. He was brilliant, but deficient in 
practical application. President Lincoln has 
been heard to say that John Calhoun was the 
strongest man he had ever met on the stump; 
that he could manage Douglas, but that Calhoun 
always gave him his hands full. 

As a laAvyer, Mr. Calhoun was always regarded 
by his brother attorneys as one of the most 
talented of the many bright legal lights of the 
Sangamon County Bar. Mr. Calhoun died Octo- 
ber 25, 1859, at St. Joseph, Missouri. 

GKNKKAL E. B. HARLAN. 

Emory B. Harlan was born at West Union, 
Ohio, on the 16th day of December, 1839. His 
father, Enoch Harlan, was a member of the 
Society of Friends, hence his early education 
was in that rigorous school. He graduated at 
an Ohio- college, and removed with his father's 
family to Marion county, in the State of Illinois. 

At ihe outbreak of the war he was residing in 
Salem, Illinois, and being of an ardent tempera- 
ment and patriotic, in August 1861 he answered 
the call of his country. He enlisted in the 49t,h 
Infantry, and won renown and successive pro- 
motions. Appointed Second Lieutenant of Com- 
pany D., 49th Illinois Infantry, December 30, 
1861; in the succeeding February he was pro- 
moted to the First Lieutenancy of that company. 
On June IV, 1863 he was detailed by order of 
General Grant as Acting Assistant Adjutant 
General, Fourth Brigade, First Division, Six- 
teenth Army Corps, and reported for duty to 
Brigadier General Hugh Ewing, at Louisville, 
Kentucky. In February, 1865, when Major- 
General John M, Palmer took command of 
the Department of Kentucky, Captain Harlan 
was made Adjutant-General of the department, 
with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. May 22, 
1866 he received the brevet rank of Major, a 
week later the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colo- 
nel, and on August 28, 1866, he was brevetted 
Brigadier General of Volunteers. All his ad- 
vancements having been in recognition of his 



meritorious and faithful services. At the close 
of the war he was tendered a commission in the 
regular army, but declined it, took up his resi- 
dence with his father, then at Decatur, and com- 
menced the practice of law. On the 4th of July, 
1864, he married, at Salem, Illinois, Miss Mary 
A. Crandwell, who survives him. In 1869, Gov- 
ernor Palmer remembering his faithful services 
during the war, called General Harlan to the 
position of Private Secretary, and he remained 
so during Governor Palmer's term of office. 
Conceiving a taste for literary work, he largely 
abandoned the law to enter the newspaper field, 
and became Springfield correspondent to the 
Chicago Tribune and the Evening Journal, of 
that city. In this enlarged field of usefulness he 
labored with zeal and faithfulness. He became 
associated with the Journal as its legislative re- 
porter and in his connection with the press gen- 
erally, developed a marked degree of ability, at- 
taining recognition and eminence among the res- 
ident members of the fraternity as an indefatiga- 
ble worker, alive to the duties of correspondent, 
and especially as a gatherer of news. In personal 
and social relations he was one whom to know 
was to honor and admire, and those with whom 
his profession called him to intimate association 
cherished for him the strongest feelings of per- 
sonal regard. 

In the varied relations of life he was re 
spected, as a citizen honest and upright; a gen, 
tleman whose influence was most happy. His do- 
mestic life was one of unalloyed happiness and 
his thoughtfulness and consideration of his family 
often found expression, during the last few days 
of his life, to those who waited by his bedside 
ministering to his wants with watchful eyes and 
willing hands, in the vain hope of postponing 
the fatal hour. 

L-'In the inner home circle, where his warm im- 
pulses, his generous feelings, his purity of life, 
the attributes of a loving husband and father, 
were best known and appreciated, his death is a 
bereavement indeed. Cut down in the midst of 
a career of usefulness, in the prime of life, he 
leaves to mourn his irreparable loss a devoted 
wife and four children. S- 

General Harlan died in Springfield, November 
20, 18'75, Resolutions of respect were passed 
by representatives of the press, the Knight 
Templars and other organizations. Rev, James 
A. Reed delivered the discourse at his funeral, 
and he was buried by the Knight Templars. 

GENERAL I. N. HAYNIE. 

Isham Nicholas Haynie was born on the 18th 
of November, 1 824, near Dover, Tennessee, and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



513 



emigrated with his parents to Illinois in 1830, 
settling in Marion county, where both his par- 
ents still reside. He began the study of law in 
June, 1844, and was licensed to practice in 
March, 1846. 

In 1847, when volunteers were called out for 
the Mexican war, he volunteered, and was com- 
missioned by Governor French as First Lieu- 
tenant of Company C, Sixth Illinois, commanded 
by Colonel E. W. B. Newby. He was mustered 
in at Alton, in May. 1847, and served till the 
close of the war, in 1848, being mustered out 
October 12. He then resumed the practice of 
law at Salem, and in 1850 was elected a member 
of the Illinois Legislature, served during the 
sessions of 1851, 'o2. In 1852, he graduated at 
the Louisville University, with the highest 
honors of the law class, and thereupon resumed 
the practice of law, until 1856, when he was ap- 
pointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas at 
Cairo, and removed his residence thither. 

In 1860, he was nominated on the Douglas 
ticket for Presidential Elector from the old Ninth 
District, and vigorously canvassed his district for 
Douglas and Democracy. 

He retired from the bench in 1861, and soon 
after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, declared 
in favor of administration of Mr. Lincoln, and 
warmly supported him to the day of Mr. Lincoln's 
death. 

In the fall of 1861, he raised and organized 
the Forty-eighth Illinois Infantry, and in Sep- 
tember, 1861, was commissioned by Governor 
Yates as its colonel. 

In November he reported with his regiment 
to General Grant, at Cairo, and accompanied the 
army into Tennessee. He was at the taking of 
Fort Henry, and in the first assault upon Fort 
Donelson, February 13, 1862, commanded a bri- 
gade. On the 15th, his regiment formed a part 
of the brigade of the lamented W. H. L. Wal- 
lace, and remained on the field until ordered to 
withdraw. 

At the battle of Shiloh he was severely 
wounded while at the head of his regiment, but 
resumed command on the twenty-third of May 
following, and took jjart in the investment of 
Corinth. 

In the summer of 1862, he ran as the war can- 
didate for Congress, in the Ninth District, and 
was defeated by only seven hundred votes — the 
former Democratic majorities in the District be- 
ing one thousand three hundred, or more. 

During the balance of the summer of 1862 he 
was in command of a brigade and the post of 
Bethel, Tennessee, near Corinth. lie was ap- 



pointed Brigadier General, by Mr. Lincoln, in 
November, 1862, and served until March 4, 1863, 
when the failure of the Senate to act on the ap- 
pointment, made the same expire by limitation. 
He resumed the practice of law until December, 
1864, and in the following month was appointed, 
by Governor Oglesby, Adjutant General of the 
State. 

General Haynie was entirely a self-made man. 
Until twenty years of age he was reared to hard 
labor on a farm, and thereafter prosecuted his 
studies and profession with no other aid than the 
means which he had himself earned. He was a 
successful man, as is testified by a handsome 
private fortune, and by an honored name as a 
citizen, a lawyer and a soldier. 

General Haynie died at Springfield in 1868, 
and his body was laid away to rest by the mem- 
bers of St. Paul's Lodge, No. 500, A. F. and A. 
M., of which body he was a member. 

THOMAS H. CAMPBELL. 

Thomas H. Campbell was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and is of Irish descent, his father, Wil- 
liam Campbell, being born in the northern part 
of Ireland, and emigrating to America the be- 
ginning of the present century. Thomas H. was 
born May 21, 1815. In his youth, he emigrated 
to Illinois, and settled in Randolph coxinty, and 
subsequently moved to Perry county, in the 
same State. Mr. Campbell was united in mar- 
riage with Catherine E. McDougall, in Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, October 25, 1845. Four children 
were born unto them — Jeannette H., Thomas 
H., James W., and Treat. The daughter died. 
Thomas H. Campbell died in Springfield, Satur- 
day, November 22, 1862, and was buried on 
Monday following, from St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church, of which he had long been a member. 

For many years, Mr. Campbell had been 
afflicted with an asthmatic affection, and during 
the year previous to his death he suffered greatly 
from it. He had for some time been in Wash- 
ington, where he was engaged in business for 
the State, but was compelled to return home, on 
account of his illness. 

In 1842, Mr. Campbell was called into the 
office of Auditor of State, as Chief Clerk, under 
General Shields, then Auditor. 

He continued in that position under General 
Ewing, upon whose death Mr. Campbell was ap- 
pointed Auditor, by Governor Ford. The suc- 
ceeding legislature, in 1846, elected Mr. Camp- 
bell to the office, and in 1848, when it was made 
elective by the people, he was again chosen, and 
again in 1852, holding the position until Janu- 
ary, 1857, eleven years, during which period of 



514 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



official duty he won the contidence, respect, and 
esteem of the people of the entire State, for 
his unbending integrity of character, and the 
marked ability with which he performed his 
public duties. Indeed, he obtained a command- 
ing reputation, through his official intercourse 
with the authorities of other States, throughout 
the country, for his administrative talent in the 
particular line of official duty which, for so long 
a time, devolved upon him. His name was a 
synonym for promptness, systematic exactness, 
and unbending integrity of purpose. 

What Azariah Flagg has ever been in New 
York, Thomas Campbell has been in Illinois. 
Because of these qualifications he was selected 
by the present State authorities to adjust, with 
the General Government, the vast and complica- 
ted accounts of the State, growing out of the 
Illinois war expenditures; and for nearly a year 
past he has been engaged in the service, but was 
compelled to leave it and return home, because 
of his increasing ill health. To him more than 
to all others, is due the credit of getting our 
State accounts with the government into their 
present favorable condition. In his social rela- 
tions Mr. Campbell possessed the esteem of all. 

Though an earnest, consistent, radical Demo- 
crat, his genial nature, his courteous deportment 
and his acknowledged integrity, ever stood a bar 
to acrimonious relations with political opponents, 
in public or private station. The good man and 
true, the breath of aspersion never lell on him. 
All acknowledged his public and private worth, 
all esteemed him for his many virtues, and all 
mourn his demise as a heavy loss to society. 

ERASTUS WRIGHT. 

Erastus Wright was born January 21, 17*79, at 
Bernardstown, Massachusetts. The family is a 
very ancient one for New England. Erastus left 
a histoi-y of the family, which lie always kept 
written up, giving the genealogy of the family 
for nearly two and a half centuries, beginning 
with Deacon Samuel Wright, w^ho came from 
England and settled at Springfield Massachu- 
setts, in 1641. 

The parents of Erastus Wright left Bernards- 
town, Massachusetts, and went to Derby, Ver- 
mont, in 1802, that being at the time pioneer 
ground. Erastus remained with his father on 
the farm, with no other advantages for educa- 
tion than the country schools afforded, until the 
spring of 1821, when he started West, in com- 
pany with his brother, Charles. They traveled 
by such means as the country afforded before 
the days of canals and railroads, until they 
reached Buffalo, New York. There they em- 



barked on a schooner for Fort Dearborn, now 
Chicago, Illinois. From Fort Dearborn they 
started on foot, making a preliminary survey of 
the route now occupied by the Illinois and 
Michigan canal, touching the Illinois river near 
where LaSalle now stands. They then descended 
the Illinois river to Fort Clark, now Peoria, and 
from there to Elkhart Grove, where Judge 
Latham resided. On their way south they stop- 
ped on Fancy creek, in what is now Sangamon 
county, at the house of John Dixon, who was 
one of the earliest settlers in this county, but 
who afterw^ards went north and laid out the 
town, now city, of Dixon, on Rock river. From 
there they came to Springfield, arriving Novem- 
ber 21, 1821. It had been selected as the county 
seat on the 10th of April before, but there had 
not been any town laid out. A log court house 
had just been completed. Mr. Wright describes 
the town, as it first appeared to him, in these 
words : 

"Elijah lies had about five hundred dollars 
worth of goods in a log cabin, ten by fourteen; 
Charles R. Matheny and Jonathan Kelley lived 
in log cabins not a quarter of a mile distant. 
The Indians — Kickapoos and Potawatamies — 
often came along in squads, and when others 
had built cabins near, called the place 'log 
town.' " 

Mr. Wright went with Judge Latham from 
Springfield to Elkhart Grove and taught school 
there during the winter of 1821-2. He bought 
a claim of Levi Ellis and entered it as soon as 
it came into the market in 1823. From notes 
on the fly-leaf of a New Testament, in the 
handwriting of Mr. Wright, he says: "I built 
the first frame house in what is now the city of 
Springfield." 

In 1824, he built a park, and traded eighty 
acres of land in Schuyler county for an elk. 
Old citizens remember that Mr. Wright rode 
that elk, and drove it in harness, the same as a 
horse, though he says in a note that he was 
rough to ride, and not very kind in the harness. 
Mr. Wright spent three or four years in the lead 
mining region of Illinois and Wisconsin, and 
while there laid out the town of Mineral Point, 
Wisconsin, using a bed cord for his chain. He 
was married June 15, 1831, in Fulton county, to 
Jane Gardner, whose parents were from Sara- 
toga, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Wright had 
three children, 

Erastus Wright was one of the earliest teach- 
ers in Sangamon county, and taught for many 
years. For tenyears he filled the office of School 
Commissioner of Sangamon county. During 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



51, 



that time a large amount of money, derived from 
the sale of government land for school purposes, 
passed through his hands. He was one of the 
earliest Abolitionists, and was always fearless in 
advocating its doctrines. He acquired consider- 
able wealth, and was liberal towards all benevo- 
lent objects, and every public enterprise was 
sure to elicit his co-operation. 

Erastus Wright died in Springfield, Novem- 
ber 21, 1870.- 

REV. JOHN G. BERGEN, D. D. 

No more honored name is contained in this 
chapter than that of the one whose name heads 
this sketch. 

John G. Bergen was born November 27, 1790, 
at Hightstown, Middlesex county, New Jersey. 
His parents were George I. and Rebecca (Combs) 
Bergen, the former a descendant of the Bergen 
family of Norway, and the latter of the Combs 
family of Scotland. 

Dr. Bergen's education began at Cranberry, in 
the parochial academy, under the Rev. Mr. Camp- 
bell. A few years later, when his father, under 
the pressure of business perplexities, removed to 
Somerset county, he attended the academy at 
Baskin Ridge, presided over by Dr. Finley, in 
which the Rev. Philip Lindsley, afterwards 
President of the University of Nashville, was 
tutor. Dr. Finley was the father of the coloni- 
zation movement, a scheme kindly meant, but 
impossible of execution, as the event has shown, 
to which, nevertheless. Dr. Bergen gave his 
life-long adherence; so deep were the impres- 
sions made upon his mind in his youth. Mr. 
Lindsley first awakened in him a taste for read- 
ing, by putting in his hands the Arabain Nights, 
then Don Quixote, then Gil Bias; and afterward 
more solid books — Ramsey's American Revolu- 
tion, Marshall's Life of Washington, Gillie's 
History of Greece, Anicharses' Travels, Fergu- 
son's Roman Republic, Rollin's History, Plu- 
tarch's Lives, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire, Robertson's Charles V., Mexico, 
and South America, and other works of similar 
character. 

In 1806, he entered the junior class at Prince- 
ton College, from which he subsequently grad- 
uated. 

In March, 1810, Mr. Bergen was appointed 
tutor in Princeton College, an honor which he 
declined at first, but was subsequently induced 
to accept. 

In 1811, he was licensed to preach by the 
Presbytery of New Brunswick. In September, 
1812, he resigned his tutorship to enter upon the 
duties of the sacred calling. On the following 



Saturday, with a letter of introduction in his 
pocket, he set out for Madison, New Jersey, 
then called Bottle Hill, forty miles from Prince- 
ton, and twenty miles west of New York City. 
The deacon to whom his letter was addressed 
made his appearance unshaved, in shirt sleeves 
and bare feet, but treated him kindly. Mr. Ber- 
gen preached on Sunday; a congregational meet- 
ing was called for Monday; on Tuesday one of 
the elders came to Princeton, and after making 
such inquiries as he saw fit, an official letter was 
placed in Mr. Bergen's hands on Wednesday, 
informing him that it was the unanimous desire 
of the congregation that he should consider him- 
self a candidate for settlement. He returned to 
Madison, spent two Sabbaths and the interven- 
ing week there, was called to the pastorate, and 
on the first Monday in December the Presbytery 
of Jersey met at Morristown, four miles from 
Madison, to examine him for ordination. After 
a most thorough examination, he was ordained. 
Here he remained for about sixteen years, and 
in that time accomplished a vast amount of good. 

In consequence of some trouble in the church, 
of which he was in no sense responsible, and 
also from the fact that many of his relatives 
had moved West, Mr. Bergen resolved to follow 
them. He therefore asked the Presbytery to 
dissolve his pastoral relations with the congrega- 
tion, which was accordingly done Sej)tember 10, 
1828. 

On Monday, September 22, in the presence of 
an assembled multitude, many of whom followed 
him for ten miles, before they could say fare- 
well, he took his departure for Illinois. The 
journey occupied forty days. He made a short 
stop at Rock Springs, St. Clair county, where 
his mother resided, and where he found Rev. 
John M. Peck teaching in his seminary. The 
seminary building, as Mr. Bergen saw it, was a 
small, frame building, covered with clap-boards, 
unfurnished, and served for a school, a church and 
a seminary, vv^hence preachers of the gospel were 
to emanate. In this house he preached twice, 
the Sabbath after his arrival, using notes, which 
led to a long and friendly discussion, in which 
Mr. Peck told him that "everybody in the West 
shoots flying." At Rock Spring he found a 
letter from Rev. Mr. Ellis, urging him not to de- 
lay around St. Louis, but to come immediately 
north to Sangamon. On Monday, Mr. Bergen 
and his family called on Governor Edwards, at 
Belleville, and found the household in mourning 
for his son-in-law, Hon. Daniel P. Cook, the first 
Attorney General of the State of Illinois, and 
afterward its only member in the National Con- 



516 



HISTORY OF SANGAMOX COUNTY. 



gress. Mr. Bergen preached that night in Belle- 
ville, at a private house. On Tuesday, he drove 
into St. Louis, a dirty, dilapidated old French 
town, of bad repute, with a population of seven- 
teen hundred inhabitants. By Saturday night, 
he reached Jacksonville, where half a dozen log 
houses and a log school house constituted the 
entire village. There he found Mr. Ellis expect- 
ing him, and received a hearty welcome. "When 
I received your letter," he said, "it was the first 
ray of light which dawned on me for the two 
years I have been laboring almost alone in this 
region of moral desolation. Come in, my brother, 
you and yours, and God bless you, and make you 
a blessing." 

This Mr. Ellis was one of seven Presbyterian 
ministers, five of whom were in the southern 
portion of the State, who with Mr. Bergen were 
organized into a Presbytery the following spring. 
He originally preached in Kaskaskia, but re- 
moved to Jacksonville in the spring of 1828. 
Subsequently he removed to Michigan, where 
he died, in 1855. 

On Monday, Mr. Bergen parted with his fam- 
ily, they to accompany his parents home, twelve 
miles north of Jersey Prairie; he, to Springfield, 
where he was hospitably received by Major lies, 
then recently married, and one of the four origi- 
nal proprietors of the town, of whom he is the 
only survivor. The town, when Mr. Bergen 
came to it, numbered about two hundred inhabi- 
tants, and thirty-five log houses, with a few 
frame dwellings, not more than four or five, 
painted in front only. The school house was a 
small frame building, with broken door, broken 
windows, broken benches — a high seat in one 
end — a floor almost as dirty as a pig-sty — the 
whole elevated on blocks as if to give free room 
for the hogs to root under the floor— standing on 
the east side of the square. A Presbyterian 
church had previously been organized here. Dr. 
Jayne helped him to get one of the six frame 
houses in which to live. 

Two weeks later, after a fit of sickness at 
Jersey Prairie, followed by the sickness, first of 
one of his children and then of his wife, he 
took up his abode in his new home. His cousin 
visited him in December, and on opening the 
door, lifted up both hands, exclaiming, " Why, 
my cousin ! " as he saw boxes in the room where 
the family lived and slept and cooked, filled up 
with harness, and two great dressed hogs which 
had been bought and given them, lying on 
another box, with their mouths wide open, with 
a great cob in them. Said Mr. Bergen in his 



cheerful way, "Come in, come in, cousin! Never 
mind it!" It was the way of the county. 

Mr. Bergen called on every family in the 
town, whether members of any church or not. 
he announced from the pulpit that he had come 
to live, labor and die among his people. On the 
second Sabbath in December, notices having 
previously been given through the county, he 
administered the communion; and at the close 
of the service, announced that he had come with 
his family to seek a home here — not to make an 
experiment, but to plant with their planting and 
to grow with their growth. He thought they 
ought to do one thing without delay. " Let us 
rise up and build a house for God!" He invited 
all who were disposed to do so, to meet the next 
evening in the school house, to deliberate and 
conclude upon it. The meeting was held, and 
a building committee was appointed, consisting 
of John Todd, Gershom Jayne, Washington 
lies, David Taylor, John Moffitt, Samuel Reed 
and Elijah Slater. In a few days over six hund- 
red dollars was subscribed — a more liberal act 
for the times than a hundred thousand dollars 
would be to-day. Mr. Bergen wrote to the 
Secretary of Mission; his appeal was published 
in the Home Missionary, and he received two 
hundred dollars as the response. He and Dr. 
Jayne then " scoured the town," secured a sub- 
scription of twelve hundi-ed dollars in all, and it 
was decided to build of brick. Thomas Brooker, 
a brick-maker and stone-mason M^assent for from 
Belleville, to do the work. 

The church was completed in due time, and 
here Mr. Bergen labored for many years, the 
pastoral relation continuing till 1 848, when he 
resigned. With his resignation his actiA^e life 
ceased. From this time he devoted himself to 
writing for the press and to missionary effort 
among feeble churches, here and there. During 
the twenty years of his life in Illinois, up to this 
time, about five hundred members had been re- 
ceived into the church in Springfield, and six 
churches organized in the county. He had ex- 
pended during his ministry here more than four 
thousand dollars of his private property. Many 
wondered whether he would not live to regret 
his resignation; but he never did. 

During the closing years of his life, he organ- 
ized a number of additional churches. Several 
times he was chosen commissioner to the Gen- 
eral Assembly, where, in 1861, the year of the 
war, he voted for what are known as the Spring 
resolutions. In 1854, the degree of doctor of 
divinity was conferred upon him by Centre Col- 
lege, at Danville, Kentucky. He was for many 




'''"grm/cd bfJom ■^^■■^' 



'-^^-^ 



^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



519 



years a director of the Theological Seminary of 
the Northwest, at Chicago. He took an active 
part in the reunion movement in the church, and 
attended the tirst preliminary meeting of the 
two branches held in the State of Illinois, at 
the second Presbyterian church, Bloomington, 
Illinois, in April, 1865. He was again made 
moderator of the re-united Synod of Central 
Illinois, in July, 1870, at its first meeting in the 
First Presbyterian Church, Bloomington. 

Dr. Bergen was called to his rest, Wednesday, 
January 17, 1872. He was a good man, and all 
his life went about doing good. 

ORLIN H. MINER 

Orlin H. Miner was born in the State of Ver- 
mont, May 1.1, 1825, where he resided with his 
parents until 1834 when they removed to Ohio. 
He came to Chicago in 1851, and worked there 
at his tra^le of watch-making for a short time, 
when he i amoved to this city, and was employed 
by Mr. George W. Chatterton, Sr. In the spring 
of 184') he went to Costa Rica, Central America, 
and was with General William Walker at Gray- 
town. After the capture of Graytown, he 
returned to the United States, stopping a short 
time in New Orleans, and then returning to this 
city, and again working for Mr. Chatterton, and 
afterward for Ives & Curran, at watch-making. 
In is>7, when Jesse K. Dubois was installed as 
Auditor he entered the office as clerk, which 
position he retained until 1864, when he was 
nominated on the Republican ticket, for Auditor 
and elected, and served until 1868. During his 
connection with the office as clerk, he had almost 
the entire responsibility of the office, and after 
his election gave his personal attention to every 
detail of the work. During the rebellion Mr. 
Miner was one of Gov. Yates' most trusted ad- 
visers. 

After his retirement from the Auditor's office, 
Mr. Miner devoted his attention to his personal 
business, and was noted for the active interest 
he took in all public enterprises calculated to 
build up the interests of the city. He was one 
of the first to assist in the organization of the 
Springfield Iron Company, and continued a 
Director to the time of his death. 

Mr. Miner was a prominent member of the 
Masonic fraternity. He was elected Secretary 
of the Grand Lodge of Masons in October, 1868, 
and was re-elected each successive year until 
1873, -vhen he declined a re-election. In 1877 
he was appointed Grand Treasurer, to fill a va- 
cancy, was elected to that position in 1878, and 
again in 1879, and at the time of his death held 
that position, also that of Grand Treasurer of 
GO— 



the Grand Royal Arch Chapter. He was also a 
prominent member of the Scottish Rite of Ma- 
sonry, being, with Gen. J. C. Smith, the only thir- 
ty-three degree member in this part of the State. 

As already stated above, Mr. Miner ever took 
an active interest in all public affairs, and was 
known and esteemed as an enterprising citizen. 
He was one of the most earnest promoters of 
the Board of Trade, and was elected Secretary 
at the first meeting, and so long as his health 
permitted, devoted much of his time to the work 
of getting that body into running order. His 
business experience and sagacity was recognized 
by all, and his opinion on matters of finance was 
always sought and considered b)'^ his acquaint- 
ances. 

As a husband, father, neighbor and friend no 
man ever lived who was more loved, esteemed 
and I'espected than Orlin H. Miner. 

Mr. Miner died in Springfield. 

ARCHER G. HERXDON. 

Archer G. Herndon, one of the celebrated 
"Long Nine" members of the legislature from 
1836 to 1838, was born in Culpepper county, Vir- 
ginia, February 13, 1795. When about ten 
years of age, in company with his parents, he 
removed to Green county, Kentucky, where his 
youth and early manhood was spent, and where, 
in 1816, he was united in marriage with Mrs. 
Rebecca Johnson, whose maiden name was Day. 
Four children were born unto them — William 
H., Elliott B., Archer G., and Nathaniel F., of 
whom the latter died when about seven years 
old. The others grew to manhood, sketches 
of whom will te found elsewhere in this work. 

Mr. and Mrs. Herndon moved from Kentucky 
to Illinois, in the spring of 1820, and remained 
one year in Madison county, and in the spring 
of 1 821, arrived in Sangamon county, settling on 
what is now known as German Prairie, about 
five miles east of Springfield. Here they re- 
mained until their removal to Springfield, in 
1825. 

From 1825 to 1836 Mr. Herndon was engaged 
in the mercantile trade in Springfield, in which 
business he was quite successful. Within that 
time he erected a tavern in the place and tended 
to the wants of the traveling public. 

Archer G. Herndon was a Democrat of the 
old school, and lived and died in the faith of 
that party. An Abolitionist, in his eyes, was a 
man not to be trusted in any capacity. 

Mr. Herndon was elected a member of the 
House of Representatives of the General Assem- 
bly of the State in 1834, and served two years. 
In 1836 he was elected a State Senator, and re- 



520 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



elected in 183S and 1840, serving six years in 
all. In the legislature he was an active and 
influential member, and served with credit to 
himself and his constituents. In the contest on 
the removal of the capital from Vandalia to 
Springfield he was one of the most active of the 
nine. In 1842 he was appointed Receiver of 
Public Moneys in the Land Office at Spring- 
field, and served until 1849, discharging the 
duties in a faithful and satisfactory manner. 

When Mr. Herndon arrived in Sangamon 
county he was almost if not quite penniless, 
but by industry, fortunate investments, and 
economy, he accumulated a handsome fortune. 

Archer G. Herndon died in Springfield, Jan- 
uary 3, 1867. 

WILLIAM BUTLER. 

One of the most noted of the local politicians 
of Sangamon county, if not of the State, was 
William Butler, who was born December 15, 
1797, in Adair county, Kentucky. During the 
war of 1812, he was selected to carry important 
dispatches from the Governor of Kentucky to 
General Harrison, in the field. He traveled on 
horseback, and made the trip successfully, al- 
though he was but fifteen years of age. When 
a young man, he was employed in the ironworks 
of Tennessee, and after that was deputy of 
the Circuit Clerk for Adair county, Kentucky. 
While thus engaged, he made the acquaintance 
of a young lawyer, afterward the venerable Judge 
Stephen T. Logan, of this city. The friendship 
thus formed continued through life. Mr. Butler 
spent a portion of his time afe clerk on a steam- 
boat. In 1828, he came to Sangamon county, 
and purchased a farm in Island Grove. On that 
farm his father, Elkanah Butler, lived and died. 
William Butler came to Springfield, and was 
soon after appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court, 
by his early friend, Judge Logan, March 19, 
1836, and resigned March 22, 1841. He was ap- 
pointed, by Governor Bissell, State Treasurer, 
August 29, 1859, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the resignation of State Treasurer Miller. He 
was elected to the same office in 1800, for two 
years. William Butler and Elizabeth Rickard 
were married December 18, 1832. They had 
three children — Salome E., Speed, and Henry 
Wirt. 

As stated, Mr. Butler was a noted local poli- 
tician, and it is said of him that he could come 
nearer predicting the result of an election, in 
either county. State, or Nation, than any man re- 
siding here. 

Mr. Butler was in his personal appearance: 
rather more than average height; not heavy, but 



compactly built; light and wary in his step; 
active in his movements; and of great strength 
and power of endurance for one of his weight. 
He had a high and ample forehead, a thoughtful 
and serene brow, a bright searching eye, a mouth 
of inflexible decision, a serious face, and general 
aspect of features which marked him as a man 
of purpose and resolution. His fine presence 
and his whole manner in business and social 
intercourse showed the individuality of his char- 
acter, which, with his habitual self-respect and 
self-possession at all times, whether in the ordi- 
nary walk of life or in great emergencies, made 
him a noted man. He was endowed with great 
mental and physical courage; prompt in forming, 
and resolute in carrying out any purpose or plan 
of action on which he had decided. He never 
sought to be conspicuous — hated shams and des- 
pised hypocracy. He never pretended to be 
what he was not; not at all credulous, but rather 
inclined to be distrustful of human nature, yet 
when anyone had once gained his respect and 
confidence, he was to them a true, faithful and 
steadfast fi'iend — to be ever relied on in the hour 
of peril or adversity. 

From 1840 to 1870, during a period of thirty 
years, the most exciting and perilous years of 
the Nation, William Butler was one of the most 
active and influential men in the State of Illinois; 
a Whig up to the dissolution of that party, and 
then a Republican during the rest of his life. 
His advice was always sought and usually acted 
on by the leading public men of the State. Mr. 
Butler never sought office; the public positions 
which he held were tendered him without solici- 
tation on his part. He much preferred to use 
his influence to decide who should and who 
should not be placed in office, and his potent aid 
was usually decisive of the result. 

A more honest custodion of the public funds 
never held the position of State Treasurer. Dur- 
ing the rebellion his official position gave him 
grand opportunities for serving his State and 
Nation. He, in connection with the Hon. Jesse 
K. Dubois and O. M. Hatch, formed the cabinet 
of Governor Richard Yates, who was pre-emin- 
ently the great War Governor of the Republic. 

Mr. Butler, at a very early day, discerned the 
great possibilities which belonged to the chai- 
acter and abilities of Abraham Lincoln. When 
he was a poor and comparatively friendless 
young man, Mr. Butler gave him a home in his 
family, when he moved to Springfield to com- 
mence the practice of law. He remained a mem- 
ber of the household until the day of his mar- 
riage. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



5-21 



Mr. Butler, in conjunction with David Davis, 
O. H. Browning and Stephen T. Logan, was 
largely instrumental in placing Lincoln in nom- 
ination for the Presidency, at Chicago, in 1860. 

Mr. Butler was so mixed up in the excitement 
and difficulties connected with the Shields and 
Lincoln challenge for a duel, that he received a 
challenge from General James Shields, which 
challenge was promptly accepted. The time, 
distance and weapons promised a fatal result to 
one or both parties. The affair was settled, and 
both men lived to render great service to their 
country. 

L William Butler died January 11, 1876, in 
Springfield, and his remains lie interred in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery. 

■— DR. GERSHOM JAYNE. 

Gershom Jayne, son of Jotham Jayne, was born 
in October, 1791, in Orange county. New York. 
He served as surgeon in the war of 1812, then 
engaged in the practice of his profession in 
Cayuga county, in his native State. He removed 
to Illinois in 1819, and settled in Sangamon 
county, where he continued to practice in Spring- 
field for forty-seven years. When he commenced 
his vocation here, he was the first practitioner 
this far north in the State. 

At that early day the practice of medicine was 
exceedingly laborious. Dr. Jayne was indefati- 
gable. He often rode fifteen and twenty miles 
to see a patient, and some times as much as sixty 
miles, and that in all kinds of weather. Those 
who employed him could depend on his punctu- 
ality, notwithstanding the wide extent of his 
medical practice. He fulfilled his engagements 
at the hour appointed, day or night. His prac- 
tical acumen was as marked as his fidelity. His 
judgment was rarely at fault. Always moderate 
in his charges, he was very benevolent to the 
poor. In politics, he belonged to the Whig 
party, and afterwards acted with the Republican 
party. He never sought office, but being ap- 
pointed, without any solicitation on his part, by 
Governor Ninian Edwards, as one of the first 
Commissioners of the Illinois & Michigan canal, 
he accepted and acted in that capacity. As a 
Christian, he never united with any denomina- 
tion ; his large head and broad views refused to 
subscribe to any sectarian creed. He was 
familiar with the Scriptures and an attentive 
listener to the preaching of the Gospel. He was 
the friend of the church and the school-honse, 
and cordially contributed of his means to the 
support of both. 

He was a great reader, and possessed a retentive 
memory. Poetry was his especial delight, and 



he knew how to quote it readily ar.d with effect. 
The great aim and object of his life was in the 
line of his chosen profession, to that he gave the 
enthusiasm and energy of an acute mind and a 
sound body, — his practice was large and reasona- 
bly lucrative — his career was eminently succesful. 

He was married to Sibyl Slater in 1822, whose 
father, Elijah Slater, had moved from Massachu- 
setts. Of their six children born to them, four 
were reared to adult age. The oldest child, 
Julia Maria, married Senator Lyman Trumbull, 
the oldest son, Dr. William Jayne, adopted the 
profession of Medicine, as also Dr. Henry Jayne. 
Mary Ellen, the youngest daughter, resides in 
Springfield. 

Gershom Jayne died in 1867, and his wife in 
1878. Both are buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery. 

REUBEN F. RUTH. 

Reuben F. Ruth, for some years President of 
the Marine Bank of Springfield, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1815. 
His parents were also natives of the Keystone 
State. He served an apprenticeship to the sad- 
dlery and harness trade in Lancaster City, and in 
the spring of 1838, in company with several 
other young men, started West. Landing in 
Beardstown, Illinois, in August of that year, 
with a small stock of saddlery material, he be- 
gan business there, but in April, 18.S9, he came 
to Springfield, Sangamon county, and opened a 
small shop on Washington street. He subse- 
quently removed to the south side of the square, 
and there carried on the manufacture of saddles 
and harness successfully until 1861, when he 
formed a partnership with C. R. Hurst, and as 
the firm of Hurst & Ruth, engaged in the sale 
of dry goods, continuing the manufactory also, 
until 1875. He then sold his interest to his 
partner and retii'ed from the firm. On May 5, 
1868, Mr. Ruth w^as elected President of the 
Marine Bank of Springfield, and filled the posi- 
tion with credit and satisfaction till his death. 
August 11, 1841, he united in marriage with 
Maria W. Diller, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
She was born in Lancaster county, of that State, 
July 20, 1817. Two sons were the fruit of their 
union — J. Diller Ruth, born June 14, 1842, and 
R. Francis Ruth, born May 8, 1856. In August, 
1877, Mr. Ruth formed a partnership with the 
younger son, and embarked in the hardware 
business, the partnership continuing up to the 
time of his decease, and under the direct man- 
agement of the junior partner. 

Mr. Ruth had little taste for public life, but 
was induced to serve one term as City Alder- 
man, and four years as Water Works Commis- 



522 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



sioner. He was a careful, prudent, but energetie 
business man, devoid of all ostentation and 
affectation, but possessed of that sterling man- 
hood which commanded the respect and confi- 
dence of all with whom he came in contact. 
Ten years after settling in Springfield, he united 
with the Presbyterian Church, and remained a 
member the remainder of his life. He died 
after a brief illness, with dropsy of the heart, 
on the morning of September 28, 1881. Mrs. 
Maria W. D. Ruth died May 28, 1870, and the 
elder son, J. Diller Ruth, died in New Orleans, 
February 23, 1879. He married Anna Bacon, 
of Petersburg, Illinois, whom he left a widow 
with one daughter, Georgiana Ruth. 

charj.es r. hurst, 
One of Springfield's prominent citizens and 
representative business men, was born in the 
city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 
20, 1811; came to Springfield iu March, 1834, 
and soon after entered the employ of Bell & 
Linsley, dry goods merchants, as clerk. Some 
years later he bought the dry goods store of 
Joshua F. Speed, and continued in the business 
as sole or joint proprietor until the fall of 1877. 
During his commercial career he was in partner- 
ship with E. D. Taylor for some years, and fifteen 
years with R. F. Ruth, in the firm of Hurst & 
Ruth. He finally closed out the business to R. 
F. Herndon & Co., and purchasing an interest in 
the West End coal mine, a mile and a half east 
of the city, and engaged in the business of 
mining and shipping coal. The first two years, 
Mr. Hurst was jointly interested with A. 
Starne, but in May, 1879, he bought his partner 
out and continued sole owner till his death, on 
June 15, 1881. 

Soon after locating in Springfield, Mr. Hurst 
married Miss Ann, daughter of Colonel John 
Taylor. Seven children were born of their union, 
six of whom, three of each sex, survive, namely, 
Jennie E., Anna W., Georgia S., Charles H., 
Edward S , and Huizinga M. Mr. Hurst served 
eight consecutive years as city alderman, and was 
Chairman of the Finance committee during the 
whole time. He was also Water Works Commis- 
sioner three years, f He was methodical, prompt 
and reliable in business, possessed of unswerv- 
ing integrity of character, cordial and modest in 
manners, and was closely identified with the 
prosperity and growth of Springfield. Since 
Mr. Hurst's decease the coal mining interest have 
been conducted by the widow and the three sons. 
From eighty to a hundred men are employed. 
The product of the mine is sold in the city and 
at points along the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. 



DR. JOHN TOOL). 

John Todd was born April 27, 1787, near Lex- 
ington, Fayette county, Kentucky. He was 
among the earliest graduates of Transylvania 
University at Lexington. He next entered the 
Medical University of Philadelphia, Pennsylva- 
nia, and graduated there. Dr. Todd was mar- 
ried July 1, 1813, in Lexington, Kentucky, to 
Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Rev. John Blair 
Smith, D. D. She was born April 18, 1793, in 
Philadelphia. Her mother was a daughter of 
General Nash, a leader in the American Revolu- 
tion from Virginia. Dr. Todd. was appointed 
Surgeon General of the Kentucky troops in the 
war of 1812, and was at the battle and massacre 
of the river Raisin, in Canada, where he was 
captured. After the war he returned to Lexing- 
ton and practiced there. He was for a short 
time at Bardstown, Kentucky, and from there, 
in 1817, moved to Edwardsville, Illinois. In 
1827 he was appointed by President John Quincy 
Adams, Register of the United States Land Of- 
fice, at Springfield, and at once moved there. 
He remained in oflSce until he was removed 
solely for political reasons, by President Jackson 
in 1829. 

On his arrival in Springfield, and while dis- 
charging the duties of his office. Dr. Todd en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession. When 
he retired from office he devoted his whole time 
to practice, and obtained many patients through- 
out the county, and even in adjoining counties. 

Dr. Todd was a man of fine physique, of ro- 
bust constitution, and one suited to endure the 
hardships of a pioneer life, or practice among 
pioneers. 

Dr. Todd was a liberal man in his dealings 
with his fellow-man. He was ever ready to do 
them a good turn, and his home was thrown 
open to all, and all received a hearty welcome. 

In his later life he was an earnest and devoted 
Christian, and for some years was a ruling elder 
in the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield. 
He died January 9, 1865. 

J. K. DUBOIS. 

Jesse Kilgore Dubois was born in Lawrence 
county, Illinois, January 14, 1811. He was edu- 
cated at Bloomington, Indiana, taking a classical 
course in the college at that place, but, having 
married, he left school a few months before the 
time that he would have graduated. He was 
elected a member of the legislature from Law- 
rence county, Illinois, before he was twenty-two 
years of age, and was several times re-elected to 
the same office from that county. He was also a 
justice of the peace there for several years. In 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



523 



1841 he was appointed Commissioner of the 
Land OflBce in Palestine, and served four years, 
in that time, disposing of millions of acres of 
land. Soon after he was appointed Receiver of 
the Land Office at that place, and filled the posi- 
tion four years. In 1856, he was elected Auditor 
of State, and commenced the duties of that office 
in January, 185V. He was re-elected in 1860, 
and served until the expiration of his second 
term, in all four years. He declined a re-nomina- 
tion in 1'864, and shortly after leaving the 



Auditor's office, formed a business relation with 
Mr. Hawley, in the insurance business, which 
was continued for some time. After his removal 
to Springfield, he purchased a small farm ad- 
joining the city, where he spent the remain- 
der of his life. Mr. Dubois died in November, 
1876. 

Jesse K. Dubois was an honest, upright man, 
a firm believer in the principles of the Republi- 
can party, a Mason of high rank, and also an 
Odd Fellow. 



5-J4 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XXII 



DARK DEEDS. 



'•Thou shall not kill," is a Divine precept. Its 
obligation is incumbent upon every one. Not- 
withstanding this, since the day that Cain slew 
his brother Abel, crime has been rife in the land. 
Laws are passed and heavy penalties are inflicted 
upon the guilty, yet crime does not cease to exist. 
Neither the terrors of this world or that which 
is to come deters the determined and wicked 
man from taking the life of a fellow-being. San- 
gamon county has, with every other county in 
the State, been the theater of bloodshed, and 
however distasteful the task may be, it is a part 
of the historian's duty to record the dark deeds 
that have been committed; not to pander to 
taste of a depraved people for the sensational, 
but as a warning alike to the pure, and those who 
have murder in their heart. The first case in 
which life was taken was that of the 

MURDER OF MRS. VANNOY. 

On the morning of August 2*7, 1826, Nathaniel 
VanNoy, in a fit of drunken frenzy, killed his 
wife. He was arrested and lodged in jail the 
same night. The sheriff at once notified Judge 
Sawyer, who at once called a special session of 
the Circuit Court. A grand jury was empanneled 
and sworn, who found a true bill of indictment 
against him. The following named composed 
tbis jury: Gersham Jayne, foreman; Stephen 
Stillman, John Morris, John Stephenson, jr., 
James White, Thomas Morgan, James Stewart, 
Jacob Boyer, Robert White, John N. Moore, 
William Carpenter, Jesse M. Harrison, Robert 
Cownover, James Turley, Aaron Houton, John 
Young, John Lindsay, Charles Boyd, William 
O. Chilton, Job Burdan, Hugh Sportsman, Abram 
Lanterman. The bill of indictment was pre- 
sented to the court, and a petit jury was then 
called, consisting of the folloAving named: Bowl- 
ing Green, foreman; Samuel Lee, Jesse Arm- 
strong, Levi W. Gordon, Thomas I. Parish, 



Erastus Wright, William Vincent, Philip I. 
Fowler, John L. Stephenson, Levi Parish. James 
Collins, George Davenport. 

The jury were sworn, and the trial commenced 
on the 28th. James Turney, Attorney General 
of the State, acted for the people, and the accused 
was defended by James Adams and Jonathan 
H. Pugh, both of Springfield. A verdict of 
guilty was rendered on the 29tb, and sentence 
pronounced the same day, that the condemned 
man be hungNovember 26, 1826. Thus in less 
than three days was the murder committed, the 
murderer tried and condemned to be hung. The 
sentence was can-ied out, at the time appointed, 
in the presence of almost the entire community. 
The execution took place about where the State 
House now stands. Many are yet living who 
witnessed the summary disposal of the first mur- 
derer in what was then Sangamon county. 

Just before the execution VanNoy sent for Dr. 
Filleo and enquired of him if a man could be 
brought to life after he had been hung. The 
doctor replied that if the neck escaped disloca- 
tion, and that if the condemned person did not 
hang too long there was a possibility that by the 
galvanic battery, life could be restored. Van- 
Noy then told him that if he could be brought 
to life that he would be willing to pay a reason- 
able sum, but otherwise the doctor might have 
his body for dissection. The doctor told him to 
lean forward when the wagon was driven from 
under him, and that he consequently would have 
an easy fall. He followed the doctor's advice 
and his neck was not broken. The sheriff, how- 
ever, fearing that he would come to life, kept 
him hanging nearly an hour, and when he was 
taken down his soul was too far in the land of 
the spirits to be called back. Dr. Filleo made 
the attempt notwithstanding, and when he ap- 
plied the galvanic battery, the nerves of the dead 
man twitched spasmodically several times in 
quick succession. There was no life in thera 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



225 



and they only moved in obedience to the power- 
ful battery that was brought to bear upon them. 

KILLING OF DR. KARLY. 

On Wednesday, March 14, 1838, while Dr. 
Jacob M.Early was sitting in a room at Spotts- 
wood Hotel, Henry B. Truett entered and took 
a seat nearly opposite and fixed his eye upon the 
doctor, who did not seem to notice him. They 
remained in this situation until all the gentlemen 
present, ten or twelve in number, left the room, 
but one, when Truett, rising to his feet, ad- 
dressed the doctor, asking him if he was the 
author of a resolution passed, at a convention in 
Peoria, disapproving of his (Truett's) nomina- 
tion as Register of the Land OIHce at Galena, 
and adding that he was informed that he was. 
In reply the doctor asked Truett who was his 
informant, to which Truett replied that he was 
not at liberty to tell. Dr. Early then informed 
Truett that he declined to say whether he was 
or was not the author of the resolution. With 
an oath Truett pronounced the doctor a liar and 
scoundrel. To this the doctor replied that he 
wanted no difficulty with him and could not lis- 
ten to his abuse. Truett repeated his remark 
and addedwith an oath, the epithets, coward and 
hypocrite. Dr. Early then arose from his seat 
and took up a chair. Truett immediately stepped 
to the opposite side of the room, passing around 
the doctor, and drawing a rifle pistol fired, then 
letting the pistol drop to the floor, he escaped 
from the house. The ball entered the left side 
of Dr. Early, passed through the lower part of 
the stomach and liver, and was taken out on the 
right side nearly opposite where it entered. The 
doctor survived the wound until Saturday night 
following, when he expired. Truett was arrested 
and had his trial at the October term following, 
the jury bringing in a verdict of "not guilty." 
The prisoner was therefore discharged. 

FATAL AFFRAY. 

Delos W. Brown, of Springfield, and John 
Glascock, of Menard county, got into a quarrel 
at the Springfield Coffee House, in Springfield, 
Monday evening, October 3, 1853. Both had 
been drinking quite freely. Glasscock threat- 
ened to whip Brown, at the same time shaking 
his fist in the latter's face. Brown retreated a 
little way, and as the proprietor attempted to in- 
terfeie, Glasscock cauglit him and pulled him 
into the room. In the confusion Gla«scock re- 
ceived three severe cuts with a knife in the 
hands of Brown, and fell to the floor and died 
within ten minutes. Brown was arrested, a pre- 
liminary hearing was held, and he was bound 



over to the Circuit Court on a charge of man- 
slaughter, with bail fixed at two thousand dol- 
lars. He ran ott" and forfeited his bond. His 
property was sold to discharge his recognizance. 

MURDER OF GEORGE ANDERSOK. 

On the night of May 15, 1856, George Ander- 
son was found dead near his house with a wound 
upon the back of his head. There was intense 
excitement in regard to the case, it being thought 
by many that death was not-caused by the blow 
on the head, but by poison administered by his 
wife; therefore she was arrested, as was also 
Theodore Anderson, who was supposed to be 
implicated in the case. A preliminary examin- 
ation was held a few days afterwards before 
Justices Adams and King, of Mrs. Anderson. 
She was prosecuted by A. McWilliams and ably 
defended by Antrim Campbell and B. S. Ed- 
wards. The speech of the latter in the case is 
said to have been an able one. The testimony 
at this examination was sufficient to convince 
the Justices that death was the result of a blow 
and not by poison, and Mrs. Anderson was. 
therefore acquitted. When the Circuit Court 
convened in .June following, Mrs. Anderson was 
indicted by the grand jury, and Theodore Ander- 
son was likewise indicted. Subsequently both 
were tried and acquitted. 

MURDER AT MEOHANICSBURG. 

In October, 1856, two Germans, giving their 
names as Rudolph and Henry, were engaged for 
several daj^s in cutting corn near that place. On 
Monday, October 20, they went to a drinking 
establishment, and remained there until Wednes- 
day. On the morning of that day, they started 
out together on a hunt, and in a few hours after 
Rudolph returned to the house alone, saying 
that Henry had got tired, and stopped to rest. 
Rudolph then settled his bill, and left. On Sat- 
urday following, the body of Henry was found 
in the timber, half eaten up by the hogs. His 
head was badly smashed and broken in. A cor- 
oner's jury was summoned, and elicited the fore- 
going facts, and its verdict was that the deceased 
came to his death by injuries inflicted by some 
person unknown. It is stated he had consider- 
able money upon his person, which, it is thought, 
prompted Rudolph to commit the murder. 

MURDER OF AN INFANT CHILD. 

Some time in March, 1856, an infant was dis- 
covered in the country, some distance from 
Springfield, near the roadside, dead, with a hand- 
kerchief tied over its mouth, showing the cause 
of death to be from smothering. Maria House 



52G 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



was arrested for the crime, and after a full and 
patient hearing before Judge Rice, the jury 
brought in a verdict of "not guilty," and the 
prisoner was discharged. 

HOMICIDE IN CHATHAM. 

On the night of Tuesday, January IT, 1860, a 
dance was held at the house of Joseph Newland, 
on Lick creek, Chatham township. George S. 
Pulliam, Mr. Newland. and another person were 
in a room talking ^about a fight which was to 
occur the next day, when Pulliam offered to bet 
a certain sum of money on his favorite. At this 
poiat, Richard R. Whitehead came into the 
room. A dispute immediately occurred between 
Pulliam and Whitehead, and the lie passed be- 
tween them. Blows were also passed, White- 
head striking with his fist, and Pulliam with a 
bowie knife. Whitehead was struck three times, 
twice on the head, and once on the breast, the 
last stroke causing his death in a few minutes. 
Pulliam was arrested and lodged in jail. On 
Thursday, May 10, 1860, Mr. Pulliam was ar- 
raigned for trial. J. B. White, Prosecuting At- 
torney, W. H. Ilerndon and J. E. Rosette ap- 
peared for the people, and Stephen T. Logan 
and Matheny & Shutt for the defense. The case 
was ably argued, and at its conclusion, after an 
absence of two hours, the jury brought in a ver- 
dict of guilty of manslaughter, and Pulliam 
was sentenced to the State's prison for seven 
years. Subsequently pardoned by Governor 
Yates. 

tra(;kdy near camp butler. 

In October, 1861, six soldiers went to the 
house of a German living near the camp, and 
while four of them were on the outside, two of 
them entered the house, and it is alleged, at- 
tempted to violate the person of a thirteen-year- 
old daughter of the owner of the house, when 
he seized a billet of wood and made an on- 
slaught on them, killing one outright and badly 
using up the other. Coroner Hopper held an 
inquest and the jury returned a verdict of justi- 
fiable homicide. 

FATAL AFFRAY. 

Two rebel prisoners at Camp Butler, named 
Dawson and Kendrick, got into a quarrel Satur- 
day, May 3, 1862, when Kendrick seized a large 
stick and struck Dawson a heavy blow, from the 
effect of which he died in about two hours. 
Kendrick was delivered over to the civil author- 
ities of the county for trial. An indictment 
was found, and he was tried for crime. The 
jury failed to agree, and the case was subse- 
quently nolle prosequied. 



SHOCKING MURDER. 

On the morning of July 4, 1862, a man was 
found dead on the sidewalk on North Sixth 
street. Upon examination his face was found 
to be fearfully mangled, and an unloaded single 
barrel pistol lying near by. The presumption 
was that the man had committed suicide. An 
inquest was held and the body identified to be 
that of Charles Remsey, a German. The body 
was buried but subsequently disinterred, and 
a more thorough examination was held, the ver- 
dict of the Coroner's jury being that he came 
to his death by the hands of some person or 
persons unknown. 

TRAGEDY AT CAMP BUTLER. 

Thomas Vines, a teamster in the employ of 
the United States Quartermaster Department, 
was killed at Camp Butler, Tuesday, November 
4, 1862. He had been engaged in hauling 
baggage from the camp to the railroad, when an 
officer ordered his arrest on some pretext. The 
team of the man became frightened, and run- 
ning through the camp, an order was given to 
fire on him Some fifteen or twenty shots were 
fired, one taking effect in the neck, killing him 
instantly. 

KILLING OF WESLEY PILCHER. 

On Tuesday, March 17, 1863, as Lieutenant 
Emery P. Dustin, in company with a friend, was 
conducting two deserters to Camp Butler, while 
near the St. Nicholas Hotel, in Springfield, he 
witnessed an affray between Wesley Pilcher and 
a man by the name of O'Hara, the former un- 
mercifully beating the latter. O'Hara was call- 
ing for the police, when Dustan interfered, 
Pilcher then turning upon him began to admin- 
ister the same punishment to him, when Dustan 
backed out, at the same time warning Pilcher to 
cease his attacks, or he would be tempted to 
injure him. Pilcher being enraged followed 
Dustan for some distance, when the latter pulled 
a revolver and shot him dead. Dustan was at 
once arrested and taken before Esquires Adams 
and Hickman, who, after hearing the case, bound 
him over to the courts. The military authorities 
interfering Dustan was taken out and tried by 
court martial and acquitted. 

SOLDIER SHOT. 

William Keily, of Company K., Tenth Illi- 
nois Cavalry, while the company was encamped 
at Camp Butler, in company with another sol- 
dier, was creating some disturbance in the board- 
ing house of Mrs. Horry, on North Fifth street, 
having broken one of the windows, when the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



5-27 



provost guard went to the house and arrested 
the two men. On their way to headquarters, and 
when on the north side of the square, Keily, 
who had been drinking, drew his revolver and 
fired two shots at one of the guards, one of the 
shots cutting the hair on the side of his head. 
Two of the guards immediately fired, killing 
Keily instantly, one ball passing through his 
breast and the other through his hips. 

KOHBERY AXD MURDER AT PAWKEE. 

On Tuesday evening, March 7, 1865, a man 
called at the residence of James Bodge, a mer- 
chant at Pawnee, and requested him to go to the 
store as he wished to purchase some tea and 
coffee. Mr. Bodge complied with his request, 
and while doing up the articles John Saunders 
came into the store and purchased a can of 
oysters and soon left. On going out he was fol- 
lowed by the man, who stepped out of the store 
and spoke to his horse, as though he feared it 
would get away. As he did so, another person, 
an accomplice, stepped into the store, and point- 
ing a pistol at Mr. Bodge, with an oath, told him 
to surrender. Mr. Bodge replied, "I do suri-en- 
der, but don't shoot me!" The robber then de- 
liberately took Mr. Bodge's pocket book, con- 
taining $500, walked out of the store, mounted 
his horse, and, in company with another person 
who was with him, rode away. As they left the 
store one of the party shot and instantly killed 
Mr. Saunders. 

While some of the citizens were gathered 
around the body of Mr. Saunders, the robber 
who first entered the store came near with re- 
volver in hand and inquired, "who did it?" and 
immediately mounted his horse and joined his 
accomplices. The desperadoes acted with great 
coolness and deliberation. The citizens of the 
place were so astounded at the hellish deed that 
the murderers were permitted to escape. 

After a few months had passed Barney Van- 
arsdale was arrested in Iowa, and confessed to 
the crime of killing Mr. Saunders. He was 
brought to Springfield. In his confession Van- 
arsdale accused Nathan Trayler and Hezekiah 
Sampley of being accomplices. They were both 
arrested, and on a preliminary examination were 
bound over to the Circuit Coui't in sums of 
$2,000 each. 

James Lemon was afterwards arrested for the 
same crime, and at the May term, 1866, of the 
Circuit Court of the county, both Vanarsdale 
and Lemon were arraigned for trial. Milton 
Hay was assigned by the court to defend 
Lemon, while James H. Matheny was employed 
C^l— 



by friends of the accused, to defend Vanarsdale. 
The defense was such as could be expected from 
such eminent counsel, and everything that could 
be done was done for the prisoners, but without 
avail. Twelve good and true men found them 
guilty by their own confessions, and they were 
sentenced to death. 

On Friday, June 1, they were brought into 
the court room, and Judge Rice, after a solemn 
and impressive prayer had been offered up by 
Rev. W. S. Prentiss, pronounced the sentence of 
death, and sentenced them to be hung within the 
walls of the prison or the enclosed yard, on Fri- 
day, June 22, 1866, The Judge concluded his 
address to them with the awful sentence: " May 
God have mercy on your souls. No earthly hope 
now remains for you; may you direct your atten- 
tion to Him who alone can save, and who spoke 
pardon and peace to the dying thief upon the 
cross." 

In the absence of Governor Oglesby, Lieuten- 
ant Governor Bross granted a reprieve till Fri- 
day, July 20, 1866. Before the arrival of the 
day the sheriff made all preparation for the exe- 
cution, hoping meanwhile the Governor would 
commute the sentence to imprisonment for life. 
But it was deemed best by that oflicer not to in- 
terfere with the sentence of the court. 

All hope of commutation of sentence having 
passed, at their request, the sacrament of the 
Lord's supper was administered to the con- 
demned, after which the black cap was placed 
over their faces, shutting out their last sight of 
earth, a prayer was made, the droj) pulled, and 
the souls of Vanarsdale and Lemon went out 
to meet that of their victim. 

FOUND DEAD. 

On Sunday, January 21, 1866, as two boys 
were playing near the northeast part of the city 
they found a pocket-book and a man's coat cov- 
ered with blood. Giving information to their 
father, James Minsel, the latter, accompanied 
by a friend, repaired to the spot, and while ex- 
amining the coat noticed a dog standing over a 
man's body a few yards away. On approaching 
the body, they found it lying face downward, 
partially covered with snow, and giving evidence 
that it had been foully dealt with. The dead 
man was frozen and had evidently been killed a 
couple of days. A jury was summoned by the 
coroner and an inquest held. An examination 
of the body disclosed the fact that the man had 
been murdered in a manner horrible to contem- 
plate. A ball from a navy revolver had passed 
through his neck, severing the jugular vein, and 



528 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



another bad entered the back, passed through 
the body, and came out near the nipple of the 
right breast. Either of these wounds would 
have caused his death. Three other bullets had 
entered the body just below the right shoulder. 
In addition to these wounds, six stabs were 
found from a large knife in the back, one in the 
right arm, two in the breast, and another in the 
back of the head. More than one person must 
have been concerned in the murder, as the 
wounds showed the attack to have been made in 
front and rear at the same time. The man's 
name was afterwards ascertained to be Henry 
Aholtz, a member of the Second Illinois Cavalry. 
His murderers were never known. 

KILLING OF JOSEPH WARD. 

Joseph Ward on Wednesday, November 20, 
186Y, visited a saloon on Jefferson street, and 
being slightly intoxicated, soon got into a quar- 
rel with Fritz Triever, the barkeeper of the es- 
tablishment. During the altercation, it was re- 
ported that Ward drew a knife, but without at- 
tempting to use it. Triever, on being informed 
that Ward had a knife in his hand, took up a 
club and struck Ward several blows over the 
head, from the effects of which he died the next 
morning. Triever was arrested. 

MURDER OF WILLIAM MORTAR. 

Zachariah Brock had been drinking, and on 
Saturday, August 1, 1868, came to the shop of 
William Mortar and began to quarrel with him. 
Mortar picked up a wagon spoke, probably with 
the intention of defending himself, but on 
second thought threw it down, and began trying 
to pacify him. Brock advanced, picked up the 
spoke, and struck Mortar over the head. The 
victim was carried into the house and died the 
following Tuesday. 

DOINGS OF A DESPERADO. 

On Saturday, May 28, 1870, one of those ter- 
rible tragedies, which for a time throw a com- 
munity into a state of excitement, occurred at 
Springfield. For some days previous, the sur- 
veyors of the Northwestern Railroad had been 
engaged in surveying a route through the city. 
On Friday, the 27th, Coburn Bancroft, becoming 
desperate at the thought that his mother's prop- 
erty would be taken for railroad purposes, fired 
a revolver at the surveyors two or thres times, 
but without effect. A warrant was sworn out 
and two or three policemen started to arrest 
young Bancroft. The police soon found him 
and attempted his arrest, but the offender backed 
into a corner of the room and swore that he 



would kill the first man who attempted to lay 
hands on him. Finding the man desperate, re-in- 
forcements were sent for, when another effort 
was made to effect his arrest, but Bancroft defied 
them and stood his ground. Not wishing to 
injure the man, the police retired, hoping to 
effect his arrest at another time when it could be 
done without endangering the lives of any. 

On the morning of the 28th, Louis Souther, 
local editor of the Register, went to the house 
of Bancroft for the purpose of securing his 
statement, and was met by Bancroft with an 
oath and a threat to kill him. Knowing the 
desperate character of the young man, Mr. 
Souther retreated, but was followed by the des- 
perado, who fired ujjon him, wounding him in 
the arm. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon, Bancroft 
left his house, and returning about four o'clock, 
he met Alonzo McClure, the man who swore out 
the warrant against him, accompanied by a 
friend. Addressing McClure, Bancroft asked 
him if he was the one who swore out a warrant 
against him, and having satisfied himself, step- 
ped back and picked up the lead of a brick- 
layer's plumb and threw it at McClure, who re- 
treated a few steps and then drew a revolver 
and fired five shots at Bancroft without effect. 
Bancroft then drew his revolver and fired four 
shots at McClure, two of which took effect. He 
then proceeded deliberately to his mother's 
house, went to his room, and commenced load- 
ing his pistol. 

Several men witnessed the fight between Ban- 
croft and McClure, and the news rapidly spread 
and soon a large crowd was collected around the 
Bancroft residence. The young desperado sat 
by a window, and playing a violin, defied the 
crowd. The sheriff and a number of police 
officers were present. After trying in vain to 
get him to surrender without farther trouble, he 
was fired upon by the Chief of Police, of Spring- 
field, D. C. Robbins, the ball taking effect, and 
from which he died in about fifteen minutes. 

The Coroner cal'ed a jury, and investigated 
the case, fully exonerating Captain Robbins 
from all blame. Notwithstanding this, the 
grand jury found a bill of indictment against 
him, and he was subsequently tried and ac- 
quitted. 

MURDER OF SHARON TYNDALE. 

On Saturday morning, April 29, 187 1, Shai'on 
Tyndale, ex-Secretary of State, was loully mur- 
dered, near his residence, on Adams, between 
First and Second streets. It appears that Mr. 
Tyndale had arisen shortly after one o'clock a. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



529 



m.,to take the train for St. Louis. His intention 
was probably known by his murderers, who lay 
in wait for him, and who committed the hellish 
deed for the sake of a few paltry dollars upon 
his person. The body, when found, exhibited a 
severe and deep wound upon the left side of the 
face, extending from the forehead to the lower 
part of the cheek. It had the appearance of 
having been made by a heavy club. On the 
right side of the head, and just back of the ear, 
was another wound, caused by a pistol bullet of 
large calibre. A probe inserted by a physician 
showed that the ball passed upward, toward the 
top of the head, and that its effects were proba- 
bly instantaneously fatal, as a pool of blood was 
found upon the gi'ound immediately underneath 
the wound, indicating that the murdered man 
must have died immediately, as no traces of 
blood were found elsewhere. 

KILLING OF WILLIAM KELLEY. 

The beautiful little village of Pleasant Plains 
would hardly be expected to be the scene of a 
bloody murder On the evening of September 
25, 1871, while Mrs, Rhoda Elmore, Anderson 
Harris, and William Kelly were sitting at the 
supper table, a knock was heard at the door, and 
in response to the I'equest, " Come in," Peter L. 
Harrison opened the door, and at once com- 
menced firing upon Kelly with a revolver. 
Kelly arose from the table, and, picking up a 
chair, started in the direction of Harrison, and 
succeeded in pushing him outside the door and 
shutting it. He then started towards a door in 
the opposite side of the room, and on reaching 
it fell, and soon after expired. Harrison was 
afterwards arrested, and an indictment found by 
the grand jury. A change of venue was taken, to 
Christian Co., where he was tried and acquitted. 

MURDER OF HENRY STAY. 

On Saturday night, March 23, 1872, Henry 
Stay called at the saloon of Edwin Slater, on 
Monroe street, Springfield, about 1 1 o'clock, and 
called up Mr Slater who lives over the saloon, 
and who had retired for the night, asking him to 
come down as he wished to pay him some money, 
remarking that he had better take it then as he 
might spend it. Slater came down, and oi)ening 
the door of the saloon, let in Stay, who paid him 
the promised money, after Avhich Slater gave him 
something to drink. After drinking Stay started 
to leave, when Edward Duffey came to the door 
and asked to be admitted. He was let in, and 
being an acquaintance of Stay, the two pleasantly 
conversed for awhile, when Stay, in a kind of 
jolly way, took hold of Duffy and the two com- 



menced scuffling, during which Duffey was rather 
roughly thrown to the floor Slater, the saloon- 
keeper, then said to Stay: "Don't handle Duffey 
so roughly, for he is an older man than you." 
Stay, who was feeling jolly, helped Duffey upon 
his feet. Duffey, on getting upon his feet, 
appeared to be angry, and told Stiy thathe would 
not submit to such treatment, and drew a re- 
volver. Stay, when he saw the revolver, said: 
"You had better put that pistol up," appearing 
as though he did not think Duffey would use it. 
Duffey then stepped back a couple of steps and 
tired, the ball striking Stay in the left side and 
in the regi n of the heart. Stay fell upon the 
floor, and Duffey, as quick as thought, turned 
and fired at Slater, the ball striking on the point 
of the right shoulder, making an ugly flesh 
wound. Slater, on finding that he was wounded, 
cried out: "For God's sake, don't shoot any 
more " Duffey replied, "I won't," and immedi- 
ately fled. 

An alarm was immediately given, and the 
police at once responded to the call. The 
coroner was summoned, the evidence taken, and 
a verdict rendered in accordance with the fore- 
going facts. 

RIOT AT ILLIOPOLIS. 

On Saturday, July 6, 1872, as Taylor Dicker- 
son was walking home with a young lady, some 
one threw a bunch of fire-crackers behind the 
couple, which excited the anger of Dickerson, 
and the next day, in speaking of the affair, he 
said if he knew who done it he would give him 
a thrashing. Carlyle Cantrall then stepped for- 
ward and said that he was the man who commit- 
ted the deed. Dickerson, nothing daunted, 
pitched in; result was a terrible fight, which, 
before it was ended, resulted in a half dozen 
others, friends of both parties taking a hand, in 
which Cantrall and his friends were badly whip- 
ped. Of course the fight was the town talk, and 
the result was the personal friends arrayed them- 
selves into factions, and by many hard and bitter 
words, added fuel to the flame. On Saturday, 
July 20, Cantrall went to the village, accom- 
panied by some friends, two of whom were 
named Kendall. Their appearance was the sig- 
nal for a row, in which Dickerson was badly 
beaten. All that afternoon and until late in the 
evening, the village was a perfect pandemonium. 
Late in the evening the Kendalls started home, 
accompanied by a cousin, when Dr. J. M. Burch 
stepped up and attempted to arrest them. The 
Kendalls put whip to their horses and attempted 
to escape. Dr. Burch ordered them to halt or 
he would shoot. This command he repeated 



5P>0 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



three tiines without effect, and then tired, the 
ball taking off two fingers of Kendall's cousin 
and entered the left side of Kendall near the 
spine, and lodging in the abdomen. The shot 
had the desired effect, and the whole party was 
arrested. Kendall died a few days afterward 
from the effect of the wound. 

Dr. Burch was arrested, waived an examin- 
ation, and gave bail in the sum of $5,000 for his 
appearance at the next term of the Circuit Court, 
at which time he was tried and acquitted. 

MUKDER AND SUICIDE. 

On Saturday, June 14, 1 SYS, Milburn Suther- 
land Tayleur, a man ol mixed blood (negro and 
Indian), shot and instantly killed a colored man, 
named William Brown, with whom he had a 
quarrel. Coroner Bierce was at once notified, 
and started to arrest Tayleur, accompanied by 
several men, whom he summoned for the occa- 
sion. Seeing Tayleur in a field, he called upon 
him to surrender, when Tayleur placed his gun 
against his own breast, and leaning over it, 
pulled the trigger, the shot penetrating his body 
near the heart. He instantly fell, but survived 
long enough to make a statement acknowledging 
that he had killed Brown. 

UXORCIDE AND SUICIDE. 

The Illinois State Journal, of October 27, 
1881, contained the following: 

"A couple who were married in Loami town- 
ship about a year ago, under circumstances not 
wholly devoid of romance, were irrevocably 
divorced Tuesday night. A year ago John H. 
Hudson, an old bachelor farmer, was married to 
Mrs. Gilpin, widow of Enoch Gilpin, in Loami 
township. Both of them were well known and 
well liked. Mrs. Hudson was possessed of con- 
siderable property, but her husband was com- 
paratively a poor man. While gossips have for 
some time whispered the story that they were 
having some misunderstanding about property, 
it was generally believed they were living agree- 
ably together. Under these circnmstances the 
neighbors were unprepared to hear the news of 
the shocking tragedy which occurred at the 
Hudson house Tuesday night, the details of 
Avhich show that while Hudson was generally 
recognized as a peaceable and quiet man, he was 
a perfect devil when aroused. The first horri- 
fying rumor that came with shocking signifi- 
cance was that John Hudson had killed his wife 
with a spade, and then hung himself. The news 
reached this city about noon yesterday, and 
many people who knew both Mr. and Mrs. Hud- | 



son refused at first to believe it. The scene of 
the tragedy was an out of the way place, being 
seven or eight miles from a railway station, and 
it was difficult to get a connected history of the 
affair. After long and tedious search by the 
Journal reporters, the following story was ob- 
tained: 

Hudson and his wife had retired to their room 
about 10 o'clock, Tuesday night. Whether they 
had any difficulty before retiring was not learned, 
but a few minutes afterward the sharj) crack of 
a revolver was heard by Hudson's sister and the 
hired girl. They ran to Mrs. Hudson's assist- 
ance and succeeded in disarming the infuriated 
husband, who had vainly attempted to shoot his 
wife. Summoning all of his strength, Hudson 
released himself from the ladies, and clutching 
his wife, dragged her out of the house some dis- 
tance, where he struck her several times with a 
sj)ade, which happened to be within his reach. 
Leaving his wife lying upon the ground, her 
battered and scarred face looking up in the 
moonlight, while the warm blood spurted out of 
three ghastly skull wounds, Hudson fied to the 
home of his brother, where he related the story 
of his hideous crime. Horrified beyond expres- 
sion, the brother hurried to the scene of the 
ghastly deed, and found the story he was loth 
to believe was only too true. After attending 
to the wants of the almost lifeless woman, the 
brother returned to find the murderer, but he 
had disappeared. Early yesterday morning his 
lifeless body was found hanging to an apple tree 
in the orchard, where, probably overcome by the 
enormity of his crime, he had ended the tragic 
story by taking his own life. The real cause of 
this horrible butchery could not be definitely 
learned. It was thought by some people that it 
arose out of some difficulties in regard to the 
property, while others seemed to think Hudson 
was jealous of his wife, though no foundation 
was given for the latter story. It is not known 
clearly whether the crime was premeditated, or 
the result of a sudden and insane passion. There 
are some circumstances that point toward the 
former theory. Mr. Flowers, who resides at the 
village of Loami, several miles from the Hudson 
place, stated that he had not heard of the 
tragedy, but said that he had loaned a revolver 
to Hudson Monday afternoon, Hudson informing 
him that he was going to take some money with 
him to buy cattle and wanted the revolver to 
protect himself. Another gentleman said he 
saw Hudson about 4 o'clock Monday afternoon, 
and he had agreed to buy some cattle from him. 
The unfortunate woman died the next day. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



531 



Chapter XXIII 



AUTHORS AND ARTISTS. 



Sangamon county has not taken the advance 
stride in the world of letters and art as it has in 
politics and the business interests of her citizens. 
Still there are a few who deserve special men- 
tion in this connection. 

JOHN CAEEOLL POWEE. 

From the United States Biographical Dic- 
tionary, 

John Carroll Power was born September 1 9, 
1819, in Fleming county, Kentucky, between 
Flemingsburg and Mt. Carmel. His grandfather, 
Joseph Power, with six brothers older than him- 
self, were all living near Leesburg, Loudon 
county, Virginia, at the beginning of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, and all became soldiers in the 
cause of freedom. Some of the elder brothers 
served through the whole seven years' struggle 
for independence, the younger ones entering the 
army as soon as they arrived at a suitable age. 
Joseph was but sixteen years old when be 
enlisted, and that was during the last year of 
the war. He was married a few years later, and, 
in 1793, started with his wife, children and 
household goods, on pack-horses, and in company 
w ;th several other families crossed the Allegheny 
mountains to Pittsburg. They descended the 
Ohio river in boats, landing at Limestone, now 
Maysville, and afterwards settled in what be- 
came Fleming county, Kentucky. 

John Power, the second son of Joseph, born 
November, 1787, in Loudon county, Virginia, 
was the father of the subject of this sketch. 
He was a farmer in comfortable circumstances 
and the owner of a few slaves ; but with his 
numerous family he could not snd his children 
from home to acquire that education which is 
now to be obtained in district schools, within the 
reach of all; consequently, this son, of whom 
we write, grew to manhood without having 



mastered more than the simplest rudiments of 
the English language. 

Like many other men who have struggled 
against adverse circumstances, he commenced 
his education at a period of life when he should 
have been in possession of it He takes pleasure 
in attributing to a great extent the measure of 
success he has attained, both morally and men- 
tally, to his selection of a wife. He was married 
May 14, 1845, to Miss Sarah A. Harris. The 
marriage was solemnized about twenty-six miles 
below Cincinnati, in Aurora, Indiana. Miss 
Harris was born there October 1, 1824, of English 
parentage. 

Her grandfather, on the maternal side, was 
the Rev. John Wadsworth, who was rector of 
a single parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
near Manchester, England, more than a third of 
a century. His daughter Catalina was the mother 
of Mrs. Power. 

On her father's side, the history reaches back 
to her great-grandfather, William Fox, who was 
a wholesale merchant in London. He was also 
a deacon of a Baptist church in that city. By 
his business travels he became conversant with 
the illiterate and destitute condition of the poor 
people of the kingdom, and made an effort to 
induce Parliament to establish a system of free 
school.-; but failing in that, he next undertook 
to persuade his friends to unite with him in or- 
ganizing and supporting a system of week-day 
instruction ^o extensive "that every person in the 
kingdom might be taught to read the Bible." 
When he had gone far enough to realize that the 
magnitude of the work was almost appalling, 
his attention was providentially drawn to the 
consideration of Sunday schools, in order to de- 
termine whether or not they would answer the 
same purpose. Becoming convinced that they 
would, he zealously adopted the latter plan, and 



532 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



on the 7tb of September, 1775, he organized in 
the city ot London, the first society in the world 
for the dissemination of Sunday schools. That 
society stood for eighteen years without a rival, 
and during that time it was instrumental in 
establishing Sunday Schools wherever Christian 
missions had unfurled the banner of the Cross. 

William Fox had two sons and three daugh- 
ters. The eldest daughter, Sarah, became the 
wife of Samuel Harris, a druggist in London. 
They had a son and daughter. The son, William 
Tell Harris, was married April 24, 1821, in Eng- 
land, to Catalina Wadsworth, daughter of Rev. 
John Wadsworth, as already stated. They came 
to America soon after their marriage, and settled 
in Aurora, Indiana. They have both been dead 
many years. Their only living child, Sarah A., 
was educated at private schools, and a four years' 
course in Granville Female Seminary, an institu- 
tion under the auspices of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church, at Granville, Ohio, from which she 
graduated in 1842. After her marriage to Mr. 
Power, in 1845, at his request she directed his 
studies, and when he began to write for publica- 
tion she became his critic; in that way render- 
ing the best possible assistance, which she con- 
tinues to the present time. 

Mr. Power was brought up a farmer, but en- 
gaged in other pursuits a number of years, al- 
ways cultivating habits of study and occasional 
writing, but without any thought of becoming 
an author until well advanced in life. He met 
with serious reverses about the beginning of the 
great rebellion; and at its close, finding himself 
in possession of a few thousand dollars, determ- 
ined to return to agricultural pursuits. He ac- 
cordingly removed to Kansas, purchased a farm 
and prosecuted the tilling of it for three years. 
The grasshoppers destroyed the crops of 1866 and 
1867, and the drought of 1868 made almost a to- 
tal loss of those three years, with all the expense 
of farming. In April, 1869, he accepted the 
first and only offer he ever received for his farm, 
returned to Illinois, and since that time has de- 
voted himself almost exclusively to literary pur- 
suits. 

His prize essay on Self-Education, for which 
the Illinois State Agricultural Society awarded 
him a premium in 1868, was revised and publish- 
ed in " Harkness' Magazine;" the editor express- 
ing the opinion thatthose who read it would find 
it " one of the most profitable, instructive and 
mentally invigorating essays they ever read." 

His "History of the Rise and Progress of 
Sunday Schools," published in 1864, by Sheldon 
& Company, New York, was his first publication 



in book form. It is the only connected history 
of that noble branch of Christian work ever at- 
tempted, and appears by common consent to be 
accepted as the standard authority on that sub- 
ject. Mr. Power has written several books and 
pamphlets on various local subjects; also maga- 
zine articles on a great variety of topics. 

An open letter by him to the Postmister 
General, on the subject of acfdressing mail 
matter, is a brief and interesting magazine 
article Some of his ideas are qu'te novel, and 
will bear investigation. The main point he aims 
to enforce is, that all mail matter should be 
addressed by first writing the name of the State 
in full, next the county, then the postoflice, and 
end with the name of the person i,r firm expected 
to receive it ; thus reversing the order practiced 
from time immemorial. He considers that essay 
his contribution to the great American Cen- 
tennial. 

Perhaps his most finished work is his monu- 
mental edition of the "Life of Lincoln." It is a 
fitting tribute to the Nation's Martyred Dead. 
His style is peculiarly clear, concise and original. 
He treats every subject most thoroushly and 
comprehensively, yet with an ease and grace of 
rcanuer that charms the reader. A gentleman 
of the highest literary attainments, connected 
with Madison University, Hamilton, New York, 
in a note to the publishers, says : "I have read 
your 'Life of Lincoln' by Power. It has the 
charm of a novel." 

The work upon which Mr. Power gave more 
time than any other, was the "History of the 
Early Settlers of Sangamon County." This 
work required four years of hard, earnest labor, 
and is of itself a monument to the literary pkill 
of the author. It is doubtful whether a better 
work of its kind was ever issued. The citizens 
of Sangamon county owe him a debt of grati- 
tude which it is doubtful will ever be repaid. 
Posterity will give him credit for a work in- 
valuable to the descendants of the early settlers 
whose lives are recorded. 

Since the completion of the monument to the 
memory of Abraham Lincoln, and the removal 
of his remains thereto, Mr. Power has been the 
custodian, and the pleasure of a visit to the 
sacred spot is enhanced by his narration of all 
the facts in relation to the building of the monu- 
ment, the figures placed thereon, the attempt to 
steal the remains, and an account of the relics 
placed in the monumental chamber. On dull 
days and as the opportunity occurs Mr. Power in- 
dulges in literary work.. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



533 



JOSEPH WALLACE, 

the fourth son of James and Mary Wallace, was 
born in Gallatin (now Carroll) county, Ken- 
tucky, September 30, 1834, and when two years 
of age removed with his parents to Jefferson 
county, Indiana. He was raised on a farm, and 
received a common school and collegiate educa- 
tion. In 1856 he commenced reading law in 
Madison Indiana, under the tuition of Judge 
Charles E. Walker. Remaining ihere for one 
year, he removed to Springfield, Illinois, and 
completed his preparatory course of study in the 
office of Messrs. Stuart & Edwards. In 1858 
Mr. W. was licensed as an attorney-at-law, and 
shortly afterward opened an office and began 
practice. In 1866 he was elected to the office of 
Police Magistrate for the city of Springfield, and 
served continously for eight years, after which 
he resumed the practice of his profession. In 
1879 he was chosen a member of the City Coun- 
cil, in which body he has since industriously 
servedas Chairman of the Ordinance Committee. 
With his other pursuits, Mr. W. has blended 
a decided taste for letters and literary composi- 
tion, and during the last ten years has written a 
good deal for the press, chiefly upon biographi- 
cal and historical subjects. Perhaps his most 
noted production is his Life of General E. D. 
Baker. Mr.fcWallace has also prepared a Memo- 
rial Life of Judge Stephen T. Logan, written at 
the request of the family, and which will be 
published for private circulation. He has also 
in manuscript "The Life of Stephen A. Doug- 
las," which will probably be brought out in the 
near future. Being an ardent disciple of Doug- 
las, the volume will doubtless be of great inter- 
est, and be pleasing and profitable to all. The 
author of this volume is indebted for several 
sketches to Mr. Wallace. 

E. L. GROSS. 

A sketch of the life of Mr. Gross is found in 
connection with the Bar history. His greatest 
literary work was the compilation of the Statutes 
of the State. Mr. Gi'oss was an easy and forci- 
ble writer and a hard and methodical worker. 
No effort on his part would be spared to make 
everything perfect that he undertook. He died 
almost before his powers were fully developed. 

W. L. GROSS. 

W. L. Gross is a brother of E. L., and a co- 
laborer with him in the preparation of Gross' 
Statutes. As a sketch of Mr. Gross appears in 
connection with the Bar history, it is unneces- 
sary to add anything in this connection, save 



that the Colonel handles a ready pen and is an 
easy, yet forcible, writer. 

ALEXANDER DAVIDSON 

was born in Taylor county. West Virginia, Sep- 
tember 23, 1826. He received his education in 
Oberlin College, Ohio, and began at once the 
profession of a teacher, a profession which he 
has substantially followed since he left college. 
In 1870 he received an appointment in the office 
of the United States Inspector, and the same 
year commenced the compilation of a History 
of Illinois. In 1871, he associated with himself 
in this work, Bernard Stuve, a gentleman of fine 
literary taste. The work was completed and 
published by the authors in 1873, and was well 
received by both press and people. It has been 
more extensively sold than any history of the 
State yet published. Mr. Davidson, while en- 
gaged in literary work and teaching, has given 
some attention to mechanism and has turned out 
some work, invention of his brain, several of 
which are worthy of special mention. Mr. Dav- 
idson is yet a citizen of Springfield. 

DENNIS WILLIAMS. 

Dennis Williams, the well known crayon art- 
tist of Springfield, was born in Burton, Clayton 
county, Mississippi, December 25, 1853. His 
mother was a native of Kentucky, but sold and 
taken South and made to do duty in the cotton 
fields. The first recollections of Dennis was 
riding behind his mother, on a mule, to the cot- 
ton fields in the early morning and returning late 
in the evening, and of playing with other boys 
of his age about the old plantation. When about 
six or seven years of age he was set to picking 
cotton and thought it sport for a while, but soon 
found his mistake, but there was no way of 
avoiding it — w*ork he must. 

The war breaking out, the slaves of the South 
waited patiently but anxiously for the coming of 
the Yankees, and for their "day of jubilee." 
Their faith was strong that their deliverance was 
at hand, and the armies of the North had no 
sooner invaded the soil of Mississippi than the 
"contrabands" broke for the Union lines. 
Among the first to bid farewell to " Massa and 
Missus " was the mother and step-father of Den- 
nis, accompanied by their son. The first point 
made was Carson's Landing, from whence they 
were sent to Haine's Bluff, Mississippi, where 
they were all taken sick with the fever. As soon 
as they were able, they were sent on to Vicks- 
burg, then invested by the armies under General 
Grant. After the surrender of Vicksburg they 



534 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



remained in that city until the close of the war, 
when they came to Springfield, arriving here 
May, 1865. 

While in Vicksburg, the mother of Dennis 
taught him his letters, and it was her anxiety to 
give him an education that caused the family to 
turn their faces northward. On arriving at 
Springfield, he was soon placed in school, his 
first master being Thomas York. Dennis says 
he shall always remember his first teacher, as he 
on one occasion gave him enough to cause him 
to never forget him. He considers him a hard 
master. 

When first given a primer, Dennis felt 
happy, the pictures of dogs, cats and other ani- 
mals at once arrested his attention, and these 
small, if not rude pictures, first turned his atten- 
tion to the life of an artist. 

In 1869 he began to draw upon the blackboard 
straight and parallel lines, cubes and such things, 
and, in 1870, he made his first crayon sketch — 
the head of James Fisk, of New York. The 
picture was pronounced a good one for the first 
attempt, and was placed on exhibition in the 
window of Simmons' book store. Shortly after 
this he abandoned the idea of becoming an 
artist, there being so much to discourage him. 
He was a poor, ignorant colored boy, one com- 
pelled to earn his living by the low occupation 
of a boot-black. The people among whom he 
lived, with a few honorable exceptions, sneered 
at his pretensions. The idea of a "little nigger" 
becoming an artist — it was preposterous! But 
the artistic aspiration was in him; the desire to 
become an artist must be appeased, and he again 
took up his pencil. Frequently he would go to 
some studio to see how others drew portraits 
and would be driven away by the artists No 
one would give him encouragement. Still he 
would not despair. He secured a room in the 
rear end of a building on the southeast corner 
of the square, and when released fi'om his daily 
labor of blacking boots, he would repair to it, 
and as best he could, copy some rude picture he 
picked up, or the cheap lithographs sold in the 
book stores. To this day he has never witnessed 
another sketch a portrait, nor has he received 
instructions from another in drawing. He is 



self-taught and self-made in every sense of the 
word. 

In the fall of 1874, he placed some of his 
sketches on exhibition at the county fair, and 
was rewarded with three premiums, two being 
for portraits, and one for a landscape scene 
While these pictures were on exhibition, he 
could not refrain his curiosity from listening to 
the remarks made about the work, and now qui- 
etly laughs at the criticisms he overheard. The 
people generally would not believe the pictures 
were the work of a " nigger." It was too much, 
to tax their credibility so much. But the criti- 
cisms were generally of a friendly nature, and 
he felt encouraged thereby. 

The first picture that he ever made and sold 
was a portrait of General Grant, and sold to 
Colonel Robert Andrews, General Superinten- 
dent of the Wabash Railroad, at Toledo, Ohio. 
Colonel Andrews paid him 85 for it. Since then 
he has made portraits for Governor Cullom, 
James A. Connelly, United States District At- 
torney, Coles county; Judge O. L. Davis, of the 
Appellate Court; L. C. Collins, Cook county; 
R. W. Miles, Knox county; O. F. Ottman, Stark 
county; R. L. McKinlay, Edgar county; Thomas 
P. Rogers, McLean county; W. S. Hunter, R. 
W, Diller, E. A. Snively, Springfield, and many 
others. His work is now scattered through al- 
most every State in the Union, and even in the 
Old World. In the winter of 1880-81, he made 
pictures of Lieutenant Governor Hamilton and 
Speaker Thomas, of the Thirty-second General 
Assembly, both of which were purchased by 
their respective Houses. The press of Chicago.v 
St. Louis, and other places highly complimented 
this work. 

Mr. Williams received premiums at the San- 
gamon county fairs of 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 
and at the State Fair of 1880. At this latter fair, 
he received two diplomas and a silver medal. 
The diplomas were for the best portraits in 
crayon and pastel, the medal for the best 
crayon. 

In the life of Mr. Williams, is another illustra- 
tion of what it is possible for one to do in this 
free land. Born a slave, a boot-black in his youth, 
to-day one of the best crayon artists in this 
country; and, to crown all, truly self-made. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



535 



Chapter XXIV. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



In this chapter is presented a large number of 
historical points, too short each for a chaj^ter, 
yet of sufficient interest and importance to be 
inserted in the work. 

THE MORMONS. 

On tbeir expulsion from the State of Missouri, 
a number of this peculiar sect who style them- 
selves the Latter-Day Saints, settled in Sanga- 
mon county. Among their number was a young 
man named James C. Brewster. In 1842, this 
Brewster published what he termed one of the 
last books of the Bible, written by himself when 
divinely inspired. The publication having been 
circulated among the Mormons at Nauvoo, the 
Nauvoo Times and Seasons, Joe Smith's organ, 
gave notice that no one but Smith was permitted 
to be inspired, and that the work in question 
was a perfect humbug. 

In 1845, it appears the church in Springfield 
had seceded from the church in Nauvoo, and had 
set up young Brewster as its prophet. His rev- 
elations at this time had become quite numerous. 
Among one of the prophecies of Brewster, was 
one in relation to the death of Joseph and Hy- 
rum Smith. This prophecy being literally ful- 
filled, caused many to unite their fortunes with 
him, and "contend for the faith" as promul- 
gated by him. During this year Brewster issued 
what purported to be the lost book of Esdeas, 
in which was clearly fortold the destruction of 
Nauvoo. 

SHOOTING STARS. 

The "shooting stars" of 1833 will ever be a 
mystery to many, and many will continue to be- 
lieve it was a fulfillment of the prophecy of 
Christ, that "the stars should fall from Heaven 
before that great and notable day of the Lord's 
coming." The Sangamo Journal, under date of 
November 16, says: 

"An extraordinary phenomenon was observed 
in the Heavens on Tuesday night. November 12. 

62— 



At 3 o'clock a. m., the whole atmosphere was 
lit up by what appeared to be the falling 
of myriads of meteors, or what was commonly 
called 'shooting stars.' At times the appearance 
was not inaptly compared to the falling of 
a shower of fire. The air was entirely calm and 
free from clouds. The scene presented was one 
of extraordinary sublimity, and must have 
excited intense admiration in all who beheld it." 
The Journal, in its issue of December 7, gives 
an illustration of the meteors and extracts from 
New York and Philadelphia papers showing 
that the phenomenon was not local in its charac- 
ter, but extended over the entire Union. 

COUNTY JAIL. 

A local reporter visiting the jail in 1860, thus 
writes : " One of the prisoners is a little old 
man who has become quite a fixture in the jail. 
His first name is Peter. About seven years ago 
he was arrested for stealing a lot of copper pipe. 
When his trial was called in the Circuit Court 
his counsel made a rather novel plea — that the 
pipe was real estate — and the jury taking that 
view of the case gratified Peter by acquitting 
him. We ai'e not informed of the singular 
process by which copper pipe was reduced to 
real estate, but Peter's counsel explained the 
matter to the entire satisfaction of the jury. 
Peter was not long afterwards arrested for steal- 
ing hams from a smoke-house. Fortune was 
against him for a short time in that matter, for 
he was found guilty of burglary and sentenced 
to one year in the penitentiary ; but his counsel 
applied for a new trial, on the ground that his 
client had not committed burglary — the law 
saying nothing about burglary in connection 
with unlawful entry into a smoke house ! Peter's 
counsel made a good point, and a new trial was 
ordered. It i? supposed that Peter would have 
been tried at the next term of court for larceny — 
and it is tqually certain that he would have been 



536 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



convicted — but before the opening of court the 
principal witness went crazy and was sent to 
Jacksonville. So Peter got out of that ucrape. 
His next arrest was on account of old copper. 
We believe he admitted that 1 e took the metal, 
but excused himself by saying that he could not 
keep from stealing copper or brass when he had 
half chance. His prospect for a residence in the 
penitentiary was quite flatteru.g. until his coun- 
sel proved, to the satisfaction of the jury, that 
the copper was not worth a farthing more than 
four dollars and seventy-five cents. He was 
provided with board and lodgings in the county 
jail for six months, and not long after the expi- 
ration of his term of imprisonment, he was 
arrested for removing hides from the bodies of 
three deceased steers, and appropriating them to 
his own use. He was bailed out of jail, com- 
promised the matter, and kept it out of court. 
He is now in jail for stealing two brass scale 
beams. He values them at the price of old brass, 
but others say they are worth not less than ten 
dollars apiece. He has been in jail ten times- — 
six times for larceny, and four times for selling 
liquor contrary to law." 

POE— TRY. 

'Twas in the year of thirty-six, 

A tniveler young and strong, 
Tried to pass through Illinois, 

And force his way along. 

The mud and sloughs he heeded not 

In his firm onward course; 
But as he traveled to the north, 

The roads grew worse and worse. 

But still being bent his way to force. 

And onward still move — 
Muddy and tired, on Friday night, 

He arrived at Irish Grove . 

But here his onward course was stopped, 

For more than a long week, 
By the depth of mud in the cursed sloughs. 

And the waters of Salt Creek. 

This seemed at first to give him pain, 

For sorely did he grieve; 
But when the waters did dry up, 

He hated much to leave. 

How came it that this wild young man 

Who loved so well to rove. 
Should love to linger at this place, 

The pleasant Irish Grove V 

He said 'twas because the folks were kind, 
And they all pleased him well. 

And something else, but what it was 
I could not make him tell. 

('Twas a gal.) 

I used to try him very hard, 
And when brought to the test. 



He said if there had been no pre emption right, 
The Grove he would not haveleft. 

(Told you so . ) 

I've seen him often since that time. 

He says I've far to rove; 
But go where I will I can't forget 

My friends in Irish Grove. 

CALIFORNIA EMIGRANTS. 

Sangamon county furnished its quota of emi- 
grants to California, in the days immediately fol- 
lowing the discovery of gold in that far-off land. 
A company was organized called the Illinois 
and California Mining Mutual Inj'Urance Com- 
pany, which left Springfield, Tuesday, March 27, 
1849. The following named composed the com- 
pany: 



B. A. Watson 

C. E. AVhite 
Albert Sattley 
Benjamin b . Taylor 
E. Fuller 

William B. Broadwell 
W. P. Smith 
B. D. Reeves 
William Odenheiraer 
Henry Dorand 
E. T. Cabaniss 



T. Billson 
Lewis Johnson 
John Rodham 
Richard Hodge 
Jacob Uhler 
B. R. Biddle 
J. B. Weber 
John B. Watson 
F. S. Dean 
T. J. Whitehurst 



HOW MILL PRIVILEGES WERE SECURED. 

When a party desired to build a dam across a 
stream, be was required to go before the court 
and ask that a writ of ad quad damnum be is- 
sued summoning a jury of twelve men, who 
should view and assess whatever damages might 
be caused from the dam by reason of overflow 
of the water. As an illustration of the course 
usually pursued, the following report is ap- 
pended: 

"We, the imdersigned, jurors, being sum- 
moned and impanneled by Andrew Orr, Esq., 
Deputy Sheriff in and for the county of Sanga- 
mon, by virtue of a writ of ad quad dainnumy 
issued by the Clerk of the County Commission- 
ers' Court in and for said county, and directed to 
the Sheriff of said county, on the application of 
Thomas Kirkpatrick, to erect a mill-dam on the 
northwest fractional quarter of section number 
three, in township number sixteen, north of 
range number six, west of third principal merid- 
ian, across Prairie creek; after being duly assem- 
bled and impanneled upon the premises, and 
being charged by the said Andrew Orr, Esq., 
Deputy Sheriff, as aforesaid, impartially and to 
the best of our skill and judgment, to view the 
land proposed for an abutment, and to locate 
and circumscribe by metes and bounds one or 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COITNTY. 



v^n 



two acres thereof, having due regard therein to 
the interest of both parties, and to examine the 
land above and below the property of others 
which may probably overflow; and all springs 
that may be overflowed by the same, and ap- 
praise the same accordingly to its true value, re- 
port that we have diligently inquired into and 
examined the same, above and below the point 
at whic 1 said mill-dam is proposed to be erected, 
and find that the land on both sides of said 
stream, together with the bed thereof, where 
said dam is proposed to be ei'ec ed, belongs to 
the said Thomas Kirkpatrick, and that by erect- 
ing a dam no more than ten feet high, the 
height said dam is to be as contemplated by said 
Thomas Kirkpatrick, and estimated by us, no 
springs, either above or below said dam will be 
overflown by reason of the erection of the same, 
and that no injury will result to the property of 
any individual or individuals whatever by reason 
thereof; and we also believe that the erection of 
said dam and mills thereon, would be a matter 
of genei'al utility to the neighborhood, saving 
and excepting a quantity of land owned by Wil- 
liam Kirkpatrick, lying above the place where 
the proposed dam is to be erected, which is sub- 
ject to being overflowed by reason of the erec- 
tion of said mill-dam, and we assess the damages 
by reason thereof at twenty dollars. 

Given under our hands this 10th day of March, 
IS 24. 

William Brisbin Robert Penny 

Strother Ball John Duncan 

John Ray David iSmith 

Washington Hornbuckle David Bogan." 

THE WEATHER. 

The weather is always a fruitful topic for dis- 
cussion. The editor of a local newspaper, when 
he can find no other subject upon which to write, 
always has a fruitful theme in the weather. He 
can praise it if it is fine, grumble at it if bad. 
Friends or strangers, when meeting, always dis- 
cuss the weather. Lovers, when too bashful to 
discuss such themes as are ever nearest their 
hearts, talk sheepishly about the weather. The 
historian, neglecting this important theme, would 
be guilty of an unpardonable sin. Therefore it 
is a pleasing duty to record the following facts 
with relation to the weather, as illustrating how 
it has behaved itself in the three-score years of 
the organized existence of the county: 

MILD WINTER. 

The winter of 1832-33 was as mild as the 
winter of 1830-31 was severe. The Sangamo 
Journal for Januaiy 5, 1832, says: 



"The season is certainly remarkable. — For 
several days past we have had no frosts, and the 
weather has been as mild as the latter part of 
April usually is. We hear the ,'melifluous 
notes' of frogs; the grass has started in many 
parts of the prairies; in the bottoms the May 
apple has sprouted from one to three iuchts; and 
most kinds of cattle do well without feeding. 
Plowing is going on in the vicinity of town. 
We have some fears the warm weather will 
cause the wheat to 'joint.' To prevent this, 
whenever it can be done, the wheat should be 
fed down by calves, &c. No doubt those of our 
citizens who left us for Arkansas last summer 
are congratulating themselves on the fine cli- 
mate of that country, while they suppose the 
Illinoisans are buried in snow and sufi^ering from 
cold weather. Joy remain with them." 

THE SUDDEN CHANGE. 

The sudden change in the weather which oc- 
curred December 20, 1836, is vividly impressed 
upon the minds of many of the old settlers of 
Sangamon county. There were several inches 
of snow upon the ground, and early in the 
morning rain began to fall, continuing for some 
hours, and turning the snow into slush. Wash- 
ington Crowder, at present an old citizen of 
Springfield, then living about four miles south- 
west of the city, about eleven o'clock started to 
the city to procure a marriage license. Mr. 
Crowder carried an umbrella to protect himself 
from ■ the rain, and wore an overcoat reaching 
nearly to his feet. When he had traveled some- 
thing like half the distance, and had reached a 
point about four miles south of Springfield, he 
had a fair view of the landscape, ten or twelve 
miles west and north. He saw a very dark cloud, 
a little north of west, and it appeared to be ap- 
proaching him very rapidly, accompanied by a 
teriffic, deep bellowing sound. He thought it 
prudent to close his umbrella, lest the wind 
should snatch it from his hands, and dropped 
the bridle reins on the neck of his horse for that 
purpose. Having closed the umbrella and put 
it under his arm, he was in the act of taking 
hold of the bridle rein, when the cold wave 
struck him. At that instant water was dripping 
from everything about him, but when he drew 
the reins taut, ice rattled from them. The water 
and slush almost instantly turned to ice, and 
running water on sloping ground was congealed 
as suddenly as molten lead would harden and 
form in ridges if poured on the ground. Mr. 
Crowder expressed himself quite sure that with- 
in fifteen minutes from the time the cold blast 



538 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



reached him his horse walked on top of the 
snow and water, so suddenly did it freeze. When 
he arrived in Springfield he rode up to a store 
at the west side of Fifth street, between Adams 
and Monroe, a few doors south of where Bunn's 
bank now stands. He attempted to dismount, 
but was unable to move, his overcoat holding 
him as firmly as though it had been made of 
sheet iron. He then called for help, and two 
men come out, who tried to lift him off, but his 
clothes were frozen to the saddle, which they 
ungirthed, and then carried man and saddle to 
the fire and thawed them asunder. After becom- 
' ing sufficiently warm to do so, Mr. Crowder went 
to the County Clerk's office, obtained his license, 
and by driving his horse before hira, returned to 
where he had started in the morning. The next 
day he started on horseback, but found the trav- 
eling so difficult on the ice that he dismounted, 
tied up the bridle, left his horse to find the way 
back home, and went on foot to the house of his 
affianced, where he was married at the time ap- 
pointed. Mr. Crowder admits that it was a very 
thorough test of his devotion, but it must be 
conceded that he proved himself equal to the 
emergency. 

The velocity of the cold wave is not known. 
Preston Breckenridge gave it as his opinion that 
it moved at the rate of about seventy miles an 
hour. At the time he says he had just taken 
his dinner, and was sitting near a window, 
between 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, in 
view of a pool of water, ten or twelve inches 
deep. He heard a terrific roaring sound. Sud- 
denly the rain ceased, and it became quite dark. 
The first touch of the blast scooped all the 
water out of the pool. Some of it returned, 
but in a moment it was blown out again, and 
scattered in frost and ice, leaving the pool 
emply, and the bottom frozen dry. He says it 
had been raining slowly all the fore part of the 
day and so warm that he thinks a thermometer 
would have stood as high as forty degrees above 
zero, possibly higher, and that the first touch of 
the tempest would have brought it down to zero 
in a second of time. 

SNOW BLOCKADE. 

On Wednesday evening, December 30, 1863, a 
snow storm set in which continued all night and 
during the greater portion of the next day, com- 
pletely blockading all the public highways and 
all the railroads leadmg into Springfield. The 
embargo on travel continued for five days, dur- 
ing which time there was but one mail received 
in the city from the east and one from the west. 
It was the worst storm for many years previous. 



ALMOST A TORNADO. 

On Friday night, December 23, 1871, a heavy 
rain passed over Springfield, accompanied by 
thunder and lightning. The next morning all 
was beautiful, but about nine o'clock, dark, heavy 
clouds came up, the wind began to rise, and 
gradually increased to a gale, and at ten o'clock 
it swept over the city with such force as to un- 
roof houses, knock down chimneys and signs, 
and destroy several buildings. The rink, erected 
at a cost of $12,000 in 1807, was leveled with the 
ground; the Rolling Mill was destroyed, as Avas 
also the round-house of the Gilman, Clinton & 
Springfield Railroad Company. The damage 
done amounted to several thousand dollars, but 
no lives were lost. 

RAIN STORM. 

"Old Probability" foretold a rain storm for 
Saturday, June 1,1872, and, according to pro- 
gramme, it came, and the "oldest inhabitant" 
had to give it up — that he could not remember 
its equal. At eight o'clock, p. m, the storm in 
all its fury burst upon the city of Springfield, 
the flashes of lightning being dazzling and al- 
most incessant, accompanied by the sharp, crack- 
ling reports and roar of Heaven's musketry and 
artillery. From eight o'clock p. m., Saturday, 
until three o'clock a. m., Sunday, there did not 
seem to be a moment's cessation of the outpour- 
ing of rain from the "open flood-gates of 
Heaven." The falling of the rain sounded more 
like the " noise of many waters," pouring over a 
cataract, and soon the streets w^ere full of water 
which could not be carried off by the over- 
charged sewers, and the pressure on these was 
so great as to cause much damage to them. Cel- 
lars were, soon full, and in some instances poured 
into the sleeping apartments and drove the in- 
mates to more comfortable quarters. The town 
branch, or main sewer, large enough to allow a 
double team and wagon to be driven into it, was 
soon filled with water, which poured out into the 
northwest. Ponds, which for years had been 
dry, were filled with water, and the placid San- 
gamon was made a roaring, dashing river. 

HEAVY STORM OF WIND AND RAIN. 

On Friday evening, August 3, 1860, a heavy 
storm of wind and rain passed over Springfield, 
resulting in a great deal of damage. Before 
seven o'clock its approach was indicated by the 
dark masses of clouds rolling up from the west, 
covering the whole earth with their gloomy 
darkness. Their pent-up fury burst a few min- 
utes after seven, and in a few minutes it was 
raging with terrific power. ' Buildings were 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



539 



blown down and unroofed, trees were uprooted, 
and shrubbery and grain prostrated to the earth. 
An accompaniment of Heaven's artillery added 
to the terrible effect of the storm. Withey 
Brothers had their carriage manufactory blown 
down, entailing a loss of about 112,000 upon 
them. The building was a large three story 
brick. This was the heaviest loss experienced 
by any one man or firm. Many others were 
damaged in amounts ranging from one to five 
hundred dollars. 

STORM AT WILLIAMSVILLE. 

A terrific storm passed overWilliamsville and 
vicinity, Friday, May 14, 1858. It spent its 
greatest force about one and a half miles north 
of the village, striking with all its force the 
dwelling of Evans Britton, and utterly demol- 
ishing the entire premises. The family, consist- 
ing of Mr. Britton, wife, child, and a hired man, 
Avere all in the second story, and, strange to say, 
neither of them were instantly killed, although 
Mr. Britton was dangerously wounded, his wife 
seriously hurt, but not dangerously, the child 
slightly, and the hired man badly hurt. The 
foundation timbers of the house, being of solid 
oak, eight inches square, and thirty feet long, 
were carried a distance of one hundred and fifty 
yards from where the house stood. The storm 
was accompanied with very heavy hail, damag- 
ing the windows of every house in the neighbor- 
hood, and a perfect deluge of rain carried off 
nearly every bridge in the surrounding country. 

TORNADO ON SUGAR CREEK. 

On Thursday, May 26, 1859, a tornado passed 
over a portion of this county on Sugar creek, 
and in the vicinity of Rochester. Its course 
was toward the northeast, and its violence was 
so great as to entirely demolish the residence of 
James Bell, a two-story house. It also tore the 
roof from the mill of Ranny & Bell, both of 
whom were within and seriously injured. The 
house of Mr. Patterson was blown down, but no 
one injured. Mr. Higgins' house shared the 
same fate, while the barn of Mr. Peddecord was 
destroyed. Two boys who were in the barn 
were blown some distance, but received no in- 
juries. Mr. Highman's barn was prostrated, and 
Mr. Inslee's orchard completely destroyed, and 
his house, one and a half stories high, built of 
logs, was blown away, nothing being left but the 
foundation logs. Large hickory trees, two feet 
in diameter, were twisted off like pipe stems. It 
was fortunate no loss of life occurred. 



CHOLERA. 

In 1832, that dreadful disease, Asiatic cholera, 
broke out in the county, and before its ravages 
were checked twenty -two deaths occurred. The 
physicians of the county, including Drs. John 
Todd, Gershom Jayne, J. M. Early, Ephraim 
Darling, E. H. Merryraan, T. Hurghan, Garret 
Elkin and James R. Gray, issued an address to 
the people of the county in which they discussed 
the question at some length of the origin of the 
disease and its treatment, including measures to 
prevent its spread. In 1833, it again appeared, 
but only two or three cases were reported, neith- 
er of which were fatal. In 1851, the county es- 
caped having the disease, notwithstanding it 
spread almost throughout the entire country, but 
in 1854 it appeared much to the alarm of the 
citizens, but without fatal results. 

SHOEMAKING. 

It is reported by Albion Knotts that when his 
father came to this country, in 1819, he soon 
learned that the next supply of shoes for his 
family would have to be manufactured by him- 
self, although he had never made a shoe. This 
discovery was barely made w^hen he found that 
he must produce the leather also, as there were 
no tanners in the country. He first cut down a 
large oak tree, peeled off the bark and laid it up 
to dry. He dug a trough in the log as large as 
it would make for a tan-vat. He then gathered 
up all the hides he could obtain. The next 
question was how to remove the hair. It was 
known that it could not be done by regular tan- 
ners^ process, both for want of the proper ma- 
terials, and the knowledge in using them. Some 
person suggested that it might be done with 
water and ashes, but great caution would be nec- 
essary, lest the solution be made too strong. In 
that event it w^ould ruin the hides. In his ex- 
treme caution he did not make it strong enough, 
and so removed but a little more than half the 
hair. In place of grinding the bark he beat it 
upon a stump with the poll of an axe. He then 
put the hides in the trough, covered them with 
the pulverized bark, put on weights to keep the 
mass down, and filled the trough with water, 
changing the bark several times during the sum- 
mer. As winter approached he took the hides 
out, though not more than half tanned, and 
made them into shoes. He made them on what 
was called the stitch down plan. That is, in place 
of turning the upper leather under the last, it 
was turned outward and sewed with a straight 
awl through the upper and sole. This would 
make a walk around the shoe that a mouse might 



540 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



travel ou. It was frequently the case that awls 
could not be obtained. Then they would take a 
common table fork, break off one of the tines, 
and sharpen the other for the awl. Shoes made 
as I have described, with the upper leather hair 
side out, not more than half of it removed, and 
without any blacking, would certainly look very 
odd. There can be little doubt that the above 
is a fair description of the first tanning and shoe- 
making ever done in Sangamon county. 

MATEIMONIA.L. 

When Adam was created and placed in the 
garden of Eden, a help-meet was provided for 
him in the person of Eve. This, therefore, is 
the natural state of man. The married state is 
a solemn one and should be sacredly protected. 
"What God hath joined together, let no man 
tear asunder." In various lands the marriage 
rite is solemnized in different ways, and by dif- 
ferent ceremonies; in all the acts of the con- 
tracting parties must be understood by each 
and by the community in which they live, 
as being a mutual agreement to hold the 
relation'^ towards one another as man and wife. 
In this State a license has always been required, 
or in lieu thereof, for many years, a couple 
could be married by publishing their intentions 
through a public asssembly. It is stated that 
even in Sangamon county, it was customary in 
order to save the license fee for parties desirous 
to wed to have an announcement made three 
times, on Sunday, before the congregation with 
whom they were in the habit of worshiping. 

The first marriage that appears on the record 
books of this county was solemnized April 20, 
1821, more than sixty years ago. The parties 
were William Moss and Peggy Sims. They 
were married by Abraham Sinnard, Justice of 
the Peace, by virtue of a license issued under 
the official seal of Charles R. Matheny, Clerk of 
the county. It was the first marriage solemn- 
ized in the county subsequent to its organ- 
ization. 

In the early days of this county, young men 
and maidens were not married in the grand 
style which usually characterizes marriages of 
the present time. They did not wait for riches 
to come bef' re marriage, as is generally the 
present custom, but married and lived in simple 
and comfortable style, and generally lived hap- 
pily and gained the respect of their neighbors 
by attending to their own business. There were 
no "diamond weddings" in those days, and the 
extravagance that often now attends the mar- 



riage ceremony was unheard of. The old folks 
were plain, economical and hospitable people, 
and the young folks were imbued with the same 
attributes that characterized their fathers and 
mothers. They were willing to commence 
housekeeping in a style corresponding with their 
means, trusting to the future for larger houses 
and more expensive furniture. 

It would doubtless be of interest to many to 
give the record of marriages for the first five or 
six years of the county's existence, but they are 
too numerous, therefore only the first year is 
here given as taken from the record in the office 
of the County Clerk: 

William Moss and Peggy Sims, by Abraham 
Sinnard, J. P., April 20, 1821. 

Jesse Cormack and Nelly Robinson, by Zach- 
ariah Peter, J. P., May 10, 1821. 

Thomas Perkins and Anna Durham, by Abra- 
ham Sinnard, J. P., April, 1821. In lieu of a 
license issued by Coixnty Clerk, public announce- 
ment was made of the intended marriage of this 
couple. 

William C. Brown and Patsy Vincennes, by 
Rev. James Sims, February 18, 1821. 

Jesse Burvard and Betsy Anderson, by Rev. 
James Sims, March 26, 1821. 

David Barnes and Acsah Andrews, by Rev. 
Stephen England, March 15, 1821. 

James Pervine and Mary Cox, by Rev. James 
Sims, August 2, 1821. 

George Ruby and Nancy Mathias, by Rev. 
James Sims, October V, 1821. 

John Brownell and Nancy Pulliam, by Zach- 
ariah Peter, J. P., November 29, 1821. 

Shadi'ach Reddick and Nelly Smith, by Zach- 
ariah Peter, J. P., November 6, 1821. 

Edward Clark and Sally Sincy, by Rev. Rivers 
Cormack, December 16, 1821, 

Thomas Howey and Peggy Snodgrass, by Rev. 
Rivers Cormack, December 16, 1821. 

Charles Orendorf and Matilda Stringfield, by 
Rev. Stephen England, April 5, 1821. This 
couple were also announced to be married in- 
stead of securing a license. 

Henry Morgan and Lucy Simms, by Abraham 
Sinnard, J. P., November 8, 1821. 

Hezekiah M. Herbert and Elizabeth Carlock, 
by Abraham Sinnard, J. P., October 27, 18:^1. 

The following table shows the number of 
marriages contracted from 1821 to 1880, in- 
clusive: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



541 



1821. 

1832. 

1823. 

1824. 

1825. 

1826. 

1827. 

1828. 

1829. 

1880. 

1831. 

1832. 

1833. 

1834. 

1835. 

1836.. 

1837.. 

1838. 

1839. 

1840. 

1841. 

1842. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846 

1847. 

1848. 

1849. 

1850. 

1851.. 



.. 25 
.. 29 
. . 37 
.. 43 
. . 36 
. . 48 
.. 55 
. . 97 
..116 
..121 
..128 
-.141 
,.158 
..194 
,.181 
. .199 
. .225 
..187 
,.2i7 
..205 
.173 
. .212 
. .201 
..172 
.179 
..167 
..184 
.231 
.246 
.238 
.225 



1852 
1853. 

1854. 
1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 
1861. 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
1880. 



. 280 

. 302 

. 346 

. 344 

. 362 

. 371 

, 414 

, 385 

, 346 

369 

298 

888 

447 

474 

643 

597 

53o 

513 

444 

445 

442 

481 

456 

485 

475 

461 

464 

482 

496 



Total 



,17 029 



A glance at the foregoing figures shows con- 
chisively that the matrimonial market is affected 
by the state of the times. In 1837 hard times 
set in, but this county was not visibly affected 
until the following year. For ten years business 
of all kinds was dull and many were forced into 
bankruptcy. It will be seen that it took ten 
years to restore the normal condition of the mat- 
rimonial market. Again in 1858, banks suspend- 
ed and a season of depression set in and fewer 
marriages were contracted for several years. 
Still again in 1874, the same state of affair exist- 
ed. The war, too, caused a falling off in toe 
number of marriages annually contracted, but in 
1866, when the boys got home, there were a larger 
number of licenses issued by the county clerk 
than in any year since the organization of the 
county. 

RENDITION OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE. 

The rights of property in slaves, and the appli- 
cation of the Fugitive Slave Law were often 
contested in the courts of the Northern States, 
previous to the rebellion of the slave-holding 
States. As late as February, 1860, a case was 
tried in Springfield before United States Com- 
missioner Corneau, on the application of George 
M. Dickinson, of Shelby county, Missouri, for the 
delivery of a fugitive slave, which he claimed 
was his property. 



At the opening of the case, W. A. Herndon, 
one of the counsel for the fugitive, moved a post- 
ponement of a few days, giving as a reason for 
his motion, that he expected papers from Quincy 
that would prove the negro a free man. He ad- 
vocated the motion with eloquence, and made 
an affidavit setting forth the facts he expected 
to prove. He also offered the negro's affidavit, 
but the Commissioner refused to receive it, and 
overruled the motion for a continuance. 

The counsel for the claimant introduced two 
witnesses, both of whom swore positively that 
the smiling African before them was the prop- 
erty of George M. Dickinson, of Shelby county, 
Missouri, and that he ran away some time dur- 
ing the fall of 1857. Their testimony was very 
direct, and the cross-examinations did notj tend 
to weaken it. One of the witnesses said the 
negro had a slight defect in one of his legs, and 
therefore the counsel for the claimant asked the 
negro to take a short walk. Chairs were accord- 
ingly set aside and a clear way made for him, 
but when he was told by one of his counsel that 
he could walk or sit still, just as he pleased, he 
said that he would rather remain in his seat. 

The defense called several witnesses, but the 
e\ idence did not go to prove that the negro had 
lived here prior to the time of his alleged de- 
parture from Missouri. At the conclusion of the 
testimony, the counsel for the claimant asked 
that the negro be delivered by the Commissioner 
to the custody of Mr. Dickinson. Mr. Herndon 
rose and said that no proof had been offered of 
the existence of slavery in Missouri, and he 
thought that the Commissioner had no right to 
presume from historical knowledge that Missouri 
was a slave State. He spoke at considerable 
length, and his remarks in favor of the poor 
outcast, for whom, as he bitterly said, he was 
only allowed to appear by courtesy, touched the 
hearts of a large majority of his hearers. John 
E. Rosette followed in behalf of the slave, tak- 
ing the same ground as Mr. Herndon, that clear 
proof was necessary that Missouri was a slave 
holding State, and quoted from the Fug tive 
Slave Law to make his position good. 

George F. Pearson, counsel for the claimant, 
followed Mr. Rosette, and on the conclusion of 
his speech the Commissioner decided to deliver 
the negro to Mr. Dickinson. 

FIEST ENTRIES OF LAND. 

Although Sangamon county was settled as 
early as 1817, yet the land did not come into 
market until 1823. The first entry was made by 
Israel Archer, being the west half of the north- 



542 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



west quarter of section eight, township four- 
teen, north of lange fourteen west, on the Gth 
day of November, 1823. Mason Fowler, on the 
same day, made the second entry, being the east 
half of the southwest quarter of section twenty- 
seven, township fourteen, north of range four 
west. The next day — November Y, 1823 — Elijah 
lies, Thomas Cox, John Taylor, and Pascal P. 
Enos entered the four quarter sections on which 
the city of Springfield now stands. 

DEATH OF A CENTENARIAN. 

On Sunday night, July 1, 1855, Archibald 
Turner died, aged 106 years and 1*7 days. Mr. 
Turner was a native of Ireland, and came to 
this country when a young man, and at an early 
day to Sangamon county. He was an excellent, 



unobtrusive and Christian man, and a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many 
years. 

SANGAMON COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 

The dissemination of the word of God early 
enlisted the attention of the good people of this 
county, and a branch of the American Bible So- 
ciety was organized here as early as 1824. For 
fifty-seven years the Society has had an organ- 
ized existence, the good accomplished by which 
will never be known in this world. Thousands 
of Bibles and Testaments have been distrib- 
uted in the county and many have been permit- 
ted to read the word who would never had 
access to it, but through the enterprise of this 
Society. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



543 



Chapter XXV. 



AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Sangamon county is recognized as one of the 
best agricultural counties in the State. The 
county was originally settled by men trained in 
agricultural pursuits, the larger part being immi- 
grants from the South. They brought with 
them but little capital — in m.any instances only 
sufficient to buy the land on which they located. 
However, they brought with them that which 
is better than money — industrious habits; and 
under the guiding influence of a superior intel- 
ligence, they soon brought their lands into a 
high state of cultivation, so that to-day Sanga- 
mon county occupies the proud position of being 
one of the best agricultural counties in the 
State, and where it pays to farm. 

Few counties in the State as large as Sanga- 
mon but have more land not fit for cultivation. 
The proportion of unimproved land here is quite 
small. In many counties along the margin of 
the streams, after extending back for more than 
a mile, the land is unfit for cultivation, but not 
so in Sangamon. Along the banks of its river 
and principal creeks, lie some of the most pro- 
ductive farms in the county. 

Among the products of Sangamon county, as 
well as throughout the Union, corn takes the 
precedence as being the most profitable and pe- 
culiarly adapted to the soil. Winter wheat, next 
to corn, is the most important grain raised in 
the county. In its early history abundant crops 
were raised, with scarcely a failure, but finally, 
for some cause, little could be raised, and it be- 
came exceedingly unprofitable to sow the grain. 
In the last decade a change has again occurred 
and winter wheat has again got to be one of the 
staple productions of the county. In 1880 there 
were planted one hundred and twenty-three 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two acres of 
corn; and fifty-five thousand seven hundred and 
fifty-eight acres of wheat were sown. In that 

03 — 



year it was estimated that the corn crop would 
produce fifty bushels to the acre, a total of six 
million one hundred and ninety-two thousand 
one hundred bushels; wheat was estimated at 
twenty bushels to the acre, or one million one 
hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and 
sixty bushels. 

When considered in connection with the arti- 
ficial grasses, and the nourishment and improve- 
ment it affords to the live stock, especially the 
horse, this grain may be considered as one of 
the most important here produced. Its yield is 
generally abundant and profitable. The usual 
yield is from thirty-five to fifty bushels per 
acre. In 1880 there were sown twelve thousand 
four hundred and sixty-six acres, which yielded 
forty bushels per acre, a total of four hundred 
and ninety-eight thousand six hundred and forty 
bushels. 

In 1880, there were twenty-two thousand three 
hundred and thirty-two acres in timothy meadow, 
which yielded a ton and a half to the acre. 

In addition to those articles already mentioned 
every product peculiar to this latitude is raised 
here, including rye, barley, Irish and sweet 
potatoes, and buckwheat, there being soil in the 
county peculiarly adapted to each. 

In fruit much is being done, almost every 
fai'mer devoting a few acres to its cultivation. 
Almost every variety of apple adapted to this cli- 
mate is raised here, while peaches, pears, plums, 
grapes and other small fruit come in for a share 
of attention. 

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 

The isolated occupation of the farmer causes 
him to act slowly in availing himself of the gen- 
erally conceded advantages of association and 
co-operation. But at a very early day begin- 
nings were made by our Illinois farmers in that 



544 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



direction. Woods, in his "Two Years' ^Resi- 
dence in the Settlement on the English 
Prairie, in the Illinois Country," says, writ- 
ing in 1820: "An agricultural society was 
established last year in the State of Illinois, and 
Mr. Birbeck made President. It held its first 
meeting in Kaskaskia; but whether there has 
been any other meeting I do not know." Faux, 
in his "Memorable Days in America," writing 
from the Wabash country, under date November 
24, 1819, says of Morris Birback: "He, only a 
few days since, returned from a tour throng Illi- 
nois, by way of Kascasky, where he was chosen 
President of the Agricultural Society of Illinois, 
one grand object of which will be to rid the 
State of stagnant waters." This fixes the date 
of organization, but does not indicate who were 
the other ofiicers. 

The Edwardsville Spectator, printed on 
May 16th, 1820, contains a letter to Henry S. 
Dodge, Secretary of the Agricultural Society of 
the State of Illinois, from Curtis Blakeman, of 
Madison county, who gives an account of a crop 
of corn, of between nine and ten acres; yield- 
ing one hundred and twenty bushels to the acre. 
From this it is supposed Mr. Dodge was the 
first Secretary of the organization. The same 
paper, of the date of February 26, 1822, con- 
tains an essay by Dr. Wordsworth, "read before 
the Agricultural Society of the Ssate of Illinois, 
on the 10th of December last (1821 )" The of- 
ficei's of the Society, elected December 8, 1823, 
were: Edward Coles, President; Shadrach Bond, 
Vice President; Abner Field, Second Vice Pres- 
ident; William M. Brown, Secretary; Elijah C. 
Berry, Treasurer; and a committee of corres- 
pondence, consisting of William S. Hamilton, 
Ezra Baker, A. W. Edwards, George Churchill 
and David Blackwell. One of these, George 
Churchill, writing many years afterwards, said: 
"The members, becoming tired of keeping up 
their organization, turned over their surplus 
funds to the Sunday school agent (Rev. J. M. 
Peck.) and disbanded." 

A second Illinois State Agricultural Society 
was organized at Springfield, about the begin- 
ning of 1841. At a meeting held in January, of 
that year, James M. Bradford presided, and John 
S. Wright was Secretary. James N. Brown, of 
Island Grove township, Sangamon county, re- 
ported a constitution, which was discussed and 
adopted. On the fifteenth of January, another 
meeting was held and Mr. Brown reported a list 
of ofiicers: William Wilson, of White county. 
President; Isaac S. Biitton, of Sangamon, Sec- 
retary; John Williams, Sangamon, Treasurer. 



If this Society ever held an exhibition it cannot 
be learned from any records left by it. 

About this time, County Agricultural Societies 
were organized all over the State, among others, 
one in Sangamon county, which gave some two 
or three annual exhibitions and then fai ed. 

THE FIRST COUNTY FAIR. 

In relation to the first Agricultural Fair held 
in Sangamon county, the following interview is 
taken from the Sangamo Monitor, August 19, 
1881: 

"'Speaking of our county fair," said the ven- 
erable Major Arny Robinson, to a newspaper re- 
porter yesterday afternoon, as they both were 
sitting in a room in the third story of the State 
House, with their feet upon the table, enjoying 
the refreshing breeze that came in at the spac- 
ious window, 'I think I am entitled to a compli- 
mentary ticket to the fair this fall, and those fel- 
lows ought to give it to me.' 

"'How so?' queried the newspaper man.' 

"' Why, I was the Secretary of the first board 
of agriculture and the first fair held in this 
county,' replied the Major. 

'" This was something new to the itemizer, and 
without taking out his book and pencil, to alarm 
the gentleman over the fact that he was going to 
get in print, the request was made that he recite 
as much of the circumstances as he could call to 
mind. 

" ' Well,' said Arny, 'that was a long time ago, 
and a man as old as I am, is apt to forget a great 
deal. The society was organized in the spring 
or summer of 1837. I was Secretary, Isaac S. 
Britton was President, and if I remember right- 
ly, Sanford Watson was the Treasurer. There 
were not a great many in the society, and of 
those, I call to mind, Logan Hall, Charles R. 
Matheny, William S. Pickrell and Jesse Pick- 
rell. There were others, of course, but of them 
all, I am the only one living. The fair was held 
in September, 1837 — the exact date of course I 
don't remember — in lies' pasture, and at that 
time the pasture was a right smart distance from 
the town. The fair lasted three or four days 
and there veas a pretty good turn out of the peo- 
ple from the country and every body in town 
went. Of course we had no booths then, or a 
high board fence enclosing the grounds, as the 
boys in those days had'ntbeen educated to crawl- 
ing through hog holes and spying over the fence. 
The fence around the pasture was a common rail 
fence, any body could have stood on the outside 
and seen the whole show, but they did'nt do that 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



5i5 



kind of business. They all went to the gap, paid 
their twenty-five cents and went in.' 

"'Those bringing stock to exhibit would tie in 
the corner of the fence and then when the time 
for making the awards came, we would say to 
some fellow, ' Here! you bring up your cows, 
hogs, horses, etc.,' and after passing inspection 
a ribbon was always put on.' 

" ' At that fair was the fii'st Berkshire sow, I 
ever saw, and the first one I guess in this section 
of the country. It was the property of Miss 
Lucretia Watson. She has been married a long 
time, but I declare I have forgotten to whom. 
Well, everything at the fair had to have a name, 
and Lucretia came to me for a name for the sow. 
It was a mighty pretty animal, but I didn't 
know what name to give it. However, as she 
insisted, I named it Sally Snooks, and I guess 
you can set it down as the first Berkshire having 
a name in the county.' 

" ' Well,' spoke the reporter, after Arny had 
raised up in his seat to be more comfortable, 
' why didn't you keep it up?' 

" ' Well, that is something I cannot tell. The 
fair, as I said, lasted about four days, and after 
that the whole thing fell through.'" 

SANGAMON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND MECHAN- 
ICAL ASSOCIATION. 

The Sangamon County Agricultural and 
Mechanical Association was organized October 
7, 1853, and incorporated by act of legislature, 
approved February 11, 1853. They held a very 
interesting and successful exhibition at Spring- 
field in 1852, but in consequence of the State 
Fair being held at Springfield in 1853 and 1854, 
it held no exhibitions those years. The society 
purchased twenty acres of land west of the city, 
on which they erected buildings and other 
accommodations for the fair, at a cost of $4,000. 
In 1854, the officers were : James McConnell, 
President ; Henry Jacoby and James N. Brown, 
Vice Presidents ; John Williams, Treasurer ; 
T. G. Taylor, Recording and Corresponding 
Secretary. 

This society held annual meetings for many 
years with great success, their exhibitions for 
some years being equal to those of the State 
Fairs. For some cause, the society disbanded 
in 1809, and no further exhibitions were held 
by it. 

SANGAMON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL BOARD. 

But it could not be expected that a county 
the size of Sangamon, with all its wealth and 
indomitable pluck, would be without its annual 



fair. Accordingly, in 1871 anew organization 
was effected, known as the Sangamon County 
Agricultural Board, which at once took steps to 
continue the annual exhibitions. The following 
Constitution was adopted December 8, 1871, and 
amended March 27, 1876. As amended it reads 
as follows : 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article 1. — This association shall be known 
as the Sangamon County Agricultural Board. 

Article 2. — The objects of the Sangamon 
County Agricultural Board shall be to promote 
the general welfare of the industrial classes, and 
to add to the wealth and attraction of Sangamon 
county by fostering and encouraging the sciences 
of Agriculture, Horticulture, Mechanics, Mining 
and Fine Arts, as provided in "' An act to create 
a Department of Agriculture in the State of Illi- 
nois," approved April 17, 1871; and acts amend- 
atory thereto. 

Article 3.- — Section 1. The officers of this 
Board shall consist of a President, one Vice 
President from each township in the county, 
(said Vice Presidents to be the Supervisors), and 
five (5) Directors, (three of whom shall reside 
outside the city of Springfield), a Secretary and 
a Treasurer. 

Section 2. Said officers ( except Vice Presi- 
dents) shall be chosen bi-ennially, by ballot, at 
the Fair Grounds, on Wednesday of the Fair, 
and hold office for two years from the first day 
of January thereafter, or until their successors 
are elected. Polls for said election to be open 
from nine a. ra. to four p. m. 

Where ballots are cast for two or more per- 
sons for the same office, the one receiving the 
highest number of votes shall be declared elected. 

Section 3. Duties. The duties of the officers 
hereby created shall be those usually performed 
by officers in similar positions, and that may be 
assigned them by a majority of the Executive 
Committee present and voting. 

Section 4. Vacancies. In case of a vacancy 
in the office of President, from any cause, the 
duties of such officer may be performed by such 
one of the Executive Committee as may be se- 
lected. 

Article 4. — Section 1. The Executive Com- 
mittee shall consist of the President, Secretary, 
Treasurer, and five Directors, a majority of whom 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business and the management of the Sangamon 
County Agricultural Board, and control the fi- 
nances of the same. 

Section 2. They shall have power to expel 
officers, for good and sufficient cause, to be spread 



546 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



upon their journal, and to till vacancies in their 
number, arising from any cause. 

Section 3. They shall have power to enact 
By-Laws for the government of their meetings, 
and those of the Board, and to make rules and 
regulations for the management of its Fairs and 
to prescribe the requirements for membership in 
the Sangamon County Agricultural Board. 

Article 5. This Constitution cannotbe altered 
or amended without a majority vote by ballot, of 
all stockholders, and shall be altered only at the 
time of holding the bi-ennial election. 

Notice signed by at least twenty-five stock- 
holders, of any proposed change in the Consti- 
tution, must be given the Executive Committee, 
who shall publish the same, in at least one 
Springfield paper, thirty days before the bi-en- 
nial election. 

BY-LAWS. 

Aet. I. This Board shall consist of such cit- 
izens of the county or State, as shall subscribe 
and pay for one or more shares of the capital 
stock of this Board. 

Art. II. The ofiicers of this Board shall be 
a President, one Vice President from each town- 
ship in the County, (said Vice Presidents to be 
the Supervisors in office), a Secretary, a Treas- 
urer and five Directors, three of whom shall re- 
side outside the City of Springfield. 

Art. III. There shall be an annual meeting 
of the Executive Committee of the Board, in the 
City of Springfield, the first Wednesday in 
January, of each year. 

Special meetings may be convened by the 
President, when he may deem it necessary, or 
upon request of two or more members of the 
Executive Committee. 

Art. IV. The President shall be ex-oflicio 
President of the convention of stockholders, for 
the election of officers of the Sangamon County 
Agricultural Board. 

It shall be his duty to preside at all meetings 
of the Board, to preserve order and to enforce 
these rules. 

He shall sign all orders upon the Treasurer, 
except as hereinafter provided, before the same 
shall be payable, asd generally discharge the 
duties pertaining to his position in deliberate 
bodies. 

Art. V. The Vice Presidents are charged 
with the interests of the Board in the townships 
in which they respectfully reside, and they will 
constitute a medium of communication between 
the Board and the general public. 

Abi. VI. Any member of the Executive 
Committee shall be eligible to the position of 



President pro-tempore^ and the acts of such 
officer in the absence of the President shall be 
valid. 

Art. VII. The Treasurer shall have charge 
of all moneys under the control of the County 
Agricultural Board, and the collection of all 
stocks as the Board may prescribe, and pay out 
the sums only upon vouchers, approved by the 
President and countersigned by the Secretary, 
or signed by the Auditing Committee. 

He shall give bonds with approved security, 
for the faithful discharge of his duties as Treas- 
urer, and for the safe custody of funds in his 
hands, in such amounts as the Executive Board 
may require. 

He shall receive from the Auditing Com- 
mittee such tickets as may be provided for by 
the Board, and give his receipt for the same, as 
for money received, and shall superintend the 
sale of the same, under such rules as the Execu- 
tive Committee may prescribe. 

He shall furnish annually to the Executive 
Committee, a detailed statement of the finances, 
giving the sums and sources of money coming 
into his hands, and produce properly signed 
vouchers for all sums paid out by him. 

Art. VIII. When cash premiums are awarded 
by the board, they shall be paid by the Treasurer, 
on checks drawn by the Secretary upon him, 
which checks when properly endorsed and paid, 
shall be the Treasurer's vouchers for the same. 

Art. IX. The Secretary of the Sangamon 
County Agricultural Board shall keep the 
minutes of all meetings of the Board and Ex- 
ecutive Committee — shall have charge of the 
records — attend to the correspondence of the 
Board, and shall act as Secretary of the conven- 
tion of stockholdei's for the election of members 
of the Board. 

He shall provide a suitable ballot-box and a 
list of stockholders of the Board, and keep a 
correct record of the vote of the convention for 
the election of officers and directors. 

He shall prepare the annual report to be sent 
to the State Board of Agriculture, and shall per- 
form such other duties as may be prescribed by 
the County Agricultural Board. 

Art. X. The Executive Committee shall ap- 
point two stockholders to act as an Auditing 
Committee, whose duty shall be to audit all bills 
of indebtedness incurred during, or in imme- 
diate preparation for the Fair; and no such bill 
shall be paid unless it has been audited by said 
committee. They shall have exclusive charge of 
the gales and keepers and all tickets for the 
same, except complimentary, and turn the same 



543 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



over to the Treasurer, taking his receipt therefor 
as for money in the amount represented by said 
tickets, and'shall settle with that officer at the 
close of all Fairs. 

Art. XI. All reports of committees shall be 
in Avriting, and shall be entered in the proceed- 
ings of the Board, or kept on file by the Secretary. 

Art. XII. The Board of Directors, shall, at 
the time of making out premium lists of Fairs, 
appoint one Superintendent to each class, or de- 
partment; they shall also appoint a superintend- 
ent to take charge of the purchase and distribu- 
tion of forage and litter and water, for stock on 
exhibition. 

They shall also appoint a Superintendent of 
Grounds, who shall have charge of the police, 
also a Marshal of the Ring, whose duty it shall 
be to keep order in the exhibition ring, amphi- 
theater, and announce awards. 

Among those contributing to the Association, 
and thus becoming members of the Board, were 
the following named stockholders. 

SANGAMON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL BOARD. 



Adams, J. H. 
Ackermau &Nolte 
Alexander, David 
Alvey, J. W. 
Anderson, M. K. 
Auxier, Benj. L. 
Averill, Charles G. 
Ayres, B. W. 
Bdllou, George A. 
Barber, A. J. 
Barkley, J. H. 
Barnes, Ezra, Sr. 
Beard, William 
Beerup, Charles 
Bell, J H. 
Bell, Melviu 
Beniamin, S. 
Bennett, Ed. W. 
Bennett, William A. 
Bennett, Mrs. William A, 
Bennett, W. E. 
Berry, J. A. 
Bierce, E. B.^ 
Bigelow, J. K. 
Bird, Jacob 
Black, George N. 
Blood, George L. 
Bolinger, G. W. 
Bourne, J. M. 
Boyd, Ration 
Bradford, J. S. 
Bradford, Mrs. J. S. 
Bradley, L. H. 
Bradley, Mrs. L. H. 
Brady, Thomas 
Brassfield, W. R. 
Brennan, P. 
Bretz, John 
Bressmer, John 
Bridges, .James 



Bridges, Jeptlia 
Brinlierhoff, G. M. 
Brinkerhoff, Mrs. G. M. 
Britten, Evan 
Britten, Henry 
Britten, J. M. 
Brock, Daniel 
Brooks, J. W. 
Brown, B. W. 
Brown, C. S. 
Brown, Dwight 
Brown, George H. 
Brown, William 
Browning, A. M. 
BuUard, John 
Bullard, Wesley 
Bunn, Alice E. 
Bunn, Elizabetli J. 
Bunn, George W. 
Bunn, Henry 
Bunn, Jacob, Jr. 
Bunn, Jacob, Sr. 
Bunn, J. W. 
Bunn, Sallie J. 
Bunn, W. F. 

Burke, George W. 
Byerline.J. G. 

Caldwell, B. F. 

Caldwell. G. M. 

Caldwell, Mrs. G. M. 

Campbell, W. K. 

Canterberry, O. P. 

Carpenter, George 

Carter, P. S. 

Chatterton, George W., Jr. 

Chenery, C. E. 

C'henery, James H. 

Chenery, J. L. 

Chenery, J. W^. 

Chenery, T. W. 



Chenery, W. D. 
Chenery, Mrs. W. D. 
Chesnut, J. A. 
Clark, E. J. 
Cline, William 
Cloyd, Matthew 
Coleman, Jennie B. 
Coleman. L. H. 
Condell, M. B, 
Conkling & Hall 
Constant, J. H. 
Constant, John T. 
Constant, W. F. 
Constant, W. S. 
Converse, A. L. 
Converse, Henry 
Converse, W. O. 
Converse, Mrs. W. O, 
Cooper, Med. 
Correll, Cornelius 
Correll, D. S. 
Correll, H. O. 
Correll, Thomas 
Council, George W. 
Council, John 
Council, Robert 
Creary, John 
Crenshaw Bros, 
Cross, E. 

Crowley, Charles O. 
Cullom, S. M. 
Currier, J. H. 
Currier, Mrs. J. H. 
Currier, S. W. 
Curry, John 
Curry, R. L. 
Dalby, Joel 
Darn'eille. J. M. 
Dawson, B. 
Day, Geo. W. 
Day, R. & M. 
Dewitt, J. A. 
Dubois, J. K. 
Dunlap, J. R. 
Dunnick, Nicholas 
Eielson & Rhodes 
Elkin, Arthur 
Elmore, H. H. 
Elliott, Temp. 
England, M. R. 
Enos, Zimri A. 
Enos, Mrs. Zimri A. 
Epling, W. A. 
Fagan, Geo. 
Farr, A. 
Fassett, Frank 
Fayart, H. 
Ferguson, B. H. 
Fisher, A. H. 
Fisher, J. B. 
Flagg, C. 
Fletcher, Benj. 
Fleury, Frank 
Foster, Jacob 
Foutch, John 
Fox, B F. 
Francis, Josiah 
Franz, B. 
Freeman, C. W. 
Frood, John 



Fullinwider, J. N. 
Fullinwider, Mrs. J. N. 
Garland, A. M. 
Garland, J. M. 
Gardner, Hiram' 
Gatton, G. E. 
Gatton, J. N. 
Gehrmann, C. A. 
Gilbreth, W. C. 
Gillett, Leslie 
Gilpin, Enoch 
Glasscock, James B. 
Glasscock, Thomas 
Glasscock, Travis 
Glidden & Co. 
Grant, David 
Gray, B. C. 
Green, Fred 
Green, H. S. 
Greenwood, Jas. W. 
Grimsley, W. P. 
Gross, W. L. 
Groves, G. A. 
Grubb, Amos 
Haines, B. F. 
Haines, Mrs. Harriet 
Hall, Chas. B. 
Hall, D. S. 
Hall, D H. 
Hall, E. A. 
Hall, J. A. 
Hall, O. P. 
Hamilton, L. F. 
Happer, A. F. 
Harlow, R. A. 
Harris, Charles 
Harris, W. P. 
Harts, P. W. 
Harvey, CD. 
Hay, M. 
Hays, W. S. 
Hedges, C. C. 
Helmle, C. A. 
Henkle, J. C. 
Herndon, E. B. 
Herndon, R. F. 
Hickey, D. 
Hickox. C. V. 
Hickox, M. 
Highmore, J. S. 
Hitt, S.N. 
Hofferkamp, H. 
Hoflerkamp, J. H. 
Holland, W. H. 
Holly, W. H. 
Hood, Samuel 
Howard, P. 
Howeistine, Henry 
Huber, F. 
Hudson, J. L. 
Hufiaker, W. B. 
Huffman, L. F. 
Hussey, W. S. 
Huttou, T. J. 
Ide, A. L. 
lies, Edward 
lies, Elijah, Sr. 
lies, Elijah F. 
lies, Mrs. Mildred 
Jayne, Wm. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



549 



Johnson, Henry 
Johnson, J. B. 
Johnson, Joel 
Johnson, Lewis 
Jones, David G. 
Jones, Geo. B. 
Jones, J. B. 
Jones, J. W. 
Jones, S. H. 
Jones, Wm. H. 
Journal Company 
Kidd, T. W. S. 
Kimber & Ragsdale 
King, J. C. 
King, Thomas S. 
Kinney, Henry 
Keazer, Reuben 
Kessberger, August 
Keyes, Chas. A. 
Knapp, A. L. 
Knight, Ira 
Kreisecker, D. C. 
Kusel, J. A. 
Lake, Ellen M. 
Lake, John S. 
Lake, Mrs. Julia 
Lake, T. W. 
Lanphier, Chas. H., Jr. 
Latham, Geo. C. 
Latham, H. C. 
Lawler, James 
Lawrence, R. D. 
Loepke, C. 
Leaverton, Wilson 
Leland, Horace 
Leonard, Jacob 
Lester, James 
Level, J. M. 
Lewis, John M. 
Lewis, John P. 
Lewis, O. 

Lightfoot, Goodrich 
Lightfoot, Wm. H. 
Little, G. 
Little, S. N, 
Little, T. S. 
Little, Mrs, T. S. 
Littler, D. T. 
Long, Chas. H. 
Loose, Mrs. J. G. 
Loose, Joseph 
Lyon, H. D. 
Malone, A. O. 
Marsh, W. H. 
Mason, J. A. 
Mason, John L. 
Mason, Noah 
Mason, Seth 
Mason, W. T 
Matheny, C. W. 
Matheny, James H. 
Matheny, Noah 
Mathers, Thomas C. 
McClelland, John 
McClelland, Robert Jr. 
McClelland, Thomas 
McClernand, John A. 
McConnell, A. B. 
McConnell, John 



McCreary, John 
McDaniels, George 
McGinnis, John 
McGinnis, W. W. 
McKinney, Chas. E. 
McKinuey. W. P. 
McKinstry, O. H. 
McTaggart, D. 
McTaggart, R. 
McVeigh, B. F. 
Merriman, George 
Merritt, E. L., & Bro. 
Mester, Herman 
Metzger, George 
Miller, Charles 
Miller, Mis. Fannie 
Miller, H. 
Miller, J. A. 
Miller, Joseph 
Million, J. L. 
Mills, Charles P. 
Mills, Mrs. Charles F. 
Mitts, Carlyle 
Mitts, J. T. 
Moore, M. M. 
Morgan, Jacob 
Mount, Charles E. 
Mourer, Georee W. 
Mueller, H. E. 
Myers, Davidson & Henley 
Myers, Frank 
Myers, Pat 
Neal, F. M. 
Neilson, Archie 
Nesbitt, S. G. 
Nuckols, T J. 
Ordway, Walter 
Orendorff, A. 
OrendorfE, Mrs. Julia 
Ott, Daniel A. 
Palmer, John M. 
Pasfield, George 
Pasfield, Hattie 
Patton, James W. 
Paulen Debold 
Pearer, J. M. 
Perkins, J. B. 
Perkins, R. L. 
Perkins, T. M. 
Pheasant, Samuel 
Pickrell, Frank 
Pickrell, George 
Pickrell, Watson 
Pickrell, Wm. 
Pierson, J. G. 
Pollard, James A. 
Poorman, J. M., Sr. 
Post, C. R. 
Power, George, Sr. 
Power, J. E. 
Prather, John, Jr. 
Prather, S. E. 
Price, J. F. 
Priest, John W. 
Primin, E. 
Primm, Mrs. E. 
Putnam, Jonathan 
Pyle, Lawson 
Radcliff, C. C. 



McCoy, M. D. 
Rankin, Mrs. S. J. 
Rankin, W. L. 
Reece, J. N. 
Reilly, Charles 
Richardson, Ada 
Richardson, Emma 
Richardson, W. D. 
Richardson, Mrs. W. D. 
Ridgely, Charles 
Ridgely, Henry 
Ridgely, N. H. 
Ridgely, Wm. 
Rippon, John 
Riser, P. H. 
Roberts & Finley 
Robinson, Henson 
Rosenwald, S. 
Ross, W. R. 
Ruckel, J. 
Rupp, Philip 
Ruth, R. F. 
Rutz, Edward 
Sackett. C. C. 
Salter, J. D. B. 
Salzenstein, E. 
Saunders, A. H. 
Saunders, H. A. 
Saunders, J. R. 
Saunders, Milton 
Schoeneman, John 
Scholes, Samuel D. 
Schuck, J. H, 
Shirley, John 
Shoup, Samuel N. 
Shammel, George 
Shutt, W. E. 
Sims, A. M. 
Simmons, Frank 
Simpson, William 
Smilhers, M. 
Smith, C. M. 
Smith, D. W. 
Smith & Hay 
Smitn, J. D. 
Smith, John D. 
Smith, John T. 
Smith, J. Taylor 
Smith, J. S. 
Smith, Lloyd B. 
Smith, Samuel 
Smith. Thomas 
Spath, George 
Si)ringer, Phil. M, 
Staley, W. H. 
Starne, A. 
Starne, C. A. 
Stebbins, O. F. 
Steele, R. C. 
Steiger, C. F, & Brother 
Steinboemer, A. W. 
Stern, Solomon 
Stout, James M. 
Strodtman, J. G. 



Rames, J. O. 
Stuve, Bernard 
Taylor, F. K. 
Taylor, Isaac J. 
Thayer, E. R. 
Thompson, A. F. 
Thompson, A. T. 
Thompson. Harvey 
Timothy, C D. 
Tracy, Carter 
Tracy, Frank W. 
Trimble, Mrs. B. J. 
Trimble, Geo. 
Troxell, C C. 
Trumbo, Hnrness 
Turner, Charles M. 
Twist, John A. 
VanBergen, Peter 
Vance, Ira W. 
VanDuyn, G. A. & Co. 
Vanmeter, C. C. 
Van meter, J. R. 
Vincent, John A. 
Vredenburg, Peter 
Wadsworth. M. G. 
Walther & Hecht 
Ward, W. D. 
Wardner, Henry 
Warren, Phil. 
Warren, W. M. 
Watson, Charles F. 
Watson, Harry C. 
Watts, A, B. " 
Watts, Edwin 
Weber, Geo. P. 
Werner, Charles 
Westenbersrer, G. 
White, E. W. 
Wickersham, D. 
Wiggins, N. B. 
Wilbur, Stephen H. 
Wilcox, J. L. 
Williams, Albert P. 
Williams, George 
Williams, Henry C. 
Williams, John 
Williams, John E, 
Williams, Mrs. Lydia 
Wilms, F. 
Wilson, F. J. 
Wilion, J, VV. 
Wilson, John 
Winston, James A. 
Withey, George 
Withey, W. H. 
Wohlgemuth, H. 
Wolcott, Richmond 
Wolf, C. & Co. 
Woltz, John C. 
Wood, George 
Yocum, Wm. 
Zane, Chas. S. 
Zeigler, Harry T. 
Zirnmerman, R. B. 



Stuart, J. T. Jr. 

The first President of this society was J. B. 
Perkins, who served two years, and was suc- 
ceeded by Piatt S. Carter, and he by John A. 



550 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



McClernand, and then George Fickrell was 
elected. 

The following named constitute the present 
officers : 

President— Geo. Pickrell Wheatfield 

Secretary— Phil M. Springer Springfield 

Treasurer— E. A. Hall Springfield 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

J. A. Able , Auburn 

A. R. Bradeen Springfield 

Geo. Carpen-ter Capital 

P. S. Carter Loami 

C. L. Conkling Capital 

M. C. Connelly Capital 

J. D. Crabb Woodside 

H. R. Davis .Pawnee 

J. E. Dodd Talkington 

Bryant Fay , Island Grove 

Wm. Finney Rochester 

C. Flagg Sherman 

Anton Frey Curran 

Frank Godlcy Capital 

S. A. Grubb Clear Lake 

O. P. Hall Mechanicsburg 

Owen Hanratty Capital 

G. L. Harnberger Cartwright 

W. F. Herndon Capital 

W. F. Irwin . . Salisbury 

J. A. Kennedy Springfield 

S. T. Matthew Ball 

Thos. Munce Wheatfield 

D. W. Peden Illiopolis 

J. W. Priest Caoital 

W. B. Robinson Buffalo Hart 

Hartman Spengle Cotton Hill 

B. F. Talbott.X Capital 

E. N. Thayer Chatham 

N H. Turner Gardner 

Wm. M. Warren New Berlin 

O. S. Webster Williams 

J. W. Wigginton Cooper 

DIRECTORS. 

Geo. M. Caldwell Williamsville 

S. N. Hitt New Berlin 

J. B. Perkins Woodside 

Jacob Leonard Sherman 

J . S . Highmore Rochester 

Annual exhibitions have been held since ISTl, 
by the new society, with the exception of the 
years 1879 and 1880, when the State Agricultural 
Society held fairs on the grounds. 

The Board, on its organization, leased from 
the county the old Poor Farm, near Springfield, 
which have been fitted up in handsome style 
and very convenient. 

STATE FAIRS. 

The first two exhibitions of the Illinois State 
Agricultural Society, in the years 1853 and 1854, 
were held at Springfield. Also the fairs of 1879 
and 1880. Each of these exhibitions were a 
decided success. To Simeon Francis, a Sanga- 
mon county citizen, is due the credit of the 
organization of the societv and success of its 



first exhibitions, probably more than any other 
man. 

THE AMERICAN BERKSHIRE ASSOCIATION. 

The American Berkshire Association was 
organized February 25, 1875, its object being to 
collect, revise, preserve and publish the history, 
management and pedigree of pure-bred Berk- 
shire swine. 

On the 18th of March, 1879, the Association 
was incorporated as a stock company under the 
laws of the State of Illinois. Charles F. Mills 
was elected President; Philip M. Springer, Secre- 
tary, and H. L. San ford, of Logan county, 
Treasurer. Vice Presidents were chosen in 
nearly every State in the Union and also in 
Canada, England and Ireland, to represent the 
interests of the Association. 

Under the careful management of its efficient 
and faithful ofticers, the Association has achieved 
a decided and well-deserved success. The public 
registry of swine was a new project and deemed 
altogether impracticable by many engaged in 
the breeding and rearing of hogs. To-day, fol- 
lowing the example of the American Berkshire 
Association, the breeders of a number of other 
classes of swine, as also of sheep, have organized 
for the purpose of recording stock of their 
respective breeds. 

Thousands of dollars are lost to farmers and 
stockmen every year by the injudicious selection 
of breeding animals. One of the most common 
mistakes is that of using sires of unknown 
ancestry. There is no longer any excuse for 
this. In the purchase of Berkshires particu- 
larly, all who will may readily avail themselves 
of the advantages presented by the American 
Berkshire Record, published by the Association, 
for securing well-bred stock. In making addi- 
tions to herds already started, or in founding 
new herds, well advised breeders use no other 
than well-bred pedigreed animals. 

The American Berkshire Record is the ac- 
knowledged authority in matters of Berkshire 
pedigrees wherever this breed of swine is 
known. The four volumes already published 
contain a fund of information invaluable to 
breeders. In these will be found in addition to 
the pedigrees of the best families of Berkshires 
in the world, premium essays and other valuable 
treatises on swine; also the table of characteris- 
tics and the standard of excellence, together 
with many illustrations of representative ani- 
mals. 

Philip M. Springer, of Springfield, Illinois, is 
still the Secretary and chief executive of the 
Association and editor of the Record. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



551 



Chapter XXVI. 



VARIOUS THINGS. 



THE DEEP SNOW. 

The following highly graphic description of 
the deep snow of 1830-31, was written as a con- 
tribution to the Old Settlers' Society in 1858, by 
Rev. J. G. Bergen, and no apology need be 
offered for its insertion in this connection : 

"Steeped in the heat of July — thermometer 
ranging ninety degrees — strange time to write 
about snow. Write about the hot season, 
thunder-storms, tornadoes, sunstrokes, not so 
strange. We live on neutralized contrasts, and 
take pleasure in them. We think and move also 
by associations. The deep snow of the winters 
of 1830-31, of Illinois, associates itself now by 
two facts. It comes in regular course. It was 
made also the limitation point of the late meet- 
ing of old settlers in Springfield, at which time 
we had a good time in general, and appointed a 
committee to ascertain the facts of the log -house 
times — memorable days of hospitality and 
security. 

"The deep snow is chronicled in the memory 
of the old settlers of Sangamon. They talk of 
it as when a child ; soldiers of the old French 
war in Canada, under Wolfe, talked of the 
depth and heights of the snow in the forests of 
New York in 1766, and the consequent sufferings 
ot the Provincial troops on their return home. 
They talk of it as our Revolutionary fathers 
talked of the memorable snow winter of 1779 in 
New Jersey. 

"The autumn of 1830 was wet, and the 
weather prevailingly mild until the close of 
December. Christmas Eve the snow began to 
fall. That night it fell about a foot deep. It 
found the earth soft, grass green, and some 
green peach leaves on the trees. The day was 
mild. The snow contributed greatly to the 
amusement of the boys, and called forth the 
hilaritv of all who had sleighs or sleds, or who 
6i— 



could rig a 'jumper' with a store-box or a crate. 
Bells of any description, if not in the cutter, 
were hung on the horses by ropes or twine. The 
straps of bells we brought from New Jersey 
were, I believe, the first and only straps here at 
the time. They were freely at the service of 
Drs. Todd and Jayne, who were famous for fast 
horses, if not good sleighs. They were famous 
horsemen, hardy and hard drivers. 

"As the snow fell night after night, and week 
after week, these implements, if they lost in 
novelty, gained in utility. Serious preparations 
were made by increasing the size and strength of 
the sleighs and doubling teams, to break the way 
to mill and woods, for household bread, fuel, 
corn and provender. Mr. Enos, one of the 
wealthiest men of the place, and Receiver of 
Public Moneys, turned out with a great sled and 
two yoke of oxen, to haul wood to the destitute. 
With wolf-skin cap on head, with Yankee frock, 
buttoned up close to the neck behind, reaching 
below his knees, belted over a great coat beneath, 
with legging protectors and ox-goad in hand, he 
rolled up the bodies and limbs of trees, some of 
them more than fifty feet long, to the door of 
the writer, for which he and his family shall 
receive our thanks while life shall last. The 
same kind act he did to many others. His 
timber was nearest to the town. Woodmen 
felled the trees, rolled them on the sled, and the 
benevolent veteran left them at our doors. 

"Snow succeeded snow, interchanged with 
sleet and fine hail, which glazed and hardened 
the surface. Nine long weeks witnessed this 
coming deep snow, until in all these parts its 
depth averaged from four to five feet. Woe 
was the day when sleds met on the single 
beaten track! The plunging of horses, overturn- 
ing of loads — not to speak o^ the screams of 
the belles within, the laughs of young America, 
or the wrath of the teamsters. Many were the 



552 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



joyous rides the two doctors, with four horses to 
their sleighs, gave the young people. Sometimes 
a day was spent going to Sangamon town for a 
barrel of flour, only seven miles, or live to 
Clark's. They made separate trips to Jackson- 
ville as a matter of amusement, to take or bring 
some storm-bound friends. Once, with a bevy 
of ladies, one of them fresh from Boston, the 
party had all sorts of a time. Though the des- 
cription of these rides, as sdven at the time, is 
vivid in my recollection, I shall leave them to 
the imagination of the reader, with the rough, 
roomy sleigh, covered with buttalo robes, filled 
to overflowing with hale, happy companions, be- 
hind four fiery horses, clamping their bits in 
their mouths, ready for a plunge. The driver 
cracks his whip, the bells jingle, as the merry 
party sings out, and they are off — sometimes in 
deep drifts where they founder, snow within, 
snow without, snow everywhere, cold cutting the 
face, drifts blinding the eyes, horses rearing and 
plunging, at times drawing their 'slow length' 
wearily along. 

"During the long nine weeks the thermometer 
ranged close to zero; a few times it went twenty 
below, and the water dropped from the eaves 
only two days, so intense was the continuous 
cold. When the snow fell there was no frost in 
the ground; the sap of the trees had not been 
forced by the cold to the roots. The conse- 
quence was the peach trees were invariably 
killed; apple trees and nurseries mostly shared 
the same fate. The summer before, I had seen 
wagon loads of peaches in some orchards. Such 
a sight has never greeted our eyes since, in these 
parts. 

"Great hardships were endured that winter 
by men and beasts. When the snow came it 
found most of the corn standing on the stalks. 
The fall had been so warm and wet that the 
farmers had a better reason than common to in- 
dulge the careless habit of leaving their corn in 
the field, to be gathered in winter, when they 
wanted it. The snow became so deep, the cold 
so intense, the crust at times so hard, and the 
people were so unprepared for such an extreme 
season, that it became almost impossible in many 
parts of the country to obtain bread for family 
use, though amid stacks of wheat and fields of 
corn. Water-mills, scarce and small as they were, 
were frozen and stopped a considerable portion 
of the time. If the one-horse 'corn-cracker,' 
for 'dodgers,' or the inclined wheel of the ox- 
mill could go, it was with great difiiculty; and 
many lived so far from these it was impossible 
to go to them. Many had no road and no ability 



to make one through the depths of snow; and 
those who had, were compelled to make them 
over and over again, in consequence of the drift 
filling the track, or a new supply from the 
clouds. 

''Hundreds of hogs and fowls perished. Horses 
and cattle were in many instances turned into 
the corn fields. Prairie chickens, whose habit, 
as is well known, is to roost on the ground, per- 
ished that winter in such number, we feared the 
race of this fine bird would become extinct. 
When their time of roost come they Avould light 
upon the snow, if the crust would bear them; or 
if its bosom was soft, plunge into it, and spend 
the night as on the earth; but if a heavy fall of 
snow come that night, especially if it were coat- 
ed with a crust of ice, as often happened, the 
poor imprisoned things were locked in, and 
thousands and thousands perished." 

RAILROAD VILLAGES. 

Railroad villages are camparatively a recent 
feature in village building. They usually begin 
with a depot, followed by a postoftice, a black- 
smith shop and the contents of a couple of ped- 
dler's packs duly distributed upon a half dozen 
shelves, and there they are born, christened and 
waiting to grow. The trains run to and fro and 
the passengers see the little groups clustered 
round the track and wonder what thej^ do there, 
and why they do not go on with the train. By 
and by houses get to be an epidemic and up they 
go, here and there and all about. Streets are 
staked, lots are measured and a public square is 
reserved, and they have a justice, and a doctor, 
and a young lawyer, and "stated preaching" 
once in two weeks. That's a pretty good begin- 
ning, but its only a beginning. A young sopho- 
more, out of funds, and looking for a place to 
teach a winter's school, gets off a straggling train 
some day. Everybody knows he is there. He 
reached there at two o'clock, and by half past 
three everybody knows who he is, and what he 
is, and whence he is, and the 'squire sees him 
and the doctor shows him around the town, 
waves his hand towards the prairie and dilates 
upon its resources; towards the town and pro- 
nounces a eulogy upon its enterprise, and the 
young man is charmed, and over the stone he 
climbs at once up one flight of stairs into a "high 
school." 

Things go on bravely, and a public-spirited 
individual, who, as he says, has more room than 
he wants, gets the painter — for meanwhile such 
an artisan has taken passage in the village en 
route to greatness — to emblazon his name in very 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



553 



black letters upon a very white board, and there 
is general rejoicing at the new "hotel," where the 
lawyer argues with the storekeeper nightly, while 
the doctor completes the triangle upon the des- 
tiny of the world in general and Depotdom in 
particular. 

What they lack now is a newspaper. By-and- 
bye an old press is for sale in a neighboring town 
and a "tramping jour" has stranded upon their 
beach, and the lawyer promises to' write their 
"leaders," the doctor their obituaries, the school- 
masters do the puzzles and the poetry, while the 
blacksmith and the merchant promise to be lib- 
eral patrons in the way of advertising. The 
paper appears —like the village, it is small, but 
with the village it grows. 

The trains use to whistle and ring and barely 
slacken their speed. Now, they stop altogether, 
for there are more to get off and more to get on. 

The tavern-keeper takes a State map of a ped- 
dler, who happened to be his guest over a rainy 
Sunday, discovers that Depotdom is the geograph- 
ical center of the country. There is an immense 
agitation. The seat of justice, justice herself, 
scales and all must be removed thither. They 
work at it, electioneer about it, bid for it and 
gat it. 

Now the huddle is a village; now ihe village is 
a town; now the town is a shire-town; now the 
shire-town is a city. The blacksmith shop has 
grown into a half dozen factories; the lawyer is 
multiplied by ten, and the doctor by six, and the 
storekeeper knocks down his prices to compete 
with nineteen new comers. And all this is ac- 
complished through the influence of railroads 
and locomotives within the space of two or three 
years. 

The lawyer is a county judge, the doctor has 
grown rich, the blacksmith is mayor, and the 
sophomore is married and settled. They have 
a lyceum and a library, and a little daily that re- 
gales its readers with a whole column of city 
items. How they talk of "our city!" They 
are no longer villagers and pagans. They are 
citizens. 

HARD TIMES. 

The effect of the hard times throughout the 
United States, beginning in 1837, was not felt 
in this county until the following year. From 
that time until about the year 1845, our people 
experienced greater financial embarrassment 
than at any time in the previous history of the 
county. Money was an almost unknown com- 
modity, all business being transacted through 
the means of trade or barter. A would trade 



B flour for its value in meal; B would trade C 
a yoke of oxen for a horse; D would trade E a 
half dozen hogs for a cow, &c. If money 
enough could be raised to pay the general taxes, 
a man considered himself fortunate. Many 
were the straits to which the people were led to 
make both ends meet, and many laughable inci- 
dents are narrated of the crooks and turns that 
were made — incidents that are laughable to us 
now, but were serious matters at that time. 
Notes were given for value received, payable in 
a cow, or a horse, or other property, and when 
the note came due, and collection was to be 
made, it would sometimes be hard for one party 
or the other to make proof of it being that 
which was described in the note. Many notes 
were held, without attempting to make collec- 
tion, in the hopes that better times would dawn 
upon the country, and their makers be able to 
pay the money. 

During these hard times the price of such 
articles as the people here had to buy, rapidly 
advanced, while that of which they had to sell 
as rapidly declined. New Orleans sugar sold at 
sixteen and two-thirds cents per pound; coffee, 
twenty-five cents; calico or prints, fifty cents per 
yard; hogs brought from one dollar to one dol- 
lar and twenty-five cents per hundred pounds; 
wheat, twenty cents per bushel. 

In a general way, Ford, in his "History of 
Illinois," well describes the existing order of 
things in this county at that time. On pages 
96-99, will be found the following: 

"Commerce from 1818 to 1830 made but small 
progress. Steamboats commenced running on 
the Western waters in 1816, and by the year 
1830 there were one or two small ones running 
on the Illinois river as far up as Peoria 
and sometimes further. The old keel-boat navi- 
gation had been disused, but as yet there was so 
little trade as not to call for many steamboats to 
supply their place. The merchants of the vil- 
lages, few in number at first, were mere retailers 
of dry goods and groceries; they purchased and 
shipped abroad none of the productions of the 
country, except a few skins, hides and furs, and 
a little tallow and beeswax. They were sus- 
tained in this kind of business by the influx of 
immigrants, whose money being paid out in the 
country for grain, stock and labor, furnished the 
means of trade. The merchant himself rarely 
attempted a barter business, and never paid cash 
for anything but his goods. There was no class 
of men who devoted themselves to the business 
of buying and selling, and of making the ex- 
changes of the productions at home for those 



554 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of other States and countries. The great ma- 
jority, in fact, nearly all the merchants, were 
mere blood-suckers, men who, with very little 
capital, with small stock of goods, and with 
ideas of business not broader than these ribbons, 
nor deeper than these colors, sold for money 
down, or on credit for cash, which, when 
received, they send out of the country. Since 
their time a race of traders and merchants have 
sprang up who use the money they receive 
in purchasing the wheat, corn, beef and pork of 
the farmers, and ship these articles to the east- 
ern cities. 

" Mather, Lamb & Company, late of Chester, 
in Randolph county, but now of Springfield, were 
the first to engage in this business, and they 
were led to it by the refusal of the United States 
Bank, at St. Louis, to grant them the usual facil- 
ities of trade. As they could got no accommo- 
dation from the bank, they fell upon this course 
to avoid going to St. Louis to purchase eastern 
exchange. 

" The money they received being again paid 
out, remained in the country and the products 
went forward in its place to pay for stock of 
goods. The traders in this way made a profit 
on their goods which they brought into the State, 
and another profit on the produce which they 
sent out of it. 

" But, as yet, the merchant generally hh,d 
neither the capital nor the talent for such a busi- 
ness, and it was not until a more recent period — 
upon the going down of the United States Bank, 
the consequent withdrawal of facilities for ex- 
change in money, and the high rates of exchange 
which came in with local banks of doubtful 
credit — that they have been very extensively 
forced into it. When they no longer could get 
either money for remittances to these eastern 
creditors, or bills of exchange, except at ruinous 
rates of premium, they at once saw the advan- 
tage of laying out the local currency received for 
their goods in purchasing the staples of the 
country and forwarding them in the place of 
cash. In very early times there were many 
things to discourage regular commerce. A want 
of capital; a want of capacity for the business; 
the want of a great surplus of productions, the 
continual demand for them created by emigrants 
and facility of carrying on a small commerce 
with the money supplied by emigration alone, 
all stood in the way of regular trade. 

"New Orleans, at that time, was our principal 
market out of the State. It was then but a small 
city, and shipped but a trifle of the staple arti- 
cles of Illinois to foreign countries. Such ship- 



ments as were made to it were intended for the 
supply of the local market, and here the Illi- 
noisanshadto compete with Kentucky, Ohio, In- 
diana, Tennessee and Missouri. Any temporary 
scarcity in this market was soon supplied, and 
the most of the time it was completely glutted. 
" For want of merchants or others who were 
to make a business of carrying our staples to 
market, our farmers undeitook to be their own 
merchants and traders. This practice prevailed 
extensively in the western country. A farmer 
would produce or get together a quantity of corn, 
flour, bacon and such articles. He would build 
a fiat-bottomed boat on the shores of some river 
or large creek, load his wares in it, and, await- 
ing the rise of water, with a few of his negroes 
to assist him, would float down to New Orleans. 
The voyage was long, tedious and expensive. 
When he arrived there he found himself in a 
strange citv, filled with sharpers ready to take 
advantage of his necessities. Everybody com- 
bined against him to profit by his ignorance of 
business, want of friends or commercial connec- 
tions, and nine times out ten he returned a bro- 
ken merchant. His journey home was performed 
on foot, through three or four nations of Indians, 
inhabiting the western parts of Mississippi, Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky. He returned to a desolate 
farm, which had been neglected since he was 
gone. One crop was lost by absence, and an- 
other by taking it to market. This kind of bus- 
iness was persevered in astonishingly for several 
years, to the great injury and utter ruin of a 
great many people." 

THE riRST COURT HOUSE. 

The first County Commissioners took the oath 
of ofiice on the third day of April, 1821, and one 
week after met for the purpose of selecting a 
temporary seat ol justice. On that same day 
they made the following contract for the erection 
of a court house. 

"Article of agreement entered into the 10th day of 
April, 1821, between John Kelley of the county of 
Sangamon, and the undersigned County Commission- 
ers of said county. The said Kelley agrees with said 
Commissioners to build for the use of said county, a 
court house of the following description, to-wit: The 
logs to be twenty feet long, the house one story high, 
plank floor, a good cabin roof, a door and window cut 
out, the work to be completed by the first day of May 
next, for which the said Commissioners promise, on 
the part of the county, to pay said Kelley forty-two 
dollars and fifty cents. Witness our hands the day and 
date above. 

John Kelley, 
Zachakiah Peter, 
William Drennan." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



555 



The foregoing contract was merely for the 
erection of the building. To Jesse Brevard was 
let the contract for finishing the same in the fol- 
lowing terms: 

" Jesse Brevard agrees with the County Commission- 
ers to finish the court house in the following manner, 
to-wit: To be chinked outside and daubed inside. 
Boards sawed and nailed on the inside cracks, a good, 
sufficient door shutter to be made with good plank and 
hung with good iron hinges, with a latch. A window 
to be cut out, faced and cased, to contain nine lights, 
with a good sufhcient shutter hung on the outside. A 
good, sufficient wooden chimney, built with a good 
sufficient back and hearth. To be finished by the first 
of September next. Jessk Brevard." 

The entire cost of the building, including a 
Judge's seat and bar, was $72.50. ( See engrav- 
ing). 

THE SECOND COURT HOUSE. 

On the passage of the act in 1824, defining the 
boundaries of the county, commissioners were 
selected to permanently locate the county seat. 
As already stated Springfield was selected. At 
the July term, 1825, the County Commissioners 
passed an order that the county proceed to build 
a court house, at a cost not to exceed $3,000, 
provided one-half the expense be made up by 
subscription. It was to be of brick, two stories 
high. The effort to raise the money by subscrip- 
tion proving a failure, the building was not 
erected. But the old log court house was too 
small and inconvenient, and another building 
must be provided. Accordingly, in September, 
1825, a contract was made for the erection of a 
frame building, which, when completed, cost 
the sum of -1519. The new frame house was 
built on the north-west corner of Adams and 
Sixth streets, and was erected by Thomas M. 
Neale. The contract for the chimney was let to 
Joseph Thomas. 

THIRD COURT HOUSE. 

On the 6th day of February, 1830, John Todd, 
Asa S. Shaw, and Garret Elkin were appointed 
by the County Commissioners' Court to conti'act 
for the building of a brick court house on the 
public square, to be constructed after the plans 
furnished by John Moffett and David S. Taylor. 
The agents were authorized and instructed to 
superintend the construction of the building, 
subject to orders from the court. On the 3d of 
March, the Commissioners reported to the court 
that they had entered into contract wnth two 
parties, one for the brick work, at $4,641, the 
other for the wood work, at $2,200, making a 
total of $6,841. This building was completed 
early in 1831. It was a square building, two 



stories high, hip roof, with a cupola rising in the 
center. 

FOURTH COURT HOUSE. 

A special term of the County Commissioners' 
Court was held on Saturday, April 5, 1845, to 
take into consideration the proposition for the 
purchase of ground for the erection of a new 
court house. The County Attorney, Stephen T. 
Logan, was instructed to purchase lots of James 
Dunlap and Robert Irwin, on the northeast cor- 
ner of the square, provided a good deed could 
be made by the parties. The ground was pur- 
chased and a contract entered into with Henry 
Dresser, on the 11th day of April, 1845, for the 
construction of the building. 

From the time the brick court house was 
erected, all the business of the town collected 
around the square. When Springfield was se- 
lected as the future capital of the State in 1837, 
with a pledge to raise $50,000 to assist in build- 
ing the State House, also to furnish the land 
upon which to place it, it was not an easy matter 
to agree upon a location. If land was selected 
far enough from the existing business to be 
cheap, then the $50,000 could not be raised; 
those already in business around the square re- 
fused to contribute, because the State House 
being so much larger and more attractive, would 
draw the business after it, thus injuring the 
value of their property. After discussing the 
question in all its bearings, it was found that 
the only practicable way to settle the question 
was to demolish the court house and use the 
square for the State House. Then those around 
it would contribute to the $50,000 fund to the 
extent of their ability. 

The court house was accordingly removed 
early in 1837, and work on the State House com- 
menced. This square, with the court house and 
other buildings on it, were valued at the time at 
about $16,000. 

Having thus summarily disposed of their 
court house, and having engaged to do so much 
towards building the State House, the people of 
Sangamon county were unable to undertake the 
building of another. To supply the deficiency, 
the county authorities then rented a building 
that had been erected for a storehouse by the 
Hon. Ninian W. Edwards. This building, at 
the west side of Fifth street, five doors north of 
AVashington, was used as a court house for about 
ten years. 

Having such a large amonnt of money to raise 
for the payment on the State capital, the county 
was unable to do anything towards the building 



o5G 



UISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of a new court house at the time, and the finan- 
cial crisis of 1887 coming on, it was not until 
1845 that an effort was made to erect a new 
building. As already stated, a contract was 
now made for a building, the cost of which was 
to be |!9,6S0. It was erected according to con- 
tract, and occupied until the purchase from the 
State of the old capital building, when the 
offices were removed. Subsequently the court 
house was sold, and a fine brick block now 
occupies its site. 

FIFTH COURT HOUSE. 

The fiCth court house is the old State House, 
purchased of the State, for the sum of $200,000. 
To this sura might be added 170,000 paid by the 
city for the grounds of the new State House, 
which was a part of the contract by which the 
o'd building was surrendered. 

VILLAGES AND STATIONS IN THE COUNTY. 

Distances from Springfield. 

PLACES. MILES. 

Auburu , 15 

Barclay 8^ 

Bates 13 

Berlin 13i 

Bradford. S 5 

Breckenridge 13 

ButY*lo 14 

Buffalo Hart 13 

Cautrall lOJ 

Chatham 9 

Clarksville, 12 

Cora, S 6i 

Curran 9 

Dawson 11 

Farmingdale, S 8^ 

German Praii-ie, S 4 

Illiopolis 23 

Island Grove 19 

.Junction 2 



PLACES. MILES. 

Lanesville 17 

Loami 18 

Lowder , 28 

Mechanicsburg 14 

New Berlin 16 

Pawnee , 17 

Pleasant Plains 17 

Richland 12 

Riverton 7 

Rochester 8 

Rolling Mills, S 2 

Salisbury 12 

Sangamon, S- 5 

Sanger, S....- 6 

Sherman 8 

Water Works, S 4 

Williamsville 13 

Woodside, S 6 



TABLE OF DISTANCES FROM SPRINGFIELD TO 



Alton 72 

Amboy 151 

Aurora 180 

Batavia 187 

Belleville 110 

Belvidere 240 

Bloomington 59 

Braidwood 124 

Bushnell 89 

Cairo 245 

Canton 100 

Carbondale 188 

Carlinville 38 

Centralia 132 

Champaign 85 

Charleston 92 

Chicago 185 

Clinton 43 

Danville 112 

Decatur 39 

Dixou 1G3 



DuQuoin 168 

East St. Louis 95 

Edwardsville 90 

Eflingham 108 

Elgin 227 

ElPaso 77 

Evanston 196 

Freeport 198 

Fulton 201 

Galena 249 

Galva 157 

Galesburg 116 

Geneseo 179 

Jacksonville 34 

Jerseyville 92 

Joliet 147 

Kankakee 136 

Kewanee 146 

La Salle 119 

Lincoln 28 

Litchfield 59 



Macomb 100 

Mattoon 81 

Mendota 135 

Moline 183 

Monmouth 116 

Morris 157 

Murfrcesboro 185 

Ottawa 134 

Pana 42 

Paris : 118 

Pekin 79 

Peoria 89 

Peru 121 



Pinceton 167 

Quincy 112 

Rockford 226 

Rock Island 180 

St. Charles 191 

Sterling 175 

Streator 108 

Taylorville 27 

Urbana 87 

Warsaw 135 

Waukegan 220 

Wilmington 132 

Woodstock 236 



RAILROAD ACCIDENT. 

On Saturday night, August 16, 1873, a passen- 
ger train and coal train on the Chicago & Alton 
Railroad collided near Lemont, the boilers of 
the engines of both trains exploding and fatally 
scalding about sixty peisons, four of whom were 
citizens of Sangamon county. 

John W. Smith, was taken to Chicago, where 
he died Monday, August IS. 

J. R. Fleury, died a few hours later than Mr. 
Smith. 

Noah Divelbiss, jr., and' William Little died, 
not long surviving the accident. 

The remains of the four were brought to 
Springfield and the funeral services of the entire 
number took place in the rotunda of the State 
House. Previously the City Council and ciii- 
zens met and passed resolutions of sympathy. 
During the funeral hours business of all kinds 
was suspended. A song, inscribed to the friends 
of the deceased, written by Mrs. Albert Smith, 
was sung on the occason. The words are as 
follows: 

"God of the mourner! if among Thy angels. 
One there may be more pitiful than all. 
Tell them that here full many a heart is breaking, 
Tell them that here we groan beneath a pall. 

" Fierce is the tempest raging all around us. 

Many the bvu'dens that we bear to-day, 
But Thou art mighty, merciful and tender, 
Come and sustain us, in Thine own best way. 

"Hast Thou not said Thy grace is all sufficient, 
Canst Thou not wipe each falling tear away? 
See, Lord, we come with hearts all crushed and 
bleeding. 
Bind up our wounds and comfort us we pray. 

"Death, like an army bearing swords and banners, 
Bore oft" our loved, without one farewell said, 
Heedless alike of all our tears and sighing, 
Trampled them low, with swift, relentless tread. 

" Thou who dost smitf not willingly but sadh-. 

Thou who dost hold our loved ones in Thy hand, 
Grant us, though here no good-bye word was 
spoken, 
A glad good- morning in the Better Laud." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



)57 



Appropriate remarks were made by Rev. A. 
Hale, Rev. H. W. Evrest, and Governor Bever- 
idge. An immense crowd followed the remains 
to the grave. 

John W. Smith Avas one of the well known 
and highly respected citizens of Springfield for 
a period of forty years. He was born in Shelby 
county, Kentucky, in 1820, and with his parents 
removed to this county in 1833. His early life 
was that of all pioneers, battling with adversity, 
poverty and privation. His perseverance enabled 
him to overcome all obstacles in the rugged path 
of life; his integrity insured for him the respect 
and merited the confidence of all. He held 
many public offices with honor to himself and 
credit to his constituents. In 1852, he was a 
member of the legislature, sheriff in 1860, and 
in 1862, was first elected mayor of Springfield. 
Under President Lincoln he held the office of 
Collector of Internal Revenue, and was by Gov- 
ernor Oglesby appointed a State House Commis- 
sioner in 1865, and served in that capacity a 
short time. Further political preferment he ob- 
tained by being elected mayor of Springfield in 
1871 and re-elected in 1872. He was also ajD- 
pointed warden of the Penitentiary by Governor 
Beveridge, May, 1873, which position he credit- 
ably filled until his untimely death, August 18, 
1873, occasioned by injuries received in the rail- 
road accident on the Chicago & Alton Railroad. 

TEKRIBLE ACCIDENT. 

Friday morning, November 29, 1872, a terri- 
ble explosion took place at the mills of the Spring- 
field Iron Company. The rolling mills, in order 
to keep pace with its rapidly accumulating orders 
for work, had been running their mills to its full 
capacity night and day, and on the morning 
mentioned, Thomas Robinson, who had special 
charge of a battery of seven boilers, each of which 
was twenty-eight feet long and forty-two inches in 
diameter, in which steam is generated for a half 
dozen engines located in various parts of the 
mill, was on duty. At four o'clock, just as one 
gang of hands were relieving another, a terrific 
explosion took place, shattering the boiler-house, 
and throwing down the smoke stack, turning the 
boilers upsidedown and end for end, and killing 
Robinson instantly and scalding J. C. Miller in 
a terrible manner. There were other workmen 
injured in various ways, but none fatally. The 
cause of the explosion was in not paying atten- 
tion to the condition of the water in the boilers. 

FEARFUL RAILROAD ACCIDENT. 

The Express train going north on the Chicago 
& Alton Railroad, Thursday, April 12, 1660, 



met with a fearful accident, the only wonder 
being that the loss of life was not much greater. 
Traveling at the rate of about twenty-five miles 
an hour, it had just reached the bridge, about 
three miles north of Springfi Id, when the tim- 
bers of the structure gave way, precipitating the 
train some twenty or thirty feet inta the stream- 
bed below. The bridge was constructed upon 
trestle-work and was about two hundred feet 
long. It was broken down about halt its length. 
The accident happened when the locomotive 
had reached about half the length of the bridge, 
it going down at that point. The tender lay 
under the locomotive and the baggage car jam- 
med up against it. All the cars of the train 
went down the embankment and all were badly 
smashed up, but, strange to say, only two per- 
sons were killed, though a number received 
injuries. 

STEAM BOILER EXPLOSION. 

On Wednesday, March 5, 1856, both flues of 
the boiler in Huntington's planing mill exploded 
with terrible force, throwing a portion of the 
boiler a distance of one hundred and twenty 
yards, and entirely demolishing the smoke-stack 
and shed under which the boiler rested. George 
K. Johnson and Mr. Wilson were seriously in- 
jured by the catastrophe. 

CENSUS REPORTS. 
TOWNSHIPS. 1880 

Auburn 2,085 

Ball 1,048 

Buffalo Hart 576 

Carlwright 2,050 

Chatham 1,377 

Clear Lake 2,033 

Cooper 871 

Cotton Hill 1,150 

Curran 1,068 

Fancy Creek 1,307 

Gardner 1,265 

Illiopolis 1,322 

Island Grove 1,003 

Loami 1,556 

Mechanicsburg 1,784 

New Berlin 964 

Pawnee 1,133 

Rochester 1,320 

Salisbury 691 

Spiinglield 3,486 

Capital 19,763 

Tulkington 1,064 

Wheaifield 772 

Williams 1,667 

Woodside 1,638 



1870 
1,303 

989 

538 
1,851 
1,460 
1,566 

785 

754 
1,000 
1,195 
1,270 
1,829 
1,099 
1,460 
1,443 

954 
1,293 
1,440 

698 

2,447 

17,364 

973 

' 1,279 
1,385 



Total 52,993 46,352 

This is a gain in ten years of six thousand, six 
hundred and forty-one, or fourteen and one-third 
per cent., a very reputable showing, when it is 



558 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



considered that from 1873 to 1877, the city, in 
common with her neighbors, suffered a decrease, 
in consequence of the great financial depression 
of the times. 

A few of the townships have fallen off, and 
others appear to have done so, when, in fact, 
they have gained. Auburn has acquired twelve 
square miles of territory from Pawnee, so that, 
instead of Pawnee losing, the two townships 
together have acquired nearly twenty-four per 
cent. 

Capital township corresponds exactly with the 
city of Springfield, and in 1870 the per cent, of 
gain is nearly fourteen. 

Wheatfield township has been organized from 
Illiopolis since 1870, so that the gain of Illiopo- 
lis, as it then existed, is over fourteen per cent. 

OUR LEGISLATORS. 

As is well known, the sessions ef the legisla- 
ture last much longer than the average citizen 
thinks they ought. The following song, written 
as a parody on the familiar temperance song, 
" Father, dear father, come home to me now," is 
supposed to have been written by the wife of a 
rural member, who neglects his farm and family, 
by remaining at the Capital too long in the 
spring: 

"Husband, dear busbaad, come home to me now, 

From the city and State House so warm, 
'Tis lonely without you, wliy do you not come 

And see to the things on the farm"? 
You told me when you were elected last fall, 

If I would but once let you go, 
You'd surely return before April was past, 

And I really believed 'twould be so. 

Come home! Come home! Come home! 
Dear husband, kind husband, come home. 

"Husband, dear husband, come home to me now. 

Come home e're the spring time is through; 
The old brindle cow has got a white calf, 

And the young lambs are bleating for you. 
The hens have been setting a fortnight or more, 

They soon will be off with their broods, 
The old speckled turkey has stolen her nest 

Away in the brakes or the woods. 

"Husband, dear husband, come home to me now. 

The garden needs spading for peas, 
The boys should be picking up stones in the lot, 

And you should be trimming the trees. 
When will you get through with bills and resolves, 

Stop talking of license and rum. 
Of railroads and tunnels, and other such things, 

And tend to your business at home? 

"Husband, dear husband, don't wn-ite to me more 

Of the theater, lobby and club. 
Nor dinners you have eaten at Parker's and Young's 

But hurry away from the hub. 
Yes, hurry 'back home, your Betsy is sad, 



Her heart so honest and true; 
All winter she's slept in the bed' room alone. 
And say, dear husband, have youV 

"Husband, dear husband, come nome to me now, 

Come home, while the birds sing in May, 
And let not the smiles in the gallery there 

Distract you, or tempt you to stay, 
The voice of your Betsy is calling you now. 

Come home; for you know what it means, 
I'm getting quite nervous about you — come home! 

And we will have cow-slips for greens. 

Come home! Come home! Come home! 
Dear husband, kind husband, come home! 

ASSESSMEKTS FOR 1881. 



Townships. 


Lands. 


Lots. 


Personal. 


Total. 


Illiopolis 


$349,680 


$40,150 


$124,905 


$514,735 


Wheatfield. . . 


372,030 




87,411 


459,441 


Cooper 


295,843 


7,657 


69,340 


372,840 


Mec'auicsb'rg 


443,995 


50,024 


156,207 


650,226 


Buffalo Hart.. 


236,760 




41,426 


278,186 


Pawnee 


414,285 


10,454 


100,940 


525,679 


Cotton Hill . . 


295,350 




70,942 


366,292 


Rochester. . . . 


399,543 


11,341 


89,971 


500,855 


Clear Lake. . . 


325,916 


31,671 


140,440 


498,427 


Williams 


510,315 


51,475 


144.271 


706,061 


Ball 


349,680 




63,726 


413,406 


Woodside 


449,978 


43,285 


69,715 


562,978 


Fancy Creek. 


554,168 


9,. 580 


129,844 


693,592 


Auburn 


581,716 


55,573 


154,795 


792,084 


Chatmam 


415,850 


16,144 


76,727 


508,721 


Curran 


367,487 


2,462 


110,261 


480,210 


Gardner 


460,575 




92,829 


553,304 


Salisbury .... 


85,416 


5,950 


25,818 


117,184 


Talkington.. . 


458,042 


6,717 


104,101 


568.860 


Loami 


432,718 


7,392 


86,107 


526,217 


New Berlin . . 


310,311 


29,650 


90,540 


430,501 


Island Grove. 


356,462 


15,607 


119,566 


491,635 


Cartwright. . . 


1.053,610 


34,210 


207,443 


1,295,263 


Capital 


488,380 


175,500 


258,769 


922,649 


*Springfield . . 




3,721,900 


1,521,963 


5,243,863 



*Cityof. 

DISTRESSING ACCIDENT. 

On Sunday, May 12, 1867, Mr. and Mrs. S. W. 
West visited' Hewlett's flouring mill to witness 
the operation of the machinery. In passing a 
large driving gear, to which were attached sev- 
eral smaller wheels, Mrs. West's dress caught in 
the larger gear, and although her husband caught 
her and attempted to draw her out, she was 
wrenched from his grasp, crushed among the 
wheels and instantly killed. 

TWO CHILDREN KILLED BY LIGHTNING. 

A rain and hail storm occurred at Springfield, 
Wednesday night, February 16, 1870, and dur- 
ing the storm four children of Elder George 
Brent, pastor of the African Baptist Church, 
were lying upon the floor asleep, between the 






I Wf , *^ 




-c^Cil^^^TAy^'' 




HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



561 



stove and wall, the lightning ran down the flue, 
striking two of the children and killing them in- 
stantly. The two other children, and three other 
persons who were in the room at the time, 
although partially stunned, were uninjured. No 
marks of the destructive current could be found 
upon the bodies of the two children killed. 

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION. 

On Thursday morning, September 5, 1867, 
the boiler of the City Mill, of E. R. Hickox, 
exploded, entirely destroying the mill, and com- 
pletely demolishing the office, engine house and 
machinery. The explosion was of such force as 
to entirely fill the air in the vicinity with 
timbers, boards, shingles and fragments of the 
boiler. The report and concussion were like the 
discharge of a cannon, shaking the buildings 
and windows several blocks off like an earth- 
quake. Five persons were in the mill at the 
time of the explosion, but no one was killed. 
The loss was efetimated at |] 5,000. 

A RETROSPECT. 

One hundred years ago the Revolutionary 
war was in progress. A small colony of fearless 
men were battling for their rights with one of 
the most powerful nations of the earth, Thir- 
tec'i States, extending back from the sea-coast 
but a short distance, with but three million in 
all, of men, women and children, white and 
co'ored, comprising the whole. The great West 
was unknown. True, a few adventurous spirits 
had pushed their way through this uninhabitable 
waste, and in the came of the King of France, 
proclaimed it part of that realm ; but in their 
wildest imagination it is doubtful if ihey ever 
conceived the idea that in less than a century 
of time it would be inhabited by a thrifty, en- 
terpri^ing race, and be the most productive 
region of the world. 

Seventy-two years ago, less than three-fourths 
of a century, the Territory of Illinois was 
organized, with Ninian Edwards as its first 
Governor. 

Sixty-three years ago the State government 
was organized and Illinois entered upon a new 
period of its existence. At this time only the 
southern portion of the State had been settled, 
the fair prairies of the central and northern part 
remaining as they came from nature's hand. 

SixLy-five years ago Robert PuUiam erected a 
cabin and remained some months in what is now 
Ball township. 

Sixty years ago the county of Sangamon was 
organized, containing at the time less than five 

65— 



hundred inhabitants. Sixty years — from 1821 to 
1881 — with its joys and sorrows, its trials and 
disappointments, have passed into history. The 
old and middle-aged of the first years of the 
history of the county have passed away. They 
fought a good tight in reclaiming waste places; 
they finished their course, and now rest from 
their labors, while "their works do follow them," 
The yourg of that day are now aged men and 
women, who have lived to see the wilderness 
"blossom as the rose," and now calmly await 
the summons to "come up higher." 

Sixty years ago there was not a water or a 
steam mill in Sangamon county, all supplies of 
flour and meal, save the little ground on the old 
band mills, were brought from Edwardsviile or 
St. Louis. At that time but one church edifice 
and a very small one at that, was in all the 
county. The people here were separated from 
friends, with no convenient means of communi- 
cation. The railroad, the telegraph, the tele- 
phone and the phonograph were unknown. Mail 
communications were not established, and the 
nearest post oflice was Edwardsviile. 

Fifty-six years ago Springfield, a village of a 
dozen log cabins, was selected as a permanent 
county seat. 

Fifty-five years ago, Hooper Warren estab- 
lished the Sangamon Spectator in Springfield, 
the first paper in Sangamon county. 

Fifty-one years ago the early settler enjoyed 
the pleasures of the " deep snow," an experience 
in his history that he loves to relate to the won- 
der and amazement of the younger generation. 
Fifty years ago Sangamon county was called 
upon to furnish its quota for the first campaign 
against Black Hawk, and nobly did the men re- 
spond. 

Forty-nine years ago the second call was made 
for men to drive out and capture the noted Black 
Hawk and his men, and Sangamon county re- 
sponded by sending an army of her bravest and 
best men, and to whom belongs the honor 
of his defeat and capture. 

Forty-five years ago Sangamon county sent 
nine of her best men as representatives in the 
General Assembly, with instructions by all fair 
and honorable means to secure the removal of 
the State Capital from Vandalia to Springfield. 
The instructions were implicitly carried out and 
the Capital secured. All honor to the " Long 
Nine." 

Forty-two years ago the Capital was removed 
from Vandalia to Springfield. 

Forty years ago the whistle of the first locomo- 
tive was heard in Springfield. 



562 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Forty-one years ago the great " hard cider 
campaign " was in progress and " politics run 
wild." 

Thirty-five years ago the war with Mexico 
was in progress, a war which resulted in the ac- 
quirement of much territory, including Califor- 
nia, the Eldorado of the west. 

Twenty-three years ago the greatest political 
debate in the history of the world was held be- 
tween Lincoln and Douglas, a debate which elec- 
ted Douglas Senator, and Lincoln President. 

Twenty-one years ago, after one of the most 
exciting political campaigns in the history of 
the country, Abraham Lincoln, a favorite son of 
Illinois, was elected to the highest ofiice in the 
gift of the American people. 

Twenty years ago the news was flashed over 
the wires that ths rebels had made an attack 
upon Fort Sumter and compelled its surrender. 
Immediately the call was issued for 75,000 men, 
and supplemented a few days afterwards, for 
300,000 more. The brave sons of Sangamon 
county, ever ready to respond to their country's 
call, rushed to the front, and upon the fierce 
battle-fields of the South many of them poured 
out their life's blood. 

Sixteen years ago the lifeless body of the 
great and good Lincoln was brought back to that 
city and county he loved so well, and the whole 
Nation mourned. 

Sangamon county in the past has always taken 
an advanced position. Never has it taken a 
backward step. Whether in the cause of reli- 
gion, temperance or education, it has always 
stood in front. Its history is full of important 
events. From the lessons of the past the duties 
of the future are made plain. May the lessons 
be well learned, and may all profit thereby. 

SANGAMON COUNTY OF TO-DAY. 

As it is impossible for the pen of the historian 
to do justice to the past, even so will we fail to 
properly present the Sangamon county of to- 
day. No county in the State can show a better 
record. In its churches, its schools, its manu- 
facturing interests, its public and private build- 
ings, in fact everything that goes to show a 
progressive peop'e, it has taken a leading posi- 
tion. It has to-day an incorporated city, having 
a population of 25,000 inhabitants, ten incorpo- 
rated and as many unincorporated villages. It 
has a population of 55,000 thrifty and enter- 
prising pe( pie. 

In the early day, citizens of Sangamon county 
met for worship in school houses, barns, or pri- 
vate dwelling houses, anywhere they were per- 
mitted, and glad were they of the opportunity. 



To-day churches are upon every hand, from the 
plain, unpretending frame, where a few zealous 
men and women gather together "in the name 
of Jesus," to the imposing brick, with bells peal- 
ing forth a joyous welcome to one and all, come 
and " drink of the waters of life." 

The old log school house has long since been 
displaced, and to-day are found, especially in the 
larger villages and the city of Springfield, school 
buildings of handsome architectural appearance, 
costing many thousands of dollars each. The 
comfort of pupils has been secured by the intro- 
duction of suitable seats and desks. Maps, 
globes, philosophical apparatus, music, libraries, 
commodious play-grounds, well ventilated apart- 
ments, beautiful plants and flowers, all are used 
as accessories, and the result is a humanizing in- 
fluence. A large revenue derived from taxation 
is annually raised, sufiicient to maintain a schol- 
arly corps of teachers. In addition to the public 
schools, the Catholics and Lutherans have paro- 
chial schools, the Lutherans have a flourishing 
seminary, the Ursuline Sisters ( Catholics ) have 
a fine institution of learning in connection with 
the convent in Springfield, the Episcopal breth- 
ren have in operation a school in the city, and 
last, but not least, Mrs. McKee Homes' school, 
the Bettie Stuartlnstitute, is in a most flourishing 
condition. It will thus be seen the educational 
interests of the county are well provided for. 

Sangamon county boasts of another civilizing 
influence in her newspapers — ten weekly and 
four daily; all of them well and ably edited, a 
credit to their publishers and to their patrons. 

In manufactures, Sangamon county of to-day 
is making rapid strides. The rolling mills, the 
watch factory, the railroad machine shops, the 
iron foundries and other industries, are a credit 
to the county. Thousands of men and women 
find employment in these various factories, and 
many thousands of dollars worth of material are 
annually turned out. 

In agriculture and horticulture, Sangamon 
county stands in the front rank of all the coun- 
ties in the State of Illinois. Little vacant land 
is to be found in any part of the county, and almost 
every acre is under cultivation. The corn crop 
never fails, wheat seldom, and all other kinds of 
grain and fruit do well. 

Sangamon county of to-day has reason to be 
proud of the position it occupies, politically, ed- 
ucationally, religiously and morally. Its chief 
city, the Capital of the State, its people educated 
and refined; evidences of wealth and prosperity 
upon every hand, its people are and have a right 
to be happy. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



5G3 



Chapter XXVIL 



CITY OF SPRINGFIELD. 



Springfield ! What historical associations 
cluster around that name ! Springfield, the 
home of Lincoln, Douglas, Shields, Baker, 
Logan, and a host of others, whose names have 
been immortalized, and who " now rest from 
their labors." But three score years ago and the 
beautiful plain upon which stands this thriving 
city, was an uninhabited wilderness. To-day, 
the busy hum of industry is heard upon every 
hand, and walking its streets are representatives 
of nearly every nation under Heaven, all enjoy- 
ing the sweets of liberty, all pursuing the even 
tenor of their way, worshipping God according 
to the dictates of their own conscience, "with 
no one to molest or make them afraid." What 
a change has been wrought by the hand of Time! 
The pen of the historian can not do it justice. 

About the year 1818, an old bachelor emi- 
grated from North Carolina to this State, 
remaining for a time in Macoupin county, and 
from there he came on to what is now Sanga- 
mon county. He was so charmed with the 
country in the neighborhood, he determined to 
make it his future home. Returning to North 
Carolina, he induced his father, Henry Kelly, 
and four brothers to join him in forming a new 
settlement, John Kelly, one of the brothers, 
built a cabin, near which is now the northwest 
corner of Jefferson and Second streets. In this 
cabin the first court of Sangamon county was 
held. 

Several other families were pursuaded by the 
Kellys to settle in the neighborhood, and in the 
spring of 1821 quite a flourishing settlement 
existed — in fact, there were a greater number in 
the vicinity of what now constitutes the city of 
Springfield than any other settlement in the 
county. To this fact was due the selection of 
Springfield as the temporary county seat of 
Sangamon county, when organized. 

Springfield is situated uopn a beautiful prairie 
stretching from the Sangamon river on the 



north, to the timber land which line its tributa- 
ries on the south. It is one hundred and eighty- 
five miles southwest of Chicago, and ninety- 
seven, miles distant from St. Louis, by the 
Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. 

As already stated, the Kelly family were the 
first to settle in the neighborhood. Another 
family of emigrants, named Doggett, arrived in 
the year 1820. They settled a little south and 
east of the old Hutchinson's cemetery. No 
other settlements were made in the immediate 
locality until the spring of 1821, when several 
families were added to the infant colony, which 
was then known as Newsonville. 

Prominent among the emigrants of 1821, 
were Charles R. Matheny aud Elijah lies. Mr. 
lies was a Kentuck'an by birth, but had emi- 
grated to Missouri some years previous, but 
becoming dissatisfied with that country, he con- 
cluded to locate in the "country of the San- 
gamo." Ascending the Illinois river on a flat 
boat, he disembarked at Beardstown, which then 
consisted of a single log cabin, and that unoc- 
cupied. Striking boldly across the country, he 
made his way to the new settlement, and found . 
a welcome in the family of the elder Kelly. 
"Better living," said he, "I never enjoyed. Kel- 
ly's cabin was a home indeed. Johnny cake, 
venison and wild honey every day, with roast 
pig on Sundays. Ah!" sighed the old man, as 
he concluded, "those happy days are over." 

The population of Springfield gradually in- 
creased, it being the most important town in the 
county. 

The first plat of the town was made in 1823, 

by Pascal P. Enos, Elijah lies and , 

under the name of "Calhoun," the proprietors 
of the town not being favorable to the name 
given it by the commissioners, selected to locate 
I he county seat. But the name of Calhoun was 
not more favorably received by the people who 
had located here than Springfield was by the 



'564 



HISTOliY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



owners of the plat, and as a post office bad been 
establisbed under the name of Springfield, it 
never really became known by the name under 
which it was platted. 

In 1825, the permanent seat of justice of the 
county was to be selected, and the claim of Cal- 
houn, or Springfield, was stoutly contested by 
the town of Sangamo, located on the river in 
what is now section two, Gardner township. The 
contest was a warm one, and it still contended 
that Sangamo Mould have been selected by the 
Commissioners had not Andrew Elliott played a 
little trick upi n them. He was employed to 
pilot the Commissioners to Sangamo, there being 
then no road located, and, instead of taking 
them a direct route, he took them a roundabout 
way, through swamps and over fallen timber. 
The Commissioners thought the difficulty in 
reaching Sangamo would not compensate for its 
more favorable location, and therefore named 
Springfield as the permanent county seat. 

When Springfield was selected as the tempo- 
rary seat of justice of the county in 1821, where 
the site was marked was upon an open prairie. 
The closing portion of the certificate of location 
reads as follows: 

"Therefore, we, the undersigned, County Com- 
missioners, do certify that we, after full exami- 
nation of the situation of the present popula- 
tion of said county, have fixed and designated 
a certain point in the prairie, near John Kelly's 
field, on the waters of Spring creek, at a stake 
set marked Z D., as the temporary seat of jus- 
tice for said county, and do further agree that 
said county seat be called and known by the 
name of Springfield." 

The point so selected was near what is now 
the northeast corner of Jefferson and Second 
streets. Here the first court house and county 
jail were built, in the latter month of 1821. 
Some idea may be formed of tbe price of build- 
ing material then, and the style of building, 
from the fact that the jail was contracted for and 
actually built for eighty-four dollars. 

The town of Calhoun was surveyed and plat- 
ted by James C. Stevenson. He is said to have 
received a deed to block twenty-one for his ser- 
vices. Four lots, however, could not have been 
very valuable, for there is a tradition that he 
proposed to give Dr. Merryman one-fourth of the 
block for a pointer dog to which he had taken a 
fancy. The offer was rejected. The plat made 
by Stevenson was recorded December 5, 1823. 
It was probably made about the time of the 



opening of the land office at Springfield, and as 
shortly after the lands came into market. 

The name of Calhoun w^as selected in compli- 
ment to the Hon. John C. Calhoun, of South 
Carolina. The admiration appears not to have 
lasted long. In 1826, while in the Senate, he 
voted against a bill which was intended to grant 
to the States a donation of lands to aid in the 
construction of canals. At that time this was a 
favorite measure in several of the northern and 
western States. This, no doubt, is the reason 
the name of Calhoun was never formally adop- 
ted by the people, or having adopted it, they 
gradually ceased to speak of it by the name, and 
returned to the one assigned it by the commis- 
sioners. But it was not until 1833, ten years af- 
ter its origin, that the town of Calhoun was fi- 
nally blotted out of existence. At that time 
there was a re-survey of the town, under act of 
the legislature, in which the town of Calhoun 
was formally made a part of Springfield. 

On March 18, 1825, the final and permanent 
location of the county seat was made by the 
sj^ecial commissioners. In consideration of this 
location, Elijah lies and Pascal P. Enos at once 
donated to the county some forty-two acres of 
what is now the most valuable part of the city. 
The County Commissioners' Court held a spe- 
cial term and confirmed the location on the very- 
day it was made. By this order the donation, 
with the exception of the public square, which 
was to remain as then laid out, was surveyed 
into blocks and lots having streets and alleys 
corresponding with the original town plot of 
Calhoun. The donation embraced blocks 1, 12, 
13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 of the 
old town plat. The first lots in the donation 
w^ere sold early in May. 

The first State law in relation to the town was 
approved February 9, 1827. By its provisions 
the County Commissioners' Court was empow- 
ered and required to appoint a street commis- 
sioner for the town, whose duties are prescribed 
in the act. They were also empowered to levy 
a tax upon the citizens for improving the streets. 
Justices of the jjeace of the town were required 
upon a petition of a majority of the legal voters, 
to enter an order upon their dockets in relation 
to the subject matter petitioned for; such order 
constituted a sort of ordinance, and penalties 
were prescribed in the law for the violation of 
such orders. They were repealed by a petition 
of legal voters in like manner as they had been 
passed. Such were the first specimens of legis- 
lation at a place where legislation of all sorts 
afterwards became very common. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



565 



INCORPORATION. 

Continuing to increase in population, and 
losing none of its original ambition, Springfield 
became incorporated as a town, April 2, 1832, 
under the general law of 1831. This town gov- 
ernment remained for nearly ten years, and for 
much of that time was administered in a wise 
and acceptable manner. Charles R. Matheny 
was the first President of the Board of Trus- 
tees, while among the members were Abraham 
Lincoln, Samuel H. Treat, and Stephen T.Logan 
— names which need no eulogy here. During 
these years — from 1830 to 1840 — both town and 
county increased in population very rapidly. By 
this time, the settlements in the northern part of 
the State had grown to be of considerable size 
and importance. The northern part of Illinois 
was principally settled by men from New York 
and New England. They were farmers, mer- 
chants, mechanics, millers, manufacturers. They 
made farms, built mills, churches, school houses, 
towns, and cities. Here, in Central Illinois, was 
where theKentuckians who had settled Southern 
Illinois, first met and learned to know the men 
whom they called Yankees. They had a most 
despicable opinion of their Northern neighbors. 
The genuine Yankee they had never seen. They 
had seen a tricky, trafiicking race of peddlers 
from New England, who much infested the West 
and South with tinware, small lots of merchan- 
dize, and wooden clocks. From these speci- 
mens, the whole of New England had been 
judged. Hence, the natural conclusion that a 
Yankee was a close, miserly, dishonest getter of 
money, void of generosity or any of the kind- 
lier feelings of human nature. On the other 
hand, the people of Northern Illinois (chiefly 
from New England) formed an equally unfavor- 
able opinion of their Southern neighbors. The 
Northern man believed the Southerner to be a 
long, lank, lazy, ignorant animal, little better 
than a savage — one content to squat on land not 
his own, and spend his days in a log cabin, with 
a large family of idle, hungry, ill-clothed, un- 
taught children. It was only by daily contact, 
actual intercourse, that prejudices and errors 
could be removed. Here, in Central Illinois, 
and, most of all, in Springfield, after it became 
the capital, were these two classes of men brought 
to know each other better, and finally to abandon 
their erroneous notions of each other. Then 
they found both parties were wrong. In liber- 
ality and hospitality they were about equal, 
though these virtues show themselves in each 
people in a different way. The Southerner was, 
perhaps, the most hospitable and liberal to indi- 



viduals; but the Northern man was the most 
liberal in contributing for the public benefit. 
Here, in Springfield, in later years, were the best 
specimen of both classes — Lincoln, Douglas, 
Bakei, Hardin, Bissell, Trumbull, Logan, 
Shields, Dubois, and many others, who gradu- 
ally came to consider that Springfield was home. 

As already stated Springfield was incorporated 
under town government in 1832. The following 
constitutes the Board of Trustees from 1832 to 
1840 inclusive: 

1832. — Charles R. Matheny, President; Cyrus 
Anderson, John Taylor, Elisha Tabor, Mor ;ecai 
Mobley, William Carpenter, Trustees. 

1833. — Charles R. Matheny, President; Cyrus 
Anderson. John M. Cabanis, William Carpenter, 
Samuel Morris, Stephen T. Logan, Trustees. 

1834. — James R. Gray, President; William 
Carpenter, Edmund Roberts, Nicholas A. Gar- 
land, John Owens, Trustees. 

1835. — Charles R. Matheny, President; James 
L. Lamb, James W. Keyes, William Alvery, 
William. Carpenter, Philip C. Latham, Peleg C. 
Canedy, Trustees. 

1836. — Charles R. Matheny, President; Peleg 
C. Canedy, Philip C. Latham, James W. Keyes, 
John F, Rague, George Passfield, Trustees. 

1837. — Charles R. Matheny, President; Peleg 
C. Canedy, Philip C. Latham, William Butler, 
George Pasfield, Joseph Klein, Trustees. 

1838.— Charles R. Matheny, President; Peleg 
C. Canedy, P. C. Latham, Joseph Klein, Wil- 
liam Butler, Samuel H. Treat, Trustees. 

1839.— Charles R. Matheny, President; Peleg 
C. Canedy, Philip C. Latham, Joseph Klein, 
Samuel H. Treat, Abraham Lincoln, Joseph 
Whitney, Trustees. 

1840. — Peleg C. Canedy, President; Joseph 
Klein, Jonas Whitney, Philip C. Latham, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Trustees. 

CITY CHARTER. 

In 1840 a charter was obtained from the legis- 
lature for the formation of a city government. 
Its first election was held in the spring of that 
year. This charter was amended several times 
and in 1852 an act was passed entitled "An act 
to reduce the act incorporating the city of 
Springfield, and the several acts amendatory 
thereof into one act, and to amend the same." 
This act w^as approved March 2, 1852. By it the 
municipal government was to consist of a City 
Council, to be composed of a Mayor and three 
Aldermen from each ward. Under the old char- 
ter there was only one Alderman for each ward. 
The other ofiicers for the city were to be a City 
Clerk, City Marshal, City Treasurer, City Attor- 



566 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ney, Cily Assessor and Collector, City Surveyor 
and Engineer, and a City Supervisor. 

The city remained as originally divided, into 
four Wards. As thus constituted, the following 
named officers were elected: 

1840. — Mayor— Benjamin S. Clements; Alder- 
men — First Ward, James R. Gray; Second, 
Joseph Klein; Third, Washington lies; Fourth, 
William Prentiss. 

1841. — Mayor — William L. May; Aldermen — 
First Ward, James R. Gray; Second, Joseph 
Klein; Third, Harrison A.jHough; Fourth, Stacey 
B. Opdycke. 

1842. — Mayor — David B. Campbell; Aldermen 
— First Ward, John Williams; Second, William 
Carpenter; Third, Harrison A. Hough; Fourth, 
Stacey B. Opdycke. 

1843.— Mayor— Daniel B. Hill;* Aldermen- 
First Ward, John Williams; Second, William 
Carpenter; Third, Enos M. Henkle; Fourth, 
Pressley A Saunders. 

1844. — Mayor — Andrew McCormack; Alder- 
men — First Ward, Jacob Divelbiss; Second, Wil- 
liam Carpenter; Third, Enos M. Henkle; Fourth, 
Pressley A. Saunders. 

1845. — Mayor — James C. Conkling; Aldermen 
— First Ward, Jacob Divelbiss; Second, William 
Carpenter; Third, Sullivan Conant; Fourth, 
Thomas P. Lauschbaugh. 

1846. — Mayor — Eli'Cook; Aldermen — First 
Ward, John A. Keedy; Second, William Car- 
penter; Third, Sullivan Conant; Fourth, Thomas 
P. Lauschbaugh. 

1847. — Mayor — Eli Cook; Aldermen — First 
Ward, John A. Keedy; Second, William Car- 
penter; Third, John Fenner; Fourth, John W. 
Priest. 

1848. — Mayor — Eli Cook; Aldermen — First 
Ward, Jonathan S. Rodgers; Second, Pascal P. 
Enos; Third, John Fenner; Fourth, John W. 
Priest. 

1849. — Mayor — John Calhoun; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Jonathan S. Rodgers; Second, Oliver 
W. Browning; Third, David Sherman; Fourth, 
John W. Priest. 

1850.— Same as in 1849. 

1851. — Mayor — John Calhoun; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Jothan S. Rodgers, John Wil- 
liams; Second, Oliver W. Browning; Third, Enos 
M. Henkle; Fourth, John W. Priest. 

1852. — Mayor — William Lavely; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Franklin Prieft; Second, Edward 
Joyce; Third, Enos M. Henkle; Fourth, John W. 
Priest. 

*Resigned, and Andrew McCormack selected to fill 
vacancy. 



1858. — Mayor — Josiah Francis; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Franklin Priest; Second, Edward 
Joyce; Third, Samuel Grubb; Fourth, John W. 
Priest. 

In 1854, the amendment to the charter, already 
spoken of, went into effect, and each Ward now 
elected three Aldermen. 

1854. — Mayor — William H. Herndon; Alder- 
men — First Ward, Thomas Lewis, Morris Lind- 
say, Allen Francis; Second, William Butler, 
Charles R. Hurst, and to fill vacancy, Benjamin 
Mclntyre; Third, Samuel Grubb, Thomas Rags- 
dale, Henry Vanhoff, and to fill vacancy, Ed- 
mund G. Johns; Fourth, John W. Priest, 
Reuben F. Ruth, Orson N. Stafford. 

1855. — Mayor — John Cook; Aldermen, First 
Ward, Allen Francis, Morris Lindsay, Thomas 
Lewis; Second, John Connelly, Charles H. Lan- 
phier, Benjamin Mclntyre; Third, Henry B. 
Grubb, Thomas Ragsdale, E. G Johns; Fourth, 
Henry P. Cone, Julius H. Currier, Orson N. 
Stafford. 

1856. — Mayor — John W. Priest; Aldermen — 
First Ward, A. Francis, M. Lindsay, M. M. Van 
Dausen, Consul Sampson; Second, Charles H. 
Lanphier, Charles R. Huret, John Connelly, Jr.; 
Third, George L. Huntington, Edmund G. 
Johns, Thomas J. Dennis; Fourth, Henry P. 
Cone, Julius H. Currier, William Harrower. 

1857. — Mayor— John W. Priest; Aldermen, 
First Ward, Allen Francis, R. J. Coats, Consul 
Sampson; Second, Charle- H. Lanphier, Charles 
R. Hurst, John Connelly, Jr.; Third, Seth M. 
Tinsley, Thomas J. Dennis, George L. Hun- 
tington; Fourth, William Harrower, Abner J. 
Allen, Julius H. Curiier. 

1858. — Mayor — John W. Priest; Aldermen-. 
First Ward, Allen Francis, Ralph J. Coats, Con- 
sul Sampson; Second, John Connelly, Jr., Charles 
R. Hurst, CharJes H. Lanphier; Third, Thomas 
J. Dennis, George L. Huntington, Seth M. Tins- 
ley; Fourth, Dudley Wickersham, Abner J. 
Allen, William Harrower. 

1859. — Mayor — William Jayne; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Harrison G. Fiizhugh, Ralph J. 
Coats, Allen Francis; Second, Zimri A. Enos, 
John Connelly, Jr.; John J. Clarkson, John 
Keefner; Third, Henry Grubb, Thomas J. Den- 
nis, Seth M. Tinsley; Fourth, G. B. Simonds, 
Dudley Wickersham, William W. Pease, Samuel 
Long. 

1860 — Mayor — Goyn A. Sutton; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Ralph J. Coats, Charles Fisher, 
Harrison G. Fitzhugh; Second, John W. Chen- 
ery, John Connelly, Jr., Zimri A. Enos; Third, 
Daniel Morse, Thomas J. Dennis, Henry Grubb; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



567 



Fourth, Richard Young, G. B. Simonds, Dudley 
Wickersham. 

1861. — Mayor — George L. Huntington; Alder- 
men — First Ward, John S. Vredenburg, Ralph 
J. Coats, Charles Fisher, Harrison G. Fitzhugh; 
Second, Cornelius Ivers, John W. Chenery, John 
Connelly, Jr., Zimri A. Enos; Third, Christo- 
pher C Brown, Thomas, J. Dennis, Henry 
Grubb, Daniel Morse; Fourth, A. J. French, 
G. B. Simonds, Dudley Wickersham, Richard 
Young. 

1862. — Mayor — George L. Huntington; Al- 
dermen — First Ward, Oliver M. Sheldon, Ralph 
J. Coats, John S. Vredenburg; Second, Charles 
H. Lanphier, John W. Chenery, Cornelius Ivers; 
Third, Henry Grubb, Daniel Morse, Christopher 

C. Brown; Fourth, Obed Lewis, A. J. French, 
Richard Young. 

1868.— Mayor— John W. Smith; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Henry Wohlgemuth, Oliver M. 
Sheldon, John S. Vredenburg; Second, Charles 
H. Lauphier. Moses K. Anderson, Cornelius 
Ivers; Third, William J. Conkling, Henry Grubb, 
Daniel Morse; Fourth, Obed Lewis, A. J. French, 
Henry C. Myers. 

1864. — Mayor — John S. Vrendenburg; Alder- 
men — First Ward, Ralph J. Coats, Oliver M. 
Sheldon, Henry Wohlgemuth; Second, William 
Bishop, Moses K. Anderson, Charles H. Lanphiei ; 
Third, William S. Curry, Daniel Morse, Henry 
Grubb, Robert Officer, William M. Lee; Fourth, 
Henry C. Myers, Obed Lewis, Peter Berriman, 
Charles Dallman. 

1865. — Mayor — Thomas J. Dennis; Alder- 
men — First Ward, Ralph J. Coats, Henry Wohl- 
gemuth, Daniel P. Broadwell; Second, William 
Bishop, Moses K, Anderson, Thomas Rippon; 
Third, Daniel Morse, William S. Curry, James 

D. Brown; Fourth, Henry C. Myers, Charles R. 
Post, Charles Dallman. 

1866.— Mayor — JohnS. Bradford; Aldermen- 
First Ward, Ralph J. Coats, Daniel P. Broad- 
well, James M. Logan, John O Kames; Second, 
William Bishop, Thomas M. Rippon, M. K. 
Anderson; Third, William J. Conkling, James 
D. Brown, J. H. Hough; Fourth, Isaac A. 
Hawley, Charles R. Post, Charles Dallman. 

1867.— Mayor — N. M. Broadwell; Aldermen — 
First Ward, James M. Logan, John O. Rames, 
A. Schwartz; Second, M. K. Anderson, Thomas 
M. Rippon, John S. Vredenburg; Third, William 
J. Conkling, James D. Brown Nicholas Strott; 
Fourth, Isaac A. Hawley, Charles R. Post, W. 
Whitney. 

1868.— Mayor— William E. Shutt; Alder 
men — First Ward, James M. Logan, A. Schwartz, 



John Carmody; Second, M. K. Anderson, John 
S. Vredenburg, Edward J. Rafter; Third, Wil- 
liam J. Conkling, Nicholas Strott, James A. 
Lott; Fourth, Isaac A. Hawley, W. Whitney, 
Henry Loosley. 

1869. — Mayor — N. M. Broadwell; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Frank Hudson, Jr., John Carmody, 
William Clark; Second, John S. Vredenburg, 
Edward J. Rafter, George M. Brown; Third, 
Nicholas Strott, James A. Lott, John S. Brad- 
ford; Fourth, W. Whitney, Henry Loosely, 
Reddick M. Ridgely, Obed Lewis. 

1870. — Mayor — John W. Priest; Aldermen — 
First Ward, John Carmody, Frank Hudson, Jr., 
Frank W. Tracy; Second, Edward J. Raf- 
ter, George W. Brown, Hobert Bradford, H. N. 
Alden; Fourth, Reddick M. Ridgely, Obed 
Lewis, August Linegar. 

1871. — Mayor — John W. Smith; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Frank Hudson, Jr., Frank W. Tra- 
cy, R. J. Coats; Second, Hobert T. Ives, 
Charles A. Helrale, Maurice Fitzgerald; Third, 
John S. Bradford, H. N. Alden, H. S. Dick- 
erman; Fourth, Obed Lewis, Reddick, M. Ridge- 
ly, Lyman Sherwood. 

1872.— Mayor — John W. Smith; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Ralph J. Coats, Louis Rosette, John 
W. Stultz; Second, Hobert T. Ives, Charles 
A. Helmle, Maurice Fitzgerald; Third, H. 
N. Alden, 'H. S. Dickerman, L. H. Bradley; 
Fourth, Obed Lewis, Lyman Sherwood, William 
G. Parker. 

1873. — Mayor — Charles E. Hay; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Lewis Rosette, Ralph J. Coats, Rich- 
ard Roderick; Second, Charles J. Helmle, Maurice 
Fitzgerald, Zimri A. Enos; Third, H. S. Dicker- 
man, L. H. Bradley, Tingley S. Wood; Fourth, 
Willian G. Parker, Joseph W. Lane, W. H. 
Hummell. 

In 1874, the city was divided into six wards, 
the representation in each ward remaining as 
heretofore — three Aldermen. 

1874. — Mayor — Obed Lewis; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Manuel DeSouza, Thomas Howey, 
William Hunter, H. O. Bolles; Second, Zimri 
A. Enos, Maurice Fitzgerald, Frank Reisch, Jr.; 
Third, L. H. Bradley, Tingley S. Wood, Thomas 
G. Prickett,N. W. Edwards; Fourth, W. J. Par- 
ker, Edwin J. Scanlan, Michael Reifier; Fifth 
Richard Roderick, Frank Hudson, Jr., Louis 
Rosette; Sixth, Joseph W. Lane, H. S. Dicker- 
man, John T. Rhodes. 

1875. — Mayor — Charles E. Hay; Aldermen — 
First Ward, H. O. Bolles, Manuel DeSouza, 
George W. Krodell; Second, Zimri A. Enos, 
Frank Reisch, Jr., William Flynn; Third, Ting- 



568 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ley S. Wood, Tliomas G. Prickett, Thomas S. 
Mather; Fourtli, Michael Reifler, Edwin J. Scan- 
Ian, George McCutcheon; Fifth, Richard Roder- 
ick, Frank Hudson, Jr., William H. Staley; Sixth, 
Joseph W. Lane, John T. Rhodes, John Mayo 
Palmer. 

1876. — Mayor — William Jayne; Aldermen — 
First Ward, Manuel DeSouza, George W. Kro- 
dell, John O. Piper; Second, Frank Reisch, Jr., 
William J. Flynn, Frederick Walther; Third, 
Thomas G. Prickett, Thomas S. Mather, William 
Sands; Fourth, Edwin J. Scanlon, George R. 
Hough, William White; Fifth, Frank Hudson, 
Jr., William H. Staley, Charles Fisher; Sixth, 
John T. Rhodes, John Mayo Palmer, James C. 
Conkling. 

1877. — Mayor — William Jayne; Aldermen — 
First Ward, George W. Krodell, John O. Piper, 
Manuel Alfonso; Second, William J. Flynn, 
Frederick Walther, ^Alfred Orendorff; Third, 
Thomas S. Mather, William Sands, James 
Smith; Fourth, George Hough, William White, 
Edwin J. Scanlon; Fifth, William H. Staley, 
Charles Fisher, John O. Rames; Sixth, John 
Mayo Palmer, James C. Conkling, John T. 
Rhodes, 

1878. — Mayor — J. A. Vincent; Aldermen — 
First Ward, John O. Piper, M. Aflfonso, J. E. 
Rosette; Second, Joseph Trutter, A. Orendorff, 
Dennis O'Brien; Third, William Sands, J. W. 
Smith, B. W. Ayres; Fourth, William White, 
Edward J. Scanlon, Fred McCarthy; Fifth, 
Charles Fisher, John O. Rames, William H. Sta- 
ley; Sixth, J. C. Conkling, J. T. Rhodes, Chris. 
Wolf. 

1879.— Mayor — R. L. McGuire; Aldermen- 
First Ward, John Brennan, M. Alfonso, J. E. 
Rosette; Second, Daniel Taylor, R. Hellweg, A. 
Orendorff, Dennis O'Brien; Third, Joseph Wal- 
lace, J. W. Smith, B. W. Ayres; Fourth, Richard 
O'Donnell, Edward J. Scanlon, Fred McCarthy; 
F'ifih, E. S. Johnson, John O. Rames, William 
H. Staley; Sixth, E. P. House, J. T. Rhodes, 
Chris. Wolf. 

1880. — Mayor — Horace C. Irwin; Aldermen — 
First Ward, J. E. Rosette, John Brennan, A. 
Vieria; Second, Dennis O'Brien, R. Hellweg, 
James Williams; Third, B. W. Ayres, Joseph 
Wallace, Henry Grubb; Fourth, Frederick Mc- 
Carthy, Richard H. O'Donnell, George Kern; 
Fifth, William H. Staley, Edward S. Johnson, 
William C. Wood; Sixth, Chris. Wolf, Elon P. 
House, J. T. Rhodes. 

1881. — Mayor — John McCreery; Aldermen — 
First Ward, John Foster, F. Jacoby, A. Vieria; 
Second, George Ritter, R. Hellweg," James Wil- 



liams, John Fitzgerald; Third, J. W. Smith, 
Joseph Wallace, Henry Grubb; Fourth, B. Con- 
lin, Richard H. O'Donnell, George Kern; Fifth, 
Edward S. Johnson, J. O. Rames, William C. 
Wood; Sixth, H. Fayart, William Drake, Elon 
P. House, J. T. Rhodes. 

REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL. 

Attention has already been called to this sub- 
ject in a previous part of this work, but a few 
words here will not be out of place. The act for 
the removal of the capital w^as approved Febru- 
ary 25, 1837, but the efforts in that direction had 
been made at every session for several years 
previous. The system of internal improvements 
was then pending in the legislature and before 
the people. The means used to pass this system 
through the legislature cannot be left without 
notice. First, a large number of the people w^ere 
interested in the success of the Illinois and 
Michigan canal; the canal Avas, therefore, threat- 
ened if other sections of the State were denied 
the improvements demanded by them. Thus 
the friends of the canal were forced into the 
system. Next the system was made to include 
roads and improvements everywhere, so as to 
enlist every part of the State; several efforts 
were made to legalize a smaller system, and with 
each failure, the bill would be amended by the 
addition of other roads. Thus the friends of 
the other system were gradually increased. 
Next, those counties which could not be accom- 
modated with a road or some other improve- 
ment, were to share in a fund of two hundred 
thousand dollars. To conciliate and win over 
the interest and influence of Alton, three rail- 
roads were appointed to center at that city. 
Then the people of Springfield desired to have 
the seat of government removed here. Sanga- 
mon county had nine representatives in the Gen- 
eral Assembly. It was by the efforts and in- 
fluence of these men that Springfield attained 
its present position. Among them were some 
very dexterous managers in politics, whose 
whole object was to obtain the seat of govern- 
ment for Springfield. This delegation, from the 
beginning of the decisive session, threw itself 
as a unit in support of, or in opposition to, 
every local measure of interest, but never with- 
out a bargain for votes in return on the seat of 
government question. Most of the other coun- 
ties were small, having but one representative, 
and many of them had but one for a district 
composed of several counties. This gave to 
Sangamon county a decided preponderance in 
the log-rolling system of those days. By such 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



."■)()'.) 



means the " Long Nine" rolled a log like a 
snow-ball, gathering accessions of strength at 
every turn, until they swelled up a considerable 
party for Springfield. This party they managed 
to take as a unit in favor of the internal im- 
provement system, in return for which the active 
supporters of that system were to vote for 
Springfield to be the seat of government. Thus 
it was by log-rolling on the canal measure, by 
mixltiplying railroads, by terminating three 
railroads at Alton, that Alton might become a 
great city in opposition to St. Louis, by dis- 
tributing money to some of the counties, the 
system of internal improvements was adopted, 
and the seat of government removed to Spring- 
field. 

The spring of 1837 did not open favorably for 
the new capital. That spring the banks 
throughout the United States suspended jpecie 
payments. The banks of Illinois soon followed 
the example of others. The location of Spring- 
field was made upon conditions. One condition 
was, that the State should receive $50,000 for 
the erection of the opitol. Another was, that 
the grounds necessaiy for the public buildings 
should be donated to the State, and for this 
purpose the county court was empowered to 
convey the public square, which was done. But 
the payment of the sum of money specified was 
found to be a much harder task than was at first 
anticipated. One-third of the amount — $16,- 
666.67 — was raised by assessments upon the 
owners of property within the town. The as- 
sessments were not paid for five years, for the 
reason other satisfactory arrangements were 
made. 

The persons assessed went to the State 
Bank and gave a note, due in five years, intei'est 
at twelve per cent, for the amount. A copy of 
this note will be found on a previous page. 
The bank advanced the money, and the lot 
owner, by paying his interest annually, was 
allowed five years' time. Another third of the 
amount, the town, in its corporate capacity, 
agreed to pay. Upon the written obligation to 
that effect, a large number of the leading 
citizens of the place, perhaps a hundred in all, 
became sureties. When it became due the town 
was not able to pay, and the State Bank, which 
had advanced the money to the town, was about 
to press the securities to payment, when a com- 
promise was made. Men of capital came for- 
ward with the money and paid the bank, taking 
city bonds for their re-payment. 

The offices of the State Government were 
removed here in July, 1839. 

6n— 



SPECULATION AND HARD TIMES. 

It was in 1836 that the great town lot specula- 
tion began to spread through the towns and vil- 
lages of Illinois. But it did not assume its full 
proportions in Springfield until the year follow- 
ing, after the removal of the capital was a cer- 
tainty. This speculation in this State commenced 
in Chicago, and was the means of building up 
that place, in a year or two, from a village of a 
few houses to be a city of several thousand in- 
habitants. The story of the sudden fortunes 
made there, excited, at first, wonder and amaze- 
ment, next a gambling spirit of adventure, and 
lastly an all absorbing desire for rapid and splen- 
did wealth. The example of Chicago was con- 
tagious. It spread to all the towns and villages 
of the State. New towns were laid out in every 
direction. In fact, the number of towns multi- 
plied so rapidly that it was a common remark to 
say the whole country was likely to be laid out 
in towns, and that no land would be left for 
farming purposes. In this time of wild excite- 
ment. Springfield had her full share. The judg- 
ments of all the business men were unsettled. 
Their minds were occupied with only one idea — 
the all-controlling desire of jumping at once into 
a fortune. As all had boiight more town lots 
and lands than many of them could pay for, and 
more than any of them could sell, the idea was 
gradually diffused through the State that if the 
country could be rapidly settled, its resources 
developed, and wealth invited from abroad, that 
all the towns then of any note would become 
cities, and that the other towns, laid out only for 
speculation, and then without inhabitants, would 
immediately become thriving and populous vil- 
lages, the wealth of all would be greatly in- 
creased, and the town lot market be rendered 
perfectly secure. 

It was with a view to this consummation, that 
the system of internal improvements, already 
noticed, began to be successfully agitated in the 
summer and fall of 1836. The system became 
law, and three years trial of it plunged the State 
so hopelessly in debt that public credit went 
down with a crash; individuals, of course, did 
not escape unharmed. Many of the soundest 
men in all the towns were driven to utter ruin. 
There were many in Springfield who suffered in 
this time of calamity. The whole community 
found that the growth of the town had been re- 
tarded for years by these events. As we have 
seen, the banks were all compelled to suspend, 
and the money was paper. So great was the 
burden of debt felt to be, that after July, 1841, 
no further attempt was made by the State for 



f)Vo 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



several years to pay the interest on the public 
debt. Here in Springfield, as elsewhere through 
the State, the people fo md they had enough to 
do in providing food and in paying the debts 
they owed to each other. 

To add to the general calamity and the terror 
of the people, in February, 1842, the State Bank, 
with a circulation of $3,000,000, tumbled into 
ruin with a great crash, not only injuring Spring- 
field greatly, but carrying wide spread poverty 
all over Illinois, and into the neighboring States 
and Territories. For the next ten years there 
were hard times indeed. Speculation had seen 
its day, and the people were done with it. Hard 
work and economical habits were ideas fixed in 
the minds of most. Under such circumstances 
it is no wonder the city grew slowly. In eight 
years, commencing with 1840, the population 
only increased by about fourteen hundred. Still 
the place did gradually increase in numbers and 
wealth, year by year. As the county was slow- 
ly settled up, and its resources developed by the 
two railroads, this growth became permanent, in 
form. 

HEALTHFULNESS OF SPRINGFIELD. 

Springfield is noted as being one of the most 
healthy cities in this country, and affords a 
pleasant retreat during the hot summer months 
to those living in the cities of the South. The 
St. Louis (Mo.) Republican, noticing the sum- 
mer resorts convenient to citizens of the eastern 
cities, says: 

"There are many in St. Louis who would 
gladly have such summer advantages at com- 
mand, but who are not prepared, with their fam- 
ilies, to take the long and expensive journey to 
the East. Many of our business men cannot 
afford the time to do it. They must be within 
reach of their counting-rooms and warehouses, 
and so they pass their long summers here with- 
out rural recreation or pleasure jaunts of any 
sort, denying to their families, as well as them- 
selves, the salutary pleasure of a country resi- 
dence during the summer. But still there is, 
only one hundred miles away, a very agreeable 
spot to pass the summer. We mean Springfield, 
Illinois, which is quite as desirable and comfort- 
able a place for summer recreation as many 
others of greater celebrity. It is as marked for 
health lulness as Saratoga, and has as pure air. 
It is a city, yet it is so laid out and built that it 
presents a pleasing combination of town and 
country. There are many pleasant drives about 
the city, and livery stables supplied with the 
best horses for the saddle or buggy. It abounds 
in churches and schools, and is distinguished for 



the intelligence, courtesy and hospitality of its 
citizens. With days no hotter than at Niagara, 
its evenings, nights and mornings delightfully 
cool. To a St. Louisian it is accessible in four 
hours, and when there the telegraph and mails 
place him in prompt communication with this 
city, or any other place requiring correspondence. 
It is a safe and quiet place for families, free 
from the costliness of places of fashionable re- 
sorts, for which one must prepare with startling 
equipments of elegant and fashionable ward- 
robes. No city in the Union has a finer hotel 
than Springfield, where families may find most 
desirable accommodations. We refer to the 
Leland Hotel. A St. Louis merchant can de- 
posit his family there, come down to the city, 
and pass half or two-thirds of the week, and 
run up again on Friday or Saturday, and pass a 
glad Saturday or Sunday with his family and 
friends, and so beguile the hot weeks with varied 
enjoyment for himself, while wife and children 
are safe, healthy and happy, all summer long, 
in that pleasant city. Let no one ask for a 
place of summer resort with one sa accessible 
as Springfield right at hand. We speak of the 
place knowingly, having passed there many 
weeks and months during the past twenty-five 
or thirty years, dating back to the day when it 
had only three thousand inhabitants. It is 
really a most desirable place to spend the sum- 
mer." 

SPRINGFIELD TO A STRANGER. 

Springfield when visited in the winter, or in 
the early spring when the frost is first out of the 
ground, does not present that attractive appear- 
ance it does later in the spring and in the sum- 
mer and autumn months. Like other cities in 
Central Illinois and almost throughout the entire 
State, in the early spring and in open winters it 
is quite muddy, the mud frequently being an 
embargo to all travel. Springfield has often bee» 
condemned by the stranger for the mud upon 
her streets, while at the same time it was no 
worse than hundreds of other places in the 
State, and much better than many. Of one 
thing it is quite evident, the cities of Illinois 
will always be muddy if not paved. 

Coming to the city in the summer the stranger 
finds it presenting a far different appearance. 
With its palatial residences, with handsome, 
well kept lawns; its magnificent business blocks, 
with large store rooms filled with goods of every 
description to suit the tastes and pockets of all; 
large, stately shade trees lining the streets, all 
going to make up one of the handsomest cities 
of its size in the country. In 1854, a corres- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



571 



pondent of the Democratic Press, of Chicago, 
who chanced to be in the city thus wrote of it: 
"Every citizen of the Prairie State, from 
Chicago to Cairo and from the Wabash to the 
Mississippi, should be acquainted with the real 
character of, and take a pride in, our pleasant 
and hospitable capital. Pleasant and beautiful, 
and flourishing will I term it, though very oppo- 
site adjectives have been prefixed to it by many 
of those editors and politicians who have seen 
it during winter's cold wind, and cloudy sky and 
foggy air — when an unusual, an ill-assorted and 
turbulent crowd of visitors are here from the 
highways and byways of 'Suckerdom,' when 
bird and bee and blossom have given place to 
pelting rain, and driving wind, and general 
gloom. But Springfield in the spring time of 
the year is a different place. Indianapolis 
is famed for beauty and prosperity; yet with an 
infinite knowledge of all it has and a strong 
predilection in its favor, I am constrained to 
say it has nothing to boast of over our 
own capital. In railroads and population it has 
a few years the start; but in pleasant places of 
residence, in taste as displayed in shade trees 
and shrubs and flowers, and fences and grassy 
lawns, Springfield is far ahead; and in churches, 
batiks, court and State house, it is at least her 
equal. The State has not granted to Springfield 
her buildings for the blind, insane and dumb, 
nor have the benevolent orders of Odd Fellows 
and Masons done for her what they have done 
for Indianapolis. Herein is a difference against 
us. Like Washington, Springfield is a 'city of 
magnificent distances.' It might be termed the 
'Embowered City,' as in no western town have 
I seen more fine elms, maples, locust, oak and 
other shade trees flourishing. ' He who plants 
trees loves others besides himself.' Spring- 
fielders love and benefit posterity and all 
strangers that visit the city and enjoy its luxu- 
riant shade. How snug, neat, cool and com- 
fortable, says Thrifty, do trees and shrubbery, 
which have been tastefully planted, make a 
dwelling appear, and how naked, dry and barren 
does a residence look without them." 

CHANGE OF NAME. 

In 1853, the qustion of a change of name for 
the city was discussed publicly and privately, for 
a considerable length of time, but without I'esult. 
It was argued that Springfield was a too com- 
mon name, that in the Union there were about 
forty Springfields, or one in nearly every State 
and Territory, and but two or three rose above 
the rank of the most obscure village in the 
country. Letters destined for Springfield, Illi- 



nois, were often mis-sent, traveling from one 
State to another, and taking months to reach 
their destination. Among the names suggested 
for the change, were Sangamo and Illini. The 
latter name was advocated to perpetuate the re- 
membrance of the aboriginal people, from whom 
was derived the name of the chief river of the 
State, and of the State itself; the former for the 
Sangamo river, and because of its more musical 
sound, especially when written in connection 
with the name of the State. The efforts of the 
advocates of a change were unavailing, and the 
city yet retains the popular name of Springfield, 
and Springfield let it be. 

GROWTH OF THE CITY, 

Springfield, in common with eveiy other city 
in the Union, was affected by the hard times of 
1837, which continued during one entii-e decade, 
or until 1847. In this latter year i^roperty which 
had gone down, down, until it could go no lower, 
began to take an upward stride. The confidence 
of people was again restored and they began to 
invest their savings in various ways and prosper- 
ity again reigned. In 1853 there was such an 
urgent demand for dwelling houses in this city 
that it could not be filled. Says a local writer of 
that date: 

" Every inhabitable house in this city is filled 
to overflowing. Even should one happen to be 
vacated no one would dare notify the public 
through the papers. The din of applicants 
would destroy the best nerves in town. Of 
course our city is much the loser by this deficien- 
cy. Scores of families who would be induced to 
remain in our city are forced to seek other local- 
ities. Both men and capital are diverted from 
our city, and others are allowed to reap the ad- 
vantages of our stupidity. Now cannot this mat- 
ter be remedied? Is it not for the interest of our 
land owners and monied men to build houses to 
rent? Are not the inducements sufficient on the 
score of profit, to say nothing of patriotic con- 
siderations? In this respect we believe no city in 
the west can hold out greater inducements to 
building capital than Springfield. True we have 
not been in the habit of making such a blow 
about ourselves as our neighbor, at Alton. Nor 
have we gone into the puffing game like Blooming- 
ton and 'little Decatur.' We havn't filled all the 
earth with the ciy of our 'corner lots.' Still 'lit- 
tle old shanty Springfield' has actually done bet- 
ter in real estate transactions than the tallest 
figures can show at Chicago." 

THE POST OFFICE. 

The early settlers of Springfield had little to 
boast of in the way of postal facilities. From 



5Y2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the first settlement of the place, in 18iy, up to 
1823, they had no postoifice nearer than Edwards- 
ville, eighty miles distant, and were therefore 
obliged to patronize the postmaster at that place 
for what little mail matter they received. They 
got their letters semi-occasionally — sometimes 
by the hand of wagoners, and sometimes by 
means of a hack which John Dixon sent to 
Edwardsville whenever he could secure a load 
of passengers. Mr. Dixon lived on Fancy Creek, 
a tributary of the Sangamon. He left here 
years ago and laid out the pretty town which 
bears his name, on Rock river, Lee county. 

The post office was established and Major lies 
appointed postmaster, in 1823, but while he held 
the office his official duties did not interfere with 
his private business. Previous to his appoint- 
ment, letters addressed to "Springfield, Illinois," 
would visit nearly every other Springfield in the 
United States, and finally bring up at Edwards- 
ville; after his appointment and the name of the 
post office had been made known to Uncle Sara's 
officials, he received letters that had traveled 
around the country for several months. He held 
the office for about three years, and kept it in 
a small frame building about two hundred yards 
west of the Chicago & Alton depot. 

In 1824, a semi-monthly mail route was estab- 
lished from Springfield to Kaskaskia by way of 
Edwardsville and Belleville. The mail was 
carried on horseback. Letters from this place 
to St. Louis went by way of Edwardsville and 
Belleville, and on arriving at the latter place 
were taken charge of by the postmaster and 
transferred to the agent carrying the mail be- 
tween St. Louis and Louisville. 

Stephen Stillman succeeded Major lies and 
held the office between one and two years. He 
was succeeded by Asa Shaw who remained in the 
office about three years. 

Edward Mitchell stepped into Mr. Shaw's 
place, and was postmaster for nearly seven years. 
He died soon after retiring from office. 

William Carpenter was appointed in 1837 and 
remained in office till about 1839. He kept his 
office in a building that stood on the northwest 
corner of the square The same building was 
also used as a market house. 

John S. Roberts succeeded Mr. Carpenter. 
He was in the office but a short time. The build- 
ing occupied by him was located east of the 
Chenery House. 

J. W. Keyes was appointed to serve out Mr. 
Roberts' time, and he attended to his duties 
faithfully while he remained in office; but the 
election of Harrison in 1840 led to his removal. 



He kept the office near the southeast corner of 
the square, and it was retained in the same place 
by his two immediate successors. 

G. W. Spottswood held the office from 1841 
to 1844, dying before the expiration of his terra. 
During a portion of his terra the State officers 
could not raise money enough to take their 
letters from the post office, and he was thus com- 
pelled to keep important public matter for 
months at a time. Nobody had money in those 
times, and the State was as poor as individuals. 

Jonathan R. Diller was appointed by Presi- 
dent Tyler to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. 
Spottswood's death. He remained in office 
during Polk's administration, and being a Demo- 
crat, of course his official head fell when Taylor 
became President, in 1849. Shortly after his 
removal he died. 

A.Y.Ellis held the office under Taylor and 
Fillmore's administration. He kept it in the 
building for some time afterwards occupied by 
John Williams & Co. as a grocery store. Some 
time during the spring of 1853 he was informed 
by the Postmaster General under Franklin 
Pierce, that the department could dispense with 
his services. He was too much of a Whig to 
expect to be retained in office, and so took his 
removal philosophically. 

Isaac R. Diller succeeded Mr. Ellis, remaining 
in office till the close of Pierce's terra. Buchanan 
then gave hira a lucrative counsulship at Bremen, 
and appointed J. W. Keyes in his place. Dur- 
ing the time of the trouble between the Admin- 
istration and Stephen A. Douglas, in 1858, Mr. 
Keyes was removed for the reason he was 
supposed to favor the latter. 

Morris Lindsay succeeded Mr. Keyes, and 
retained the office during the remainder of Mr. 
Buchanan's term. 

John Arrastrong, in 18G1, received an appoint- 
ment as postmaster frora President Lincoln, and 
retained the office four years. 

Presco Wright was appointed by President 
Lincoln in the spring of 18G5, and held the 
office three years, being reraoved by President 
Johnson for political causes. 

J. Taylor Sraith was next appointed, and filled 
out the unexpired terra of Mr. Wright. 

When Grant carae in he appointed J. L. 
Crane, who served eight years. President Hayes 
then appointed D. L. Phillips, who served until 
his death, in 1880. Paul Selby, the present in- 
curabent, was then appointed. 

Springfieldjwas raade a money order office, No- 
vember 1, 1864. The first order was drawn by 
John Brotherton, in favor of Shields & Co., of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



5V3 



Philadelphia, for $3.50. During the first year, 
the business of the office was as follows: Orders 
drawn, $13,244.80; orders paid, $8,430.'78. In 
1880, there were drawn $108,238.54, and paid 
$100,078.33, on domestic orders alone, showing 
a handsome increase. 

During 1880, the number of letters forwarded 
from this office was eight hundred and twenty- 
three thousand, three hundred and sixty-eight; 
postal cards, two hundred and fifty thousand, 
five hundred and thirty-six; total number pieces 
mailed in all classes, two million, four hundred 
and nine thousand, five hundred and sixty-eight. 
Of second class matter, fifty-eight thousand, 
three hundred and eighty-eight pounds were for- 
warded. 

SPRINGFIELD AS A MAXUFACTURING POINT. 

The idea is generally prevalent that interior 
cities or towns can never be made manufactur- 
ing points. But this theory is certainly exploded; 
at least, so far as Springfield is concerned. The 
causes operating against interior cities in com- 
peting with those along a water course no longer 
exists. No longer is the manufacturer depend- 
ent upon the steamers of our lakes and rivers 
for means of transportation. The invention of 
the locomotive and the building of railroads has 
effectually solved the transportation problem. 
A beginning has been made in Springfield, which 
is widening year by year, and already it has out- 
stripped many more pretentious river towns in 
the extent of its manufactures. Another point 
has been established by the building up of these 
manufactories here, and that is that a State Cap- 
ital can be something else than a huge boarding 
house, where the people all make their living 
keeping boarders. 

Springfield Iron Company. — This institution 
was organized October, 1871, with a capital stock 
of $200,000, which has been increased to $393,- 
750. The first Board of Directors were Charles 
H. Ridgely, George M. Brinkerhoff, John W. 
Bunn, O. H. Miner, and William D. Richardson, 
The first and present officers are Charles 
Ridgely, President; John W. Bunn, Vice Presi- 
dent; George M. Brinkerhoff, Secretary. The 
present Board of Directors are Charles Ridarely, 
George M. Brinkerhoff, J. T. Smith, John Wil- 
liams, Joseph W. Clark, William Ridgely, and 
John W. Bunn. 

In the beginning the works only manufactured 
railroad iron. The puddle mill belonging to the 
rail mill was started in June, 1872, and the first 
rail was made in September of that year, since 
which time it has continually been in operation. 



The claim is made by the company that they 
have made more rails than any similar works in 
the United States. They now turn out four 
thousand five hundred tons of rails per month. 

Other branches of manufacture have been in- 
troduced from time to time, so that at present 
the company is making rails of both iron and 
steel, bar iron, fish plates, and track bolts. The 
steel rails are made by the Seimeus-Martin, or 
open earth process. Charles Kennedy is general 
superintendent of the works. 

The Springfield Iron Company is located 
about a mile north of the city limits. The build- 
ings of this company are constructed in a sub- 
stantial style of architecture, and present a pic- 
turesque appearance. It is impracticable in this 
article to give a full and complete description of 
the works, and our only endeavor will be to 
notice some of the principal points of interest. 
The buildings in order of importance are, the 
rail mill, where all the rails, both iron and steel, 
are made, is eighty by three hundred and twen- 
ty-five feet in dimensions. The rolls of this 
mill are propelled by a mammoth seven hun- 
dred horse-power engine. The steel converting 
works are two hundred by one hundred feet, and 
devoted to the manufacture of steel, which is 
cast into rail ingots. The manufacture of steel 
is under the care of Mr. C. W. Roeper. 

The Blooming Mills are ninety by two hun- 
dred feet, substantially built and used for reduc- 
ing the ingots to the proper size for rolling into 
steel rails. The motive power being a four hun- 
dred and fifty horse-power Corless engine. The 
Merchant Mills are one hundred and six by two 
hundred and thirty-four feet in dimensions, and 
devoted to the manufacture of bar iron, mer- 
chants' iron and railroad fastenings, with a ca- 
pacity of sixteen hundred tons per month. The 
machinery of this mill is driven by a three hun- 
dred horse-power Corless engine. The puddle 
works are eighty-two by two hundred and two 
feet in dimensions, and used for the preparation 
of pig iron for the Merchant Mills, the motor 
being a three hundred horse power Corless en- 
gine. Besides the buildings already mentioned, 
there are machine shops, bolt and nut works, car- 
penter shops, pattern shops, blacksmith shops, 
etc. The company have introduced the Sie- 
mens gas furnaces, which they use exclusively 
for heating purposes, fifteen being in use in the 
different works. In the steel works they have a 
duplex Worthington pump, with two steam 
cylinders twenty-five and a half inches in diam- 
eter, with a twenty-four inch stroke and a 
hydraulic piston or plunger nine inches in diam- 



574 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



eter, producing hydraulic pressure of three hun- 
dred and iifty pounds to the square inch. The 
water with this pressure is used for working 
lifts and cranes in the steel works and Blooming 
Mill. The works cjnsume three hundred tons 
of coal per day, which is obtained from the 
Beard-IIickox Coal Company, located some two 
hundred yards from the works. The coal is 
loaded in the mines at a depth of two hundred 
feet, and carried on a tramway and delivered at 
the different works in the same cars. The office 
building is a two-story brick structure. The 
first floor is devoted to the heads of the various 
departments of the company, while the second 
story is used for draughting room and chemical 
laboratory. Some forty clerks are employed in 
the different departments of this office, while 
the entire works give employment to ten hun- 
dred and eighty employes. The goods manu- 
factured by the Springfield Iron Company are 
used by all the principal railroads in the west, 
and among them we will name the Wabash, Ill- 
inois Central, Chicago & Alton, Northwestern, 
etc., etc. 

The company have a locomotive of their own 
for switching purposes and a store of general 
merchandise is connected with the works for the 
accommodation of the employes. Besides the 
four large engines in the different departments 
already alluded to, which are of themselves more 
than seventeen hundred horse power, there are 
numerous smaller engines used for running the 
nut and bolt works, saws, punches, presses, shears, 
etc. The master mechanic in charge is Mr. John 
R. Darcy. The company have forty-five acres 
of ground upon which the works are built, and 
is well drained. The principal sewer is three by 
three and one-half feet, built of brick and laid 
fourteen feet under the ground, and is a half 
mile in length. 

It is interesting to contemplate the various in- 
dustries which cluster around a business of so 
much importance to the laborers and artisans of 
our country. Not only are there more than a 
thousand men directly employed, but dependent 
upon them are families; then there are miners of 
ore and coal; there should be added railroads and 
much of their rolling stock, the products of the 
earth and their transportation, domestic imple- 
ments and household comforts, are all improved 
and benefitted by all the legitimate means used 
to foster and encourage iron industries. 

Illinois Watch Company. — In 1870, after a 
1 borough discussion of the subject, the Spring- 
field Watch Company was organized, with John 
T. Stuart, President; W. B. MiKer, Secretary. 



Steps were at once taken for the erection of the 
necessary buidings, and in March, 1872, the first 
watch was turned out. During the first year 
three thousand eight hundred and forty-fi-ve 
watches were manufactured, which was increased 
to nine thousand and ninety-five and fourteen 
thousand two hundred and forty-one for the year 
1873 and 1874, respectively. In 1875, in conse- 
quence of the financial troubles, but eight thou- 
sand five hundred and fifty were made, and only 
ten thousand and seventy-six in 1876. In 1877, 
the company was re-organized with Jacob Bunn 
President, and Charles Smorowski Secretary, 
since which time the business has constantly 
increased, so that up to this time (1881) they 
have been unable to keep up with their orders. 
The following table is of interest as showing 
what has been done with the force employed 
since 1877, and the annual pay roll: 



Year. 


Average No. 
employed. 


No. movem'ts 
annually m'de 


Paid annually 
for labor. 


1872 
1873 




3,845 

9,095 

14,241 

8,550 
10,076 
18,040 
19,035 
33,285 
47,065 


$63,000 
104,000 


1874 




121,000 


1875 




72,000 


1876 




50,000 


1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 


160 
180 
260 
400 


84,000 

96,000 

125,000 

207,000 



It will thus be seen that since the re-organiza- 
tion thei'e has been a marked increase in the 
amount of work done at this factory. As this 
work is being prepared for the pi*ess, steps are 
being taken for a further increase in the capacity 
of the works. Six hundred persons are now em- 
ployed, and this number will be increased to 
eight hundred during the coming year. 

In brief, the Springfield Watch Company was 
organized in 1870. It was re-organized in 1877, 
and adopted the present name of Illinois Watch 
Company in December, 1878. The building is 
situated on North Grand Avenue, adjoining the 
beautiful Reservoir Park, on one of the hand- 
somest lots in the city, two blocks square, and 
embracing fourteen acres of land. The build- 
ings are immediately in front of Tenth street, 
and command a splendid view from every ap- 
proach. 

In the spring of 1870, the operators went to 
work in the rooms now occupied by Mr. Kiken- 
dall, over the Excelsior machine shop, to make 
the tools required, and on Christmas of the same 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



575 



year they moved into the north wing of the 
present building, which is one hundred by thirty 
feet, three stories high. In 1879, the middle 
building, forty by fifty, and four stories high, 
finished with a handsome double-deck cupola, 
was completed. During the past year, the south 
wing, one hundred by thirty, three stories high, 
was built. Each of the wing buildings described 
are handsomely finished, with ventilating cupo- 
las. On the north and east side, are located the 
boiler and engine house, the dial house, the gas 
works, the old office, and other out-buildings. 
The stack rises majestically, and towers above 
the whole, and rolls out its volumes of smoke 
daily, to proclaim the triumphs of artistic and 
mechanical skill, combining with its business 
sense in its management at its base. 

Sixteen different grades of watches are now 
made, in the following order of excellence: 
"No. 1," being the movement known as "Stu- 
art;" next in grades downward, "Bunn," "Mil- 
ler," "Currier," " Hoyt," "Columbia," "Amer- 
ica," "103 Improved," "103 Adjusted," "103 
Plain," "101 Improved," "101 Plain." These 
are all gentlemen's watches. The following are 
the grades of the ladies': "Mary Stuart," "Rose 
Leland," "Sunnyside," "Arlington" — all of 
iwhich are key and stem-winders. The wages 
rate from fifty cents to 66 per day. The pay 
roll will reach $22,500 per month, at present. 
About one-third of the employes are young 
ladies. 

The Aetna Iron Worhs^ on the southwest cor- 
ner of Second and Adams streets, succeeded to 
the firm of Lowry, Lamb & Co. John C. Lamb 
became a member, of the latter firm, in 1848 in 
carrying on the business of a foundry and ma- 
chine manufactory. The firm the following 
year, erected the main machine building. In 
1853, one of the partners died, resulting in the 
dissolution of the partnership. After an inter- 
val of idleness, Mr. Lamb became sole owner in 
1855, since which time he has conducted the 
business. The concern owns 157x360 feet of 
real estate, on which are buildings 150x157 feet, 
the main wing of which is of brick, two stories 
and attic. All kinds of castings, railroad and 
mill work, steam engines and mill machinery are 
manufactured in the machine department. An 
average of fifty men are employed m the various 
departments. Much of the work of the Wabash 
Company, and large quantities of rolling mill 
work are manufactured by the Aetna Iron 
Works. 

Id^e Machine IFbrA's was established on the 
corner of Fifth and Madison streets in 1870, by 



Albert L. Ide. The building was erected by the 
city some time previously as a market house, 
and purchased by Mr. Ide. Several additions 
and changes have since been made, and as now 
constructed it coveis 50x100 feet, one wing- 
being two stories high. The foundry is 100x60 
feet, one story in height. In addition to this, 
there is a blacksmith and engine house. Mr. Ide 
has eight patents on heating apparatus, and has 
the most extensive line of patterns for steam 
radiators of any concern in the United States. 
He also makes a specialty of steam pumps and 
controls a valuable patent of his own invention 
in this line. Another specialty is the manufac- 
ture of automatic gas machines, on which he 
also controls a patent. He does a general ma- 
chine business in the way of building stea^i 
engines and of light and htavy castings for 
buildings. Mr. Ide annually manufactures a 
large number of nut locks for railroad joints, 
making them for the railroad companies in con- 
tracts for 100,000. The demand for some time 
has been in excess of the supply for the steam 
radiators, coming for the whole northwest. He 
has supplied most of the steam heating appa- 
ratus for the State institutions of the west. He 
works from sixty to seventy-five men regular y, 
and in 1880 did a business amounting to 
$325,000. 

The Excelsior Foundry and Machine 'Worhs, 
located on the corner of Ninth and Adams 
streets, was established in 1854 by John Rippon. 
it includes 90x157 feet of real estate, on which 
are a two-story machine shop, 40x90, and a 
foundry, about equal in dimensions. For some 
time, the business was conducted by Berriman 
&> Rippon, and in 1877 it was changed to Rip- 
pon & Childs. The following year Mr. Rippon 
bought the interest of his partner, and has since 
been sole proprietor. He does a general manu- 
facture of steam engines and machinery, all 
kinds of castings, and runs a general repair 
shop. From twelve to fourteen men are con- 
stantly employed. 

Booth & Mc Cosher' s Carriage and Wagon 
Manufactory, on the corner of Eighth and 
Washington streets, was originally established 
by Albert Booth, in l8o4, and was conducted by 
himself and son until his death in 1873. Their 
buildings cover an area of 200x157 feet, two and 
three stories high. The firm make both heavy 
and light vehicles, spring wagons, carriages and 
buggies. From twenty-five to thirty-five hands 
are employed and from three hundred to five 
hundred vehicles are annually turned out from 
their shops, which are sold in Central Illinois. 



576 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Witheyci' Bros'. Carriage and Wagon Manu- 
factory. — William H., George D., and James 
Withey are proprietors of the manufactory 
located between Seventh and Eighth, on Wash- 
ington street. The business was established by 
the brothers in 1853. They purchased the lot on 
which the factory stands of the renowned Wash- 
ington Irving, and erected a frame building 
Ct'xSO feet. Two years later they erected a brick 
22x100 feet, three stories in height. The latter 
was blown down by a cyclone in April, 1860, which 
destroyed the frame also. They next erected a 
brick building 80x100 feet, two stories high, 
which was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1861. 
There was a total loss in each instance, amount- 
ing together to $40,000, leaving the brothers in 
debt about $10,000. Their present buildings are 
100x157 feet, two stories high, and of brick. 
They were commenced in 1861 and completed in 
lS6-i. The brothers also now own a two-story 
brick on Eighth street, 40x80 feet, which is used 
as a warehouse. All their property is free from 
incumbrance. They manufacture a general line 
of carriages, buggies, phiBtons and light spring 
wagons of the best quality. They employ on 
an average of thirty hands, and made 250 
vehicles in 1880. Their work is all sold in the 
local market at retail. 

Sash Manufactory. — John A. Kikendal, man- 
ufacturer of sash, doors and blinds, commenced 
business on the corner of Ninth and Adams 
streets, October, 1878. His business has been 
constantly on the increase, and he now employs 
eight men. In 1880 he did a business of $15,000. 

The Globe Spice 3Iills. — The business was es- 
tablished in 1870 by Slemraons & Conkling. 
Subsequently the firm name was changed to 
Slemmons, Conkling & Company. In 1876, Mr. 
Slemmons retired from the firm, and in 1878 
started the Globe Mills on Adams, between 
Fourth and Fifth street, where he continued un- 
til August, 1880, when he removed to his pres- 
ent location on South Tenth street. The concern 
roasts and prepares coffee, prepares spices, man- 
ufactures baking powder and roasts peanuts. 
The Globe Cream Tartar Baking Powder is the 
best brand of baking powder made at these mills. 
All goods made by Mr. Slemmons are handled 
exclusively at wholesale. He employs two trav- 
eling salesmen, besides his goods are sold by the 
salesmen in the employ of John W. Bunn. Six 
hands are employed in the factory. 

Springfield Paper Company. — The Springfield 
Paper Mill was erected by the Springfield Pulp 
and Paper Company in 1875. The Company 
was organized in the summer of 1875, with 



William McCague, President; Nathaniel Cov- 
ington, Secretary; Maurice Starne, Treasurer. 
The company began operating the mill in Jan- 
uary, 1876. The cash capital was $50,000, while 
the plant, buildings, machinery, &c., cost be- 
tween $40,000 and $50,000. The grounds of the 
company comprise one entire block, and the 
main building has a depth of one hundred and 
fifty feet. The company confines itself to the 
manufacture of one line of paper, the cream 
manilla, a fine quality of wrapping paper, and 
produce an average of four thousand pounds a 
day. The property in 1881 changed hands, and 
the mill is now owned by S. H. Jones & Com- 
pany, with the title of Springfield Paper Com- 
pany, under the Superintendency of N. R. Nixon, 
and Nathaniel Covington, Secretary. 

Wagons and Carriages. — The firm of Myers, 
Davidson & Henley, was organized in 1874, and 
they commenced manufacturing carriages, bug- 
gies and spring-wagons, near the corner of Jeffer- 
son and Sixth streets, where they continued until 
January 1, 1881, when they purchased and fitted 
up the old Christian Church on the north-east 
corner of Jefferson and Sixth Streets. Their lot is 
eighty by one hundred and fifty-seven feet, and is 
well covered with buildings. Ihe members of the 
firm are all practical workmen, and each has con- 
trol of a department. They turned out sixty 
vehicles in 1880, besides doing a large amount 
of repair work. 

Machine Works. — S. F. Eastman started in 
the machine business on Madison street, between 
Second and Third, in 1SG8, making a specialty 
of the manufacture of the Benefactor, a two- 
horse cultivator. He continued the business in 
that location three years, then moved to a build- 
ing on Seventh street. At that time he went into 
the general repair business of engines and farm 
machinery. He removed from there to his 
present location, opposite the Wabash depot, in 
1875, the building being erected especially for 
his business. In 1879, he formed a partnership 
with .John H. Stevens, which still 6-ontinues. 
The firm now makes a specialty of the manufac- 
ture of small upright engines, and employ three 
men in addition to their own labor. 

The Elevator Milling Company. — Near the 
depot of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, Asa 
Eastman & Company erected, in 1865, an ele- 
vator at a cost of $75,000. For some years Mr. 
Eastman was interested in the business, but in 
1876 leased it to other parties, and retired. Wil- 
liam Broeker, George Kern, S. W. Currier, and 
W. P. Grimsley were the lessees. These gentle- 
men continued to handle grain for shipment until 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



577 



IbSU. In May of that year they purchased the 
property and determined to erect in connection 
with the elevator a Houring mill. In June, the 
company began the erection of the mill, complet- 
ing it during the early part of the winter follow- 
ing, and in February, 1881, commenced the manu- 
facture of flour. The mill is of brick, seventy- 
eight by fifty-six feet, four stories and basement, 
with an elevation of one room (ten by sixteen) 
above the roof. The boiler and engine room, 
north of the main building, is twenty-five by 
forty feet, and twenty-six feet high. The mill 
has ten run of burrs, with all the modern im- 
provements, and has a capacity of twelve barrels 
per hour, or three hundred barrels for a twenty- 
four hours run. The cost of the mill was $45,000. 
The elevator has a storage capacity of one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand bushels of grain. 

Excelsior Mills. — Douglas Hickox, proprietor 
of the Excelsior Mills, is one of a family of 
millers. Addison Hickox seitled in Springfield 
in 1833, and being a practical miller, began the 
business about two miles northwest of the city, 
a small water mill being k cated there, built by 

. A year or two later he erected another 

mill opposite, on the same stream, which he 
operated a number of years. In the meantime, 
he erected a saw-mill, with which he sawed 
lumber for a new mill, which he erected on the 
corner of Third and Washington streets, in 
1845. This new mill he continued to operate 
until 1855, when he sold his milling interests, 
and engaged in merchanizing until 1859. He 
then bought the old Lamb mill, on South 
Seventh, between Cook and Edwards streets, 
which he run some years. About this time the 
Illinois Mill was burned, but was rebuilt in 1861 
and run by Washington Crowder. It was a very 
fine mill for that day, and cost |2 7,000. Mr. 
Crowder ran it two yeai's, losing heavily, when 
he sold to Laswell & Broadwell, who ran it 
about one year, when, in 1864, it passed into Mr. 
Hickox's hands, who, in connection with his son- 
in-law, B. F. Haines, operated it. In the mean- 
time, Mr. Hickox had taken his son, Martin, as 
a partner in the Lamb mill. In 1866, another 
change was made, Martin purchasing his father's 
interest in the Illinois Mill, and selling him his 
interest in the Lamb mill. In the spring of 
1865, Addison Hickox bought the ^Etna mill, on 
East Adams street, between Sixth and Seventh, 
which had been erected by Ives & Matthews, 
Bome time previous. Douglas Hickox became a 
partner in the mill from the time of its purchase. 
The father and son run it two and a half years, 
and then leased it for ten years. Addison 

67— 



Hickox, becoming a partner with his son-in-law, 
retained the business until lS7l, when he retired. 
That fall he went to Florida, as was his custom, 
to spend the winter, and there died in January, 
1872. Addison Hickox was another instance of 
a self-made man. Commencing without a penny, 
by industry he accumulated a fortune, which he 
left to bis heirs, of $150,000. His sons and son- 
in-law have all followed the milling business. 
The two oldest sons, Marlin and E. R., are dead; 
S. W. Hickox is one of the proprietors of the 
Illinois Mills, and Douglafi is proprietor of the 
Excelsior, as guardian for his nephew. The 
old City Mills blew up in 1867, and the ^Etna 
in 1879 — both a total loss. 

Te Excelsior Mill was built in 1860, by 
Rippon & Co., who leased it for a term of years. 
About 1867, Martin Hickox purchased it, and a 
year later, his father, Addison Hickox, became 
joint proprietor, but soon sold back to his son. 
The capacity of the Excelsior is one hundred 
barrels every twenty-four hours. The building 
is 40x60 feet, three stories and basement. 

Home Mills. — This mill was erected in 1861, 
by Washington Crowder, who ran it for a time, 
when it was purchased by Addison Hickox, who 
operated it until the fall of 1871. It was a part 
of his estate at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in January, 1872, and is now the property 
of his widow, Mrs. Rhoda Hickox. It is sixty 
by forty feet, exclusive of the engine and boiler 
room, which is thirty by sixty feet. The mill is 
three stories and basement, of brick, and is equip- 
ped with all modern milling machinery, and has 
a capacity of one hundred barrels every twenty- 
four hours. John L. Burke and S. W. Hickox 
leased the mill February, 1881. They do mer- 
chant work exclusively. 

Frinting and Binding. — In 1865 Plenry W. 
Rokker came to Springfield, and in 1867 com- 
menced the business of book-binder, with loca- 
tion on Fifth, between Adams and Monroe 
streets. Business flourished, and year by year 
he added to his stock and capital, until 1872, 
when he was burned out, suft'ering a personal 
loss of 110,000. He re-of)ened within a month 
on East Washington street, where he remained 
until he removed to his present location, 309 
South Fifth street, in 1876. The building was 
erected by Mr. Rokker especially for the busi- 
ness, and is one hundred and fifty-seven by 
twenty feet, three stories in height. On his re- 
moval to this building he added a small printing 
establishment, consisting of one small press and 
a few fonts of type. The business has since 
rapidly grown, until now he has in active opera- 



518 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tion four large and two small presses, and is well 
supplied witii printing material for the transac- 
tion of any kind of work. The printing establish- 
ment and bindery is the most complete in Cen- 
tral Illinois. He employs at a low average, sixty 
hands in the two departments. 

Boiler and Sheet Iron Works. — In 1863, John 
M. Wilson commenced the manufacture of all 
kinds of boiler and sheet iron works. In 1865, 
Ve firm became Wilson & Drake, and in 1875, 
Drake & Palmer, the latter gentleman purchas- 
ing the interest of Mr. Wilson. The firm employ, 
on an average, twelve men, and turn out !|25,000 
worth of work per year. The business is grow- 
ing with the growth of the city. 

^Springfield Trunk Manufactory. — Phillips 
Brothers formed a co-partnership, and opened a 
trunk factory in Springfield, on South Sixth 
street, opposite the Leland Hotel, in 1879, where 
they carried on the business until the fall of 
1881, when they moved to 123 North Sixth 
street. The firm is composed of Charles J., 
Edwin H., William O., and Moreau F. Phillips. 
They make all kinds of packing and sample 
trunks, and do all kinds of repairing; also keep 
in stock a large assortment of traveling bags, 
ladies' satchels, straps, and show case goods. 
The brothers are energetic, thorough-going young 
men, possessing a practical knowledge of the 
business, which has been quite prosperous and 
steadily increased since established. Five 
skilled workmen are constantly employed in the 
factory. 

Springfield Woolen Mills. — This mill is the 
outgrowth of M^hat was a small beginning, in the 
way of carding wool, by H. M. Armstrong and 
John Dryer, in 1834. In 1848, Mr. Armstrong, 
who was then alone, put in a mill for " fulling 
and dressing" home-made cloths, in connection 
with wool carding. In a letter to Mr. Dicker- 
man, Mr. Armstrong, who is now living in 
Batavia, says: "At first we run our cards with 
ox-power, on inclined wheel, but when I added 
cloth dressing I substituted steam power. After 
I commenced cloth dressing, my patrons, ( the 
farmers) wanted me to add machinery for spin- 
ning and weaving, and in 1851 Joseph and E. R. 
Thayer joined me, and we built a house suffi- 
ciently large to put up one set of machinery for 
that purpose. We ran along two years, added 
another set, and after a few years the demand 
for our goods was such that we were compelled 
to pull down our old house and build larger; 
hence the present establishment." 

In 1857, Henry S. Dickerman entered the es- 
tablishment as book-keeper. At this time it oc- 



cupied a frame building with two sets of 
machinery, and six looms, with a capacity of one 
hundred yards of flannel, fifty yards of jeans, 
and fifty pounds of stocking yarn per day. In 
1860, the main factory building, forty by eighty 
feet, was erected of brick, three stories with 
basement and attic. In 1863, Mr. Dickerman 
purchased machinery with the intention of locat- 
ing in Rockford, but was induced to become a 
partner in this factory, the firm name remaining 
unchanged until two years later. This same 
year, an addition to the main building was 
erected, thirty-six by seventy-five feet, of brick, 
three stories, with basement and attic, and a dry 
house in the rear, thirty-six by fifty feet. In 
1865 large additions were made to the machin- 
ery, and the products of the mill increased four 
fold, while the quality of the goods had steadily 
improved from year to year. Mr. Armstrong's 
interest was now purchased by Mr. Dickerman 
and Edward T. Thayer, and the firm name was 
changed to Dickerman & Company. Gradually 
the old machinery was replaced with new and 
improved machines, until all was taken out of 
the way. In 1873, John T. Capps became one of 
the partners, the firm name remaining the same. 
Prior to the fall of 1880, the mill engaged in 
the manufacture of a variety of flannels, 
blankets and cassimeres, but since that time 
they have paid special attention to cassimeres, 
and are manufacturing six-fourths goods as well 
as three-fourths goods. During 1880, they ship- 
ped their products to Boston, New York and 
other eastern cities, but their heaviest sales are 
in the Northwest, Over one hundred hands are 
employed in the factory. A capital of over 
11100,000 is invested in the business, and the 
monthly product amounts to about 118,000. 

THE PORTUGUESE. 

In the city of Springfield are many Portuguese, 
and as it is uncommon to see such numbers of 
this nationality in this country, the question is 
often asked, " How came they here?" Their story 
is an interesting one. 

About four hundred years ago, Gonsalves 
Zarco was making a voyage of discovery along 
the western coast of Africa. He was soon taken 
by a violent storm, and all his crew expected to 
sink into the deeps. They gave up all hope, 
when suddenly an island appeared, and they 
made for its shores. After landing, they called 
it Porto Santo, or " Holy Haven." Here a set- 
tlement of Portuguese was formed. But the 
people were afraid to go to the larger island of 
Madeira. Some of them would venture near it. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



579 



but it looked so gloomy, and they heard such 
strange sounds coming from its woods, that they 
imagined it was the abode of awful giants and 
territic creatures — a land of darkness. 

Gonsalves, however, ventured to pay a visit to 
the awful island. The men on the vessel became 
alarmed as they came near the shores, and 
thought they saw monstrous giants on the coast. 
They begged their commander not to expose 
them to death. He kept on until he proved to 
them that their giants were only craggy rocks, 
and the horrid voices they heard were only the 
beating of the waves against the cliffs. The 
shores were thick with tangled trees and vines. 
He thought that men might live on an island 
where so much wood was growing. 

A colony from Portugal settled on the island. 
They cleared the land by setting fire to the for- 
ests, and thus they robbed it of its natural beauty. 
It is said that these fires kept burning for seven 
years, and left scarcely a tree on the island. 

A few slips of the grape vine were brought 
from the Isle of Cyprus and planted in Madeira. 
They grew, and from them have grown the cele- 
brated vineyards of the Isle of Wines. The 
wealth of Madeira is chiefly derived from its 
vineyards. 

For many centuries the people in Madeira 
were in deep mental darkness. Few of them 
could read, and the Bible to them was an un- 
known book. The Roman Catholic religion 
prevailed. There were plenty of jails where 
there were no school houses. Persons who had 
committed smaller crimes were put in jail to 
wait their cases to be tried in Lisbon. They 
kept them in prison many years. Their expen- 
ses were to be paid by those who complained 
against them. Hence, after a time accusers be- 
came rare, for they did not like to pay for their 
own accusation. This was not done, however, 
with Bible readers, they had to pay for their own 
support in prison. 

Some years ago the vineyards began to fail. 
The traveler could no longer pass along under 
the shadow of the vines, and have rich clusters 
of grapes hanging over his path. The fruit was 
cut off. It brought a famine on the Island. The 
Romanists laid all this to Bible readers. They 
said it was a curse on the people for allowing 
such men as Dr. Kalley and Mr. Hewitson to 
come among them and establish schools, read 
the words of God, and have meetings for prayer 
and praise. 

The Christians of the United States took a 
deep interest in the famishing people of Ma- 
deira, and sent them supplies and induced them 



to cultivate such eatables as are raised in this 
country. The famine made many people poor, 
and the people of the island, who have always 
done most of the labor, began to turn most of 
their skill to account in the manufacture of 
fancy articles for sale. 

Robert B. Kalley was a young physician in 
Scotland. He felt it his duty to go as a mission- 
ary to China, and was ordained by the Free 
Church to preach the Gospel. In 1838, he and 
his wife left their home to go to China. On 
the voyage Mrs. Kalley was smitten with dis- 
ease. Her friends thought she would not live 
to reach China. There was no vessel to carry 
them back to Scotland, so they turned aside to 
visit Madeira. Dr. Kalley did not know a word of 
Portuguese, but thought that while hindered in 
the work he had set out to do, he yet might do 
good in instructing the people on this island. 
He at once set about learning the language, and 
soon mastered it so that he could begin his 
labors. 

A co-laborer with Dr. Kalley was Rev. Wil- 
liam Hewiston. The two, with the aid of such 
others as could be secured, did a grand work on 
the island. But a time of persecution came. 
The Catholics on the island would not endure 
the hated Protestants. The life of Dr. Kally 
was threatened and he had to flee from the island 
in disguise. The Portuguese converts, too, had 
to flee for their lives, or that they might wor- 
ship God in peace according to the dictates of 
their own conscience. Hundreds fled to other 
countries. A vessel was chartered to take as 
many as could be accommodated to Trinidad. 
But this was only to be of a temporary place of 
rest. 

Arsenio Da Silva was born on the Island of 
Madeira and educated for the priesthood, but 
would not take the vows. He became a mer- 
chant and accumulated a large fortune. He 
married and had one child, a beautiful daughter, 
who grew to womanhood, when disease over- 
took her. The best physicians of the island were 
called, but could do her no good. Finally, Dr. 
Kalley was called. The daughter was healed, 
and father and daughter were converted to the 
Protestant religion. Mr. Da Silva became a 
member and elder in the church under Mr. 
Hewitson. But he was too prominent a man to 
be permitted to dwell on the island and he had 
to flee for his life. 

In the early part of 1847, there were about five 
hundred Portugese exiles in Trinidad. How 
were they to be supported? They were in a 
strange land, and were not familiar with the Ian- 



580 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



guage of their benefactors. They found all 
classes of people here from different nations. 
Several of the planters were willing to hire them 
to work on sugar estates, but they knew nothing 
of that kind of labor. Some of them had been 
wealthy, and their hands were not skillful enough 
to toil for their daily bread. 

A church organization was formed in Trinidad 
in April, 1847, by Mr. Hewitson, who could not 
remain to care for them. Mr. DaSilva was at 
once selected and was ordained as their pastor. 
He had six hundred in his flock and all exiles. 
It was truly a charge. The labors were great, 
but he did not despair. The property of the ex- 
iles, and the uncertain prospect of a better con- 
dition in Trinidad were truly an anxiety in his 
mind. No land could be obtained for them to 
settle upon, and there was little hope of their 
living by their toils so long as they must become 
mere slaves in the hot fields, or in the friendless 
houses of strangers. 

Like the Pilgrim Fathers in Leyden, they be- 
gan to look toward some other land for a home. 
Their cry went out to the Christians of the 
United States, and a voice of welcome rolled 
across the waters. The " Great West " the beau- 
tiful Illinois country, with its grand prairies, 
were pictured before their eyes. 

The American Protestant Society sent Rev. G. 
Gonsalves to Trinidad to inquire into the condi- 
tion of the exiles. Mr. Gonsalves returned and 
was followed shortly after by Mr. DaSilva, who 
arrived in New York in December, 1848. But 
death claimed him before he could make the ar- 
rangements that he desired for his flock. He 
died January 10, 1849. 

Appeals were now made for help to transport 
these exiles to the United States, and the appeals 
were not in vain. Arrangements were made to 
care for all that should come at Springfield, 
Jacksonville and Waverly. On the 19th of 
October, 1849, nearly three hundred left New 
York for their new homes in Illinois. Rev. 
Albert Hale, a father in Israel, thus wrote of 
these exiles shortly after their arrival in Spring- 
field: 

"We are much occupied these days in minis- 
tering to our brethren, the Portuguese exiles. 
They arrived here just in time to enter on the 
severe winter weather, which now they, in com- 
mon with all of us, have to endure. They are 
not much accustomed to severe cold weather, 
and as our city was very full of people when 
they arrived, it was well nigh impossible to pro- 
vide them habitations; to provide comfortable 
dwellings was out of the question, as everything 



worthy of that name was already crowded full. 
But we have done what, under the circum- 
stances, we could, and they are hoping for better 
times. So far as I know they are contented and 
happy. Many of them find employment at good 
wages and ready pay. They are highly valued 
as laborers, and will soon be able to take care 
of themselves without the aid of others. Indeed, 
the last thing to be looked for is that such men 
should long be a charge to their fellow men. If 
they maintain their strict religious principles 
and their habits of industry, there is but one 
destiny for them here, and that is plenty — inde- 
pendence." 

This is how the Portuguese came to be in 
Springfield and Sangamon county. 

REMINISCENCE OF ELIJAH ILES. 

"My name is Elijah lies. I was born in Ken- 
tucky, March 28, 1796 (now in my eighty-sixth 
year.) 

" My father, Thomas lies, was born in Penn- 
sylvania, in 1765. At the age of sixteen he was 
sent by his father about one hundred miles to 
collect some money, and was furnished with a 
good horse and a good outfit of clothing. After 
collecting tne money, not being on good terras 
with his step-mother, concluded to put out and 
set up for himself. He went to Virginia and 
emigrated to Kentucky, with a family by the 
name of Trumbo. The Indians were trouble- 
some, committing murder and stealing horses, 
and much of his time was employed in guarding 
the settlers, and driving the Indians across the 
Ohio river into the Territory of Ohio. He was 
in several skirmishes with the Indians. The In- 
dians finally stole his horse, and by this time his 
clothes and money was about used up. He then 
went to work for wages in the summer, and to 
school in winters, paying for his board by his 
work mornings, nights and Saturdays. When 
he got an education enabling him, he taught 
school in winter and worked on farms in sum- 
mer. After occupying himself in this manner 
for a time, he married Betsey Crocket, and then 
formed a colony with my mother's brother, John 
Crocket, and a few others, and settled on the 
Prickley Ash creek, on the waters of Licking 
river, in a heavily timbered section, and cleared 
ground for raising corn. They relied on game 
for their living, such as turkey, deer and bear. 
They could not raise hogs until the bear was 
killed out, as they eat the pigs. But they made 
good use of the bear by killing them and cure- 
ing the meat as we do pork. At that day most 
everything used for housekeeping was brought 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



581 



from Virginia to Kentucky, on pack-horses. We 
had to do with little. Our table-ware was pewter 
plates, spoons and Japanned tumblers. Our 
cooking utensils, a frying pan, skillet and oven; 
our bread was mostly baked on a board, set up 
before the fire, and called Johnny-cake, or in the 
ashes and called ash-cake,., the meat often hung 
up and roasted before the tire. 

" My mother, with her wheel, wool cards and 
loom, manufactured all the wearing apparel used 
by herself and family, other than buckskin pants, 
mostly used by men and boys. 

"My mother died in 1802, leaving five child- 
ren: Polly, Elijah, William, Washington and 
Betsey, the youngest eight days old. We were 
in a bad fix; but ray Aunts Carlyle and Harper, 
of Woodford county, Kentucky, took my sisters 
and brother Washington home with them, and 
my Aunt Crocket, in the vicinity, took myself 
and brother William until my father visited his 
sister (Aunt Barnet), at Winchester, Virginia, 
and bought and brought home a negi'o woman, 
and myself and William were taken home and 
put under her charge and care; we were taught 
to call her Aunt Milly, and to obey her; she 
proved to be a good woman. After living eight 
years a widower, my father married the Widow 
Wheeler, with tw^o children (Samuel and Eliza); 
and my brother, Washington, and sisters were 
brought home. 

" My education was limited; never advanced 
to study English grammar. My father, being a 
good scholar, taught me some at home in spell- 
ing, writing and arithmetic. 

"At the beginning of the war of 1812, my 
father was sherifi^ of i^ath county, Kentucky. I 
was then sixteen years old, and acted as his dep- 
uty, after which I bought one hundred calves at 
$3 a head, which I wintered in a very rugged 
section, remote from settlements, on the waters 
of Little Sandy, three summers and two winters. 
The cliffs were very high and precipitous, shelv- 
ing over in places, so as to form shelter for the 
cattle in winter. The valleys were very narrow, 
but by changing from valley to valley, my cattle 
wintered without being fed. My only compan- 
ions during the two years, was my horse, dog, 
gun and cattle, other than occasional hunters. I 
had an object, enjoyed it, and did not feel lone- 
some. I then sold my cattle for a sum, though 
small, was at that day a good start for a young 
man. Being then of age, I concluded to hunt a 
new country, and set up for myself ( although 
Kentucky was yet new), so I took ray money 
and put out for Missouri, 



"Now, for incidents and events of someot my 
numerous footsteps wanderings and doings from 
the time I left my father in 1818, to the present 
year, 1881. My object was the Boomlick country, 
in Missouri, in Howard county. I started on 
my trip in October, 1818. My route was via 
Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville, Ky., Vin- 
cennes, Ind., St. Louis, and St. Charles, Mo., 
thence to Franklin, in Howard county, the ex- 
treme western settleraent at that day. The 
towns were all sraall,St. Louis the largest, about 
2,000. Franklin was the only town west of St. 
Charles on the Missouri river. My object was 
farraing. The lands were not yet brought into 
market. After getting to Franklin and explor- 
ing the country to some extent, I was eraployed 
a portion of my time as clerk in a store, and also 
to select lands for speculators. I made good se- 
lections for rayself and laid out every dollar I 
had, and in a short time on one tract I realized 
one hundred dollars. I got home-sick and de- 
termined to visit my old home in Kentucky, but 
before doing so, I desired to explore raore of 
Missouri so as to satisfactorily decide where I 
should permanently locate. A young raan and 
rayself prepared ourselves for camping out. We 
went west on the north side of the Missouri 
river, and into the then Indian Territory raore 
than a hundred railes above the border line, 
then meandered the river down to Fort Osage, 
twenty miles below the mouth of Kansas river. 
The ofiicers sent a boat over for us. The fort 
was comraanded by Colonel Sibley. From here 
we passed down the south side of the river, 
camping out one night, to the settlement above 
where Boonville is now situated 

"In January, 1821, I made my visit to Ken- 
tucky. About this time I heard of much talk 
about the Sangamon country in Illinois, and de- 
termined to explore it, and on my return in 
March, about thirty miles west of Viucennes, at 
a place called Maysville. When I got there I 
was told a party had just staked out a road to 
Vandalia and to Sangamon. It was easy to fol- 
low the route by the stakes and fresh raade track 
of the wagon that had hauled the stakes. There 
were but few in Vandalia at that tirae. I fol- 
lowed the staked road to Maccoupin point, where 
I struck the trace to Sangaraon river, then the 
only trace from St. Louis to Sangamon. After 
exploring to sorae extent I went to St. Louis and 
then to ray home in Missouri. I liked the people 
and the lands bordering on both sides of the 
Missouri river — could not be excelled to the In- 
dian border — yet, the distance from market, and 
the thought that Missouri would remain a border 



582 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



State during my life time, determined me again 
to visit Illinois, which was more interior and 
more accessible to market. My route back to 
Illinois was mostly without a road or trace. 
After leaving the settlement on the Missouri 
river, I crossed the prairie to the head waters of 
Salt creek, or river, above the settlement. There 
I camped out one night. It did not trouble 
me a bit to camp out as I had been accus- 
tomed to camping out with my cattle in Ken- 
tucky. I felt at home. I then meandered the 
river to the settlement near New London, thence 
to Louisiana, then crossed the Mississippi river 
to a colony in Illinois, headed by the Rosses, 
(now Atlas) of a dozen families, who had just 
landed, living in tents, and were erecting their 
cabins. I then meandered the Mississippi to 
near the mouth of tho Illinois river, to another 
colony of eight families. These two colonies 
were the only whites residing on the Military 
Tract between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. 
"I there swam my hor.-e across the Illinois 
river at the mouth, then meandered the Macou- 
pin creek, to a trace leading to Diamond grove, 
now Jacksonville. There I found three families 
in the grove, Kline, Abrams, Wilson, and Wyatt 
and some others in the vicinity. I then went up 
the Mauvester creek about ten miles, until I 
could see the timber in the Island grove, then 
crossed the prairie to the grove. No one was 
then living in the grove. Leaving the timber on 
my right, I followed the prairie to a trace leading 
through the timber to a place where I found a 
stake, set up for a temporary county seat, to be 
called Springfield; and here I found Charles R. 
Matheny, living in a one-room log cabin, with a 
large family of little children, near the stake. 
(Mr. C. R. Matheny was judge of probate and 
clerk of the circuit and county courts). Within 
the distance' of two miles of the stake, I found 
the families of John and William Kelly, Andrew 
Elliott, Samuel Little, John Lindsay, Peter Laut- 
erman and Jacob and Levi Ellis. The reason 
given me why the temporary county seat was lo- 
cated here, was that it was the largest neighbor- 
hood in the country, and, as it was only to be 
temporary, until the land sales, the judge and 
lawyers could get quarters among the farmers. 
This was in 1821. A rough log house, was 
erected with a dirt floor, for a temporary cburt 
house. 

No one had settled in the place during 
the first year, other than Matheny and myself. 
In 1822, although on government lands, seven 
families erected temporary cabins and moved to 
the town before the land sales. 



"In 1825, commissioners were appointed to 
select and locate a permanent county seat. We 
had a hard row to hoe and manage to get the 
commissioners to selectthis place for the perma- 
nent county seat. The growth of the place was 
slow until after it was selected for the capital. 

"After I got to Springfield in 1821, and ex- 
plored the country to some extent, I determined 
to make this section my permanent home; my 
intention was farming, but as the land was not yet 
in market, I erected a cabin, sixteen feet square, 
with sheds, and went to St. Louis and bought a 
general assortment of goods, and opened the 
first store in Springfield, in June, 1 821. ( had no 
competition for two years.) After I bought the 
goods, I chartered a boat to bring them up the 
Illinois river. On my trip, the only house at now 
Alton, was the residence of the ferryman; the 
next was at the mouth of Illinois river; the next 
a vacant cabin at now Beardstown. At that day 
there was no other house on the Illinois river, 
from head to mouth, other than a trading house 
for Indians at the foot of Lake Peoria (now 
city). My goods were landed at the vacant cabin 
and the boat discharged. I was alone with my 
goods on the bank of the river. After a search, 
I found a dim trace leading out to a Mr. Jobe, 
fifteen miles out, was the first house on the 
route; but, before I got to his house, I met two 
teams, driven by Lauterman and Broad well, 
going after furniture which was brought up the 
river by dug-outs and left at the cabin. As 
neither had a full load, I went back and made up 
their loads with some of my most perishable 
goods. It was more than a month before I got 
all my goods from the river, yet nothing was 
molested; there was no one to steal then. I did 
a good business, and aside from whites, I had a 
good trade with the Indians. In 18 23, at the 
land sales, I bought land, and, in addition to 
selling goods, opened a farm, and drove hogs 
and cattle to St. Louis, until 1830; then sold my 
goods to my clerk John Williams, now Colonel 
Williams, and established him in business. 

" I then occupied myself in farming, buying 
and selling hogs and cattle in St. Louis, and 
mules to Kentucky, and buying and selling 
lands and town lots, to the year 1838. In this 
year, I packed hogs at Alton, with others, and 
lost more than $10,000. This closed my career 
in pork packing, after which I occupied ray time 
in farming and buying and selling lands and 
lots. In 1838, I erected the American House, 
in Springfield, then the largest hotel in the State, 
now torn down and built up with large store 
houses by Lawrence & Britton. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



583 



"In 1826, I was elected State Senator, and 
again in 1830. At that time, the Senate con- 
sisted of thirteen members, and the House of 
Representatives twenty-five. In 1821, when I 
came to Springfield, twenty miles north were the 
extreme northern settlers. All north of that 
was occupied by friendly Indians, but after the 
lead mines were discovered, at Galena, and set- 
tlers began to move up and work the mines, the 
Indians became troublesome. This was in 1827. 
Troops were mustered, under the command of 
Colonel T. M. Neal, who marched to Galena, to 
drive them off. I was elected Major. This was 
called the Winnebago campaign. A treaty was 
made at Prairie DuChien, and we were disbanded. 

"In the Black Hawk War, of 1832, I went as 
a private. Our route was from Oquawka to 
the mouth of Rock river, thence up Rock 
river to the road crossing to Galena (now the 
city of Dixon). The army was commanded by 
General Atkinson, of the United States Army. 
Here we called a halt, and General Stillman's 
command advanced fifteen miles above, on Rock 
river. He met the Indians, had a battle, and a 
number of his men killed, and his command 
completely routed. We were ordered next day 
to the battle-field, and collected and buried the 
dead; then returned to Dixon and got news that 
some of the Indians went over to the outer set- 
tlement on the Illinois river, committed mur- 
der, and took two young girls prisoners. We 
then crossed over to the Illinois river to what 
is now known as Ottawa. The terui of service 
of this army havingexpired, they were mustered 
out. A call was made for volunteers from the 
disbanded army, to remain and protect the fron- 
tier until new troops could be enlisted. Several 
companies were organized for this service for 
twenty days. I was elected Captain of one of 
the companies, and felt proud of my company. 
They were men I could rely on, many being 
officers from the disbanded army. Among them 
were A Lincoln, late President; John T. Siuart, 
of Springfield, and others who afterward became 
prominent. 

"My company was mustered into service by 
Lieutenant Anderson, Acting Adjutant (of Fort 
Sumter memory). My company was held in 
camp as a reserve, by General Atkinson, whilst 
others were scouting. Colonel Taylor, late 
President, was left stationed at Dixon, with two 
companies, to guard the road to Galena. One 
company was ordered to Dixon and to report to 
Colonel Taylor, but just as it got to Dixon, one 
man made his appearance and reported that he, 
with six others, were on the road to Galena, and 



not far from Dixon, the six weie killiMl, and he 
only, escaped. General Taylor ordered the 
captain to proceed, collect and bury the dead, 
and go on to Galena (Captain Snider, of Belle- 
ville, was a brave man), but the frightened men 
disobeyed the orders and returned to Ottawa, 
helt'-r-skelter. 

"General Atkinson was anxious to get all the 
information possible of the whereabouts of the 
Indians, by the time the new troops were ready 
to march, and selected my company, which 
was ordered on the trip, and to report to Colonel 
Taylor. He ordered me to proceed, collect and 
bury the dead, and go on to Galena, making a 
careful search for Indian signs, to see if they 
were aiming to cross the Mississippi below 
Galena, and gather all possible information from 
inhabitants at Galena. 

" On our route we saw signs of Indians, but not 
in large numbers. Fifteen miles this side of 
Galena, the inhabitants were in a fort, the dav 
before we got there they stole some horses and 
shot at some of the citizens. We then went to 
Galena and got all the information we could on 
our trip. All the houses were vacant and on our 
return all were burned. 

"I married Malinda Benjamin in 1824; we 
had two children, Louisa E. and Thomas lies. 
My daughter died in 1857, my wife died in 1866 
and my son died in 1877. After the death of my 
wife, I felt mentally and physically used up and 
quit all business, as much as I could." 

SPRINGFIELD HOME FOB THE FRIENDLESS. 

" It is better to give than to receive;" so said 
One " who spake as man never spake," and a 
blessing is bestowed upon everyone who bestows 
even a cup of cold water upon the thirsty soul. 
In every community may usually be found one 
or more who are willing to render all the aid in 
their power to the poor and unfortunate of the 
land. Springfield is no exception to this rule. 

In the winter of 1862-63, Antrim Campbell 
applied to the legislature for an act to incorpo- 
rate a board of lady managers for an institution 
to be known as the "Springfield Home for the 
Friendless." The act was duly passed and ad- 
proved February 12, 1863. The ladies named 
in the act, who were to serve as managers until 
the first Monday in January, 1864, were Mrs. 
Eliza Pope, Mrs. Mercy Conkling, Mrs. Louisa 
Draper, Mrs. Susan Cook, Mrs. Lydia Williams, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Bunn, Mrs. Harriet Campbell, 
Miss Ann Eastman, Mrs. Maria Lathrop, Mrs. 
Mary Hay, Mrs. Catherine Hickox, Mrs. Mary 
Ann Dennis, and Mrs. Elizabeth Matheny. The 



5S4 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



act of incorporation made S. H. Treat Presi- 
dent; George Passfield, Vice President; George 
P. Bowen, Secretary; Jacob Bunn, Treasurer. 

The object of the Home, as stated in the char- 
ter, was for " relieving, aiding, and providing 
homes for the friendless and indigent women 
and children." It was provided that any person 
might become an annnal member by the pay- 
ment of |1, and a life member by the payment 
of $10 at one time. The corporation is author- 
ized to receive and hold, either by gift, purchase, 
devise, bequest, or otherwise, any real or per- 
sonal estate, in aid of its objects. The Board of 
Managers is the legal guardian of all children 
placed in its charge, according to the charter, 
and may bind them out to any honorable trade 
or employment. The father, if living and crip- 
pled, may surrender his child to the Home. If 
he has absconded, or is otherwise incapable, the 
mother can make the surrender. 

The first meeting under the act of incorpora- 
tion was held at the residence of J. C. Conkling, 
on the 9th of March, 1863. At this meeting, 
both Judge Treat and Mr. Passfield declined 
the offices for which they had been named in the 
charter. Thereupon, S. H. Melvin and James 
Campbell were elected President and Vice Pres- 
ident, respectively. 

On the organization of the Board, steps were 
at once taken for procuring ground and build- 
ing. Elijah lies donated an entire square on 
South Grand Aevnue, between Seventh and 
Eighth streets. A subscription was started, 
among the citizens, and |5,620 obtained. This 
was supplemented by a contribution from the 
city of |>2,000, and by the county of Sangamon 
of $5,000. 

In the spring of 1864, a building committee 
was appointed, consisting of Antrim Campbell, 
John Williams, John S, Bradford, J. S. Vred- 
enburg, John Armstrong and John A. Chesnut. 
At the request of this committee, E. E. Myers, 
architect, prepared a design and drawing for tbe 
building, which was duly approved. A descrip- 
tion of the building may be found elsewhere in 
this work. 

On the first of May, 1864, the managers 
opened "The Home" in a rented house on North 
Fifth street. Mrs. Nancy M. Britton was the 
first matron. About sixty children were received 
and most of them placed in homes during the 
first year. As soon as the building was com- 
pleted, which was early in the year 1865, "The 
Home" was removed to it. The value of the 
ground was estimated at $8,000, and the entire 
cost of the building about $20,000. 



In the year 1868, Mrs. K. E. Goodell asked 
and obtained leave to lay out the grounds into 
walks, and to ornament them with shrubbery — 
all of which was handsomely done. She was 
assisted in this good work by other citizens. 

The Home of the Friendless is now under the 
management of a superintendent. 

WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH, 

The first message received by telegraph in the 
city of Springfield, was in the year 1848. Then 
the business was in its infancy, and none real- 
ized the extent to which it would eventually 
grow. William Kelchner, agent of the Western 
Union Telegraph Company, took charge of the 
office in 1867, as the successor of John G. Con- 
nor. The predecessor of Mr. Connor was Fred 
G. Smith. The business has materially increased 
since Mr. Kelchner assumed management in this 
city. At that time there were but two wires 
terminating here, and four passing through, or 
six in all. The company then employed seven 
operators for general and railroad work. There 
are now twenty-one wires terminating or passing 
through the city, and twenty-six operators are 
actively engaged, twenty of whom are on rail- 
road work, and six in the general office. Then 
they delivered from twenty-five to thirty mes- 
sages per day; now they deliver from one hun- 
dred to one hundred and twenty-five, and send 
about as many. In 1867, it cost $6.40 to send a 
message to San Francisco; now it costs $1.00. 
Then it cost $2.40 to New York; now a message 
can be sent for twenty-five cents. A million 
words of press matter are sent from this office 
now in one year; then it would not aggregate 
more than fifteen thousand to eighteen thousand 
words per year. The business of Springfield 
has nearly doubled in two years, and it now 
ranks as the third office in magnitude of busi- 
ness in the State. 

UNITED STATES EXPRESS COMPANY. 

An office was established in 1850 in this city 
by the United States Express Company, S. M. 
Tinsley being the first agent. Mr. Tinsley occu- 
pied the position two years. He was then suc- 
ceeded by Simeon HoUiday, who was the first 
to make it an exclusive business, as Mr. Tinsley, 
being a merchant, did the express business as in- 
cidental matter. Both these gentlemen are now 
deceased. Mr. Holliday held the position until his 
death, which occurred February, 1868. The bus- 
iness was all done by the agent inMr. Holiday's 
time, excepting that he employed Patrick Daily, 
still a resident of the city in the private express 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



585 



business, to haul the express matter in a hand 
cart in the early part of his connection ; but after 
a year or two it became necessary to employ a 
horse and wagon. The express business has 
since grown until now it requires six horses, four 
wagons and nine men to do the work. Express 
matter is handled from eighteen trains every 
twenty-four hours. 

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY. 

A local office was first established in Spring- 
field by the American Express Company in 1871, 
when the present Illinois Central Railroad come 
into the city. The company now operates over 
the Illinois Central and Ohio & Mississippi Rail- 
roads, and the business is now larger than ever 
before. The company now employs six men and 
run two wagons which connect with eight daily 
trains. The office ranks third in the State for 
the business of the company. Montgomery G. 
H|all is the local agent, and he has filled the posi- 
tion since December 1, 1879. Previous to that 
time he was assistant Superintendent, and had 
charge of the Springfield branch and main line 
of the Illinois Central and the St. Louis Division 
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
and the Ohio & Mississippi, which position he 
held five years. He has been connected with 
the company in various capacities since 1869. 
He w^as born in Chicago in 1848. That city was 
chiefly his home till he came to Springfield. In 
1879 he was married to May Garland, a native 
of Springfield, in the latter city. He is a mem- 
ber of Capital Lodge, Number 14, Knights of 
Pythias, and was Master of Exchequer in 1880. 

SCHOOLS. 

The Public Schools of Springfield will com- 
pare favorably with any other city in the State, 
while its private schools are not surpassed ; but 
such was not always the case. In the earlier 
days, when its population was small and when 
the people were possessed of but little wealth, 
the educational facilities were not of the most 
magnificent description. No palatial school 
houses then reared their stately fronts w'ithin its 
borders; no School Board supervised the move- 
ments of the educators of youth, and no army of 
patient, toiling instiuctors were here. 

The first school in Springfield was taught by 
Andrew Orr, in 1821, Erastus Wright followed 
him, and he was succeeded by Thomas Moffitt. 
The school at that time numbered about fifty 
pupils. His last term was in the old original 
court house. In 1828, a school house of rough 
logs was built near the corner of Adams and Sec- 
ond streets. This building also served for a 

68— 



church and other public purposes. John B. 
Watson taught here until 1834. In 1830, John 
Calhoun conducted a school in another part of 
the city. After that time several small private 
schools were established. Beaumont Parks 
taught a private school from 1840 to 1853. 
Harry C. Watson, in an article on the Public 
Schools, published in Power's History of Spring- 
field, in 1871, says of Mr. Parks: " One of the 
earliest teachers who initiated those boys into 
the mysteries of reading and writing, and led 
them through the dark, mysterious ways of 
arithmetic and grammar, was Beaumont Parks, 
Esq., (forever sanctified be his memory.) Plain 
and simple as the most artless boy under his 
direction, he was one of the best, most honest, 
and conscientious of teachers. Filled with a 
love of his profession, imbued with a strong de- 
sire to instruct the heart and mind of the youth 
committed to his control, that they might walk 
aright the pathway of life, he labored faithfully 
and diligently to discharge his duty. Possessed 
of a fine cultured mind, and of attainments de- 
cidedly rare in those days, he pursued his unos- 
tentatious calling, asking not for public praise or 
high sounding plaudits, but only for the satisfac- 
tion of knowing he had discharged his duties 
faithfully and well. Some of our most influen- 
tial and prominent citizens were his pupils, and 
the powerful influence of his teachings have been 
exerted, indeed, for good. Only a few weeks 
ago and he was called hence, full of honors and 
of years. And although he lives not, his deeds 
remain." 

Mr. Power in his " History of the Early Set- 
tlers of Sangamon County," has this to say of 
Prof. Parks: 

"Beaumont Parks was born January, 1775, in 
Norwich, Connecticut. He was an orphan at 
twelve years of age, and resolved to educate 
himself. In order t^) obtain the means to do so, 
he began trading with the French Canadians and 
Indians. He worked his way out, in company 
with his brother-in-law, Rev. Mr. Bacon, father 
of Rev. Leonard Bacon, D. D., of New Haven, 
Connecticut, through the rivers and lakes from 
Vermont to the region of the Georgian Bay and 
Lake Huron. As winter approached he com- 
menced building a house with the intention of 
remaining in it until spring. He was discovered 
by Colonel Dunham, commander of the L^nited 
States Fort, at Michilimacinac. Colonel Dun- 
ham was astonished at seeing a boy of fourteen 
or fifteen years preparing to winter alone in that 
inhospitable region, and inquired what he was 
aiming to do. On being told by young Parks 



586 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



that he was trying to raise money to defray the 
expense of an education, Colonel Dunham of- 
fered him a home in his own family, with the 
promise of assisting him in his purpose. He ac- 
cepted the kind proposition, went to the Fort 
and remained therebetween three and four years. 
During that time his savings amounted to about 
$80. Expressing his determination to set out 
for college. Colonel Dunham sent some friendly 
Indians to accompany him a portion of the dis- 
tance. He traveled in a birch canoe through 
the upper lakes and portions of Canada, and 
thence east. When he had gone about two- 
thirds of the distance, he was taken sick Avith 
small-pox, and was compelled to travel alone 
uulil he could find shelter, although he was then 
in a part of the country more or less settled by 
white men. At Montreal, a French Canadian 
took him in and nursed him for nearly a month, 
until he was able to pursue his journey. His 
savings were now reduced to about thirty dol- 
lars, but his hospitable friend would not receive 
anything for his trouble. His exhausted condi- 
tion required the expenditure of more money, 
and when he arrived at his destination his money 
had all vanished. Notwithstanding so much 
time was lost, after a journey of one thousand 
six hundred miles, he found himself at Dart- 
mouth College, a stranger, and destitute. Yet 
he boldly knocked at the doors of that institu- 
tion of learning for admittance. That was about 
the year 1798. By diligent study while in the 
family of Colonel Dunham, he was enabled to 
teach the lower branches. He then made ar- 
rangements to continue teaching in summer and 
attend college in winter, and prosecuted his 
studies while teaching, so as not to fall behind 
in his class. He was thus enabled to defray his 
expenses, with some aid furnished by Colonel 
Dunham, and in that way went through college 
on equal terms with Daniel Webster, Levi 
Woodbury — the latter of whom was his class- 
mate — and other world-wide celebrities. After 
passing through college he entered the law office 
of Judge Slade, of Middleburry, Vermont, and 
in due time w^as admitted to the bar. He was 
married in 1811, at Windsor, Vermont, to Nancy 
Conant. He soon acquired a large and lucrative 
practice, which he held for about ten years, 
when — however others might think — he became 
convinced that it was impossible to be a success- 
ful lawyer and a thoroughly honest man. That, 
with other causes, induced him to abandon his 
practice and move west. He left Vermont, and, 
in August, 1821, landed at Madison, Indiana, 
Avhere he opened an academy for the education 



of young men, which was one of the earliest in- 
stitutions of the kind established west of the 
Allegheny mountains, and probably the first 
school in the State of Indiana where the Greek 
and Latin languages were taught. It was at- 
tended by many who have become distinguished 
at the bar, on the bench, and in the councils of 
the Nation, such as the Hendricks, Sullivans, 
Brights, Sheets, Cravens, and many others. After 
ten years' success in Madison, he was appointed 
Professor of Languages in the Indiana State 
University, at Bloomington, and was in that po- 
sition about seven years. He came to Spring- 
field, in the autumn of 1840, and at once opened 
a private school or academy, which was geneially 
supported by all the leading citizens, and many 
of the students have become distinguished in 
the learned professions, in politics and business. 
When the city schools of Springfield were or- 
ganized on the present plan, he was the first su- 
perintendent, and continued teaching in Spring- 
field for nearly twenty years, when old age 
caused him to relinquish his chosen field. 

" Professor Parks continued active till the day 
of his death. He died April 8, 1870, without an 
hour of sickness, at the residence of his son, 
Judge S. C. Parks, in Lincoln, Illinois, and was 
buried in that place." 

la 1829 but one school had been sustained in 
the place. During that year Miss Jane E. Ber- 
gen opened a school in her father's house, which 
she continued until the fall of 1832, At that 
time, a fatality, not entirely unknown to modern 
female teachers, overtook her — she was married. 
The school was continued under charge of a Mr. 
Chase, who was at the same time rector of the 
recently established Episcopal Church. He re- 
mained in the school about two years, and was 
followed by Mr. Clark, who continued until the 
summer of 1836. Thus, for six years, two A^ery 
good schools had been sustained, each number- 
ing about sixty pupils. John Waters taught a 
school for a term, and also Caleb Williams, in 
1838, About this time, several smaller schools 
were started by young ladies ; among others, 
one for misses, by Miss Chapin. 

Thus far all schools had been sustained by 
individual effort. No good school house had 
been erected, and no attempt made to establish 
a permanent institution. It was evident that 
the growing wants of the community, its safety 
at home and its reputation abroad, demanded 
better educational advantages. Many of the 
prominent citizens felt this want, and deter- 
mined to meet it. Accordingly, a joint stock 
company was organized, and an act to incorj^or- 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMOX COUNTY. 



587 



ate the Springfield Academy was approved 
March 1, 1839. In accordance with that act, the 
following named constituted the first Board 
of Trustees: Washington lies, F. Webster, Jr., 
S. T. Logan, John F. Rague, N. H. Ridgely, 
Robert Allen and Charles R. Matheny. 

Under the auspices of this association, the 
Academy building was erected, Messrs. Town 
and Sill opened a school in this building before 
it was fully completed. They did not remain 
long, however, but were succeeded in the fall of 
1840 by Rev. J. F. Brooks. For two years the 
school was open to both sexes, and then for a 
few months, until Mr. Brooks' connection with 
it ceased, only to females. From the spring of 
1843 until the fall of 1853, this school was ex- 
clusively for females; first under the charge of 
Mr. AlJard, and then of Mr. Kimball. In 1844, 
Rev. Francis Springer took control of the 
school, on his own responsibility. He continued 
in charge until 1847, when he was succeeded by 
A. W. Estabrook. In the meantime, in the fall 
of 1844, Mr, Brooks had established a school 
for young ladies, at his own residence, on south 
Fifth street. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

By the amended charter, approved March 2, 
1854, the city of Springfield was placed in the 
Springfield school district, and the City Council 
authorized to establish and maintain free schools 
for the education of all white persons between 
the ages of five and twenty-one. The council 
was also empowered to "appoint seven inspectors 
to be denominated as the Board of School In- 
spectors, and to prescribe their duties," 

In accordance with this charter, an ordinance 
was passed, August 21, 1854, defining the 
powers of the School Board, and dividing the 
city into school districts. 

Lots had already been purchased in each ward 
for school purposes, and the initiatory steps 
taken for the erection of school bnildings in the 
First and Third Wards. These buildings were 
completed in the spring of 1856. 

April, 1856, the Board of School Inspectors 
issued the following circular : 

" The Board of School Inspectors take pleas- 
ure in announcing to the public that the schools 
in the First and Third Wards will be opened on 
the 14th of this month, and that they are now 
ready to receive applications for the admission 
of pupils, according to the ordinance of the city 
in relation thereto. By order of the City 
Council, the First and Fourth Wards are con- 
stituted one district, to be styled the First 



District, and the Second and Third Wards 
another, styled the Third District. Tho-e who 
are desirous of gaining admission for pupils, in 
their respective wards, must obtain certificates 
for that purpose from members of the Board." 

On the 14th, the schools commenced — the one 
in the First Ward, under charge of Rev. Francis 
Springer, and that in the Third Ward, under A. 
W. Estabrook. 

During the first term of the schools, which 
was the last term of the school year, there were 
registered seven hundred and thirty-nine pupils. 
At the close of the term the Principils, and 
most of their accociates, were elected for the 
ensuing year. Additional accommodations for 
schools were provided, in the basements of the 
Baptist and First Presbyterian churches. 

According to the report of the Secretary of 
the School Board, there were enrolled during 
the year 1856-7 eight hundred and seventeen 
pupils. 

At a meeting of the Board, held July 16, 1857, 
it was determined to confine instructions in the 
ward schools to the common English branches, 
and to recommend the establishment of a central 
high school, in which the higher English 
branches and the languages should be studied. 

For the year 1857-8 Volney Hickox was 
elected Principal of the First Ward, A. W. 
Estabrook, of the Third Ward, and Beaumont 
Parks of the High School. February 6, 1858, 
Mr. Hickox presented his resiguation to the 
Board, and A. M. Brooks was elected to fill the 
vacancy. During the last term of that year 
there were enrolled eight hundred and fifty-three 
pupils. 

In the spring and summer of 1858 buildings 
for the ward schools were erected in the Second 
and Fourth "Wards, at an expense of $10,000 
each, and on the 20th of September, 1858, free 
schools were opened in each of the four Avards of 
the city. Twenty-two teachers were employed. 

In November, 1858, on recommendation of the 
Board of School Inspectors, an ordinance was 
adopted by the Common Council creating the 
office of School Superintendent. S. M. Cutcheon 
was appointed to till the position. 

The first annual report of the Superintendent 
was made in the summer of 1859. It is very full 
and complete, and his recommendations wise 
and beneficial. From the report it was learned 
that there were enrolled one thousand four 
hundred and seventy-six pupils, with an average 
number belonging of nine hundred and eighty- 
seven, and an average attendance of seven bund- 
red and ten. The following were the salaries of 



588 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



teachers recommended by the Board to the City 

Council: 

Assistants, primary department, Second and Fourtli 

wards 

Principal.primary departments, Second and Fourth 

wards 350 

All other feuiule teachers 300 

Principals of iirammar department 800 

Principal of High School 900 

The salary of female teachers who might be 
regained was to be increased |25 per annum for 
four years. The salary of each male teacher 
who might be retained was to be increased $50 
per annum. 

The cost of the schools for 1858-9 were 
^18,735.45. 

S. M. Cutcbeon was re-appointed Superin- 
tendent for 1859-60, and his second annual 
report shows a gratifying increase in attendance, 
there being enrolled one thousand six hundred 
and thirty-nine, against one thousand fotir hun- 
dred and seventy-six the year previous, while 
the average number belonging, one thousand 
one hundred and ninety, against nine hundred 
and eighty -seven in 1858-9. The accommoda- 
tions for pupils was altogether insufficient. 

Rev. Francis Springer was appointed Superin- 
tendent for the year 1860-61. In his report for 
the year he made many valuable sitggestions, 
and gave the following account of the buildings 
then in use: 

"The First Ward cchool building is situated on 
Mason, between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets. 
The lot is 320 feet fronting on Mason, by 157 
feet each on Twelfth and Thirteenth. The 
building is of brick and two stories high. The 
lower floor contains four good school rooms, 
capable of accommodating in all one hundred 
and eighty pupils. The second story embraces 
one large hall, two recitation rooms, and two 
small rooms suitable for library and apparatus. 
Its capacity is for the accommodation of one 
hundred and forty-four pupils, making for the 
entire building, accommodations for three hun- 
dred and twenty-four pupils. Cost of ground 
and improvements, about $12,000. 

"The Second Ward school house is also on 
Mason street, between First and Second streets. 
The lot is three hundred and fifty feet fronting 
on Mason, and one hundred and fifty-seven feet, 
each, on First and Second. The building is of 
brick, and is three stories high. When com- 
pleted, its capacity for pupils will be about four 
hundred. Cost of grounds and improvements, 
about $12,000. 

"The Third Ward school house, situated on 
the corner of Edwards and Spring streets, occu- 



pies a lot measuring three hundred and twenty 
feet on Edwards, and one hundred and fourteen 
on Spring street. This building is in all respects 
after the same pattern as that of the First Ward, 
and, together with its grounds, cost about the 
same amount of money. 

"The Fourth Ward school house, on the 
corner of Market and Twelfth streets, is con- 
structed precisely on the same model as that of 
the Second Ward. The size of the lot is two 
hundred and forty feet on Market, by one hun- 
dred and fifty-seven feet on Twelfth. The ex- 
penditure of grounds and improvements, as also 
the capacity of the house are the same as that 
of the Second Ward." 

The High School occujjied a building on Fifth 
street, between Monroe and Market, while the 
colored children were compelled to atlend school 
in a shanty in the rear of the African church, 
on North Fourth street. This African school 
was established the year previous, under Mr. 
Cutcheon's administration. Says Superintendent 
Springer of it in his first report: "Humble as 
it is, the school it contains has furnished the 
most satisfactory evidence of the capacity and 
aptitude of the colored children to acquire the 
rudiments of a good education. In rapidity of 
advancement and propriety of behavior, these 
youthful descendants of the African race com- 
pare very advantageously with the more favored 
children of Caucasian blood." The number en- 
rolled this year was one thousand, six hundred 
and nine. A, M. Brooks was the Principal in 
the High School. 

The war for the Union having commenced, 
Mr. Springer resigned the Superintendency, and 
J. D. Low was appointed to fill the vacancy. 
There were enrolled during the year, two thou- 
sand and forty pupils, with an average number 
belonging of one thousand three hundred and 
twenty-four, and an average attendance of one 
thousand one hundred and thirty-three. Con- 
siderable trouble was experienced in the proper 
gradation of the schools, but an efi^ort was made 
to improve the sj^stem. During the year the 
members of the school succeeded in collecting a 
library of over four hundred volumes, and as 
stated by the Superintendent, the books were 
also used. He recommended an annual appro- 
priation for the purpose of procuring new books 
for the library. 

For the school year 1862-3, J. D. Low was 
continued as Superintendent, with A. M. Brooks 
as Principal of the High School. Thirty-one 
teachers were employed. The entire cost of the 
schools were $17,845,60. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



iS9 



J. D. Low was le-appointed Superintendent 
for the year 1863-4. The whole number of pupils 
admitted this year was two thousand two hun- 
dred and sixty-four, with an average number be- 
longing of one thousand four hundred and twen- 
ty-eight, and an average attendance of one thou- 
sand three hundred and eighty-four. The Super- 
intendent, in his report, says: "While we have 
not accomplished all that we hoped, we have yet 
made substantial progress." 

A. M. Brooks was made Superintendent for 
the year 1863-4, and submitted his first annual 
report iu the summer of 1865. The whole num- 
ber of pupils enrolled was two thousand two 
hundred and ninety-four, with an average num- 
ber belonging of one thousand four hundred and 
seventy, and an average attendance of one thou- 
sand four hundred and one; a better record than 
any previous year. The City Council at last 
waked up to the necessity of making an appro- 
priation for a High School building, and one 
was erected, an honor to the city. 

The Springfield High School building is situ- 
ated on the corner of Fourth and Madison streets. 
The building is seventy-five feet long, fifty-eight 
feet wide and three stories high, with basement 
for furnaces, fuel rooms and other purposes. 
The walls are brick, eighteen and one-half inches 
thick with corners of dressed stone. The foun- 
dations are of stone, two feet thick. Two pro- 
jections 25x14 feet contain the stairways. There 
are two entrances, one on Fourth street, the 
other on Madison, affording easy access to all 
parts of the building. The school rooms, six in 
number, are of ample size, well lighted, heated 
by wood furnaces, and well provided with black- 
boards. The floors are deafened, and a truss is 
placed under each, giving great firmness and 
strength. A Mansard roof, made of slate and 
tin, and self-supporting, allowed the construction 
of a large and commodious chapel in the third 
story of the building. It is a fine hall, well 
lighted and ventilated. Its size is Y2x55 feet, 
twenty-three feet high, giving abundant room 
for the public exercises of the school, and also 
for lectures and meetings of every kind con- 
nected with the public schools of the city. Two 
entrances enable the audience co enter or leave 
the chapel with great facility. The rooms are 
furnished with single desks of the most approved 
pattern and best material. 

The High School building, together with ad- 
ditions to the Second and Fourth Ward School 
buildings, afforded ample accommodations for 
eight hundred more pupils. 



The colored school was still forced to meet in 
the old building described by Mr. Springer as 
a shanty. 

The whole number of pupils enrolled in 1865-6 
was two thousand five hundred and fifty-two; 
average number belonging, one thousand seven 
hundred and twelve; average number attending, 
one thousand five hundred and ninety-three. 

In 1866-7, the salaries of the teachers were 
raised, the Principal of the High School receiv- 
ing $1500 per year, and the Principal of the 
ward schools each $1250; Thomas York, the 
Principal of the coloi'ed school, $900. The 
assistants in High School each received $700; 
and those in ward schools from $350 to $500; 
generally the latter sum.- The number of pupils 
enrolled, two thousand eight hundred and sev- 
enty; average number belonging, two thousand 
and thirty-one; average attending, nineteen hun- 
dred and fourteen. There was expended this year 
for school purposes, $642,814.41. The library was 
increased this year, by a donation of several 
hundred volumes, from the Springfield Library 
Association. The grade of the ward schools 
was raised this year somewhat, which relieved 
the High School of a large number of pupils 
too immature for the requirements usually re- 
quired from those who pursue academical studies. 

The colored school was also furnished with a 
suitable building, and provided with furniture 
equal to the best in the ward schools. The 
Superintendent recommended the erection of 
suitable buildings for primary schools. 

The whole number of pupils enrolled in 
1867-8, was thirty-one hundred and six; average 
number belonging, twenty-one hundred and 
sixty; average number attending, twenty hun- 
dred and forty, and the per cent, of attendance, 
nine hundred and forty-four. There was ex- 
pended this year for school purposes, $36,317.86. 
Complaint was made by the Superintendent, of 
the way the City Council used school funds. 

In the report of Superintendent Brooks for 
the year 1868-9, says: " The past year has been 
one of success with many of the teachers, who 
have labored diligently in preparation for the 
class-room, in carrying out more fully, methods 
already known, and introducing improved plans 
of instruction. The expenditures this year 
amounted to $34,029.85. The whole number en- 
rolled this yeai-, for some cause, was less than 
the previous, being two thousand seven hundred 
and thirteen; average number belonging, two 
thousand and forty-eight; average attending, 
one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven. The 
hall in the High School building was fitted np 



590 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



by the pupils so that exhibitions could be given 
without incurring extra expense, and the pupils 
of the ward schools were invited to give their 
future exhibitions in this hall. Benjamin C. 
Suesseratt was Principal of the High School this 
yeai'." 

In March, 1869, the legislature passed an act 
vesting in a Board of Education, consisting of 
nine members, "All the rights, powers and privi- 
leges, in relation to schools, school property, real 
or personal, or school funds, now vested in the 
City Council of the city of Springfield." The 
Board of Education was required to certify to 
the City Council in June each year, the amount 
of money needed and required for school pur- 
poses for the fiscal year, commencing the first 
Monday in September succeeding each report. 
The City Council was then required to levy and 
collect the amount of money so reported, by tax- 
ation, and the Board of Education alone, 
through its proper officers, were permitted to 
expend it. The first Board of Education con- 
sisted of Rev. Francis Springer, President; Rev. 
J. K. McLean, B. M. Griflith, William E. Shutt, 
T. W. Dresser, A. L. Knapp, John L. Million, 
C. A. Helmle, Charles Ridgely. 

Samuel Willard was Superintendent for the 
year 1869-70, Mr. Brooks declining a re-elec- 
tion. Mr. Willard's report was made in the 
summer of 1870. There were enrolled this 
year two thousand six hundred and thirty-seven 
pupils. Rev. Edwin P.Frost was the Principal 
of the High School. The graduating class this 
year consisted of twenty-one young ladies and 
gentlemen. The expenses of the school this 
year were $44,211.33. 

J. C. Bennett was elected Superintendent for 
the year 1870-71. The expenses of the schools 
for the year were $43,667 79. 

For the year 1871-2, J. C. Bennett was retained 
as Superintendent, with A. M. Brooks Principal 
of the High School. There were forty-six 
teachers employed, and the total expenditures 
were $41,792.05. The whole number of pupils 
was two thousand five hundred and ninety- 
three ; average number belonging, one thousand 
nine hundred and fifty-nine ; average number 
attending, one thousand eight hundred and six- 
ty-three. 

In 1872-3 the same teachers, including Super- 
intendent, and Principal of High School, were 
generally employed. The expenditures this 
year were $50,483.03, of which $32,481.84 was 
for salaries. The schools were considered pros- 
perous. 



J. C. Bennett was unanimously re-elected 
Superintendent for 1873-4, by the Board of Edu- 
cation, at their regular meeting, but declining 
the position, at a subsequent meeting A. M. 
Brooks was elected, with the understanding that 
he should remain Principal of the High School. 
Mr. Brooks' report for the year is very full and 
complete. There were two thousand six hundred 
and nineteen pupils enrolled ; average number 
belonging, one thousand nine hundred and fifty- 
nine ; average attending, one thousand nine 
hundred and two. The expenditures this year 
were $53,345.03, of which $30,404.01 was for 
teachers, janitors. Superintendent and clerk. 
The library now numbers three thousand vol- 
umes. 

For the year 1874-5, A. M. Brooks was again 
elected Superintendent, and F. R. Feithans, 
Principal of the High School. They were both 
re-elected for the year 1875-6. 

The eighteenth annual report of the Superin- 
tendent shows two thousand six hundred and 
sixteen enrolled for the year ending June, 1876; 
average number belonging, two thousand and 
thirty-four; average attending, one thousand 
nine hundred and seventy-seven. The per cent, 
of the registered number attending was 75.6. 
This was the best showing in the history of the 
schools 

The City Schools sent to the Centennial Ex- 
position nine volumes ol written work — seven 
Irom the Ward Schools and two from the High 
School. The Second Ward School sent a vol- 
ume of maps, and the Third Ward two volumes 
of drawings; two volumes of school reports and 
two of amateur papers by the pupils of the High 
School were also sent, making sixteen volumes 
in all. 

The money paid for the paper and binding, 
together with the amount assessed upon the 
city, to bear the expenses of the educational 
department of Illinois at Philadelphia, was ob- 
tained by an exhibition given by the pupils of 
the Ward Schools. The teachers and scholars 
exerted themselves to gain a fair position among 
the schools of the country, and favorable reports 
of their success were received from visitors who 
had compared the work of our schools with that 
sent from other cities. 

The enrollment for 1876^-7 was two thousand 
five hundred and fifty-nine, with an average 
number belonging of two thousand one hundred 
and ninteen; average attending, two thousand and 
fifty-eight; percent, of registered members attend- 
ing, eighty and four-tenths, a very gratifying in- 
crease. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



591 



As usual, a large audience of the friends of the 
schools assembled to hear the graduating exer- 
cises of the senior class of the High School. Miss 
Lillie Washburn delivered the salutatory and Mr. 
Charles Wilson the valedictory. The names of 
the class, their grades and the programme used 
on the occasion, will be found in another place. 
No abatement of the interest shown in former years 
was perceived, and the efficiency of the public 
school system was attested by the number and 
character of the friends who were present. 

The most noted event of the year was the for- 
mation of the Alumni Association of the High 
School. This body was regularly organized, 
and at the close of the year public exercises, such 
as are usual on such occasions, were held. An 
oration was delivered by Mr, George E. Dawson, 
of the class of 1864, a poem recited by Mrs. F. 
J. Janness (Miss Fedora J. Robinson), and a bi- 
ographical sketch of the members was also read 
by Mrs. Laura J. Johnson (Miss Laura J. Clin- 
ton), both of the class of 1865. The oration, 
poem and sketch were ordered to be printed by 
the society. After the literary exercises were 
concluded, the members repaired to the Leland 
Hotel, where a sumptuous repast awaited them. 
Regular toasts were given and responded to by 
Messrs. McNeil, McClernand, Patton, Rourke, 
Kane, Feitshans and Brooks. The friends of 
the school regarded this association with much 
favor, and expect that in the future the influence 
of the society will be felt in promoting the cause 
of education in our city. 

Superintendent Brooks, in the twentieth an- 
nual report, for the year 1877-8, says: 

"The whole number enrolled is two thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-six ; the average 
number belonging two thousand three hundred 
and three and three-tenths; the average number 
attending, two thousand two hundred and fifty- 
tbree and nine-tenths; and there are nine hun- 
dred and seventy-two tardy marks. The per 
cent, of the registered number attending is 
eighty-one and two tenths, that is, more than 
four-fifths of the whole number enrolled were in 
constant attendance. The per cent, of the aver- 
age number belonging attending, is ninety-seven 
and nine-tenths, and the per cent, of tardiness is 
eleven one hundredths. There is a gain in the 
registered number of two hundred and seventeen; 
in the average number belonging, of one hundred 
and ei^ty-four and five-tenths, and in the aver- 
age number attending, of one hundred and nine- 
ty-five and nine-tenths. There are ninety-one 
fewer cases of tardiness, with an increase of over 
two hundred pupils. The books in which the 



permits for re-entrance are recorded, show a 
great advance in this important matter of attend- 
ance. These books cover a period of nine years, 
and the contrast between the number of permits 
issued last year, and the number for 1871-2, is 
very striking. In a few of the best schools of 
our country a better attendance is found, and 
this fact will cause the faithful teacher to thor- 
oughly canvass every aase of absence, and thus 
bring one of the chief obstacles to the pupil's 
progress within the narrowest limits possible." 

The entire expenses of the schools this year 
were |35,449..32. 

For the year 1878-9, Superintendent Brooks 
reports: 

"The past year has been one of quiet pro- 
gress. An effort has been made to advance in 
every direction as far as possible, and to allow 
no retrograde movement. No special effort has 
been attempted, and the examinations have been 
held with a view to have each division of the 
couise of study thoroughly mastered. 

" The attendance at the schools has been good, 
as is shown by the following statements. The 
number on the annual register is two thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-six; the average 
number belonging, two thousand one hundred 
and seventy-one; the average number attending 
is two thousand one hundred and foureen; and 
there are eight hundred and seventy-eight tardi- 
nesses on the rolls. In many departments, the 
attendance is excellent, in a few there is still 
room for improvement." 

The cost of the schools this year was $28,- 
069.72, of which $25,278.50 was for salaries. 

From the report of Superintendent Brooks for 
the year 1879-80, the following extract is taken: 

"The attendance during the past year was di- 
minished, and the efficiency of the schools con- 
siderably impaired, by the absence of many 
pupils who left school on account of the scarlet 
fever in the city. But for this reason, quite an 
increase of numbers would have been reported. 

" The whole number of pupils enrolled is two 
thousand seven hundred and forty ; the average 
number belonging is two thousand and sixty- 
nine; the average number attending is two 
thousand and two, and the number of tardy 
marks, eight hundred and eighty-two. 

"The whole amount expended was $31,955.09; 
the whole amount of scrip redeemed was $48,- 
131.06. A debt of -fil 6,175.97 was paid, quite a 
number of repairs made, and a balance of 
$1,512.72 left in the treasury at the close of the 
fiscal year. The teachers and other employes 
of the Board were paid promptly at the end of 



592 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



each month, thus securing a cordial and hearty 
cooperation in the work of the schools. 

The school property, before the close of the 
year, was put in good repair. About all that can 
be done for the building now in use, has been 
accomplished. The fact is patent to all who 
have taken pains to be informed on the subject, 
that the present accommodations fall far short of 
what is imperatively needed; and that we should 
have larger school rooms, properly heated, 
lighted and ventilated. While great improve- 
ments have been made in almost everything else, 
most of our school rooms are no better than 
those in use a quarter of a century ago. The 
modern furniture placed in the First, Second, 
Third and Fourth Ward schools during the pres- 
ent year, forms a striking contrast with the an- 
tiquated and nondescript affairs used as desks in 
most of the schools. The children cannot be 
accommodated any longer with even the poor 
seats so long in use, and a large amount of money 
as has been stated several times before in previous 
reports, is annually wasted, because the rooms in 
the lower grades are not large enough to seat as 
many pupils as a primary teacher is able to in- 
struct. Measures will doubtless be taken dur- 
ing the coming year, to obtain the improvements 
demanded by the wants of the pupils, and a 
proper regard for the economical disbursement 
of the funds raised for the support of schools. 
The Superintendent, Andrew M. Brooks, and 
Principal of the High School, Professor Feits- 
hans, were retained for the years 1880-81, as 
well as the greater number of teachers in the 
ward schools. As showing the present condition 
of the schools, the twenty-third annual report of 
the Superintendent is dravv'n on pretty liberally. 
In his report, he says: 

"The whole number of pupils registered during 
the past year was two thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-two; the average number belonging, 
two thousand one hundred and fifty and four- 
tenths; the average number attending, two 
thousand seventy-eight and two-tenths; and the 
number of tardinesses, one thousand one hundred 
and seventy-three. The figures show a gain oyer 
last year in the number of pupils attending. The 
attendance of the different schools is given in 
he table below, and in another place, the at- 
endauce of each school is given in detail, pre- 
enting the standing of each district, in this par- 
icular, for each month of the school year: 





^ 


f> 


> 


^ 


!^ 


^ 


i 
< 




§1 


II 


C.2 


it 


JO P 


SCHOOL. 


ft 


r^'i^ 


i^ 


; o 




o 1 






: B 


: B 


: > 




^^i 




B 




■ c 


■ P 




p 




• 1 


• >-i 


' *~i 




• CO 




First Ward. . 


452 


363.3 


353.6 


97.3 


150 


.10 


SecondWard 


801 


610.5 


591.9 


97. 


246 


.10 


Third Ward. 


507 


432.2 


415.5 


96.1 


353 


.20 


Fourth Ward 


635 


473. 


455.1 


96.2 


206 


.11 


Sixth Ward. 


180 


139.9 


134.2 


96. 


98 


.18 


High 


154 


131.5 


127.9 


97.2 


120 


.23 


Total 2,792 


2150.4 


2078.2 


96.6 


1,173 


.13 



"The whole amount expended for the support 
of thecity schools was 136,181.34. The receipts 
amounted to $37,242.18, and the balance on hand 
is $3,882,83. 

" The following table shows the amount paid 
for tuition alone, and also the entire expendi- 
ture in each school. For the purpose of com- 
parison, the table taken from the report of 1880 
is also given: 





1880- 


81. 


187f 


-80. 


SCHOOL. 


Amonnt 

expended 

for tuition 

alone. 


Entire 
expendi- 
ture. 


Amount 

expended 

for tuition 

alone. 


Entire 
expendi- 
ture. 


First Ward.... 
Second Ward.. 
Third Ward... 
Fourtli Ward.. 
Sixth Ward... 
High 


f 4, 192 20 
5, 319 00 
3,979 23 
4, lf68 00 
990 00 
4,410 00 


f (i, 035 77 
7. 637 64 
5,619 54 
6, 528 70 

1, 590 95 
6, 727 30 

2, 041 44 


1 4, 034 23 
5.391 90 
3, 855 20 
4.640 13 
990 00 
4, 230 00 


« 5, 020 89 
6, 439 45 

4, 820 49 
6,416 11 
1, 565 63 

5, 333 38 


General expen- 
ses, salary of 
Superintend- 
ent, printing, 


2, 359 14 






Total 


$ 23, 758 52 


1 36, 181 34 


$ 23, 141 46 


e 31, 955 09 



" This table shows that the amount paid for 
tuition is about the same as it was last year, but 
the general expenditure has increased consider- 
ably. This increase was caused by the extensive 
repairs rendered necessary on account of so 
small an amount being expended for this pur- 
pose for several years, the finances of the board 
not allowing a greater appropriation than was 
suflicient for the preservation of the property, 
and even that was not fully done, some of the 
fences and other wood-work, for the want of 
paint, being badly injured. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



593 



" The cost per month for each pupil attending, 
for tuition alone, for the past eight years, is 
given in the table below: 

1874 $1.40 

1875 1.36 

1876 1.40 

1877 1.33 

1878 1.19 

1879 1.15 

1880 1.28 

1881 1.27 

"The cost per annum for each pupil attending, 
fortuition alone, is 111.43. The entire cost for 
each pupil is $17.40. The cost for tuition in the 
High School is $34.48. The entire cost in the 
High School for each pupil attending is $52.68. 

"The teachers' meeting was convened regu- 
larly, as in the preceding year. No pains was 
spared in the attempt to make the meeting a 
success. The discussions and other topics pre- 
sented in the programmes, were such as were 
deemed, for the time being, most profitable to 
the teachers and the schools. To make these 
meetings affaiis of mere enjoyment and enter- 
tainment, seems desirable to some who appear 
to forget that the sole design of the Insti- 
tution is to improve the members in the art of 
teaching. To present topics of practical value 
in the school-room should be the sole aim of 
those conducting the exercises. The points to 
be discussed should be made as interesting as 
possible, and this will not be a difficult matter, if 
the object requiring the teachers to assemble be 
fully understood. 

"The closing exercise of the school year, the 
graduation of the Senior Class of the High 
School, was held at the Opera House on Friday, 
June 17. The following young ladies and gen- 
tlemen received their diplomas from Dr. Albert 
H. Trapp, the President of the Board: Lizzie 
C. Armstrong, Benita Berry, Maggie E. Cobbs, 
William D. Carpenter, Alice Dallman, Fred. E. 
Dodds, Henry A. Johnson, Anna Poffenbarger, 
Edwin A. Reece, Helen Saunders, Clara W. 
Staley, Katie L. Ulrich, Florence Whipple and 
Willis F. Wright. 

"Fred. E. Dodds delivered the salutatory, and 
Miss Florence Whipple the valedictory. A full 
programme of the exercises will be found in an- 
other part of the report. As usual, a large and 
attentive audience testified by their presence 
their interest in the public schools. 

" This is the twenty-first class. The names of 
three hundred and forty-fire graduates are found 
on the roll of the alumni of the High School. 
Of this number, one hundred and nineteen are 
gentlemen, and two hundred and twentv-eight 

69— 



are ladies. As far as we can learn, all are use- 
fully employed. It has been our good fortune 
to sign over three hundred diplomas presented 
to those who have finished the course of study 
of this school, and it is with much satisfaction 
that we note the fact that not one of these testi- 
monials is in the possession of a worthless char- 
acter. To promote the thoroughness of the 
school, allowing no unworthy person to take a 
place among its alumni, should be the earnest 
aim of those who are intrusted with the care of 
the institution. 

" We think that the teachers as a class may be 
justly commended for an earnest and successful 
discharge of their duties. In their work they 
have given prominence, as they should, to the 
instruction of their classes, and in this they were 
especiallj^ successful, as was evinced by the care- 
ful, searching examinations which their pupils 
passed with more than ordinary credit. The 
range of the questions was sufficiently wide, and 
enough time was taken to show with accuracy 
the attainments of the scholars. At the close of 
these examinations it was a source of gratifica- 
tion to the Superintendent to reward the labor of 
the teacher, as far as he was able, by commend- 
ing the class for the good standing acquired, in 
most cases, by diligent study. 

"The last day of the fiscal year was signalized 
by the canceling of all outstanding warrants, 
leaving, as the financial statement shows, a 
handsome balance in the treasury. The teachers 
and others holding the obligations of the board 
were promptly paid throughout the year, insur- 
ing the ready, cheerful action Avhich always at- 
tends the cash system." 

In the summer of 1881 F. R. Feitshans, A. 
M., was elected Superintendent by the Board 
of Education, and now fills the position. The 
schools are in a flourishing condition, with every 
prospect of good work in the future as in the 
past. The following named constitute the corps 
of teachers now employed: 

SPRINGFIELD CITY SCHOOLS. 

City Superintendent— Prof. F. R. Feitshans. 

FIEST WARD SCHOOL. 

Principal — Mr. J. II. Collins. First Assistant — 
Miss H. Anna McCrillis. Assistants — Mrs. Nettie 
Buck, Miss Anna Fooshee, Miss Lillie Foley, 
Miss Dora Bennett, Mrs. Eliza McManus, Miss 
Mary Lieber, Miss Eleanor Maxwell. 

SECOND WARD SCHOOL, 

Principal — Mr. A. J. Smith. First Assistant — 
Miss Mary J. Sell. Assistants — Miss Kate L. 



594 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Enos, Miss Kate Heberling, Miss Anna Kreuger, 
Mies Mattie Adams, Miss Julia E. Kane, Miss 
Hannah M. Fisher, Miss Lizzie Schlitt, Miss 
Augusta Schlitt, Miss Augusta Trapp, Mrs. Etta 
F. Stockdale, Mrs. Anna Q. Cory. 

IHIRD WARD SCHOOL. 

Principal — Mr. J. A. Johnson. First Assist- 
ant — Miss Sarah P. White. Assistants — Miss 
Carrie P. Moore, Miss Abbie Sutton, Miss M. M. 
E. Hansel), Miss M. Ella Winston, Miss E. M. 
Hughes, Miss Florence Whipple, Miss Benita 
]3erry. 

FOURTH WARD SCHOOL. 

Principal — Mr. N. B. Hannon. First Assist- 
ant — Miss Anna M. Pender. Assistants — Miss 
Nettie Wiley, Mies Mary Power, Miss Agnes 
Shepherd, Miss Carrie Klein, Miss Frances 
Kusel, Miss Anna C. Stevens, Miss Lou J. Mid- 
dleton, Miss Mary Sherwood, Miss M. Lizzie 
Pender, Mrs. M. J. Flowers. 

SIXTH WARD SCHOOL. 

Miss Jennie Irwin, Miss Kate C. Webster. 

HIGH SCHOOL. 

Principal — Professor F. R. Feitshans. First 
Assistant — Mr. E. E. Darrow. Assistants — 
Miss Mary Howard, Miss Emma F. Jones, Miss 
Emily A. Hayward, Mr. C. A. Pease. 

teachers' institutes. 

Almost since the organization of the graded 
system, the teachers of the public schools of the 
city have had regular meetings, when they dis- 
cussed all matters pertaining to the government 
and success of their schools. Great good has 
resulted fron? these meetings, and the efficiency 
of the teachers is in a great measure due to the 
information obtained at these institutes. 

GRADUATES OF THE HIGH SCHOOL. 

It is but due to the young ladies and gentle- 
men who have graduated from the high school 
in this city since its organization, should be 
given in this connection. Among the names 
will be recognized several occupying prominent 
positions in society at the present time. The 
following embraces a complete list. 

CLASS OF 1861. 

Mary Hooker, Nettie Wiley, Ida Springer. 

CLASS OF 1862. 

Walter Campbell, Wallace T. Stockdale, 

James F. McNeill. 



CLASS OF 1863. 

Laura E. Clark, Annie M. Pender, 

Maggie C. Doremus, Mollie C. Remann, 

Emily W Huntington, Emily Starkweather, 
Laura A. Lee, Virginia L. Stuart. 

Benjamin M. Shaffner. 

CLASS OF 1864. 



William W. Billson, 
George E Dawson, 
George A. Withers, 
Charles H. Yates, 
Alice A. Outright, 
Fannie N. Devore, 
Lydia M. Gray, 



M. Lizzie Pender. 

CLASS of 1865. 



Elizabeth L. Lanphier, 
Annie Laurence, 
Fannie H. McCuUoch, 
Viola F. Myers, 
Juliet M. Ordway, 
Olive L. Priest, 
Augusta Trapp. 



Alvin B. Judkins, 
Horatio B. McBride, 
Thomas J. Nolan, 
James J. Rafter, 

Fedora J. 



Laura L. Clinton, 
Almeda B. Milligan, 
Charlotte M. Moore, 
Mary Reynolds, 
Robinson. 



CLASS OF 1866. 

John S. Condell, William C. Wood, 

George T. Enos, Porte Yates. 

John C. Lanphier, Ella Bushnell, 

Edward J. McClernand, Mary A. Canfield, 
Henry C. Remann, Mary J. Clinton, 
Patiick J. Rourke, Elizabeth M. Corretherg, 

Alfred Wiley, Kate V. Jackson, 

Howard M. Wood, Elizabeth L. Lee, 
Sophia A. Phelps. 

CLASS OF 1867. 



Samuel A. Fisher, 
James L. Smythe, 
Emma F. Adams, 
Sophia I. Bennett, 
Mary R. Lamb, 



Ella H. Mosely, 
Laura Pickrell, 
Mary E. Priest, 
Annie E. Vredenburg, 
Emily Watson, 



Theodosia Woods. 

CLASS OF 1868. 



Charles A. Armstrong, 
Wilbur R. Condell, 
William L. Grimsley, 
Samuel Brooks Ives, 
Charles P. Kane, 
Edward Dow Matheny 
Aaron C. Thompson, 
Frederick Trapp, 
Annie Adams, 



Fannie Dunton, 
Laura Fitzhugh, 
Mary B. Hubbell, 
Mattie E. Kane, 
Fannie Lamb, 
, Maggie E. Muir, 
Lizzie Nottingham, 
Mary E. Til burn, 
Addie VanHoff. 



CLASS OF 1869. 



Fred. F. Fisher, 
R. Officer Newell, 
Francis V. Rafter, 



Mary L. Campbell, 
M. M. E. Hansen, 
Virginia L. Hackney, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



595 



Kate Anderson, Maggie E. Irwin, 

Emma C. Brown, Callie Loose, 

Annie Bunn, Lillie McManus, 

Georgia A. Reeves. 



CLASS 

John H. Brown, 
John E. Laswell, 
Clifford R. Bateman, 
Susie B. Reed, 
Itonia L. Baird, 
Rebecca E. Baird, 
Kate G. Brewer, 
Jennie Dresser, 
Kate Fitzhugh, 
Hattie Groo, 

Martha 

CLASS 

Isaac Diller, 
Richard Dodds, 
Jennie Corneau, 
Lillie Foley, 
Julia Herndon, 

CLASS 

William Ruggles, 
Henry Kane, 
Grover Ayers, 
Kate I. Enos, 
Kate E. Croley, 
Mary Seaman, 
MaiT Irwin, 



OF 1870. 

Emma L. Higgins, 
Jenneta Laswell, 
Edith McCandless, 
Lizzie Hood, 
Lute Matheny, 
Emma Post, 
Sallie E. Ray, 
Abbie E. Sutton, 
Addie Tomlinson, 
Maggie Vredenburg, 
C. Mason. 

OF 1871. 

Emma Hopkins, 

Mary Power, 
Fannie Shepherd, 
Maria Venable, 
Rebecca Hudson, 

OF 1872. 
Laura Lloyd, 
Nettie S. Withey, 
Minnie Goodwin, 
Alice I. King, 
Mary Laswell, 
Jennie Kriegh, 
Lizzie Adams, 



CLASS OF 1873. 
R. Francis Kuth, 
Dennis R. Hageney, 
Kennedy Brooks, 
Edward C. Haynie, 
Fred W. Sutton, 
John P. J. Shanahan 



Maggie Leeds, 
Hannah L. Ives, 
Kate Heberling, 
Dora Adams, 
Hannah M. Fisher, 
Ada B. Mclntyre, 



William Henry Walker,Ada Fuller, 



Clarence Bennett, 
Samuel Grubb, 
James M. Matheny, 
Carrie Klein, 
Lizzie G. Kidd, 

CLASS 

Eugene Colligan, 
William H. Conway, 
Z. Allen Enos, 
Harry L. Hampton, 
Lloyd E. Johnson, 
Richard C. Lorrimer, 
Edward W. Payne, 
Ezra W. White, 
Nellie C. Barrell, 
Delia Bunn, 
Mary E. Gordon, 



Rosalinda S. Priest, 
Anna B. Paynter, 
Flora Foley,' 
Julia E. Kane, 
Lillie V. Tillotson. 
OF 1874. 
Lizzie S. Hesser, 
Nettie C. Kimball, 
Lizzie C. Mahoney, 
Lou. J. Middleton, 
Clara Montgomery, 
Clara B. Ormsby, 
Julia E. Paine, 
M. Olive Porter, 
Mary Rippon, 
Agnes E. Shepherd, 
Alice L. Watson. 



CLASS OF 1875. 



Maurice E. Power, 
Charles S. Rafter, 
Samuel A. Tobin, 
Anna L. Burkhardt, 
Sadie D. Bateman, 
Dora Bennett, 
Mary Brewer, 
Mary E. Brooks, 
Etta McCrillis, 



Lizzie Hughes, 
Anna A. Hannon, 
Lucy A. Montgomery, 
Anna L. Power, 
Carrie B. Phillips, 
Nellie W. Queenan, 
Ella M. Rippon, 
Lizzie Schlitt, 
Amanda A. White. 



CLASS OF 1870. 



Edward L. Baker, 
Mary Billington, 
James W. Brooks, 
Dora B. Claspill, 
Mary E. Giblin, 
William E. Gomes, 
Viola Harris, 



Frank Z. Crane, 
Mary L. Croley, 
Mary E. Emmonfi, 
Clara C. Fosselman, 
Nellie Patterson, 
Lizzie C. Pay ran, 
Rachel E. Piper. 



Rebecca HammersloughEdward Ridgely, 
William Helmle, Albert Salzeostein, 

Anne Lonergan, Amanda Schl>ss, 

Eleanor Maxwell, Kate Wood, 

John A. Piper. 

CLASS OF 1877. 



William H. Conkling, 
John A. Cory, 
James W. Johnson, 
Eugene S. Kane, 
Edward McManus, 
John W. Reilly, 
John H. Ruckel, 
Frank B. Smith, 
Wilson Stuve, 
Samuel White, 
Charlie Wilson, 
Fred. W. Yates, 
Enola Adams, 
Millie B. Anderson, 



Fannie B. English, 
Emma T. Hartmin, 
Rosa Hoffman, 
Nellie E. Holmes, 
Louisa M. Kavanaugh, 
Anna K. Krueger, 
Mary Leber, 
Katie Phillips, 
Isaacettia Seaman, 
Mary I. Schliff, 
Ida C. VanGundy, 
Lillie A. Washburn, 
Julia A. Winston, 
Gertrude Wrisfht. 



CLASS OF 1878. 



Louis M. Myers, 
B. B. Griffith, 
Albert R. Cobbs, 
Lewis H. Miner, 
Benjamin O. Peai'l, 
Edward Anderson, 
Claries E. Hamilton, 
William H. Turney, 
Edwin F. Smith, 
Newell Kane, 
Enoch Johnson, 
Mary L. Johnson, 

Isabel M 



Nettie E. Brown, 
Emma L. Gwynn, 
Jennie A. Call, 
Emma C. Greene, 
Mollie Hamilton, 
Clara Hamburger, 
Mollie E. Dennes, 
Katie I. Stanley, 
Isabel M. Churchill, 
Augusta Schlitt, 
Lou. Enos, 
Eloise A. Griffith, 
. Pringle. 



596 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



CLASS OF 1879. 



Jno. M. Zane, 
Thomas C Kimber, 
Robert Matheny, 
Charles L. Sampson, 
John A. Conway, 
Otto Bekemyer, 
John O. Sylvester, 
Charles W. Zane, 
Francis A. J. Waldron 
Huizinga M. Hurst, 
Alice C. Fagan, 
Zenetta M. Dedrich, 
Lizzie E. Hopping, 
Annie J. Conway, 

Emily 



Linnie M. Roll, 

E. Eudora Porter, 

Clara Breusing, 

Clara Wallace, 

Cora B. Ames, 

MoUie C. Stuve, 

Margaret E. Smith, 

Vannie L. Sheiry, 
, Blanche Hough, 

Mary Ragland, 

Rose M. Henckle, 

Dora Greb, 

Minnie A. Blanchflowr, 

Sophie Kreuger, 
H. Selbv. 



CLASS OF 1880. 

Hattie L. Adams, Debbie S. Bell, 

Ida M. Cantrill, R. A. Carnochan, 

Annie T. Cory, Sadie K. Culp, 

Mary H. Hartman, Martin Melvin Hazlett, 

Chas. Frederick Helmle, Annie M. Lindsay, 



Charles B. Lintwed, 
Laura Lusk, 
Lewis S. Miller, 
Nellie E. Saunders, 



Robert E. Lowe, 
John H. McCreery, 
Sarah L. Piper, 
Mary Ellen Winston, 

CLASS OF 1881. 



Maggie E. Cobbs, 
Allice Dallman, 
Anna Poffenbarger, 
Helen Saunders, 
Clara W. Staley, 
Florence Whipple, 
Katie L. Ulrich. 

SONGS. 



William D. Carpenter, 
Fred E. Dodds, 
Henry A. Johann, 
Edwin A. Reece, 
Willis F. Wright, 
Lizzie C Armstrong, 
Benita Berry, 

CLASS 

As a specimen of the class songs of the gradu- 
ating classes of the High School, the following 
are given: the first being by the class of 1873, 
and the latter by the class of 1875: 

CLASS OP '73. 

Class-mates dear, with hearts o'erflowing, 

Breathe we now our last farewell, 
While the silent tear is showing 

Depth of feeling none can tell, 
And we feel with deepest sorrow, 

Broken now our band must be, 
'Till the dawn of Heaven's to-morrow 

Wakes the Class of Seventy-three. 

Chorus — School-mates all, farewell, farewell, 
May each life-path shining be; 
May Fame's loudest pseans swell, 
For the Class of Seventy-three. 

We are reapers in Life's harvest, 

Some of fame and some of lore; 
Some to glean, to bind, to garner. 



Living sheaves for Heaven's store. 
Each so reap that when Life's evening 

Hangs its veil o'er land and sea. 
We may hear the Master's plaudit, 

" Well done, Class of Seventy-three." 
Chorus — School-mates all, etc. 

From the Past and from the Present, 

Joy shall brighten our life's day, 
And our lives in thought and labor, 

Glide in usefulness away, 
And though far and wide we're scattered, 

Some on land and some on sea, 
Memory oft shall bring the triumphs 

Of the Class of Seventy-three. 

Chorus — School-mates all, etc. 



CLASS SONG— '75. 

Once more we stand in class arra}' — 

Yet one more song we sing; 
For hands must be unclasped to day. 

That long were wont to cling. 
With saddened hearts, but high resolves 

Life's battles to survive, 
We hear the bell-call that dissolves 
The Class of 'Seventy- five. 

Chorus — But in ouV hearts the golden chimes 
Of memory will ring, 
As often of the dear old times 
We fondly muse and sing. 

Full oft in fancy's rosy light, 
These scenes will rise to view; 
And many a retrospection bright, 
Will thrill our hearts anew. 
As low, sweet echoes of a song, 

From distant mountain side. 
These parting notes will time prolong, 
O'er all life's ebbing tide. 

Chorus — And in our hearts the golden chimes 
Of memory will ring, 
While echoes from the dear old times, 
A pensive joy will bring. 

Our work is done, these walls shall see 

Our faces nevermore; 
Oh! may we re-united be, 

Upon the Shining Shore. 
Our songs are o'er — the curtain falls; 

These closing moments fly; 
No more our feet shall tread these halls; 
One word remains — good-bye. 

Chorus — Yet in our hearts the golden chimes 
Of memory shall ring, 
And often oi' the dear old times 
We'll fondly muse and sing. 

COMMEMORATIVE EXERCISES. 

On the death of President Garfield, the High 
School held commemorative exercises, in which 
were read or recited selections from his speeches 
on facts in relation to his life, according to the 
following programme: 

Music — Death of a Hero (Beethoven) — Miss 
E. Kelchner. 

The Life of President Garfield — Remarks by 
Professor A. J. Smith, of the Second Ward 
school. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



i97 



Early Life — Read by Ed. Vincent. 

Domestic Life — Read by Susie Wilcox. 

Later Life — Read by J. Brinkerholf. 

The Family of the President — Read by Ger- 
tie Converse. 

Resolutions Passed by the Board of Educa- 
tion of Chicago — Read by John J. Amos. 

Poem Written by Garfield when at College — 
Read by Lillie Burkhardt. 

Essay — A Short Sketch — By Lulu Ames. 

Lessons from President Garfield's Life — Rich- 
mond Patterson. 

Extract from a Speech — Edwin M. Stanton. 

Lake View Cemetery — Robert Walker. 

Chant—" Thy Will be Done." 

Extract from a Speech by General Woodford 
— Walter Sanders. 

Description of Francklyn Cottage, where the 
President died — Read by Mollie Fisher, Second 
Ward school. 

Poem on the late President — Read by Etta 
Morgan, of the Third Ward School. 

The moral character of the late President — 
Read by Clara Helmle, of the Third Ward 
School. 

Poem — On Garfield Death Has Laid His Hand 
— Written by Mrs. Wilson, of Springfield — Read 
by Ada Barnes. 

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS. 

Editorial from State Journal, September 20 — 
Read by Charles Burlingham. 

Editorial from Sangamo Monitor — Read by 
May Curry. 

Editorial from State Register, September 21 — 
Read by Gertie Garland. 

Editorial from Evening Post, September 22 — 
Read by Ella Garter, 

Expressions of sympathies from England and 
other countries — Read by Louis J. Palmer. 

Hymn — America. 

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS, CONTINUED. 

New York Herald — Read by Charles Opel. 
New York Tribune — Read by Laura Snyder. 
Boston Herald — Read by Mary Rhoads. 
A Heavy Day — By Nora Cook and Emma 
Billington. 

In Memoriam — Hattie Harris, 

Riles at Washington — Will Hopping. 

Euthanatos — John Matthis. 

Hymn — God Save the People. 

Closing Remarks by Superint^dentFeitshans. 

THE PRESENT SCHOOL YEAR. 

The. first monthly report (for September) of 
Superintendent Feitshans, was submitted to the 



Board of Education, from which it appears that 
the number of pubils remaining in the various 
schools at the end of the month was : 

First Ward 399 

Second Ward 663 

Third Ward 461 

Fourth Ward 499 

Sixth Ward 151 

High School 165 

Total 2,337 

The registered number of pupils is, two thou- 
sand five hundred and twenty-two ; average 
number belonging, two thousand three hundred 
and twenty-seven ; average number attending, 
two thousand two hundred and forty-six ; per 
cent, of attendance, ninety-six and four-tenths ; 
number of tardy marks, one hundred and forty- 
four; per cent, of tardiness, fifteen hunredths. 

REV. JOHN F. BROOKS. 

In connection with the educational history of 
Springfield, a sketch of Rev. J. F. Brooks is in 
place, as he has had longer connection with the 
schools of the place than any other man. The 
quotation is made from Power: 

"Rev. John F. Brooks was born December 3, 
1801, in Oneida county, N. Y. His parents 
were of New England origin, but emigrated to 
New York in 1792, when the whole region was a 
forest, with here and there a small settlement. 
Mr. Brooks graduated at Hamilton College, in 
that county, in 1828, and afterwards studied 
three years in the theological department of 
Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut. He 
was ordained to the gospel ministry by Oneida 
Presbytery, in the autumn of 1831, and was 
married soon after to a daughter of Rev. Joel 
Bradley. They immediately left for Illinois, 
under a commission from the American Home 
Missionary Society, They traveled by canal, 
lake and stage to Pittsburg, thence by steam- 
boat, down the Ohio river to New Albany, 
Indiana. Any route to Illinois by the way of 
Chicago, in those days, was not to be thought of, 
as that place was just emerging from the condi- 
tion of an Indian trading station. At New 
Albany Rev. Mr. Brooks purchased a horse and 
'Dearborn,' as it was then called, which was a 
one-horse wagon with stationary cover. In this 
they continued their journey, crossing the 
Wabash river at Vincennes. After passing a 
skirt of timber on the west side, they entered 
the first prairie of Illinois, in the midst of a 
furious storm. They were far from any house, 
with only the carriage as a protection, and that 
in danger of being upset by the gale. They 
weathered the storm, however, by turning the 



598 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



back of their carriage to it, but the prairie was 
covered with water, and they conld only discern 
the path by observing where the grass did not 
rise above the water. They sought a house to 
dry their garments, and that night arrived at 
Lawrenceville, where Rev. Mr. B. preached his 
tirst sermon in Illinois, the next day being Sab- 
bath. About three days after they arrived at 
Vandalia, the State Capital, having been five 
weeks on the way from the vicinity of Utica, 
New York. After visiting several towns and 
villages, Rev. Mr. Brooks located for the winter 
at Collinsville, in the southern part of Madison 
county, preaching, alternately, there and at 
Belleville. In the spring of 1832 he moved to 
the latter place, where he continued five years, 
preaching there, and at several other points in 
St. Clair and Monroe counties. 

About the second year of his residence at 
Belleville, he and his wife opened a school, 
which increased so rapidly they emj^oyed an 
assistant. They taught all grades, from A, B, 
C, to the classics and higher mathematics. 
Several attended that school, who afterwards 
entered the halls of legislation, and other de- 
partments of public lile. In 1837, Mr. Brooks 
was chosen Principal of a Teachers' Seminary, 
which benevolent individuals were endeavoring 
to establish in Waverly, Morgan county. He 
taught there with success, but the general em- 
barrassment of the country, caused by the finan- 
cial disasters of 1837, compelled the relinquish- 
ment of that enterprise. During the time he 
was teaching he endeavored to preach one ser- 
mon every Sabbath, but the double labor induced 
bronchial affection, from which he has never 
fully recovered. In 1840, Mr. B. was called to 
Springfield to take charge of an academy for 
both sexes, though in different apartments, to be 
taught in a new brick edifice erected for that 
purpose on the west side of Fifth street, be- 
tween Monroe and Market. Here he continued 
his labors, with the aid of two assistants, for 
two years and a half. Many persons now promi- 
nent in business or in domestic life, received a 
portion of their education there. After this he 
labored for two years under direction of Pres- 
bytery, supplying vacant churches in this and 
adjoining counties. His health was now much 
impaired, and designing light labor, he opened 
a school for young ladies, in a small room near 
his own house- The applications soon outran 
the size of the room, which he enlarged, and his 
wife again assisted him. His school increased, 
his health improved, and he purchased the 
property on the corner of Fifth and Edwards 



streets, re-arranging ihe two-story frame build- 
ing internally to suit the purposes of a school. 
This he opened as a Female Seminary, the 
autumn of 1849, with three assistants, and Mrs. 
Brooks in charge of the primary dapartment, 
held in the room he previously occupied. In 
addition to the usual course, Mr. Brooks added 
drawing, painting and music; two pianos were 
introduced, and this is believed to have been the 
first effort at teaching music in the schools of 
Springfield. This seminary prospered for four 
years, when Mrs. Brooks' health failed, and it 
became necessary to clof-e the institution. Since 
her death in 1860, Rev. Mr. Brooks has devoted 
a large part of his time to hearing classes, and 
giving private lessons. 

He was one of seven young men who banded 
together, while in their theological course in 
New Haven, for the establishment of a college 
in this State. Illinois College, at Jacksonville, 
is the result of their exertions. Mr. Brooks has 
been one of its trustees from the first. 

He relates, as an illustration of the change of 
times in attending Presbytery in the State since 
he entered it, that a clergyman in those days 
must have his horse and saddle as certainly as 
his Bible and hymn book. The settlements 
were remote from each other, and a ride of 
three or four days to a meeting of Presbytery 
was a common experience. Once, in attending 
such a meeting, Mr. Brooks traveled in an east- 
erly direction srom Belleville, for two or three 
days, and found a sparse settlement, mostly of 
log cabins. They had erected a frame church 
building and roofed it, without siding or floor, 
with only a few rough boards for seats. The 
Presbytery opened its sessions, several sermons 
were preached, the sacrament administered, but 
rain came on before that body adjourned, and 
they moved to a private house, with only one 
room and a small side apartment. At meal time. 
Presbytery adjourned, that the table might be 
spread, and after evening service six or seven 
members lodged in the same room, on beds 
spread on the floor. People, in sustaining re 
ligious worship under such circumstances, made 
as great sacrifices, according to their means, as 
those who build their $50,000 churches do now. 
At this meeting, Mr. Brooks was entertained at 
a cabin where the only light admitted was 
through an open door, or one or two sheets of 
oiled paper, in place of glass windows. He met 
a man, however, in that settlement, from his 
native town, in New York, and he had two glass 
windows; but his neighbors thought him extrav- 
agant and somewhat aristocratic, to indulge in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



599 



such a luxury. Rev. Mr. Brooks resides west 
side of Fifth, between Edwards and Cook 
streets, Springfield, Illinois. 

Mr. Brooks and Elizabeth C. Bradly were 
married in 186;^. Mrs. Brooks now carries on a 
select school for young ladies and misses, on 
South Fifth street, being assisted by Mr. Brooks. 

URSULINE CONVENT, 

a chartered Educational Institute founded and 
carried on by Ursuliue Nuns, members of an 
order founded in Italy, by St. Angela of Brescia, in 
the sixteenth century, for the education of youth. 
The order is a very widely extended one, having 
atleastfive hundred houses throughout the world, 
with a membership of 25,000 persons. 

Three Ursuline ladies, well-known in this city, 
as Mother Joseph Tonelfe, Mother Charles 
Molony and Mother De Sales Coleman first came 
to this county (on the invitation of Right Rev- 
erend Junker, D.D., Bishop of Alton.) in 1857. 
They first rented and occupied for some time, 
what the old settlers will remember as the 
Franklin House; afterwards purchased the prop- 
erty of Mr. Britton on the corner of Sixth and 
Mason streets. Although having but poor and 
small accommodations, their schools were filled 
to their utmost capacity by rich and poor, and 
many ladies of this and other States now occupy- 
ing high social stations, remember with loving 
veneration, the small class-rooms, dormitories, 
and reflectories of the "Old Convent." 

In 1867, the Nuns, with their pupils, removed 
to their present beautiful Convent, just outside 
the city, in the midst of a magnificent grove. 
The building is of brick, 103x67 feet, three 
stories high, with a basement and attic, and 
erected at a cost of $70,000. The rooms are all 
very lofty and spacious, the class-rooms being 
fourteen feet in height. The building is heated 
by a steam furnace; hot and cold waters are sup- 
plied in each story. Splendid bath rooms, fine 
recreation and dining halls, as well as well ven- 
tilated dormitories, leave nothing to be desired 
in point of healthfulness, and the quality of 
tuition and proverbially gentle mode of treat- 
ment, makes it an institution eminently suited 
for the purposes ol education. 

The Convent is surmounted by a fine belfry, 
commanding a view of the city and its environs. 
It contains a large bell of mellow, musical tone. 

The Convent is supplied with a more than 
ordinary cabinet, containing some five hundred 
specimens, contributed mostly by friends. The 
walls are adorned with some fine paintings, one 
especially, the work of an old master, brought 



from Rome and presented by Rev. 11. D. Junk- 
ers. The worker's tapestry is especially fine, 
representing on a large scale historical and 
poetical subjects. The apparatus for teaching 
the sciences is very good. 

To the Convent is attached a chapel, formerly 
presided over by Rev. T. J. Cowley, who died 
at the Convent, January 12, 1881, much lamented 
by all. The position is now filled by Rev. B. 
W. Alne, a clergyman of high intellectual en- 
dowments and a graduate of one of the most 
celebrated German Universities. 

The present attendance of pupils at the Acad- 
emy is fifty-eight; at the Parish School, one 
hundred and fifty. 

Many of the early members have departed this 
life, but the venerable Mother Joseph presides 
over it as Lady Superior. Mother Joseph is a pu- 
pil of the famous Ursaline Convent, of Black 
Rock, Cork, Ireland. She commenced her vows 
in the Charleston, South Carolina Cathedral, in 
1835, the event having been taken by the cele- 
brated Benjamin West as a subject for a picture 
now in the Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. 
There are at present twenty-six members in the 
institution. This Convent has branch houses at 
Jerseyville and Petersburg, of this State, having 
charge of an aggregate ot two hundred and fifty 
pupils, making the total number of pupils under 
charge of Springfield Roman Catholic Ursalin© 
Convent, four hundred and fifty-eight. 

OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN CONVENT. 

An autograph letter of encouragement and 
congratulation from Pope Pius IX. 

A scriptural picture, fifty-two by thirty-six 
inches, done with the pen by T. D. VanGehder, 
of Amsterdam, Holland. 

A library containing fifteen hundred volumes. 

A cabinet containing five hundred specimens. 

A Correggio. 

A fine steel engraving of West's " Christ Re- 
jected." 

Several very fine tapestry pictures. 

A piece of composite statuarv representing 
" Death of St. Joseph." 

Some very fine paintings in oil and water col- 
ors, by the ladies of the Institute. 

A curious little work of art repesenting the 
first Convent of the Order in Quebec, founded by 
Mother Mary, of the Incarnation; surnamed by 
Bossuet the "Teresa of New France." The Con- 
vent and surroundings are made of the bark of 
an old elm, under tbe shade of which the saintly 
lady taught the children of the Iroquois and 
and Algouquins Indians as early as 1680. The 



600 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tree liaving been struck by lightning, its remains 
were preserved as valuable relics. 

RELIGIOUS. 

Springfield can boast of some handsome 
church edifices, though none of them very 
costly, and probably has as many regular 
church-going people as any city of its size. In 
this connection are given historical sketches of 
nearly all the congregations. Imperfect records 
sadly interfere with the historian's work. 

FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

A society was organized in this city some 
time in 1821, by Rev. James Simms, a good 
man in every respect, and possessing the quali- 
ties that made men popular at that early day. 
The society was small, and its meetings were 
held in the cabins of its members. 

Among the first Methodists who settled here 
was Charles R. Matheny,who arrived here in the 
spring of 1821. His house for several years was 
a preaching place and home for Methodist itin- 
erants. The organization of the church was 
kfpt up from the commencement — the circuit 
preachers filling the appointment every two 
weeks. Rev. Peter Cartwright preached quite 
often in 1825. There being no regular place of 
worship, the society did not grow very rapidly 
until the summer of 1829, when the old log 
school house was built. 

In 1829, the members of the society determined 
to make an effort to erect a church, and a sub- 
scription was started for that purpose and circu- 
lated among the citizens generally. Pascal P. 
Enos subscribed $50, and told the trustees they 
could take their choice between that amount of 
ready money and two city lots, the same now 
occupied by the church on the corner of Monroe 
and Fifth streets. The trustees were divided 
in opinion, some thinking it best to take the 
money and others the lots, having no idea that 
the lots would be worth more than |50 in a few 
years. It was finally decided to take the lots, 
which were accordingly donated to the society 
by Mr. Euos. A frame church was erected upon 
one of the lots in the summer of 1830 and dedi- 
cated the following winter. It was used until 
the completion of the present building. 

In 1833, under the ministration of Rev. Smith 
L. Robinson, quite a revival took place, and a 
large number of persons were converted. This 
was a marked era in the history of Methodism 
in Springfield, for the influence of the revival 
was such as to place the society upon a perma- 
nent basis. Up to this time the society had been 
supplied with preaching by the circuit preachers, 



in connection with the Sangamon circuit, but 
feeling themselves strong enough to form a sep- 
arate charge, it was so formed in 1834. Rev. 
Joseph Edmundson was the first minister after 
the charge was organized, with the following 
named Stewards: Eiiraund Roberts, Charles R. 
Matheny, John Dickey, Jacob M. Early and 
Edward J. Phillips. Mr. Edmundson is kindly 
remembered by old settlers at this day. He re- 
mained in charge one year, and was succeeded 
by Rev. Hooper Crews, who remained two years, 
and whose labors were attended with great suc- 
cess — the church nearly or quite doubling its 
members during that time. He was followed by 
Rev. Peter Akers, who left at the end of his 
first year, and was succeeded by Rev. John T. 
Mitchell, who left the church prosperous. Rev. 
Orceneth Fisher came next, and remained one 
year. 

In the fall of 1841, Rev. Jonathan Stamper 
became the pastor. He remained two years dur- 
ing which time an interesting revival took place. 
Rev. W. S. Crissey was the next preacher, being 
succeeded at the expiration of one year by Rev. 
John P. Richmond, who remained the same 
length of time. His two immediate successors 
were Revs. Chauncy Hobartand John S. Bargar. 

In 1847, Rev. James F. Jacquess became pas- 
tor of the church. Under his preaching an ex- 
tensive revival took place, and many were con- 
verted. He was returned in 1848, but left before 
the expiration of the year to take charge of the 
Female College at Jacksonville. The remainder 
of his term was finished by Eev. W. T. Bennett. 
During the next three years Revs. Calvin W, 
Lewis and Robert E. Guthrie were jiastors of 
the church. The last named was followed by 
Rev. Thomas Magee in October, 1862, up to 
which time the old frame church, built in 1830, 
had been used for divine worship. An addition 
to it was built during the ministry of Rev. Mr. 
Stamper, but those who worshipped in it in 1852 
considered it somewhat of a reproach to Meth- 
odism, and thought the time had arrived for it 
to give way to a larger and more appropriate 
building. Soon after the arrival of Mr. Magee 
a subscription was started, and a sufiicient 
amount was subscribed to justify the society in 
the erection of their present house of worship. 
Its original cost was about $10,000. It had a 
very handsome spire, which was much admired 
when in its proper place, but it was finally re- 
moved by a strong wind and placed in the yard 
below. Rev. Mr. Magee was returned to the 
pastorate a second time, and gave all his spare 
time to the erection of a new edifice, but he did 




ss^grv 




fct>jy ^ <:^-y^Axz:^z:^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



608 



not remain Icng tnciigh in this \\orld to witness 
its completion. He visittd Bloomington in 
March, 1854, and contracted a disease which 
soon teiminated his life. His last hours were 
peaceful and Lappy, for he had followed the 
golden rule in his intercourse with his fellow 
men, and given the energies of his life to the 
cause of Christ. The vacancy caused by his 
death was filled by Rev. Jamegt E. Willson, who 
was followed by Rev. J. L. Crane, who remained 
tAvo years and left with the regrets of his con- 
gregation. He Avas succeeded by Rev. C. W. 
Sears. 

In 1858, Rev. Ji;mes Leaton was appointed to 
the charge. 

In 1866, Rev. J. S. Davidson was appointed 
to the charge, and remained three years, being 
succeeded by Rev. Mr. Phillips, who also served 
the same length of time. In 187 2, Rev. W. H. 
Webster became the pastor, and remained also 
the full time permitted by the rules of the 
church. In 1875, Rev. R. M. Barnes was sent 
by the Conference, but only remained two years, 
greatly to the disappointment of the congrega- 
tion. Rev. J. H. Noble was then stnt, and re- 
mained three years. In 1880, the present pastor, 
Rev. T. A. Parker, began his labors, and under 
his charge the congregation is in a most flourish- 
ing condition, its membership active and zealous. 

SECOND METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUKCH. 

The Second Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
Springfield, Illinois, was organized September 
11, 1865, under the following conditions: 

The city was then notably and remarkably ex- 
tending in the direction of the north, and it was 
thought that this circumstance, combined with 
the southern location and over-grown condition 
of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, was a 
Providential call for Springfield Methodism to 
move out and occupy and "possess the land" in 
the northern half of the city. Accordingly, a 
noble and self-sacrificing band of brethren and 
sisters from the First Church, in a most peace- 
able and amicable manner, withdrew from the 
former fold and constituted themselves the Sec- 
ond Methodist Episcopal Church, Springfield. 

They fully conformed to the laAV of the church 
in the details of their organization, and when 
completed, they reported the same to the Illinois 
Annual Conference, and asked to have a preacher 
sent to them. To this request the Conference 
replied by naming Rev. W. S. Prentice as their 
first pastor. 

The names of the first members of this church, 
as transferred from the old church, so far as can 
be ascertained, are as follows: 

70— 



Nancy J. Akard, Margaret Akard, Alvira 
Ayers, George W. Bolinger, Margaret T. Bolin- 
ger, E. J. Bronson, Adeline Bronson, Adolphus 
Bell, William Bolinger, Belle Bradford, Hester 
J. Benson, John L. Burke, Jane Burke, Asenath 
Bradford, Charles Camp, Annie J. Camp, Lucy 
Camp, Hannah B. Camp, Mary Connelly, Julia 
Connelly, Sarah C. Connelly, John Carpenter, 
Sarah J. Carpenter, Mary E. Carpenter, Eliza- 
beth Crane, W. S. Curry, Nannie J. Curry, 
Sarah DeCamp, Matilda Edmonson, Rosanna 
Fosselman, Savilla Fiske, Metella F. Goodman, 
Mary A. Goodman, Adelbert Goodman, Sarah 
E. Gibbs, J. C. Ilenkle, Pamelia Henkle, Re- 
becca Herndon, E. F. Herndon, Charlotte Kidd, 
Anna D. Kirkendall, Mary H. Logan, N. W. 
Matheny, Elizabeth J. Matheny, Aleta Moseby, 
Priscilla Megrady, William A. Nixon, Anna 
Nocker, Priscilla Newman, Sarah E. Nixon, 
Amelia Osborn, Mary Owen, Lucy A. Pride, 
Sarah E. Pride, Martha A. Prentice, Ella Pren- 
tice, Henry C. Porter, A. R. Robinson, Eliza 
Robinson, Joseph M. Eippey, Mrs. J. M. Rippey, 
M. O. Reeves, Nancy Reeves, Hon. William M. 
Springer, Rebecca Springer, Sue E. Sell, War- 
field Staley, Mary A. Staley, W. P. Saddler, Su- 
sanah Saddler, James H. Saddler, Sarah C. Sad- 
dler, Alvira J. Saddler, Martha Spong, William 
Troxell, Louisa Troxell, James C. Thrall, Dud- 
ley Wickersham, M?rgaret Wickersham, Amelia 
Wilson, Catharine Wood, Nancy J. Waddle, 
William Wallace — a total of eighty-three. 

This church bought the house of worship for- 
merly used by the Presbyterians, and which 
stood on the northwest corner of Sixth and 
Monroe streets. This building they movtd to 
the spot it now occupies on Fifth street near 
Madison, improved it, and occupied it about 
October 1,1865. The church has been remodeled 
and repaired from time to time, and is now in 
excellent condition. In 1877-8, the society 
erected a commodious parsonage on the lot south 
of the church. The whole property is now 
valued at $10,000, and is free from debt. 

The house now used, has sittings, in main 
audience room, for 250 persons, by means of 
sliding doors the lecture room can be added to 
this, seating in all nearly or quite 400. 

The names of the various pastors since the 
organization of the church, are as follows: 

Rev. W. S. Prentice, appointed September 26, 
1865, and serving three years. 

Rev. J. L. Crane, appointed September 28, 
1868, and serving one year. 

J. B. Ford, September 22, 1869, one year. 

E. D. Wilkin, September 21, 1870, one year. 



G04 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



W.J. Rutledge, September 21, 1871, and serv- 
ing two years. 

W. H. Reed, September 24, 1873, one year. 

M. D. Hawes, September 26, 1874, and serving 
two years. 

J. F. Stout, October, 1876, and serving three 
years. 

W. S. Matthew, the present incumbent, was 
appointed September 17, 1879, and is serving 
his third year. 

The church is in a prosperous condition. The 
membership is now two hundred and nineteen, 
and during the two years last past it has had a 
net growth of fifty members. 

The Sabbath school numbers one hundred and 
seventy-five, and is doing an excellent work. 
The present eflScient superintendent, R. F. Hern- 
don, was elected in 1865, and has been re-elected 
fifteen times. 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN. 

Rev. John M. Ellis organized the Sangamon 
Presbyterian Church, now the First Presbyterian 
Church of Springfield, on the 23d day of Janu- 
ary, 1828. The organization was kept up during 
the next spring and summer, but no particular 
interest was manifested till the arrival of Rev. J. 
G. Bergen, of New Jersey, who, in November of 
the same year, became the first pastor of the 
church. He took the right course to render him- 
self and the church popular by making himself 
"at home" with the people generally, and in a 
short time he had more hearers than the log 
school house would comfortably hold. The 
school house was built in the summer of 1828 
on the corner of Second and Adams streets. Its 
builders, the principal citizens of Springfield, in- 
tended it for school and religious purposes, and 
it was used until the completion of the church 
built by the Presbyterians in the fall of 1830. 

The first elders of the church were John Moore, 
John N. Moore, (his son) Isaiah Stillman and 
Samuel Reid. Elder Moore and his son lived 
twenty miles north, Mr. Stillman ten miles north- 
east, and Mr. Reid three miles west of Spring- 
field. The first members were John Moore, John 
N Moore, Andrew Moore, Elijah Scott, Mary 
Moore, Margaret Moore, Phoebe Moore, Catharine 
Moore, Jane Scott, Samuel Reid, Jane Reid, 
James White, William Proctor, Isaiah Stillman, 
Olive Slater, Elizabeth Moore, Mary R. Hum- 
peries and Ann lies. 

When Mr. Bergen took charge of the church 
there were but six members of it living in Spring- 
field — five women and one man, the school 
teacher. Soon after Mr. Bergen's arrival he ap- 
pointed a sacramental meeting for the little 



church, and requested the members and all others 
interested in the cause of religion to attend. At 
the preparatory meeting on the previous Satur- 
day, the following resolution was passed: 

" Hesolved, That the citizens of this place be 
invited to meet in the school house at early candle 
lighting to take into consideration the expedi- 
ency of undertaking to build a Presbyterian 
meeting house, and that Rev. Mr. Bergen give 
the notice." 

At the called meeting of the citizens it was re- 
solved to undertake the erection of a church 
building, and the following named persons were 
appointed trustees and a building committee: 
John Todd, Gersham Jayne, Washington lies, 
David L. Taylor, John Mofi^ett, Samuel Reid and 
Elijah Slater. The idea of building a meeting 
house was well received by the citizens gener- 
ally, but many of them looked upon it as some- 
what chimerical, and it is said that some who 
signed the subscription paper considered the 
whole matter a pretty good joke. They signed 
readily, for they did not intend to appear less 
liberal than their neighbors, but while pledging 
themselves to pay the sums set down opposite 
their names, they considered their money per- 
fectly safe. 

There was some question as to whether the 
building would be of wood or brick. Some con- 
tended that wood was good enough for the occa- 
sion, and that a frame church would last until 
the place became sulRciently old and wealthy to 
warrant the erection of a different and more 
expensive building. Others said that a brick 
building would last longer and look better than 
a wooden one, and after a short but animated 
discussion, they carried their point. The next 
important question was how to get the brick, and 
some were puzzled to know how the church was 
to be built after the brick had been obtained. 
Clay was considered by the advocates of wood, 
rather a scarce article, and though nearly every 
male resident of the place knew how to build a 
brick chimney, none had confidence enough in 
themselves to suppose they could build a house 
of the same material. The summer of 1829 
was spent in making preparations for building, 
and the church was completed in the summer of 
1830. It was dedicated November 20th, of the 
same year. Thomas Brooker, of Belleville, 
superintended the brick-work and manufactured 
the brick. The entire cost of the building was 
about 11,000. It was twenty-eight by forty feet 
in size. The church still stands on the southeast 
corner of Third and Washington streets. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



605 



The corner-stone of the second spacious build- 
ing occupied by the members of the First Pres- 
byterian Church was laid in 1842, aad the 
building erected, and basement used during the 
ensuing winter and summer. The main audience 
room was completed in the fall of 1843, and 
dedicated in November of that year. The cost 
of the building was about $12,000. In 1858, 
the church was enlarged and otherwise improved. 
After laboring for twenty years, spending a 
great deal of his time in the missionary work of 
the Presbytery, Dr. Bergen resigned the charge 
of the First Church, and Dr. James Smith, of 
Shelbyville, Kentucky, was elected pastor. 

Dr. Smith was an eminent Christian divine of 
rare ability as a preacher and a controversialist, 
and the church greatly prospered under his 
ministry, and during the years 1854 and 1855, 
especially, the records show a large number of 
additions upon profession of faith. His pastor- 
ate continued for nearly seven years. He re- 
signed, and the pastoral vocation was dissolved 
in 1856. 

Rev. John H. Brown, D. D., was elected 
pastor. Dr. ]3rown was a native of Kentucky, 
and was pastor of the McCord Church, of Lex- 
ington, for twelve years. He served the church 
with great ability and faithfulness till 1864, 
when he resigned, and Rev. F. H. Wines was 
elected the pastor, who continued his ministry 
for four years, resigning in 1869, when the 
present pastor. Rev. Janes A. Reed, was chosen. 
He was called and commenced his labors in 
1869, and has now been pastor of the church for 
eleven years. Soon after he was called the 
necessity of a new building became apparent, 
on account of the limited capacity of the old 
one, and its near proximity to the railroad. 
Steps were about to be taken in this direction, 
when an overture came from the Third Presby- 
terian Church, with reference to the purchase 
and occupancy of their new and spacious build- 
ing, which was then heavily encumbered with 
debt. Arrangements that were satisfactory 
were made, and the building now standing on 
the corner of Capitol Avenue and Seventh street, 
became the property of the First Presbyterian 
Church. This church originally cost about 190,- 
000 ; has a fine pipe organ, and is heated by 
steam. It has now a membership of four hun- 
dred and fifty, and has two missions. It has a 
bench of thirteen acting elders, viz : C. C. 
Brown, D. C. Brown, James P. Bryce, R. H. 
Beach, E. P. Beach, A. M. Brooks, R. W. Dil- 
ler, John Dalby, T. S. llenning, W. W. Hayden, 
George Hemingway, George White. 



SECOND PRESBYrERIAX. 

This church was organized on the 26th day of 
May, 1835, and recognized by the Presbytery of 
Sangamon, June 8, of the same year. It con- 
sisted at its organization of thirty members, all 
of whom had been members of the First Pres- 
byterian Church. The congregation had no reg- 
ular pastor for nearly a year after its organiza- 
tion. Rev. Dewey Whitney was elected to the 
pastorate, on the 25th of March, 1836, and com- 
menced his labors on the following day. He re- 
mained till February, 1839, when he resigned. 
His labors were very acceptable to his congrega- 
tion, and his departure was generally regretted. 
The relation between him and the church was 
formally dissolved by the Presbytery at the 
spring session of 1839. He was a native of one 
of the New England States, but had lived in 
Kentucky some years previous to the commence- 
ment of his ministerial duties at this place. 
Some years after leaving Springfield, he was 
killed in one of the Southern States, while visit- 
ing near relatives. He was I'iding a horse, 
which, becoming frightened, threw him. His 
foot caught in the stirup, and he wag dragged a 
considerable distance. He survived his injuries 
but a short time. 

In the summer of 1839, the congregation in- 
vited Rev. Albert Hale to become its pastor. 
He accepted the invitation, and preached his 
first regular sermon here on the 15th of Novem- 
ber following. He was installed on the first day 
of July, 1840, and remained as pastor until Jan- 
uary, 1867, a period of twenty-seven years. His 
pastorate was a pleasant and profitable one to 
the congregation, and he only resigned on 
account of increasing age, believing that a 
younger than he might minister more accept- 
ably. He still remains a citizen of Springfield, 
and worships with the church over which he was 
so long a pastor. 

The elders of the church at its organization 
were Samuel Reed, E. S. Phelps, Joseph Thayer, 
Thomas Moffett, and John B. Watson. Its 
present elders are E. B. Nawley, R. Pope, Jas, 
C. Conkling, Geo. M. Brinkerhoff, Clinton L. 
Conkling, William B. Baker, Fred. Wilson, and 
Bobert Smilie. 

Some one thousand two hundred and fifty 
members have belonged to the church since its 
organization, about eight hundred of whom 
united during Mr. Hale's pastorate. Its mem- 
bership is now three hundred and eighty. Sev- 
eral revivals of religion have taken place in the 
church since its organization, a very important 
one being in the winter of 1840-1. The church 



606 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



was crowded at every meeting, and the revival 
resulted in the conversion of about one hundred 
persons. Rev. James Gallagher assisted in this 
work. 

Two church edifices have been erected by the 
congregation, the first of which was commenced 
in 1839 and finished in 1840. Its cost was in the 
neighborhood of $12,000. It was situaied on 
the northwest corner of Monroe and Fourth 
streets, a very eligible situation. 

On the 21st of April, 1867, Rev. George H. 
Robertson was installed as pastor of the church 
and continued as pastor until September 22, 
1871. During his pastorate one hundred and 
twenty-four persons were admitted as members. 

Rev. Charles D. Shaw succeeded him and 
commenced his labors January 7, 18 72, was 
installed June 2, 18 72, and resigned July 1, 
18H. Sixty five members were admitted during 
his pastorate. 

He was succeeded by Rev. George H. Fuller- 
ton, who began his work December 17, 1874. 
His pastoral relation was dissolved by Presby- 
tery June 26, 1879. One hundred and thirty- 
four members were admitted during his pastor- 
ate, of whom about ninety were by profession. 

On November 9, 1879, Rev. L. G. Hays ac- 
ccepted a call from said church, and continued 
to be its pastor until February 15, 1881, when 
his resignation took effect. 

THIRD PRESBYTERIAN. 

This church was organized February 7, 1849, 
with between fifty and sixty members, who with- 
drew from the First Presbyterian Church for 
that purpose. The pastors under this organiza- 
tion were Revs. Richard V. Dodge, C. P. Jen- 
nings, G. W. C. Burch and Rev. H. M. Payn- 
ter. The building now occupied by the First 
Presbyterian Church was erected by the Third 
and sold to the First in 1871. 

The Third Church was re-organized March 30, 
1873, under the pastoral of Rev. H. M. Paynter, 
with forty members. November 1, 1875, Rev. J. 
J. Gulick was called to the pastorate as a 
licentiate Previous to this time, however, the 
present church edifice, occupied by the society, 
wa< erected, being completed in October, 1875, 
and dedicated on November 1, 1875. 

In 1877, Rev. A. K. Bates was called and in- 
stalled pastor. In April, 1877, Rev. F. M. Bald- 
win was elected Stated Supply, and October 14, 
1880, a call was extended to Rev. E. S. Mc- 
Michael to become pastor. The membership of 
the church is seventy-five, A Sunday school 
meets every Sunday at 2 p. m., under the super- 
intendency of Edwin A. Wilson. 



CENTRAL BAPTIST. 

On the 17th of July, 1830, a few members of 
the different Baptist Churches met in Springfield 
and adopted articles of faith in accordance with 
the sacred Scriptures and the belief of the Bap- 
tist denomination, and eight persons were 
publicly recognized, by a regular council, as the 
First Baptist Church, of Springfield. Rev. Aaron 
Vandeveer was called as the pastor, and on the 
21st of August commenced his labors. He re- 
mained about five years, and there were added 
to the church ten by baptism, sixty by letter, ten 
by experience — total, eighty. 

In June, 1S34, the church made an effort to 
build a place of worship, and purchased a lot for 
the same. In June, l§>i5. Elder Vandeveer re- 
signed, and in 1836 Elder Mariam became the 
pastor of the church. During his ministry their 
first house of worship was erected, and seventy 
were added to the church by baptism and twenty 
by letter. The Lick Creek Church was also 
formed by the dismissal of twenty-six members 
from this church. He closed his labors with the 
church November 1838, and was succeeded in 
October, 1839 by Rev. O. C. Comstock, who 
labored one year, during which time four were 
added by baptism and eleven by letter. 

On the 22d of November, 1840, Rev. H. W. 
Dodge became pastor of the church, and when 
he had preached about three years, he asked and 
obtained leave of absence for six months, but 
did not return to the pastorate. During his 
ministry Rev. Thomas Powell assisted him in a 
proti'acted meeting, which i-esulted in a large 
addition to the church. During his pastorate 
seventy-one were baptized, eighteen received by 
letter, and four by experience. Within the same 
period, eleven members were dismissed to con- 
stitute the Baptist Church in Decatur. 

On the 24th of April, 1844, Rev. A. Edson 
became pastor, and preached to the church one 
year. There were two added by letter. 

In October, 1846, Rev. G. S.Bailey commenced 
his labors as pastor of the church, and termina- 
ted them in October, 1849. The additions to 
the church were thirty-five by baptism, nineteen 
by letter, and one by experience. Measures were 
taken during this time to erect a new house of 
worship, in which Elder Bailey manifested a 
lively interest, traveling east to raise funds to 
secure this object. At the time he resigned his 
charge thfe house was nearly completed. The 
German Baptist Church, of Springfield, was also 
constituted during his pastorate, by the dismissal 
of members from this church. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



60'i 



On the 7th of April, 1850, their new house of 
worship was dedicated to the service of God, 
and Rev. T. C. Teasdale, D. D., who had previ- 
ously been called to the charge of this church, 
preached the dedicatory sermon from Acts, 5:20. 
Elder Teasdale having accepted the call of the 
church, entered at once upon his duties as pastor, 
and a protracted meeting was held, resulting in 
the conversion of a number of persons. He re- 
mained a little over two years, and ninety were 
added by baptism, and twenty-two by letter, and 
two bv experience. 

In July, 1853, Rev. William Sym took pastor- 
al charge of the church and remained two years, 
during which time eleven were added by bap- 
tism, and eighteen by letter. 

Rev. N. W. Miner assumed the duties pertain- 
ing to the pastorate in April, 1855, and remained 
fourteen years. Rev. Nehemiah Pierce became 
pastor November 1, 1870, and died March 25, 
1873. Rev. H. M. Worrell succeeded, acting as 
pastor from November, 1874, to June, 1878. 
Rev. J. L. M. Young came next, and remained 
about seven months, until the union of the First 
Baptist and North Church. 

The constituent members of the church num- 
bered eight. The membership in 1838, was one 
hundred and four; in 1840, ninety-three; in 1845, 
eighty-eight; in 1850, one hundred and twenty-six; 
in 1855, one hundred and seventy-four; in 1860, 
four hundred; in 1865, three hundred and forty- 
five; in 1870, three hundred and thirty-three; in 
1875, three hundred and fifty; in 1878, three 
hundred and thirty-six. 

The whole number received by baptism from 
1830 to 1878, is one thousand and thirty nine; 
Received by letter, four hundred and eighty-one; 
Total additions, one thousand five hundred and 
twenty. Total number dismissed by letter, 
dropped, excluded and died, one thousand two 
hundred and six. 

THE NORTH BAPTIST CHURCH 

was constituted, fifty-two members of the First 
Chui'ch entering into the organization. 

The first preliminarv meeting was held April 
17, 1860; Brethren W. W. Watson and Noah 
Divelbiss acting, respectively as Moderator and 
Clerk. After several meetings; and most thor- 
ough and earnest discussion, the organization 
was affected May 29. Articles of faith and 
covenant were adopted, and the following ofii- 
cers elected: Deacons, W. W. Watson and J. 
O. Rames; Clerk, Noah Divelbiss; Treasurer; 
Henry Converse. There was also appointed a 
committee on pastorate, consisting of Brethren 
Watson, Foley and Divelbiss. The labors of 



this committee resulted in extending a unanimous 
and hearty call to Rev. Ichabod Clark, of Rock- 
ford, who accej^ted, and commenced his pastor- 
ate in July, 1860. 

The new church was publicly recognized Au- 
gust 16, 1860, the First Church of Springfield 
and the churches of Jacksonville and Berlin 
joining in the recognition services. The sermon 
was by Rev. R. R. Coon, hand of fellowship by 
Rev. G. S. Goodnoo; prayer of recognition by 
Rev. F. W. Ingmii'e. For nearly two years 
services were held in the court house, on the site 
of the present First National Bank. A house of 
worship was then built on north Sixth street and 
dedicated August 31, 1862. 

Dr. Ichabod Clark was the first pastor, and 
was succeeded, in order, by Revs. A. C. Hub- 
bard, William Haigh, N. G. Collins, H. M. Carr, 
D. F. Carnahan, Perry Bennett, and C. W. Clark, 
the last serving when the union of the First 
and North Churches was effected. The mem- 
bership in 1860 was eighty; in 1865, one hun- 
dred and seventeen; in 1870, one hundred and 
fifty-three; in 1875, one hundred and sixty-nine; 
in 1879, two hundred and nineteen. The whole 
number received by baptism was one hundred 
and eighty-two; by letter, one hundred and sixty- 
nine. Total, three hundred and fifty-one. 

THE CONSOLIDATION. 

The first effort towards a union of the two 
churches was made by the First Church, in a 
series of resolutions adopted July 15, 1873, and 
presented to the North Church, July 25. The 
resolutions were received and referred to a com- 
mittee, which after careful consideration, made an 
able report, in which they gave their reasons for 
deciding that the time had not yet come for 
such a movement. The correspondence between 
the churches was courteous and fraternal, and 
the First Church cheerfully acquiesced in the 
decision reached. April 30, 1879, in a full meet- 
ing of the First Church, the question of union 
was again advanced for consideration. Resolu- 
tions were presented and unanimously adopted, 
embodying this basis of consolidation, in briet: 
A new organization was proposed; both churches 
disbanding and dropping their distinctive names; 
the officers of both churches to resign, and a 
new election to be held by the united body; 
the property of both churches to be deeded to 
the new organization. 

The resolutions were presented to the North 
Church May 7, 1879. They were very cordially 
received and referred to a select committee of 
nine, who were authorized to meet for consulta- 
tion with a similar committee from the First 



608 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Church; the decision of the joint committee to 
be reported back to each organization for final 
action. 

These committees reported to their respective 
churches, heartily endorsing and recommending 
the proposed union. The report was adopted in 
the First Church by unanimous vote; in the 
North Church by a vote of forty-three to nine — 
majority of more than four-tifths. 

The meeting for consolidation and organiza- 
tion was held in the North Church June 13, 
1879, Deacon L. R. Brown, (chairman of the joint 
committee) was Modertor, and Isaac E. Roll, 
Clerk. The new body was named "The Central 
Baptist Church of Springfield." Articles of 
Faith and Covenant were adopted, and the fol- 
lowing officers were elected: Trustees, A. L. 
Converse, A. M. Gregory, J. O. Rames, L. Smith, 
S. S. Elder, David E. Roll; Deacons, L. R. 
Brown, Nelson Neher, D. W. Witmer, George 
Gough; Clerk, Isaac E. Roll; Treasurer, R. M. 
Huckey. 

The first public services of the new church 
were held June 15, 18*70. During the summer 
the pulpit was supplied by various ministers, 
and Rev. F. D. Rickerson was cal'ed to the pas- 
torate and entered upon his duties November 
11, 1879. 

A new house of worship, on the corner of 
Fourth street and Capital Avenue, has just 
been erected, at a cost of $18,000. 

GERMAN BAPTIST. 

In 1849, this church was organized by mem- 
bers withdrawing from the First Church. They 
have a small, unpretentious house of worship, 
on Capital Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth 
streets, and meet for worship every Sabbath. 
Rev. William Papenhausen is the pastor. 

COLORED IJAPTISTS. 

There are two churches of Colored Baptists in 
the city, one situated on the corner of Twelfth 
and Mason streets, and known as the " Union," 
Rev. Mr. Robertson, pastor; the other on the 
corner of Ninth and Carpenter streets. Rev. 
George Brent, pastor. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Previous to the year 1832 there was no Chris- 
tian Church in Springfield. In the fall of that 
year. Rev. Joseph Hewitt, a widely-known and 
popular Evangelist of the Christian denomina- 
tion, came to Springfield and opened a protracted 
meeting and revival. He was a very persistent 
and eloquent divine and soon made a large num- 
ber of converts among the citizens of this place, 



and in 1833 they were organized into the Chris- 
tian Church of Springfield. The first church 
edifice erected by them was built on Madison 
street opposite the City High School, and is now 
occupied and used by the Portuguese Church. 
After worshiping in that place for a few years 
the church bought a lot on the corner of Sixth 
and Jefferson streets and erected another house 
of worship upon it. This building the congre- 
gation have occupied ever since until the past 
year, when they purchased a lot on Fifth street 
opposite the Governor's Mansion, and upon it 
are erecting a new and tasty structure for the 
future use of the church. It is an elegant edifice 
and thoroughly modern in all its appointments, 
being octagonal in form, it presents a fine au- 
dience room which is to be seated with chairs in 
lieu of the old-fashioned benches. It is expected 
to be completed by Christmas and will cost about 
eighteen thousand dollars. The present pastor 
is Rev. J. B. Allen, to whose untiring efforts the 
congregation is indebted for the new house of 
worship. The present membership numbers 
about three hundred. The music is on the con- 
gregational order, led by an organ. The Sun- 
day school connected with this church has an 
average attendance of about one hundred and 
fifty scholars and is under the guidance of S. II. 
Twyman, the Superintendent. 

CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

The first Catholic services held in Springfield 
are unknown, though it was at a very early day, 
ante-dating the old settlers' time mark, the deep 
snow, by several years. It was made a station 
some time between 1830 and 1840, and remained 
such until 1844, when Rev. George A. Hamilton 
organized a congregation, and built a church on 
East Adams street. To this church was given 
the name of St. John the Baptist. 

In 1856, Rev. H. Quigley, D. D., organized 
the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and 
in the years 1857-8, a house of worship was 
erected on the corner of Monroe and Seventh 
streets. This is one of the largest church edi- 
fices in the city, and the congregation that now 
worships there numbers five hundred families. 

In 1869, Rev. Patrick Brady was appointed to 
the charge, and at once assumed the pastorate. 
Under his ministration, the church has prospered 
until it has a larger membership than any other 
in the city. 

Becoming too large for the pastoral care of 
one man. Rev. Patrick Bourke was assigned to 
the position of Assistant Pastor in 1873, and 
the two reverend gentlemen have labored har- 
moniously together ever since. 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



609 



The German Catholic congregation of Spring- 
field, Illinois, was established in the year 1858, 
by Rev. J. Janssen, afterwards secretary of Rt. 
Rev. Bishop H.D. Junkers, of Alton. The first 
church was a frame building on Adams, between 
Ninth and Tenth streets. In 1861, a mission 
given by Rev. F. A. Weninger, S. J., raised a 
universal desire among the members of the con- 
gregation to build a more spacious edifice, and 
immediately exertions were made to raise funds 
for this purpose. At about the same time a pa- 
rochial school was opened with about fifty pu- 
pils enrolled. 

In 1863, Rev, William Burch successor to 
Rev. J. Janssen, bought of the Ursuline Sisters, 
on the corner of Sixth and Reynolds streets, the 
ground for a new church edifice, for which the 
cornerstone was laid September 27, 1865. In 
the autumn of that year the church was com- 
pleted so far that the first service could be held 
on the 30th of September. 

The zealous pastor, after four years of hard 
labor and great sufferings, died of consumption 
July 13, 1867, which death was a great loss to 
the young congregation. He was succeeded by 
Rev. G. Luecken, who commenced his labors 
September 8, 1867, and who completed and 
ornamented the church building. 

In ] 869, the school house adjoining the church 
was built at a cost of |2,500, and the pastor's 
residence in 1870, at a cost of 13,200. 

In 1872, the adjacent lot with dwelling house 
was purchased for $2,500, which was destined to 
be the Sisters' dwelling place. At this time the 
school was attended by about one hundred and 
sixty pupils. 

The organ was replaced in 1874, by the pres- 
ent large pipe organ with twenty stops, built by 
Josegh Gratian, of Alton. It cost the sum of 

61,700. 

In 1869, a new bell was purchased, weighing 
one theusand and eighty-eight pounds, F sharp, 
and was placed in the steeple, at a cost of $455. 

After Rev. Father Luecken left the diocese 
of Alton, Rev. F. G. Leve, the present pastor, 
by order of the Bishop of Alton, took charge of 
the congregation in 1875. Tfnder his manage-, 
ment the heavy debt, amounting to about $11,- 
000, has been reduced to a nominal sum, and 
would have been entirely wiped out had it not 
been necessary to make some needed repairs 
and improvements in both church and school 
buildings. He has purchased two new altars at 
a cost of $800; two chandaliers for $200; and 
different fine vestments, at a cost of $1,000. 



Father Weinninger, who held the fiist mission 
with this church, held another in the spring of 
1881, just before Easter, in which he infused 
new life into the congregation, and filled them 
with zeal for future work. By the advice of the 
missionary, it was determined by the congrega- 
tion to purchase the quarter of a block adjoin- 
ing the old property, and to build a school 
house, and erect a steeple on the building, and 
make other needed improvements. 
ST. Joseph's church, 

A Catholic Church, a little north of the city, 
having a resident pastor and a Catholic school. 

In 1875, Rev. M. Kane was commissioned by 
the Rt. Rev. P. J. Baltis, D. D., Bishop of Alton, 
to come to this city and form a new congrega- 
tion, to include all the Catholics north of Car- 
penter street and those of the surrounding 
country. 

By unwearied exertions and fine business 
capacity, Rev. Mr. Kane succeeded in building 
St. Joseph's Church and school house, both of 
brick. The church is about one hundred by 
forty feet, stone finished facade, with a steeple, 
one hundred and fifty feet from the ground to 
the cross. The interior is beautifully frescoed; 
it is lighted by gas; has thiee very fine altars, 
Gothic windows, a very good bell, two vestry 
rooms, a large basement, and is heated by hot 
air. The school-house is two stories high, and 
contains four large well ventilated class rooms. 
The whole situated in the midst of a grove, some 
two acres in extent, making it one of the prettiest 
and most attractive spots in the city or its sur- 
roundings. The congregation, numbering some 
three hundred families, is largely composed of 
farmers and men employed at tJae rolling mill 
and coal mines. 

ENGLISH LUTHERAN. 

The first English Lutheran Church of Spring- 
field, Illinois, was organized in September, 1841, 
by Rev. Francis Springer. The number of per- 
sons entering the original organization was eight, 
including the pastor and his wife. The names 
of the others were James Zwisler, Thomas Lorsh- 
baugh, John B. Weber and his wife, Frederick 
Myers and John Hammer. Messrs. Weber, 
Zwisler, Lorshbaugh and Myers were the first 
elders and deacons. 

The following is the list of pastors, in the 
order in which they served: 

Rev. Francis Springer, 1839 to 1847; Rev. 
Ephraim Miller, Rev. Conrad Kuhl, Rev. S. 
W. Harkey, Rev. J. D. Garver, Rev. Francis 
Springer (again). Rev. William M. Reynolds 



610 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



(began), 1858; Rev. B. C. Sueseerott, Rev. 
Ephraim Miller (again), 1864; Rev. L. M. Heil- 
man, Rev. J. N. Black, Rev. P. G. Bell, Rev. P. 
Graeff, Rev. B. F. Grouse. 

A church edifice was erected by the congrega- 
tion on the corner of Sixth and Madison streets, 
in 1856, during Rev. Francis Springer's second 
pastoral charge of the church. It is a neat 
frame edifice and cost about $8,000. It will seat 
about four hundred persons. 

GEKMA]Sr LUTHERAN TRINITY CHURCH. 

The congregation was organized under the 
pastoral charge of the pastors of the English 
Lutheran Church of this city. Rev. F. Springer 
and Rev. S. W. Harkey, members of the Luth- 
eran General Synod, in 1851. In was re-organ- 
ized in 1855 under the pastoral charge of a Ger- 
man minister of the Lutheran Church — Rev. F. 
W. Eggerking — with fifty members. In 1860, 
a new church building was erected, and conse- 
crated November 11 of that year, under the name 
of German Lutheran Trinity Church; Rev. Th. 
Huschmann, pastor. The congregation has been 
in connection with the German Lutheran Synod 
of Missouri, Ohio, and other States, since 1863, 
under the pastoral charge of the following 
named members of that Synod: Rev. W. Bart- 
ling, 1863 to 1870; Rev. H. Burckhardt, 1870 to 
1874; Rev. Th. Benson, 1874 to 1876; Rev. F. 
Lochner, pastor, and Rev. A. Craemer, Profes- 
sor of the German Lutheran Theological Con- 
cordia College, assistant of the Rev. Lochner, 
since February, 1876. Members, ninety-five. 

During the administration of the Rev. H. 
Burckhardt, a number of the members separated 
themselves from the Trinity Church in conse- 
quence of the resolution of the congregation, 
that no member of any seci'et society can be a 
member of the congregation as a part of the true 
Lutheran Church. Those separated members 
organized themselves as St. John's Lutheran 
Congregation, in connection with the Lutheran 
General Synod. 

According to the principles of the Lutheran 
Church, the congregation established in 1855, by 
their own means, a German-English Parochial 
School. A new brick building, of two stories, 
was erected last year, and opened for teaching 
in September, 1880. One hundred or more 
children will attend the school. Principal, Mr. 
Benjamin Gotsch; Assistant, Miss Johanna 
Gotsch. 

St. John Congregation of the Evangelical Lu- 
theran Church was organized in August, 1870, 
with about forty members. They purchased the 



church on the corner of Third and Washington 
streets, at a cost of |8,000. The church edifice 
is eighty by forty feet, and built of brick. The 
present membership of the congregation is sixty. 
The names of the pastors since organization are 
as follows: Revs. Kassmann, Prachs, Stark, 
Bond, Richter, Heinegar, and L. W. Graepp. 

FIRST PORTUGUESE PRESBYTERIAN. 

Tike congregation was organized in Madeira 
in 1844, and its members emigrated in a body, 
as stated elsewhere in this work, arriving here 
in the fall of 1849. Services have been held 
continuously since that time. The present 
church building is a brick structure, situated on 
Madison street, between Fourth and Fifth. Rev. 
Mr. McGee was the last pastor the church had. 
The membership of the church is about one 
hundred. 

SECOND PORTUGUESE PRESBYTERIAN. 

This society was organized about 1857. Its 
present house of worship,'an unpretentious brick 
structure, situated at the corner of Eighth and 
Miller streets, was erected in 1861. Rev. E. N. 
Piers is pastor of the congregation, and also has 
charge of a congregation at Jacksonville, and 
therefore only spends half his time here. Ser- 
vices, however, are held every Sunday, con- 
ducted by the elders. The membership is about 
one hundred and twenty. 

GERMAN METHODIST. 

The German Methodist of the city have a 
church edifice on the corner of Seventh and 
Mason streets, and meet for worship every Sab- 
bath. J. P. Miller is the present pastor. 

COLORED METHODISTS. 

There is a society of colored Methodists which 
meets on the east side of Fourth street, near 
Reynolds, with Rev. J. Dawson as the present 
pastor. 

PLYMOUTH BRETHREN. 

The Plymouth Brethren meet for worship 
Thursday evening at 509 Monroe street, up stairs. 
E. R. Ulrich is the leader. They have> no regu- 
lar pastor at present. 

ST. Paul's episcopal. 

This church was organized about 1837 by Rev. 
Samuel Chase. They own a fine church edifice 
on the corner of Third and Adams street, to- 
gether with a residence for the pastor adjoining 
on the east. Rev. E. A. Larrabee is the present 
rector. The church controls two missions in the 
suburbs of the city. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



611 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 

On the evening of December 11, 186G, a meet- 
ing was held of those favorable to the organiza- 
tion of a Congregational Church in Springfield, 
in the office of JJr. Charles S. Shelton. Those 
present were unanimously of the opinion the 
time had come to organize. Two meetings were 
then held December iTth and 18th, at which 
Rev. J. E. Roy was present and encouraged the 
enterprise. Among those favoring the establish- 
ment of the church and who were active in the 
work were Dr. Shelton, J. D. B. Salter, Lucius 
Kingsbury, Herbert Post, Dr. Samuel Willard, 
R. M. Tunnell, Frank W. Tracy, H. S. Dicker- 
man, C. D. Harvey, C. R. Post, J. M. Morse, J. 
W. Lane, J. B. Fosselman, Franklin Barrows, 
Simon Barrows, C. F. Lawrence, C. V. Hoag- 
land, N. C, Withington, H. C, Walker, L. W. 
Coe, Mrs. Julia E. Post, Mrs. H. M. Shelton, 
Mrs. J. J. Fosselman and Rev. E. Jemey. 

Committees were appointed to procure pledges 
of money tor the support of the proposed church, 
to secure a minister, to obtain a suitable room 
for worship, and to prepare a formula for the 
organization of the church. Rev. F. T. Water- 
man, of Monroe, Connecticut, accepted an invi- 
tation to act as temporary minister to the society. 
The first meeting for worship was held in Br3"ant, 
Stratton & Bell's Commercial College Hall. 
The Constitution, Articles of Faith, Covenant 
and Rules of the new church, as reported by the 
committee of revision, were adopted at a meet- 
ing held January 28, 1867. Two weeks previous 
to this, C. S. Shelton, Lucius Kingsbury and 
Frank W. Tracy were appointed a committee to 
address letters missive to certain churches for 
the purpose of forming a council, to assist in 
completing the organization of the church. 

The Council convened February 6, and was 
attended by a number of ministers from other 
places, and advised the completion of the organ- 
ization. 

The new church had seventy-five members at 
the start, fifty-five coming from the Second 
Presbytei'ian Church. The first officers elected 
were: Deacons, C. S. Shelton, Lucius Kings- 
burv and C. R. Post; Standing Committee, 
William M. Baker, L. W. Coe, C. H. Flower, 
C. F. Lawrence and H. S. Dickerman; Trustees, 
J. D. B. Salter, J. B. Fosselman, H. C. Walker, 
F. W. Tracy and S. C. Willard; Clerk and 
Treasurer, R. M. Tunnell; Superintendent of 
Sunday School, Herbert Post; Secretary, Alex. 
Bunker. 

It was two years before a house of worship 
was erected. Rev. T. T. Waterman supplied 

71— 



the pulpit until October, 1867, when Rev. John 
Knox McLean was called and entered upon the 
duties of the pastorate, December 4, 1867. On 
Thursday evening, December 10, 1868, the 
house of worship, erected and furnished at a 
cost of 124,000, was dedicated to the services of 
Almighty God. Rev. Mr. McLean served about 
five years, when Rev. John H. Barrows was 
called to the work. Mr. Barrows has been suc- 
ceeded in turn by Revs. H. D. Moore, H. B. 
Dean, R. Nourse and R. O. Post, the latter now 
serving the church. The present church mem- 
bership is one hundred and sixty-five, and that 
of the Sunday School, two hundred. 

HEBREW TEMPLE. 

An organization of Israelites was effected in 
this city in 1865, for the purpose of public wor- 
ship according to the law given to Moses. Rev. 
B. Deutch was the first to minister to the congre- 
gation, and served the membership for nine 
years. He was succeeded by Rev. L. S. Ensel, 
who, in turn, was succeeded by Rev. D. Burg- 
heim. In 1875, the congregation erected a 
handsome Temple on North Fifth street, near 
the Arsenal, at a cost of over $7,000. Before 
the completion of the Temple the congregation 
met for worship in Hart's Hall, on South Fifth 
street. Services are held each Friday evening, 
and often on Saturday morning, and are held in 
the Hebrew, English and German languages. 
The following are the names of the officers in 
1881: S. Benjamin, President; L. Rosenwald, 
Vice President ; B. A. Lange, Treasurer ; L. A. 
Hammerslough, Secretary. Each of the forego- 
ing are also Trustees, in addition to D. Seligman, 
D. Phillips and Z. Levy. 

THE YOUNG MEn's CHRISTIAN" ASSOCIATION. 

£y Isaac H. JDiller. 
" The Young Men's Christian Association was 
organized in Springfield shortly after the ' Great 
Revival,' in 1866, and commenced active work 
immediately, opening reading rooms, and in 
other ways seeking to reach and benefit young 
men. The first report showed a debt had been 
incurred which increased each year, and caused 
many to leave the Association, increasing the 
burden on the few faithful workers, until in 
1872, they were obliged to give uj) their rooms 
and abandon active work. The sign still hung 
on the front of the building and put the thought 
into the hearts of several young men, not yet 
out of their teens (who had formerly met in the 
rooms of the Association in the capacity of a 
boys' prayer meeting, under the name of the 
'Young Men's Christian Association, Junior,) if 



612 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the 
ganiz 



y could not benefit their companions by or- 
lizing a 'Young Men's Christian Association.' 
Upon consultation they found several of their 
friends had thought the same, so after issuing a 
call and holding several preliminary meetings, 
they effected an organization March 24, 1874. 
They found their predecessors, after abandoning 
the active work, had still kept up an organiza- 
tion, but gladly turned their books over to their 
charge, and wished them God speed in their 
work. On account of their youth and inexperi- 
ence the general prediction was, that a few 
months would witness their dissolution, but they 
had ' put their hand to the plow' and dare not 
look back, but through the difficulties and dis- 
couragements that encompassed them looked up 
to 'Him who was able to help.' One of their 
principles was, 'avoid debt,' and another 'work.' 
They immediately started a young men's prayer 
meeting in their rooms (having secured a place 
for meeting in Cook's building, on Monroe street) 
and a prayer meeting on Monday night at the 
Home for the Friendless, both of which are still 
maintained. During the summer, Professor 
Stephen Bogardus, proprietor of the Commercial 
College, offered the Association the use of his 
hall free of charge, which offer was gladly ac- 
cepted, thus enabling them to save the rent for 
several months, which was no small item to the 
Association. During this time the Association 
was first represented in a gathering away from 
home, the occasion being a district convention 
in Mason City. The Springfield delegate gave 
expression to the feeling of his fellow workers, 
when he^tated their determination to prosecute 
their work 'if we have to hold our meetings 
under the gas lamps.' In the fall the rooms on 
Monroe street were re-rented and furnished, and 
were the home of the Association for over two 
years, when they accepted the kind offer of C. 
W. Freeman to lease them rooms in his building 
on Washington street, near the square, for two 
years. At the expiration of the time the rooms 
were moved on Sixth street, opposite the post 
office, where they are still located. The rooms 
are by far the most pleasant yet occupied, and it 
is the hope of the Association that the next 
move they make will be into a building of their 
own for a permanent home. An effort was made 
last spring to secure a lot, but was dropped when 
they learned one of the cit)'^ churches was also 
desirous of obtaining it, but the success achieved 
as far as the committee Avent was flattering. 
The Association have a State charter, and can 
own and hold property to the extent of $75,000, 
free from State or city taxes. 



"The growth of the Association has been 
steady and permanent, starting with about 
forty members they now have over two hun- 
dred. In 1875, they commenced publishing a 
monthly gospel paper the "Y. M. C. A. 
Herald," which was published regularly till 
the thii'd year, and since then has been pub 
lished occasionally for gratuitous circulation. 
Ever since its publication it has been circulated 
at our county and State Fairs, as many as six 
thousand being circulated at one. The Associa- 
tion has a tent on the grounds and the General 
Secretary spends the week distributing the 
" Herald" Tracts, Testaments, etc<, and in per- 
sonal work. Much good has resulted from this 
work, July 1, 1877, the Association secured the 
services of William F. Bischoff as General Secre- 
tary, and for over four years he has performed 
the duties of the office in a most faithful and 
conscientious manner, and the work of the Asso- 
ciation has been greatly developed through his 
self-denying labors. The need of such an officer 
was felt from the first, but|it seemed almost too 
good to hope they would ever be able to secure 
one, but the way was opened and the proper 
person brought to the field. 

"The work of the Association opened up gradu- 
ally, commencing with two meetings. Two more 
were opened the first winter, one of these being 
the praise meeting, which has since grown to 
such proportions as to sometimes fill our large 
churches. Then cottage prayer meetings, open 
air meetings, jail services, daily prayer meetings, 
Bible study, boys' meetings, and other fields of 
Christian usefulness being occupied, over one 
hundred and fifty devotional meetings of various 
kinds being held in a single month, reaching 
many thousand people of all classes with the 
Gospel invitation. Different branches of work 
have been added from time to time till we have 
now branch work for boys, railroad men, Ger- 
mans, Swedes, Sunday Schools, and commercial 
travelers; under the direction of earnest workers 
among these classes. Besides the devotional 
work, one branch of which is given to the eleven 
members of the board of directors, and the 
branch work, we have the following committees: 
Finance, Publication, Rooms and Library, Socials 
and Lectures, Music, Tract and Invitation, Visi- 
tation of the Sick, and Membership. 

"The reading rooms have on file about one 
hundred papers and magazines, and the library 
contains over four hundred volumes of instruc- 
tive and valuable books. The object of this 
Association, as stated in the Constitution, 
shall be the development of Christian char- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



G13 



acter and activity in its members ; the pro- 
motion of Evangelical religion ; the cultiva- 
tion of Christian sympathy, and the improve- 
ment of the spiritua', intellectual and social 
condition of young men. 

" The Association, though still in its infancy, 
and has already accomplished much in this di- 
rection, but having an object that all who love 
the Master can not fail not only to approve, but 
heartily co-operate in, when once understood. 
We hope, with increased means of usefulness, 
with a building arranged and devoted especially 
to this purpose, and with ripened experience to 
rightly direct the efforts put forth, to become a 
blessing and help to every young man and boy 
in our midst, and direct them to so live that 
they may be useful and happy lives in this 
world, and spend an eternity in bliss at the 
Father's right hand." 

IK HONOR OF THE DEAD. 

In France, the memory of those who have 
died in the military service, with which is ever 
associated national honor and love of country, is 
fondly cherished by the people, and their love 
and gratitude find a most fitting expression in 
the custom observed each spring, when the grass 
is greenest and the fiowers most beautiful, in the 
deckino of graves where the loved remains lie, 
or of the tablets erected in memory of those lost 
on the fields of battle. 

In 1868, General Logan, Commander of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, issued an address, 
recommending the 30th day of May be set apart 
in which the brave soldiers who volunteered to 
defend the Union and to preserve the govern- 
ment of our fathers, were to have similar remem- 
brances. The sacred spot where their remains 
lie were to be strewn with flowers by their sur- 
viving comrades. 

"How sleep tlie brave who sink to rest. 
By all a country's wishes blest, 
When spring, with dewy fingers cold 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould. 
She there shall dress a greener sod 
Than fancy's feet have ever trod! 
By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung. 
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the surf, that wraps their clay; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
To dwell a weeping hermit, there." 

The first public decoration of soldiers' graves 
in this county was on Saturday, May 30, 1868, 
according to the recommendation of the Com- 
mander of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
The Senate chamber of the old State House was 
the place where the ladies met for the arrange- 



ment of the flowers and evergreens into wreaths 
and boquets. Tables loaded with flowers, and 
baskets of evergreens, were scattered about the 
room, and around them were gathered a large 
number of ladies, all absorbed in the delicate 
and artistic work of arranging and weaving the 
rare and beautiful flowers into forms indicating 
that the fair artists possessed highly cultivated 
and exquisite taste in such matters. The hearts 
of all were in the work, and they felt it a duty 
thus to honor the noble dead. 

At one o'clock, p.m., the committee, consist- 
ing of ladies and gentlemen, appointed to deco- 
rate the graves of those buried at Camp Butler 
Cemetery, met at the State House and marched 
to the Wabash depot where a train was in readi- 
ness to carry them to the ground. On the ar- 
rival of the train at the site of old Camp Butler, 
the company formed in procession, and marched 
to the spot where rests the remains of many 
Union soldiers, who died in the hospital at this 
camp. The cemetery is situated on rising ground 
only a short distance from the old camp ground, 
and is surrounded with a good picket fence, 
everything about it being in excellent order. 

The graves, numbering several hundred, are 
furnished with white headstones, upon which are 
inscribed, with few exceptions, the name, age 
and number of regiment to which the deceased 
belonged. On arriving at the entrance of the 
cemetery, every visitor was provided with flow- 
ers, and proceeded to the shade of a tree, where 
the services of the occasion commenced by the 
whole assembly joining in singing the patriotic 
and soul-stirring hymn of "America." - 

"My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee, I sing. 
Land where my fathers, died, 
Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
From every mountaim side, 

Let Freedom ring." 

After singing. Rev. Mr. Carr offered a solemn 
and impressive prayer. At the conclusion of 
the prayer. Dr. George T. Allen made a few re- 
marks. He commenced by referring to the 
scenes he had witnessed, in which our soldiers 
had shown their love of country and the cause 
of liberty, many of whom had sealed their devo- 
tion with their lives. The graves around us, he 
said, contained the remains of those who had 
fallen in defense of the country, and we should 
remember their virtues and patriotism, as we 
placed the flowers upon their last earthly rest- 
ing place. The number buried here were but 
few compared with the number that perished 



614 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



during the war, where death held high carnival. 
He then spoke of the great number that had 
died in hospitals as being equal to those who 
had perished upon the battle-fields, and in this 
connection spoke in appropriate terms of the 
death of the noble Lincoln, who perished by 
the assassin's hand, and the gloom that over- 
shadowed the Nation as the dreadful news 
spread over the land. In closing his brief ad- 
dress, he again referred to the noble dead which 
they had come to honor, and trusted that the 
beautiful custom of decorating the soldiers' 
graves with flowers might be continued in after 
years, thereby calling xip memories of the past 
which would result in good to all. 

General Tyndale, of Philadelphia, then made 
a few remarks, after which the ladies and gen- 
tlemen proceeded to decorate the graves, placing 
at the head of each a beautiful boquet or wreath 
of flowers, and in some cases strewing the 
grave with flowers. Some of the most beautiful 
flowers and wreaths were placed upon the graves 
of the "unknown" dead, a touching testimonial 
that though their names were unknown, their 
patriotisni was remembered by grateful hearts. 

The ceremony concluded, the people returned 
to the shade, when Colonel George H. Harlow 
requested the assembly to raise their right hands, 
and as they did so, he read in a distinct and im- 
pressive manner, the following: 

'' Before Almighty God, and within the pre- 
cincts of the last resting place of our heroic 
dead, we renew our devotion to the Union and 
the cause for which they gave their lives, and 
we here again renew our vows to defend and 
perpetuate Freedom and the Union; to all of 
which we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor; so help us God." 

At three o'clock p. m., the committee appointed 
to visit Oak Ridge Cemetery, accompanied by 
several hundred citizens, proceeded to the ceme- 
tery, and on arriving there, assembled around 
the tomb of Abraham Lincoln, which had pre- 
viously been decorated with flowers by a com- 
pany of ladies. On arriving at the tomb, E. L. 
Gross made some brief and eloquent remarks ap- 
propriate to the occasion, when the committee 
proceeded to decorate the graves of the Union 
so diers with flowers. The Catholic cemetery 
was then visited, and the graves of the Union 
soldiers there interred were decorated in like 
manner with the others. Hutchinson cemetery 
was also visited and flowers laid upon the graves 
of Union soldiers sleeping there. 

In each succeeding anniversary, since 1868, 
Decoration Day has been observed, but perhaps 



never more faithfully observed than May 30, 
1881, The streets, even early in the forenoon, 
began to evince signs of a crowded city, and be- 
fore twelve o'clock arriving excursion trains 
from all directions had swelled the number of 
strangers to several thousands. Most of the 
visitors arrived by way of the Ohio & Mississippi 
Road, one train, due at nine-thirty, from the 
east carrying two thousand one hundred people. 
Other trains were also crowded. 

At 8:30 the members of the Stephenson Post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, a number of ex- 
soldiers and many citizens assembled in front of 
the Grand Army Hall, on the east side of the 
square, and at nine o'clock they boarded the street 
cars and proceeded to Oak Ridge Cemetery under 
the command of Major Chapin. 

AT OAK RIDGE. 

On arriving at the street car terminus the 
crowd assembled in line and with muflled drums 
playing a funeral dirge marched through the 
cemetery decorating in turn the grave of each 
fallen comrade. The ceremony of the Grand 
Army was, in short, carried out in full with 
great impressiveness and solemnity. 

After the decoration of the soldiers' graves 
the procession moved to the National Lincoln 
Monument. On arriving at the entrance of the 
tomb the many assembled comrades, with un- 
covered heads and hearts full of emotion, 
marched in the tomb and around the beautifully 
decorated sarcophagus containing the saci'ed 
ashes of the illustrious dead, depositing cluster 
after cluster of beautiful blossoms, until the 
martyred President slept beneath a wilderness 
of flowers. 

It seemed that the hearts of each and all 
present instinctively turned back to the review 
of the life of that great man who had arisen 
from the lower walks of life by the force of his 
own genius and the Godliness of a gentle mind, 
step by step, in spite of adversity, to the Chief 
Magistracy of a great Republic; and every mind 
seemed sad as they contemplated the sad and 
tragic end of that great man, whose life motto 
had been: " Charity for all, malice toward none." 
Over the arched entran.ce of the tomb the name 
Lincoln had been previousl}^ entwined in an 
artistic manner, with evergreens and flowers. 

After the passage of the procession through 
the tomb, they congregated in front of the en- 
trance, when the choir, with Miss Minnie Good- 
win as organist, sang several hymns appropriate 
to the occasion. 

After this, the comrades returned to the city, 
while most of the visitors remained at the cem- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



015 



etery, many of them going over and through 
the monument, under the genial guardianship of 
J. C. Power, Secretary of the "Lincoln Guard of 
Honor," and Custodian of the monument. 

THE AFTERNOON EXERCISES. 

At 1 2 m., a train was prepared to leave the 
Wabash depot for Camp Butler, but, in conse- 
quence of the threatening appearance of the 
weather, portending rain, it did not depart until 
some minutes later. It was completely crowded, 
containing the different classes of people who 
yearly visit the old camp ground, many bent 
upon having a good time, some to escape the 
confinement of the stores and shops for a short 
time, while not a few more wore upon their faces 
the expression indicative of the sad and solemn 
duty they were going to perform. Arriving at 
the station, a half-mile walk soon brought the 
visitors to the entrance of the National Ceme- 
tery, wherein the ensign waved at half-mast. 

It was raining quite briskly when the veterans 
arrived, and they took to shelter until the storm 
was over. 

AT CAMP BUTLER. 

At 3:15 the storm was over, the train from 
the city had arrived, and tha escort, composed of 
the Watch Factory band and the Governor's 
Guard, filed into the cemetery, followed by the 
members of Stephenson Post and veterans in 
line. The band played a dirge until arriving at 
the stand, where the following memorial services 
were conducted by Post Commander Chapin and 
Comrades of the Post. 

The Post Commander first spoke as follows : 

" In memory of the honored and heroic dead, 
whose remains here find rest and repose, we will 
deposit these flowers. May the lessons of purity 
which they symbolize rest in our hearts, and in- 
cite in us the emotions of patriotism which they 
exemplified in life and death. 

"In honor of our comrades slain in Freedom's 
battle, or dying from wounds received in defense 
of all we hold most dear, we will j^lace these 
flowers upon the graves. The green turf above 
them will fade, these beautiful flowers wither 
and die, but the lesson will remain, and our 
children and their children will be taught the 
duty of honoring those who die for their 
country. 

" Death comes to us all ; none shall escape his 
relentless mandate. The highest potentate and 
the humblest toiler must at last take their places 
in the bosom of the earth ; and it becomes us all 
to be ready for the messenger we must obey. 
Our comrades, upon whose graves we scatter 



flowers, and whose memories we thus revive and 
celebrate, died in the performance of the noblest 
of duties, and met the Destroyer where every 
patriot would desire to meet him — beneath the 
folds of our starry banner, and in defense of 
that cause in which it is sweet and pleasant to 
die — the cause of our country. 

"As the grass will spring anew from the 
storms and dearth of winter — as other flowers 
will come to take the place of these, so soon to 
fade — so be it ours for ourselves and our genera- 
tion, to keep bright the memory of our fallen 
comrades." 

The graves were then decorated by comrades 
detailed by the Commander, after which the 
choir sang Memorial Hymn and the Chaplain 
offered prayer as follows: 

"God of Battles, Father of all, amid these 
monuments of the dead, we seek Thee, with 
whom there is no death. Open every eye to 
behold Him who changed the night of death 
into morning. In the depths of our hearts we 
would hear the celestial word, 'I am the resur- 
rection and the life; he that believeth in Me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live.' As 
comrade after comrade departs, and we march on 
with ranks broken, help us to be faithful unto 
Thee and to each other. We beseech Thee, look 
in mercy on the widows and children of deceased 
comrades,and with Thine own tenderness, console 
and comfort those bereaved by the events which 
call us here. Bless and save our country with 
the peace of freedom and righteousness; and 
through Thy great mercy may we all meet at 
last with joy, before Thy throne in Heaven; and 
to Thy great name shall be praise for ever and 
ever." [All comrades] "Amen." 

Post Commander — "Adjutant, for what pur- 
pose is this meeting called V" 

Adjutant — "To pay our tribute of respect to 
the memory of our late comi'ades." 

Commander — 'To-day is the festival of our 
dead. We unite to honor the memory of our 
brave and beloved, to enrich and ennoble our 
lives by recalling a public heroism and a private 
worth that are immortal; to encourage by one 
solemn service a more zealous and stalwart 
patriotism. Festival of the dead! Yes, though 
many eyes are clouded with tears, though many 
hearts are heavy with regret, though many lives 
ai'e desolate because of the father and brother, 
the husband and lover who did not come back; 
though every grave which a tender reverence or 
love adorns with flowers is the shrine of a sor- 
row whose influence is still potent, though its 
first keen poignancy has been dulled — despite of 



616 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



all, to-day is a festival — a festival of our dead — 
no less a festival because it is full of solemnity. 

"And now, as in this silent camping ground of 
our dead, with soldierly tenderness and love, we 
garland these passionless mounds, let \is recall 
those who made their breasts a barricade be- 
tween our country and its foes. Let us recall 
their toil, their sufferings, their heroism, their 
supreme fidelity in camp, in prison pen, on the 
battle-field and in hospital, that the flag under 
which they fought and from the shadows of 
whose folds they were promoted, may never be 
dishonored, that the country for whose union and 
supremacy they surrendered life, may have the 
fervent and enthusiatic devotion of every citizen, 
that as we stand by every grave as before an 
altar we may pledge our manhood that, so help 
us God, the memory of our dead shall encourage 
and strengthen in us all a more loyal patriotism." 

The choir then sang an appropriate hymn. 

Chaplain — '"What man is thatliveth and shall 
not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from 
the hand of the grave? If a man die, shall he 
live again? '" 

Comrades — " Jesus Christ said : 'I am the resur- 
rection and the life. He that believeth in Me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he 
that liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die.' " 

Chaplain — '"Let not your heart be troubled. 
Believe in God ; believe also in me. In my 
Father's house are many mansions ; I go to pre- 
pare the way for 5"0u.' " 

Comrades — " 'Blessed are the dead who die in 
the Lord. Yea, saith the spirit ; that they may 
rest from their labors.' " 

Chaplain — " ' They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more.' " 

Comrades — " 'Neither shall the sun light on 
them, nor any heat.' " 

Chaplain — " 'For the lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and lead them 
unto fountains of water.' " 

Comrades — " 'And God shall wipe away all the 
tears from their eyes.' " 

Chaplain — " 'There shall be no more death ; 
neither sorrow nor crying ; neither shall there be 
any more pain.' " 

Comrades — " 'For the former things are passed 
away.' " 

When these exercises were concluded the 
choir sang with good effect " The Brave, Noble 
and True." The Post Commander then intro- 
duced to the audience in a few appropriate 
words the orator of the occasion, Rev. T. A. 



Parker, who, with matchless delivery, spoke 
eloquently and impressively as follows : 
MR. Parker's oration. 

" Two grand commemorations will be held 
during the year 1881. The people of this 
Nation, who love it in their inmost hearts, and 
feel pride in its history, will be twice gathered 
to honor the memory of the heroic dead. The 
first of these two memorial occasions we are 
here to celebrate — to decorate the graves of our 
Union soldiers; to recall their services, from 
the hour when the call of Abraham Lincoln 
summoned them to arms, onward to that sublime 
day when the last armed foe went down under 
the walls of Richmond — sixteen years ago — and 
the flags of the Union rose, like stars, over a 
hundred victorious battle fields. As the child- 
hood of the Nation passes by these graves, its 
eager lips will ask: ' What does it all mean? 
Why did the soldiers die? What story do these 
fragrant flowers repeat? ' The answer will be 
given, to-day, throughout this wide Nation, in 
ever-varying fragments of history — from the day 
in 1861, when the wratU of the patriot millions 
rose like the sea, and rolled onward in billows 
of carnage and flame, and broke at last into rest 
when the Master said, 'Peace; be still! ' 

"The second memorial ceremony will be held 
at Yorktown in October next; and when the 
grand pagentry is over, the passing generations 
will agafti ask, 'What does it mean? Why was 
this granite column erected? What story of the 
Nation's life do its dumb stones repeat.' The 
answer is nearly similar to that of to-day. From 
the pine forests of Maine to the uttermost ham- 
let of California, the story will be told to the 
listening ear and graven in the hearts of the 
American childhood. When the story of both 
events shall be heard they will seem almost the 
same. For as we gaze back through the shadowy 
past of a hundred years ago to Yorktown, and 
then to the vivid past of sixteen years ago to 
Richmond, they are strangely alike! At York- 
town the Colonial Government arose to its feet 
and stood one among the free peoples of the 
earth. At Richmond the United States arose 
once more to its feet and stood vindicated and 
majestic among the Nations of the earth. At 
Yorktown the starry flag rose to its place in the 
sky as the proud flag of England went down. 
At Richmond, once again, the same starry flag 
rose to its place in the sky as the proud ensign 
of the Southern Confederacy went down to the 
dust. At Yorktown the last battle of any moment 
was fought, and the last foe of free government 
on this continent surrendered. At Richmond 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



617 



the last great battle was won, and the last foe of 
the Union submitted. Yonder is the elm tree 
that shaded Washington and Cornwallis, when 
the sword of the latter was given into the hands 
of the General-in-Chief of the armies of the 
United Colonies; here stands the apple tree that 
shaded Grant and Lee^ when the sword of the 
latter was offered to the hand of the former, the 
General-in Chief of the armies of the United 
States, and with it passed away forever the last 
lingering hope of secession. The living soldiers 
on the ramparts of Yorktown salute their com- 
rades on the ramparts of Richmond, and the 
blood of their brave comrades flowing from the 
trenches of both places mingles in the waters of 
the bright river that murmurs eternally at their 
feet. But from both events, the most prominent 
figures that shall be summoned to receive honor, 
will be the soldier of the Revolution and the 
soldier of the Union. They shall march to- 
gether along the fields of the Nation's history, 
while all the good shall hail and crown their 
honored shades. 

"Therefore we assemble to-day with a sense 
of increased significance in the ceremony. We 
have no granite columns to uncover, newly dedi- 
cated to the duty of perpetuating the memory of 
the services and sacrifices of the soldier-dead; 
but we do have a memorial newly grown — for 
everywhere is their monument! It rises in 
annual resurrection at our feet. Its colors are 
painted by a divine hand, and its mingled frag- 
rance breathes a celestial breath. 'Take us,' 
they seem to say, 'and weave chaplets for the 
brave. Take us and dedicate us to the memory 
of the heroic dead; we endure while stone and 
brass shall perish. The generations as they 
come and go in endless procession shall greet us, 
and greeting shall bear us to the graves of the 
brave. Year by year we shall call to the people, 
in the great march onward, to halt; come for 
awhile and over the shrines o»f the soldier-dead 
recall their heroic virtues and their great sacri- 
fice.' We take up our part of that duty, and in 
recalling their virtues I can do it in no manner 
more effective than to bring to your notice 

THE CHARACTER OF THE UNION SOLDIER. 

"First, then, we recall the element of patriotism 
which decorated the character of- the soldiers 
sleej)ing here. Patriotism has, indeed, many 
definitions, and takes many forms of action. 
Some times it is Industry — the hundred-handed 
giant — wielding the mighty forces of agriculture, 
of commerce and manufactures, with a pro- 
found confidence in the stability of the govern- 
ment. Sometimes it is statesmanship, wisely 



planning and safely guiding toward the future 
of the Nation. Sometimes it is eloquence, 
voicing in prophecy the thoughts that lie dumb 
in the popular heart. Sometimes it is song 
translating the love of the people for their native 
land. Sometimes it is prayer, rising sublime to 
God. Sometimes it is woman's poetical and 
tender ministry at the cot of the soldier, 
wounded, sick or dying. Sometimes it is justice, 
speaking the conscience of the people against the 
vices that corrupt the body politic and the 
wrongs that hinder the free movement of this 
Nation onward to its destiny. 

"All these forms of patriotism exist among us. 
They have nothing heroic about them. But it 
is a different thing when patriotism springs to 
arms in defense of the nation's life. It is this 
form we a^e to honor — for these soldiers were 
patriots, and gave to their country and for their 
country's sake the richest gift they had — their 
life. 

" Had I the power to recall one of the many 
from his rest in fame's eternal camping ground, 
how gladly would I do it. Even now 1 see him, 
as he stood under the gaze of his countrymen. 
Yesterday he was but one of the undistinguished 
millions. To-day he stands distinguished as the 
volunteer soldier of the Union. How manly the 
form! How athletic the strength! How firm 
the poise of the body! The pride of Illinois — 
the dewy freshness of her prairies beams in his 
eyes, the hope of her glorious future glows in 
his soul, and her blood throbs in the brave hearts 
of her young soldier as he lifts his hand toward 
Heaven and swears by Him, who notes the spar- 
row's fall, to be true to the Constitution and 
laws, and, if necessary, to die, that the government 
of the people, by the people and for the people 
should not perish from the earth! 

" Do you see him to-day, O, comrades, as he 
stepped out under the flying flag, when the 
shrill fife sounded and the drum beat, and 
marched by your side, on and on over bills, 
through forests; on and on, through vales and 
brakes; on and on over mountain and river; on 
and on, through swamp and over bayous; on and 
on, as the fiery front of conquest advanced; by 
skirmish, by conflicts and siege? Do you see 
him in the circle of the camp-fire; hear the story 
and the song? By your side in the rugged win- 
ter and in the pleasant days of summer. Do 
you see him when the bugle sounds 'to arms!' 
and the long lines of battle are formed? Do 
you see him when the tide sweeps on and leaves 
him broken to pieces on the field, to breathe his 
last sigh up to the pitying stars — then to be 



618 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



borne, in the old, old fashion of the dead to his 
grave? 

" It is this form of patriotism we are here to 
commemorate, accounting it the purest and 
noblest which can animate the citizens of this 
Republic who loves it and its freedom, so much 
more than home or family or ambition or self, 
and to dare to die for its defense and perpetuity. 
"A second element of the character which we 
desire to commemorate by this beautiful floral 
display is the self-devotion they exhibited. I do 
not mean to trace this quality in the incidents of 
twenty years ago — the muster, the drill camps, 
th-e weary marches and the tough campaigns. It 
is the office of the historian to recount these. 
Mine is the more pleasant duty of tracing the 
manifestations of this noble trait of the soldier's 
character where it saines in star-like radiance, 
and takes its place in constellation of heroic vir- 
tues. Their self-devotion included many features. 
It meant the leaving the farm, the Avork-shop, 
the store, the office, the school-room, the church, 
the quiet ways of life, at the voice of duty. It 
meant the march away to an uncertain fate. It 
meant the separation for an indetinite time from 
friends, from parents, from wife and children, 
and not only the separation, but on the part of 
thousands the firm resistance of tears, of plead- 
ing voices and hearts breaking with their proph- 
eciei of woe. It was a path of painful sacrifice 
for many, and the altar they used was dripping 
with sweat of an agony which could not be con- 
trolled. One incident comes to me vividly. A 
cei'tain regiment is marching through the streets 
of a town where some of the soldiers lived. The 
morning had been a parting festival. The new 
flag — the gift of the town — rode proudly over 
the moving column. The sidewalks were 
thronged with crowds of the patriotic cheering 
and weeping as the soldiers go by. On the way 
is a neat, white frame house, over which creep 
the honey-suckle and clematis vine. The window 
curtain was partly drawn back, just enough to 
disclose a woman's face, with eyes straining 
through a mist of tears, and pale with pain of 
the heart. As they passed, company by company, 
a little girl sprang from the pavement, shouting, 
* There's papa!' On swung the company. The 
father looked at his child, her blue eyes wide 
open with surprise, and her bright hair blown 
about in the wind, but he said no word. With 
a bound the little one flew after him, now crying 
bitterly, and in broken words saying, 'Take me 
papa ! take me!' The manly soldier kept steadily 
on, but a quiver of grief shook his frame and 
tsars fell upon his bosom. The captain of the 



company took up the little one, and carried her 
sobbing and inconsolable into the cottage by the 
wayside, where the young mother was. To 
thousands these words were re-echoed through 
the years of bitter and bloody strife. And it 
was no inconsiderable feature of their self-de- 
votion that they gave themselves to the main- 
tainance of a doubtful experimeut. Through the 
confusion of counsel in Congress, and the con- 
tradictory theories of authority in high places, 
they could but dimly see how the interests of 
continued self-government were in the issues; 
but there was a principle of more immediate ap- 
plication, by whose aid they were made capable 
of self-devotion which makes the heroism of 
Thermoplae doubtful, and the glory of '76 as a 
star in the splendor of a meridian sun I 

"thk supremacy of the union, 
that was the simple bright principle which made 
possible the devotion of these soldiers to the ex- 
tent of its utmost requirements. Like a mother 
stricken by the hand of a younger son, the moth- 
er-land cried out, 'save me, my children, I have 
nursed you at my bosom; I have dowered you 
with a home of peace and plenty; from sea to sea 
your heritage lies, and your children are my 
treasues; I am stricken, save me;' — and the cry 
of mother-land was as the voice of God. With 
the impulse of filial devotion they rose and went, 
to her succor, not reasoning nor asking why; for- 
getting all else — ill other differences of State 
pride and all battle-cries of parties. In the ag- 
gregate it was sublime unselfishness; in particu- 
Tars it was matchless in the annals of the world. 
Have you read how the Hebrew mothers in the 
vales of Palestine consecrated their sons to the 
battles of the Lord. There are thousands of sto- 
ries of American mothers who, with similar lofty 
piety, dedicated their sons to God and the Re- 
public. Have you read how Greek matrons 
buckled the swords of their sons, gave them their 
shields, saying: 'Come back with them or on 
them.' There were thousands of American 
matrons who imitated their high heroism. Have 
you read how the Swiss have come from their 
cantons to breast the serried tides of despotism? 
So can we match their willing devotion. Have 
you read how the freemen of Scotland, when the 
watch-fires blazed from peak to peak, swept in 
solid array to defend their mountain home? So 
swept the mighty host of our freemen from 
mountain to lake. Have you read how the pa- 
triots of Ireland went to death gaily as a groom 
to his bride, happy in the faith that the bannered 
green of their sires would one day float over 
their tombs? So went thousands of our patriot 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



619 



soldiers to death, satisfied that the same starry 
banner which waved over their cradles would 
also wave over their graves. Worthy of all ad- 
miration was the self-devotion they exhibited. 
It decorates with beauty like that of these May 
flowers, the sacrifice they gave to their country 
in the hour of the country's need. It shines re- 
splendent, as time dims the record of march and 
siege, and battles lost and won. 

" Another trait in the character of these 
soldiers we honor, was their courage. As a mass 
they shrank from no duty, although a hundred 
difficulties guarded that duty and thousands of 
bayonets opposed them. It is a quality of 
character which decorates the name of every 
heroic leader iu the majestic march of the race 
onward. That was a brave heart that beat 
under St. Panl's serf-mantle when he faced the 
lions in the arena of Ephesus ; it was a daunt- 
less soul that animated Arnold Winkelreid, 
when he gathered a hundred Austrian spears in 
his bosom, and so made way for liberty ; that 
was a fearless spirit in John Hampden when he 
defied his king in the n«me of English law and 
English rights ; that was a gallant heart that 
throbbed in Robert Emmet's bosom when he 
plead for Ireland's independence ; that was a 
resolute spirit in Washington when he led the 
forlorn hope of America's freedom through all 
perils to victory. In fine, to illustrate this 
quality I must enumerate the long catalogue 
which Heaven and earth have made us to exem- 
plify true courage in the fields of Evangelism, 
of reform, of civil and religious freedom. A 
soldier without courage would be as a Christian 
without faith — the very life within would die. 
At some time in the future historians will write 
of the courage of these soldiers in that nameless 
conflict with unseen foes — The subtle foes that 
crouch in the parses of mountains and lurk in 
the gloomy recesses of dark forests and venom- 
ous swamps, of the courage it required to brave 
the storms of winter on the lonely scout pacing 
the picket lines ; raiding the Indian wilderness, 
or struggling hand to hand with the ocean's 
wind and waves. Courage has a two-fold force 
— visible and invisible, physical and spiritual. 
The one is born of blood, the other of the con- 
science. The one mounts like a proud rider at 
the first cry of danger and with bounding pulse, 
set teeth, he t breath and steely nerves, trans- 
forms the timid into heroes. It is that species 
which is most admired in song and storied in 
romance. It is the gift of God, and by its in- 
strumentality He has moved man to conquest 

72— 



over the oppositions of nature, in earth and sea 
and sky. 

"One scene, out of many during the war, will 
illustrate this virtue. Two armies are sleeping 
fi-ont to front, waiting for the dawn of the day 
to grapple in deadly battle. A division of each 
is matched, as if a challenge had been made and 
accepted. With the light of the day, the two 
divisions rose to meet the conflict. The solid 
gray lines came sweeping down the slopes to 
overwhelm the embattled division silently 
awaiting the deluge on the brink of the inter- 
vening valley. The hills shout back the deep 
and deadly thunder of artillery; the valley 
counts the roll of musketry; on, and still on, 
come the unwavering columns. Not a step 
falters; not a hand trembles. Faster and faster 
roll the echoes of their guns; hotter flashes the 
red artillery. Now a single sound rings over 
the dread clangor; then there is a sudden leap 
forward; a swelling shout that shakes the flying 
flags; a rush as of a loosened river, and up! up! 
up! to the moveless column of blue they sweep 
— then fall back from the hedge of bayonets, 
broken and dispersed, to the sheltering nooks of 
the hills. It is one out of many, and make the 
dome of the American temple of fame as bril- 
liant as the sky at midnight. 

"Do not forget that this floral sacrament 
looks also to that other phase of their courage 
which met and fought with its invisible foes of 
pain, wounds and death. Is there need to 
enumerate these, or to insist that this species of 
courage has the finer quality and nerve? Who 
can measure the infinite variety of suffering 
through which they often passed on the way to 
these graves? Some writhing on the bloody 
field of battle; some tortured on the surgeon's 
table; some fierce in the frenzy of delirium; 
some wasted by fever; others worn by incurable 
disease; some starving in prison pens; some 
with an arm or limb left in the trenches; some 
mangled with shot or shell; some wearing away 
hour by hour in hospital and tent, vainly beg- 
ging for the sight of the dear ones at home; 
others calm in the patience of duty well done; 
dying with the renewed ideal of their country 
bending over them— dear as the sun — regretting 
nothing of the costly sacrifice they made, passing 
away under the soothing of womanly nurses, 
and sleeping at last under the hemlocks and 
pines of the South. 

" 'How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blesi; 
When spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallow'd mould, 



620 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



She thea shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than fancy's feet have ever trod, 
By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung. 
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair. 
To dwell a weeping hermit there!' " 

" Lest I weary you, I shall give but a brief 
eulogy of the last characteristic of these sleep- 
ing soldiers. It is the quality of generosity. ' I 
have stood by the homely cot of many a dying 
soldier — young, middle-aged, officer and private, 
but have never yet heard one syllable of bitter- 
ness for the foe whose bullets and steel sent 
them to untimely graves. Generous souls! Many 
of them went from the cot to Heaven with an 
all-embracing charity which blessed the friends 
they loved, and forgave the foes who smote 
them.' It makes them the more heroic, because 
they fell battling with brave foes — for history 
will write the names and deeds of many South- 
ern soldiers, who illustrated their lost cause and 
conquered banners with a lofty courage and de- 
votion. Out of the graves of the Blue grows a 
stately flower named Victory; out of the graves 
of the Gray grows another named Submission; 
they unite, and out of the mingled vitality blos- 
soms the beautiful flower of Peace, shedding its 
perfumes on Northern gales and Southern 
zephyrs. 

"But, while we strive to emulate this generous 
spirit, so nobly characteristic of the soldier dead, 
we do not invite the childhood of the country 
here every year to decorate these graves, and 
not to learn the cause for which they died was 
the cause of right, as against wrong; the cause 
of Freedom, as against slavery; the cause of 
Union, as against its deadly foe. Secession. No 
false logic of events, no cunning arts of poli- 
tician, no craven demands of self-interest, shall 
ever dim the keen sight of the passing genera- 
tions to the wide distinction between loyalty and 
treason; between the honor due and paid to the 
patriot soldier, living and dead, and the charity 
of forgiveness ofl;ered to their foes, sleeping 
side by side in death, or in life laboring for the 
peace and perpetuity of the Nation. We lament, 
with a sorrow never healed, the loss of the gal- 
lant host of the Union, who died that we might 
live, but pity the misguided and wasted host 
who sought to destroy it, and died in the vain 
attempt. And the blossoms that to-day fail upon 
their graves are given in the same spirit as the 
soldiers used to give their crackers and canteens, 
though face to face in deadly array. But, above 
all floral offerings to the soldier dead; above all 



tributes of eloquence to their noble deeds; above 
all gift of monumental marble by a patriotic 
people, is the solemn duty of here renewing our 
allegiance to the Union, 'that from these hon- 
ored dead we take increased devotion to the 
cause for which they here gave the last full 
measure of devotion; that we here highly re- 
solve that the dead shall not have died in vain,' 
and as reverently as the priest before his altar, 
so before these sacred shrines devote ourselves 
to the task of building upon this continent one 
Republic, great and indivisible — so strong that 
every government, no matter how powerful it 
may be, shall fear and reverence it, and so be- 
neficent that every inhabitant on earth, no mat- 
ter how desolate he may be, shall find it a refuge 
and a defense. 

" To this great purpose these soldiers were 
dedicated; to defend it they went to battle; they 
won at last, after years of unutterable sacrifice, 
and were borne back in silent legions to rest in 
the green tents whose curtains are never blown 
by the winds. Sleep on, O brave men, under the 
sentinel stars! Sleep on, O, soldiers of the Union 
under the changeful skies! No sound of war dis- 
turbs your dreamless sleep! Softly as fall the 
May blossoms on your graves, so softly treads 
over you the march of Time, and the feet of pass- 
ing generations! O, had I the power, I would 
make a festoon of flowers gathered from the 
gardens of the North, from the Savannas of the 
South, from the vales of the East, and from the 
prairies of the West. I would fold it around the 
bleached forms of the sailors of the Union navy 
resting in the sepulchres of the sea, or covered in 
the tawny sands of the gulf, or swept by the 
mighty current of the Mississippi, or washed by 
the silver waves of the Rio Grande. I would 
wreathe it around the form of every soldier of 
the Union sleeping in American soil — some in 
the cemeteries of the Nation ; some in the long 
trenches of battle-fields; some in secret places; 
some in the forests; some by the river banks; 
some in lonely graves, unknown, under the 
shadow of cypress and magnolia trees — and, bind- 
ing without the States of the Union, would sum- 
mon the genius of the Nation to say with priestly 
authority: 'What God has joined together, let 
no man put assunder." ' 

Mr. Parker received the undivided attention 
of the immense audience, and his splendid ora- 
tion was highly commended by all who had the 
privilege of hearing it. Upon its conclusion the 
exercises of the Grand Army were concluded as 
follows: 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUN TY. 



621 



Post Commander — "Comrades, how shall men 
live?" 

Response — "With trust in God and love for 
one another." 

P. C— "How should comrades of the Grand 
Army live." 

R. — "Having on the whole armor of God, that 
they may be able to withstand in the evil day." 

P. C. — "The last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed i" death." 

R. — "We thank God, who giveth us the vic- 
tory through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 

After the close of these exercises "America"' 
was sung by the throng, and the exercises closed 
with the benediction, when all boarded the train 
and returned to the city. 

MASONIC. 

The Masonic order was represented in Spring- 
field as early as 1822, a petition being presented 
to the Grand officers of the Grand Lodge of 
Missouri, bearing date April 4, of that year, 
praying for a dispensation to establish a lodge 
in this place. This petition was signed by 
James Latham, Stephen Phelps, Stephen Still- 
man, Gershom Jayne, Thomas Constant, Charles 
Wright, Oramel Clark and John More. Stephen 
Stillman was recommended as first Master; Ger- 
shom Jayne, Senior Warden, and John More, 
Junior Warden. The dispensation was granted 
April 5, 1822. The lodge was instituted and 
the following additional officers elected and ap- 
pointed: Moses Broad well. Treasurer; James 
C. Stephenson, Secretary; Oramel Clark, S. D.; 
Thomas Constant, J. D. 

The lodge did not seem to flourish for a time 
in consequence of their being no safe and con- 
venient place of meeting, Springfield at that 
time not being provided with many public 
buildings. Stephen Stillman, the Master of the 
Lodge, undertook during the summer of 1822 to 
erect a building in which to meet, but was pre- 
vented from various causes. Still the Lodge 
felt justified in asking for a charter from the 
Grand Lodge at its next regular session, which 
was granted, and Sangamon Lodge, No. 9, was 
duly organized on the 23d day of June, 1823. 

For some cause the charter of the lodge was 
arrested by the Grand Lodge of Missouri in 
1826, the probable cause being the failure of 
the Lodge to ask dismissal from the Grand 
Lodge of Missouri in order to join that of Illi- 
nois, and failure to pay its dues. No tffort was 
made, so far as is known, to obtain a renewal of 
the charter, money matters at that time being 
considerably depressed, and the Morgan excite- 
ment following shortly after. 



Springfield Lodge, No. 4. — On the 27th of 
January, 1839, the following named signed a 
petition addressed to the Grand Lodge of Mis- 
souri asking a dispensation to open and hold a 
lodge at Springfield: J. Adams, James R. Gray, 
Alexander Lindsay, Henry Colestock, Philo 
Beers, L. S. Cornwell, Martin Doyle, J. R. 
Braucher, Bela Webster, and James Maxcy. A 
dispensation bearing date February 25, 1839, 
was issued, naming James Adams, Master; 
James R. Gray, Senior Warden; Alexander 
Lindsay, Junior Warden. The first meeting of 
the Lodge was held at the American House, 
April 20, 1839, when the following officers were 
elected and appointed: Love S. Cornwell, Secre- 
tary; Maurice Doyle, Treasurer; James Maxcy, 
Tyler; Philo Brown, S. D ; William Cudmore, 
J. D.; M. Helm, First M. C; M. A. Kelley, 
Second M. C. The Lodge was numbered 
twenty-six. 

A Grand Lodge having been oganized in Illi- 
nois, Springfield Lodge, No. 26, withdrew from 
the jurisdiction of Missouri, and united with 
the Illinois body, receiving from the latter a new 
charter designating the Lodge as Springfield 
Lodge No. 4. This charter was received May, 
1840. The lodge during this year was quite 
pi'osperous, initiating quite a number, among 
whom was Stephen A. Douglas, who afterwards 
attained a National reputation as a politician. 

In 1841, several members asked leave to with- 
draw that they might form a new lodge. Leave 
was granted and their lodge dues for the current 
quarter remitted them. 

Springfield Lodge, No. 4, has had a very pros- 
perous existence. 

Since its organization, the following named, 
among others, have served in the office of W. 
M.: James Adams, Meredith Helm, Love S. 
Cornwell, James Shepherd, Francis A. McNeill, 
James Zwisler, William Lovely, William B. 
Warren, J. W. Keyes, James H. Matheny. T. S. 
Mather is the present W. M., and J. B. Ham- 
mond, Secretary. 

There are now four lodges, one Chapter, and 
one Commandery in Springfield. 

Central Lodge, No. 71, meets the second Mon- 
day in each month. A. M. Brooks is the present 
W. M., and F. Cleverly, Secretary. 

Tyrian Lodge, No. 833, meets the third Mon- 
day in each month. H. M. Davidson, W. M.; 
II. G. Waldo, Secretary. 

St. Paul's Lodge, No., 500, meets the second 
Tuesday in each month. L. W. Shepherd, W. 
M.; A. R. Robinson, Secretary. 



622 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Springtield Chapter, No. 1, meets the fourth 
Monday in each month. Henry Wohlgemuth, 
E. C; H. G. Waldo, Secretary. 

Elwood Commandery No. 6, K. T., was or- 
ganized under dispensation, granted by R E., 
Sir Knight James V. G. Blaney, Grand Com- 
mander, May 16, 1859, as Illinois Commadery 
U. D., at Masonic Hall, Springfield, Illinois, 
June 28, 1859, Sir Nelson D. Elwood, of Joliet 
Commandery, presiding. The dispensation was 
granted t > Sirs William C. Hobbs, William H. 
Turner, Mason Brayman, F. K. Nichols, D. C. 
M irtin, James Newman, George Thorp, A. R. 
Robinson and Harmon G. Reynolds. Of these. 
Sirs Nichols, Brayman, Robinson and Reynolds 
becime charter members. The charter was 
granted November 3, 1859. At a subsequent 
meeting of the Commandery, it was resolved 
that the name of the Commandery should be 
changed to Elwood. Since its organi'zation, the 
Commandery have made pilgrimages to St. Louis, 
September, 1868; Baltimore, September, 1871; 
New Orleans, September, 1874; Cleveland, 
August, 1877; Chicago, August, 1880, partici- 
pating in the Grand Conclave of the Grand En- 
campment of the United States of America. 
The following named have held the position of 
Eminent Commanders of this Commandery: 
Harmon G. Reynolds, 1860; Charles Fisher, 
1861; Phares A. Dorwin, 1862; Newton Bate- 
man, 1863; William Lavely, 1865; Andrew J. 
Dunning, 1866; Benjamin C. McQuestan, 1867; 
Phares A. Dorwin, 1868; Rheuna D. Lawrence, 
1869; William Lavely, 1870; Robert L. Mc- 
Guire, 18 < 1-2; Rheuna D. Lawrence, 1873; 
Dwight Brown, 1874; William D. Richardson, 
1875; John Cook, 1876-7; Samufl J. Willett, 
1878; Jacob B. Hammond, 1879; James H. 
Matheny, 1880; Henry Wohlgemuth, 1881. The 
ranks of the Commandery have been thinned by 
death, as follows: Nelson D. Elwood, Phares 
A. Dorwin, Walter Whitney, William L. Dough- 
erty, S. C. Toler, John Brotherton, James W. 
Sponsler, Nicholas Strott, Lewis B. Smith, Wil- 
liam A. Turney, Jesse K. Dubois, W. Jarvis 
London, P. C. Latham, James I. Davidson, F. 
J. Martin, J. L. Crane, O. H. Miner, Alfred 
Sower, C. W. Matheny. The Commandery now 
numbers one hundred and twenty-eight members, 
with the following named officers: Henry Wohl- 
gemuth, Eminent Commander; Joseph D. 
Myers, Generalissimo; Edward R. Roberts, Cap- 
tain General; Samuel J. Willett, Prelate, Ed- 
ward T. Smith, Senior Warden; Robert H. 
Moor, Junior Warden; John S.Fisher, Treasurer; 
Charles P. Kane, Recorder; H. Fayart, Sword 



Bearer; Richard Young, Standard Bearer; Nel- 
son D. Lee, Warden; James W. Watson, Cap- 
tain of the Guard. 

ODD FELLOWSHIP. 

This is one of the largest and best of the 
self-governed benevolent and provident associa- 
tions. 

The institution originated in Manchester, Eng- 
land, in 1812; some scattering lodges, it appears, 
existed before this date. The object of the Man- 
chester organization, it was declared, was to 
render assistance to every member who may ap- 
ply, through sickness, distress or otherwise, if 
he be well attached to the Queen and govern- 
ment and faithful to the Order; and this is still 
the basis of the Order in that country. There 
are about four thousand lodges in England, and 
the membership is about half a million. 

The Order in the United States is known as 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
greatly differs from the English organization, 
and is entirely separate from what is known as 
the Manchester Unity, althoui'h a kind feeling 
exists between the societies, and efforts are being 
made to effect an arrangement by which inter- 
changing visitations may be made by the re- 
spective membership. 

The father of Odd Fellowship in America, was 
Thomas Wildey, who had been connected with 
similar associations in England, and who organ- 
ized Washington Lodge No. 1, at the house of 
William Lupton, Sign of the Seven Stars, in 
Baltimore, on the 26th day of April, 1819. This 
lodge was composed of five members; the or- 
ganization now has a membership of nearly half 
a million. 

The organization has a Sovereign Grand Lodge, 
composed of representatives from every State 
and Territory in the United States, from the 
Dominion of Canada and numerous foreign juris- 
dictions. The Grand Lodge is held annually. 

The Grand Lodge of Illinois was organized at 
Alton in 1838, but was re-organized in 1842, 
since which time it has grown, until it now has a 
membership of thirty thousand. The first lodge 
in Springfield was organized in 1840, it being 
Springfield Lodge No. 6, of which many of the 
old settlers of Sangamon county were members, 
N. W. Matheny, L. B. Adams, James H. Ma- 
theny, Stephen Carman, and Thomas Lushbaugh 
being among its earliest members. 

Teutonia Lodge No. 166 was organized in 1856, 
and contains among its membership many of the 
leading Germans of the city. 

Springfield Lodge No. 465 was organized in 
1871, by Hon. A. L. Knapp, as Special Deputy. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



G23 



The Lilla Lodge, of the Degree of Rebekah, 
was organized in 18Y3, and is in a tlourisLing 
condition. 

There are two encampments — Prairie State, 
organized in 185Y, and Schiller, organized in 
1871. 

The following are the principal officers of the 
lodges named: 

Sangamon Lodge JVo. 6. — W. A. Young, N. 
G.; Antonio Frank, V. G.; T. A. Withey, R. 
S.;H Engelskirchen, P. S.; H. O. Bolles, Treas- 
urer. This lodge has its meetings every Wednes- 
day evening, over the State National Bank. 

Teutonia Lodge, No. 166. — William Helmle, 
N. G.; Jacob Felber, V. G.; Emiel Fritsch, R. 
S.; J. M. Striffler, Treasurer. The lodge meets 
weekly, over the State National Bank. 

Springfield Lodge, No. 465. — A. Orendorff, 
N. G.; John O. Rames, V. G.; John C. Hughes, 
R. S.; John W. Withey, P. S.; O. F. Stebbins, 
Treasurer; J. O. Humphreys, S. P. G. Lodge 
meets every Thursday evening, over the State Na- 
tional Bank. 

Prairie State E7icampment, No. 16. — David 
Simpson, C. P.; W. M. Duggans, H. P.; E. P. 
Beach, S. W.; W. H. Davis, J. W. Encamp- 
ment meets every first and third Mondays in 
every month, over the State National Bank. 

Schiller Encampment, No. 121. — Rudolph 
Hell weg, C. P.; Fred Walther, H. P.; Fred 
Weisz, S. W.; G. Ritter, Scribe and Treasurer. 
Encampment meets every first and third Friday 
in each month, over the State National Bank. 

The combined membei'ship of the order in 
Springfield is two hundred and fifty in subordi- 
nate lodges, and eighty in Encampments. 

HEBREW SOCIETIES. 

Ernes Lodge, No. 67, L. 0. Benai Berith, 
(Sons of the Covenant). — This is a benevolent 
society composed exclusively of Israelites, and 
was organized in Springfield, in 1863, with 
twenty members. It has now increased to thirty- 
seven' The I. O. of Benai Berith was first or- 
ganized in Philadelphia, about the year 1856, 
and has since extended all over the country, with 
a present membership of twenty-five thousand in 
the United States. It is an organization some- 
what similar to the United Workmen, giving 
the widow or heirs of a deceased member $1,000. 
Some lodges give sick benefits, of which No. 67 
is one, allowing 85 per week in case of sickness 
of a member. The present officers of the lodge 
are: Charles Seaman, President; S. Bernheim, 
Vice President; A. Friedman, Secretary; S. Hess, 
Treasurer; C. Stern, Mentor; L. S. Ensel, War- 
den. 



Ladies'* Benevolent Society. — A society, com- 
posed of Israelite women, was organized in this 
city in 1870, its object being to minister to the 
sick and needy and to help one another in a 
systematic manner, similar to the various benevo- 
lent orders of the day. In case of sickness of a 
member, sick benefits are paid by the society. A 
good work has already been accomplished. Its 
officers in 1881, were: Mrs. S. Haramerslough, 
President; Mrs. C. Stern, Vice President; Mrs. 
Charles Seaman, Secretary; Mrs. S. Benjamin, 
Treasurer. Meetings are held quarterly. 

KNIGHTS OF HONOR. 

Peerless Lodge No. 403, K. of H., was organ- 
ized February 23, 1877, with S. J. Willett, J. D. 
Roper, W. H. McCormick, C. G. Averill, T. E. 
Shutt, W. H. Staley, A. D. Campbell, J. S. 
Doyle, H. O. Bolles, H. B. Graham, Q. E. 
Dowe, T. C. Smith, P. Bird Price, F. Fleury, 
J. L. C. Richards. At the first meeting -of 
the lodge, W. H. McCormick was elected P. 
D.; S. J. Willett, D.; C. G. Averill, V. D.; J. L. 
C. Richards, A. D.; T. C. Smith, C; H. B. Gra- 
ham, G.; J. S. Doyle, R.; P. Bird Price, F. R.; 
J. D. Roper, Treas.; H. O. Bolles, Guard. The 
lodge has met with fair success and now num- 
bers thirty-two members. The order is a benefi- 
ciary one, each member being insured to the 
amount of 12000. Since its organization the 
lodge has been called upon to lay away in the 
silent tomb three of its members — T. P. Boone, 
Henry Speckrcan and Henry B. Graham, the 
widows and families of each receiving the bene- 
ficiary of $2000. The following named are the 
officers in June, 1881: E. P. Beach, D.; T. C. 
Smith, V. D.; M. L. Pearce, A. D.; H. O. Bolles, 
R.; J. D. Roper, F. R.; G. A. Mueller, Treas.; 
T. English, C; W. C. Sommer, G.; B. Meissner, 
Guai'd; A. D. Campbell, Sent. 

UNITED WORKMEN. 

The Ancient Order of United Workmen 
originated in Pennsylvania some ten years ago, 
from a desire to assist each other in case of sick- 
ness or death — and soon partook of the present 
form of the society — that is, a contribution of 
$2,000 to the legatees of a deceased member. 
The first lodge instituted in Illinois was Noble 
No. 1, of Rock Island, November 18, 1874, with 
twenty-six members, followed by Harmony, No. 
2, Moline, December 3, 1874, with twenty-three; 
Union, No. 3, Sterling, February 13, 1875, with 
twenty-three ; Island City, No. 4, Rock Island, 
April 23, 1875, with thirty-seven ; Industrial, 
No. 6, Rock Falls, June 11, 1875, with thirty- 
two members, and these five lodges, with a total 



624 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



membership of one hundred and eighty-two, 
constituted the Grand Lodge of Illinois, which 
was instituted June 28, 1815. 

Prior to June 1, 1877, all death claims were 
paid through the Supreme Ledge, but upon that 
date, Illinois having increased her membership 
to upwards of two thousand, was set apart as a 
State JVJortuaiy District, and entitled to collect 
and disburse her own bentficiary funds. Since 
that time the order in Illinois has grown rapidly, 
and numbers a little over ten thousand, with 
about one hundred and ninety lodges. During 
this time there has been one hundred and seven- 
ty-seven deaths, necessitating fifty-six assess- 
ments of one dollar each, and as the legatees of 
each deceased member have received |2,0CU, 
the grand total thus collected and disburted has 
been $354,C00. 

The order is represented in Springfield by 
four lodges — Springfield, No. 37, instituted May 
31, 18';7 ; Capital City, No. 38, February 8, 
1877 ; Good Will, No. 39, February 10, 1877; 
Mozart, 106, in February, 1S78. The total 
membership in the city is over three hundred. 

ROYAL AKCANLM. 

Charity Council No. 236, Eoyal Arcanum, was 
organized January 20, 1879, with fifteen charter 
members. The first officers were: C G. Averill, 
Regent; J. P. Lindley, Vice Regent; Wm. J. 
Footner, Past Regent; Geo. C. Cole, Orator; J. 
F. McNeill, Secretary, H. K. Weber, Collector; 
J. H. Barkley, Treasurer; R. J. Williams, Chap- 
lain; G. S. Dana, Guide; M. H. Jelley, Warden; 
J. A. Jones, Jr., Sentiy; H. B. Buck, G. S. Dana, 
J. P. Lindley, Trustees; H. B. Buck, T. S. 
Matthews, Medical Examiners. 

Its present officers are: John L. Phillips, 
Regent; Wm. C. Wood, Vice Regent; Wm. C. 
CoMgill, Orator; Jas. F. McNeill, Secretary; H. 
K. Weber, Collector; J. H. Barkley, Treasurer; 
Geo. E. Copeland, Chaplain; J. A. Jones, Jr., 
Guide; Frank Fleury, Warden; J. W. Fuller, 
Sentry; L. W. Shepherd, Louis Souther, J. M. 
Adair, Trusttes; Dr. J. A. Jones, Medical Exam- 
iner. Its present membership is 36. 

AMERICAN LEGION OF HONOR. 

Amity Council 409, American Legion of 
Honor, was organized January 28, 1881, by 
Deputy Supreme Commander J. L. Phillips, 
with twenty-six charter mtmbers. There hasonly 
been one election and the original officers are 
still serving, viz: John L. Phillips, Commander; 
Chas. G. Averill, Vice Commander; C. L. Conk- 
ling, Past Commander; E. L. Merritt, Orator; J. 
F. McNeill, Secretary; Franz Bode, Collector; 



Jas. H. Barkley, Treasurer; Jno. M. Adair, Chap- 
lain; Wm. D. Baker, Guide; Isaac N.Ransom, 
Warden; J. N. Dixon, Sentry; Jas. T. Jones, 
Wm. C. Wood, Jno. F. Wolgamot, Trustees; 
Examining Surgeon, J. Norman Dixon. Its 
present membership is 29. 

Independent Order of Mutual Aid have a 
lodge, in which many of the leading citizens of 
the city are interested. The lodge is styled Abe 
Lincoln Lodge No. 5, and meets second and 
fouith Tuesdays in each month. William Keene 
is the present Recording Secretary. 

Springfield Council No. 40, Royal Templars 
of Temperance meets first and third Tuesdays 
in each month, at Knights of Pythias Hall, cor- 
ner F'ifth and Monroe streets. J. B. Bennett, 
S. C; R. S. Hill,R. S. 

Esperanza Commandery, Knights of Universal 
Brotherhood meets every second and fourth 
Tuesday evening, in Opera House Block, George 
McCutcheon, Commander; William L. Gardner, 
Chief of Reds. 

Stevenson Post No. 30, Grand Aimy of the 
Republic, was instituted in Springfield, in the 
early history of the order, and has had regular 
meetings since that time. The post take charge 
of all services on Decoration Day, in Springfield. 
H. Chapin is the present Commander, with A. 
Wilson, Adjutant, and E. D. Vredenburg, Quar- 
termaster. 

OTHER SOCIETIES. 

Capital Lodge, No. 14, K. of P., meets every 
Monday evening in the Library Building. The 
present officers are: J. P. Lindley, P. C. ; C. G. 
Averill, C. C; B. F. Talbot, V. C; S.J. Wil- 
lett. Prelate; J. H. Freeman, M. of E.; R. A. 
Higgins, M. of F.; J. D. Roper, K. of R. S.; 
T. E. Shutt, M. of A.; J. W. Young, I. G.; J. B. 
Keucher, O. G. 

Springfield Typographical Union was organ- 
ized in 18 — . Its present officers are: John E. 
Allen, President; A. M. Barker, Vice-President; 
H. T. Schlick, Financial Secretary; Howard 
Williams, Recording Secretary; Timothy Col- 
lins, Treasurer; Harry Collins, Sergeant-at- 
Aims; John Antrom, P. J. Doyle, Charles 
Bradley, Thomas Thorpe, Arthur S. Hoag, Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

NEW^SPAPERS. 

In another part of this work is a chapter on 
the newspapers of the county. Among the 
papers not mentioned was the Odd Fellows 
Herald, a five column quarto, published and ed- 
ited by A. D. Sanders. The Herald was started 
in 1877, and has had a prosperous existence 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



625 



almost from the beginning. As its name im- 
plies, it is devoted to the interest of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is well and 
ably edited. Its circulation is larger than any 
paper published for the benefit of any class in 
this region of country. 

Edwin A. Wilson also publishes two Sunday 
School papers, one being "Labor of Love," the 
other, "Food for the Lambs." The papers are 
undenominational in character, and are furnished 
to Sunday schools regardless of sect. The La- 
bor of Love has been issued since 1871, and the 
Food for the Lambs, since 1875. The average 
circulation of the former is twenty thousand per 
month, and the latter fifteen thousand. A large 
amount of money is annually expended on the 
two sheets. 

THE CAPITAL RAILWAY. 

The Capital Railway was organized under the 
general laws of the State of Illinois, August 10, 
1865, and permission was at once given by the 
City Council of Springfield, to locate the road 
on all the streets the company desired to occupy. 
They commenced operations with a capital of 
#18,000, which was afterwai'ds increased to $28,- 
000. The first Board of Directors were: J. K. 
Dubois, John Williams, D. L. Phillips, Alex- 
ander Starne and J. S. Bradford. 

The oflicers chosen were: D. L. Phillips, 
President; John Williams, Treasurer; A. W. 
French, Secretary; Alexander Starne, Superin- 
tendent. John Williams afterwards resigned as 
Treasurer, and Jesse K. Dubois was chosen to 
fill the vacancy. 

A portion of the road was built in the autumn 
of 1865, commencing at the old depot of the 
Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway, on the 
corner of Tenth and Monroe streets, and run- 
ning west on Monroe street to Lincoln Avenue, 
one-third of a mile west of the city limits. It 
was opened for business January 1, 1866; the 
total cost to that time, being about $27,000. 

The track was afterwards extended about one- 
third of a mile further west, and subsequently 
about the same distance was taken up at the east 
end of the road — from Tenth to Seventh streets. 

By an Act of the General Assembly of Illi- 
nois, approved February 25, 1867, the former 
transactions of the Capital Railway Company of 
Springfield, were legalized and its future rights 
and privileges defined. Its capital stock was 
fixed at $50,000, with authority to increase it 
indefinitely. 

THE SPRINGFIELD CITY RAILWAY COMPANY 

was chartered February 16, 1861, by a special act 
of the legislature of Illinois, entitled "An act to 



promote the construction of Horse Railways in 
the city of Springfield." Jacob Biinn, John T. 
Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, Benjamin S. Edwards, 
Christopher C. Brown, Thomas S. Mather, and 
George Carpenter, were named as the first Board 
of Directors. 

They were authorized to organize a company 
under the name that heads this article, with a 
cai)ital stock of $50,000, and permission to in- 
crease it indefinitely. The company was invested 
with authority to build and operate street rail- 
roads on any street in the present or future limits 
of the city, and to extend them to any point in 
the county of Sangamon. They were to go on 
any public highway, but were forbidden to put 
any obstruction in the way of travel. 

March 3, 1866, the Springfield City Railway 
Company was organized by the election of Hon. 
John T. Stuart, President; Asa Eastman, Vice 
President; George N. Black, Treasurer; and 
George Carpenter, Secretary. They commenced 
building the road at once, and opened it for 
business on the fourth of July. 

The original road commenced at Monroe street 
and ran north, on Fifth street, to Oak Ridge 
Cemetery. The road, cars, and all the equip- 
ments cost $42,000. In the spring of 1867 it 
was extended on Fifth street to South Grand 
Avenue, at a cost of $13,000, making the total 
cost $55,000. The southern extension was opened 
for business just one year from the first opening, 
namely, July 4, 1867. 

The two companies were subsequently con- 
solidated, and are now operating under the name 
of the Capital Railway Company. 

This company owns a fine park of twelve acres 
adjoining Oak Ridge Cemetery on the east. 
This paik is finely shaded with native trees. It 
has a bountiful supply of pure well M'ater, and a 
pagoda for refreshments. There is a stand on 
the ground fitted up for public speaking, with 
rustic bridges and appropriate places, and seats 
under most every tree. These attractions, with a 
green turf over all the ground, make it a great 
resort for picnics. 

This park and the fine walks and drives, among 
the sylvan groves of Oak Ridge Cemetery, forms 
a delightful retreat from the scorching heat and 
dusty streets of the city, in the summer months; 
and at all seasons with the memories that cluster 
around the Lincoln Monument, it is one of the 
most attractive spots in the West, both to citi- 
zens and strangers. 

The company now have about six miles of 
track and are well equipped with cars and horses. 
The present officers are: A. L. Ide, President 



626 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



George N. Black, Vice-President; John W. 
Bunn, Secretary; William Ridgely, Treasurer; 
George C. Ripley, Superintendent. 

citizen's street railway. 

The Citizens' Street Railway Company was 
organized March 5, 1879, by John Henry Schuck, 
Henson Robinson, Oscar F. Stebbins, J. N. 
Reece, Frank Reisch, J. E. K. Herrick, and A. 
H. Saunders. The right of way was granted to 
the company by the City Council in April of the 
same year, and on the 20th of July, they began 
grading and track laying on North Grand Ave- 
nue, south on Ninth to Washington street, and 
west on Washington to the square. They then 
went north from North Grand Avenue to the 
Rolling Mills, thence to the fair grounds. Be- 
ginning on the square, they next went south to 
Capital Avenue, ihence west to the State House. 
From the corner of Sixth and Washington, the 
next move was west to Second street, thence 
north to Carpenter, west to Rutledge, thence 
north to Lincoln Park, Lincoln Monument, and 
Oak Ridge Cemetery. Again, starting from 
Ninth street, they ran east to Eleventh, and 
south to Kansas street. In October, 1880, they 
completed the road south from the State House 
to Allen street. 

The company have a capital stock of $75,000. 
They now have about eight miles of track in 
complete running order; have eighteen cars and 
seventy-six head of mules and horses. They 
have two stables, one near the Rolling Mill, and 
the other and main one, on the corner of Wash- 
ington and Ninth streets. They employ twenty- 
six men. 

The first Board of Directors were J. H. 
Schuck, Henson Robinson, Frank Reisch, A. H. 
Saunders, W. O. Converse, and F. W. Tracy. 
Mr. Tracy subsequently resigned, and George 
Reisch was elected in his place. The present 
Board are the same as the first, substituting Mr. 
Reisch for Mr. Tracy. J. H. Schuck was the 
first and is the present President. 

SPRINGFIELD LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

The S})ringtield Library Association was in- 
corporated under the general laws of the State, 
March 15, 1866. Dr. Samuel Willard was the 
first Librarian, and served until September 1, 
1870, when Miss E. Gertrude Seaman was chosen 
to occupy that position. Mrs. H. L. Kimball, 
the present Librarian, was appointed in 1877. 

The capital stock authorized by the articles of 
association is $20,000. Fifty dollars paid at one 
time constitutes the person paying the same a 
life member, and secures the use of the Library, 



and one vote during life. Shares of stock are 
ten dollars. A stockholder can have the use 
of the Library and one vote, by paying three 
dollars annually. Pei'sons who are neither stock- 
holders or life members can have the use of it 
by paying five dollars annually. The selection 
of books includes the very choicest works of 
reference, history, geography and travels, biog- 
raphy, theology, ethics, ecclesiastical history, 
philosophy, political science and education, 
science and art, poetry and drama, novels, juve- 
nile works and general literature. 

The Library now consists of about seven 
thousand volumes, and new and rare works are 
being constantly added. During the year 1880, 
about thirteen thousand volumes were loaned. 
The Library is visited daily by a large number 
of j^ersons, who avail themselves of the privilege 
of reading and examining the books, papers and 
magazines. 

The following named constitute the ofiicers of 
the Association in 18sl: C. C. Brown, Presi- 
dent; John W. Bunn, Vice-President; Ernst 
Helmle, Recording Secretary; James T'. Jones, 
Corresponding Secretary ; B.H. Ferguson, Treas- 
urer; E. F. Leonard, A. N. J. Crook, Henry 
Remann, Charles Ridgely, Henson Robinson, 
George N. Black, Directors; Mrs. H. L. Kim- 
ball, Librarian. 

ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY. 

This library is designed for the use of the 
ofiicers of State, Members of the Legislature, 
etc., they being the only parties allowed to take 
books away from the library. Any citizen, how- 
ever, can visit the library and consult any work 
there. 

It contains four thousand volumes of miscel- 
laneous works, and about ten thousand volumes 
of the publications of the United States and of 
the several States, including copies of all the 
pullications of Illinois. This makes the library 
proper about fourteen thousand volumes. These, 
with surplus copies of Illinois jjtiblications and 
incomplete sets of duplicate miscellaneous works, 
swell the number to about fifty thousand vol- 
umes in the care of the Librarian. 

The catalogue of miscellaneous books com- 
prise some choice selections of works of refer- 
ence, history, biography, philosophy, science and 
art, and a small number of volumes in the Ger- 
man language. 

The State department contains the colonial laws 
of many of the oid thirteen States; laws of the Ter- 
ritory and State of Illinois; laws of the Congress 
of the United States, with Senate and House 
reports; reports of the United States census; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



G27 



Congressional Globe, etc., etc. This library is 
at present in a room on the first floor of the old 
State House, at the west side, and is in the cus- 
tody of the Hon. Henry D. Dement, Secretary 
of State, who is ex officio State Librarian, assisted 
by Edith Walbrid^^e, Assistant Librarian, who 
has been in the ofiice since June, 1881. 

The Law Library is the property of the State 
also. It contains about seven thousand volumes, 
composed of the reports of the United States 
Courts, and of the Supreme Courts of the sev- 
eral States ; text books, digests and statutes, and 
English, Irish and Scotch reports. 

There is also a great number of Congressional 
Documents, American Archives, Secret Journals 
of Congress, and a small number of miscel- 
laneous books, among which are Appelton's 
Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Brittanica. 
This library is also in the care of the Secretary 
of State. 

The General Assembly in the winter of 1880-81, 
made an appropriation of $5,000 for two years. 

BANKS. 

The first bank in Springfield was the State 
Bank, established about 1830, and which failed in 
1842. Since then several banks have been 
organized, and there is now in the place four 
safe and reliable institutions. 

The Ridgely National Bank. — In connection 
witli the Messrs Clark, in 1851, N. H. Ridgely 
organized Clark's Exchange Bank, of which N. 
H. Ridgely was President, and James Campbell 
Cashier. In the course of four or five years Mr. 
Ridgely purchased the interest of his partners 
and continued the institution in his own individ- 
ual name. Shortly after, Charles Ridgely was ad- 
mitted as a partner, and the business was then 
conducted under the firm name of N. H. & 
Charles Ridgely. Subsequently, William Ridgely 
became a member of the firm, and the title was 
changed to N. H. Ridgely & Co. In October, 
1866, the Ridgely National Bank was organized 
as successors to N. H. Ridgely & Co., with N. 
H. Ridgely, President ; Charles Ridgely, Vice 
President; William Ridgely, Cashier. October 
1, 1875, J. Taylor Smith was elected Second 
Vice President. No further change has been 
made in its ofiicers since organization. When 
organized the capital stock was placecd at |100,- 
000. A surplus has since accumulated of 
$100,000. 

The Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance 
Company's Bank was chartered in 1851 as an 
Insurance Company with banking privileges. 
Only the latter were ever used, the institution 
never organizing as an insurance company. The 
78— 



charter was granted to Robert Irwin, John Wil- 
liams, Jacob Bunn, William B. Fonday and John 
C. Lamb. The first officers were Antrim Camp- 
bell, President, and J. C. Sprigg, Cashier. In 
September, 1854, Thomas Condell became Presi- 
dent, upon the resignation of Mr. Campbell. In 
18GS, R. F. Ruth became President, and has 
since occupied the position. Robert Irwin was 
the successor of Mr. Sprigg, as Cashier, Mr. 
Irwin died in the spring of 1865, and was suc- 
ceeded by B. H. Ferguson, the present Cashier. 
The building occupied by the bank was erected 
by the old Illinois State Bank, and was purchased 
by the Marine and Fire Insurance Company on 
its organiztion. The bank incorporated with a 
capital of $100,000, has a large surplus, and does 
a business equal to any bank outside of Chicago. 

The First National Bank. — This bank was 
organized December 12, 1863, but did not 
begin business until May 1, 1864. The first 
officers were John Williams, President; George 
N. Black, Cashier. It succeeded the private 
banking house of John Williams & Company, 
which had been doing a safe and profitable 
business for some vears. The original capital 
stock of the First 'National was $125 000. It 
has since been increased to $250,000. In 1866, 
Frank W. Tracy succeeded Mr. Black as Cash- 
ier. In 1874, Noah W. Matheny became Presi- 
dent. Upon his death, which occurred in the 
spring of 1877, C. W. Matheny succeeded him. 
He also died in April, 1879, when Mr. Tracy was 
elected to that position, and H. K. Weber be- 
came Cashier. This banking house was first 
established on the northwest corner of Fifth and 
Washington streets, where it remained until the 
present fine building was erected in 1878, 
especially for its occupancy. It stands on the 
southeast corner of Sixth and Washington, and 
cost $25,000. This bank has been a United 
States depository since it was first opened for 
business. Its deposits average over $1,000,000, 
and carries loans from $700,000 to $800,000. 
The fine safes of the bank, manufactured by 
Hall, at a cost of over $5,000, and its ability to 
keep valuables in absolute security, has also led 
to the doing of a safe-deposit business for the 
general public, and money, bonds, securities and 
other valuables are here guarded and protected 
against the possibility of loss. As a depository 
of the United States the bank has, it is esti- 
mated, received and disbursed for the govern- 
ment, over $50,000,000. 

The State National Baiik. — This bank owns 
and occupies the elegant building on the south- 
west corner of the public square, which is con- 



628 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



sidered the best located bank building in the 
city, — a banking business having been carried on 
at this corner for nearly twenty-five years. The 
State National commenced business on January 
1, 1871. Its abundant capital of -$200,000 was 
subscribed by a large nnmber of the wealthiest 
and most prominent business men of the city 
and county. Notwithstanding it was the last 
bank organized in the city, it has steadily grown 
in public favor and gained in profitable business 
until now it is among the largest and strongest 
financial institutions in the State of Illinois, as 
will be seen by its last published statement made 
to the Comptroller of the Currency at Washing- 
ton, in compliance with the provisions of the 
National Banking law. The following is a copy 
of the statement: 

RESOURCES. 

Loans and Discounts |713,378 31 

Real Estate and Fixtures 10,899 08 

Banldng House 20,000 00 

Current Expenses 3,823 03 

Premiums 17,500 00 

United States four per cent. Bonds 250,750 00 

Cashonhand 376,237 74 

$1,398,588 76 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital $200,000 00 

Surplus and Profits 71,758 99 

Circulation 135,000 00 

Deposits 991,829 77 

$1,398,588 76 
It transacts a general banking business, draws 

its own drafts on all the principal cities of the 

United States and Europe, receives deposits and 

loans money on approved security. 

Its officers are: S. H. Jones, President, F. K. 

Whittemore, Cashier. 

BOAKD OF TRADE. 

The Springfield Board of Trade was organ- 
ized in May, 1880, with one hundred members. 
Dudley Wickersham was elected President; O. 
H. Miner, Secretary; F. K. Whittemore, Treas- 
urer. R. D. Lawrence is the present President, 
and in January, 1881, John G. Ives was elected 
Secretary in place of Mr. Miner, deceased. The 
Board is operated under the general system gov- 
erning such bodies. Its headquarters are in the 
second story of the brick building, on the south- 
west corner of Seventh and Washington streets. 

MRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

It has been many years since the old volun- 
teer ''bucket brigade" gave way to the sys- 
tematic fire department, with its engines, hose 
carriages, and other appliances for extinguishing a 



fire. For many years the fire department, as 
originally organized, was upon the volunteer 
plan, and it was not until 1869, that a paid de- 
partment was thought advisable by the " poAvers 
that be" — the City Council. The following 
named constitutes the department as it now 
exists: Thomas Dunn, Fire Marshal; John H. 
Freeman and Julius Cottett, Engineers; Merritt 
Whipple, James Davis, Firemen; Augustus Mil- 
ler, A. O. Sanders, Hosemen; Oscar Phillips, 
Samuel Hunt, Drivers; Henry Miller, Thomas 
Rourke, Hook and Ladder Men; Harry Hooker, 
George Hodge, William Donnelly, Philip Hoff- 
man, John Rourke, J. C. Decker, Extra Hose- 
men. The Fire Marshal receives a salary of 
$2.5.00 per month, and is only required to serve 
in case of fire; all other men, with the excep- 
tion of extra hosemen, receive $55.00 per month, 
devoting their entire time to the work. The 
extra hosemen receive $12.50 per month, and 
are required only to report for active duty in 
case of fire. 

The department has two engines, with hose 
carriages, hook and ladder truck, and are sup- 
plied with such other things as they deem neces- 
sary for active service. 

During the year 1880-81, there were sixty- 
seven alarms, some of which were false ones, 
and fires doing damage to the amount of about 
$12,000. This is certainly a good record, and 
speaks well for the "boys." 

It is impossible to give anything like a record 
of the fires in this connection, therefore only a 
few are given as a specimen of how fire can de- 
stroy, and to serve as a reminder to the old 
settler. 

On Saturday evening, February 13, 1858, a de- 
structive fire occurred, beginning on the east 
side of the square, in the crockery store of 
William McCabe & Company, and from there 
extending to the drug store of Corneau & Dil- 
ler, adjoining on the north. The next building 
destroyed was that of Benjamine Piatt. Here, 
for a time, the fire was stopped, but the wooden 
rear of the book-store of Paine, Booraem & Co. 
having caught from the smouldering ruins of 
McCabe's store, that house was consumed in 
spite of all efforts to save it. With the destruc- 
tion of this building it was again supposed the 
fire was at an end, as the remaining store houses 
appeared to be entirely free from danger, but 
about two o'clock, a. m., the alarm was again 
sounded, and it was discovered that the dry 
goods store of C. W. Matheny was on fire under 
the roof. Every effort made to subdue it was in 
vain. The fire rapidly spread until three more 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



629 



buildings were destroyed. The heaviest losers 
were McCabe & Co., Corneau & Diller, Paine, 
Booraem & Co., C. W. Matheny, John Cook, 
and N. H. Ridgely. The loss by this fire was 
about 1^50,000. 

On Wednesday night, October 6th, 1858, the 
freight house of the Chicago & Alton Railroad 
was destroyed by fire, together with the greater 
quantity of freight stored therein. The build- 
ing was a frame one 40x400 feet, and was of but 
little value, but a large amount of freight was 
then on hand. The loss was estimated at 
110,000. 

On Sunday morning, April 21, 1860, a fire 
broke out in a livery stable on Washington 
street, and spreading, burned several other 
buildings, including the wagon and carriage fac- 
tory of Withey Brothers, entailing a loss upon 
this firm of $15,000. The total loss by the fire 
was about $25,000. 

A fire occurred Monday evening, March 13, 
1865, commencing in the drug store of T. J. V. 
Owen, druggist, destroying the building occu- 
pied by Mr. Owen and the bookstore of A. B. 
Mackenzie. Adjoining buildings somewhat dam- 
aged. Total loss about $35,000, 

On Tuesday night, February 21, 1870, a fire 
was discovered in the fourth story of a building 
occupied by H. W. Rokker, on the east side of 
Fifth near Monroe street. The building was 
owned by Black & Amos, and was occupied by 
H. W. Rokker as a book bindery; H. G. Rey- 
nolds, publisher of Masonic Trowel, and by the 
American Sewing Machine Company. It was 
entirely destroyed. The building next on the 
north, owned by Mrs. E. S. Johnson and Mr. 
Hickman was also destroyed, except the walls, 
which were left standing. The first story was 
occupied by Mr. Hammer for the sale of second- 
hand furniture, stoves and other articles. The 
building north of Mrs. Johnson's was damaged 
somewhat, but not destroyed. 

The Masonic Hall building, on the corner of 
Fifth and Monroe streets, was next attacked by 
the fire and the roof and third story destroyed, 
the first and second stories, with their contents, 
being saved. The third story was occupied by 
four of the Masonic lodges of the city. In this 
room were the records of the lodges, together 
with the valuable regalias belonging to the or- 
der, which were destroyed. The estimated loss 
of all parties was $67,300. 

THE CITY OF THE DEAD, 

" 'Earth to earth, and dust to dust!' 
Here the evil and the just, 
Here the vouthful aud the old, 



Here the fearful and the bold, 
Here the matron and the maid, 
In one silent bed are laid; 
Here the vassal and the king. 
Side by side lay withering; 
Here the swoid and scepter rust— 
' Earth to earth, and dust to dust.'" 

"Man was born to die." Day by day, the 
number of the inhabitants of the "city of the 
dead " increases. Here they remain until the 
resurrection. Says James C. Conkling, in his 
address at the dedication of Oak Ridge Ceme- 
tery: "Standing upon the borders of the tomb, 
methinks I hear the mighty tread of unnum- 
bered millions, as they are traveling onward 
from the cradle to the grave. Firmly and stead- 
ily they are pressing forward, resistless as fate. 
No obstacle can impede their progress. Neither 
the threats of power, nor the blandishments of 
love, nor the influences of wealth, can check 
their inevitable career. Indolence cannot re- 
tard, pleasures cannot divert, riches cannot bribe 
them to halt in the midst of their onward course. 
Inexorable destiny presses them forward, with- 
out a moment's respite, to the tomb. The heavy 
tramp of their mai'ch resounds through all the 
earth. It may be heard amid the frozen regions 
of the North, as the bold adventurer forces his 
passage across their icy plains in search of glory 
or of gain. It echoes amid the desert sands, 
parched by the burning blaze of a southern sun. 
From the far distant islands of the sea, mingled 
with the eternal roar of the surf that dashes 
upon their rock-bound shores, it comes booming 
across the mighty waste of waters. It resounds 
with the noise of the caravan, whose bones are 
left to bleach upon the arid plain. It is wafted 
upon our western breezes, with the dying groans 
of thousands who rush in search of golden 
treasures. It follows in the wake of the gallant 
ship, as she plows her lonely course along the 
trackless deep. It rises above the din of com- 
merce upon the crowded mart. In the secluded 
valley, upon the fertile prairie, and on the moun- 
tain top, it is mingled with the wailing and lam- 
entations of the mourner. Amidst the wretched 
hovels of the poor, and the gorgeous palaces of 
the rich; in the dark lane, as well as upon the 
broad avenue, amid the whispers of affection by 
the dying couch, and above the raging tumult of 
the battle field, may still be heard that ponder- 
ous tread of humanity, as it marches onward to 
the grave, in obedience to the fiat ef the Al- 
mighty, ' Uust thou art and unto dust shalt thou 
return.'" 

The first place of deposit of the dead of 
Springfield and vicinity, was on a lot of ground 



630 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 




NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT. 



donated by Elijah lies, and long known as the 
"City Grave Yard." The second is the well- 
known Hutchinson Cemetery, lying west of the 
City Grave Yard, and the third is Oak Ridge 
Cemetery. 

Charles H. Lanphier, Esq., who was at that 
time, 1855, a member of the City Council, repre- 
senting the Second Ward, is entitled to the credit 
of inaugurating the enterprise which has re- 
sulted so successfully in what Oak Ridge is to- 
day. 

From the small beginning, and the limited 
area of the first purchase, at a cost of $350, it 
has now come to rank among the most noted 
and best improved of American cemeteries. 

The original plans and plats of the grounds 
were made by Mr. William Sides, City Engineer. 
Under his plans the lots were laid out in squares, 
regardless of natural slopes and ravines, or of 
the general character of the ground, wholly un- 



adapted to the purpose of a rural cemetery, and 
they were therefore very soon abandoned. 

The second survey and plat was made by Mr. 
William Saunders, of Washington, D. C. His 
plan, in its general features, was more practic- 
able, and in keeping with the natural features of 
the grounds. 

As perfected and thus far carried out, it has 
been the work of successive Boards of Mana- 
gers, whose study and observation of older cem- 
eteries, to-wit, those of Boston, New York, Phil- 
adelphia and Cincinnati, have enabled them to 
profit by what has elsewhere been accomplished, 
in adapting a system of landscape gardening to 
the purposes of cemetery improvement. 

The grounds of this Institution now comprise 
seventy-four acres. The first purchase of a 
tract of land outside of the city limits of Spring- 
field, for burial purposes, was made in June, 
1855, and in May, 1856, a second purchase was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



031 



made, enlarging the area to twenty-eight and 
one-half acres. The site chosen was a most 
beautiful one. Situated about two miles north 
of the Capitol, with undulating surface and 
pleasing blending of hill and dale, interspersed 
with a natural growth of deciduous trees, the 
location was peculiarly fitted for the purpose of 
sculpture. Forest trees of various species being 
the prevailing shade, the name of Oak Ridge 
Cemetery was, at the suggestion of Hon. John 
Cook, Mayor of the city, given to what has now 
become one of the most beautiful cemeteries in 
the land. Previous to 1858 but little improve- 
ment was made of the grounds, except to enclose 
them with a common post and board fence. On 
the 18th of* April, of that year, Mr. George 
Willis was appointed sexton, by the City Council. 

Being under the exclusive control of the City 
Council, and its rules and regulations conse- 
quently liable to influences and changes not in 
accordance with the desires and feelings of lot 
owners, the cemetery did not at once gain the 
public favor which was desirable and neccessary 
to its proper maintainance and improvement. It 
was therefore deemed advisable by the council 
to obtain such charter amendments as would 
more specifically define the tenure of lot owners. 
Such amendments were obtained fi'om the legis- 
lature in 1859. 

In April, 1860, under the Amended Charter, 
the first Board of Managers was chosen, as fol- 
lows: Turner R. King, President; James L. 
Lamb, Gilbert S. Manning, Benjamin F. Fox; 
Presco Wright, Secretary. George Willis was 
appointed Sexton. 

On Thursday, the 24th of May, 1860, accord- 
ing to a resolution of the Board of Managers 
above named, the cemetery grounds as originally 
laid out, were dedicated. The Mayor and mem- 
bers of the City Council, with a large concourse 
of citizens, participated in the imposing cere- 
monies of the occasion. 

In this year, 1881, the grounds present a most 
beautiful appearance, and have a large number of 
handsome monuments, chief of which is the 
Lincoln Monument, a fine illustration of which is 
given in this work. Next after the Lincoln 
monument, as a conspicuous ornament to Oak 
Ridge, is that erected to the memory of Governor 
William H. Bissell. Situated in the eastern 
part of the cemetery, this most elaborate monu- 
ment stands upon a limestone base, seven feet 
square, and is twenty-one feet in height. It is 
constructed of Italian marble, and is surmounted 
by an eagle holding a copper scroll in its beak. 



The Soldiers' Monument is in the northwest 
part of the cemetery. Upon its four sides are 
the names of forty Union soldiers who died in 
the service or at home since the close of the war. 
The following are the names: 

Alsop, E. Mcudell, Noah E. 

Ames, Fisher Mclntyre, Marshall 

Allen, Henry W. McManus, M. 

Alexander, John W. Mollett, T. 

Bishop, George W. *Moore, E. V. 

Buck, William H. Orr, S. P. 

Burrows, James H. Phillips, T. U. 

Busby, A. Phillips, Freeman F. 

Canfield, Daniel L. Roman, J. R. 

Doenges, Kellinges Rummel, R. 

Green, William J. Sherman, W 

Harlan, E. B. Sell, Louis D. 

Haynie, I. N. Stoneberger, George W. 

Henry, Thomas F. Sweet, AndreAv A. 

Hill, Eaten Tomlinson, Charles L. 

Ingels, William V. Troxell, Aaron 

Jones, Heniy Wallace, W. S. 

Kavanagh, J. P. Ward, William 

Kern, John Weber, Andrew J. 

Latham, William H. Wilson, Hall 

The Edwards monument is situated near the 
western boundary, and consists of a plain obe- 
lisk and plinth of Italian marble, supported by 
a limestone base, four feet square. The heighth 
of the structure is fourteen feet. 

The Wohlgemuth monument is one of the 
most elaborate and beautiful yet erected within 
the cemetery grounds. It was executed by G. 
L. Jameison, of Aberdeen, Scotland, and the 
statue of Hope, in Carara marble, by which it is 
surmounted, was executed in Italy. The base is 
of red Missouri granite, the second base of gray 
Scotch, and the plinth and column of red Scotch 
granite. Its cost was $2,150. 

Other monuments which attract the attention 
of all visitors are the McClernand, Ruth, Gib- 
son, Kurr, Washington lies, Harrower, Colwell, 
Pasfield, Ridgely, Elijah lies. Smith, Fiagg, 
Haynie, Barrell, Matheny, and Bates. 

SPKINGFIELD WATER WORKS. 

For the purpose of establishing water works, 
the city authorities of Springfield, a few years 
ago, purchased thirty acres of land adjoining the 
city on the north. From the business part of the 
city to this land, the surface rises gently until 
an elevation of eleven feet above the old State 
House grounds is attained. For the purpose of 
commanding as great an elevation as possible, 
the surface was made the bottom of the reservoir, 
and an embankment of one hundred feet wide 
at the base, sloping equally inside and out, until 
it was raised to twenty-two feet in height and 
twenty feet across the top. To make it water 
tight, the bottom and sides were puddled with 



6.S2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



blue clay and concrete, and the entire inside, ex- 
cept the bottom, covered with slabs of Joliet 
stone, imbedded in cement. One tier of slabs, 
or flag-stones, are laid flat on the top at the inner 
border, and a picket fence mounted on the stone 
around the enclosure. 

The reservoir is a square, rounded at the coi*- 
ners. It is two hundred feet in diameter at the 
bottom, and about two hundred and seventy-five 
at the top, inside, and has a capacity of four 
million gallons. The embankment is nicely 
'^odded on the outside, and presents a beautiful 
appearance. The earth for making this embank- 
ment was taken from the grounds adjoining on 
the east, west and north, so as to make a minia- 
ture chain of lakes, with islands interspersed. 
These islands have shrubbery planted on them, 
and in time will form some of the most pictur- 
esque scenery imaginable. There is what is 
called a stand pipe in the center of the reservoir. 
It stands on the bottom, and is seventy feet high. 
It is embedded in a pedestal of concrete masonry 
ten or twelve feet in diameter and octagonal in 
form. The pedestal rises four or five feet above 
the surface of the water. This stand pipe is 
made of iron, and is three feet or more in diam- 
eter. On the pedestal at each of the eight sides 
there is a sea horse rampant, and a huge dolphin, 
four of each alternating, the whole fronting out- 
ward. Just above this group there is a vase, 
twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, and about ten 
feet above the vase, four swans, life size, at- 
tached to the stand pipe. Sea horses, dolphins, 
swans and vase, are all made of iron. The crest 
of the stand pipe is a combination of iron work, 
highly ornamental, and extending outward on 
all sides. 

Thi'ee and one quarter miles north of the res- 
ervoir, on the bank of the Sangamon river, there 
is a house with a steam engine and two large 
pumps in it. There is also a very large well, 
about one hundred feet from shore, and con- 
nected by a tunnel. A very strong set of iron 
pipes, fifteen inches in diameter, is connected 
with the well and laid under ground ; the three 
and a quarter miles to the reservoir passes under 
the embankment, and connects with the stand- 
pipe at the bottom. These pumps at the river 
are so arranged that either one can be made to 
form the connecting link between the well and 
the pipe leading to the reservoir. When con- 
nected, one of them throws, ordinarilly, nine 
hundred and sixty gallons per minute, fifty- 
seven thousand six hundred per hour, or one 
million three hundred and eighty-two thousand 



four hundred in twenty-four hours, and this 
quantity can be doubled in an emergency. 

The top of the stand-pipe is one hundred and 
seventy feet higher than the pumps, and t hree 
and a quarter miles distant. Put the machine ry 
in motion, and we can soon have the water issu- 
ing on all sides, in the form of spray, from the 
ornamental work at the top of the stand-pipe, 
and falling over the swans into the vase; from 
there it is conaected by pipes to the four dol- 
phins below, and from the mouth of each of 
these a stream of water spouts into the reservoir. 
In order to conduct the water to where it is 
wanted for use, there is a fifteen inch pipe laid 
from the reservoir, under ground, about one 
mile into the city; and where it is necessary to 
branch oflE, ten inch pipe is used, and again four 
inch, and so on down to the small pipes, leading 
into the different rooms of the houses. 

I have said that the ground on which the 
reservoir stands is eleven feet above the city, 
and the water in the reservoir twenty-two feet 
higher, making thirty-three feet it will rise — 
when the pipes are properly placed in the houses 
— on the principle that water will find a level. 
Some of the buildings are higher than this, and 
in order to supply them with water, the pump- 
ing machinery and pipes are so arranged that 
when the engine is running at the river, water 
may be forced more than eighty feet above the 
surface, five miles away from the propelling 
power at the river. 

The works are constructed with the view of 
supplying a city of forty or fifty thousand 
inhabitants, and as Springfield contains only 
about twenty-five thousand, there is danger that 
too much water will be pumped up and overflow 
the reservoir. This, however, is guarded against 
by an opening in the stand pipe, a foot or more 
below the level of the embankments. This 
opening in the stand pipe is connected by a 
smaller pipe, passing down inside the stand 
pipe, and out under the embankments, to the 
artificial lake with the islands in it, around the 
reservoir, thus preventing an overflow and sup- 
plying the artificial lake by the same operation. 

The whole work w^as designed by Henry 
Earnshaw, hydraulic engineer, of the Cincin- 
nati Water Works. The engine, pumps, statu- 
ary, and all the ornamental iron work, was made 
at the foundry of Miles Greenwood, in Cincin- 
nati. The construction of the work was super- 
intended by John C. Ragland, of Springfield, 
under orders from the commissioners — John 
Williams, C. W. Matheny, and Dr. H. Wohl- 
gemuth. It was commenced June 1, 1866, and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



033 



completed July I, 1868, at a total cost of about 
S4G0,000. 

John C. Ragland continued to superintend 
the works for some years, being succeeded by 
Smith W. Kimble, and he, in turn, by T. M. 
Averitt, and M. F. DeSouza. 

In 1877, steps were taken for the formation of 
the grounds belonging to the works in which the 
reservoir is located. Drives and walks were 
laid out, and about nine hundred shade and 
ornamental trees were set out in conformity 
with the walks and drives and the platting of 
the groimds. 

At the expiration of the fiscal year, ending 
February 28, 1881, there were in use nineteen 
and a half miles of pipe. During the year the 
pumping engine made three millions two hun- 
dred thousand and ninety-one strokes, pumping 
four hundred and eighty millions thirteen thou- 
sand six hundred and fifty gallons of water. 
There were received during the same time $23,- 
864.91 for water rents and assessments. The 
Board of Water Commissioners foi 1881 is com- 
posed of the following named : H. O. Bolles, 
President ; George Withey Treasurer ; and Obed 
Lewis, with H. R. Brown, Secretary ; M. F. De- 
Souza, Superintendent ; F. L. Wheatley, Engi- 
neer ; William McCabe, Reservoir Watchman ; 
John Daughton, Tapper. 

ARTESIAN WELL. 

Pure water is always desirable, and every 
effort put forth to obtain a never-failing supply 
will meet the approval of every intelligent per- 
son. In the year 1857 an arrangement was made 
by which the City Council and some of the pub- 
lic spirited citizens, agreed to contribute equally 
for the purpose of sinking an artesian well. On 
the 15th day of June, 1857, an ordinance was 
passed appropriating $3,000 to defray the ex- 
pense on the part of the city, and on the 20th of 
December, 1858, $2,000 more was appropriated, 
and again $2,000, March 7, 1859. This last sum 
was never used, and the work was abandoned. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

By J. L. Phillips. 
During the winter of 1841-42, Springfield had 
its regular theatre. In the early part of this 
season the dining room of W. W. Watson's 
restaurant on the south side o^f the square, in an 
old building that stood on the ground now occu- 
pied by the building used as a store room by 
the Smith Brothers was used as a theatre, and in 
this room a company of performers appeared 
who were- managed by an actor named Jefferson, 



the father of Joe Jefferson, the Comedian, whose 
name of late years has become famous by his 
excellent portrayal of Rip Van Winkle. In this 
dining hall, the comedian of to-day, Joe Jeffer- 
son, made his first appearance on any stage. 
He sang songs such as were sung at that time by 
"Daddy" Rice, the founder of minstrelsy, and 
among young Jefferson's vocal efforts we men- 
tion the following: "The Spider and the Fly," 
"The Steam Arm," and "The Cork J>eg." After 
appearing at this ulace quite a while the old 
theatre on Sixth street, between Monroe and 
Adams, about where the Reiner building now 
stands, was opened as a theatre by a company 
under the management of Hastings & Jefferson. 

At this house, young Joe Jefferson acted, and 
on the boards of this stage many young perform- 
ers appeared whose names afterwards became 
famous in the dramatic world. After awhile 
this building was taken for other uses and the 
young boys of that day met there many even- 
ings, before it was regularly occupied to "take 
gas!' and see its effects on others, amusing them- 
selves in this way evening after evening During 
a performance given at this theatre Henry 
Ridgely, then a young boy, that had raised the 
anger of a young man, much larger than him- 
self (a son of Colonel May) and May had given 
young Henry a slap in the face. Young Ridgely 
watched for a chance when May was not looking 
and he ran down the slightly inclined floor and 
with his head down, struck May from behind be- 
tween his knees and came near pitching him out 
of a window which was open near by. This was 
his revenge for the slap given him by May. 
This old theatre was afterwards used by John 
DeCamp as a bowling alley, and has been torn 
down a number of years. 

The next theatre in Springfield was the old 
Metropolitan Theatre, an old frame building 
which stood on the ground now occupied by the 
Western Hotel. This theatre was used as a place 
of amusement up to the close of the war, and on 
its stage appeared some of the most prominent 
people on the stage. 

From a local paper published in the fall of 
1881, the same writer gave the following remi- 
niscences of the "Amusements of Springfield," 
covering a period of about twenty-five years: 

"It has been a number of years since Spring- 
field has had a place called an opera house, but 
prior to that she was well supplied with numer- 
ous halls, all of which served as places for the 
traveling showmen to exhibit their different 
entertainments in and furnish amusement for 
our people at that time. Among the old halls 



634 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUxVTY. 



were Capitol Hall, which was in the third story 
of the old Bunn's bank building, (now used as 
an Odd Fellow's hall,) Concert Hall, on the 
north side of the square, now used as a photo- 
graph gallery; Cook's Hall, east side of the 
square, and Burkhardt's Hall, the last named 
being used of late years as a hall for danc- 
ing, and Metropolitan Hall, located in the old 
frame building on the ground now occupied by 
by the Western Hotel. In these old halls, Maggie 
Mitchell, Siddons, Jennie Hight, Virginia 
Howard, Laura Keene, Edwin Forest, Edwin 
Booth, McKean Buchanan, Bob. Meldrum and 
other stellar attractions made their appearance, 
while the numerous other traveling attractions 
filled engagements at some one of the above 
halls. R. Rudolph, who several years ago was a 
prominent citizen of Springfield, recognizing the 
want of a first-class place of amusement, erected 
on the corner of Sixth and Jefferson streets, 
what was termed by him an opera house, and 
was known as Rudolph's Opera House, but 
which should have been more properly named 
and called Rudolph's Folly, for it was a great 
barn of an edifice with no accommodations in it 
either for the audience or actor. The building- 
was always considered by many of our people 
unsafe, and it is probably well that it was burned 
down as it was, for it might have fell and been 
the means of destroying many lives if it had 
remained and been used as a place of amusement 
for any length of time. 

" When Rudolph's Opera House was first 
opened, the manager was George J. Deagle, of 
St. Louis, who not knowing anything of the peo- 
ple of the city, brought a very poor company 
(with one or two exceptions) to commence the 
season. The opening was made before the build- 
ing was entirely finished, the opening attraction 
being J. B. Studley in the play of ' Eustache 
Bandin.' Aside from Mr. Studley and the 
comedy roles of Edwin Wight and wife, the rest 
of the company were very poor indeed, and the 
newspapers being outspoken in their denuncia- 
tion of the performance, manager Deagle closed 
the house at the end of the first week — for two 
weeks — until he could engage a better lot of 
people. At his opening of the season the second 
time his company was a much better one, and in- 
cluded among its members, besides Mr. and Mrs. 
Wight, J. K. Vernon, Frank Rose and Annie 
Ward. The latter named has been dead for a 
number of years past. Deagle kept the house 
open, playing some first-class attractions during 
the whole season, and the next season R. Ru- 
doph, with J, H. Huntley as business manager, 



gave another season of amusements to the people 
ot the city. During these two seasons of a regular 
theatre in Springfield, many well known celebri- 
ties appeared and were well patronized by our 
people. Among those who filled engagements 
at this house were Lotta, Laura Keene, who was 
the stellar attraction playing in the play of ' Our 
American Cousin' at Ford's Theatre, the night 
President Lincoln was assassinated, and who 
alone had the presence of mind to lift and hold 
up the wounded man's head after the act was 
committed; Vestvali, Sue Denin, Emelie Mel- 
ville, Edwin Forrest, MoUie Williams and Felix 
Vincent, Mrs. Farren and W. E. Sheriden, Es- 
telle Potter, Kate Fisher, and others whose 
names are now forgotten. Lotta played a three 
week's engagement while here, and strange as it 
may seem to many now, her house was large 
every night of the engagement. Forrest, who 
played his master-part of ' Richelieu' and ap- 
peared in 'Jack Cade,' also, had two of the 
largest audiences ever assembled in the old 
house. The writer remembers a little incident 
connected with Forrest during his stay in this 
city, which goes to prove that the man's nature 
was not hard and cold as many newspaper writ- 
ers of to-day would make people think. The 
great actor was walking along one of our streets 
during the day while in Springfield, when, upon 
passing a stairway near the square, a little tod- 
dling child came out on the walk directly in 
front of the old tragedian. At the sight of the 
little one a smile lit up the face of Forrest, and 
stooping down he lifted the babe up in his arms 
and with it walked up and down the pavement, 
all the time talking to the little one, and neither 
looking at or speaking to any one passing by. 
The mother of the babe who was in the stair- 
way at the time looking on, was the wife of a 
mechanic in the city. She did not know who 
the old gentleman was who had her child in his 
arms, but seemed to enjoy the pleasure the little 
one's prattle afforded him, and waited until For- 
rest had tired himself out with the exercise, and 
placing the child before its mother, walked on 
his way without even speaking to the mother or 
letting her know who had been so much taken 
up with the little one. His heart could not have 
been so hard, nor was he so void of feeling when 
a little child's prattle could so thoroughly enter- 
tain him as did this little one. 

"Susan Denin was probably the most beauti- 
ful as well as the most business-like lady artist 
that ever appeared in the opera house. She 
would alone go to the printing offices and give 
her own instructions to the pi'inter who was en- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



035 



gaged in composing any of her ijrintiiig; telling 
him just what lines to displaj^ and when her 
directions were carefully followed out she never 
complained of any work executed for her. 
Vestvali, termed 'the magnificent,' failed to 
keep the whole of her engagement here because 
of too much wine drinking, which incapacitated 
her for acting. This talented artiste has been 
dead several years. Emelie Melville, one of the 
best lady attractions at this house, was accompa- 
nied here by her mother, and while in the city, 
every Sabbath morning and evening the mother 
and daughter might have been seen in attend- 
ance at one of our churches, plainly dressed, 
worshiping the Father above with all the devo- 
tion of true Christians, which they most cer- 
tainly bore evidence of being at all times. Ed- 
win Wight, comedian and stage manager of the 
house for a long term, was a good actor and a 
pleasant gentleman. Mr. Wight is at present 
a resident of St. Louis, and during the fail 
and winter seasons, passes his time in 
managing a small company of his own, 
playing in the smaller towns. Mrs. Farren, who, 
during her stay at the opera house here, made 
many friends, is still before the public, though 
well along in years. W. E. Sheridan is at 
present staring in the legitimate. J. K. Ver- 
non, Avho was leading man at the opera house 
here, is at present acting in variety houses in the 
larger cities. Annie Ward is dead; she departed 
this life several years ago, after having first at- 
tained quite a high place in the dramatic world. 
Her old 'flame,' Frank Rose, was afterwards 
married to another lady, and they are both act- 
ing now in stock companies in the east. 

"Before closing this sketch, I wish to make 
mention of the jolly old leader of the orchestra 
at this house, Professor Fessenden. The Pro- 
fessor was a capital leader, and as jovial and 
pleasant a man as one would wish to meet with, 
and added much to the entertainments of that 
time by the excellent music he furnished. 

"During the seasons of 1868-0, the Stock Com- 
pany of the Olympic Theater, St. Louis, made 
frequent visits to this city, appearing here during 
the engagement of other attractions at the thea- 
ter in St. Louis. This company was managed 
by Mr. Frank Evans, the leading man of the 
company, who at present is manager and leading 
man for the Bartley Campbell Galley Slave 
Company. Among the people who were mem- 
bers of the Olympic Company appearing here, 
we remember Mr. Frank Evans, Mr. J. W. 
Albaugh, Mary Mitchell, (sister of Maggie) Bob 
Duncan and Dolly Davenport, both of whom are 

74— 



since dead, W. P. Sheldon, the comedian. Miss 
Frankie McClellan, who afterwards became Mrs. 
Dolly Davenport, and Mrs. W. P. Sheldon. It 
was during one of the engagements of the 
Olympic Company in this city, that Mr. Frank 
Evans fir-t played the role of Claude Melnotte, 
which performance was so highly praised by the 
local critics at that time. 

"As before stated the old Rudolph Opera House 
was destroyed by fire, and on its site Ja«ob 
Bunn, Esq., erected a hall which was used as an 
opera house until the building was purchased by 
George W. Chatterton and afterwards altered 
with enlarged additions, and the present new and 
elegant Opera House built in its place, which the 
people of Springfield are favored with at present. 
The new house was opened by a concert of mixed 
talent, headed by M'll Litta, and since that time 
many of the best attractions in the country have 
appeared on its stage." 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

With the exception of works on fiction, no 
class of literature is read more, or more sought 
after in public libraries, than biography. There 
is always a desire to know something about 
those of whom we have heard; something of the 
life work of individuals. In response to this 
general desire, w^e give short biographical 
sketches of many of the leading men and women 
in this county. These sketches, for convenience 
of reference, and to save the necessity of index- 
ing, are arranged in alphebetical order. Repre- 
sentatives of the Bar are found in connection 
with the Bar history, pages seventy-six to one 
hundred and thirty-nine. 

Capt. John M. Adair^ Springfield, 111., was 
born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, May 11, 
1840. When eight years of age his parents emi- 
grated to Carroll county, Illinois; he was reared 
on a farm until seventeen years of age, when he 
was employed as a clerk, which occupation he 
followed till 1861; he then enlisted in the Forty- 
fifth Regiment Illinois Voluuteers, Company E, 
as a private; was mustered in at Mount Carroll, 
Illinois, September 14tb, 18G1; thence to Camp 
Washburn, Galena, Illinois; was promoted to 
First Sergeant November 22, 1861. Regiment 
moved to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where it re- 
mained until January 12, 1862; was promoted 
to Second Lieutenant, December 1, 1861; irom 
Chicago went to Cairo, and February 3, 1862, 
left Cairo for Fort Henry, where they were to 
intercept the rebels; from Fort Henry he went 
to Fort Donalson,and participated in its capture; 
remained until March 4, 1862, when they broke 
camp and marched to the Tennessee river, where 



630 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



they took boats for Savannah; then to Pittsburg 
Landing, where his regiment was engaged both 
days; was also at the siege and capture of Cor- 
inth. During the summer of 18(52, he was sta- 
tioned at Jackson, Tennessee, and the regiment 
was detailed to guard the railroad company, 
being assigned to Toon's Station, twenty-two 
milts from Jackson. On the 29th day ot. August, 
Armstrong's cavalry raided the country in the 
viciiiity of Jackson, and struck Toon's Station, 
where a severe scrimmage took place; November 
2, broke camp at Jackson, and participated in the 
Mii-sissippi campaign to Oxford, under General 
Grant, and whi e on this move, the regiment had 
to subsist on ear corn (allowing three eais for a 
jation,) for two weeks; they, in the meantime, 
constructed a mill to grind it into meal. The 
command returned to Memphis, remained in 
camp for a time, and then proceeded down the 
Mississippi river and participated in the capture 
of Vicksburg. While on the Mississippi cam- 
paign, Captain Adair was promoted to Second 
Lieutenant. November 4th, 1862, and soon there- 
after to First Lieutenant. 

During the Vicksburg campaign and the 
greater part of the time of the siege, he was in 
command of the company, as Fisk, captain of 
the company, was on detached duty. 

During the siege of Vicksburg Captain Fisk 
was promoted to Major of his regiment, and 
Captain Adair received another promotion as his 
successor and earned his title of Captain during 
that memorable siege. 

After the capture of Vicksburg and during the 
snmmer of 1863, Captain Adair was on detached 
service as Assistant Provost Marshal at Vicks- 
burg, in charge of river transportation and 
general business of the city. In the fall of 1863 
the regiment veteranized, and the following 
spring was given a veteran furlough for thirty 
days. Captain Adair was relieved as Assistant 
Provost Marshal, and returned to his home 
with the regiment. In April, 1864, he returned 
to duty, the Forty-fifth Regiment being attached 
to the Seventeenth Army Corps, when they par- 
ticipated in the Atlantic campaign. 

Capt. Adair resigned on account of ill health 
and returned to his home in Mt. Carroll, in 1865. 
Shortly after was employed as Deputy Circuit 
Clerk of Carroll county, under Maj. Nase in Mt. 
Carroll, where he remained until 1868; during 
the term, and in the winter of 1867, was Assis- 
tant Secretary of the State Senate; in the summer 
of 1868, bought the Carroll County Gazette, at 
Lanark, Illinois, and was associated with J. R. 
Hewlett in its publication until the spring of 



1871; in 1869, was elected chief enrolling and 
engrossing clerk of the Senate. After disposing 
of his interest in the Gazette, he became sole 
publisher and proprietor of the Mt. Carroll 
Mirror, which he conducted until 1874; in July 
of the same year he was appointed by Colonel 
Harlow, Secretary of State, to take charge of the 
department of indexes and archives in the office 
of the Secretary of State, which position he has 
held since, with the exception of the winter of 
1881, when he was chief clerk of the Secretary 
of the State. The work upon which Captain 
Adair has been engaged, is one of great impor- 
tance to the public service, and to be fully appre- 
ciated it must be understood that until his 
appointment, the files of the State department 
were in utter confusion, and the records without 
the means of reference. Out of this disorder 
and confusion, system and order have been 
wrought, and it is doubtful if any State in the 
Union has a better system of indexes or a more 
ready means of reference to its flies and records 
than Illinois, at least as far as the work has pro- 
gressed, for it is proper to say that it is not yet 
complete. It was organized and systemized. 
under the intelligent direction of Captain Adair, 
and perhaps no person in the State has so full a 
knowledge of facts and State Legislative history 
as he has, in consequence of his long and inti- 
mate association with the public business and 
the special business of the departments. 

In 1878, Mr. Adair married Miss Rebecca T. 
Halderman, of Mt. Carroll, a daughter of Na- 
thaniel and Elizabeth Halderman, 

General Moses K. Anderson^ Springfield, was 
born near Bowling Green, Kentucky, November 
11, 1803; was reared on a farm, and received a 
limited education, having to go three miles, on 
foot, to school. The school building was a lag 
structure; the seats being made from slabs of 
logs, and pins put in for legs. His father and. 
mother died when he was very young, and he 
went to live with an uncle, William Anderson, 
who treated him as a son. 

In 1827, he married Miss Cassarilla, daughter 
of Thomas and Sarah Strond, of Dixon county, 
Tennessee, and the following year came to this 
county, where Mrs. A. died, August l7, 1850, 
leaving six daughters and three sons. For his 
second wife Mr. A. married his wife's sister, who 
was a mother to his children. She also died, 
November 24, 1880. After coming to this 
county, Mr. A. located in Cartwright township. 
Being without means, he was forced to borrow 
money of Eli C. Blankenship, and pay fifty per 
cent, interest. Having purchased eighty acres 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



631 



of land, he built a log cabin, twelve feet square; 
it was their kitchen, parlor and loom-room, his 
wife also spinning and weaving clothing for 
the family and their neighbors. Mrs. Anderson 
was a sincere Christian, being a member of the 
Christian Church, and was loved and respected 
by all who knew her. They M'entto church with 
an ox team and double wagon, leading one ox 
with a rope, and tying him to a sapling during 
service. Mr. A. remained on the farm until 
1860, when he came to Springfield, where he has 
lived most of the time since. 

The General accumulated a large tract of land, 
and was the second largest tax payer in the 
county. Previous to the Black Hawk war, he 
was elected Colonel of a regiment of militia, 
and at that time was Captain of a company, but 
was never ordered out. Shortly after the war 
he was elected Brigadier General of the malitia 
of the State, having competed with Colonel 
Dawson, of this county, and Colonel Bailey, of 
Tazewell county. At the time the State Capital 
was removed to this city. Colonel Berry was 
Adjutant General. As it was necessary for him 
to be a citizen of the county, and he being en- 
gaged in business, he resigned his office, and 
General Anderson was appointed by Governor 
Carlin to fill his place; he held the office for 
eighteen years. He was Justice of the Peace 
twenty-eight years, and held several other local 
offices of trust. 

Thomas Armstrong, of the firm of R. B. Zim- 
merman & Co., is a native of Dublin, Ireland; 
born in May, 1831. He learned the painter's 
trade there, beginning at the age of fourteen 
years, and pursued it till he crossed the Atlantic, 
in 1862, locating immediately in Springfield, 
Illinois. He was employed as a journeyman by 
Mr. Zimmerman until he became a member of 
the firm, in 1871. They keep a large stock of 
wall papers, window shades, glass, oils and 
painters' supplies; do all kinds of painting, 
graining, frescoing and sign writing, at which 
they work from fifteen to twenty-five men. Mr. 
Armstrong was married in his native country to 
Margaret Ostenburg, in 1856. They have five 
children. 

I. M. Asbtiry, M. J)., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in McLanesboro, Hamilton county, 
Illinois, July 6, 1848, son of Wesley and Susan 
M. (Mitchell) Asbury ; father a native of North 
Carolina, and came to this State in 1844 ; at 
present engaged in farming ; mother a native of 
Illinois. Her father, Ichabod Mitchell, was 
among the earliest settlers of Hamilton county, 
and was elected the first Treasurer of the county. 



The subject of this sketch was reared in his 
native town, where he received an elementary 
school education. When sixteen years of age 
he enli>.ted in the Sixtieth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, Company A, and remained until the 
close of the war. He participated in the march 
to the sea, with Sherman. After the war ended 
he attended the High School of McLanesboro, 
and in the meantime read medicine with Dr. 
David Barry ; in 1868, he went to Minnesota, 
wheie he was employed in a drug store, and at 
the same time, continued his medical studies ; 
in two years, returned to Illinois, when he 
studied under his old preceptor; iu 1871, at- 
tended lectures at Cincinnati Eclectic Medical 
College, and graduated may 19, 1873. The 
Doctor is a member of the Masonic order ; was 
Master Mason, and represented his old lodge in 
McLanesboro three years. January 1, 1877, he 
married Miss Mary Webb, daughter of John 
Webbj of Hamilton county, Illinois, where she 
was born. He is a member of the Illinois State 
Eclectic Medical Society. 

William B. Baker, lumber merchant, corner 
Wabash Railroad and Jefferson street, and pro- 
prietor of planing mill on Ninth street, keeps in 
yard a large stock of building and finishing 
lumber, shingles, lath, sash, doors, blinds, mould- 
ings, lime, plaster, sewer-pipe, etc., in which he 
has a large retail and some wholesale trade. 
His sales for 1 880, counting lumber by the foot, 
and lath and shingles by the thousand, footed up 
between three and four million, besides those of 
other articles. His mill is a frame building 
erected in 1872, thirty by fifty-five feet, and 
equipped with machinery and appliances for 
doing all kinds of planing, sawing and lumber- 
yard work, with a capacity for dressing twenty- 
five thousand feet per day. 

Mr. Baker was born in Connecticut in 1843; 
came to Springfield, Illinois, in 1852; began 
learning the machinist trade when thirteen yeai's 
of age, and continued in that business until he 
went into the lumber trade, in company with J. 
H. Schuck, as Schuck & Baker, in 1865. At the. 
end of twelve years he became sole owner, and 
has since carried on business alone. January 1, 
1881, he formed a partnership with Mr. Hintze, 
of Chicago, and established a wholesale business 
in sash, doors, blinds and mouldings, on Lumber 
street in that city, which is doing an extensive 
trade. In June, 1861, Mr. Baker enlisted in the 
United States Service as a member of Company 
I, Seventh Illinois Infantry; served three years 
and was mustered out in August, 1854. In De- 
cember of that year was united in marriage with 



638 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Miss Adelia, youngest daughter of James L. 
Hill, of Springfield. They are the parents of 
one son, Ralph Norton Baker, thirteen years old. 

George A. Ballou, grocer, 320 North Sixth 
street, opened the business in his present loca- 
tion in the spring of 1865, and is consequently 
one of the oldest grocers in the city. His store 
is 18x100 feet, crowded with a general assort- 
ment of family groceries and provisions. He 
also has a feature of flour and feed. He carries 
on a large retail trade, extending over a large 
portion of the city, employing three to four 
hands and two delivei'y teams. 

Mr. Ballou was born and reared in New 
Hampshire; at the age of twenty years he came 
west and located near Keokuk, Iowa, being en- 
tirely unacquainted with any person, and having 
but one gold dollar as cash capital. For about 
five years he taught school in Iowa and Illinois; 
at the end of which time he came to Springfield 
and embarked in his present line of merchan- 
dising. In 1864 Mr. Ballou was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Mary J. Robertson, of Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, who was born and reared in San- 
gamon county. Six sons and a daughter have 
been born to them, of whom the daughter and 
one son are deceased. The five sons range in 
age from sixteen to eight years. Mr. Ballou is 
a member of Lodge No. 465, I. O. O. F., and 
one of the Directors of the Springfield Board of 
Trade. Mrs. B. is connected with the Baptist 
Church. 

Alexander Ballou married Susan Ray; and 
the subject of this sketch is the second of their 
family of five sons, fourof whom were soldiers in 
the late civil war; two lost their lives in the 
service. Mr. Ballou and one brother and mother 
are all now alive, the latter residing in his native 
State. 

(j-eorge Baumaym, grocer, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in the State of Baden, Germany, 
October 21, li35. When fifteen years of age, 
he came to the United States; landed in New 
Orleans, then via boat to St. Louis, where he 
remained a short time, thence to Springfield; 
worked by the month a short time, then went to 
Dorwin & Dickey, and learned the trade of 
tinner; remained with them nine years; after- 
wards bought the interest of Dorwin; formed a 
partnership with a man named Robinson, and 
remained in company with him four years, when 
he sold out and went in company with a Mr. 
Kennett, and was with him one year; then en- 
gaged with Robinson again, and continued in 
the business until 1871; formed a partnership 
with Mr. Leggott, and was with him until 1873, 



when he embarked in his present business, which 
he has followed since. He married Miss Cath- 
erine Dinkel, and they have seven children — five 
boys and two girls. He is a member of the 
order of I. O. O. F. Lodge 166, of Springfield, 
Illinois. 

Joseph Baum, marble dealer, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in Colon, Germany, October 3, 
1828. When seventeen years old he traveled 
through the principal countries of Europe, and 
at the age of twenty, was put into the Prussian 
army, where he remained four years. In 1848, 
he was in the Polish war, where he lost the sight 
of one of his eyes. In 1854 he landed iu New 
York, where he worked for Fisher & Beard four 
years ; from thei'e went to Charleston, S. C; was 
there at the breaking out of the war, when he 
was doing a thriving business. With difticulty 
he left the South with his wife and four chil- 
dren. Through the influence of friends, he got a 
passport of Governor Pickens, and they started 
for Richmond; endured many trials and hard- 
ships before arriving at Richmond. Receiving 
a hint that whisky was better to buy his way 
than money, be bought some for |30 per bottle, 
which was a great help to him. He started out 
from Richmond, having added one more to his 
number, a French lady who wanted to get 
through the lines; but after many a long day, 
camping out nights, and being robbed by every- 
body he came in coutac*: with, he finally suc- 
ceeded in crossing the Potomac, paying $10 in 
gold, per head, for ferrying them over, and 
reached the Union lines ; from there he went to 
New York, where he commenced work; in 1864 
came to Chicago, where he was employed to do 
the fine work on Crosby's Opera House; remained 
there a short time, then came to Springfield, and 
has been in business here ever since. He mar- 
ried Miss Antonette Schundy, of Germany; by 
this union there were eleven children, ten of 
whom are living, five sons and five daughters. 

Horatio Bardivell Buck, M. D., is the youngest 
of a family of four sons and five daughters 
of Dr. Reuben and Alice (Jaynith) Buck, and 
was born in York county, Maine, on January 
27, 1832. Dr. Reuben Buck sprang from 
Scotch ancestry, and was born near Boston, 
Massachusetts, in which city he was educated, 
and after graduation, married Miss Jaynith and 
settled in Acton, York county, Maine, where 
he passed a long and successful professional 
life, dying in his eighty-eighth year, having 
lost his wife ten years previously, at the age 
of seventy-six. Dr. H. B. Buck was educated 
in his native town, completing an academical 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



639 



course; and early evincing a strong desire to 
enter his father's profession, was encouraged to 
bend every circumstance and eifort to prepare 
himself for the calling he has and is filling with 
such distinguished ability. In 1851, he began 
studying medicine with his father and elder 
brother, then partners. During nearly four 
years of his reading he taught several winter 
terms of school, from choice rather than neces- 
sity. Having passed through the full curricu- 
lum of the medical department at Bowdoin Col- 
lege, Maine, and desiring a diploma from the 
best college in the country, the Doctor entered 
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in the 
autumn of 1855, from which he received the 
degree of M. D.,in 1856, together with aprivate 
letter of recommendation from Dr. Joseph Pan- 
coast, then a very eminent surgeon. Doctor 
Buck at once comm^ced practice in Philadel- 
phia, and continued successfully until the fall of 
1862, when, responding to our country's call, he 
entered upon surgical duty under government 
contract at Columbia College Hospital. At the 
close of six months, the Doctor wishing to enter 
the army as a commissioned officer, passed a 
rigid ex imination before the Board at Washing- 
ton, and with a Surgeon's commission signed by 
President Lincoln, took charge of the regular 
artillery attached to the Seond Army Corps, in 
March, 1863. He was with the Army of the 
Potomac in all the battles of that year's cam- 
paigns, and while in winter quarters, late in the 
winter of 1863-4, the Doctor made application 
for a position which would afford him more ex- 
tensive hospital experience. The request resulted 
in his being assigned Surgeon-in-Chief of the 
camp at Springfield, Illinois, the rendezvous of 
the troops of the State, where he arrived in 
Februaiy, 1864, and found the disabled soldiers 
in the care of eleven contract surgeons, and with 
no hospital buildings but ordinary barracks. 
Doctor Buck at once set about providing better 
accommodations for. the sick and wounded; drew 
plans and specificationy for eight new hospital 
buildings, each one hundred and twenty-four by 
twenty-four feet in dimensions, which were ap- 
proved by the government and speedily erected. 
The buildings were modern in construction, with 
every provision for cleanliness and ventilation, 
the grounds and surroundings were decorated 
and beautified. The wisdom of the measure 
was demonstrated in the reduction of mortality 
more than fifty per cent, from its completion. 
Doctor Buck also had control of the Soldiers' 
Home of the city, and of the sick at the ofticers' 
headquarters. In June, 1865, the necessity for 



medical service at the front being diminished. 
Doctor Buck was transferred, by order, to Mad- 
ison, Wisconsin, and, associated with Doctor 
Culbertson, of Ohio, spent six months in wind- 
ing up a large general hospital. This ended his 
official labors; and late in the autumn of 1865, 
he settled permanently in Springfield, and im- 
mediately engaged in a lucrative and annually 
increasing private medical practice, by which he 
has attained an enviable degree of eminence, 
with promise of an extended career of still 
greater achievements in the future. In 1867, 
Doctor Buck joined the Illinois State Medical 
Society, and has since successively filled several 
of its important official chairs; was its delegate 
to the American Medical Association, at Phila- 
delphia, in 1876. He is also a member of the 
Tri-State Medical Society, composed of Indiana, 
Illinois, Kentucky, and the cities of Cincinnati 
and St. Louis; was chosen its President for 1880. 
Through his zeal and labors, one of the largest 
and most interesting sessions of the society ever 
witnessed was held in Louisville, Kentucky, be- 
fore which the Doctor read an elaborate and 
carefully prepared paper on " The Science of 
Medicine," which evinced such erudition and 
literary merit that it elicited the highest cncon- 
iums of the profession and the press, and earned 
for its author a proud reputation as a writer of 
clearness, force and elegance. The Doctor served 
for years as Secretary of the Sangamon Medical 
Society, and is now its President. In March, 
1863, he married Miss Lizzie, daughterof George 
K. Heller, a much respected and influential citi- 
zen of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. Her mother 
was Sarah Nice, before marriage. Mrs. liuck is 
the third of their family of two sons and two 
daughters. The Doctor and wife are the parents 
of three daughters and a son alive, and one 
daughter, deceased. 

James H. Barkley, furniture merchant, 219 
South Fifth street, embarked in the business in 
Springfield as a member of the firm of Nutt & 
Barkley in 1868, on the north side of the square. 
In August, 1875, he bought his partner's interest, 
and has since been sole proprietor. May 1, 1881, 
he moved to his present building, one hundred 
and twenty by twenty-five feet, of which he oc- 
cupies three stories and the basement. The 
place is heavily stocked with the most popular 
styles of parlor and general household furniture, 
and furnishings, fine pictures and mouldings, the 
whole comprising an exhibit rarely met with in 
cities the size of Springfield. The annual sales 
amount to the snug sum of sixty thousand dol- 
lars and have largely increased during the past 



640 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



year. Colonel Barkley was born in Fayette 
county, Kentucky, February 17, 1844; parents 
moved to Gibson county, Tennessee, soon after, 
remaining till James was ten years old; then 
passed a year in Memphis; removed thence to 
Jackson, Mississippi, where the subject of this 
sketch was chiefly educated. In 1857 the family 
came to Springfield, and settled on a farm three 
miles east of the city. James engaged in the 
pursuit of agriculture till he entered the army in 
1862, as a member of Company G. of the one 
hundred and fourteenth Illinois Infantry. He 
served three years, the two last on Brigadier 
General R. P. Buckland's staff. TJpon returning 
home, Mr. Barkley was employed three years as 
salesman in a house-furnishing establishment; 
carried on the grocery business a year in Chris- 
tian county; sold out at the end of that time and 
worked for his old e'uployer till he started in the 
furniture trade. He has been for a number of 
years a member of the Springfield Zouaves, N. 
G., and July 16, 1877, was elected their Colonel, 
which office he now holds. Colonel Barkley 
married Ella DeCamp, a native of Springfield, 
on Christmas day, 1865. They have two children, 
Cora Bell, born in 1866, and Kennie Weber, 
aged four years; buried one son. Mr. B. is a 
member of K. of P., Capital Lodge, and A. F. 
and A. M., St. Paul Lodge, No. 500. 

Captain George Barrell^ Springfield, Illinois; 
was born in York county, Maine, April 21, 1809, 
son of George and Caroline Low Barrell. His 
father was a merchant, also Consul to Spain for 
a number of years; failing in health, he went to 
Barcelona, where he died. George was educated 
in Plymouth county, Massachusetts, and at the 
age of fourteen went to sea, which he followed 
thirty years; was in the fore-castle a number of 
years; the last eighteen years, he was in com- 
mand; his trade called him to all parts of the 
world. In August, 1855, he came to Spring- 
field, where he has resided ever since. In Jan- 
uary, 1839, he married Miss Anna Douglas, 
daughter of William W. Douglas, of Scotch 
descent; she was born in Connecticut, in 1821. 
They bad seven children, five of whom are liv- 
ing: S. Francis Georgiana, now Mrs. Clinton M. 
Conkling; Carrie M., Nellie D., now Mrs. Joseph 
N. Carter, a representative in the present legis- 
lature, and Charlie E. 

Edtoard P. JBeach, State and local insurance 
agent, and dealer in real estate, southwest corner 
of Sixth and Monroe streets, succeeded James L. 
Hill, one of the pioneer insurance men of Spring- 
field, to the business in that office eight years 
ago. Mr. Beach represents the Howard Fire 



Insurance Company, of New York, as General 
Agent for the State of Illinois; and is Local 
Agent for Sangamon county, of the ^tna and 
Pha?nix, of Hartford, Connecticut; the Home, 
Howard, and Phoenix, of New York; the Liver- 
pool, London, Globe, and Norwich, of England, 
and the Western, of Canada, all leading fire 
companies; and is also agent for the Connecticut 
Mutual Life Insurance Company. He does quite 
an extensive business, requiring from one to two 
active men besides himself; and has paid for the 
companies he represents, $140,000 in losses to 
the citizens of Springfield. 

Edward is the only son of three surviving 
children of Richard H. Beach and Eliza H. 
Baldwin, both natives of New York City. They 
came to Illinois and settled in Springfield about 
1835, where the subject of this sketch was born 
May 27, 1841. He graduated from the Illinois 
State University, at Springfield, in 1861, it being 
then a prosperous school under the control of 
the Lutheran Church. After leaving college, 
Mr. Beach was actively engaged in various fea- 
tures of mercantile life, until he started in the 
insurance business. Five years, from 1868, were 
spent in the drug traffic in Nebraska City, Ne- 
braska. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., the 
K. of P., and A. O. U. W., and was at one time 
Grand Recorder for the State of the latter. In 
1865, he married Miss Julia E,, eldest daughter 
of the late Henry P. Cone, of Springfield. They 
have had one son, now deceased. They are 
members of the First Presbyterian Church. 

Mifflin E. Bell, Architect, of the firm of Bell 
& Hackney, corner of Monroe and Fifth streets, 
has been twelve years engaged in the business, 
the first two in Chicago, and ten in Springfield. 
He came to the latter city as draughtsman on 
the new State House, in 1869, and under the 
supervision of A. H. Piquenard, the architect, 
drew the plans of the entire superstructure, 
from the corner stone to the top of the dome. 
Mr. Piquenard died September 19, 1876, and 
from that time until the appropriations were ex- 
hausted, Mr. Bell acted as supervising architect 
of the construction, according to the design of 
his predecessor. He ali<o superintended the 
building of the Bloomington court house, cost- 
ing about a quarter of a million dollars, accord- 
ing to the plans prepared by Mr. Piquenard, and 
is now building the Iowa State Capitol, the plans 
for which were made by Mr. Piquenard. This 
building will cost, when completed, 12,500,000. 
In the fall of 1877, Mr. Bell's plans for the 
Southern Illinois Penitentiary were adopted, and 
he is superintending its construction, one wing 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



641 



and the center building of which is completed. 
The entire superstructure is to be of sandstone; 
will be eight hundred and thirty-one by two 
hundred feet in area, and cost about $850,000. 
He and his partner are the architects of the 
Passfield Blcck and the Central Block, erected 
in 1881, the two finest business blocks in Spring- 
field. They also furnished the plans for a school 
building in Chester, Illinois, which is to cost 
$17,000. Mr. Bell was born near the old battle 
ground on the Brandywine, in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, and is thirty-three years of age; 
came with parents to Bloomington, Illinois, in 
1853, where they still reside. His father. Chalk- 
ley Bell, is a Quaker farmer. The subject of 
this article married Adda Van Hoff, in 1871, in 
Springfield, in the same house in which she was 
born. They have two children of each sex. 

Sigmund Benjimim, clothing merchant and 
dealer in gentlemen*s furnishing goods, 102 
South Sixth street, has been carrying on the 
business in Springfield since 1867 ; for about ten 
years on the north side of the square, and since 
October, 1878, in his present store. He keeps 
a large stock of clothing and gentlemens' fur- 
nishings, in which he does a heavy retail trade, 
amounting, in 1879, to about |36,000 ; in 1880, 
to $45,900, with an increase in 1881 that prom- 
ises sales of $50,000 for the year. Before com- 
ing to Springfield, Mr. Benjamin was located 
some years in Kansas City, Missouri, with a 
prominent firm in the same line of business. 
He was born in Germany, and is forty-one years 
old ; came to the United States at the age of 
eighteen; spent two years and a half in Peoria, 
Illinois, whence he went to Kansas City. He 
landed in Peoria without a dollar ; hence his 
large business and fine residence property on 
North Sixth street, are the result of his individ- 
ual industry and enterprise. In 1869, he married 
Miss Mary Stern, of Springfield. They have 
two sons and a daughter. Mr Benjamin is a 
Master Mason, and a member of the Order of 
Benai Berith, Emes Lodge, No. 6 ; also of A. 
O. U. W., and has passed through all the chairs 
of Capital City Lodge, No. 38, of that order. 

'/ohn Bress7ner, dry goods merchant, in Cen- 
tral Block, southeast corner of Adams and Sixth 
streets, has been identified with the dry goods 
trade of Springdeld thirty-three years, thirty 
years of the time in one store, opposite the ele- 
gant new building he now occupies, and into 
which his stock was moved from the old store 
across Sixth street in September, 1881. Three 
floors and basement of this beautiful building 
are used for Mr. Bressmer's extensive retail busi- 



ness. The first story, 110x25 feet, is devoted to 
dry goods, notions and yarns; the second floor, 
comprising the entire block, 110x45 feet, is used 
for carpets, upholster goods and curtains; the 
third floor for work room and storage purposes; 
the basement to oil-cloths and mattings. The 
Central Block was erected and arranged with 
a special view to the purposes for which it is 
used, and is a model of its class. The stock of 
goods in every department of this house is large 
and varied, to suit the taste and purse of pur- 
chasers in every station of life. The carpet 
room is one of the finest and moRt ample in the 
West, and the stock of carpets, curtains and 
fancy trimmings it contains is rarely equalled 
anywhere. In this feature, Mr. B. has the heavi- 
est trade in this part of the State. John Bress- 
mer is a native of Germany, born in 1833. He 
crossed the Atlantic in 1848, and came via New 
Orleans to Illinois. Landing at Pekin, Tazewell 
county, he walked across the country to Spring- 
field, and being a stranger in the land, without 
money, he worked as a common laborer at what- 
ever offered, for three years. Hejbegan his mer- 
cantile career as a clerk in the store of Hurst & 
Taylor. About 1858, he became a member of 
the firm of Matheny & Co., and ten years later 
became sole proprietor, and has since conducted 
the business alone. By upright dealing and judi 
cious management he has steadily increased the 
volume of trade until it is one of the largest in 
Central Illinois. The house requires a force of 
seventeen people to discharge its business. 

George M. JBrinkerhoff, Secretary of the 
Springfield Iron Company; was born at Gettys- 
burg, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1839. He was 
graduated from Pennsylvania College at that 
place in the class of 1859, and immediately 
came to Springfield, Illinois, for the purpose of 
teaching in the Illinois State University, which 
position he held for two years. He commenced 
reading law while in college, and continued it 
while teaching; was admitted to the bar in 
Springfield, but never engaged in active prac- 
tice. During the late civil war he was disburs- 
ing clerk in the office of the Auditor of State 
and had entive charge of the war fund, its re- 
ceipts and disbursements. He was elected City 
Compti-oller, held the oftice two or three years, 
at the end of which he became Superintendent 
of the Insurance Department of the Auditor's 
office, retaining that position until chosen Secre- 
tary for the Springfield Iron Company in 1871, 
since which time he has had the general super- 
vision of their vast business. From 1865, to 
the present time, Mr. Brinkerhoff has carried on 



042 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



business as a private raouey and bond broker, 
having in that time made more than ten thou- 
sand loans. In politics Mr. Brinkerhoft" has al- 
ways been a staunch Republican, and one of the 
party's most active members in Sangamon 
county for years. He united in marriage with 
Isabella G., daughter of E. B. Hawley, of 
Springfield, on August 4, 1802. Two sons and 
three daughters are the result of their union. 

George N. Black, \^ a. descendant from Puri- 
tan ancestry, and was born Marcn 15, 1833, in 
Berkshire county, Massachusetts. His parents 
were William M. and Pepsis Black, nee Fuller. 
His educational opportunities were comprised in 
the common schools and academic course in his 
native State. From fourteen years of age he 
became self-supporting, and in October, 1 850, 
came to Springfield, Illinois, and entered the 
employ of Colonel John Williams as clerk in his 
dry goods store, on a salary of $15 per month. 
Six years later young Black was received as a 
partner by his employer, the firm assuming the 
title of John Williams & Company. After a 
continuation of a quarter of a century, this part- 
nership was dissolved by the sale of their busi- 
ness to C. A. Gehrman, in September, 1880. In 
addition to his mercantile business Mr. Black 
has been prominently identified with most of 
the public enterprises which have inured to the 
growth and prosperity of Springfield and Sanga- 
mon county; and has zealously labored to ad- 
vance the best interests of the community. He 
was one of the company organized to build the 
Leland Hotel; was one of the original company 
that projected and constructed the Pana, Spring- 
field tfc Northwestern Railroad, of which he was 
made a Director and Secretary. This line is 
now a part of the O. & M. Railroad. He was 
also one of the prime movers in the Gilman, 
Clintou &, Springfield Railroad, of which he was 
a one-tenth owner. This is now the Springfield 
branch of the Illinois Central Railroad. He 
was one of the original movers in the construc- 
tion of the Springfield & Northwestern Rail- 
road; was appointed Receiver of the same in 
1875, and had charge of it four years. After the 
road was sold and the company re-organized, 
Mr. Black operated it as General Manager fif- 
teen months. He was cashier of the First 
National Bank of Springfield the first year of 
its existence; was one of the organizers and 
original stockholders of the Springfield City 
Railway Company, and acted as its Treasurer 
till the last two years, since which time he has 
been a Director and Vice President. He was 
one of the original movers in the formation of 



the Illinois Watch Company, in Avhich he put 
18,000 capital and considerable labor, and held 
the office of Treasurer about two years. He has 
been Secretary and Treasurer of the Barclay 
Coal Mining Company from its organization in 
1873. Is a stockholder in the Springfield Iron 
Company; is also the Secretary and ore of the 
Directors of the Company incorporated for the 
purpose of building the Springfield & St. Louis 
Railroad, projected as an air-line betAveen the 
two cities. Mr. Black is one of the incorpo- 
rators of the Steam Supply and Electric Light 
(yompany, and a Director and Secretary of the 
organization. 

In October, 1859, George N. Black and Louisa 
lies Williams were united in marriage. She 
was born in Springfield, Illinois, December 22, 
1840, and is the eldest child of Colonel John 
Williams. Only two of their four children sur- 
vive; namely, John W. and Annie Lulu Black. 
George, their younger son, was drowned while 
in bathing, on May 19, 1880, Avhile attending 
Shattuck School, at Farebault, Minnesota. 

Alfred Booth, grocer and commission mer- 
chant. No. 220 South Sixth street, has been en- 
gaged in the grocery business in Springfield as 
employe or proprietor since 1808. Over four 
years ago he opened his present store, moving 
from Adams street, where he had carried on 
business a few months. He keeps a general as- 
sortment of goods for the retail trade, and deals 
quite heavily in fruits, produce, and butter and 
eggs, both at wholesale and retail, and does a 
prosperous business in the several branches. He 
also established the Baltimore Oyster House, 
near his store on Sixth street, in September, 1880, 
and did a prosperous trade ixntil the latter part 
of December, then sold out at a paying price. 
Previous to starting in business on his own ac- 
count, Mr. Booth clerked for Mr. George White, 
a few months; for Butler, Lane & Co., from the 
fall of 1808 until they sold out, in 1872; and then 
for J. W. Bunn &> Co. Having received no 
financial aid, his present fine growing business 
is solely the result of his individual industry 
and enterprise. Mr. Booth is the youngest of 
three sons of William and Elizabeth (Berriman) 
Booth, natives of England, and was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, in 1853, where his parents 
had settled on their arrival in this country, in 
1850. His father was a practical machinist, and 
was joint proprietor of the Excelsior Foundry 
for some years. He died in 1800. His widow 
is a resident of the city. 

Henry E. Bolte, of the firm of R. B. Zim- 
merman & Co., general and ornamental painters, 



■f^->1\ 




Thomas Foutch. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



645 



and dealers in wall papers, window shades, glass, 
and oils, 407 Adams street, has been a joint pro- 
prietor in the business since 1871, having for 
several years previously been an employe of the 
house, which is one of the oldest concerns in the 
city, established about forty-five years ago, and 
conducted by Zimmerman & Willard, and sub- 
sequently by Zimmerman alone, till the forma- 
tion of the present co-partnership. Mr. Bolte 
was born in Germany, in 1838; there learned 
the painter's trade; studied fresco painting in 
the art schools. After carrying on business 
some years, he immigrated to America, in 1866, 
and settled in Springfield, Illinois, which has 
since been his home. In 1863, he married Fred- 
ericke Schumacker, by whom he has one surviv- 
ing son, Henry L. Bolte. Mr. B. and wife be- 
long to the German Lutheran Church. 

George W. J^olinger, dealer in stoves, tinware, 
crockery, and house furnishing goods, 210 and 
212 South Fifth street, has been engaged sixteen 
years in that business, at that number. Three 
floors of the building, thirty-five by seventy 
feet, are filled with his large stock of cooking 
and heating stoves, queen's and glassware, and 
general house furnishing goods, in which he con- 
ducts a large retail trade. He also manufactures 
tin, sheet iron, and copper-ware, and does job- 
bing, roofing, guttering, and cornice work, em- 
ploying an average of four mechanics. He has 
the exclusive local agency for the sale of the 
Omaha coal and the hot-blast Charter wood cook 
stoves. He does an annual business of $30,000. 
Mr. Bolinger is a native of Maryland, and is 
forty-one years old. Previous to coming to Illi- 
nois, he was carrying on a harness shop in 
Hagerstown, in that State, having learned that 
trade in early life. In 1860, he came to Spring- 
field, and continued in the same line three years 
here; then operated two years in dry goods, as 
a member of Herndon & Co., before embarking 
in the stove trade. He began in a modest way, 
in one room, and sold nothing but a few wood 
stoves. Each year his business has increased, 
demanding a larger and more varied stock, until 
it is now one of the most comprehensive in Cen- 
tral Illinois. Mr. Bolinger united in marriage 
with Margaret S. Staley, in Maryland. Their 
union has been blessed with three sons and one 
daughter. Mr. B. and family are members of 
the Second M. E. Church. 

Joh7i S. Bradford was born June 9, 1815, in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a 
native of Delaware, and died in Philadelphia in 
1816. John S. learned the trade of a book- 
binder in his native city, and in I 835 started on 

75— 



foot for the City of Mexico. He walked to 
Pittsburg, thence to Cincinnati by steamboat, 
from there to Dayton, Ohio, and Richmond, In- 
diana. At Richmond he was induced, in 1837, 
to join a corps of United States engineers who 
were then engaged in constructing what was 
called the National road. It was a wagon road, 
built at the expense of the United States gov- 
ernment. The road commenced at Cumberland, 
Maryland, crossed the Ohio river at Steuben- 
ville, passed through Columbus, Ohio, Rich- 
mond, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana, 
and ended at Vandalia. The corps of engineers 
disbanded at the latter point. The Stale Capital 
was then in transit from Vandalia to Springfield, 
and Mr. Bradford came here, an-iving December 
1840. In the spring of 1841 he bought the in- 
terest of Mr. Burchell in the book-bindery of 
Burchell & Johnson, and became one of the firm 
of Johnson & Bradford. 

John S. Bradford was married July 15, 1841, 
in Brandenburg, Kentucky, to Miss Adaline M. 
Semple, who was born October, 1817, in Cumber- 
land county, Kentucky. Her brother, Hon. 
James Semple, was at that time Charge de 
Affaires to New Grenada, afterwards United 
States Senator fi-om Illinois, and still later one of 
the Judges of the Supreme Court of ihe State. 

Soon after coming to Springfield, J. S. Brad- 
ford became Lieutenant in the '' Springfield 
Cadets." They were ordered to Nauvoo by 
Governor Ford, in 1845, serving two months in 
the " Mormon war." In 1846, Mr. Bradford en- 
listed in Company A, Fourth Illinois Infantry, 
under Colonel E. D. Baker, and was appointed 
Quartermaster by Governor Ford. As such, he 
accompanied the regiment to Mexico, where he 
started to go twelve years before with a book- 
binder's outfit. After his arrival in Mexico, he 
was commissioned as Commissary in the United 
States army. He was at the bombardment and 
capture of Vera Cruz, battle of ( erro Gordo, 
and others, returning with the regiment to 
Springfield in 1847. The result of that war 
securing to us California and the discovery of 
gold, 

61 E. JBradish, wholesale and retail dealer in 
ice, and retailer of anthracite and Illinois coal 
and wood, Springfield, Illinois, was born April 
6, 1850, in Camden, Oneida county. New York 
State, son of Horace C. and Elizabeth Wade 
Bradish, both of whom were born in New York 
State. The subject of our sketch came to 
Springfield May 1st, 1869, and engaged in sell- 
ing goods for the firm of Dickerman &, Co., pro- 
prietors of the Springfield Woolen Factory. Mr. 



646 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Bradish was for several years the most success- 
ful salesman ever employed by that company, 
and probably made the largest yearly sales of any 
one traveling in that same line of business 
through the Western States. February 1, 1873, 
he was taken into partnership by his employers, 
and was an active member of the firm until 1876, 
when he started with his brother in the retail ice 
business, under the fix'm name of G. E. & W. H. 
Bradish. The following year Mr B. bought out 
his brother's interest and also commenced the 
wholesaling of ice. He is now the Bradish of 
Huse, Bradish & Co , who have located at Clear 
Lake, this county, one of the best constructed 
ice bouses in the West, holding about eighteen 
thousand tons of ice. The water of this lake 
covers about forty acres in area, and receives 
its supply from numerous springs, making it 
the largest, purest and best body of w^ater in 
Sangamon county. From this Clear Lake the 
company fill their ice houses and ship to St. 
Louis, Missouri, Cairo, Illinois, Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and many other Southern cities. Mr. 
Bradish is also connected with Bradish & Mc- 
Cullough, in the city of Springfield, and supplies 
a large portion of her citizens with ice in sum- 
mer, and coal in winter. He is at the present 
time building at Sangamon Lake, six miles 
northeast of the city of Springfield, ice houses 
which will hold ten thousand tons; to which 
they have already put in a railroad track con- 
necting with the Illinois Central railroad. Mr. 
B. was married in Jacksonville, Illinois, Decem- 
ber -^5, "1872, to Ella, the youngest daughter of 
Colonel George M and Ellenor Chambers. Mr. 
Bradish attended the common schools of his na- 
tive State until he was thirteen years old, when he 
entered the Hungerford Collegiate Institute, at 
Adams, Jefferson county. New York, and was a 
student of the same about two years. He is a 
8am[»Ie of the self-made, practical business man, 
having made his way from a penniless boy of 
fourteen to his present position in the w^orld 
without any assistance save that of his own head 
and hands. Mrs. Bradish was educated in the 
Presbytei;ian Female College of Jacksonville, 
lllm jis. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bradish are both members of the 
First Presbyterian Church of Sj^ringfield. They 
have been blessed with four children, three of 
whom are now living, Walter C, Bessie, and 
Charh'S E., Jr. The first named w^as born in 
Jacksonville, the others in Springfield. 

William M. £rev;€r, grocer and commission 
merchant, 415 East Monroe street, settled in 
Springfield and engaged in the grocery business 



eight years ago, at 323 South Fifth street. Five 
years later he moved to his present store. Be- 
sides keeping a general stock of groceries, in 
which he has a fine retail trade, he makes a 
specialty of commission jobbing in fruits and 
produce, of which he handles large quantities, 
and intends to constantly enlarge this branch of 
his business. 

Daniel and Elenor (MoVey) Brewer, were 
Pennsylvanians b}' nativity, and were the 
parents of nine children, of whom William M. 
is one of the six living. His faiher died when 
he was a lad eight years of age, and his mother 
seven years later. The former Avas of Dutch 
and the latter of Scotch descent. In September, 
1861, the subject of this sketch enlisted in com- 
pany A, Third Illinois Cavalry, and served 
under General Curtiss in the department west of 
the Mississippi, until discharged, from ill health, 
in the spring of 1863. He fought in the battle 
of Pea Ridge and several skirmishes. He did 
clerical duty in the Adjutant's oftice, and as pri- 
vate secretary for Colonel E. A. Carr several 
months, and was subsequently made hospital 
steward, in which capacity he served until he re- 
tired from the army. Mr. Brewer came from 
Ohio to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1856, and 
followed the avocation of leaching school about 
four years. He then bought a dry goods store 
in Chatham, which he ow-ned till 1806; then sold 
out, and moved to Virden, Macoupin county, 
where he engaged in merchandising, first in the 
furniture, and then in -groceries, until he re- 
moved to Springfield. In the fall of 1863, he 
married Virginia Sims, of Chatham, and a na- 
tive of Kentucky. They have two daughters 
living. Mr. Brewer is a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and of the A. O. U. W., 
and was Master Workman of Capital City 
Lodge, No. 38, last term. 

Evans E. JBritton, Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
October 28, 1791, His father, Elijah Britton, 
was a farmer, and Evans E. was reared on a 
farm, and received a common school education. 
When seven years old, his father died, but pre- 
vious to his death had rented a farm in Virginia 
for three years, which his mother, with a family 
of seven children, shortly after moved upon, 
where they remained until 1800. She then re- 
moved to Ross county, Ohio, then a vast wilder- 
ness, where she leased a piece of land for seven 
years, and at the expiration of that time went 
to Champaign county, where she bought a piece 
of land. While in Ross county, they had to go 
into Kentucky, something over one hundred and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



04*; 



fifty miles, <"or breadstuff, on horseback. They 
livKi in a cabin 10x18 feet, with puncheon floors. 
In 1818 the subject of this sketch married Miss 
Mary England, who was born in Kentucky in 
1800, and in 1820 he came to this county with 
his wife and one child, which was a renewal of 
pioneer life. He located on Fancy Creek, where 
he took up land and made a farm. St. Louis 
was the nearest point where they could buy their 
farming tools, salt, and all other articles; for 
grinding meal and flour, they went to the Ameri- 
can bottoms, east of St. Louis. There was 
plenty of game in an early day for their meat; 
his father-in-law, Mr. England, was an expert 
hunter, and they had plenty of venison and bear 
meat; the wild turkey were so thick that he 
would take a pole and knock them down from 
the trees. Mr. B. remained on the old home- 
stead until about 1870, when he came to Spring- 
field, and is at present making his home with his 
daughter, Mrs. Wilbur. Mrs. Britton died in 
August, 1846; she was a member of the Christian 
Church, and was loved and respected by all who 
knew her. Mr. Britton is nearly ninety years 
old; he has seen the rough side of life; one of 
his most severe afflictions was the loss of his 
left arm, from the cause of a cancer. He is a 
Christian, and respected by all who know him. 
Fred D. JBuch, dealer in hats, caps, and gen- 
tlemen's furnishings, 527 north side of the 
square, has been identified with this branch of 
merchandising in Springfield since 1872. He 
succeeded J. H. Adams, the pioneer hat manu- 
facturer of the city, who in the early days of 
Springfield used to supply a large per cent, of 
the inhabitants of the surrounding new country 
with head gear. Mr. Buck became associated 
with this house, located at 127 west side of the 
square, nine years ago. As the building was 
about to be torn down to give place for a better 
one, he moved to his present number, April 1, 
1881. Hats, caps and gloves are his specialty, 
of which he carries a large and complete stock. 
In 1880-1, his house sold two thousand eight 
hundred straw hats, and one thousand six hun- 
dred pairs of gloves during the season. A 
capital of $10,000 is employed in the business, 
and is turned over about twice and a half each 
year. He started by purchasing the stock of 
the old firm for |57l, borrowing the money to 
make the payment. Besides his stock of goods 
he has $2,500 invested in a home in the city. 
Mr. Buck is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland; 
born in June, 1852. Leaving there at the age of 
sixteen years, he spent three years in the con- 
fectionery business in Frederick City, Maryland. 



Came from there to Springfield, Illinois, in 1871, 
and soon after embarked in present business. 
He and a sister and brother occupy the same 
home, all being unmarried. Their parents, 
George and Eva (Burn) Buck, are deceased. 

Jacob JBunn, President of the Illinois Watch 
Factory, Springfield, has for nearly forty years 
been one of the city's most enterprising and 
public spirited business men. He w\as born in 
Alexandria, Hunterdon county, New .Jersey, in 
1814; came to Springfield in Ma}-, 1836; began 
business as a grocer July 1, 1840, and continued 
in that and banking until January, 1878. He was 
very successful and accumulated a large for- 
tune, but through others, lost heavily and w^as 
compelled to make an assignment, turning over 
his property for the benefit of his creditors. 
Having been a heavy stockholder in the Watch 
Factory, and his superior business qualification 
received recognition in his election to the Pres- 
idency of the concern in January, 1879, which 
position he still fills with signal ability as shown 
by the marked success of the institution under 
his management. Mr. Bunn was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Elizabeth Ferguson in Spring- 
field, in 1881. She is a native of Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, but came to Springfield 
in early youth. They are the parents of four 
sons and two daughters. 

John W. Hunn, wholesale grocer, corner 
Fifth and Adams streets, has been many years 
connected wdth the house of which he is now 
sole proprietor. The business was established 
on that corner by Jacob Bunn in 1840. After 
being associated with his brother some years 
John W. Bunn became a partner, in 1859, the 
title of the firm being J. & J. W. Bunn. From 
1872 to 1879 Mr. R. J. Roberts owned an inter- 
est in the business, then known as J. & J. W. 
Bunn & Co. The other partners retired, leaving 
J. W. Bunn exclusive owner, but the firm name 
remains unchanged. Until January I, 1880, the 
business was carried on at both wholesale and 
retail, but from that time the retail feature was 
discontinued. The concern occupies four floors 
of the block, 28x76 feet each, and uses the build- 
ing known as the Lamb pork house as a ware- 
house for storage purposes. The sales of 1880 
w^ere the heaviest ever experienced, reaching 
$450,000; and in 1881 will reach $500,000; 
chiefly distributed among the towns in Central 
Illinois. 

James Brown, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Queen Anne county, Maryland, Octo- 
ber 20, 1805; son of James and Mary Ann 
(Hackett) Brown, natives of Maryland, where 



648 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



they were married and had six children, two of 
whom died in infancy; the mother died in 1821, 
and the father in 1822. 

The subject of this sketch left Maryland and 
went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he embarked in 
merchandizing, and became acquainted with Miss 
Mariol Page, daughter of Jarred Page, of Che- 
nango county, N. Y. ; she was born in that county. 
By this union there was one child, Sherman P., 
who is employed in the railroad business in 
Pueblo, Colorado. Parting with his first wife 
Mr. Brown married Miss Sarah J. Martin, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Martin, of Maryland. The fruits 
of this marriage were nine children, four of 
jvhom are living, viz: John, of Kansas, Mary 
Anne, Lida M., now Mrs. George E. Copeland, 
and Antrim C. In 1834 Mr. B. came to Spring- 
field, it being at the time of the cholera epidemic, 
he returned to Cincinnati, where he remained 
until 1837. Soon after coming to this State he 
was appointed clerk in the mail service, and 
afterwards was appointed Special Post Oflice 
Agent, his district comprising Illinois, Indiana, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. This 
route was made in a stage coach, being before 
the use of railroads. After leaving the road he 
came to this county where he followed farming 
seven years, since which time he has lived re- 
tired, having been an invalid for the last twelve 
years. 

E. P. Burlmgham, General Agent of the 
Nf-w York Life Insurance Company, opened an 
ofiice for general business for this company, in 
Springfield, in 1879, it being the first and only 
general office representing any of the large 
Life Insurance Companies in the State, outside 
of Chicago. Mr. Burlingham controls the entire 
business for this powerful and popular company, 
in Illinois, and has ten assistants in the field. 
The New York Life is one of the oldest and 
strongest companies in the United States, as 
shown by the last published report. Its cash 
assets are over $45,000,000, with a surplus of 
over 19,000,000, with 48,.548 policies in force, 
and an income in 1880 of $8,964,719. Mr. 
Burlingham's last report shows his new business 
in this State running at the rate of more than a 
million and a quarter of dollars per year ; and 
cash collections on old business of $150,000 a 
year. More than half a million dollars of 
new Tontine Investment policies have been 
placed among the solid business men of Spring- 
field, within the past year and a half. Mr. Bur- 
lingham has had eleven years of experience, ten 
of them in Springfield, in exclusive life business. 
He is a New Englander by nativity ; came to I 



Illinois twenty years ago ; 2)nrsued the avoca- 
tion of teaching school eight years, and at the 
age of twenty-seven received the highest salary 
paid to any teacher in the public schools of Illi- 
nois, outside oi Chicago, as Principal of the 
Cairo schools. In the fall of 1869, he abandoned 
teaching, and in the spring of 1870 engaged in 
the insurance business. He is now forty-one 
years of age. 

John L. Jiurke, senior partner of J. L. Burke 
& Co., proprietors of the Home Mills, corner of 
Third and Washington streets, was born in Ire- 
land, in 1835; crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 
1847; settled in Port Byron, Cayuga county, 
New York, and there learned and pursued the 
milling business until he came to Illinois, in 
1856. He was employed in a mill in Cass county 
a year, and spent two years milling in Paducah, 
Kentucky; came to Springfield in the spring of 
1859, and pursued the same line of business 
until the spring following, then catching the 
gold fever, he went to Colorado and remained 
about four years and a half in the mining re- 
gions, prospecting and mining. In the fail of 
1864, he returned to Si)ringfield and married 
Miss Jennie Fawcett, a resident of the city, but 
a native of Ireland. After passing that winter 
in Iowa, they returned and settled in Spring- 
field, which has since been their home. Mr. 
Burke's first milling in the city was for Addison 
Hickox, in the City Mill. He was then five 
yea'^s in the old Illinois Mills, employed by B. 
F. Haines & Co. ; was eleven years in the Excel- 
sior Mills, operating for Martin Hickox and his 
successor, W. P. Grimsley, previous to becom- 
ing a partner in the Home Mills. These mills 
are well fitted up with modern improvements, 
and are doing a thriving business. Capacity, 
one hundred barrels in twenty-four hours. Mr. 
Burke and wife have one son and one daughter. 
He and wife are members of the Second M. E. 
Church. 

W. S. McBurnie, 31. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Louisville, Kentucky, July 10, 1844, 
son of Professor James V. McBurnie, of the 
higher branches, and one of the oldest teachers 
in that county; he was superintendent and sec- 
retary of the public schools until 1855, since 
which time he has been principal of the ward 
school, and owner of the Locust Grove Academy. 
He always took an active interest in all the 
schools of the State until his death, which 
occurred in 1872. The subject of this sketch 
was educated in the higher schools of Louis- 
ville, Kentucky. His professional education was 
commenced by reading medicine with Prof. Dr. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



649 



J. M. Bodine, and he graduated in February, 
1867, in the medical department of the Univer- 
sity of Louisville, Kentucky, with honors. 

His grandfather, James McBurnie, was an 
Ensign in the Thirty-ninth Irish Regiment of 
English Volunteers, and second on the staff of 
Sir John McClintock, who was also chief engi- 
neer of the Duke of Wellington. He married 
Lady Anna Riddle, which was a love match; 
there was an elopement which caused Sir John 
Riddle to disinherit her. After marrying he 
returned to the army, bought his commission, 
and joined the army. The Doctor's father was 
born in the Thirty-ninth Regiment and was 
known as the son of the regiment, being" the 
first child born in the regiment. His grand- 
father afterwards engaged In the ministry, and 
at the time of the Protestant War in 1832, came 
to the LTnited States on account of the trouble 
between the two churches. He left the family 
in care of his oldest son, who supported them by 
teaching school. In 1833, the family arrived in 
the States and located at Wheeling, Virginia, 
where he was pastor of the local church of that 
place. He was afterwards President of the 
Methodist Theological Seminary at Wheeling, 
West Virginia. He returned to his native 
country where they both died in 1864. His 
mother's father, Captain Thomas Davidson, 
assisted in the battle of Tippecanoe. He was 
captured by the Indians when he was a boy 
three years old, and was with them for seven- 
teen years, after escaping, he located at Leaven- 
worth, Indiana, which was known as Davidson- 
ville. He married Miss Butler, who was the 
tii'st female child born in that portion of Ken- 
tucky. Her father was with Daniel Boone at 
the time he came to Kentucky. 

John Busher, of the firm of John Busher & 
Co., manufacturers of harness and saddles, and 
dealers in horse clothing, saddlery hardware, 
tents, and leather, 622 Adams street, was born 
in Portsmouth, England, June 1, 1811. He was 
educated in a classical and commercial academy 
in Portsmouth, and in a government college in 
Normandy, where he took a three years' course. 
After serving an apprenticeship to the trade of 
finishing leather, in London, he immigrated to 
the United States, arriving in October, 1833; 
worked a short time at his trade in Brooklyn, 
and the winter following in Zanesville, Ohio. 
He spent about seven years traveling and deal- 
ing in hides and leather. In the winter of 
1837-8, he exported, via New Orleans, to Liver- 
poo], the first shipment of western hides ever 
sent to that city. In 1839, he came to Spring- 



field, Illinois, and purchased the lot on which 
their store now stands. In 1841, he shipped 
from Springfield to London, England, the first 
lot of furs ever sent to Europe from Illinois, 
direct. In 1840, he erected a building on the 
site of his present shop and store, and about 
1858 built the three-story brick he now occupies. 
In 1842, he built a tannery iu the city, and the 
same year, in company with his brother, erected 
the old Busher brewery, and run it some yeai's. 
He has occupied his present location forty years. 
The firm, consisting of himself and son, does a 
fine business in manufacturing, employing eight 
to ten men, and besides the harness and saddle 
trade, does a large business in tents and awn- 
ings, the whole aggregating $25,000 to $30,000 a 
year. Mr. Busher has been twice married; first 
to Emma Everson, in 1842, in Morgan county, 
Illinois, a native of England, who died seven 
years after, leaving four children, of whom three 
survive, all married and settled. In January, 
1852, he married his present wife, Emily B. 
Wyatt,by whom he has two sons and one daugh- 
ter. Mr. Busher has crossed the Atlantic Ocean 
eleven times; was present at the coronation of 
Queen Victoria; attended the World's Fair in 
London and the Paris Exposition. Politically, 
he has always been a Democrat. 

Elizabeth Byers, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Hancock county, Ohio, March 27, 1836, 
daughter of Doctor A. F. and Dilemma (White- 
lock) Barnd. Mrs. Byers was married January 
6, 1861, to Isaac M. Byers, born in Virginia, near 
Harper's Ferry, and was a farmer in his native 
State and in Ohio, from which State he came 
and located in Sangamon county, near Spring- 
field, Illinois, in 1861. Mr. Byers was educated 
in the common schools in Virginia. He entered 
the Union army of the late war by joining the 
Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and served out 
his time for one year. Mr. Byers died October 
9, 1877, after an afiliction of paralysis for three 
years. He had four children by his first wife, 
namely: Mary E., John W., May, and Groves 
Byers. Groves Byers lives in Springfield, and 
his sister, Mrs May Shoup, is residing on a farm 
eight miles south of Springfield. Mrs. Byers 
was educated in Lexington, McLean county, Illi- 
nois, which was her home for eighteen years, 
and has been a resident of the city of Spring- 
field since 1861. 

William Carpenter was born July 30, 1787, in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He immigrated to 
Licking county, Ohio, in his young manhood; 
and in the fall of 1819 united in marriage there 
with Marsraret Pence. In the autumn of 18^0 



650 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



they moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, and 
settled about six miles out from Springfield on 
the Peoria road, where Mr. Carpenter opened 
up a small farm, surrounded by the haunts of 
the wild beasts and the wigwams of the Indians, 
who encamped several winters near their cabin 
on the bluffs of the Sangamon river, below where 
the city water-works are now located. Some 
years after Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter located in 
their wild western home, a ferry was established 
across the Sangamon a mile from their cabin, 
and a short distance below where Carpenter's 
bridge is now situated. Mr. Carpenter eventu- 
ally became the owner of the lands on both sides 
of the river, and also of the ferry, and conducted 
it till the bridge was built in 1844. When they 
first settled there the nearest post oflice was at 
Edwardsville, from whence Mr. Carpenter hauled 
corn to feed his team the first winter, after pick- 
ing it on shares. In March, 1828, Mr. Carpen- 
ter removed his family to Springfield, and occu- 
pied one of the few log cabins in the place, 
which stood on the site of the present Revere 
House. After a change or two of location he 
erected a frame house on the corner of Second 
and Jefferson streets. Here he opened a store 
where he continued in the mercantile business 
a number of years. In 1843, Mr. Carpenter, in 
company with Adolphus Wood,a brother-in-law, 
erected a flouring and saw-mill on the Sangamon 
river, at Carpenter's bridge, which was known as 
the Rock-dam Mills, from the material used in 
the construction. This old mill still stands on 
section one, of Springfield township, and is oper- 
ated a portion of the year. In the later years of 
his life Mr. Carpenter dealt extensively in real 
estate, investing the proceeds of the mill and 
business in lands, of which he owned a large 
quantity at his death, on August 30, 1859. Mr. 
Carpenter served the people many years in an 
official capacity, was elected Justice of the Peace 
in Ohio in May, 1820; was appointed to the 
same oflice in Sangamon county, Illinois, in July, 
1822, and filled it by successive appointments 
and elections about seventeen years in all. He 
served as Representative in the Illinois Legisla- 
ture in 1834 and 1835. Was appointed Post- 
master of Springfield October 4, 1836, and re- 
signed the oflice at the close of three years of 
service. He acted as Mayor of the city in 1846, 
during the absence of Mayor J. C. Conkling. 
He served in the Black Hawk war, and assisted 

in burying the dead after Stillman's defeat. 

May 15, 1830, he was made Quartermaster of the 

TwentiethJUinois Militia, and was Paymaster 



of the Fourth Illinois Mounted Volunteers on 
April 30, 1832. 

Mrs. Carpenter was born in the Shenandoah 
Valley, Virginia, February 6, 1803; is one of a 
family of four sons and three daughters of Peter 
Pence and Catharine Godfrey, who moved to 
Licking county, Ohio, in her early childhood. 
Her paternal grandfather fought in the war of 
the Revolution, and her maternal grandsire was 
killed by the Indians on the banks of the Ohio 
river. In those early pioneer times in Sangamon 
county, Mrs. Carpenter and her neighbors used 
to raise small patches of cotton, which they 
picked, and mixing it with wool, manufacted it 
into fabrics for the family clothing. Mr. and 
Mrs. Carpenter were the parents of eleven child- 
ren, eight of whom survive. John, George, 
Sarah, Jane and Mary Ellen reside with their 
mother at the homestead, on the corner of 
Seventh and Carpenter streets. George, the 
youngest son, was born in March, 1835; read law 
with Stuart & Edwards, in Springfield, beginning 
in 1858, for nearly three years, when failing eye- 
sight compelled him to abandon the profession 
and he has since devoted his attention chiefly to 
the interests of the family estate. He is now 
serving his second term in the Board of Super- 
visors from the city. 

John TFi Chenery, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in West Bovalston, Massachusett-^, July 
28, 1826; son of William D. and Abigail (Part- 
ridge) Chenery, who emigrated to Illinois in 
1831, and located in Morgan county, near Jack- 
sonville; the following winter, returned to Massa- 
chusetts on horseback, via Indiana, when the 
snow commenced falling, and he, in company 
with three other gentlemen, going east, made 
jumpers, and in them made their way home. 
The following summer he started for his home 
in the west with his family, traveling in wagons 
to Albany, thence to Buffalo by canal, crossing 
the lake to Cleveland, then overland to the Ohio 
river, thence by boat to Naples, and finally to 
Jacksonville. Shortly after arriving there he 
rented the Western Hotel for eight years. In 
1852, he came to Springfield, where he rented 
the old American House, one of the principal 
hotels of the State at that time, ami was the 
headquarters of all the principal politicians of 
the State; here they remained until 1855; when 
the Chenery House was built they entered that, 
and remained in it until 1881, Mr. Chenery 
died in October, 18*73; his mother died in Octo- 
ber, 1880. Mr. C. was widely known, being 
identified with the hotel business over forty 
years in the State. The subject of this sketch 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



651 



married Miss Eleanor M. Holihan, and they had 
five children, four of whom are living, namely: 
William D., John L., Thadius F., and James E. 

George 1>V. Chatterton, Jr., dealer in watches, 
jewelry, musical merchandise and optical goods, 
South Fifth street, west side of square, repre- 
sents the oldest music house, probably, in Illi- 
nois. It was established by George W. Chatter- 
ton, Sr., in June, 1838. About nine years ago, 
the son and present proprietor succeeded to the 
control of the business. His leading pianos are 
the Knabe, Chickering and McCammon; and 
the George Woods and Loring & Blake are his 
leading organs. He also handles the best makes 
of violins, accordeons, and a complete assort- 
ment of sheet music. The jewelry, watch and 
optical instrument feature is a prominent branch 
of his business. A practical, skilled optician is 
kept constantly employed by the house. Two 
stories of the building, twenty by one hundred 
and forty feet, are occupied by his stock of |25,- 
000, which his large and growing trade demands. 

Mr. Chatterton is a Springfield boy, born in 
the house where he now resides, in 1853. He 
was educated in the city schools, and early 
turned his attention to the branch of the busi- 
ness in which he is now engaged. In April, 
ISTn, he purchased the Opera House, and that 
season lebuilt it in elegant style, making it 
the iinest in the State, outside of Chicago. 
It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and 
has a seating capacity of one thousand three 
hundred. Chatterton's Opera House is a credit 
to the Capital City of Illinois. 

George W. Chattert07i, Sr., is a native of 
Ithica, New York, served an apprenticeship to 
the jewelry trade in New York City; came to 
Springfield, Illinois, in 1838; has been identified 
with that business here until 1873; then went to 
New York and engaged in the manufacturing 
and wholesaling of jewelry till 1880, when he 
returned to Springfield. 

Henry E. Cochran, grocer, 517, East Monroe 
street, is a native of Brown county, Ohio, in 
1846. He became an assistant in his brother's 
grocery in Ripley, Ohio, at eight years of age. 
Five years later he succeeded his brother in 
business, and at thirteen was sole propi'ietor of 
a prosperous retail grocery. Since that time Mr. 
Cochran has given that business his undivided 
attention, and says he has never been absent 
from his store five days during all these years, 
and always opens in the morning and closes it 
in the evening. In March, 1868, he sold his 
business in Ripley, Ohio, and came to Spring- 
field, Illinois, arriving on Friday, March 17, be- 



ing an entire stranger in the cily, and having 
little idea where or in what business he should 
locate. He bought a stock of goods on Sixth 
street, in what was known as the American 
House block, and took charge of the business on 
the following Monday. He conducted the trade 
in that store fourteen years, and five days, dur- 
ing which time he paid over $11,000 in rent. In 
March, 1881, he sold out and opened business 
with a new stock in his present location. Mr. 
Cochran does a heavy retail trade, and in the 
season handles a large amount of fruits and pro- 
duce at wholesale. The volume of business in 

1880 amounted to $36,000, and will be consid- 
erably larger in 1881. 

In 1867, Mr. Cochran married Rachel Mitch- 
ell, in Aberdeen, Brown county, Ohio. They 
have only one child, Florence, twelve years of 
age. Mr. Cochran's parents, William and Mary 
(Flaugher) Cochran, reside in Ripley, Ohio. Of 
their family of four sons, three are in mercan- 
tile pursuits and one is a farmer. 

William, H. Conway^ of the firm of Conway 
<fe Co., hat merchants and gentlemen's furnishings 
and furs. No. 104, east side square, is a native 
of Springfield, Illinois, and is twenty-three years 
of age. After completing a course in the City 
High School, he learned the carpenter trade with 
his father, who is a carpenter and builder. He 
also studied designing and architecture; drew 
the plans for the block in which the store is 
situated, and a number of dwellings in and 
about the city; still doing such work in that line 
as will not interfere with his mercantile business. 
The firm opened the hat and furnishing store in 
February, 1880. They make a special feature of 
substantial, well-made goods; carry a complete 
assortment of head gear and gentlemen's fur- 
nishings and furs for the retail trade, and handle 
the business with such ability and energy as 
assures success. The house sold nearly $20,000 
in ten months of 1880, and the monthly sales of 

1881 show a large increase over last year. Good 
articles, one price, plain figures, and moderate 
profits is their motto. 

William. B. Covgill, dealer in real estate, has 
been actively engaged in buying and selling 
real property, for himself and others, in and 
about Springfield, since 1865, and has been 
longer in the business than any real estate dealer 
in the city. During the past year and a half he 
has sold two hundred and fifty unimproved city 
lots, besides a number of pieces of improved 
property. Mr. Cowgill was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, in a two-story frame building, where J. 
W.Bunn's wholesale grocery now stands, in 1833. 



652 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Hi? father, William M. Cowgill, was a native of 
Warren county, Ohio ; married Clementine 
Sayer, also a native of that State. They came 
to Springfield on their wedding trip, in 1832, 
and f-ettled here. Mr. Cowgill was engaged 
many years in the mercantile business in the 
Capital City, a portion of the time as a member 
of the firm of S. M. Tinsley & Co., then one of 
the heaviest firms in Springfield. He died in Pe- 
tersburg, Menard county, in 1862, to which place 
he had moved some years previous. William 
was brought up in the counting-room, and pur- 
sued the business of book-keeping before en- 
gaging in the trafiic in real estate. Except a 
few years spent in Petersburg, Springfield has 
always been his home. He married Margaret 
D., a daughter of John C. Sprigg, born in Effing- 
ham county, Illinois, in May, 185.5. Three 
sons constitute their posterity. William C, 
their eldest, is a clerk in the General Freight 
Office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
railroad, at Chicago ; John A. is book-keeper in 
the hardware house of Hudson & Co., Spring- 
field ; Duncan S. is attending school. Mr. 
Cowgill has passed through the chairs of the 
local lodge of Odd Fellows, and has served as 
representative to the Grand Lodge. 

.7o?i7i S. Condell, of the firm of C. M. Smith 
&, Co., merchants, corner of Adams and Sixth 
streets, was born in Ireland in 1818; came to 
America when six years of age, remained in 
Philadelphia until 1833, then came to Carrolton, 
Greene county, Illinois, and in 1840 settled in 
Springfield, where he has been engaged in the 
mercantile business ever since. Prior to the 
foundation of the present partnership with Clark 
M. Smith in 1864, he was for twenty-one years 
in business on the northwest corner of Wash- 
ington and Fifth streets, chiefly as a member of 
the firm of Condell, Jones & Co. Selling out 
there he was two years in the First National 
Bank before engaging in his present '"elation. 
Mr. Condell married Arabella Rice in Spring- 
field in 1844. She is a native of Maryland. 
Their family consists of two sons and three 
daughters living, one deceased. Mr. C. has voted 
for ten Whig and Republican Presidential can- 
didates. He was forty years an official member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Ransom F. and Marion I. Day, comprising 
the firm of Day Brothers, farmers and flour 
and feed merchants, 404 Washington street, 
were born in St. Lawrence county, New York, 
and are aged thirty-five and thirty-three years, 
respectively. They are the only sons in a fam- 
ily of six children of Ira Day and Electa Wil- 



son. Mr. Day having died some twenty years 
ago, the family moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, in March, 1869; bought two farms, one a 
half mile, and the other two miles east of Spring- 
field, and settled on the latter. Two of the 
sisters have since married. The brothers, other 
two sisters, and mother reside together. The 
brothers farm, of their own and leased lands, 
eight hundred acres, on which they harvested in 
1881 between seven hundred and eight hundred 
tons of hay, between two thousand and three 
thousand bushels of oats, and cultivated two 
hundred end twenty acres of corn, besides other 
crops. They opened the mercantile branch of 
their business in the city in the fall of 1879, 
and have built up a trade of $3,000 a month. 
The two brothers own their property and con- 
duct their business in common, keeping no per- 
sonal accounts, and making no division of profits. 
Miss Jessie Day is cashier and book-keeper at 
the store, for which her practical common sense 
and broad business ideas admirably adapt her, 
and render her thoroughly mistress of the situ- 
ation. Their mother is an active, well-preserved 
woman of sixty-two years. 

George ^V. Davis, M. D., Springfield, III,, 
was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, June 25, 
1842; was reared on a farm and received what 
schooling the count}' afforded at that time. His 
father was a pioneer in Macoupin county, coming 
as early as 1820, and was by profession a physi- 
cian. He traveled extensively over the west as 
a Magnetic Healer, and followed it until his 
death, which occurred in 1876. George W. 
studied with his father for several years pre- 
vious to his death, and since that time has taken 
his father's practice ; he makes a specialty uf 
rheumatism, torpid liver, fevers and all accute 
diseases. 

Kenyon B. Davis, M. D., Dentist, Springfield, 
Illinois, was born in this State January 16, 1836. 
Practiced medicine five years and then turned 
his attention to dentistry, and has since practiced 
this special department of medicine. He came 
to this city as the successor of Dr. C. Stoddard 
Smith in May, 1876. The Doctor is a member 
of the American Dental Association of the Illi- 
nois State Society, and an honorary member of 
the Indiana State Dental Society. He was Vice 
I'resident of the State Society in 1876, and 
President in 1877, The Doctor has always been 
a zealous member of the State Dental Society, 
and has read many essays at its annual meetings. 
In 1876 he had the hon6r of reading an essay 
before the Iowa State Dental Society, and also 
one in 1877. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



653 



William Hope Davis, M. D., Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in Genesee county, New York, 
September 1, 1835; son of David and Harriet 
(Wilder) Davis. His father's ancestors emi- 
gi*ated from Ireland, and were noted, for gener- 
ations, as Protestants and Free-Thinkers. His 
mother was from the well known family of 
Wilders, of Massachusetts. When five years 
old, his parents removed to Michigan, then a 
vast wilderness. His father worked at the car- 
penter's trade, and William, as soon as old 
enough, was engaged with him during the sum- 
mer, and attending school in the winter, occa- 
sionally. It became necessary for him to depend 
upon himself early in life, and at the age of 
seventeen, he left home to spend a summer in 
his native State, and from there he went to Mem- 
phis, Tennessee, where he soon became ac- 
quainted with many of the best families of the 
city. In 1854 he commenced the study of medi- 
cine under the instruction of Professor Gabbett, 
who had held a prominent position in the Wor- 
cester Eclectic Medical College, of Massachu- 
setts. In the winter of 1854-5, he attended a 
course of lectures in the Memphis College of 
Medicine, after which he pursued his studies in 
Barbus Academy until the spring of 1857, when 
he removed to Paris, Texas, and there commenced 
the practice of his profession; remained about 
two years. During the summer of 1858, he 
crossed the plains to California by way of Mex- 
ico, traveling the whole distance on horseback, 
and returning in autumn of the same year. In 
August, 1859, he left Paris, on a Texan pony, 
for Memphis, some four hundred and seventy- 
five miles, three hundred miles being through a 
dense and almost trackless wilderness. Dispos- 
ing of his faithful pony at Memphis, he pro- 
ceeded to Hillsboro, Ohio, which j^lace he 
reached September 7, and on the tenth day of 
the same month was united in marriage to Miss 
Rachael Ann Davis, who, although of the same 
name, was not a relative. In the spring of 1860, 
he bought a book store in Leesburg, Ohio, but 
sold it in a month, and returned with his wife to 
Memphis. Soon after the war broke out, and he 
returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence to 
Goodrich, JVIichigan, where he successfully prac- 
ticed medicine, and at the same time conducted 
a drug store, accumulating several thousand dol- 
lars, but greatly impairing his health by exten- 
sive night practice. Needing rest and a change, 
it was decided best for him to spend the winter 
in Cincinnati; meanwhile, he attended a full 
course of medical lectures at the Eclectic Insti- 
tute, at which he graduated. Subsequently, he 

76— 



re-commenced practice in Clay county, Illinois; 
but on account of failing health, he remained 
only one season, spending the next in traveling 
through the Eastern States. In the spring of 
1867, he located permanently in Springfield, 
where he has been engaged in an extensive 
practice up to the present time. In 1869, he 
procured a charter and organized the Illinois 
Eclectic Medical Society, of which he has been 
Secretary for five years. He was unanimously 
elected editor of the journal of the society, and 
has acquitted himself in this responsible position 
with honor. 

At the meeting of the National Eclectic Med- 
ical Association, in the city of W^ashington, 
in 1876, he was elected Secretary and has been 
a large contributor to periodical medical litera- 
ture, was one of the first movers for the laws 
regulating the practice of medicine and of which 
he has been a firm supporter. Has been a 
member of Springfield City Board of Health for 
a number of years. And is esteemed among 
its members as a man worthy the position. 
Dr. Davis is a self-made man, having suf- 
ered the privations incident to poverty and 
pioneer life. In his youthful days he has 
camped with the savages of Michigan, in the 
Indian Territory, and in Texas; is familiar 
with the Spaniards of Mexico, and Chinamen of 
California. He has crossed the plains four times, 
twice on horseback, and twice on the cars. He 
is generous to a fault, industrious from principle, 
believing it is better to labor without remunera- 
tion than to be idle; is always ready to attend 
the worthy poor without hope of reward. 

John DeCatnp, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
in Monroe county, Virginia, December 22, 1800; 
son of Zachariah and Eiizaleth (Kinder) De- 
Camp; father of French descent, and mother of 
German. His father was a farmer, and John 
was reared upon a farm, working sucumers and 
attending school winters. He remained on the 
farm until he was twenty-seven years of age, 
then came to Springfield, where he has resided 
since; at the time he came, there was not a frame 
building; he has plowed corn where the city 
now stands. After coming here, immediately 
commenced making brick, and has continued in 
the business most of the time since. H« mar- 
ried Miss Malinda Orr, daughter of Robert and 
Sarah Orr, who were natives of Virginia, and 
came to the State in 1824. Mr. and Mrs. De- 
Camp have had seventeen children, nine of whom 
are still living, viz: Sarah Ann, now Mrs. Will- 
iam DeCamp; Helen, now Mrs. James H. Bark- 
ley; Armanda, now Mrs. N. Wagner; Zachariah; 



654 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Yagninia, now Mrs. Edward Wardhaus; Elnora, 
now Mrs. Matthew Jelly; Albert, Giles W. and 
John G. 

John J3aptiste Deligny, machinist and en- 
gineer, Springfield, Illinois, was born in the 
north of France, April 23, 1809. When twenty- 
four years old he came to the United States with 
a colony, who settled at Nauvoo, Hancock 
county, Illinois, after the Mormons had left. He 
remained there but a short time, when he went 
to St. Louis and worked at his trade, building 
steamboats. From there he went to Warsaw, 
then to Springfiield, where he has resided since, 
accumulating a fine home and projjerty. At the 
time he came there was but one brick house in 
the city. For liis first wife, he married Miss 
Elizabeth Cassia, who was born in France, and 
died in April 1881. Mr. D. is again married, to 
Mrs. Dockson, a native of New York, whose 
husband took a prominent part in the rebellion, 
and was also a prominent member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity; he figured extensively in poli- 
tics; she had nine children, eight of whom are 
living. Mr. Dockson died in 1871. 

Joseph H. Delaney, proprietor of the " Side 
Board" saloon, north corner of Fourth and 
Washington streets, was born in New York 
State, December 13, 1859. When three years of 
age he came with his parents to Jacksonville, 
Illinois, where he attended school and clerked 
until 1880, when he came to Springfield, Illi- 
nois, and took charge of Dual's French Restau- 
rant, formerly known as Blood's Restaurant, he 
is manager of this restaurant, and he owns and 
runs the Side Board saloon. His father, William 
Delaney was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came 
to the United States and settled in Jacksonville, 
Illinois, where he still resides; he is a black- 
smith by trade. His wife, Mary Dowling, born 
also in Ireland, she and husband are both mem- 
bers of the Catholic Church, and have a family 
of seven children, viz: Jerry E. Delaney, mar- 
ried Miss Katy O'Hara, they reside in Fargo, 
Dakota; Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, 
John, also residing at Far^o, Dakota; Katy, 
Dora, and Billy, residing with their parents, at 
Jacksonville, Illinois. Mr. Joseph H. Delaney 
is a member of the Catholic Church in Spring- 
field, and is a member of the Y. M. B. C. So- 
ciety, at Jacksonville. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat, and cast his first vote for Hancock for 
President. 

David A. De Vares, grocer, corner of Ninth 
and Reynolds streets, started in that branch of 
business in Springfield, in 1872, locating on the 
corner of Tenth and Mason streets. Two years 



after he erected the building he now occupies, 
and putting in a new stock of groceries, has 
carried on a fine local trade since. In January, 
1878, he formed a partnership with Joseph 
De Frates. Their stock consisted of a general 
line of family groceries, country produce, and 
flour and feed, and they buy all goods for cash. 

Mr. De Vares was born on the Atlantic Ocean 
while his parents were on the voyage to the 
United States, in September, 1848. They settled 
in Jacksonville, Morgan county, Illinois, which 
was his home until he came to Springfield, in 
1870. He learned the trade in the office of B. 
A. Richards, and subsequently worked as a press- 
man in the Journal office uniil 1864, when he 
enlisted in Company B., Tenth Illinois Infantry, 
and served with the regiment till the war closed, 
accompanying General Sherman on his "cam- 
paign to the sea." On returning home he re- 
sumed the printing business nearly seven years 
before embarking in the grocery trade. In 
October, 1868, he married Mary Nunes, of Jack- 
sonville, Illinois. Two children, one of each 
sex, have been born to them. Mr. De Vares is a 
member of Knights of Pythias, Capital Lodge, 
No. 14, and of the Second Presbyterian Church 

Mr. Henry Dickerman was born November 
19, 1835, in Hamden, (Jonnecticut, being the 
fifth in a family of nine children. His father 
was a well-to-do farmer; both of his parents 
were of the staunchest New England Puritan 
type; he received a good common school educa- 
tion, and spent one year in Williston Seminary, 
Massachusetts, after which he taught school in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut for three terms, 
and started West on the last day of March, 1857, 
expecting to become a Western farmer, but cir- 
cumstances did not seem to favor this, so in the 
fall of that year he secured a school in Morgan 
county, teaching one term, and returned East in 
the spring of 1858, expecting to remain, but the 
little fields were too small after having seen the 
great West, and in about a month he retraced 
his steps, but did very little during that summer. 
He had become acquainted with the father of his 
present partner, and one evening, on returning 
to Springfield from the country, was sent for by 
the old gentleman, upon whom, it seems, the 
Yankee boy had made a favorable impression. 
He responded to the call, being ready to do any- 
thing to help pay his expenses and being a good 
book-keeper, he was sent to the mill to post the 
books, which, owing to the sickness of the clerk, 
were several weeks behind. The following night 
the clerk died. Being faithful and industrious, 
young Dickerman was hired for the remainder 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



655 



of the year, and then from year to year until he 
became a partner, as before stated. Mr. Dicker- 
man has been strictly a private citizen, though 
interested in all public enterprises, having at- 
tended strictly to his own business, and meddling 
very little with outside matters. He was twice 
elected to represent his ward in the City Coun- 
cil, which he did acceptably, and has been earn- 
estly solicited to run several times since, but 
positively declined, feeling that he had done his 
part by serving two terms. He was one of the 
original members of the First Congregational 
Church of this city, organized in 1867, having 
been a member of the Second Presbyterian 
Church since he first came to the city up to that 
time, and has since been one of its most active 
members and officers, having been elected deacon 
several terms, and serves in that capacity at 
present, as well as being treasurer for the past 
six years, during which time he has labored with 
untiring zeal to rescue the church from a debt 
which, though not large, hung as an incubus 
over it, and during the last year succeeded in 
paying off the last dollar. April 25, 1876, Mr. 
D. was married to Miss Sarah A. Holmes, of 
Morgan county, this State. To them have been 
born five sons: Edward T., H. Holmes, Henry S. 
Jr., and John Stewart, (the latter dying at the 
age of two years) and Ralph V. The family 
home is on the corner of Fourth and Scarret 
streets, and it is there, in the bosom of his fam- 
ily, that the subject of this sketch enjoys his 
sweetest hours in the society of his loving wife 
and sons, whom he hopes will grow up to be no 
less an honor to the city than their father has 
been. 

Henry D. Dement, Secretary of State of Illi- 
nois, was born in Galena, Illinois, October 10, 
1840, is the son of John and Mary L. Dement, 
of Dixon, (natives of Tennessee and Missouri, re- 
spectively) and grandson of Henry Dodge, of 
Wisconsin. Mr. Dement began his education 
in the common schools in Dixon, Illinois, which 
was preparatory to his collegiate education at 
Rock River Seminary, Mount Morris, Illinois; 
and a Catholic College at Sinsinawa Mound, 
Wisconsin, and a Presbyterian College at Dixon, 
Illinois. The breaking out of the late war, at 
which time Mr. Dement was attending the last 
named College, was the cause of his not com- 
pleting his collegiate course, as he enlisted in 
the Union army and took an active part, as Is 
shown by the service he rendered his country 
during the war. Mr. Dement enlisted in the 
United States army in 1861, and received his 
commission of Second Lieutenant of Company 



A., Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, April 
20, 1861, and the following day was commis- 
sioned First Lieutenant. Lieutenant Dement 
received a complimentary commission as Cap- 
tain, February 3, 1863, for gallantry at Arkansas 
Post and Vicksburg, which rank he held to the 
close of the war. He served with Generals Fre- 
mont and Curtis throughout all their campaigns 
west of the Mississippi, was with General Sher- 
man in his defeat at Chickasaw Bayou; with 
General Grant when he marched to the rear of 
Victsburg, and present in all the assaults upon 
the works of that stronghold; was with General 
Sherman's corps, in both engagements, in the 
capture of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. 
Captain Dement served until August, 1863, and 
subsequently, after his returning home, was 
elected to the Lower House of the Twenty-eighth 
and Twenty-ninth General Assemblies, and as 
Senator in the Thirtieth and Thirty-first General 
Assemblies from the Twelfth Senatorial District, 
composed of Lee and Ogle counties. Was 
elected Secretary of State at the election of 
1880, which position he fills at present. Secre- 
tary Dement was engaged in the manufactory of 
plows from 1864-1870, with the firm known as 
Todd & Dement. In the year 1870 he engaged 
in the manufactory of flax bagging for covering 
cotton bales, in which he is still engaged. The 
factory is located in Dixon, Illinois, and does a 
flourishing business. Secretary Dement was 
married in Dixon, Illinois, October 20, 1864, to 
Miss Mary F. Williams, of Castine, Maine, who 
is the daughter of Hon. Hezekiah and Eliza 
(Patterson) Williams, natives of Vermont and 
Maine, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Dement had 
five children, of whom three daughters are liv- 
ing, Gertrude May, Lucia W., and Nonie E. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dement are members of the Pres- 
byterian Church, and their residence is in Dixon, 
Illinois. 

Roland Weaver Diller was born in Downing- 
town, Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th 
of October, 1822. His father's name was Jona- 
than Diller, and his mother's maiden name, Ann 
Weaver. They were born near the Blue Ball, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and were mar- 
ried in January, 1813. They moved from Lan- 
caster to Chester county in the spring of 1822. 
They had six children, Weaver, Susanna R.,* 
Maria W., Isaac R., Roland W., and Annie E. 
His father died September 30, 1831, leaving his 
mother five children, in very moderate circum- 
stances. His mother moved to Lancaster City, 
in the fall of 1834, and in the spring of 1835, he 
was sent to learn the printing business and do 



656 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



choi-es, with Mr. Caleb Kinnard, then in Down- 
ingtown, but he being rather self-willed, and not 
liking the constraint of a " boss," run off, and 
returned home; but his mother made him re- 
turn, the first opportunity. l^ut, after a few 
weeks' apprenticeship, in which he learned to 
set type, cut wood, make fires, and do " devil " 
work generally, about the house and office, he 
graduated, by again returning to Lancaster City, 
without the "boss' leave." The Pennsylvania 
Railroad then run passenger cars from Lancaster 
t(; Philadelphia, horses tandum (one before the 
other), about like our street cars, which also 
carried the mail, and, boy-like, he was well ac- 
quainted with the drivers, and thereby stole a 
ride home. About this time, his mother married 
Morgan L. Reese, of Downingtown, a well-to-do 
old bachelor, whom the young Diller delighted 
to hate; but he in turn did everything in his 
power to make happy. There were two girls born 
to them, Sarah E. and Fannie Reese. Mr. Reese 
died in 1868, much loved by ail. 

A year after his mother's marriage, he was put 
into Hoopes & Sharpless' store, in West Ches- 
ter, where he remained until 183 7, when he was 
again started to the printing trade in the Re- 
publican office, a Democratic paper, published 
by Price & Strickland, in West Chester. He 
was to serve them until he was twenty-one, for 
victuals and clothes, and the last six months to 
go to school, which was a wise provision for the 
b )y, as he had been to school but little since he 
was eleven years old. At the end of his ap- 
prenticeship, October, 1843, he borrowed $5, and 
started to Philadelphia. After about a month's 
"subbing" at the different offices, got a steady 
case in the Citizen Soldier's office, published by 
his brother, Isaac R. Diller, and Harry Diller, 
his cousin, until he started west, in the fall of 
1844. Mr. D. says: "This was the year of the 
great political battle between Henry Clay, the 
Whig candidate, and James K. Polk, the Demo- 
cratic candidate. Mr. Clay was beaten by six 
thousand abolition votes being cast for Mr. Ber- 
ney, their candidate for President, and thereby 
giving that State to Mr. Polk and the victory 
to the Democrats. In July of that year, the 
Native American riots occurred in Philadelphia, 
^costing the city millions of dollars for damages 
(done churches, etc., all thi-ough fanaticism." 
He cast his first Presidential vote for Mr. Polk, 
and has ever continued steadfast to that party, 
as he regards it "a party of the people, for the 
people, and by the people." 

His sister Maria married R. F. Ruth, August 
11, 1841, and moved to Springfield, Illinois. On 



the 8th of November, 1844, he left Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, for the West, via the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad to Harrisburg, then by canal to 
Pittsburg, then by Ohio river to Cairo — up the 
Mississippi river to St. Louis, then by stage to 
this cily, taking sixteen days to make the trip 
and nearly two days from St. Louis to Spring- 
field. On the Ist of December he commenced 
work in the State Register office, conducted by 
Messrs. Walters & Weber, and assisted in getting 
up the Statutes, revised by Mason Brayman, in 
1845; Edward Conner, Morse Ballard, S. G. Nes- 
bitt, Mr. Brooks, Sr., and others as co-laborers; 
Mr. Farnsworth, proof reader, and Mr. Charles 
H. Lanphier, State Reporter, whose many kind- 
nesses to a stranger in a strange land will ever 
be prized. 

In July, 1845, General W. L. D. Ewing, then 
Auditor of State, took him to Iowa, as a sur- 
veyor; he there sub-divided five townships into 
sections, and meandered about thirty miles of 
the DesMoines river, south of what is now Osce- 
ola. The Sac and Fox Indians received their 
last payment that fall, at Racoon Forks, now 
DesMoines City, just prior to their removal 
West. He finished the conti-act in December, 
1845, being compelled by sickness to suspend 
operations for six weeks — in August and Sep- 
tember. When he returned from the work, he 
found General Ewing sick, and soon after he 
died, and Mr. D. lost all his work and the money 
advanced to carry it on. Mr. Thomas H. Camp- 
bell was appointed Auditor in Ewing's stead; he 
gave Mr. D. a place as land clerk, at $25.00 per 
month, increasing from time to time, as he be- 
came useful. August 9, 1840, he formed a part- 
nership with Mr. Charles S. Corneau, in the drug 
business, purchasing the stock and stand of 
Wallace & Diller, on the same ground his store 
now occupies. Mr. Campbell regret' ed his leav- 
ing his office, and promised to use his influence 
to get him the nomination for Auditor at the 
next election, if he would remain, but Mr. D. 
preferred a steady business to the uncertainty 
of political life. 

On October 31, 1850, he married Miss Esther 
C. Ridge way, daughter of Joseph Ridge way, of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — good Quaker stock 
— and to her benign influence and his mother's 
early teaching he attributes his success in life. 
Three children, Emma, Isaac R. and Essie, were 
born to them. Emma married David B. Ayres, 
of Morgan county ; Isaac married Addie, youngest 
daughter of W. T. Hughes, of Springfield, and 
Essie lives with her parents in the old home- 
stead. On the night of February 14, 1858, the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



657 



south half of the east side of the square was 
entirely consumed by tire, including Corneau & 
Diller's drug store. They then put up the pres- 
ent builditig. In June, 1860, Mr. Corneau died; 
since then Mr. D. has carried on the business. 
His store for years was the headquarters of 
both political parties — he was well acquainted 
with all the great men of early days, and with 
Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln he was verj" inti- 
mate and a yjersonal friend. During the great 
revival of 1866, conducted by the Rev. E. P. 
Hammond and city pastors, Mr. D. and his whole 
family embraced the religion of Jesus Christ, 
and connected themselves with the Third Pres- 
byterian Church; since he has been an enthus- 
iastic worker in the cause, and is an elder in 
the First Presbyterian Church. 

In 1868, on the re-organization of the Old Set- 
tlers' Society, Mr. Diller became identified with 
its work, and ha§i been actively engaged in for- 
warding its interest. In 1879 he was elected 
President and re-elected in 1880 and in 1881. 
He is an enthusiastic "old settler," and while he 
lives and is in active possession of his faculties, 
the society will have in him a friend, and one 
who will do all in his power to make the meet- 
ings a grand success. 

In all moral and religious work Mr. Diller en- 
gages with his whole mind and strength. He 
shows his love to his God by h's love to his 
fellow-men, and none will sink so low but he 
will take them by the hand and lift them up. 

Antoyi Dirksen, senior paitner of the firm of 
Dirksen & Son, manufaccurers and dealers in up- 
holstered furnitureand mattresses, 410 Washing- 
ton street, has been in the business in Springfield 
thirteen years. In 1879 he admitted his son 
Theodore H. Dirksen into partnership, when the 
firm took its present name. Until within the 
past two years Mr. Dirksen directed his atten- 
tion to mattress-making, which includes every 
grade from the cheap husk to the finest hair 
spring mattress. Since 1879 the feature of up- 
hostered goods has been added, and so elegant 
in design and finish, and substantial in workman 
ship are their parlor sets, that they have already 
built up a large demand for them, and have fur- 
nished a number of the most luxuriant homes in 
Sangamon county, with goods rarely equaled 
anywhere. The product of their factory is sold 
at both wholesale and retail. An average of 
eight skilled artisans are employed on this class 
of work. 

Mr. Dirksen was born in Germany, in 1827, 
le rned the cabinet and upholstering trade in his 
native land, commencing at the age of fourteen ; 



served two years in the Prussian army; crossed 
the Atlantic in 1853, and settled directly in 
Springfield, Illinois. Worked nine years for the' 
Wabash Railway Company at cabinet finish- 
ing and upholstering their passenger coaches, 
and two subsequent years for Jacob Hough, at 
cabinetwork. In July, 1865, he married Mary 
Elshofi^, in Springfield, a former neighbor in 
Germany. They have six sons and one daugh- 
ter, three of the former are with their father in 
the factory. The eldest, Theodore H., is twenty- 
five years of age; began learning the trade at 
thirteen, and is now a partner. Mr. Dirksen is 
one of the organizers and a charter member of 
the St. Vincent De Paul Benevolent Society, and 
the family are members of the Catholic Church. 

Richard N. Dodds, druggist, corner of Mon- 
roe and Fifth streets, embarked in that branch 
of business, in Springfield, eight years ago, and 
in his pi'esent locality two years later. His store 
is one of the most elegant and completely fur- 
nished in the city, and stocked with a large as- 
sortment of drugs, medicines and fancy goods. 
His prescription business is very large. Richard 
is the son of James C. Dodds, deceased, and was 
born in Sangamon county, Illinois, in Novem- 
ber, 1851. His grandfather, Gilbert Dodds, 
moved with his family from Kentucky, and set- 
tled in Sangamon county, in an early day. 
James C. Dodds married Jane S.|Boulware, a 
a native of Morgan county, Illinois. She is also 
deceased. Only three of their family of eight 
children survive, of whom the subject of this 
sketch is the eldest. He graduated from the 
Springfield High School in the class of 1871, 
and soon after entered the drug business. 

Peter P. O' Donnelly confectioner, wholesale 
dealer in candies and ice cream, and general 
caterer, 529 Washington street, north side of 
the square, began the business in Springfield in 
1866, and moved to his present location seven 
years ago. He manufactures candies and con- 
fectioneries, in which he has a large wholesale 
and retail trade, keeping a traveling salesman 
on the road in the jobbing interest. He uses 
three stories of the building, one hundred feet 
deep. The first floor is occupied for retail store 
and ice cream parlors, the finest in the city. 
The second floor is devoted to manufacturing, 
and the basement to ice cream and storage. He 
pays special attention to furnishing supplies for 
parties, receptions and sociables, and as a caterer 
is very popular. lie is doing a prosperous, grow- 
ing business, employing in the busy season eight 
assistants. Mr. O'Donnell is a native of Ireland, 
and is thirty-three years old. He came to the 



(558 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



United States in 1860, locating first in Brook- 
lyn, New York, then in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania ; spent several years in each place, and 
settled in Springfield in 1866. He has given 
his attention chiefly to the branch of business in 
which he is now engaged, first starting on his 
own account in Springfield. Mr. O'Donnell is 
unmarried. 

Harry F. Dorwin was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, August 4, 1855. He attended school 
here until 1868, when he began to work 
as clerk for the publishers of the " Masonic 
Trowel," a paper published here, and remained 
in this position two years. Then in 1871 he 
was employed as clerk in the State National 
Bank for five years. In January, 18'7'7, was ap- 
pointed Assistant Private Secretary in the Gov- 
ernor's ofiice, a position he still retains. His 
father, Phares A. Dorwin, was born in Jefferson 
County, N. Y.;he was a merchant, and in politics 
a Democrat. He was also a member of the 
First Presbyterian Chiirch in Springfield, where 
he died April 18, 1870. His wife, Caroline 
Fisher, was born in Franklin County, Pennsyl- 
vania; she is a member of the First Presbyte- 
rian church in Springfield, Illinois was the* 
mother of six children, three living — H. F., the 
subject of this sketch, Chas. G., clerk in the 
General Division Freight ofiice in Springfield, 
Illinois, and Shelby C. Dorwin, employed as 
book-keeper in the Joliet, Illinois, Penitentiary. 
Harry F. Dorwin in politics is a Republican, 
and cast his first vote for Hayes for President of 
the United States. 

Adam Doenges, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
in Hesse Castle, Germany, June 10, 1830; son 
of Martin and Hallena (Schuenky) Doenges; 
father was a soldier in the French war of 1812 
and 1813. Adam attended the school of his 
native town, and when he became large enough 
to do manual labor, was employed in a hotel "as 
waiter; afterward became head-waiter, and re- 
mained there until he was twenty-seven years of 
age, when he sailed for America to make his 
fortune; lauded in New York City, remaining 
a short time, then came to Springfield in 1857, 
when he was engaged in various works; a por- 
tion of the time was watchman at the Treasur- 
er's office, which place he filled until 1881. In 
the meantime he started a grocery store. In 

1871 he commenced the study of medicine, and 
since that time has practiced more or less. In 

1872 he was ordained a preacher in the German 
Methodist Church. He married Miss Mary E. 
Mentemeyor, of Holland, in 1858. There were 
twelve children, eleven of whom are living: 



Mary E., born January 10, 1860; Lydia, July 23, 
1861; Emma R., April 16, 1863; Henry, Novem- 
ber 23, 18G4; Charles, October 4, 1866; Albert, 
June 8, 1868; Katie, March 6, 1870; Julius, May 
21, 1871; Minnie, February 21, 1873, died No- 
vember 14, 1875; Wesley, born February 11, 
1875; Louis, May 28, 1877, and Mattie, Decem- 
ber 14, 1878. 

Noah Divelhiss, citizen of Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, November 28, 1824; son of Jacob and 
Catharine (Adams) Divelbiss, who were married 
in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1819, 
and had four children, three of whom are liv- 
ing: Cathen, Noah and Amanda. In April, 1838, 
Mr. D. left his home in Pennsylvania, coming by 
wagon to Pittsburg, thence by water to Beards- 
town, himself and son Noah walking, while the 
family came through by stage. After arriving 
in this city he rented for three years, then 
purchased a lot on the corner of Eighth and 
Mason streets, where he built him a brick cot- 
tage, and lived in it until his death, which oc- 
cured in 1876. He was a wagon-maker by trade, 
which business he followed for a number of 
years. He was elected alderman, ann was also 
collector and assessor in 1853. Mrs. D. died in 
August, 1875; they lived together over fifty- 
seven years. Mrs. D. was one of the original 
members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. D. 
was the first member admitted. 

Noah Divelbiss came to Springfield when he 
was thirteen years of age, and was employed as 
clerk. In 1844 he was appointed deputy clerk 
of the Supreme Court, which position he held 
four years. In 1848 he went to Naples, where 
he clerked for the firm of Ridgely, Mathers & 
Dresser, remained eighteen months, then re- 
turned to the city and was clerk in the post 
oflfice two years; in 1851, embarked in the cloth- 
ing business with Little, where he remained one 
year; was then engaged in the Mechanics' Bank 
as Cashier, two years, and in December, 1854, 
was in the Marine Fire Insurance Bank as book- 
keeper and teller, until 1865; when he went to 
Pike county and purchased Perry Springs, 
which was a financial failure. In the fall of 
1869, he returned to Springfield, where he again 
engaged in the banking business, until the fall 
of 1878, since which time he has lived retired. 
He married Miss Cordelia Watson, a daughter 
of W. W. Watson; she was born in Nashville, 
Tennessee, March 16, 1825. There Avere five 
children, one of which is living — Nellie Chase. 
Mr. Divelbiss has been identified with the inter- 
ests of the county nearly all his life, and an 



A 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



659 



active business man. Mrs. Divelbiss died No- 
vember 9, 1880. She was a sincere christian, 
and was loved and respected by all who knew 
her. 

Thos. W. Dresser, M. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Halifax county, Virginia, January 
11, ISSV; son of Rev. Charles Dresser, an Epis- 
copal minister, who emigrated to this county in 
May, 1838, where he supplied the pulpit for 
seventeen years, and did more for the elevation 
of the church than any man in Springfield. He 
died, after an active life, in March, 1865. His 
mother, Louisa (Withers) Dresser, was a native 
of Virginia. There were a family of six child- 
ren, Thomas W. being the second son; was 
educated principally at Jubelee College in 
Peoria county, Illinois, under the supervison of 
Bishop Chase, the founder of the school. When 
twenty-three years of age he attended two 
courses of lectures at Louisiana Medical College, 
and afterwards attended one course at the New 
York University, where he graduated with 
honors in March, 1864. He married Miss Mar- 
garet Dorenus, daughter of the Rev. Dr. John 
E. C. Dorenus, a graduate at Princeton College, 
and an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln. 
They have one child, Katheriiie. After gradu- 
ating in New York, the Doctor came to Spring- 
field, established himself in his practice, and has 
remained ever since. 

Abner Y. Ellis, mailing clerk in the Spring- 
field, Illinois, post office, was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, June 1, 1840, and is the son of Abner 
Y. and Virginia (Richmond) Ellis; the former 
born in Warsaw, Kentucky; the latter born in 
the State of Vermont, nearMontpelier, and came 
to Springfield in an early day. The subject of 
this biography received his earlier education in 
the private schools, and then attended the Illi- 
nois State University, in Springfield, and at the 
age of fourteen ceased to pursue his studies, as 
his labors were required at home. After leaving 
school, was in a telegraph office a short time, and 
then clerked for B. F. Fox, hardware, etc., then 
clerked for his father in forwarding and commis- 
sion house, in connection with which he had a 
grocery store; then clerked for his father, who 
was with .John Williams & Co., dry goods and 
groceries, and afterwards clerked for the firm of 
Hunt & Ellis, dry goods, groceries, etc., in which 
firm he clerked until 1857, when the firm ceased. 
On November 10, 1858, Mr. Ellis was employed in 
the postoflice in Springfield, Illinois, as paper dis 
tributor, and shortly after promoted to take charge 
of the letter mailing department, under Postmas- 
ter Lindsay, which position he has held since, a 



period of twenty-three years, as letter mailing 
clerk, (with the exception of a short interval, in 
which time he was in the office of Governor 
Yates.) All of the various places of Mr, Ellis' 
employment were in Springfield, Illinois. His 
father, A. Y. Ellis, Sr , was in business with A. 
G. Herndon, groceries and provisions; Assessor 
under General Henry, Sheriff; was with General 
Henry in his store, and with Foley Vaughn, and 
next with Mr. Garland; was with Condell, Jones 
& Co.; was Postmaster in Springfield under 
Presidents Taylor and Fillmore; was with Z. A. 
Enos in the feed and commission business; then 
in partnership with H. A. Grannis in merchan- 
dising; next with John Williams & Co., then 
Hurst & Ellis, and afterwards merchandising by 
himself; afterward general delivery clerk in the 
post office in Springfield, under Postmaster Lind- 
say, then removed to his farm in Moro, Madison 
county, Illinois, in 1864, or thereabouts. The 
different firms mentioned with whom Mr. A. Y, 
Ellis was with, were all of Springfield, Illinois. 
He was born in Warsaw county, Kentucky, No- 
vember 30, 1807, and died March 10, 1878, aged 
seventy years. His wife, Virginia, was born 
September, 1813, and resides on their farm near 
Moro, Illinois. The subject of this sketch, Abner 
Y, Ellis, was married December 20, 1865, in Rey- 
nolds township. Ogle county, Illinois, to Carrie 
L. Flagg, daughter of Willai'd Flagg (farmer) 
and Mrs. Lucy Flagg, natives of the State of 
Vermont, came to Ogle county, Illinois, in an 
early day. Mr. and Mrs. E. have four children, 
Richard Y., Alfred F., William F., and Lucy V., 
all born in the city of Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. 
Ellis was educated in her native county. Ogle 
county, in which she taught school for one year. 
She has one brother, Alfred M., and one half- 
brother, Oscar M. Lake, and two sisters, Mrs. 
Julia Braiden and Mrs. Antoinette Young. Mr. 
Ellis has four brothers, namely: Volney R, Or- 
ville P., Henry, John C., and two sisters, namely: 
Jane F., Salom E., all living. Mr. Ellis is a 
member of the National American Association, 
Calhoun Lodge, No. 13. Mr. Ellis has shown 
his integrity to the people by retaining his posi- 
tion of trust for a number of years. 

Temp Elliott was born in Frankfort, Franklin 
county, Kentucky, December 9, 1835, and when 
seven years of age came with his parents to Illi- 
nois, and settled on a farm in Cartwright town- 
ship, Sangamon county. Lived there on the 
farm until 1856, when hs came with his parents 
to Springfield. He attended the Lutheran Col- 
lege, which is known now as the Corcordia, until 
1856. During that time Mr. Springer was Presi- 



600 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



dout. In 1850 Mr. Temp Elliott went to Cali- 
fornia, and remained in the mines until 1802, 
when he returned to Springfield, Illinois, and 
opened a wholesale and retail grocery business 
on the east side of the square. The firm was 
Keily & Elliott. He remained in the business 
five years, then traded in stock until 1871, when 
he was deputy sheriff two years. He then 
traded in cattle until 1870, when he was elected 
Sheriff of Sangamon county, by a large majority. 
He was Sheriff until 1878, when he engaged in 
the buying and driving of Texas cattle from 
Texas to Colorado and Wyoming Territories, his 
present occupation. He was married to Miss 
Mary Constant, October 8, 1802. She was born 
in Logan county, Illinois, and she was a daugh- 
ter of A. E. Constant, born in Xenia, Ohio, and 
came to Sangamon county in 1819. He and Mr. 
Lathrop built the first house north of the Sanga- 
mon river. He was a member of the Christian 
Church, and died February, 1874. His wife. 
Miss Mary (Latham) Elliott, was born in Ken- 
tucky; she was a member of the Christian 
Church, and died in 1872. She was the mother 
of three daughters, viz: Mrs. Margerie Thomp- 
son, one of the principal teachers in the Bettie 
Stuart Institute, at Springfield, Illinois; Mrs. 
Temp Elliott, and Miss Kate Constant, who has 
charge of the Primary Department in the Bettie 
Stuart Institute at Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. 
Temp Elliott have six children, viz: Miss Hatty 
Archie, Rita, Harry, Griffith, and Maude 
Elliott. Mrs. Elliott is a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

The father of Temp was John Elliott, 
born in Virginia, and when small moved 
to Kentucky, and came to Illinois in 1834, and 
settled in Sangamon county. He was a member 
of the Baptist Church, and died June, 1856. 
His wife was Jane E. Taylor, born in Kentucky 
in 1795. She is living with her son, Temp El- 
liott, in Springfield, Illinois, in her 87th year. 
Her father, John G. Taylor, born in Virginia, 
was a Baptist minister for sixty years. He 
wrote the history of the " Twelve Baptist 
Churches." He died in Kentucky in 1886. 
Three of his children came to Sangamon county, 
viz: Juffge W. Taylor, for many years Judge of 
Sangamon County Probate Court; Mrs. Joseph 
Smith, living in Bates, Illinois, the mother of 
Major Smith, of Bates; John T. Smith, of 
the Ridgely National Bank; Mrs. David Brown, 
of Bates, and the mother of Temp Elliott. Mr. 
Elliott, the subject of this sketch, , has a 
nice residence at 835 South Sixth street, where 
he resides. In politics he is a Democrat, and 



cast his first vote for Breckenridge for President 
of the United States. 

Sainuel S. Elder, dealer in stoves, tinware, 
grates, and mantles, 616 Washington street, has 
conducted that branch of merchandising in 
Springfield over a quarter of a century. Samuel 
Elder and Phebe Clinkinbeard married and set- 
tled in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where the 
subject of this biography was born. May 5, 1831, 
and is one of their family of twenty children, of 
whom fourteen lived to adult age. They moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, in November, 1834, 
and located two miles north of Rochester vil- 
lage, where they reared their large family. Mr. 
Elder died there in 18 — . His widow resides in 
the city, aged eighty-three years in December. 
iSamuel came to Springfield, February 17, 1849; 
began learning the tinner's trade the following 
day, and has operated on his own account since 
1854. He has a fine trade in stoves and grates 
and mantles, making a specialty of the latter, 
and does an extensive business in roofing, galva- 
nized iron cornice, and general job work, in 
which he employs an average of six men. He 
married Sarah Shives, in Springfield, Illinois; 
she was born in the State of Pennsylvania, but 
brought up in Sangamon county. They have 
but one living child, Gusta J., now the wife of 
L. A. Constant, of Springfield. Mr. Elder has 
been an Odd Fellow more than twenty years, 
and he and his wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

Zimri A. Enos, civil engineer, Springfield, 
Illinois, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, Septem- 
ber 29, 1821. He is a son of Pascal P., and 
Salome (Paddock) Enos, natives of Connecticut 
and Vermont, respectively. Mr. E. was two 
years old when his parents came to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and located on the present site 
of Springfield. His early education was re- 
ceived in the old-fashion log school house and 
later enjoyed better school privileges. Has been 
a student in the Sj)ringfield Academy, the Jesuit 
University in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Illi- 
nois University in Jacksonville. After this 
course of instruction, he became a student in 
law and studied under Colonel Baker and Albert 
T. Bledsoe, in Springfield, Illinois, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1845. Mr. Enos entered 
into the practice of his legal profession in Spring- 
field, during which time he was associated with 
James H. Matheny and Vincent Kidgely. After 
giving up the profession, he became a commis- 
sion merchant in Springfield and continued as 
such for three years. Turning his attention to 
the original purpose of his education, viz.: civil 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



661 



engineering and surveying. He entered this 
tield of labor in 1854, and ever since has given 
it his attention. Mr. Enos has been elected 
twice County Surveyor; is a member of the Ma- 
sonic Order, Central Lodge, No 71, in Spring- 
field, and associated with the following degrees 
of the order, viz.: Chapter, Counsel, and Con- 
sistory. Mr. Enos was married in Springfield 
June 10, 1846, to Agnes D. Trotter, born Feb- 
ruary 15, 1825, in New York City. By this 
union were born six children in Sangamon 
county, viz.: Pascal P., George T., William P., 
Catharine I., Allen Z., and Louisa I. who are all 
living. 

Orlistus H. Baker, was boru in Prebble county, 
Ohio, June 30, 1832, and is the son of John 
Baker, native of Rockingham county, Virginia, 
born June 23, 1810. He moved with his parents 
to Prebble county, Ohio, in 1818, when but seven 
years of age. He married Mary A. Freemen, 
who was also a native of that county and 
daughter of Henry and Polly (Campbell) Free- 
man. The Bakers sprang from German ances- 
tors, and were farmers. John Baker removed 
from Ohio to Sangamon county, November 22, 
1837, where he remained until 1871. He then 
moved to Bates county, Missouri, where he died, 
September 12, 1880. His first wife's death oc- 
curred in Prebble county, Ohio. Orlistus R. 
Baker is the eldest of eight children; was 
reared on a farm, and educated in the schools of 
Sangamon county. He followed farming until 
1869, when he was elected to the office of County 
Treasurer of Sangamon county, which office he 
held for two successive terms, and previous to 
that, being a member of the Board of Super- 
visors for eight years. May 29, 1854, Mr. Baker 
married Polly Ann Duncan, a native of this 
county, born August 1,1835. She is the daughter 
of William T. H. Duncan, of Saliabuiy town- 
ship, who was one of Sangamon county's early 
pioneers. Her mother's name was Eve Miller 
Duncan. Their family consists of eight chil- 
dren, Ann Louise, Charles B., Harriet M., John 
W., Carrie N., Minnie A., Eva B. and Orlistus 
R., who are living at the present time. In 1874, 
after retiring from the office of County Treas- 
urer, he returned to his farm, where he remained 
until January, 1881, when he removed to the 
city of Springfield, where he engaged in the 
grocery business with his son-in-law, H. W. 
Sheiry, on the corner of Fifth and Wright 
streets, where they are doing a prosperous busi- 
ness. 

Louis H. Coleman, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Hopkinsvilie, Christian county, Ken- 

77— 



tucky, September 2, 1842; is the son of H. H. 
and Barbra A. Coleman, natives of the State of 
Kentucky. At the age of six, Mr. Coleman came 
to Warren county, Illinois, on a v sit to his 
grandfather, William Hopper, who emancipated 
his slaves in Kentucky over fifty years ago, and 
moved to a free soil State and became an early 
and earnest champion of the great principles 
upon which the great National Republican party 
was afterwards founded. During this visit of 
eighteen months, he became very much attached 
to a farm life, and upon his return to Kentucky, 
entreated his parents to permit him to return. 
In 1853 he carried his point, and returned to the 
farm in Warren, to remain four years, during 
which time he farmed in summer and attended 
school in winter. After attending school in Ab- 
ington, Illinois, during the college years of 1856- 
57, he returned to Kentucky, entered school in 
his native town, and continued until the summer 
of 1860, when he entered Bethany College, Vir- 
ginia, with the intention of taking a thorough 
collegiate course. This institution, being largely 
patronized by Southern boys, the opening up of 
hostilities between the North and the South, 
made the students very nervous and anxious to 
return home. The school being virtually broken 
up for a time, Mr. Coleman returned home, in 
the summer of 1861, and resolved to give up a 
professional for that of a commercial life. So, 
in 1862, he entered the dry goods house of E H. 
Hopper, and app'ied himself closely to the study 
of the trade. After remaining in this house four 
years, and filling the most responsible position 
in it, he determined to return to Illinois and 
make it his permanent home. Arriving in Bloom- 
ington in the spring of 1866, he bought an in- 
terest in a dry goods house, and supposed him- 
self a fixture of the place. But on the fourth of 
October, of the same year, he was married to 
Jenny B. Logan, of Springfield, Illinois, (daugh- 
ter of the late Hon. Stephen T. Logan .and 
America Logan,) and at the earnest solicitation 
of the Judge, he sold out his interest and moved 
to Springfield. Their children ai'e Logan, Chris- 
topher B., Mary Logan, and Louis Garfield. In 
the spring of 1868, Mr. Coleman and G. M. 
Brown bought out the store of W. H. Johnson & 
Co., on the east side of the square, in Spring- 
field, and commenced business under the style 
of Brown & Coleman. This co-partnership 
lasted two years. Mr. Coleman then bought out 
Mr. Brown's interest, and continued the business 
in his own name until May, 1881. Being an en- 
tire stranger to his trade, he was compelled to 
apply himself very closely and study diligently 



662 



HISTOIIY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the best means of building up a good and profit- 
able business. During the thirteen years he was 
in the trade, he had strong competition from old 
and well established houses, and he never could 
have built up the trade he had, and secured the 
class of customers that patronized him, had he 
no attended to his business closely, treated his 
customers courteously and served them honestly. 
His business grew on his hands every year, and 
having acquired the habit of continually looking 
after all the details, personally serving many of 
his customers, he discovered that he was wearing 
out too fast, so decided to sell out and quit the 
business entirely. This he did in May, 1881, and 
in returning his thanks to his many friends and 
customers, he said he retired from the trade with 
many regrets, for he had the largest trade and 
the best class of customers of any house in the 
city. 

Sullivan Conant was born February 26, 1801, 
at Oakham, Massachusetts, and was married at 
Shutesburry, Massachusetts, September 10, 1822, 
and in November, 1830, they built a raft and 
started west, and floated to Pittsburg. There 
they took a steamboat down the Ohio, and 
up the Mississippi river to Chester, Ran- 
dolph county, Illinois, where the youngest child 
died. In January, 1831, Mr. Conant started 
with his family, in a sleigh, to visit some old 
friends near Carrolton, Greene eounty, Illinois, 
going by Illinoistown. now East St. Louis. 
They continued their journey by Jacksonville 
to Springfield, arriving February 18, 1831. 
When they left Chester the snow was about six 
inches deep, but when they arrived in Spring- 
field it was on four feet of snow, being the 
height of the " deep snow." Mr. Conant is yet 
a citizen of Springfield. 

James Fairchild was born in London, Eng- 
land, May 9, 1834. At the age of eleven years, 
he left school, and was put with a jeweler and 
gilder, to see how he would like that trade, as 
he cared little for school, and was desirous of 
going out to work. At fourteen years of age, 
he was apprenticed for seven years, to learn 
watch gilding. At twenty-one years of age, hav- 
ing served his apprenticeship, and trade being 
dull, he obtained a clerkship with Thomas 
Sniythe, Esq., barrister, in Lincoln's Inn, with 
whom he remained two years. September 14, 
1850, he was married to Miss Mary Ann Rob- 
bins, daughter of Thomas and Mary Robbins. 
They had attended Sunday school together from 
childhood, and were both members of City Road 
Wcsleyan Chapel. 



Thomas Smythe, Esq., having retired from 
business, Mr. Fairchild got a situation with 
Messrs Biron & Cary, barristers, Lincoln's Inn. 
Soon after, they dissolved partnership, and he 
went with Mr. Biron, who removed to the Temple, 
and Mr. George Hunter Cary soon after this was 
appointed Attorney General of British Colum- 
bia. 

In August, 1859, Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild emi- 
grated to Canada. After visiting the principal 
cities of Canada, and spending a month with 
friends at Adolphustown, on the Bay of Quintie, 
they came to the United States. At New York 
City, he was engaged at silver-plating. Here 
he remained seven months, then removing to 
Waltham, Massachusetts, where he worked at 
his trade, watch gilding. After working here 
for twelve months, the war having broken out, 
and work being scarce, he sought and obtained 
a situation at Nashua, New Hampshire, where a 
new watch factory was started, remaining here 
about a year and a half, when the American 
Watch Company, of Waltham, bought out the 
Nashua factory, the said company removing the 
tools and hiring the hands. Mr. Fairchild re- 
turned to Waltham, and remained about a year, 
till the National Watch Company, of Elgin, was 
started. Here he remained five years. In 1870, 
the Springfield Watch Company, on their organ- 
ization, engaged his service for five years, by 
written contract, visiting Springfield, and then 
with his wife and adopted son James, making a 
trip to the home of his boyhood, visiting his 
aged father, and spending two months with his 
old friends. Returning, he took his position as 
foreman of the gilding department, in which 
position he is now engaged. 

April 3, 1879, Mr. F. lost his wife, who died 
of cancer. She was an earnest Christian, and 
beloved by all who knew her. 

May 1, 1880, Mr. Fairchild was married in 
Brooklyn, New York, to Miss Mary Parkes, of 
that j^lace, daughter of Thomas and Esther 
Parkes. 

On March 22, 1881, they had a daughter 
born to them, Marian P. Fairchild. 

Mr. Fairchild is the son of Henry Donville 
Fairchild, who was a city missionary in London 
for twenty -three years. He was born in London, 
and educated at the Christ Church Blue Coat 
school. He died in 1873, his wife, Mary A. 
Bridges, having died in 1863. She was born in 
Bury street, Edmonds, Suffolk, England. She, 
with her husband, were members of the Wes- 
leyan Methodist church. She was the mother 
of twelve children, eight only living at one time. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



633 



Mr. James Fairchild is a Mason; was made 
such in Rising Sun Lodge, Nashua, New Hamp- 
shire; now a member of Monitor Lodge, Elgin. 
He is an active Christian worker, having organ- 
ized several Sunday schools, and built a church 
in Riverton, in this county. He received a 
license as an Exhorter, in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, in Waltham, in 1860, and then 
licensed as Local Preacher In Nashua, New 
Hampshire, in 1861, which license has been re- 
newed every year since that time. He is also 
an ardent temperance worker, having been Chair- 
man of the Executive Committee of the Reform 
Club in the City of Springfield for the last four 
years, and also Lodge Deputy of the Good 
Templars of the above city. 

Mr. Fairchild is acknowledged to be the best 
gilder in America. 

Andreio L Faiccett, foreman of the ^Etna 
Foundry, has filled that position since January, 
1857. He was born in Ireland, and is forty- 
five years of age. He emigrated to America 
with his parents, in childhood. They settled in 
Connecticut, and from there moved to Spring- 
field, Illinois, in 1856, his father coming as an 
employe of the Toledo, Wabash & Western 
Railroad Company. Andrew learned the trade 
of iron molding in New Haven, Connecticut, 
where he worked two years at the business as a 
journeyman, before coming West. The ^Etna 
works have grown from infancy during his con- 
nection with them. He has from thirty to fifty 
men under his supervision in the molding de- 
partment. 

Mr. Fawcett married in Springfield in 1867, to 
Mary A. Delaney, who was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, and was brought by her parents 
to Springfield, Illinois, when two years of age. 
Their family consists of four daughters and a 
son. 

Hypolite Fayart, manufacturer of and dealer 
in boots and shoes, and also dealer in 
leather and findings, 416 Adams street settled in 
Springfield in 1853, and began the manufacture 
of foot gear in a small way. The business 
rapidly grew until he employed at one time six- 
teen mechanics; now works five. In 1862, he 
put in a stock of ready-made goods, in which he 
soon secured a very heavy trade. In I860 he 
erected the front part of the building he now oc- 
pies, and subsequently built two extensions, 
making his store and shop twenty by one hun- 
dred and fifty-seven feet. In 1879, Mr. Fayart 
added a stock of leather and findings, of which 
he keeps a general supply for the market. 
During 1880, the sales in the boot and shoe de- 1 



partment aggregated $24,000. Mr. Fayart is a 
native of France, and is forty-nine 3ears of age; 
came to the United States in 1849, and with a 
French colony settled in Nauvoo, after the de- 
parture of the Mormons. In 1854, he married 
Eugiene Fayart, a cousin, who emigrated with 
the colony when he came over. They have 
three sons and an adopted daughter. The 
eldest son, Eugene, is twenty-four ; Joseph, 
twenty ; and Jules, sixteen years of age, all of 
them salesmen in the store. They lost their 
first son, and the youngest child, a daughter. 
Mr. Fayart was elected to the City Council in 
April, 1881, from the Sixth Ward. He is a 
MasoH, and has passed through the degrees to 
Knight Templar. 

Fred H. Feitshcms, Superintendent of the 
Springfield Schools, and Principal of the High 
School, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1846. His 
parents were both natives of Germany. After 
attending the common and High Schools, gradu- 
ated from Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, 
in the class of 1869, Avith the degree of B. A., 
and three years later, received the degree of 
M. A, He studed theology under Dr. Henry E. 
Jacobs, Professor of Latin Literature in Pensyl- 
vania College, and completed the course, but did 
not enter the ministry. He taught in the country 
schools two years before graduating; and after 
leaving college, taught a year in the classical 
school, at Rochester, Pennsylvania, as Professor 
of Mathematics. He came from there to Spring- 
field, in the fall of 1870, and took charge, for 
three years, of St. Paul's College — the old Illi- 
nois State University. In September, 1873, Mr. 
Feitshans entered the Springfield High School 
as Assistant Principal; was promoted to Princi- 
pal the same fall, and has filled that position 
until the present time. In the summer of 1881, 
he was elected Superintendent of City Schools 
in addition to the Principalship. In 1872, Pro- 
fessor Feitshans was elected to the Chair of 
Mathematics, in Wisconsin University; in 1873, 
he was elected to the Chair of Greek, in Carthage 
College, Carthage, Illinois; was elected Professor 
of English Literature in Thiel College, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1874; and the following year was ten- 
dered the principalship of the Newark Acad- 
emy, Newark, New Jersey. He declined all of 
these proffered honors, preferring the broad, un- 
trammeled field of labor afforded in the public 
school work. Mr. Feitshans is a gentleman of 
broad culture and progressive ideas and methods 
as an instructor. In September, 1876, he united 
in marriage with Miss Mary E. Flanders, then 
Assistant Principal of the Bloomington High 



664 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



School aud teacher of the German language and 
astronomy. She is a native of Marengo, Mc- 
Henry county, Illinois; was educated in Lake 
Erie Seminary, graduated in 1865, and spent 
three years in Europe, studying the German aud 
French languages. She taught two years in 
Lake Erie Seminary, and two in Cleveland Semi- 
nary. Two children, one of each sex, have been 
born to them. 

JBenjaniin H. Ferguson, Cashier of the Marine 
Insurance Bank, Springfield, is a native of San- 
gamon county, Illinois; was born in December, 
1-35. His father, Benjamin Ferguson, was 
born in MoQongahela City, Pennsylvania, where 
he married Sarah Irwin, also of that State. 
They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 
1^34. Eight years afterwards Mr. Ferguson 
died, leaving a widow and four children, all 
alive but the eldest son. The subject of this 
sketch passed about ten years in the grocery 
of his brother-in-law, Mr. Jacob Bunn, and in 
August, 1862, recruited Company B, of the One 
Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, was 
elected its Captain, in which capacity he served 
two years; participated in the siege of Vicks- 
burg, at Jackson, and other minor engagements. 
Retiring from the army, Captain Ferguson en- 
tered the bank, in the fall of 1864; the following 
spring he became, and has since been, its cashier. 
In 1868, he established a glassware and crockery 
store, on the corner of Monroe and Sixth streets, 
which he still owns, and which is one of the 
largest and most prosperous houses of its class 
in Central Illinois, doing a business of $60,000 
to $75,000 a year. Mr. Ferguson married Miss 
Alice, daughter of Judge B. S. Edwards, in 
1865. She is a native of the city of Springfield. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. F. are members of the First 
Presbyterian Church of the city. 

Stephen D. Fisher was born in Charlotte, 
Vermont, March 7, 1822. When a year old his 
jjarents moved to Essex, New York, where he 
attended school, he also attended the West 
Point Academy, He left Essex, New York, for 
Springfield, Illinois September 1844, and taught 
school one quarter in the Baker District and at 
Rochester one year, and in May, 1846, returned 
to Essex, New York, where he was engaged in 
teaching until the spring of 1850, when he re- 
turned to Rochester, Illinois, and taught during 
the winters of 1851 and '52, and October 19, 
1S52, was married to Miss Marion J. St, Clair, at 
Rochester; she was born in Essex, New York, 
September 18, 1828, and died in 1867; she was 
a daughter of L. H. St. Clair, born in Vermont, 
May 6, 1800; he was a farmer and a cloth-dresser 



by trade, and died April 14, 1866; his wife. Miss 
Lurenda Spaulding, born in Vermont October 
31, 1799, died in Rochester, Illinois, February 
21, 1853. They had eight children, were both 
membei's of the Second Presbyterian Church, in 
Springfield. After Mr. S. D. Fisher was married, 
in 1852, he settled in Waynesville, Illinois, 
where he was book-keeper in a store of general 
merchandise, two years, when he went with the 
same firm to Atlanta, where he was book-keeper 
until 1875, when he came to Springfield, Illinois, 
and was elected Secretaiy of the State Board of 
Agriculture, a position he has faithfully filled 
and still retains. He was elected a member of 
the Illinois State Board of Equalization in 1872, 
served three years, when he resigned on account 
of his duties as Secretary of the State Board of 
Agriculture, he was a member of this board four 
years before he was appointed secretary: He 
was married to his present wife. Miss Elzina M, 
Benton, October 20, 1868. She was born in 
Ohio, November 30, 1844; she was a daughter of 
Francis A. Benton, who was born in Lenox, 
Massachusetts April 30, 1816. He was a gradu- 
ate and followed teaching as a profession, he 
died in Lincoln, Illinois, November 10, 1866; his 
wife, Elizabeth A. Ketcham was born in Connecti- 
cut, April 1823; they were married in Berkshire, 
Ohio, November 9, 1842. They had four chil- 
dren, three living, Eliznia M., Moretta A., and 
Frank J, Benton, Asa Fisher, father of S. D, 
Fisher, was born in Vermont, April 25, 1781, 
he died in Troy, New York, in 1832, he 
was married to Lavisa D, Smith, in Vermont, 
January 1, 1807, she was born in Vermont, 
January 2, 1792, and died at Whallonsburg, New 
York, May 25, 1838. 

Abraham H. Fisher, Jeweler and dealer in 
musical instruments, 504 south side of square, 
located in business at his present number eight 
years ago. He occupies two floors of the build- 
ing twenty by ninetj^-six. The store is beauti- 
fully fitted up and furnished with several ample 
burglar proof safes, which serve as depositories 
for his elegant stock of diamonds and fine 
jewelry, aggregating i>35,000 in value. The 
second floor is devoted to musical merchandise 
where may be seen constantly in stock many of 
the best standard instruments, among them the 
Steinway, Weber, Steck, and Fisher pianos, and 
the Esty, Burdett,New England and Taylor and 
Farley organs, for all of which Mr. Fisher has 
the agency in this part of Illinois. He keeps 
three traveling salesmen on the road in the 
intei'est of his music trade. He is also a part- 
ner in the music house of Fisher & Judkins, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



665 



established in August, 1881, on north Sixth 
street, which carries on a wholesale and retail 
business in the same class of pianos and organs, 
handling all kinds of small instruments and 
sheet music besides. Mr. Fisher is a Pennsyl- 
vanian by birth, and is thirty-seven years old. 
He came to Springfield, Illinois, in April, 1869, 
and has been identified with this branch of mer- 
cantile business ever since. His parents and 
family came to the city with him. His father, 
John Fisher died here in 1876, and the widow 
and five sons and two daughters are residents of 
Springfield. The subject of this article remains 
unmarried. 

Johi 21. Forden, grocer, 112 North Fifth 
street and 523 East Monroe street, has been in 
the grocery business in Springfield since 1863. 
He first started on the south side of Washington 
street, two doors west of the square, and moved 
to his present store in 1875. He erected his 
building on Monroe street in 1880, and opened 
with a fresh stock of goods in January, 1881. 
The Fifth street store is 20x110 feet in area; 
and the Monroe street store 20x80 feet. They 
are both stocked with an extensive assortment 
of staple and fancy groceries, and each has a 
large retail trade. 

Mr. Forden was born in Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky, in January, 1831; is the son of John For- 
den and Evaline Sydner, who married in Ken- 
tucky, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
when the subject of this sketch was three 
months old, settling on Round Prairie, four 
miles east of Springfield, where they passed the 
rest of their lives. His mother died nearly forty- 
five years ago, father in 1850. Mr. Forden im- 
proved a farm of one hundred and ninety acres 
in that neighborhood, and tilled it eight years 
before entering into his present business. In 
1855 he manned Eliza J. Wright, a native of 
Sangamon county, Illinois. They have but one 
child alive, Alice, fourteen years of age. 

Frank Fleury, druggist, 505 Washington 
street, north side of the square, established the 
business at this number in August, 1876. He 
has a fine store, carries a large stock of drugs 
and toilet goods, and has an extensive trade. 
His prescription business, a special feature of 
this house, is exceptionally large. The Fleury 
Medicine Company, of which he is chief pro- 
prietor, manufactures several valuable medic- 
inal remedies of tried and acknowledged merit. 
Among them are, "Indian Herbs of Joy," a 
remedy for diseases arising from impurities of 
the blood, of which more than four thousand 
bottles have been sold in Springfield in the past 



year; and Fleury's Tasteless Cascarina, a new 
remedy for billiousness, headache and torpid 
liver. Of this over one thousand five hundred 
packages have been sold in Springfield in the 
past eight months. Mr. Fleury has also manu- 
factured DuFay's Magic Fluids for about five 
years, and has sold over ten thousand bottles of 
them in that time. 

Mr. Fleury was born in Meadville, Pennsylva- 
nia, September 28, 1841; served thiee years at 
the drug business with Carter & Brother, in 
Erie, Pennsylvania; and declining an offer from 
the firm of |50 per month, he came West, 
landing in Illinois in 1858. After spending a 
short time in Alton and Chicago, he located in 
Bloomington; from there came to Springfield in 
June, 18H5; was elected City Clerk on the 
Democratic ticket in 1868, and served till 1872, 
four consecutive years. Previous to opening 
his present store he had been clerking in the 
drug business. He married Annie M., the eldest 
daughter of William H. Herndon, June 26, 
1863. She was born April 9, 1843, in Spring- 
field, Illinois. One child has been born of their 
union, Annie May Fleury. 

Jolin Foster, proprietor of Foster's livery, 
Washington street, near Ninth, established the 
business at that location in Mai'ch, 1872. In 
July, 1876, he added the undertaking business, 
and has since carried on both, employing a capi- 
tal of about $12,000. His stock comprises about 
forty horses and a corresponding number of 
vehicles. He owns a farm of one hundred and 
twenty-five acres, three and a half miles south 
of the city, which he also cultivates. Mr. Fos- 
ter is a native of Ireland, born March 19, 1840; 
came to America with parents, in 1847, landing 
in Philadelphia in January. The family lived 
for a time in New York and Pennsylvania; came 
to Illinois in 1852, and lived a number of years 
in Lee and Whiteside counties. In October, 

1862, the subject of this memoir came to Spring- 
field, and was employed as a hand in the lumber 
business about eight years. At the end of that 
time he started in the business of teaming, which 
he carried on about five years before engaging 
in liver)\ Mr. Foster married in Springfield, in 

1863, to Mary Grady, also born in Ireland, and 
came to the city about the same time he did. 
They have seven children and one adopted child. 
Mr. F. was elected Alderman of the First Ward 
in the spring of 1881; is a member of the West- 
ern Catholic Union, and of the Ancient Order of 
Hibernians. 

JB. Franz, meat market, Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Baden, Germany, May 10, 1847. Mr. 



066 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Franz is a son of Fred and Maria Franz, natives 
of Germany. In the year of 1865, at the age of 
eighteen, he left his home for America, and 
landed at New York City, where he remained a 
short time, and from thence to Springfield, in 
October, and began the work of butchering, and 
in 1869 commenced in the same business for him- 
self on Fifth street, from which time was located 
in the market house, up to 1876 and subsequently 
in the same street where he built a brick build- 
ing in which he is located at present. Mr. Franz 
is doing a good business and he sells fifteen head 
of beeves each week, and ships two hundred 
pounds of sausage each day to different points. 
Was married in Springfield, October 19, 1869, to 
Miss Mollie Reisch, born in Germany, 1849, and 
daughter of Joseph and Josephine Reisch, natives 
of Germany, who came to America and landed 
at New Orleans, from which place they came to 
Springfield in 1855. Mr. Franz was educated in 
Germany and Mrs. Franz in Springfield. They 
have four children Rosalie, Adolph, Ileinierak 
and Louisa. 

Mr. and Mrs. Franz are members of the Catho- 
lic Church. 

6. G. French, a native of New York, was 
born at Painted Post. Emigrated to Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1835. Was married in 
1844 to Elizabeth C. Welsh, of Washington 
City, commenced housekeeping at Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania, but shortly after removed to 
Waynesboro, where he resided for a number of 
years. From thence he moved to the city of 
Washington and continued to reside there till 
the spring of 1856, when he arrived in Spring- 
field. He has been engaged in the practice of 
dentistry about 35 years, and was one of the few 
engaged in that profession at the beginning of 
his professional career outside the large cities. 
He is one of the oldest dentists ia Illinois, and 
has practiced in Springfield over twenty-five 
years. He is the author of many devices and 
several patents pertaining to the business. His 
family consists of four daughters and three 
sons. He was one of eight brothers. His 
father was a native of Massachusetts, and his 
mother from Connecticut. 

James Furlong, dry goods merchant, has had 
a mercantile experience in Springfield of about 
sixteen years. He was born in Ireland thirty- 
five years ago; was educated there in the busi- 
ness of an iron monger — in American parlance, 
hardware business. He immigrated to Canada 
in January, 1865, and came to Springfield in 
April of that year; but before settling here per- 
manently, spent a year in Omaha keeping books. 



He arrived in Springfield forty dollars in debt, 
with no cash capital; obtaining a position as 
clerk continued to work for others till he opened 
his present store at 128 South Sixth street, east 
side of the square, with an entire neM^ stock of 
goods in 1879. Three stories and basement of 
the building, one hundred feet deep, are devoted 
to his large stock, which embraces every article 
kept by a first-class dry goods* house. His large 
retail trade requires the labor of seven salesmen, 
and has grown from $32,000 to $60,000 per 
annum. Mr. Furlong married Miss Kate Arm- 
strong, a native of Springfield, Illinois, in 1875. 
They have one surviving son, Thomas Furlong, 
and have buried one. 

Frnest F. Gehhnan, contractor and builder, 
located in Springfield in 1849, and has been car- 
rying on his present business since 1862. He is 
a native of Germany, and is fifty-four years of 
age. Having learned the trade of cabinet mak- 
ing in the old country, he crossed the Atlantic 
and came via New Orleans to Beardstown, and 
from there walked across the country to Spring- 
field arriving in Febraary, 1849. Notwithstand- 
ing he was unable to speak a w^ord of English, 
he soon obtained employment and continued 
working as a journeyman at cabinet and carpen- 
ter work about thirteen years. The first days 
labor he performed in Springfield was in making 
gates, on the same ground where he erected the 
palatial residence of Hon. James C. Conkling, 
twenty years later. Starting in contracting in 
1862, Mr. Gehlman's superior knowledge of the 
construction of buildings, and conscientious dis- 
charge of his obligations in executing contracts 
soon earned for him a deserved popularity, and 
gave him an extensive business. In 1863, he 
erected the residence of D. A. Brown, at Bates, 
Illinois, costing $4,000; the following year built 
the elegant farm uouse of W. B. Huffaker, 
near Berlin, in Sangamon county, costing $26,- 
000. Mr. E. Myers furnished the plan, which 
was exhibited at the Paris Exposition and took 
the prize. The Catholic school building, in 
Springfield, was erected by him in 1867, and in 

1868, he built an addition to Blackburn Uni- 
versity, in Carlinville, at a cost of $32,000; in 

1869, built the dwelling of Hon. James C. Conk- 
ling, on South Sixth street, costing $30,000. In 
1871, Mr. Gehlman was awarded the contract 
for building the Illinois State Industrial Uni- 
versity, at Champaign, which he completed in 
1873, together with the Drill Hall and Mechan- 
ical building. The main superstructure cost 
about $200,000 and the latter about $20,000. 
Immediately after completing these he built a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



667 



bank and a business block in Champaign, costing 
respectively, -tl 4,000 and $32,000; at the same 
time erected a building in Urbana, at a cost of 
$20,000, and two costly buildings in Chenoa. 
In 1876, he built B. F. Caldwell's residence 
in Curran township, at a cost of over $20,- 
000; in 1879, rebuilt the opera house in Spring- 
field, for George W. Chatterton, Jr., at an ex- 
pense of about 150,000, making it one of the 
finest theatrical buildings in Illinois. Upon the 
completion of this work Mr. Chatterton pre- 
sented Mr. Gehlman with a fine watch and chain 
as a testimonial of his appreciation of his work. 
In 1880, Mr. Gehlman remodled the St. Nich- 
olas Hotel, which was done without closing or 
materially disturbing the business of the house. 
In 1881, he erected the Passfield block, corner 
of Adams and Fifth streets at a cost of about 
$35,000, the most elegant business block in 
Springfield. Besides the buildings mentioned, 
he has erected many others of like character in 
this city, among them the dwellings of Bluford 
Wilson and John T. Peters, which stand as 
monuments of his mechanical skill and in- 
dustry. 

In 1850, Mr. Gehlman united in marriage with 
Mary C. Sidener, of Springfield, a native of 
Kentucky, who died in 1865, leaving three sons. 
In 1868, ^he married Martha Gourley. Five 
children have born of this union. Mr. Gehlman 
has been a member of the Masonic order since 
1853. 

Charles A. Gehrmann, dry goods merchant 
and wholesale dealer in millinery, numbers 113 
west side, and 507 north side of square, started 
in the dry goods business in Springfield August 
1, 1861, and has continued with firm name and 
sign unchanged for twenty years. Mr. Gehr- 
mann is a German by nativity, born in Nord 
Hansen in 1835. At fourteen years of age he 
began mercantile life as an apprentice in a store, 
and spent several years in Berlin; came to 
America in 1858, and after stopping a few 
months in St. Paul, Minnesota, and visiting sev- 
eral other cities, settled in Springfield in June, 
1859. The first two years he was employed as 
salesman in a dry goods store; then opened his 
present store at 113 South Fifth street. Early 
in the summer of 1881 he purchased the lot and 
building he occupies, 20x160 feet in area. In 
1880 he bought the dry goods stock of the old 
firm of John Williams & Co., on the north side 
of the square, and has since carried on business 
there also as a branch house. Mr. Gehrmann 
keeps a heavy stock of dry and dress goods, and 
in connection has a wholesale and retail notion 



and millinery department, in which twelve to 
fourteen milliners are employed. The trade in 
the tAvo stores requires a force of fourteen sales- 
men, who transact a large volume of business. 
These extensive mercantile establishments, as 
well as his elegant homestead, comprising seven 
acres in the north part of the city, artistically 
improved and ornamented, and one of the most 
beautiful places in Central Illinois, are the result 
of Mr. Gehrmann's industry, economy and busi- 
ness tact. He married Minnie Jahnke in Spring- 
field, a native of Berlin. They have two sons 
and three daughters, Charles A., aged seventeen; 
Clara Minnie, fifteen; Adele Agnes, twelve; 
Ella A., ten, and Paul Morton, three years 
old. 

Frank Godley, proprietor of the Springfield 
Shoddy Mills, was born in Yorkshire, England, 
and from ten years of age began learning the 
manufacture of woolen goods, and steadily pur- 
sued the business until he immigrated to the 
United States, in the fall of 1864. Arriving 
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October, he 
entered the employ of David Hay & Brother, 
at Chestnut Hill, proprietors of a woolen and 
shoddy mill. At the end of a year he came 
West and engaged in mining coal at Duquoin, 
Illinois; came from there to Springfield in Feb- 
ruary, 1867, and was employed as one of the 
foremen to sink Beard, Hickox & Co's. coal 
shaft, north of the city, in which he broke away 
the first entry. Leaving that company, he opened 
a coal and wood-yard in 1868 and continued that 
business nine years, then sold out, bought the 
site on which his factory stands, comprising one 
hundred and fifty-seven by five hundred feet of 
ground on the corner of Madison and Fifteenth 
streets; erected buildings and established his 
shoddy manufactory in 1 877. Under his skillful 
and energetic management the business has 
rapidly developed until he now uses about four 
thousand pounds of rags per day, the woolen ones 
being converted into an article called shoddy, 
sold to many of the woolen manufacturers in 
various parts of the country, and used in small 
proportions with wool in making cloths, castsi- 
meres, etc. Mr. Godley has invested in the plant 
and premises $16,000. He married in England 
at twenty-one years of age, Elizabeth Lister. 
They have two daughters and a son. Mr. G. has 
served as a member of the fire department of 
Springfield nine years, and seven years in Eng- 
land. In the spring of 1881 he was elected to 
the Board of Supervisors on the Democratic 
ticket. He is a Mason, member of Tyrian Lodge 
No. 333. 



60S 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



William H. Good, grocer, Sixth street and 
North Grand Avenue, became proprietor of the 
business at his present location in February, 
1879, purchasing the stock from D. A. DeVares. 
He has from fifteen years of age been connected 
with that line of trade as clerk, chiefly for G. A. 
Ballou. He keeps in store a fine assortment of 
family groceries; also a stock of queens and 
glassware, and conducts a prosperous local retail 
business, employing two assistants. Mr. Good 
was born in the city of Springfield, in the resi- 
dence still occupied by his parents, in 1854. 
Three sons and a daughter compose the family 
of James and Mary ( Fenstermaker) Good, of 
whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest son. 
His school opportunities were not ample, and 
his education has been chiefly obtained by prac- 
tical business, of which he has a good knowledge. 
In September, 1879, he married Miss Laura 
Clark, of Williamsville, Sangamon county. One 
son has been born to them, Clinton Edward 
Good. Mr. Good's father is a native of Chris- 
tian county, Illinois; his mother, of Pennsylvania. 
George W. 31. Gordo7i, grocer, corner Eleventh 
and Jackson streets, has been associated with 
that branch of merchandising about six years, 
formerly with J. M. Forden for nearly five years, 
and since March 1, 1880, on his own account in 
his present store. It contains a nice stock of 
goods for the local retail trade, of which he en- 
joys a liberal and increasing share, doing a busi- 
ness of 110,000 a year. Mr. Gordon is the son 
of Aaron Gordon and Sarah C. Bickford, of 
Maine, in which State he was born in 1850. He 
was brought to Springfield, Illinois, when five 
years old. He was educated in the city schools, 
to which was added a course in book-keeping 
and telegraphy. In September, 1878, he mar- 
ried Alice Chandler, of Springfield, who has 
borne him one son, William Gordon. Mr. G. 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Lodge 4 
and Chapter 1. His parents are residents of 
the city. 

Albert F. Gourley, watchmaker and jeweler, 
north-east corner of Sixth and Monroe streets, 
has been identified with this branch of business 
in Springfield for eleven years as proprietor 
and several years previously in the employ of 
others. He located at the above number in 
1875. He keeps in stock a full line of watches, 
clocks, jewelry, silverware and optical goods, 
averaging about $4000 in value. He makes a 
specialty of optical goods and of watch repair- 
ing. He has a prosperous growing retail trade. 
Mr. Gourley was born in Springfield in 184 6; is 
the son of James Gourley, who came to Sanga- 



mon county a young man, forty year ago from 
Pennsylvania. He married Lucy A. Poe, who 
came from North Carolina to Springfield when 
quite young. Four sons and six daughters were 
born to them, one of whom is deceased. Mr. 
Gourley was a boot and shoe merchant. He 
filled the oftice of deputy sherifi" several years, 
and served as Deputy United States Marshal a 
number of years. He died in 1876, aged sixty- 
six years, his wife having died a number of 
years before. Albert learned his trade in Spring- 
field, and has steadily pursued it since. In May, 
1^71, he married Jennie Craig, a native of Ham- 
ilton, Canada. They have one son, Roy, aged 
seven years. Mr. Gourley served five months 
in the army as a member of the One Hundred 
and Thirty-third I. V. I. 

Isaac H. Gray, was born at Tiverton Rhode 
Island, Sunday, 11 o'clock a. m., May 2], 1815; 
when some seven years of age he moved with 
his parents to New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
where he attended school, and graduated at the 
Quaker Academy in 1828; he was engaged in the 
mercantile business there until 1832, when he 
went to Galesburg, Michigan, where he was en- 
gaged in the mercantile trade until his marriage 
to "Miss Charlotte May Clary, March 3, 1836. 
She was born at Whitehouse, New Jersey, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1819, the fruits of this marriage are five 
children, four living, viz: Lotta A. Gray, resid- 
ing in Springfield, Illinois, Mrs. Lou I. Ridgley, 
resides in Springfield, aud is the wife of Henry 
Ridgley, they have three children, George W., 
Howard G. and Miss Kate M.; Charles B., was 
married to Miss Bell Fisher, whose parents re- 
side in Detroit, Michigan; he was teller in the 
Ridgley National Bank, Springfield, for six 
years, and is now a partner in the firm of Fisher, 
Baker & Co., wholesale carriage manufacturers, 
Detroit, Michigan ; they have one child, Edith. 
Lidia M., now Mrs. Mason, resides in Emporia, 
Kansas; they have one son, Fred G. The father 
of Isaac Gray, Philip Gray, was the grandchild 
of Philip Gray, who was one of the Pilgrims, 
from Edinburgh, Scotland, who came over in 
the " Mayflower" and landed at Plymouth Rock, 
his wife, an English Quaker, came with her 
husband in the Mayflower, from Cologne, on the 
Nile river; they are both buried side by side at 
Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Philip Gray, 
father of Isaac Gray, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island. He was 
highly educated and held many prominent 
ofiices, he was a deacon in the Presbytei'ian 
Church forty years. His wife, Susannah Irish, 
was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, she 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



669 



was a member of the Quaker Church, and the 
mother of seven boys and three girls. Mrs. 
Isaac Gray was a daughter of James McCleary, 
born in New Jersey, and Gertrude Van Horn, 
born at Whitehouse town New Jersey, they 
were both members of the Baptist Church, and 
liad a family of ten children. After Mr, Isaac 
Gray was married, in 1836, he began in the mer- 
cantile business, where he remained until 1849, 
when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, Cali- 
fornia. He took a steamer from New York for 
California, crossed the Isthmus of Darien to 
Panama, a perilous journey through canyons, 
gulches and the Chagers river, a distance of 
twenty-three miles, encountering great peril at 
that date; he took a steamer from Panama to 
San Francisco, and was seventeen days on the 
Pacific Ocean. From San Francisco he went up 
the Sacramento river to Sacramento, and from 
there to the north and middle fork of the Ameri- 
can river, and was there chosen "Alcada," and 
held that office during his stay in California. 
He worked a mine with fourteen men one year, 
then returned to his family at Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, where he remained until 1851, when he 
moved with his family to Carlinville, Illinois, 
and bought a quarter section of land at Girard's 
Point, which he soon after exchanged for a hotel 
in Carlinville; in 1853 sold out and moved to 
Springfield, and bought the National Hotel, 
which he sold, and bought the American, after- 
wards known as the Central House, which he 
sold to R. D. Lawrence, for $23,500 cash, 
March 1880, and where Mr. Lawrence has 
erected one of the most splendid buildings in 
Central Illinois. Mr. Gray bought the Pike 
House in Bloomington. Illinois and ran it one 
year, when he leased it for a number of years, 
and while on his second trip to California in '64, 
it burned down; the insurance was ample to 
cover the loss; he then platted the ground and 
sold it for $22,600. In 1867 he took his wife and 
daughters to the Paris Exposition, and traveled 
with them all over Europe, went through France, 
Norway, Sweden, Prussia, Russia, Denmark, 
Holland, Bavaria, Scotland, Finland, Ireland, 
Wales, England and Switzerland; visited Mount 
Vesuvius, crossed the Alps and saw where Bona- 
parte's army encamped; they stopped at Vienna, 
the queer streets of rivers; was there during 
King Emanuel's visit. From Europe Mr. Gray 
and family returned to Springfield, Illinois, 
where he has since remained. While away he 
made notes of dwelling houses in various coun- 
tries, and how built, and is just completing one 
of the most beautiful and convenient residences 

78— 



in the city, at 422 South Sixth street, where he 
resides. In politics he is an Old Line Whig and 
Republican, and he cast his first vote for Har- 
rison for " Tippecanoe and Tyler too," in the 
days of log cabins and hard cider. 

Bluford S. Graves, confectioner and proprie- 
tor of the Farmer's Restaurant and Eating 
House, 224 South Sixth street, opened business 
in Springfield in the fall of 18*7], He keeps a 
stock of confectioneries, nuts and cigars for the 
jobbing trade, and also conducts a restaurant and 
eating house, where meals are served to order at 
all hours. He does a business of $15,000 to $18,- 
000 a year. Mr. Grayes was born in Racine, 
Wisconsin, in December, 1836; was reared on a 
farm in Vermilion county, Illinois, and engaged 
in agricultural pursuits until he went into the 
army. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the One 
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry, and 
fought in twenty-one battles and skirmishes, 
among them, Perryville, Stone River, Chick- 
amauga. Mission Ridge, Graysville, and Buz- 
zard's Roost; received a gun-shot wound in the 
left thigh at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain, 
in June, 1864, and gangrene setting in, he was 
unable for active duty thereafter. He was hon- 
orably discharged early in June, 1865. He car- 
ried on the grocery business in Vermilion county 
before moving to Springfield. In December, 
1867, Mr. Graves married Lizzie Smith, of Ver- 
milion county. Politically, he has always been 
a Democrat. 

Charles W. Green, retired wholesale boot and 
shoe merchant, residence corner Cook and Fifth 
streets, was born in Spencer, Worcester county, 
Massachusetts, in 1828, and took a full English 
course in the schools of his native town. His 
father, Josiah Green, was one of the pioneer 
New England manufacturers of boots and shoes 
by machinery, and carried on the business very 
extensively in Spencer. A large stock of goods 
having accumulated in his father's factory, 
Charles, after making aprospecting tour through 
the West in 1849, proposed to establish a whole- 
sale boot and shoe house in the city of St. Louis. 
This met the approbation of the senior Green, 
the stock was shijjped, and the subject of this 
memoir opened an extensive store, in 1850, on 
the corner of Main and Vine streets, and after 
conducting a heavy business for a number of 
years, was joined by his brother, Jonas H.Green, 
and they continued the house together until 
1873, when they closed it out, and he removed 
to Springfield, Illinois, since which time he has 
not engaged in any steady business. During this 
period of merchtmdising in St. Louis, Mr. Green 



670 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



traveled extensively through the Western States, 
and sold large quantities of boots in Springfield 
and other towns of Illinois. He and the other 
three brothers, Jonas H., Henry R., and Josiah 
Jr., are all practical manufacturers, and the 
brothers are carrying on large factories in Wor- 
cester and Spencer, with capacity of 1,000 pairs 
of boots per day, each. 

In December, 1850, Mr. Green married Miss 
Emily Kibbe, daughter of one of the early and 
leading merchants of Jacksonville, Illinois. 
They have four children, namely, Emily, now 
Mrs. Ryan, Edward, Charles, Jr., and Lillie. 

Benjamin M. Griffith, M. D., is a native of 
Shelby county, Kentucky; born in 1831; read 
medicine in ^Louisiana, Missouri, beginning at 
twenty-one years of age, and after practicing 
three years in Pike county, Illinois, graduated 
from St. Louis Medical College, in the spring of 
1859, and located in practice in Louisiana, Mis- 
souri, remaining there till he moved to Spring- 
field, Illinois, in 1865, Avhere he has carried on 
an extensive practice till the present time. Dur- 
ing his twenty-six years of professional life, Dr. 
Griflith has made surgery a prominent feature, 
and has performed a number of capital opera- 
tions, among which was that of dissecting out 
the shoulder joint in the case of a compound 
fracture of the shoulder, attended with a com- 
plete recovery; and a case of ovariotomy, in 
which he removed an ovarian tumor from a lady 
of Sangamon county, weighing eighty-six pounds. 
She was twenty-nine years of age; the tumor 
had been twelve years gi'owing, and adhered 
throughout the entire front to the abdominal 
walls. The Doctor is a zealous advocate of con- 
servative practice in surgery, and has performed 
some remarkable cures by this method; one case 
just recovered was that of a young man who 
had his foot crushed at the Springfield Rolling 
Mills. The toes were amputated, and erysipelas 
setting in, the flesh sloughed off, leaving a large 
portion of the bones of the foot bare; but by 
conservative treatment the Doctor induced the 
integiments to grow over them sound and healthy, 
thus saving the foot. Another triumph in this 
plan of treatment was in the case of a young 
man whose arm was mangled in a threshing 
machine, and by dissecting out the ulna of the 
fore arm he saved the hand and restored its 
action in a great measure. 

Dr. Griffith was one of the originators and or- 
ganizers of the Sangamon County Medical So- 
ciety, and has served two years as its President, 
is a member of the Illinois District Medical So- 
ciety, of the Illinois State Medical Association, 



and of the Tri-State Medical Society, comprising 
Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky; has filled the 
oflice of Vice President in the two latter Socie- 
ties, and President ot the District Society; in 
1877, was Chairman of the Committee of Ai-- 
rangements for the Tri-State Society. He mar- 
ried Miss Alice A. McElroy, a native of Rawles 
county, Missouri, but a resident of Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in June, 1859. Three children 
have been born of their union; the living are 
Elsie A. and Benjamin Barret. The son is pre- 
paring for the medical profession. Mrs. Griffith 
is a graduate of Jacksonville Female College, 
Illinois, is a lover and devoted student to the 
sciences and English literature. She and the 
daughter are members of the Springfield Art 
Society, and she is also an active worker in be- 
half of foreign missions. 

Williafu P. Grimsley, Secretary of the Ele- 
vator Milling Company; was born in Rochester, 
Sangamon county, Illinois, May 9, 1841; is the 
son of Alexander Grimsley, a native of Virginia, 
who settled in Sangamon county, Illinois, in his 
young manhood in 1832. He married Caroline 
McCoy, born in Kentucky, of Virginia parentage. 
They had but two children, the subject of this 
sketch, and a sister. William has been in the 
milling and grain business from his boyhood, 
erected the old Grimsley Mill on the corner of 
Madison and Tenth streets; ran the Hickox 
Mill on East Adams street from 1875 till Feb- 
ruary, 1881, when he became a member of the 
Elevator Milling Company, which handles a 
large amount of grain, and manufactures a great 
quantity of fiour, a fuller account of which 
appears in the chapter on manufactures in this 
work. Mr. Grimsley married Mary F. Burch, 
a native of Springfield, in June, 1877, who has 
borne him one daughter, Fannie, aged three 
years. Mr. G. is a member of A. O. U. W., 
and is Guide in Capital City Lodge No. 38. 
His parents both died in 1842, and his home 
through childhood and youth was with his uncle, 
William P. Grimsley, Sr. 

Edward A. Guhitz was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, August 3, 1858. He attended school 
until he was fifteen years of age, when he 
clerked in the grocery store of J. G. Byerline, 
two years, then clerked for John W. Bunn & 
Co., four years and six months, then opened a 
store of his own at northwest corner Fourth and 
Grand avenue, where he carries a $3,000 stock 
of groceries and provisions. His father, Adam 
Gubitz, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1827, 
and came to the United States when twenty-one 
years of age, in 1848. He died January 19, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



671 



18G2. His wife, Maggie Baker, was also born 
in Bavaria, Germany. She and husband were 
both members of the German Lutheran Church, 
and had a family of six children, four living, 
viz : Cornelia, Barbara, Edward aud Matilda 
Gubitz. The mother is still living in Spring- 
field. Edward A. Gubitz, the subject of the 
sketch, is a member of the English Lutheran 
Church, at Springfield, Illinois, and in politics 
rather independent. 

Louis H. Hahn, meat market, Springfield, 
Illinois. Among the business men of Spring- 
field may be mentioned the name of Louis H. 
Hahn, who established himself in business in 
ISYS. He carries everything usually kept in a 
first-class market; is a young man, with good 
business abilities, and one of the enterprising 
men of the city. He was born in New York 
City, January l7th, 1854; son of Charles Hahn, 
also a butcher by profession, who came to this 
city in 1864, and has been engaged in the busi- 
ness since. He married Miss Eliza Hammarth, 
and they have had eight children, seven of whom 
are living. 

Mev. Albert Hale, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Glastenburg, Connecticut, November 29, 
1799, son of Mathew and Ruth (Stephens) Hale. 
In youth, he served seven years as clerk in a store 
in Weathersfield, Connecticut, but afterwards en- 
tered Yale Theological Seminary. Among those 
of his graduating class, were the late Rev. Henry 
Durant, Sidney L. Johnson, lawyer, and Rev. 
Asa Turner, all residents of California (the lat- 
ter founded the first Presbyterian Church in 
Quincy, Illinois); Rev. William Adams, D. D., 
of New York; Rev. Horace Bushnell, of Hart- 
ford, Connecticut; Judge Edwards and Judge 
Gould. The first ministerial service of Mr. Hale 
was on a missionary tour in Georgia and other 
Gulf States, preaching, founding Sunday schools, 
and laboring in his might in the Lord's vineyard, 
where he found work to do. He first came to 
Illinois in 1831, and located in Bond county, as 
a home missionary. When he reached Shawnee- 
town, the Black Hawk war was in the height of 
its fury, and the terrified inhabitants were seek- 
ing refuge in log forts. 

In 1833, in the discharge of missionary duties, 
he visited Chicago, where he found two hundred 
and fifty Pottawotomies, many of them intoxi- 
cated, receiving their annuities in blankets, 
clothing, and money. The village of Chicago 
at that time contained about one thousand in- 
habitants, including soldiers, and twenty-two 
groggeries. When once under the influence of 
fire-water, the untutored savage became an easy 



prey of the proprietors of those vile dens, who 
robbed them of their clothing and money. Mr. 
Hale appealed to the Indian agent to interfere 
and put a stop to this iniquity on the part of the 
rum-sellers, but his suggestions were unheeded, 
and no efforts were made to arrest the evil. 
During his visit to Chicago, he preached in a 
school house at the mouth of the river. Many 
Indians, though imperfectly understanding the 
language, gathered in the doorway and around 
the windows, listening, many of them probably 
for the first time, to the sound of the Gospel. 

About this time, he met an old friend, Mr. 
Carpenter, who has since accumulated consider- 
able wealth in Chicago, near the place upon 
which now stands the Cook county court house; 
and in conversation upon the future of the vil- 
lage, Mr. Hale said: "You expect to have a 
city here?" "Yes, some day," replied his friend. 
"What is the land worth here?" "Five dollars 
an acre," replied Mr. Carpenter, "but the diffi- 
culty is, nobody appears to want to buy." 

In 1839, Mr. Hale accepted a call as pastor of 
the Second Presbyterian Church of Springfield, 
and continued in that capacity over twenty- 
seven years, since which time he has labored 
and preached in both city and country. 

March 27, 1839, he married Miss Abiah Chapin, 
of Newport, New Hampshire, who died June 
10, 1864. She was a graduate of Ipswich Semi- 
nary, Massachusetts, and came to Illinois as a 
teacher, in 1831. She was a lady of rare ac- 
complishments, endowed with all graces which 
adorn the true Christian character. Mr. Hale 
is the senior minister of Springfield, and 
one of the first pioneers of the State. He is 
universally loved, not only by those associated 
with him in his own church, but by all people, 
of all phases of religious faith and sentiments. 

He has been a faithful worker, speaking words 
of hope to the dying, of comfort to the despond- 
ing, and of warning to the wicked. In secular 
matters, he has been a good citizen, loyal to the 
government of his country in all emergencies. 

Hall <b Herrick, clothiers and dealers in hats, 
caps and gentlemen's furnishings, southeast cor- 
ner of Adams and Sixth streets, is composed of 
Edward A. Hall and Jonathan E. K. Herrick, 
who entered into partnership and engaged in the 
business in that location in June, 1876, under 
the firm title of E. A. Hall & Co. This was 
changed to the present title in March, 1881. 
Their stock embraces a general assortment of 
ready-made clothing, hats, caps, and gentlemen's 
furnishing goods; in addition to which they 
carry on a merchant tailoring department, and a 



ei2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



shirt manufactory, where goods are made up to 
order with dispatch in the most approved style. 
Their establishment employs eight to ten hands, 
besides those engaged in the manufacturing de- 
partments. The house does a large retail busi- 
ness, w^hich has increased a hundred per cent, in 
the past four years. 

Mr. Hall is a native of Pekin, Illinois, born in 
1845; was reared and educated there, and from 
18(31 until 1876 was engaged in general mei'- 
chandising, the last seven years as proprietor of 
the business. He married Miss Frances A. 
Mj^ers, of Pekin, in the spring of 1873. He is a 
member of the Masonic Order, Lodge, Council, 
Chapter and Commaudery. 

Mr. Herrick was born near Montreal, Canada, 
in 1844, of Vermont parentage. At the age of 
nineteen years he went to the city of Boston, 
and for twelve years was identified with the 
gentlemen's clothing and furnishing trade. 
June 10, 1876, he formed a partnership with E. 
A. Hall, and opened the business in Springfield, 
Illinois. Mr. Herrick united in marriage with 
Miss Marie E. Bangle, of Massachusetts, in 
1875. One daughter has been born of this 
union. Mr. H. is a Mason, and member of 
Lodge, Chapter and Commandery. 

Mrs. E. B. Harlan was born in England, 
February 19, 1841, and came with her parents 
to Illinois in 1856, locating in Marion county. 
Mrs. Harlan completed her education in Salem, 
Marion county, and engaged for a short time in 
teaching in Clay city, Illinois, in 1861. Mrs. 
Harlan, whose maiden name was MaryA. Crand- 
welljwas married toE. B. Harlan on July 4, 1864. 
She removed with her husband to Springfield in 
186 . He died in 18 75, leaving her with four 
children— Emma C, Pdul P., Edgar A., and 
Brooks, all of whom were born in Springfield, 
save the first named, who was born in Louisville, 
Kentucky. A sketch of General E. B. Harlan 
may be found in connection with "lUustiious 
Dead," on page 512. 

ElizahetK J. Hatfield, Springfield, Illinois, 
widow of the late Rinaldo B. Hatfield, was born 
in Morgan county, Illinois, February 18, 1836; 
is the daughter of Jonas, farmer and stock 
dealer, and Mary N. (Headleston), natives of 
Bourbon county, Kentucky. Mrs. Hatfield was 
jnarried in a Baptist Church in Scott county, 
Illinois, to Rinaldo B. Hatfield, deceased, July 
20, 1856, and by the union had seven children, 
four of whom are living, viz : Mary E., Emma 
E., Menter J., and Robert L. Mr. Hatfield was 
bom in Ohio, December 21, 1828, and son of 
William B., farmer, and Eliza (Wilmington) 



Hatfield. Mr. Hatfield finished his education in 
a public High School in Ohio, after which he 
learned engineering. After his marriage he 
turned his attention to farming, which he fol- 
lowed one year, and was then engaged as engi- 
neer in Charles Groves' distillery, Meredosia, 
Illinois, which position he held until he enlisted 
in the late wax-, in Company A, One Hundred 
and First Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, 
August 6, 1862. Mr. Hatfield was taken 
prisoner December 20, 1862, and retained as 
such for three months, after which he was re- 
leased in exchange, June 8, 1863. Mr. Hatfield 
was with his regiment in all its movements and 
battles, and with it mustered out of service at 
the close of the war, June 25, 1865, having 
contracted sickness which so impaired his health 
that he was unfit for physical labor, and which 
finally resulted in his death, March 24, 1872. 
He was i:)romoted from the rank of private to 
that of sergeant, which he held to the end of 
his warfare. Mrs. Hatfield is a member of the 
Congregationalist Church, and her daughter, 
Mary E., is a member of the Christian Church. 
Eliphalet Hawley, deceased, was born Decem- 
ber 17, 1782. He-was married August 24, 1815, 
to Elizabeth McMurdy, who was born in Albany, 
February 26, 1797, and of Scotch descent. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hawley had two children in Albany 
previous to coming here. In 1821 he purchased 
several war claims, which was one cause of his 
coming West to locate land. He started out with 
his family in a carriage, hauling their household 
goods in a wagon. When they arrived at Olean 
Point, on the Allegheny river, they transferred 
their goods and floated down to Pittsburg, where 
they remained until the next spring. Mr. Hawley 
and a man by the name of Wheelock united in 
purchasing a boat in which their two families 
descended the Ohio river to Shawneetown, where 
they arrived in April, 1822. Mr. Hawley pro- 
ceeded to Sangamon county, where he arrived 
the last of April or the first of May the same 
year, and located in Fancy Creek township. 
Previous to coming west, Mr. Hawley located 
his vv^ar claim in the military reservation west of 
the Illinois river, and began improving a farm 
on Spoon river, in Fulton county, a short distance 
from Havana. June 21, 1822, as he was return- 
ing to his family on horse-back, iu attempting 
to swim his horse across Salt Creek, in Mason 
county, was drowned. The horse came home, 
and search being made, the body was found a 
week later and interred. The widow and children 
removed to Springfield the next winter. Isaac 
A. Hawley, the tecond' son of Eliphalet and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



673 



Elizabeth (McMurdy) Hawley, was born in 
Albany, New York, November 'AQ, 1819. When 
twelve years of age, he commenced clerking in 
a store, which he followed, in connection with 
merchandising, twenty-five years. April 30, 1851, 
he married Miss A. Eliza McCauley, a native 
of Washington county, Pennsylvania. She was 
born January 13, 1828. They have one daughter. 
In 1864 Mr. H. was elected County Treasurer of 
Sangamon county, which office he tilled with 
honor to himself and his constituents. He says he 
remembers distinctly vvhen the mail was carried 
on horseback between here and Edwardsville, 
making one trip in a month. He is at present 
in the insurance business. He has lived to see 
Springfield from its infancy to a city of twenty- 
three thousand inhabitants, and the wild and. un- 
broken prairies changed to beautiful farms under 
a high state of cultivation, 

Charles jE7. Jlay, of Smith & Hay, wholesale 
grocers, was born in Salem, Indiana, 1841; was 
brought by his parents in infancy to Hancock 
county, Illinois, and was there reared and edu- 
cated. At the age of nineteen years he enlisted 
as a private in the three months volunteer ser- 
vice; August 5, 1861, was appointed Second 
Lieutenant in the Mounted Riflemen, whose title 
was changed a short time after to Cavalry; Mr. 
Hay's regiment becoming the third Illinois Cav- 
alry, and he receiving promotion to First Lieu- 
tenant. From the fall of 1861 till the summer 
of 1 863, he served as a staff officer on the staff 
of General David Hunter. He was then taken 
sick, vfhich necessitated absence from his regi- 
ment for some months; rejoined it, and at Little 
Rock, Arkansas, in October, 1865, retired from 
the service as brevet Captain, and the same 
month entered the grocery business in Spring- 
field. In the spring of 1 8*73, Mr. Hay was elected 
Mayor of the city, on the Democratic ticket, and 
was again elected in 1875; also served on the 
Board of Education one year. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and has taken the 
Master's Royal Arch and Knight Templar's de- 
grees, and is Paiish Clerk in the Episcopal 
Church. In 1865, Mr. Hay united in marriage 
with Miss Mary Ridgely, daughter of N. H. 
Ridgely, President of the Ridgely's National 
Bank, of Springfield, and they have three sons 
and a daughter alive. Mr. Hay's parents, Charles 
and Helen (Leonard) Hay, reside in Warsaw, 
Hancock county, Illinois, aged respectively 
eighty and seventy-six years. His paternal 
grandfather, John Hay, settled in Springfield 
about 1835, and was a resident of the city until 
his death, in 1865, at the age of ninety. 



William H. Hayden, was boiii July 11, 1S25, 
in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the son of Wil- 
liam and Ann Hayden, natives of Massachusetts, 
and descendants of Miles Standish. William H. 
Hayden's grandfather was a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionary war. Mr. Hayden was only six years 
old when his parents came to Alton, Illinois, in 
1831. His earlier education was in select schools, 
and afterwards completed in Shurtleff College, 
Alton, Illinois, in 1846. After his school days 
he began the mercantile business by clerking in 
a dry goods store in Alton, and subsequently en- 
gaged in the drug trade, under the firm name of 
W. A. Holton & Co., with which firm he con- 
tinued until the fall of 1849, and then went to 
St. Louis and commenced in the patent medicine 
business, which he closed the following year. 
In the latter part of the year 1850, Mr. Hayden 
was given a position in the St. Louis post office, 
under Postmaster Archibald Gambol, in which 
position he served until May, 1854, then he be- 
came book-keeper in the wholesale liquor and 
commission house of Houseman, Smith & Co., 
St. Louis, Missouri, and kept their accounts un- 
til the last of June, 1857, when the firm dis- 
solved, and Mr. Hayden formed a partnership 
with a retiring partner, under the firm name of 
J. P. Callahan & Co., as rectifiers and general 
commission merchants; disposed of his interest 
in this business, June 30, 1859, and from that 
time to the opening of the late war, was engaged 
as accountant for several firms in St. Louis. Mr. 
Hayden was mustered into the United States 
service with a military company, of which he 
was a member for three months, in Reserve 
Corps, in Company K, Third Regiment, and parti- 
cipated in the capture of Camp Jackson; then the 
Corps was ordered to Rolla, Missouri, to hold 
that position, which they did until the expiration 
of their time. Before he was mustered out, was 
detailed to the Arsenal, in St. Louis, as Instruc- 
tor in Military Tactics, which position he held 
until the middle of September, 1861, when he 
was assigned as Instructor of Military Tactics in 
Camp Butler, in Clear Lake, Illinois; remained 
there one month; was ordered to Camp Dement, 
at Dixon, Illinois, to take charge of the camp 
and assist in the organization of a regiment. In 
January, 1862, occupied position of Chief Clerk 
in the Quartermaster's Department, in Spring- 
field, Illinois, for southern and central part of 
the State, which position he filled honorably un- 
til the close of the war. A short time before the 
war closed, he accepted a position as chief book- 
keeper in the First National Bank, in Spring- 
field, and continued his services with the bank 



674 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



for thirteen years. On July 1, 1878, Mr. Hay- 
den accepted his present position as chief clerk 
of the money order department in the post office, 
in Springtield, Illinois. Mr. Hayden was mar- 
ried in St. Louis, January 27, 1848, to Margaret 
C. Cohen, daughter of Thomas and Mary W. 
Cohen, natives of Virginia; Mr. Cohen was one 
of the oldest citizens of St. Louis. Mrs. Hayden 
was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri; her 
early education was in her native city, and com- 
pleted in Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Illinois. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hayden had seven children, of 
whom three are living, viz: Albert C, Frank N., 
and Adeline A.; all were born in St. Louis. Mr. 
Hayden located in Springtield, Illinois, in May, 
1862. United with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows in St. Louis — Missouri Lodge, No. 
11. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden are members of the 
Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Hayden is 
an elder; and he has, for the last twelve or fifteen 
years, been actively engaged and deeply inter- 
ested in the Sunday school work of the city and 
county; and for the last eight years, has con- 
ducted a mission at what is known as "Grace 
Chapel," near the West Coal Shaft, near the city. 

Rudolph Jlehceg^ of the iirm of Helweg & 
Snape, plumbers, gas and sieam-pipe fitters, 
Springtield, Illinois, was born in Germany, and 
emigrated to America in 1851, and landed at 
New York City, from which place he went to 
Chicago, ard learned the trade of plumbing and 
gas fitting, with William Gwynn, and was in 
his employ three years, then came to Springfield, 
Illinois, in July, 1854, and was employed by the 
Springtield Gas Company, which had just begun 
its operations at above given date. He worked 
with this company about seven years, or till 
18(31, when his services were again employed by 
William Gwynn, in Springtield, and continued 
in his employ till 1869, when he formed a part- 
nership with Robert Snape, which partnership 
continues under the title of Helweg & Snape, 
plumbers, gas and steam-pipe titters. The tirm 
deals in gas fixtures, and is the leading firm of 
the kind in Springtield. 

Carl Albert JJelmle, a native of Carlsruhe, 
capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, 
was born on the 10th of September, 1827, and 
is the son of Heinrich Helmle and Carolina nee 
Himmelheber. The family was one of the old- 
est in that city. 

Carl Albert received his education at the Ly- 
ceum of Carlsruhe, he never had any desire to 
study the classics, and intended to enter a mili- 
tary academy, but was finally dissuaded by his 
mother, a highly educated lady, and influenced 



to choose a mercantile life. Soon after this he 
became book-keeper in an extensive commission 
and forwarding house, and alter leaving this 
position, accepted a situation in a banking house 
in Brussels, Belgium, and later removed to 
Paris. Indoor life and too close confinement 
began to impair his health, and for the purpose 
of recuperating, and prompted also, by his love 
of independence and liberty, he determined to 
emigrate to America. Accordingly he closed up 
his affairs and embarked, arriving in New York 
on the 21st of November, 184©. He had letters 
of recommendation to leading business houses 
in that city, but feeling that his health demanded 
it, he went west to Missouri and engaged in 
farming. Here, on the 20th of February, 1863, 
he was married to Miss Marie Flesche. In June 
of the following year, not succeeding as well as 
he had anticipated in farming, it being new to 
him, with a small capital he removed to Spring- 
tield, Illinois, and established himself in the tin 
and stove business, and continued with good 
success till April, 1857. At this time in com- 
pany with Frank Reisch, he opened a general 
store, and later, engaged in the brcAving busi- 
ness, beginning on a small scale, manufacturing 
only one thousand barrels during the first year. 
Their business increased gradually from year to 
year. In 1864 he dissolved partnership with 
Mr. Reisch and commenced the wholesale liquor 
business, in which he still continues, having 
established a very good and successful trade 
throughout the center of the State. 

Pie has always been a Democrat, and has 
filled various public offices, has had numerous 
calls to accept others, but his tastes have led him 
to decline the honors. 

As a business man, Mr. Helmle is prompt, 
systematic and accurate, and gives his personal 
attention to all the details of his affairs. In 
public enterprises he has always taken a worthy 
part. He has devoted much time to self-culture, 
and from his extensive reading and observation 
has accumulated a most valuable fund of infor- 
mation and experience He has collected a 
library composed of many rare volumes, and 
adorned his residence with valuable paintings 
and other works of art, and, in the enjoyment 
of an ample competence, lives surrounded by 
the pleasures and comforts of a happy home. 

George H. Helmle^ architect, residence 430 
South Fifth street, is a native of the city of 
Springfield, Illinois, and was born in 1853, Wil- 
liam and Elise (Warschutz) Helmle, his parents 
emigrated from Germany to America in 1849, 
and settled in Springfield, where they still re- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



675 



side. George was educated in the city schools, 
and having a natural tact and taste for drawing, 
took lessons in that art in the city, in 1867-68. 
The following year he entered the office of 
E. E. Myers, since moved to Detroit, Michi- 
gan, and one of the most prominent architects 
in the United States. Young llelmle remained 
there as draughtsman two years, when, receiving 
an offer from Helera, Ai'kansas, to make plans 
for a Masonic temple, which was to cost $30,- 
000, _^he accepted, and forming a partnership 
with John A. McKay, and superintended the 
erection of the building. Subsequently he made 
the plan for the Arkansas State University, 
which drew the prize of $1,500, won in competi- 
tion with architects from St. Louis and various 
other cities. During the two years of Mr. 
Helmle's stay in Helena, he and his partner 
made plans for and constructed a number of 
other buildings in that and other towns, that re- 
ceived flattering eulogies from the public press 
of that State. In 1872, Mr. Helmle went to 
Chicago, and spent two years, one in the archi- 
tect's office of W. A. Furber, and one in the of- 
fice of W. J. Edbrooke, during the re-building 
of the city after the great fire. Returning to 
Springfield, in 1874, he has since furnished plans 
for many elegant dwellings in and about the 
city, among them B. F. Caldwell, of Curran 
township. Dr. L. Gillett's, of Buffalo; Hiram E. 
Gardner's, of Gardner; Daniel Waters, of Coop- 
er, in the country, and George P. Bowen's, A. 
H. Fisher's, Frank Reisch's, John T. Peters, H. 
K. Webber's, and others of the city. He has, 
during 1881, made plans for buildings. Besides 
his architectural work, Mr. llelmle has kept the 
books of the Urst National Bank, of Spring- 
field, for three years. 

In 1876, he united in marriage with Miss Min- 
nie Whitehurst, also of Springfield, daughter of 
Stephen S. Whitehurst and Maria Matheny, who 
is a daughter of Charles R. Matheny, and still 
resides in Springfield. 

H. F. Ilerndon & Co., dry goods merchants, 
is composed of Richard F. Herndon and John 
T. Grimsley. They established their business, 
which is now one of the largest and most pros- 
perous retail houses in Central Illinois, in 1866, 
on South Sixth street, moved in 1871 to the 
south side of the square, and in the fall of 1881, 
to the new Passfield block, northwest corner of 
Adams and Fifth streets, southwest corner of 
the square, where they have the most elegant 
store in the Capital City. The firm carries a 
large and complete stock of staple and fancy 
dry goods, dress goods, laces and millinery. 



They also conduct a large manufacturing de- 
partment, devoted to ladies' suits, cloaks and 
millinery to order. The firm occupies three 
floors of this splendid building, besides the base- 
ment, which is devoted to domestics. The first 
floor is a magnificent double corner room, heated 
by steam, and communicating with stories above 
by elevator. This room is devoted to dress 
goods, silks, satins, hosiery, kid gloves, &c. The 
second floor is stocked with ready-made suits, 
wrappings and millinery. The third floor is 
forty by ninety feet in area, and is entirely de- 
voted to manufacturing, where fifty to seventy- 
five hands are employed. This extensive retail 
business is conducted almost entirely upon the 
cash system. The partners are both thorough- 
going, practical merchants. 

Mr. Herndon was born in 1841, in Kentucky; 
was brought by his parents to Springfield, Illi- 
nois, in 1843. His father, Richard Herndon, 
engaged for a number of years in a general mer- 
cantile business, from which he retired some 
years prior to his death, in 1857. Richard served 
an apprenticeship of seven years with Messrs 
Condell & Co.; was two years with Matheny & 
Co., then in 1866 opened the store on South 
Sixth street, above noted. Mr. Herndon has 
never married. 

Charles A. Herrmann Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Berlin, Germany, August, 1827, 
where he followed woolen and silk weaving. He 
married Miss Rosetta H. Reddie, who was born 
in Germany, April 29, 1829. By this union 
there were twelve children, seven of whom are 
living: Charles A., Emil R., Matilda F., Min- 
nie S., Louisa A., Adeline S., and Flora H. 
In June, 1855, they landed in New York; came 
in a sailing vessel, and were seven weeks mak- 
ing the trip. He first located in Champaign 
county Illinois, where he worked by the month; 
remained thei-e a couple of years, when he con- 
cluded to go to Kansas, or Nebraska; he in- 
tended to make a farm, but not liking the coun- 
try, returned to Springfield, where he was em- 
ployed in the woolen mills. In 1862 he enlisted 
in the Twenty-ninth Missouri Infantry and par- 
ticipated in several engagements; was wounded 
in the heel by a piece of shell at the battle of 
Chickasaw Mountain; being unfit for active ser- 
vice, was honorably discharged. He was a 
member of the Xutheran Church, and has a 
property in Springfield valued at $2,000. 

Thomas C. Ilenkle was born in the city of 
Springfield, Illinois, January 15, 1850, and in 
1866 moved with his parents to Decatur, Illinois, 
where he graduated at the High School in 1865. 



676 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



In 1 868, he returned to Springfield, and January, 
1869, was employed as book-keeper in the whole- 
sale grocery store of J. & J. W. Bunn, and held 
that position ten years, when he was made mana- 
ger, a position he still retains, the firm now being 
John W. Bunn & Co. The father of Thomas C, 
Enos Henkle, was born in Franklin, Virginia, 
February 10, 1810; he is a wagon-maker by 
trade, and is still living in Springfield, Illinois; 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His wife, Martha Condell, born in Ireland; she 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and is also living in this city. She was the 
mother of five children, four living: Albert E., 
living in Springfield, Superintendent of the 
Hominy Mills; Thomas C. Henkle, Will H. 
Henkle, chief clerk in the Auditor's oftice, and 
Miss S. E. Prather. Mr. P. C. Henkle, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was married to Miss E. J. 
Huntington, April 20, 1874. She was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, April 21, 1854. She was a 
daughter of George L. Huntington. He was an 
old settler in Springfield, Illinois, where he was 
for many years engaged in the lumber business. 
He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and 
his wife, Hannah L. Forbes, was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. She was the mother of nine 
children, eight living. Mr. T. C. Henkle is a 
member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Springfield, and Mrs. Henkle is a member of 
the Episcopal Church. They have three child- 
ren, namely: Ella J., Leonora, and John B. Hen- 
kle. In politics, Mr. Henkle is a Republican, 
and a strong supporter of that party, and cast 
his first vote for U. S. Grantfor President of the 
United States. 

i. James HicJcox, owner of the Excelsior 
Mills, is the only son of Martin and Mary 
Hickox, nee James. Martin Hickox was born on 
Spring Creek, two miles from Springfield, and 
was the son of Addison Hickox and Ulioda 
Stanley. He married Miss James, a native of 
Atlanta, Logan county, Illinois, who died when 
the subject of this sketch was fifteen months old. 
His father made milling the chief business of 
his life, as did the grandsire and his three other 
sons. Martin died March 11, 1878, in the forty- 
first year of his age. ?Ie left an estate consist- 
ing of the Excelsior Mills and other city prop- 
erty. These mills have lately been remodeled 
and refurnished with the most approved machin- 
ery for manufacturing the "New Proce^fs" fiour, 
and have a capacity of one hundred barrels in 
twenty-four hours. 

Douglas Hickox^ proprietor of Excelsior Mill, 
East Adams street, is one of a family of five 



children, four sons and a daughter, of Addison 
and Rhoda (Stanley) Hickox, and was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, in 1846. He graduated 
from the city schools, and at eighteen years of 
age engaged in the milling business, which he 
has continuously pursued, save about eight years 
during which he conducted a steam laundry in 
the city. He was joint proprietor with his father 
of the ^tna Mill, for some years, and since Feb- 
ruary, 1881, has run the Excelsior Mill. Mr. 
Hickox married Martha J., daughter of James 
W. Keyes, in September, 1867. They have four 
children, two of each sex. 

Addison Hickox was born in Jefi^erson county, 
New York, and married Rhoda Stanley, of that 
county; came to Springfield, Illinois, in 1833, 
and soon after erected the Spring Creek Mill, 
two miles north-west of the city, and the only 
flouring mill within a radius of eighty miles at 
that time. He was subsequently interested in 
the building and ownership of a number of mills 
in the city. At one time he and his four sons, 
all practical millers, owned three and operated 
two others — five in all — in Springfield. After 
more than a third of a century of active life in 
the milling business in Sangamon county; years, 
prolific in good results to the community in this 
branch of industry, Mr. Hickox died in January, 
1872, in Florida, where he was spending the 
winter. He left a valuable estate to his widow 
and family. Only three of their family of five 
children are now alive. 

J. A. Higgins, 31. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Crawford county, Illinois, December 
23, 1831; son of James and Julia Higgins, 
natives of Kentucky, who came to this State in 
1818, and located in Crawford county, and fol- 
lowed farming; afterwards engaged in the dis- 
tillery business and buying and feeding stock, 
which he sold in St. Louis; father and mother 
are still living in Missouri, and have lived to- 
gether over fifty years. They came to the State 
when it was a wild, unsettled country, previous 
to the Indians leaving. The Higgins family 
were large, powerful, athletic men The sub- 
ject of this sketch was raised on a farm. When 
eight years of age, his father moved to Alabama 
and engaged in growing cotton ; remained only a 
few years. When ten years of age, his father 
moved to St. Louis, where J. A. was placed in 
the Mound Academy, and pursued his studies 
four years. In the fall of 1846, they moved to 
VanBuren county, Iowa, then a Territory, where 
he remained tintil the fall of 1848, then returned 
to St. Louis, where he intended to learn the 
trade of ship carpentering. His health failing, 





(Hi/r3 




HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



6V9 



he gave up his trade and went to Macoupin county, 
Illinois. Here he turned his attention to car- 
pentering, forming a partnership with Isaac Fer- 
ris. January -25, 1855, he married Miss Nancy 
Mitchell, daughter of Dr. Ambrose Mitchell, an 
early settler of the State; she died in the spring 
of 1872, leaving four children — two sons and 
two daughters. After marrying, Mr. H. con- 
tinued his business, and in the meantime read 
medicine with Dr. Mitchell, and finally turned 
his whole attention to his profession. In the 
spring of 1875, he came to Springfield, where 
he has met with good success. In 1861, he en- 
listed in the Third Illinois Cavalry, Company L., 
D. R. Sparks commanding. His father was a 
Union man, and when the rebellion broke out 
he said to his two sons, of which the Doc- 
tor was one: "Your great grandfather was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War; your grand- 
father was a soldier in the war of 1812; you had 
two uncles in the Indian wars, and if you do 
not enlist for the cause of the Union, I will 
shoulder my musket and go." (He was then 
over fifty years old.) It is enough to say that 
the boys went, and served with honor to them- 
selves and the cause, participating in several 
engagements, viz: Firsc battle of Pea Ridge, 
Yazoo River, where General Sherman met his 
first defeat; Fort Gibson and Champion Hills. 
Previous to the battles of Fort Gibson and 
Champion Hills, the Doctor had the small-pox, 
leaving him in a weak condition, and fatigue 
and excitement so unnerved him that he was 
not fit for active service; he was discharged for 
disability in June, 1863. He married for his 
second wife. Miss Relief Guderman, daughter 
of William M. Olney, of New Jersey. The 
Doctor is a relative of Tom Higgins, an old In- 
dian fighter, who participated in one of the most 
desperate single-handed combats with the Indians 
ever fought on the soil of Illinois, August 21, 
1814. Mr. Higgins was about twenty-five years 
of age, of muscular build, not tall, but strong 
and active, 

Charles L. Hoyt, Superintendent of the Spring- 
field Watch Factory, is a native of Middleburg, 
New York, born in 1828; was brought by his 
parents to Detroit, Michigan, and was there 
reared and educated. He learned the trade of 
watch making in Rochester, that State, where he 
carried on the business nine years. Moving to 
Romeo, Michigan, he continued at his trade until 
the Pike's Peak gold excitement arose, in 1860, 
when he joined the throng of gold seekers, and 
spent nearly a year in Colorado. He then re- 
turned to Detroit, and entered the emplov of the 

79— 



large wholesale and retail watch and jewelry 
house of M. S. Smith & Co. While there, he 
invented a very superior watch, which he named 
"Our Watch," and made about a hundred move- 
ments, worth $150 each. He sold his tools and 
materials to accept the Superintendency of the 
Freeport Watch Factory, which position he filled 
till it was destroyed by fire, in October, 1875. 
Subsequently, he had charge of the escapement 
department of the Rockford Watch Factory five 
years, and resigned that place to become Super- 
intendent for the Illinois Watch Company, in 
October, 1880. Mr. Hoyt married S-ifrona A. 
Leet, a native of Genesee county. New York, 
thirty years ago. Flora Hoyt is their only child. 

Laiorence A. Hudson, news dealer, was born 
in Nelson county, Kentucky, in December, 1819. 
His early life was passed in that and the Middle 
States; was educated at Elizabeth, Kentucky, 
and for nearly a quarter of a century taught 
school in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia; was 
some time a teacher in Morgantown Academy, 
in the latter State. During the great excitement 
growing out of the discovery of gold in Califor- 
nia, Mr. Hudson, like many others, was seized 
with a desire to become suddenly rich, and act- 
ing on that impulse, he went over-land in 1849, 
to the great gold fields of the Far West. He was 
in Kansas during the exciting times of the "Bor- 
der RuflSan War," and was with John Brown in 
Ohio, previous to his memorable and historic raid 
on Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Mr. Hudson entered 
the Union army as a member of the Second 
Missouri Infantry, Three Months' Volunteers, in 
1861; was in the battles of Booneville and Wil- 
son's Creek, Missouri, and was taken prisoner in 
the latter. He re-enlisted April 18, 1862, in 
an Independent Missoiiri Cavalry company, 
which was afterwards consolidated into the 
Tenth Missouri Cavalry, United States Volun- 
teers. In August, 1862, he was injured in a 
cavalry charge near Moore's Mill, Missouri, re- 
ceiving a compound fracture of the right thigh 
and a fracture of the right arm. After having 
sufficiently recovered he was transferred to the 
Veteran Reserve Corps, and assigned to clerical 
duty at post headquarters, until discharged, Sep- 
tember 10, 1863, and mustered out as a member 
of the Third Regiment Missouri Cavalry, United 
States Volunteers. 

Mr. Hudson re-entered government employ as 
special agent in the United States Secret Service, 
and acted in that capacity until the close of the 
Avar; during which he visited numerous cities 
and important points within the rebellious States, 
made the acquaintance and enjoyed the confi- 



680 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



dence of many prominent members of the 
Southern Confederacy, both in civil and military 
life; and through their faith imposed in him he 
learned and communicated much information of 
great value to the government at Washington, 
and the chiefs of the departments in the field. 
He unearthed and exposed many plots and 
schemes of rebels, planned imder the knowledge 
of, and in numerous instances in concert with 
arrant traitors "in blue" and in government em- 
ploy, for destroying Union property, thwarting 
the movements of the Union ai'mies, encourag- 
ing desertions and devastating the Northern 
States, by erecting a Northwestern Confederacy, 
that were startling in their conception, and would 
have been terrible in their results had they not 
been suppressed in their infancy. As an indis- 
putable evidence of the important duties he per- 
formed, and the implicit confidence imposed in 
him as an officer and a man, Mr. Hudson has in 
his possession a number of autograph letters 
written by General W. S. Rosecrans, General 
G. M. Dodge, General J. H. Baker, Provost 
Marshal General of the Department of Missouri; 
Hon. Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General, and 
othei distinguished officers, Avhich speak of his 
great efficiency as a special agent in the Secret 
Service, detail the valuable services performed, 
in strong terms of commendation, showing him 
to have been one of the most valued and trusted 
men in that branch of service. The Bureau of 
Military Justice has reports there made through 
Mr. Hudson to Colonel Sanderson, to General 
Rosecrans, that would startle the Nation. Some 
of those official documents and duplicate reports 
embody a fund of information combined with 
strange and startling experiences and critical 
situations which render them as entertaining as 
any romance. 

In 1859, Mr. Hudson married Miss Delia J. 
Reid, in Missouri, a native of Virginia. They 
have three dead and four surviving children, 
(Albert Eugene, Noble Reid, Oliver Goldsmith, 
and Fanny Hale Hudson. Mr. H. first visited 
Springfield in 1859, and made several subsequent 
visits to the place before settling here in 1874. 
After leaving the service of the Government he 
kept books in Jefferson City and St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. In August, 1878, he engaged in the 
news business ihere, handling the leading 
western metropolitan daily and weekly jour- 
nals, since which time he has by great industry 
and economy made enough money to Mipport 
his family and pay for a comfortable home on 
Reynolds street, worth $2,000. Owing to his 
entering the army as a member of an indepen- 



dent company of State troops, Mr. H. has never 
yet received any pension, though disabled per- 
manently by his injuries, but now hopes to over- 
come the obstacle in the near future. 

William, S. Htmter, clothing merchant and 
merchant tailor, 125 south Fifth street, west 
side of square, has been connected with the 
clothing trade of Springfield as salesman ten 
years, and for about two years in the capacity 
of manager of the establishment of which he 
has been sole proprietor since July 1, 1881. He 
carries a complete stock of ready-made clothing 
and gentlemen's furnishings, in medium and fine 
goods, and in his merchant tailoring department 
he makes a specialty of the best grades of cloths 
and suitings in the market, of domestic and for- 
eign manufacture. In this department Mr. 
Hunter employs the most skilled workmen, and 
does a large business, occupying from twelve to 
fifteen hands. The active capital invested is 
upwards of $20,000, and the annual sales run 
from $30,000 to $40,000. Mr. Hunter is a native 
of Woodford county, Kentucky, and is twenty- 
nine years of age. His parents, William S., and 
Mary (Brown) Hunter, moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in the fall of 1852, and several 
years later to Logan county, where his father 
died in 1873, His mother is now a resident of 
Springfield. William was sent back to his na- 
tive State and educated in a private school. He 
married Bebert Merriman in 1879. She is a 
daughter of George B. Merriman, deceased, and 
was born in Sangamon county, Illinois. 

Albert L. Me, proprietor of Ide's Machine 
Works, corner Fifth and Madison streets, was 
born in Waupaukenata, Loraine county, Ohio, 
in March, 1841, and came with his parents to 
Sangamon county, Illinois^ when two years old. 
In 1856 he began learning the machinist's trade 
with Campbell & Richardson, in Springfield. 
He enlisted upon the first call for three months' 
troops in the Seventh Illinois Infantry; at the 
expiration of service was appointed Drill Master 
at Camp Butler, and drilled oflicers for a year; 
then enlisted and was made Major of the Thirty- 
second Illinois Infantry, but soon after, having 
a long illness with typhoid fever, was discharged. 
In 1862 he embarked in the jewelry and army 
supply business, continuing until several months 
after the war closed. He then spent two years 
in building and equipping the Fifth street line 
of the Springfield City Railway Company, of 
which he is now President. After this he en- 
gaged in manufacturing steam-heating apparatus 
and has been continuously in the business since. 
Besides building up a very extensive trade in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1)81 



this line, Mr. Ide has added the foundry and 
manufactory of general machinery, emplojingin 
all sixty to seventy -five men, and in 1880 did a 
business of $3 i' 5,000. 

Robert Irwhi, deceased, was born in Williams- 
port, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, he removed 
to St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in the 
mercantile trade with John and Augustus Carr. 
Dissolving his connection with the firm, in 1834, 
he came to Springfield, Illinois, where he formed 
a partnership with John Williams, one of the 
pioneer merchants of the city, in the dry goods 
trade. Subsequently, he was connected with 
his brother, John Irwin, in the same business. 
When the Marine and Fire Insurance Company 
w^as organized, he became identified with it, and 
became its secretary, remaining in that connec- 
tion until his death, which occurred March 8, 
1865. 

Robert Irwin and Clara C. Doyle were united 
in marriage in May, 1833. Three children were 
born unto them, two daughters and one son. 

Robert Irwin was an active business man, and 
whatever enterprise engaged his attention, he 
entered into it with his whole soul. He was an 
intimate personal friend of that great and good 
man, Abraham Lincoln. Shortly after Mr. Lin- 
coln was first inaugurated, and under date of 
March 20, 1861, he wrote Mr. Irwin in relation 
to an applicant for office in one of the eastern 
States, who gaA'e the name of Mr. Irwin as ref- 
erence. Mr. Lincoln pathetically closed his 
letter, "Your tired friend, A. Lincoln." Yes, 
he was tired, poor man, and never found rest 
this side the Jordan of death. 

When the war broke out, Mr. Irwin entered 
into the work, and ceased not to labor until 
death claimed him as his own. The "boys in 
blue" were ever a subject of the utmost concern 
with him, and he could not do too much to alle- 
viate their sufferings. As a member of the State 
Sanitary Commission, he gave time and money 
to help on the noble work in which its members 
were engaged. On his death, the directors held 
a meeting, and passed the following preamble 
and resolutions: 

"Whereas, The Almighty Disposer of events 
in the execution of His wise purposes, has re- 
cently terminated the earthly life and usefulness 
of our late friend and fellow counselor, Robert 
Irwin, Esq., of this city, by removing him to a 
more exalted and holier state of existence; there- 
fore, 

"Jiesolved, That while we bow with unmurmur- 
ing submissiveness to thisafllictive dispensation, 
we cannot but deeply deplore the severe loss 



which our commission — the sanitary cause, and 
society at large have sustained in the death of 
this well-known estimable citizen. 

"Iiesolved, That the ardent and consistent pat- 
riotism of Mr. Irwin, his high-toned benevolence 
and incorruptible integrity, are worthy of our 
highest admiration and closest imitation; and 
the memory of them will be cherished amongst 
our fondest recollections of the mutual endeavors 
we have made during the last four years, to as- 
sist our country in her fearful struggle against 
that gigantic Rebellion which has spread death 
and desolation over so much of our land." 

The Board of Directors of the Marine and 
Fire Insurance Company held a meeting and 
adopted the following: 

Whereas, By the death of Robert Irwin, this 
company has sustained an irreparable loss; there- 
fore, be it 

'■'■Ilesolved, by the Board of Directors, of the 
S2oringfield Marine and Fire In&urance Com- 
pany, That in the death of Robert Irwin, Secre- 
tary of this Institution, we have lost a capable 
and efficient officer, an honest and faithful coun- 
sellor, and the community a genial and warm- 
hearted friend; and that the death of our friend 
and associate has left an official and social void 
that cannot be filled; the integrity of whose life 
has left a noble example, worthy of all imita- 
tion." 

The foregoing resolutions show the esteem in 
which Mr. Irwin was held by his associates, and 
the resolutions were but an echo of the voice of 
the whole community. Mr. Irwin was laid away 
to rest in Oakwood Cemetery. 

Elijah lies. — On page 580 of this work, will 
be found a very interesting reminiscence from 
the pen of Mr. lies, embracing a brief sketch of 
his own life. 

Edward H. Ives, grocer, corner of Eleventh 
and Monroe streets, has been doing a general 
retail grocery business in that location more 
than six years. He keeps in stock a choice line 
of goods, and has a prosperous and growing 
local trade. Mr. Ives is an Eastern man born 
in Rhode Island, in 1850. His parents, David 
S. and Catharine H. (Thorn) Ives, were born in 
New Y^ork and New Jersey, respectively. They 
moved to Springfield in 1854. His father has 
been in the railroad business for a third of a 
century, and is now connected with the Wabash 
Company. Edward was educated in the schools 
of the city, and started at the age of sixteen to 
learn practical civil engineering, on the W^ abash 
railroad, in which he spent two years. At the 
end of this time, he was made Ticket Agent 



682 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



for the company, at Springfield, and held the 
position about seven years, when ill health 
compelled him to resign in May, 1875. He 
immediately embarked in his present business. 
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
Capital Lodge, No. 14 In 1873 Mr. Ives united 
in marriage with Miss Sallie E. Ray, a native of 
Sangamon county, and one son, Edward C. 
Ives, has been born to them, now aged eight 
years. Mr. Ives' parents reside in Springfield, 
and have a family of two sons and one daughter, 
the subject of this sketch being the second in 
age. 

John G. Ives, Secretary of the Board of 
Trade, has been a resident of Springfield since 
1839. He was born in Oneida county. New York, 
in 1818; learned the jeweler's and watch maker's 
trade in his native State, and worked at the bench 
there, and after coming to Springfield, until 
1859. In that year he erected the ^Etna mill 
and run it ten years. He sold it in 18G5, and 
the two following years, 1866 and 1867, he filled 
the oftice of Treasurer of Sangamon county, be- 
ing elected on the Republican ticket against a 
usual Democratic majority of several hundred. 
Since retiring from that office, Mr. Ives has been 
chiefly identified with the grain traffic. He was 
also twice elected to the Board of Supervisors. 
In 1843, he married Miss Abigal Watson, a na- 
tive of Nashville, Tennessee. They have three 
sons and a daughter, the latter married and liv- 
ing in Denver, Colorado. One of the sons is 
there also, the other two reside in Springfield. 
Mr. Ives is a Master in the Masonic Order, was 
for many years an active member of I. O. O. F. 
and a number of years Treasurer of the Grand 
Lodge. 

David S. Ives, Chief Clerk, road department, 
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway, Spring- 
field, Illinois, was born in Connecticut, August 
31, 1817, and is the son of Samuel and Cather- 
ine Ives, natives of Connecticut and New Jersey, 
respectivel y . Mr. Ives received a common school 
education in New Jersey, and at the age of fifteen 
began to clerk in a foreign commission house in 
New York City, continuing in this position in 
the counting room till 1837, and then entered his 
railroad career by being employed as clerk in one 
of the departments of the Long Island Railroad, 
of which road he afterwards became Superin- 
tendent, remaining in the service till 185U. In 
18o6, he came to Illinois, in the service of the 
old Great Western Railroad, and was in charge 
of that work until its completion to Indiana 
State line, after which he was variously employed 
in the construction of several railroads until 



1873, he was offered and accepted the position 
he now holds — as Chief Clerk, road department, 
of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway. 
William Jayne, M. D., was born in October, 
1826, in Springfield, Illinois, and is consequently 
one of the oldest residents now living in the 
city. Dr. Gershom Jayne, his father, was a 
native of Orange county, New York, born in 
October, 1791. The subject of this memoir is 
one of their six children. He read medicine 
under his father's preceptorship, attended medi- 
cal lectures at Missouri University, St. Louis, 
from which he graduated in 1849, and at once 
entered the practice of medicine, which was 
interrupted at the end of ten years by his being 
elected Mayor of the city in 1859. In 1860 he 
was elected State Senator to represent the coun- 
ties of Sangamon and Morgan, for the term of 
four years; but being appointed the first Terri- 
torial Governor of Dakota, by President Lin- 
coln, he resigned in 1861 to accept that office. 
In 1862 Dr. Jayne was sent to Congress from 
that Territory, which he represented in that 
body two years. At the close of the term he 
returned to Springfield, and has since resided 
here. He was appointed United States Pension 
Agent in 1869, and filled the office four years; 
in the spring of 1876 was chosen Mayor of the 
city, and re-elected in 1877, serving two con- 
secutive tei'ms. He has been a Director of the 
First National Bank of Springfield since 1875; 
and its Vice President since the spring of 1879; 
also practicing medicine in a moderate degree. 
On October 17, 1850, Dr. Jayne united in mar- 
riage with Julia Witherbee, of Jacksonville, 
Illinois, born in Vermont in 1830. Only two of 
their six children now survive, namely, William 
S. Jaj^ne, who was born in October, 1851, and 
married Margaret E., second daughter of ex- 
Governor John M. Palmer, in November, 1875; 
and Lizzie Jayne, born in July, 1855, and mar- 
ried to Ferdinand Kuechler in October, 1878. 
They all reside in Springfield. 

Echoard S. Johnson, born August 9, 1843, in 
Springfield. Served four years' apprenticeship 
at the printing business, and was engaged with 
his father in the boot, shoe and leather business 
when the rebellion broke out. He enlisted at 
the first call for seventy-five thousand men, 
April, 1861, in Company I, Seventh Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, for three months ; was ap- 
pointed First Sergeant, and served as such full 
time. He re-enlisted July 24. 1861, for three 
years, in the same company and regiment, at 
Mound City, Illinois. Sergeant Johnson remained 
there in charge of the property, while the com- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



683 



pany returned home on furlough. At the elec- 
tion of officers in Springfield, although absent, 
he was elected First Lieutenant, and served as 
such until February 15, 1802, when he was pro- 
moted to Captain, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of Captain Noah E. Mendell, who 
was killed at Fort Donelson, two days before. 
Captain Johnson commanded his company until 
December 22, 1863, when he re-enlisted with 
his company, as a veteran. He continued in 
command until April 22, 1864, when he was pro- 
moted to Major of the regiment. Major John- 
son was appointed by General John M. Corse, 
September 30, 1864, Post Commandant at Rome, 
Georgia, and served as such until the movement 
of the grand army on Sherman's " march to the 
sea," in November following. He then returned 
to his regiment, and served with it until all 
were mustered out, July 25, 1865. He partici- 
pated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donel- 
son, Pittsburg Landing, siege and capture of 
Corinth, Florence, Savannah, Bentonville, besides 
innumerable skirmishes. Major E. S. Johnson 
was engaged in the lumber business, which he 
continued in up to 1872. In consequence of im- 
paired health, and lor observation, he planned a 
European tour, and in company with Dr. Rufus 
S. Lord, left Springfield March 30, 1868. They 
visited England, France, Scotland, Russia and 
Italy. After an extended tour through the prin- 
cipal cities named, they returned to Spring- 
field early in December of same year. He was 
married August 10, 1869, to Laura I. Clinton, 
who was born in Springfield, Illinois. They 
have one child, Edward Russell, born May, 9, 
1875. In 1872 he gave up the lumber business, 
and engaged in the hotel business, in company 
with his father, assuming the charge of the same 
up to his death, in 1879, at v^hich time he be- 
came sole proprietor of the same. 

Satnuel H. Jones, President of the State 
National Bank, of Springfield, is a native of 
Louisa county, Virginia, was born in 1825. 
Samuel and Lucy (Desper) Jones were the parents 
of five sons and four daughters, Samuel H. being 
the fourth of the family. When he was eight 
years of age they moved to Ross county, Ohio, 
and that and Pike county were his home until 
he came to Illinois, in 1849. Mr. Jones has been 
a resident of Springfield since 1854. From the 
time he settled in this State until elected cashier 
of the bank, January 1, 1871, he was engaged 
in buying, feeding and shipping live stock and 
farming, and up to the present time, 1881, he 
owns three f n-ms in Sangamon county, and su- 
pervises their cultivation. After officiating as 



cashier of the bank six years, he was elected 
its Vice President in 1877, and chosen President 
in January, 1880. He has been somewhat active 
as a member of the Republican party; was ap- 
pointed pension agent by President Grant in 
J 872, and served a year; in April, 1877, was ap- 
pointed Commissioner of the State Prison at 
Joliet, which position he now holds. He married 
Miss Emma Jones, of Clark county, Ohio, in 
1858, who has born him one daughter, Mabel, 
aged sixteen years. Mr. Jones is a Past Master 
in the Masonic fraternity. 

John A. Jones, Clerk of the United States 
Circuit Court, for the Southern District of Illi- 
nois, was born in the District of Columbia, May 
29, 1806. lie was graduated at Columbian Col- 
lege, Washington City, in the class of 1825, re- 
ceiving the degree of A. M. three years later. 
He came to Illinois in 1835, and settling in Taze- 
well county, edited the Pekin Gazette, later 
called the " Tazewell Telegraph," the first news- 
paper published in that county, at the same time 
serving as justice of the peace. In October, 
1837, Mr. Jones was appointed Clerk of the Cir- 
cuit Court of Tazewell county by Judge Jesse 
B. Thomas, and re-appointed by Judge S. H. 
Treat, in 1841; was also made Master in Chan- 
cery of that court in 1842. Under the new 
Constitution, he was elected Clerk of the Cir- 
cuit Court, in 1848, and re-elected in 1852. 
After retiring from the office, upon motion of 
Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Jones was admitted to 
the bar by the Supreme Court. In March, 1861, 
he was appointed Superintendent of Commer- 
cial Statistics of the United States, at Washing- 
ton City. His was the fii'st appointment made 
by President Lincoln after the formation of his 
Cabinet. In May, 1866, Mr. Jones resigned his 
office, and came to Bloomington, Illinois, and by 
the death of the former Clerk, was appointed to 
his present office by Judge David Davis, under 
the sanction of Judge S. H. Treat, in July, 1867, 
and has held it continuously since. 

Mr. Edward Jones, his father, was a native of 
New York, and the youngest of five sons, the 
eldest of whom, John Jones, M.D., was President 
Washington's family physician. Edward Jones 
was the first Chief Clerk in the United States 
Treasury, and served thirty-nine consecutive 
years. He was appointed by Hon. Alexander 
Hamilton the first Secretary, in 1790, who in 
1795 gave him a strong letter of commendation, 
which Mr. Jones now has as a souvenir. The 
mother of the subject of this sketch was Louisa 
(Maus) Jones, a native of Pottsgrove, Pennsyl- 
vania. Her ))aternal ancestors were officials of 



684 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



note in England and the United States. Mr. 
Jones has preserved a cnmber of their com- 
missions bearing dates from 1691 on down to 
the administration of Jefferson, and ending 
1840. 

Mr. Jores married A. Maria Major, of Bloom- 
ington, Illinois, daughter of William T. Major, 
of Christian county, Kentucky. Their family 
consists of two sons atd four daughters, one 
lately deceased. Four of these are married. 
Mr. Jones is proverbially a social, companiona- 
ble man, and has ever been a very active one. 
For three years, while Circuit Clerk of Taze- 
well county, he livtd ten miles from his office, 
and in pleasant weather walked both ways each 
day, making twenty miles walk. 

George W. Jones, Clerk of the Appellate 
Court lor Illinois, was born in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1828, and reared and educated in 
Pike county, Illinois, of which his parents were 
early settlers; and his father, Nathan W. Jores, 
was one of the original proprietors of Griggs- 
ville, in that county, which is still the family 
home. George was elected Circuit Clerk of 
Pike county in 1860, for four years, on the Dem- 
ocratic ticket. In 1864, he retired, and four 
years later re-entered the office as deputy, serv- 
ing until 1872, when he was again chosen Clerk 
for another term of four years. In the conven- 
tion of that year he was nominated by acclima- 
tion, without opposition, in a county giving 
about eight hundred Democratic majority. In 
18T6, Mr. Jones was appointed by the court of 
his county as one of the Board of Commission- 
ers to construct the Sny Island Levee, an improve- 
ment authorized by the general drainage law, for 
the reclaiming of overflow and swamp lands. 
The Commission constructed a levee fifty-two 
miles in length, and an average heighth of seven 
feet, through the counties of Adams, Pike, and 
part of Calhoun, thereby reclaiming about 110,- 
000 acres of valuable lands. Mr. Jones served 
in the Board from 1872 till 18*78, during which 
time they expended about $650,000. In the fall 
of 1818, he was elected Clerk of the Appellate 
Court for the term of six years, and assumed the 
duties of the office December 4th of that year. 
He was a member of the County Board of Su- 
pervisors in Pike for seven years, six of them, 
from 1866 to 1872, he was Chairman of that 
body. In 1850, Mr. Jones united in marriage 
with Cecilia Bennett, born in Delaware county, 
N< w York. Two sons compose their fsmily: 
Frank H., a practicing Attorney in Springfield; 
and Fred, associated with a large railroad supply 
house of Chicago. 



Alvin B. Jvilki7is, dealer in musical merchan- 
dise, of the firm of Judkins & Fisher, 119 North 
Sixth street, has been dealing in musical instru- 
ments since 1865. The partnership with A. H. 
Fisher was formed, and their fine music store 
in Key's block opened, August 1,1881. Their 
stock embraces the standard makes of pianos 
and organs, and also a complete line of string 
and brass instruments, together with a large col- 
lection of the latest and most popular sheet 
music. Seme of the leading instruments, for 
which they have the exclusive agency in Central 
and Southern Illinois, are the Steinway, Weber, 
Stock, Kranich & Bach, and Shafer pianos; the 
Estey, Taylor & Farley, New Eagle, and Story 
& Camp organs. Mr. Judkins, who has the 
active management, is admirably adapted for the 
business, both by nature and education. Being 
a natural mechanic, and having handled instru- 
ments for sixteen years, he is familiar with every 
part and detail of their construction, as well as 
a critical judge of their qualities. Alvin B. 
Judkins is a native of Pike county, Illinois, and 
was bom in 1848, on Christmas day. Hiram 
Judkins and Doratha Rowell, his parents were 
natives of New Hampshire, and after their mar- 
riage settled in Griggsville, Pike county, from 
whence they movetl to Springfield, when Alvin 
was nearly four years old. He grew to manhood 
in the Capital City and graduated from the High 
School in 1865, soon after which he entered the 
musical instrument trade. In 1877, he became 
the district agentforthe Iron Mountain Railroad, 
and has since sold thousands of acres of the 
company's lands. He is also special agent for 
the Chicago & Alton Company. Mr. Judkins 
has taken an active interest in local musical mat- 
ters, having been a member of all the musical 
societies of Springfield since he left school, and 
plays any wind or string instrument. He mar- 
ried in Effingham county, Illinois, to Laura 
Kagay, a native of that county, and daughter of 
B. F. Kagay, a prominent attorney of Effingham 
for twenty-six years. 

Andrev! K. Kerns, grocer, 125 North Sixth 
street, was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1845, 
and is the youngest of a family of ten children 
of Abner Kerns, born in Pennsylvania, and 
Sarah A. Brown, a native of Ohio. They mar- 
ried and lived in Ross county, where Mr. Kerns 
died in 1847. Three years later his widow 
moved with the family to Illinois, and settled 
eight miles north of Springfield, in Sangamon 
county. Mrs. Kerns died there in 1873. Until 
1877 Andrew carried on farming in Mechanics- 
burg township, in Sangamon county. He pur- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



685 



chased a farm in the spring of 1876, raised a 
corn orop worth |2,700 that season, and sold the 
place in the fall for $500 in advance. In the 
spring of 1877 he engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in New Buffalo, continuing one year. At 
the end of that time he re-purchased the farm he 
formerly owned at a reduction of |2,700, and 
occupied it till March, 1881, when he again left 
it, and re-embarked in the grocery trade in his 
present store. Mi*. Kerns does a general retail 
business in staple and fancy groceries of $12,000 
a year. In December, 1871, he married Miss 
Mary Seeds, of Shadeville, Ohio. They have 
four children, Shirley K., aged nine years; Etfie, 
aged six, Hattie four, and Lillie, nearly two 
years old. 

Charles Kennedy^ Superintendent of the 
Springfield Iron Company's works, was born in 
Baltimore, Maryland, December 25, 1831. David 
Kennedy and Magdalena Miller were his parents, 
the former of whom died when Charles was a 
small child. He began learning the business in 
Pittsburg, at ten years of age, receiving a salary 
of twenty-five cents per day. After having sev- 
eral years' experience he connected himself with 
the Great Western Iron Works, at Brady's Bend, 
Pennsylvania, for four years; thence went to 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and was associated 
for twenty years with the Cambria Iron Com- 
pany's works at that place; first in the capacity 
of a hand in the mill, but by tact and industry 
worked up to the position of assistant manager, 
under Alexander Hamilton, manager, to whom. 
he feels a lasting gratitude for kindness shown 
him while at these works. Upon leaving there, 
Mr. Kennedy was three years Superintendent of 
the Cleveland Iron Company, resigning that 
position to take his present one, whose duties 
he assumed in July, 1878. In September, 1864, 
he enlisted in the United States Army, as a mem- 
ber of Company B, Fifth Pennsylvania Heavy 
Artillery; served a year as a private, and re- 
ceived his discharge in 1865. Mr. Kennedy 
united in marriage with Elizabeth Jones in 185;^, 
in Brady's Bend, Armstrong county, Pennsyl- 
vania; she is a native of Ohio. When about 
twelve years of age, Mr. K. lost his left eye 
from a spark in the rolling mill. 

Peter F. Kimble, dealer in wall paper, window 
shades, paints and oils, 42 1 Adams street, was 
born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 
1835; came to Illinois and settled in Winches- 
ter, Scott county, in 1856, and engaged while 
there in the millinery and grocery business. Re- 
moving to Springfield in the spring of 1865, he 
continued in the grocery trade till elected City 



Treasurer in 1867; was re-elected in ]86S. He 
also Served two terms in the Couiiiy Board of 
Supervisors, in 1874 and 1875. Soon after re- 
tiring from the Treasurer's office, Mr. Kimble 
turned his attention to his present business. He 
occupies two floors of the building, and keeps 
an extensive stock of wall papers, window 
shades, paints and painter's supplies, in which 
he has a large retail and considerable jobbing 
trade. He also carries on painting and paper 
hanging, employing twelve to fifteen men in the 
business. 

Mr. Kimble united in marriage with Sarah J. 
Williams, of Scott county, Illinois. In politics, 
he is a Democrat. 

Eli Kriegh, Springfield, Illinois, was born in 
Washington county, Maryland, August 10, 1810; 
sou of Philip and Mary Kriegh, of German de- 
scent; was a farmer by occupation; father died 
in Maryland, and mother in Springfield, Illinois. 
Eli was fourth son of a family of nine children. 
He came to Springfield April 6, 1855, and started 
in the stove and tinner business, and house fur- 
nishing goods; has remained in the business 
ever since. He was married October 29, 1838, 
to Miss Ann Willard, who was born in Frederick 
county, Maryland. They have had seven child- 
ren, four sons and three daughters. Mr. Kriegh 
carries a $5,000 stock of goods. He came to the 
county in limited circumstances, but by industry 
and economy has accumulated a fine property 
and home. 

Dr. Allen Latham, Springfield, was born in 
Lyme, New Hampshire, November 5, 1818. His 
grandfather, Arthur, was born in Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts, in 1755. His father was born in 
Lyme, New Hampshire, February 14, 1783. The 
stock sprang from two brothers, who came over 
in the Mayflower in 1620, Robert and William, 
and were of English descent. Grandfather Ar- 
thur was a soldier in the Revolutionary war of 
1775, and served seven yearn. Dr. Latham com- 
menced reading medicine when he was sixteen 
years old; in 1844, came to Illinois and located 
in Danville, where he commenced the practice 
of dentistry; remained there until 1861, then ho 
came to Springfield, where he has followed his 
profession since. He married for his first wife 
Miss Clara E. Jenness, a daughter of Daniel L. 
Jenness, of Chichester, New Hampshire. She 
died August 18th, 1852, leaving tw^o children, 
Allen and Clara E. For his second wife he mar- 
ried Judy Ann Pierce, of Iroquois county, Illi- 
nois; she was born November 23, 1829. They 
have one child, John William, born June 29th, 
1 866. Mr. L. is a member of the Masonic Lodge, 



686 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



No. 333; also a member of El wood Commandery, 
Knights Templar, No. 6. 

Philij) C. Latham, deceased, was born Jan- 
uary 25, 1804, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He 
came with his father to Elkhart Grove, in 1819. 
In February, 1827, he entered the County Clerk's 
office, in Springfield, under C. R. Matheny, 
County Cleik; remained there eight years; was 
married in Springfield, May 15, 1831, to Cath- 
arine Tabor, who was born February 25, 1812, in 
Champaign county, Ohio; they had five children 
in Springfield: Mary E., born in 1836, married 
Dr. Alexander Halbert; Julia M., born January 
11, 1838, married in Springfield to B. D. Magru- 
der, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Wil- 
liam Henry, born November 27,1839, enlisted in 
1862, for three years, in Company B, One Hun- 
dred and Fourteenth Illinois; was elected First 
Lieutenant at the organization; at once promoted 
to Adjutant; died December, 18G3, in Spring- 
field, of disease contracted in the army; George 
C, born May 16, 1842; was married October 2, 
1867, to Olivia Priest; Philip C, Jr., born July 
18, 1844; was married to Lucy George, a native 
of Canada; he died suddenly, February 16, 1871. 
Mrs Lucy Latham is married and resides in 
Nebraska, Mr. Latham, Sr., was killed by 
lightning, near Shawneetown, Illinois, May 25, 
1844. His widow resides in Springfield, in a 
house that her husband built in 1838. 

James L. Lamb, one of the early merchants 
and for many years one of the leading business 
men of Springfield, was born in Connelsville, 
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, November 7, 
1800. At twenty years of age he came to Illi- 
nois and located in Kaskaskia, formed a partner- 
ship with a brother-in-law, Thomas Mather, and 
I. B. Opdycke, and engaged in general merchan- 
dising, and also carried on beef and pork pack- 
ing extensively, which they shipped south. This 
firm shipped the first cargo of barreled pork to 
New Orleans ever sent from Illinois. In 1824, 
Mr. Lamb, returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and on 
June 13, of that year married Susan C. Cranmer, 
born in Cincinnati, in August, 1803, and the 
daughter of Dr. John Cranmer, of that city. 
They settled in Kaskaskia, where Mr. Lamb 
continued in business about eight years. In the 
fall of 1832 he severed his connection there and 
they moved to Springfield, and after a few^ 
months residence on Jefl:erson street settled on 
the site of Mrs. Lamb's present large and beauti- 
ful homestead. The hazle brush were cleared 
away to make room for their primitive pioneer 
home, from which a cow-path lead up through 
where Adams street now is. Mr. Lamb assumed 



the mercantile business in Springfield on Jeffer- 
son street, opposite the i)resent St. Charles hotel. 
From there he moved to the west side of the 
square, and later to the corner now occupied by 
Hall & Herrick, at the southeast corner of the 
square. A number of years previous to his 
death he retired from that branch of business, 
and devoted the last years of his life to buying 
and packing pork. He departed from this life 
on December 3, 1873, 

Mr. Lamb was an extensive reader, especially 
of history and travels; possessed a vigorous, 
active mind, was very sociable and hospitable, 
and particularly fond of the society of the young. 
He was public spirited in a marked degree, and 
ready to contribute to whatever inured to the 
welfare and prosperity of Springfield. Descended 
i rom Quaker ancestry, the religious element was 
conspicuous in his nature. He was for many 
years a member and an elder in the Presbyte- 
rian Church. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb had one son 
and five daughters born of their marital union, 
namely, John C, proprietor of the xEtna Iron 
Works of Springfield; Mrs. Gen. John Cook, 
Mrs. W. J. Black, Mrs. G. R. Brainerd, and a 
deceased daughter. All the living are residents 
of Sangamon county. 

John C. Lamb, proprietor of the ^Etna Iron 
Works, corner Second and Adams streets, was 
born in Randolph county Illinois, 1825. His 
father, James L. Lamb, was a Pennsylvanian by 
birth, and settled in the old town of Kaskaskia, 
Illinois, about 1822. He married Susan H. 
Cranmer, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1824. They 
were the parents of five daughters and the sub- 
ject of this sketch; one daughter deceased. They 
moved to Springfield in 1831, where Mr. Lamb 
engaged in pork packing, extensively, and in 
merchandising until he died in the fall of 1873, 
John C. being associated with him in conduct- 
ing business. In 1848, Mr. J. C. Lamb became 
a partner in the firm of Lowry, Lamb & Co., in 
the ^^tna Foundry and Machine Works. In 
1853 the firm was dissolved by the death of one 
of the partners, and in 1855, Mr. Lamb bought the 
entire concern and has since been sole proprie- 
tor. He does a large business in the manufacture 
of railroad work, mill machinery and steam 
engines, employing an average of sixty men. 

James Latham, was born, October 25, 1768, in 
Loudon county, Virginia, of English parents. 
He emigrated when a young man to Kentucky, 
and was there married, June 21, 1792, to Mary 
Briggs, who was born February 3, 1772, in Vir- 
ginia, of Scotch parents. They had nine chil- 
dren in Kentucky, and moved to Elkhart Grove, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COTJNTY. 



687 



in what is now Logan county, but was formerly 
a part of Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 
1819. Mr. Laiham and his son Richard built a 
horse mill, at Elkhart, in 1823. It was the tirst 
mill north of the Sangamon river. When he 
settled at Elkhart, their nearest mill was at Ed- 
wardsville, more than one liundred miles south. 
When Sangamon county was organized, James 
Latham was appointed Judge of the Probate 
Court, May 27, 1821. He w^as also Justice of 
the Peace. After Mr. Latham had served a year 
or two as Judge of the Probate Court of Sanga- 
mon county, he was appointed, on the part of 
the United States Government, to superintend 
the Indians around Fort Clark. Soon after, he 
moved his family there, making that place his 
headquarters. The town of Peoria was laid out, 
on land including the fort. Judge Latham died 
there, December 4, 1826. His widow returned 
with her family to Elkhart, where she died. 

The family of Judge Latham have been quite 
pi'ominent in Sangamon and Logan counties. 

Elizabeth, born November 25, 1793, in Ken- 
tucky, and was married there to James W. Chap- 
man. They moved to lUindis, and settled north 
of the Sangamon river, near the mouth of Fancy 
creek, where Mr. Chapman established a ferry, 
in 1818, on the Sangamon river, near Bogue's 
Mill. He subsequently moved to Elkhart, 
Logan county, with his family, when both Mr. 
and Mrs. Chapman died. 

Lucy, born August 18, 1797, in Kentucky. 
Came to what was then Sangamon county with 
her parents, and married Grant Blackwell; re- 
turned to Kentucky and died there in 1827. 

Richard was born December 23, 1798, in Bowl- 
ing Green, Kentucky, and came with his parents 
in 1819 to Illinois. He was married September 
16, 1S24, at Elkhart, Illinois, to Emily Hubbard. 
They had one child, and mother and child died, in 
1825, at Elkhart. Richard Latham was married 
November 27, 1825, to Mrs. Margaret Broad- 
well, whose maiden name was Stephenson. She 
was a sister of James C, John and Robert Steph- 
enson. Mr. and Mrs. Latham had thirteen child- 
dren, seven of whom died young. Of the other 
six — Mary A., born February 25, 1829, was mar- 
ried November 25, 1848, to Dr. Timothy Leeds. 
Martha E. married James S. Major. She died 
September 20, 1852. Henry C, born April 11, 
1837, at Elkhart, is dealing in conveyancing and 
furnishing abstract titles to real estate. He re- 
sides in Springfield, Lucy lives with her mother. 
Kittie S., born Januai-y 24, 1841, at Elkhart, was 
married in Springfield, January 30, 1868, to 
Elder J. H. McCullough, a minister of the Chris- 

80— 



tian Church, and resides in Denver, Colorado. 
Nannie, born December 6, 1843, at Elkhart, was 
married September i6, 1873, in Springfield, to 
George II. Souther. They have one child, 
Latham, and reside in Springfield. Richard 
Latham died June 5, 1868, and his widow lives 
with her i-on, Benry C, in Springfield, Illinois. 

Mary L , born in Kentucky; married John 
Constant. 

Phillip C, born January 25, 1804. See sketch. 

Nancy, resides wnth Mrs. Richard Latham. 

Maria, born in 1809, in Kentucky; married to 
Archibald Constant. 

John, born September 9, 1812, in Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon 
county, to Lucy Bennett, a native of Kentucky. 

Robert B., born June 21, 1818, in Union 
county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon 
county, November 5, 1846, to Georgiaoa Gillette, 
a native of New Haven, Connecticut. She died 
in 1853. R. B. Latham w^as married July 24, 
1857, in Logan county, to Savilla Wyatt, a native 
of Morgan county, Illinois. Robert B. Latham 
was elected sheriff of Logan county in 1850, 
and served two years. He was elected Repre- 
sentative in Illinois Legislature for 1861-62. 
He raised a regiment and became Colonel of the 
One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, and served twenty months in the war to 
suppress the rebellion, and then resigned on ac- 
count of impaired health. 

Rheuna JD. Lawrence, railroad contractor, has 
been prominently identified with the building 
and contracting business, in Central Illinoi?i, 
for a quarter of a century. He was born in 
Greene county, Ohio, in 1837. His father, 
Lewis W. Lawrence, was a Major in the Mexi- 
can war, and died before the subject of this 
sketch reached his tenth year, at which age he 
became self-supporting. His mother was Susan 
M., daughter of Colonel Elijah Bell, who came 
from Connecticut and settled in Ohio previous 
to her birth. She still survives, at tlie age of 
sixty-eight years, and resides with' Mr. Lawrence, 
in Springfield. His first occupation was that of 
off-bearer in a brick-yard ; learned the mason 
trade, and received a journeyman's wages at the 
age of foui'teen, In 1855, after making a tour 
of the Western territories, he located in Spring- 
field, Illinois, and soon after engaged in the 
contracting and building business. His first 
contract was to erect a three-story brick build- 
ing, on the corner of Jefferson and Fifth streets, 
for some years used as the post office. The next 
was to lay three million bricks and three thou- 
sand perches of stone, in the Jacksonville Insane 



68S 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Asylum. While that was in progress, he and 
his partner. Reuben Kain, also erected the Uni- 
versalist Church edifice, in Springfield ; subse- 
quently constructed many buildings in Spring- 
field and surrounding towns. In 1867, Mr. 
Lawrence turned his attention to railroad 
contracting, which he has pursued to the present 
time, and has built many miles of road in this 
State and Missouri. In 1872, he, in company 
with others parlies, sank a coal shaft 
and laid out the town of Barclay, Colonel 
John Williams was President, George N. Black, 
Secretary, and Mr. Lawrence, Manager of the 
company's business. The company owned one 
thousand four hundred acres of coal right there; 
eie.;ted about seventy tenement houses, a store 
and other improvements. Mr. L. sold his one- 
fourth interest two years ago. In 1876, he was 
apuointed by the Governor as one of the Com- 
missioners to locate and construct the Southern 
Illinois Penitentiary; was re-appointed for six 
years, in 1878, but owing to the pressure of 
private business, resigned in August of that' 
year. He served the city as Superintendent of 
Public Works for some time. In the summer 
of 1881, he in company with a partner, erected 
the handsome Central Block, on the corner of 
Sixth and Adams streets, and one of the most 
elegant business blocks in the city. Mr. Law- 
rence married Mary A., daughter of John C. 
Maxcy, in Springfield, in 1859. They have one 
child, Susie Lawrence. Mr L. is a Mason, and 
has filled the chairs of the local subordinate 
lodge and Commandery ; is a believer in the 
Christian religion, and favors the M. E. Church. 
William W. H. X«ioto/i, wasborn in Hartland, 
Vermont, September 12, 1832. He lived there 
and attended school until sixteen years of age, 
when he graduated at the Thetford Academy. 
He was then engaged in the mercantile trade 
until 1856, when he went to Gi'iggsville, Pike 
county, Illinois, where he was engaged in the 
mercantile business until July 18, 1861, when he 
raised Company I, Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, 
Volunteers; he was chosen Captain of the com- 
pany. At the siege of Vicksburg, the Captain 
had his spine seriously injured, causing paralysis 
of the right side of his body. He was then 
transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, and 
ordered to Washington, where he had charge of 
the recruiting camp until May 24, 1864, when he 
was ordered to New Orleans, where he took 
command of the Veteran Reserve Corps of the 
Dej)artment of the Gulf; and he remained in 
command of this Corps until June 30, 1866, 
when he was mustered out at New Orleans. The 



Captain returned to Griggsville, Illinois, and 
taught school two years, when he was appointed 
by Governor Palmer to the office of Custodian 
of the United States Surveys, of the State of 
Illinois, a position he still retains. His father, 
John Lawton, was born in Hartland, Vermont; 
he was a farmer, and died in 1865. His wife, 
Debora Petrie, was also born in Hartland, Ver- 
mont; she died in 1872; she was the mother of 
six children; three are living, namely: John P. 
Lawton, living in Johnstown, Indian Territory; 
he is a Baptist minister, in charge of a mission- 
ary school of the Chickasaw Indians, for the 
government; Miss Abbie M. Lawton, Post- 
mistress at Griggsville, Illinois, and the subject 
of this sketch. Captain W. W. H. Lawton. When 
the Captain enlisted in the army, he was a tall, 
graceful, fine-looking young man. For eighteen 
years his right side has been paralyzed, the re- 
sult of injuries sustained during the charge on 
the rebel forces in the rear, at Vicksburg, May 
2, 1863, since which time he has constantly suf- 
fered therefrom, but like a brave soldier, he has 
patiently endured the constant painful reminder 
of the services he i-en'dered the government. The 
Captain has a fine gold watch and chain that was 
presented to him by "His Boys" of Company I, 
Thirty-third Illinois Infantry Volunteers. It 
was sent to him after he was transferred to the 
Veteran Reserve Corps. The purse to buy the 
watch was made up by the boys while they were 
under fire, in the trenches at the siege of Vicks- 
burg. 

Joseph Ijedlie, civil engineer, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
January 18, 1812; son of Arthur and Catharine 
(Collins)Ledlie, of Irish descent, who emigrated 
to the States in 1801, and were married the same 
year; he embarked in merchandising, but that 
did not prove a financial success; in 1815, emi- 
grated to Gallia, at present Meigs county, Ohio; 
the following year, moved upon land in a dense 
wilderness, where he cleared up a farm which 
proved successful; he also followed his trade of 
boot and shoe making, in connection with his 
farm. Mr. L. was a natural mechanic, and could 
manufacture any thing he turned his attention 
to; he made a loom in which they wove from 
flax raised on the place, into cloth of which their 
clothing was made; cut the children's clothing, 
and his mother made them, and the garments 
always looked neat and tasty, on account of a 
good fit. Pie remained there until his death, 
which occurred in 1838; his wife died in 1832. 
William, the oldest son, is living near the old 
homestead; he was born January 13, 1803; John 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



CS9 



C. was born August 22, 1804, and died August 
3, 1805; Arthur was born April 21, 1800, and 
died in September, 1866; Mary was born Feb- 
ruary 25, 1811, and died August 15 of the same 
year; John O., born March 7, 1810, and is 
living in California; Joseph, the subject of this 
sketch; Mary was born September 8, 1816, and 
died April 23, 1881; Catharine I. was born Jan- 
uary 6, 1820, and died September 13, 1839. Mr. 
Lediie and his brother Arthur arrived in Illi- 
nois in May, 1837. In the fall following they 
returned to Galliopolis, Ohio, where they had a 
sister; Arthur was made principal of the academy, 
himself and sister Mary assisting. The follow- 
ing spring, in company with Arthur, Mary and 
Catharine, they moved to Macoupin county, 
where they farmed during the summers and 
taught school during the winters. In the spring 
of 1839, Catharine died, which broke up the 
family. The brothers still continued on the 
farm, sending Mary to Hillsboro and Jackson- 
ville academies. In 1846, Joseph came to Spring- 
field, and soon after was appointed Deputy 
County Surveyor, by John B. Watson, who 
shortly left for California, leaving the office in 
charge of Mr. L. The following year he w^as 
elected to the office. In 1855, he was appointed 
United States Surveyor of Kansas, which office 
he filled with ability. In 1855, he was appointed 
United States Deputy Surveyor of Kansas and 
Nebraska, where he remained until 1857. Mr. 
Lediie has always taken an active part in politics, 
being a Democrat in his views. 

William F. Leeder was born in Brunswick, 
Germany, May 25, 1839, where he lived until six 
years of age, when he came with his parents to 
the United States. They landed at New Orleans 
and then took a steamer to St. Louis, Missouri, 
where he remained some four years. His father 
died here in 1849. From St. Louis he moved 
with his mother to Waterloo, Illinois, and some 
eighteen months after the family moved to Belle- 
ville, St. Clair county, Illinois; lived here some 
three years, then moved to Central City, Illinois. 
Mr. Leeder worked here in a brick-yard and on a 
farm some five years, and during this time learned 
the barber's trade and in the spring of 1860 went 
to Memphis, Tennessee, and followed his trade 
three months; then went to Jackson, Tennessee, 
where he ran on the old Mississippi Central Rail- 
road one month, then worked at the trade until 
June, 1861. He then returned to Central City, 
Illinois, and followed his trade until May, 1862, 
when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and has 
followed the barber's trade in this city until 1879. 
During this time was at Lincoln, Illinois, one 



month. In 1879, he bought H. Speckman's 
saloon, at 222 South Sixth street, where W. F. 
Leeder & Co., have the finest beer hall and pool 
room in Central Illinois. He was married to 
Miss F.ora Rippstein January 20, 1863. She 
was born in Switzerland, and a daughter of 
Jacob and Catharine Rippstein. They reside in 
Springfield, and are both members of the Catho- 
lic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Leeder had nine 
children, seven living, viz: William E., Flora 
M., Henry E , Louisa M., Adeline, Frank E., and 
Alice A. The father of William Leeder, Henry 
Leeder, born in Brunswick, Germany, was a stone 
mason by trade, and died in 1849. His wife, 
Caroline Leeder, was born in Brunswick, Ger- 
many. She and husband were both members 
of the Lutheran Church. In politics, Mr. Leeder 
is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Douglas 
for President of the United States. He is also 
a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 6, in 
Spi'ingfield, Illinois; is also a member of Druid's 
Lodge No. 37; was a member of Butler's band 
ten years, and the German band seven years. 

Obed Lewis, Springfield, Illinois, was born in 
Galigerville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 
25, 1812, and is the son of William Lewis, a far- 
mer, and Margaret Lewis, natives of Chester 
county, Pennsylvania. Obed Lewis received 
his education in the common schools of his na- 
tive county. When Mr. Lewis was fourteen 
years old, his father died. At the age of sixteen, 
Mr. Lewis began to learn carriage making in 
New Holland, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
and continued there four years; and then com- 
pleted his trade in Philadelphia; then worked at 
his trade in Chester, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, 
Delaware; then in Danville, Virginia, for one 
year, and in Milton one year; and then returned 
to Philadelphia, in 1835, and carried on his busi- 
ness in that city and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 
until May, 1838, when he came to Springfield 
and jjursued his business, manufacturing car- 
riages and wagons until 1868, and then retired 
from his active business. Mr. Lewis was elected 
City Alderman of Springfield, Illinois, in 1862, 
in which office he served for eight years. Was 
elected Mayor of the city of Springfield, Illinois, 
in April, 1874, which office he held for one year. 
Has been a member of the Board of Oak Ridge 
Cemetery from 1863 to 1881, and is a member of 
the Board of Commissioners of Springfield 
Water Works. Mr. Lewis was married Sep- 
tember 23, 1851, to Cordelia M. lies, and by 
this union were born to them William T., Kate, 
and Mary. Mrs. Lewis is a daughter of Elijah 
lies, an early settler of this county, and at pres- 



690 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



ent in his eighty-sixth year, and living with Mr. 
and Mrs. Lewis. Mrs. Lewis received lier educa- 
tion in the common schools in Springfield. Mrs. 
Lewis is a member of the First Presbyterian 
Cluirch. Mr. Lewis has been very active in his 
business, manufacturing carriages and wagons, 
in which he was successful. 

Sauiuel N. Little, senior partner in Little & 
Sons' livery, corner Fourth and Adams streets, 
residence, corner Adams and Second streets, was 
born in Fle.mniing county, Kentucky, in Febru- 
ary, 1811; was brought by his parents to St. 
Clair county, Illinois, in the spring of 1818. 
In the spring of the year 1819, his father 
cfime to Sangamon county, and locating at 
Little's Point, two and a half miles southwest of 
the present site of Springfield, raised a crop, 
and in ] 820 brought his family and settled there. 
This was the home of Samuel Little, until the 
autumn of 1881, when the last ninety-six acres 
was sold for $16,000, and the family moved into 
the city. In January, 1843, Mr. Little married 
Eliza M. Morgan, who was also a native of 
Fleraming county, Kentucky, but brought up 
from infancy in Sangamon county, Illinois. 
Two children of each sex comprise their family. 
Both the sons are engaged in the livery business, 
Gershom, J., in company with his father, on the 
corner of Adams and Fourth streets, where the 
senior Little established the business in the fall 
of 1851; and Sanford, H., on south Sixth street, 
opposite the Leland hotel. The Fourth street 
stable is a large two-story brick, eighty by one 
hundred and fifty-seven feet in size, and admira- 
bly constructed and arranged for the purpose, 
furnished with blacksmith shop, wash-room and 
other conveniences, making it one of the most 
complete stables in Illinois. Their stock con- 
sists of eight coaches, three barouches, sixteen 
buggies, three omnibuses, two baggage wagons, 
two mail wagons and fifty horses. S. H. Little 
is sole proprietor of the other stable, which com- 
prises four coaches, twelve buggies and twenty- 
one horses. 

Gershom J. Little, was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, February 19, 1847. He read 
medicine and graduated from Rush Medical Col- 
lege, Chicago, in 1868; but, becoming interested 
in the livery business, did not engage in the 
medical j)ractice. He married Maggie Connor, 
of Springfield, in 1875. Her father, Ed. L. 
Connor, was, for many years, connected with the 
Springfield Illinois State Register. 

V. T. Lindsay, M. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Gallatin county, Kentucky, August 
31, 1843; son of Michael and Martha A.Lindsay, 



natives of Kentucky, where they were married 
and eight children were born, six sons and two 
daughters. 

In 1864, Mr. L. commenced reading medicine 
under Dr. William Richards, of Napoleon Ken- 
tucky, where he remained until the winter of 
1865-66; when he attended a course of lectures 
at the Miami Medical College, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio. He graduated March 2, 1869, In 1866 
he came to Cotton Hill Township, where he 
commenced the practice of medicine. After 
graduating he returned to Cotton Hill, where he 
followed his profession until 18*75. He then 
went abroad, visiting the hospitals of Paris, 
London, Vienna, Austria, Dresden, Saxony, and 
materially benefitted by his study and experi- 
ence. Dr. Lindsay has been twice married; for 
his first wife, he married Miss Olive W. Crouch, 
who died soon after; for his second wife he mar- 
ried Miss E. K. Frazer, of Fayetteville, Indiana, 
a daughter of Elder E. S. Frazer; she was born 
in January, 1847. By this union there was one 
son and two daughters, Olive C, Nicholas V., 
and Isabelle. 

Charles H. Long, baker, grocer, and dealer in 
garden and field seeds, 225 South Fifth street, 
has been active in business in Springfield since 
1857, first starting in the bakery business where 
the old Jefferson House now is. In 1863, he 
erected the brick building he now occupies, 
three stories high, twenty by seventy-four feet, 
of which he uses two floors and the basement 
for his trade, the bakery being in another build- 
ing. Soon after locating in his present quar- 
ters, he put in a stock of general groceries, and 
ten years ago added the seed department, of 
whicia he makes a specialty, and it is now a lead- 
ing feature of his business, and runs over$lO,000 
a year. His entire sales in the vaiious branches 
amounted in 1880 to |40,000. 

Mr. Long is a native of Germany, born in 
1838; canje to the United States in the spring of 
1854, settling immediately in Springfield, Illi- 
nois, and has been a citizen of Sangamon county 
since. In 1803, he married Miss Louise Nagel, 
in Springfield, who was also born in Germany. 
Their family consists of two sons and three 
daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Long are members of 
the German Lutheran Church. He was one of 
the first Board of Trustees of Concordia Col- 
lege, of this city. 

Joseph I. Jjoose, lumber merchant, of the firm 
of Spear & Loose, is the eldest of a faiuily of 
four sons and three daughters of Jacob G. 
Loose and Elizabeth M., daughter of \Vashing- 
ton ^Iles, a very early settler in this county. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



691 



Joseph was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, 
and is twenty-eight years of age. He received a 
good English education in the public schools, 
and upon his father's death m 1874, he succeeded 
him in the business of mining and dealing in 
coal, until the present partnership was formed 
with Joseph H. Spear, to engage in the lumber 
trade in February, 1880. On the 15th day of 
May, 1878, Mr. Loose married Miss Annie M. 
Marcy, in New Haven, Connecticut, who has 
born him two sons, Joseph Frederick and Harry 
Jacob Loose. 

Joh7i McCreery, proprietor St. Nicholas Hotel, 
was born in Rochester, New York, Api'il 15, 
1832, son of Joseph and Ann (Van Riper) 
McCreery. His father was born in the town of 
Rochester, New York, and his mother in the 
town of Patterson, New Jersey. His father was 
a farmer by occupation, and came West in 1844, 
and located in Will county, Illinois, where he 
now resides. His mother died in 1879. The 
subject of this sketch received only a common 
school education previous to coming to Illinois. 
He was reared on a farm, and remained with his 
father until nineteen years of age. He then 
went to Lockport, Illinois, where he was engaged 
as clerk for Norton & Company, in the lumber 
and grain business, where he remained for two 
years. He then i*eturned to Plain field, and 
clerked for McAllister & Company, where he 
continued up to the spring of 1857, when he 
came to Springfield and engaged in the stove 
business, which he carried on in connection with 
other business some twelve years, and in 1862 
he was connected with the hotel which he now 
runs. He was married in February, 1855, to 
Louisa Rose, who was born in New York, and 
was the daughter of Philip and Caroline Power, 
who now reside in Grundy county, Illinois. In 
1881 he was elected Mayor of the City of Spring- 
field, receiving the largest majority of any Mayor 
elected since the organization of the city. 

Mr. McCreery is a member of the Tyrian 
Lodge, No. 333, and Elwood Commandery, 
No. 6. 

MrH. Ann S. McCormick, widow of the late 
Andrew McCormick, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Green county, Kentucky, three miles 
south of Greensburg, on Green river, January 3, 
1810. She is the daughter of James and Lucre- 
tia Short, natives of South Carolina, and came 
to Sangamon, afterwards known as Menard 
county. May 7, 1822. 

Mrs. McCormick was married to Andrew Mc- 
Cormick, three miles southeast of Springfield, 
July 30, J 835, and by the union had ten children, 



of whom six are living, viz, Margaret Jane, Lu- 
cretia B.,Mary Elizabeth, John A., Alexander R., 
and Ann C, all born in Springfield. 

A sketch of the life of Andrew' McCormick 
will be found under the head of "Illustrious and 
Prominent Dead," in another portion of the 
work. 

John McCormick, son of Andrew and Ann S. 
McCormick, -was born in Springfield, July 28, 
1845, and attended the common schools in his 
native place. Worked at painting a short time, 
then at ihe carpenter's trade^ from 18G1 to 1863. 
After being engaged in various occupations, he 
resumed his trade, which he followed till 1869, 
when he engaged as car-builder for the Wabash, 
St. Louis <fc Pacific Railroad Company, in Spring- 
field, and has continued in this occupation since. 
Mr. McCormick was married in Springfield, 
October 10, 1868, to Tillie Morroth, of Bloom- 
ington, and by this union have one child, Tillie 
May. Mrs. McCormick is a member of the 
Methodist Church. Mr. McCormick is a mem- 
bet of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, San- 
gamon Lodge, No. 6. 

Lester McMurphy, Assistant Postmaster at 
Springfield, Illinois, was born in St. Lawrence 
county New York, January 28, 1833, and the son 
of David, a millwright, and Elizabeth McMur-X 
phy, the"^former being born in Windsor county, 
Vermont, the latter in Bedford county Pennsyl- 
vania, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
in 1839, locating at Salisbury, in which place 
the subject of this biography began his educa- 
tion and completed the same in the public 
schools of Sangamon county and at home. Mr. 
McMurphy assisted his father in his mechanical 
labor of building, till the year of 1850 when he 
began to learn carriage-making with his brother 
in Salisbury, Illinois, and continued in this work 
for six years, at the expiration of which time, 
1856, his services were engaged as a clerk in a 
store and to take charge of the Postoffice at 
Salisbury, in connection with the store; this po- 
sition he held forfouryears. In the fall of 1860, 
Mr. McMurphy was then engaged to work in the 
Postofiice in Springfield, Illinois, in the mailing 
deDartment, and took charge of the paper case, 
afterwards was given charge of the letter case. 
During his. position in the latter, a vacancy oc- 
curred in the money order department, in 1870, 
which he was selected to fill, and remained in 
charge of the same till 1872, when he was pro- 
moted to his present position, Assistant Post- 
master. 

Mr. McMurphy's marriage took place March 
26, 1867, when he was married to Mary E. 



692 



HISTOliY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Gass, of Jacksonville, daughter of Benjamin F. 
Gass, architect and builder, under whose super- 
vision the Court House and the Methodist Col- 
lege in Jacksonville was constructed, and is now 
superintending the addition bting built to the 
Blind Asylum in the same city. Mr. Gass is a 
native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, near Paris, 
and Mrs. McMurphy was educated in her native 
place, being a graduate of the Methodist College, 
in Jacksonville. Mr. and Mrs. McMurphy have 
two children living, Frank P., and Herbert 
L., both born in Sangamon county. Mr. Mc- 
Murphy is a member of the Knights of Pylhias, 
Capital Lodge, No, 4, and a member of the 
brotherhood of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, Lodge No. 4G5. 

/Satniiel II. Marshall, proj^rietor of the JVIar- 
shall House corner Seventh and Adams streets, 
was born on a farm near Little York, Pennsyl- 
vania, September 13, 1846; when twenty-one 
years of age he went into the livery and sale 
stable trade in Little York, and two years after 
he went to Philadelphia, where he was engaged 
in buying horses for the Market Street Car Line 
one year. He then in the fall of 1876, came to 
Springfield, Illinois, where he ran a grocery, 
provision and commission house two years; be 
then ran the Central House one year, when he 
leased the Marshall House, formerly known as 
the Everett House. Mr. Marshall has given this 
building a thorough renovating and repairing, 
and has now seventy-two rooms, nicely finished 
and furnished. In addition to the hotel he has 
built a restaurant and has also a nice sample 
room. Mr. Marshall is a genial landlord who 
studies the comfort and pleasure of his guests. 
He was married to Miss Elizabeth Shelenberger, 
October 18, 18*72. She was born in Pennsyl- 
vania and was a daughter of Joseph Shelenber- 
ger born in Germany, and Mary Maul also born 
in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, and have one 
child, Jessie M. Marshall. S. H. Marshall was a 
son of Henry Marshall born in Germany, and 
living in Pennsylvania, and Mary (McFarland) 
Marshall, born in Pennsylvania. Mr. Marshall 
was a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the 
American Mechanics and Independent Order of 
Mechanics; in politics is a Republican and a 
strong supporter of that party for U. S. Grant's 
first term for President. 

Noah Mason, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
February 25, 180V, fifteen miles from Belfast, 
Maine; was married in Sangamon county, Feb- 
ruary 19, 1835, to Martha Nuckolls. They had 
six children, and Mrs. Mason died, March 24, 



1852. Noah Mason, Jr., was married August 9, 

1853, to Elizabeth Talbot. They bad one child. 
Mr. Mason has met with some narrow escapes 
from death. He still exhibits a spot on his head, 
whiter than the rest, as the mark of a severe fall 
in childhood. Once, in New York, he accom- 
panied his father to the woods, where he was 
clearing timber from the land, when the weather 
was extremely cold. Noah became sleepy and 
sat down under a tree. When his father's atten- 
tion was called to him he could not be wakened. 
He was carried to the house, and with the ut- 
most exertion of all the members of the family, 
he was aroused and his life saved. His first 
business transaction was in Pope county, Illi- 
nois. He was paddling about in the Ohio river 
in a boat of his own building, when a stranger 
hailed him with "What will you take for your 
boat?" He replied, one dollar. The man handed 
him a two dollar bill, and Noah, with much run- 
ning to and fro, returned the change, only to 
find, after his boat was gone, that the two dollar 
bill was a counterfeit. From childhood, Mr. 
Mason has been remarkable for presence of 
mind. While the Mason family were at Olean 
Point, New York, on the Allegheny river, Noah 
was one day engaged in his favorite amusement 
of paddling about on a slab in the river, and had 
gone with the current some distance down the 
stream, when suddenly be heard a noise, and 
looking up, he saw a tree failing towards him. 
He was a good swimmer, and quick as thought 
he jumped off his slab, diving to the bottom. He 
heard the tree splash in the water above him, 
and he came to the surface among its branches, 
unhurt. Again, bis father, with another man, 
were felling trees, and the limb of one tree had 
lodged against a knot on another, balancing in 
mid air. Noah was trimming the branches from, 
those that had fallen, and unconsciously came 
under this loose limb, and it fell. He heard it 
coming, and threw himself down beside a large 
log, which the limb fell across, immediately over 
his head, and he escaped with only a fright. 
Again, he was hauling stakes for a fence, when 
he came to the deep ford on Sugar creek, San- 
gamon county. On driving in, the load slipped 
forward on the horses, and Noah landed on the 
wagon tongue. The horses began kicking and 
running, and he thought his time had come; but 
he made one desperate jump, clearing the horses' 
heels and front wagon wheel, and landed head 
first in the water. Fortunately, he took the 
lines with him, which enabled him to stop the 
horses. When the Masons arrived in this county, 
horse mills were the only kind in use; but soon 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



693 



other kifids were built. Nearly all the bread 
used was made from Indian corn. Mr. Mason, 
Sr., raised cotton for many years after coming to 
this county, and there were two cotton gins built 
near him. The nearest carding machine was at 
Sangamo, and owned by a Mr. Broadwell. After 
the wool and cotton were carded, the different 
families manufactured their own cloth, and this 
constituted the wearing apparel of both males 
and females. Peaches were almost a sure crop, 
and Ml". Thomas Black had a copper still at- 
tached to his horse mill, and Noah M. assisted 
him in making pure whisky from corn, and pure 
brandy from peaches. He also cut hickory wood 
for Mr. Black at thirty-seven and one-half cents 
per cord; made rails the summer he was twenty- 
one years old, for thirty-seven and one-half cents 
per hundred, and cut corn in the fall, sixteen 
hills square, for five cents per shock, or fifty 
cents per day. In this way he clothed himself, 
and had sixteen and one-half dollars — all in sil- 
ver half dollars — when he started, with a num- 
ber of others, March 19, 1829, for the Galena 
lead mines; was there six summers and two 
winters, including the winter of the deep snow. 
Mr. Mason served in four different companies dur- 
ing the Black War. In 1834 he had five eighty- 
acre tracts of land, bought with money earned 
ly himself in the lead mines. The prairie-flies 
were a great annoyance in the summer, and in 
order to avoid them plowing among the corn 
was frequently done at night. Whisky was 
thought to be indispensable in early times in the 
harvest field, but Mr. Mason proved to the con- 
trary. He threshed his wheat with horses and 
cleaned it with a fanning mill. With the help 
of a boy, one season, he prepared one load of 
wheat per week for four weeks, and sold it in 
Alton for forty cents per bushel. He has hauled 
wheat to St. Louis, selling it for thirty-eight 
cents per bushel. The merchants had their 
goods hauled on wagons from St. Louis and 
Chicago. Mr. Mason and nine others brought 
goods from the latter city for Mr. Bela Webster, 
of Springfield, at one dollar per hundred pounds, 
and were three weeks going and coming. Mr. 
Mason is one of the successful farmers of the 
county; he has retired from active business, and 
now, in 1881, resides in Springfield. 

Gen. Thomas S. Mather^ native of Connecti- 
cut, came to Illinois in 1850; was in the real 
estate business before the war; in 1858, was ap- 
pointed Adjutant General of the State, under 
the administration of Governor W. II, Bissell; 
re-appointed by Governor Ricliard Yates, and re- 
mained in the office until November, 1861, when 



he resigned to take the field as Colonel of the 
Second Regiment of Illinois Light Ariiilery; 
served with the Army of the Tennessee, and 
during the campaign and siege of Vicksburg, 
was chief of artillery of the left wing of the 
army operating against that city; afterwards 
served in the Department of the G ilf, and after- 
wards, until the close of the war, with the army 
East. Was brevetted Brigadier General after 
the surrender of Vicksburg; served three years 
and eight months. Returned to Springfield at 
the close of the war, and has since been engaged 
in the real estate and pension business. 

Noah W. Matheny, deceased, was born July 
31, 1815, in St. Clair county, Illinois. He 
assisted his father in the county clerk's office, as 
soon as he could write. At his father's death, 
Noah was appointed clerk, pro tern, by the county 
court, and in November, 1839, was elected to 
fill the unexpired term of his father; he was 
afterwards elected eight successive terms, of 
four years each. He married Miss Elizabeth J. 
Stamper, August 22, 1843; a daughter of the 
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Stamper, of the M. E. 
Church. She was born April 18, 1825, in Bour- 
bon county, Kentucky; by this marriage there 
were four children, all born in Springfield; three 
sons and one daughter. Previous to 1876, he 
was elected President of the First National 
Bank of Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Matheny died 
April 30, 1877, leaving a family to mourn his 
loss; he was a consistent Christian, and one of 
the leading members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. Mr. Matheny was an honorable, 
upright business man, and had the confidence of 
all who became associated with him in business. 

Frederick L. Matthews, M. D. is the son of 
John and Caroline Matthews, nee Cooper, and 
was born in the city of Hereford, England, June 
10, 1841, was brought by his parents to the 
United States in 1844; passed his youthful years 
in Pennsylvania. At an early age he entered 
Allegheney College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 
but before completing his studies, in 1861, en- 
listed in the L^nion array, following the fortunes 
of one of the celebrated "Buck Tail " regiments, 
of Pennsylvania, was rapidly promoted, until 
just before the "seven days' battle" before 
Richmond, was appointed on the staff of Major 
General Phil Kearney, and while serving in that 
capacity at the battle of Malvern Hill, was cap- 
tured by the Confederates, and for three months 
endured the horrors of Libby Prison. Soon 
after the battle of Gettysburg, the last engage- 
ment in which he participated, he resigned from 
the service, and, shortly after, engaged as a 



694 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



teacher in the Iron City Commercial College at 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

In 1864, Mr. Matthews entered the medical 
and scientific departments of the University of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, with a view of com- 
pleting his education, and preparing for the 
medical profession, and was graduated with dis- 
tinguished honors with the degree of M, D., in 
1867, having been a teacher of chemistry, and 
assistant demonstrator of anatomy in the insti- 
tntion, the latter part of his course. Dr. Mat- 
thews commenced his professional career in 
Carlinville, Illinois, enjoying a remunerative 
practice until 1869, when he attended Rush 
Medical College, at Chicago, from which he was 
awarded the ^'- ad-etindem'''' degree of Doctor of 
Medicine. Resuming practice at Carlinville, he 
remained until 1877, when he moved to Spring- 
field, Following the natural bent of his inclina- 
tion, Dr. Matthews early made a special feature 
of surgery, in which, from innate adaptation, 
and thorough scientific acquirements, he has at- 
tained an eminence equalled by few physicans 
in the northwest. 

Upon locating in the Capitol City, he imme- 
diately secured a large and lucrative practice, 
which has steadily increased. In 1872, upon the 
recommendation of Governor John M. Palmer, 
Doctor Matthews was commissioned by Presi- 
dent Grant to represent the State of Illinois in 
the United States Centennial Commission. En- 
tering upon its duties with his wonted zeal and 
energy, he soon became prominent in the coun- 
cils of that body, who instituted, carried forward 
and made successful the grandest exposition of 
this or any other century. As a recognition of 
his ability. Dr. Matthews was elected a member 
of the Executive Committee of the Commission, 
upon whom, directly, rested the burden of prepa- 
ration and conduct of the great International 
Exhibition. He was the youngest of the thir- 
teen members of the Executive Committee, and 
his record reflects honor upon the great State he 
represented. Dr. Matthews is emphatically a self- 
made man, having combatted the stern realities 
of life at every step, and is a living instance of the 
truthfulness of the old adage that patience and 
persevering effort will overcome all obstacles. 

William Mayhevj, contractor and builder, 
residence 1021 South College street, settled in 
Springfield in 1857, and has been working at 
the carpenter business ever since. He began 
contracting in 1863, and from that time has em- 
ployed from five to twenty-five men. He con- 
structed the wood work in the roof of the new 
State House, under contract with the Building 



Committee. He also did the work by contract on 
the large wing of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 
at Jacksonville, in 18V 1. Also did the wood 
work on the Morgan County Poor Douse; in 
1873, finished a number of stores and a bank 
building, in Lincoln. During 1880, he erected 
twenty buildings, aggregating $20,000 worth of 
work ; and in 1881, about the same number, of 
equal value. Mr. Mayhew was born in Canada, 
where all his friends still reside, and is of 
English parentage ; learned his trade in 
Chatham, Canada, and came directly from home 
to Springfield. In 1867 and 1868 he ran the 
Ridgely planing mill. Mr. Mayhew has been 
twice married — first in Springfield, in October, 
18-58, to Mary Powell, born in England. She 
died in December, 1874, leaving four daughters 
find a son. He married his present wife, Celina 
Ingmire, in 1876. She is a native of Quincy, 
Illinois, but was reared in Springfield. They 
have one son. Mr. M. owns several pieces of 
improved property in the city. 

James li. Maxcy, dealer in watches, jewelry 
and silverware, and money broker, corner of 
Washington and Fifth streets, established this 
branch of business in Springfield in 1875, and 
moved to the above named location in 1879. His 
stock of goods embraces an extensive lice of 
American and Swiss watches, jewelry and silver- 
ware of every grade manufactured, which are 
sold either at public auction or private sales. 
Auction sales are held every business day of the 
week. He also does a regular money brokerage 
business, loaning in any sums desired on all 
kinds of collateral security. Mr. Maxcy is the 
son of one of Sangamon county's early settlers, 
John C. Maxcy, who came to Springfield in 1834, 
Irom Kentucky, with his father's family, being 
then a young man. He married in this county, 
to Fernetta T. Lloyd, also a native of Kentucky. 
They were the parents of five surviving children, 
two sons and three daughters, and one daughter 
deceased. They are both alive, and reside in 
Springfield. James Maxcy's first experience in 
the auction business was in his father's store, in 
1856. In 1866, he went to Chicago and spent a 
year, then returned to Springfield. In ]868, he 
became clerk in the money order department of 
the Chicago Post Office, remaining four years; 
spent two years in the city after retiring from 
that position, before settling in his present busi- 
ness in Springfield. He married in Chicago, in 
1865, to Harriet A. Dickson, a native of Jack- 
sonville, Illinois. Their family consists of four 
daughters and two sons. In politics, Mr. Maxcy 
has always been a Democrat. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



695 



NelseJ. Mellin, merchant tailor, 216 South 
Fifth street, has carried on business in Spring- 
field since 1875. He removed to his present con- 
venient and handsome rooms in September, 1881. 
His stock of piece goods embraces a choice 
selection of the finest American, English and 
French suitings, which are made up into gen- 
tlemen's garments in the most fashionable styles. 
Mr. Mellin is doiiag a thriving business, employ- 
ing eight to ten skilled mechanics. He is a 
native of Sweden, born in 1851; emigrated to 
the United States in the spring of 1871. He 
learned the tailoring trade in Sweden, but never 
carried on business as proprietor until he located 
in Springfield, Illinois. In February, 1879, Mr. 
Mellin married Nannie Lyons; born in New 
York City; a citizen of Springfield. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 14. 

Richard Michael^ proprietor of the Five and 
Ten Cent Store, 227 South Fifth street, opened 
his store in Springfield in 1878. His stock con- 
sists of a large aggregation of miscellaneous 
goods, including dry goods, notions, queens- 
ware, glassware, and a great variety of novel- 
ties, which are bought at special bargains, and 
sold accordingly. The original plan was to con- 
tine the stock to only such articles as could be 
sold at five and ten cents, but the demands of 
the trade necessitated a departure from that 
rule, and it now embraces goods worth all prices. 
Mr. Michael employs seven competent clerks 
and besides his large retail trade does a 
considerable jobbing business. The annual sales 
amount to between |>40,000 and $50,000. Mr. 
Michael was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and 
is thirty-two years old. He came to Illinois in 
1870; stopped for a time in St. Louis; then went 
to Quincy, and was connected nearly six years 
with the large dry goods and notion house of A. 
Derr & Brother, the last part of that period as a 
partner. His first venture in carrying on busi- 
ness alone was in Springfield. His sales of 1880 
were nearly a hundred per cent, lai'ger than 
those of 1879, demonstrating that he is master 
of the situation. This extensive business is the 
result solely of the proprietor's individual efforts 
in the past five years. 

Colonel Chas. F. Mills, was born at Montrose, 
Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, May 29, 
1844, he attended school and worked on his 
father's farm there until eleven' years of age, 
when he went with his parents to Alton, Illinois. 

At the breaking out of the war he was a mem- 
ber of the junior class of Shurtleff College, where 
he enjoyed the reputation of being a good stu- 
dent, and was recognized as a promising scholar. 

81— 



In 1862, he enlisted in Company C, One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Infantry Volun- 
teers, remained in that company until August, 
1863, when he was promoted to Hospital Steward 
in the regular army. He was honorably dis- 
charged at Nashville, Tennessee, after serving 
his country nearly five years in the volunteer 
and regular army. 

He has been actively engaged in successful 
farming and fine stock breeding in Sangamon 
county for years. 

In 1875, his services were secured by the Illi- 
nois State Board of Agriculture, since which 
time he has rendered the agricultural interests 
of the State valuable service in connection with 
the work of the Department of Agriculture, 
having been honored by the State Board by 
being unanimously elected Assistant Secretary. 

The Sangamon County Fair during the term 
of years that Colonel Mills was Secretary, en- 
joyed an extended popularity and was largely 
patronized by exhi biters and visitors from a wide 
circuit. 

The large and varied exhibit and the hand- 
some receipts of the Sangamon County Fair 
entitled it to the second position among the fairs 
of the State, and it was only exceeded by the 
Illinois State Fair. 

He has for many years been prominently con- 
nected with Agricultural organizations both of 
the State and Nation. He is at this time, Presi- 
dent of the American Berkshire Association; 
President of the Illinois Swine Breeders' Asso- 
ciation, and Secretary of the American Clydes- 
dale Association, and a director of the American 
Cotswold Association. He is a member of 
Elwood Commandery of Knight Templars, 
Springfield Chapter, and Tyrian Lodge, No. 333, 
A. F. and A. M., Springfield, Illinois, he is also 
a member of Grand Army of the Republic, and 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

Soon after the passage of the law organizing 
the Illinois National Guard he joined the State 
service, was commissioned First Lieutenant and 
Adjutant Fifth Infantry Regiment I. N. G., 
August 16, 1877; Captain and Quartermaster 
Second Brigade I. N. G., December 1, 1877; 
Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant 
General Second Brigade I. N. G., December 11, 
1877 — the latter position he still holds. 

He was married to Miss Mary E. Bennett, 
May 26, 1869, at Springfield, Illinois. She was 
born near this city, March 1, 1845, and was a 
daughter of William A. Bennett and Sarah A. 
Stevenson. He was from Virginia, and she of 
Kentucky. They were both members of the 



696 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



First Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, Illi- 
nois. He was the oldest elder in that church at 
the time of his death, May 10, lS8l. He had 
been a resident of the county for nearly fifty 
years. She is still living with Mr. C. F. Mills, 
near Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Mills have three 
children, viz: Minnie B,, William H., and Carrie 
E. Mills. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mills attend the First Presbyte- 
rian Church in Springfield, Illinois. They re- 
side on their farm, of one hundred and twenty 
acres, two ui les east of Springfield. The Elm- 
wood stock farm is one of the recognized head- 
quarters for fine horses, cattle, sheep and pigs. 
Colonel Mills breeds fine Clydesdale horses, 
Jersey cattle, Cotswold sheep and Berkshire 
swine. In politics, Mr, Mills is a Republican, 
and a strong supporter of that party. His father, 
B. H. Mills was born in Montrose, Pennsylvania. 
He was a merchant, editor and farmer and a 
member of the Baptist Church. He was promi- 
nently connectly in the temperance cause for 
some twenty-five years. Was Right Worthy 
Grand Secretary of the National Lodge of Good 
Templars. He died August, 1877. His wife 
Delia (Halsey) Mills, born in Genesee county. 
New York. She was the mother of four child- 
ren, three living, viz: Charles F., Henry E., an 
attorney residing in St. Louis, Missouri, and 
Ruth C , a teacher in the Elmira College, at 
Greenville, Illinois. Their grandfather, josiah 
Mills, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
October 7, 1763. In his fourteenth year he 
enlisted in the Revolutionary army as drummer. 
Afier serving one year, he exchanged his drum 
for a musket, which he carried until the close of 
the war, and received an honorable discharge. 
He was at the battle of White Plains; was with 
Gates at Still Water and Saratoga, assisting at 
the capture of Burgoyne; was with Washington 
at Trenton and Princeton, and endured the terri- 
ble sufferings of the march through the Jerseys 
and the fearful winter at Valley Forge. He was 
also permitted to share in the glorious triumph 
of the federal armies at Yorktown. In after 
years he received a pension for disabilities in- 
curred in the Revolutionary army. Soon after 
the war he emigrated with his young wife to the 
wilds of Maine, and was one of the first settlers 
of Joy, Oxford county, where he remained until 
his removal to Susquehanna county. He re- 
ceived a commission as captain from Governor 
Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts, and responded 
to all calls for service against the Indians, 
Maine then being a province of that State. In 
181-2, he married his second wife, Elizabeth, 



daughter of Elder Samuel Sturdevant, of Brain- 
trim, Pennsylvania. In 1817, C-aptaiu Mills set- 
tled on a farm two and a half miles west of Mon- 
trose on which he lived until his death, March 
513, 1833, in his seventieth year. His widow died 
in Montrose, September 1841. 

Ed. A. Million, M. Z>., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, 
November 25, 1856; son of Dr. J. L. Million a 
pioneer, and one of the oldest practicing physi- 
cians in the county, having practiced over thirty 
years. Ed. A. attended the higher schools of 
Springfield, where he graduated. In 1875, he 
attended the Jones Commercial College, at St. 
Louis, and received a diploma. He read med- 
icine with his father, afterward attending lec- 
tures at Rush Medical College; also attended lec- 
tures at Missouri Medical College, and he went 
before the State Board of Medical Examination 
and stood second best; attended lectures and 
graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Phila- 
delphia. 

Charles Moody and James M. Orabb, dry 
goods merchants, corner of Sixth and Jefferson 
streets, opened their new store with an entirely 
new stock of dry goods and notions, on the first 
day of May, 1881. They keep in stock a general 
line of goods found in a retail dry goods store. 
They make a special feature of ladies cloaks and 
dolmans in their season, of which they carry all 
styles and qualities. Their building is new, their 
stock is fresh and attractive, and paying low 
rent, and doing a cash business, the firm gives 
their customers the benefit of small expenses 
and discounts. The proprietors are both practi- 
cal dry goods men, of long experience. 

Mr. Moody is a native of Springfield, and son 
of S. B. Moody, deceased, vv'ho settled here about 
1835, and served as City Assessor and Collector 
about ten years, and Assistant Postmaster twenty 
years. He was a native of Watertown, New 
York; came to Springfield a young man, and 
married Latatie Stipp, who emigrated from Ohio 
about the same time. Mr. Moody died in 1872. 
His widow resides in Springfield. Charles F. 
Moody started in the dry goods business as a 
clerk in Taylorville, Illinois. He moved from 
there to Carthage, Hancock county, and carried 
on business about six years before coming to 
Springfield. He has been selling dry goods 
about ten years. In September, 1873, he married 
Annie J. Goudy, a native of Christian county. 
They have two sons and a daughter. 

Mr. Crabb was born in Harrison county, Ohio, 
in October, 1839; came to Illinois with parents, 
who settled in Mercer county in 1852. In 1855, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



C9: 



he went to Taylorville and commenced commer- 
cial life, remaining there in the dry goods busi- 
ness until he moved to Springfield to open their 
present store. During the twenty -seven years 
that he sold goods in Taylorville, he worked for 
but three firms. He married Miss Charlotte 
Miller, in that place, in 1868. She is also a 
native of Ohio. Their family consists of two 
daughters. Mr. Crabb is a member of the Ma- 
sonic Order and of the Knights of Pythias. 

Henry J. Moore, grocer, of the firm of Moore 
& Clayton, No. 409 Monroe street, is a native of 
Fayette, county, Indiana; born in June, 1840; 
is the son of Jesse and Mary E. (Conway) 
Moore, both now deceased ; the former died in 
184 0, the latter in 1 873. At fourteen years of 
age Henry went to Des Moines, Iowa, and re- 
mained in that State twenty-three years. The 
first thirteen he engaged in farming, the four 
following in the coal business, and the last six 
years in the grocery trade. He came to Spring- 
field in July, 1877, clerked two years in a promi- 
nent grocery house ; in 1879 embarked in the 
produce business, near their present store, and 
January 1, 1881, formed a partnership with 
Clayton Brothers, and established a general re- 
tail family grocery, carrying a varied stock of 
groceries, provisions, fruits and vegetables, in 
which they have a prosperous trade. Mr. Moore 
was married in Indiana in March, 1856, to 
Amanda Conway, a schoolmate, born in July, 
1843. He is a charter member of the National 
American Association, and its Treasurer from 
its organization, of Lodge No. 13. Charles E. 
and Henry Clayton, his partners, are young 
men, born in Sangamon county, Illinois, on 
April 11, 1854, and August 22, 1857, respec- 
tively. They are the sons of Alexander Clay- 
ton and Mary Marshall, early settlers in Ball 
township, where their mother died, nearly 
twenty years ago. Mr. Clayton was born in 
Morgan county, Illinois, and Mrs. Clayton in 
New Jersey. The sons were reared farmers, in 
which they are still engaged, their mercantile 
experience being limited to their association 
with Mr. Moore. They were born on the home- 
stead, where they and their father now reside. 

G. W. Morgan, M. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Scott county, Illinois, October 11, 
1838, son of Thomas and Nancy B. (Smith) Mor- 
gan. His father was a native of Scotland, and 
was born in the Highlands, in 1801. When 
three years old his parents emigrated to the 
United States, locating near Ripley Court House, 
North Carolina. His father remained there un- 
til he was twenty -one years of age, when he came 



to Illinois and located in Bond county, where he 
became acquainted with Miss Smith, daughter of 
John Smith, a prominent citizen and wealthy 
farmer of Bond county, whom he married. Pre- 
vious to coming to Scott county he read law 
with Judge Vendiver, an eminent jurist, of 
North Carolina, and after coming here com- 
menced practicing, which he followed but a 
short time after arriving in Bond county, Illinois. 
He then embarked in the real estate and nursery 
business, which he followed very extensively for 
a number of years, and to-day the fruits of his 
nursery can be seen all through the central por- 
tion of the State. In February, 1849, his wife 
died, leaving eight children, all of which lived 
to adults. He was again married to Miss Julia 
Schibe, daughter of one of the first settlers in 
Scott county. They had six children, three of 
whom are now living. He died in 1861, when 
the subject of this sketch was seventeen years of 
age. He commenced reading medicine under 
Dr. W. Wilson, an Alopathic physician, but re- 
mained with him only a short time, after which 
he began the studies of Homeopathy under Dr. 
J. Thorne. He attended lectures at Hahnemann 
Medical College, in Chicago, Illinois, and gradu- 
ated March 4, 1863, M'ith honors. On the 13th 
of same month he came to Springfield, where he 
commenced the practice of his profession, in 
partnership with Dr. C. F. Kuechler for one and 
a half years. December 23, 1865 he married 
Miss Janetta M. Swaringen, the third daughter 
of C. T. Swaringen, one of the prominent and 
wealthy farmers of Pike county, Illinois. She 
was born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 16, 
1843. The fruits of this marriage were five 
children, four of whom are still living. The Dr. 
is a member of the Masonic Order of Knight 
Templars, Knights of Pythias and Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of Springfield. In 1861 
he enlisted in the Fourteenth Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, Company I, under Colonel J. M. 
Palmer, and served one and a half years, when 
he was discharged for disability, caused by sun- 
stroke. He is a gentleman of firm and muscular 
build, and possessing a clear and vigorous mind, 
decided in his opinions, and emphatic in his 
statements. Strong, hearty and robust in body, 
he seems destined to live and enjoy life many 
years to come. 

Frank Myers, proprietor of the "Wonder 
Store," No. 513, north side of the square, has 
carried on business at that number over two 
years. His fine store, which is amply fitted up 
with shelving, counters, etc., is one hundred and 
fifty-seven feet in length, well lighted, and con- 



698 



I1I8T0KY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tains an aggregation of novelties in such end- 
less quantity and variety, as renders the title of 
the place eminently appropriate; for it is a mar- 
velous collection of articles of utility and orna- 
ment, which makes it a genuine "curiosity- 
shop," where may be found numerous lines of 
goods kept in other stores, and many more not 
to be found elsewhere in the city, or indeed in 
Central Illinois, as it is the only establishment 
of its class in this part of the State. Mr. Myers 
started in business in Springfield, in 1864, oppo- 
site the northeast corner of the square, where 
he continued until the magnitude of his rapidly 
growing trade compelled a charge to larger 
quarters, which he did in 1879. He now carries 
a stock of goods worth about 125,000, and his 
annual sales run to nearly |60,000, requiring an 
average clerical force of fifteen to eighteen 
hands, and much larger during the busiest sea- 
son. Mr. Myers is a product of Sangamon 
county, Illinois, born in August, 184Y, and reared 
and educated in Springfield. In 18*78, he mar- 
ried Miss Nellie E. Holmes, a native of Spring- 
field, and graduate of the City High School. 
They have one daughter, Ella, a year and a half 
old. 

Henry C. Myers was a native of Chambers- 
burg, Pennsylvania; came to Illinois and settled 
in Springfield in 1838, where he was engaged in 
mercantile business about thirty vears. He died 
in this city in 1871. He married Eleanor D. Ro- 
bards, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, in 
Brown county, Missouri, in 1843. Three chil- 
dren were born to them, only two of whom, a 
daughter, and the subject of this sketch are 
alive. His mother is a resident of Springfield. 

John A. Nafeto^ Chief Clerk St. Nicholas 
Hotel, was born in Troy, New York, September 
17, 1837; son of John S. and Mary H. (Weaver) 
Nafew. His father w^as also born in Troy, his 
grandfather being among the first settlers of 
that place. He was a printer and politician, and 
died in New York City in 1872. His mother in 
Albany in 1853. 

The subject of this sketch started in the drug 
business in Albany, New York, where he re- 
mained for four years. In 1855, he came West, 
and located in Chicago. From there he went to 
Wisconsin, where he clerked in a hotel for one 
year. He then came to Bloomington, Illinois, 
and later held a position in the old Pike House, 
located on the site of the present Phoenix Hotel. 
He stayed there three years. In September, 
1860, he came to Springfield and entered the 
office of the St. Nicholas Hotel as clerk, in which 
he continued for several years. In 1865, he went 



to .Teffersonville, Indiana, where he held the 
position of general ticket agent for two years. 
Returned to Springfield, and again entered the 
St. Nicholas Hotel, remaining there two years. 
He then took charge of the American House and 
conducted it for three years, after which he 
again returned to the St. Nicholas, where he is 
now engaged. 

He was married in 1863 to Ella F. Mcliitire, 
who was born in Lyons, Massachusetts, in 1845. 
She was the daughter of Benjamin and Roxanna 
Stearns. Her father died in 1866. Her mother 
still resides in Springfield. Mr. Nafew is a 
member of the Central Lodge of Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, No. 71, and Royal Chapter, 
Arch No. 1, and the Hotel Men's Association 
and Springfield Lodge, 37, A. O U. W. 

Dennis Nees, grocer, 231 North Fifth street, 
corner Madison, established business on his own 
account in Springfield about seven years ago, and 
has been five years in his present location. He 
keeps a general stock of confectioneries, gro- 
ceries, and liquors, for the retail trade. He is 
thirty-four years of age, was born in Baden, 
Germany, and came to the United States in 1867, 
settling immediately in Springfield, Illinois. 
Before leaving his native country, he learned 
the trade of brick-moulding. Upon arriving in 
Springfield, he was employed for a time as a 
laborer, and Irter for some three years as clerk, 
at the termination of which, in 1873, he started 
in business on the corner of Washington and 
Tenth streets, remaining there till he moved to 
his present stand. In October, 1871, he married 
Lizzie Stark, a native of Springfield, of German 
parentage. They have had four daughters and 
one son, the latter deceased. The living are: 
Clara, eight years old, past; Emma and Lizzie, 
twins, born July 3, 1874, and Minnie, aged five 
years. Mr. Nees is a member of the Western 
Catholic Union, of which he was Treasurer for 
some time. His father died when he was six 
months old, and his mother when he was four- 
teen years of age, in the old country. 

Major Alfred A. North, druggist, Springfield, 
Illinois, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
July 7, 1823; son of Stephen and Mary (Wil- 
liams) North, a daughter of Major E. Williams, 
a soldier in the Revolutionary war; mother, a 
native of Pennsylvania; father of English de- 
scent, and born in London; died in Philadelphia, 
in September, 1826. In 1831, his mother moved 
to Washington county, Pennsylvania, to educate 
her children; in 1845, removed to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where she died, March 11, 1871. Major 
North, in 1840, went to Mobile, Alabama, for the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



G99 



purpose of learning the drug business; remained 
five years; then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where 
he embarked in the same business. February 9, 
1847, he married Miss America Ann Minor, 
daughter of Colonel Gideon Minor, who was 
born in liockingham county, Virginia, in 17V5, 
and died in 1841. In 1830, he came to Edgar 
county, Illinois, where he represented his dis- 
trict in the legislature for three terms; his health 
failed, and he had to give up politics; was what 
was known as one of the '"Long Nine," being 
six feet and four inches in height. Mrs. North 
was born in Clairmont county, Ohio, September 
18, 181^4. There were five children, four of 
whom are living: Caroline M., died May 23, 
1867; Catharine C, Emma A,, Milford, and 
Alfred A., Jr. September 21, 1861, Mr. N. en- 
listed in the Tenth Regiment Cavalry, Illinois 
Volunteers, Company A, anl was commissioned 
First Lieutenant; took the first Company of 
the Tenth Cavalry into Camp Butler; was ap- 
pointed Quartermaster of the Second Battalion, 
and was for a short time Acting Captain of 
Company D. The Major resigned in 1863 on 
account of poor health, and was appointed Dep- 
uty Provost Marshal of the Eighth District of Illi- 
nois; was afterwards re-commissioned Captain of 
Co. M, and went to the field, where he was again 
prostrated by disease; again resigned, and was 
honorably discharged. He was brevetted Major 
by President Andrew Johnson, for faithful and 
meritorious service during the war. In 1865, he 
was elected to the oflice of Assessor and Collector 
of Springfield, Illinois, and re-elected the ensu- 
ing year. He is now operating in the gi'ain 
trade. 

Jaine^ H. Paddock was born at Lockport, Will 
county, Illinois, May 29, 1850. When three 
years of age, he moved with his parents to Kan- 
kakee, Kankakee county, Illinois. He attended 
school there until 1865, and that winter was ap- 
pointed a Page in the State Senate, at Spring- 
field, Illinois, and in 1807 was Assistant Postmas- 
ter of the Senate. In 1869-71-73-75, was As- 
sistajit Secretary of the State Senate. He was 
also Secretary of the State Senate in 1877-79, 
and 1881. From 1873 to 1876, when not per- 
forming his duties in the State Senate, he was 
employed in the Grain Inspection Department, 
at Chicago, Illinois. He was appointed Chief 
Clerk in the office of the Secretary of State, 
June 1, 1881, a position he still retains. He at- 
tended the High School in Kankakee, Illinois, 
and was married in that place to Miss May L. 
Crawford, October 9, 1873. She was born at 
J'ortland, Maine, and was a daughter of Frank- 



lin Porter, born in Paris, Maine. She and hus- 
band reside at Kankakee, Illinois. John W. 
Paddock, father of James H. Paddock, was born 
in Camillus, Onondago county, New York, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1815. He is a lawyer, and settled at 
Lockport, Illinois, about 1845. In 1853, he re- 
moved with his family to Kankakee, Illinois. 
He practiced law at this place, and was a mem- 
ber of the Constitutional Convention in 1862. 
He ran for Circuit Judge on the Democratic 
ticket, at Kankakee, Twentieth District, in 1857. 
but Avas defeated. In politics, he was an old- 
line Whig, until the disbanding of that party, 
when he became a Democrat. He was a great 
admirer of Stephen A. Douglas. When the war 
broke out, he became a strong Union man and a 
supporter of Lincoln's administration, and helped 
to raise the Seventy-sixth Illinois Infantry Vol- 
unteers, commanded by A. W. Mack. He after- 
wai'd raised six companies in Kankakee and Iro- 
quois counties, which, with four companies from 
Cook county, Illinois, became the One Hundred 
and Thirteenth Illinois Infantry Volunteers. 
The regiment was known as the Third Board of 
Trade Regiment, and of w^hich regiment he was 
elected Lieutenant Colonel, and retained com- 
mand of that regiment until his death, which 
occurred August, 1863, in the hospital at Mem- 
phis, Tennessee, from disease contracted on the 
Y'^azoo river, during the siege of Vicksburg. 
His wife, Helen Tiffany, was born in New Y'ork 
State. She is a member of the Episcopal Church, 
and the mother of ten children, eight living. 
She is living at Kankakee. 

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Paddock have two 
children, viz , Harry W. Paddock and Fannie C. 
Paddock. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock are both mem- 
bers of the Episcopal Church, and he is a Re- 
publican, and a strong supporter of that party; 
cast his first vote for U. S. Grant for President. 

Mr. Paddock was Secretary of the Railroad 
and Warehouse Commission from July 1, 1876, 
to May 1, 1877, and in the Ll^nited States Mar- 
shal's office at Chicago, July 1, 1877, to January 
], 1879. 

James J. ParJcerson, grocer, 413 East Monroe 
street, is the son of Hugh and Ellen (Jackson) 
Parkerson, natives respectively of Virginia and 
Maryland, and was born in Fairfield county, 
Ohio, in 1848. Ten years later, the family moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois. He has been 
identified with the grocery trade in Springfield, 
in various capacities, fourteen years. In 1871, 
he first established himself in business on Fourth 
street. After conducting it three years, he sold 
out on account of failing health, and traveled a 



roo 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



year. Was tben some years with the grocery 
firm of Brassfield & Steele, representing the 
former partner's interest. In the fall of 1878, 
he entered into partnership with F. W. Paradioe, 
and opened business with a new stock of goods 
in thdr present store. They have a large retail 
trade in groceries, and quite an extensive job- 
bing business in fruits and produce, of which 
they make a specialty, the whole amounting to 
$35,000 a year in volume. They ship goods to 
the towns within a radius of fifty miles of 
Springfield. In 1873, Mr. Parkerson married 
Miss Maria E. Paradice, of Jacksonville, Illinois, 
who is now twenty-eight years of age, and the 
mother of one daughter, Laura D. Parkerson, 
born in June, 1875. 

George Pasfield, III., capitalist and general 
trader, is the only son of George Pasfield II., 
who settled in Sangamon county in 1831. He 
was born in England, brought by parents to 
America, in early childhood, and reared in the 
city of Philadelphia, where his parents both 
died of the yellow fever. Before coming to 
Illinois he engaged in buying and shipping 
produce, in large quantities, by flat-boat, down 
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and in trading 
in a general way. He resided some years in 
Cincinnati, in Louisville, and in Paris, Bourbon 
county, Kentucky. In the latter place he mar- 
ried Mary Forden, in 1830, and moved to Spring- 
field, Illinois, the next year. Here he embarked 
in a grocery and general merchandising busi- 
ness, and also continued in general trafiicking. 
He died November 9, 1869, .eaving the widow 
and son with a very comfortable estate. His 
wife followed him in 1878. 

The subject of this article was born in Spring- 
field, and is forty-nine years of age. He was 
educated in the Springfield Academy, and the 
medical department of St. Louis University, 
from which he graduated, receiving the degree 
of M. D. in 1852. But being inclined to follow 
in the footsteps of his sire, he never entered 
actively into the practice of medicine, save as 
contract surgeon at Camp Butler during the 
war. He has devoted his attention to buying 
and improving city real estate, and to general 
trading. He has manifested a zealous interest 
in the growth and prosperity of Springfield, and 
has been financially identified with most of the 
corporate enterprises looking to this end, besides 
erecting many business and other buildings, of 
which he now owns a large number. The Pas- 
field block, which he built in 1881 in honor of 
his father's name, on ground purchased by the 
senior Pasfield fifty years ago, is of pressed brick 



and iron fronts, ornamented with trimmings of 
stone and tile, is the handsomest business block 
in the Capital City. Mr. Pasfield has been very 
successful in his business operations, and now 
owns more real estate than any otlier man in 
Springfield. His residence is the old homestead, 
embracing four blocks on the corner of Capitol 
Avenue and Pasfield street, and is a cosy rural 
retreat. In 1866, Mr. Pasfield united in marriage 
with the daughter of Hatliaway M. Pickrell. 
She was also born in Sangamon county, Illinois. 
Emma, aged fourteen years; George IIII., aged 
11, and Arthur Hathaway Pasfield, aged four 
years, constitute their family. Mrs. Pasfield is 
a member of the Christian Church. 

Debold Pmden, Treasurer of Sangamon county, 
Illinois, was born near Strasburg, Germany, Sep- 
tember 13, 1628; came with his parents, Debold 
and Margaret! (Walter) Paulen, to America, when 
eight years of age, then the only child of their 
family of two sons and one daughter. After 
remaining a year in New Orleans, they set- 
tled in Curran township, Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, where the mother died in 1863, and the 
father in March, 1881, and where Mr. Paulen has 
always resided, until electtd to his present oflfice, 
in 1877. His school advantages were confined 
to a few terms in the district school. Beg inning 
labor in youth for twenty-five cents a day, pros- 
perity marked his course of industry and econ- 
omy; and in 1877 he had no difficulty in obtain- 
ing securities on his bond for |1 ,700,000. Neither 
he or his father ever had a lawsuit. Mr. 
Paulen married Elizabeth, a native of Sangamon 
county, and daughter of Samuel McMurray, one 
of the pioneers in the county, in 1857. They 
are the parents of three sons and one daughter. 
He was elected Treasurer on the Republican 
ticket in 1877, and re-elected in 1879, against a 
Democratic majority of from eight to ten hun- 
dred. His father came toihe county in indigent 
circumstances, but accumulated a competence 
before his death. 

Moreau J. Phillips, deceased, was born in Green 
county, Kentucky, May 26, 1811, and came with 
his parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1829. 
In 1831, he enlisted in the Black Hawk war as a 
member of the company from Sangamon county. 
In 1836, returned to Kentucky and married 
Mali^sa Lee, whom he brought back to Sangamon, 
where he spent the remainder of his life. He 
died in Springfield, February 8, 1881. He was 
a carpenter by trade, and spent the last years of 
his active life in superintending the wood de- 
partment of the trunk factory of his sons. His 
marriage with Miss Lee resulted in a family of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



701 



ten children, four of whom are deceased, and six 
sons alive. Mr. Phillips co nbined in his charac- 
ter firmness and decision, with strong sympathy 
and kindness of heart. He was greatly attached to 
his home and family, whose associations formed 
the chief enjoyment of his life. 

Four of tliae six sons, Charles J., Edwin H., 
William O. and Moreau F. Phillips are associated 
in the Phillips Brothers' trunk manufactory, and 
are doing a thriving business. Their mother re- 
sides in Springfield, aged sixty-four years. 

Henry Pletz, photographic artist, 22]^ South 
Sixth street, has been conducting the business 
in Springfield since the fall of 1873, and moved 
into his present beautiful rooms, fitted up 
especially for his purpose, in March, 1880. He 
has an experience of fifteen years in this branch 
of art, and makes a specialty of fine portrait 
work in sun prints, ink, crayon and oil. His 
gallery is furnished with all the facilities for a 
high grade of work ; and a survey of the beau- 
tiful specimens which adorn the walls of his 
place convince the visitor that Mr. Pietz is 
master of his art. He is a German by birth, 
and obtained a general knowledge of the photo- 
graphic art in the polytechnic schools of his 
native country; came to America in 1864, and 
after traveling about a year and a half, stopped 
a short time in Cincinnati, Ohio ; went thence 
to Piqua, Ohio, and carried on the manufacture 
of soda water. In 1869, he went to Chicago and 
engaged in photography. Leaving there, he 
spent two years in Milwaukee, then came to 
Springfield. Mr. Pietz is a member of the 
Photographic Association of America. 

J. A. W. Pittniati, photographic artist, No. 
^23 South Fifth street, learned the business in 
Tennessee, his native State, beginning in 1857; 
and with the exception of a few months, has 
continuously carried it on for himself ever since. 
In January, 1865, he located in St. Louis; burned 
out in February, 1868, and moved to Carthage, 
Hancock county, Illinois, remaining till he came 
to Springfield in April, 1876. The building Mr. 
Pittman has occupied since January, 1881, was 
designed and built especially for his use, and is 
admirably adapted to the purpose. The recep- 
tion, toilet and operating rooms are all on the 
ground floor, and are tastefully furnished and 
supplied with the finest modern implements and 
facilities for superior portrait work, of which 
abundant proofs adorn his beautiful rooms, in 
the way of specimen pieces. Prominent among 
these are two composition groups of the Thirty- 
first and Thirty-second General Assemblies of 
Illinois; the first was made in 1879, and the 



latter in 1S81. They are four and a half by six 
feet in size, representing the members in their 
seats in their respective halls, are elegantly exe- 
cuted, and are probably the largest composition 
portrait pictures in the world. " To make them 
was a stupendous undertaking which few artists 
would assume, and fewer still could produce 
with such marked success. 

Mr. Pittman was born in 1833, and lived on a 
farm till he began photography. He has been 
three times married; first, to Terecy Gililand in 
1853, who died three years after, leaving two 
children, both deceased. In 1869, he married 
Mary Bryant, who died in 1876; and in January, 
1878, he married his present wife, Mary Pat- 
terson, of Springfield. They have one daughter. 
He is a Mason and a member of the Royal 
Templars of Temperance. 

Charles H. Post, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
in Cornwall, Vermont, January 15, 1826; son of 
Truman and Betsy (Atwater) Post, who emi- V 
grated to Marietta, Ohio, in 1833, where the sub- 
ject of this sketch was reaied on a farm. In 
1842, he came to Waverly, Morgan county, 
where he purchased a farm and remained until 
his death, which occurred in 1847. The same 
year, Charles went to California, crossing the 
plains; remained in the mines a couple of years, 
then returned to Waverly, where he stopped a 
short time; went to Jacksonville and embarked 
in merchandising one year; thence to Spring- 
field, where he engaged in the grain trade, and 
continued in the same until 1857; then engaged 
in selling farm implements. He married Miss 
Caroline Lathrop, daughter of Erastus Lathrop, 
of Ashforth, Connecticut. By this marriage 
there were three sons: Charles William, Aurilian 
A , and Carroll L. Mr. Post has held several 
local ofliices of trust in the gift of the people, is 
a deacon of the Congregational Church. In 
politics a Republican. 

James L. Poioell, contractor and builder, resi- 
dence south Sixth street, near Vine, commenced 
the building business on his own account in 
1874, and has devoted his attention chiefly to 
erecting residences in the city. He makes most 
of his own plans, works from five to twenty 
mechanics, and has never built less than fifteen 
houses in any one year. His contracts for 1880 
amounted to $30,000, and in 1881 to $35,000. 
He began learning the carpenter trade with his 
father in 1868, and worked for him seven years. 

His father, Ebenezer Powell, was an English- 
man by birth; came to America and to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, in 1845, and after his mar- 
riage with Nancy E. McKinney, a Pennsylvania 



'702 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



lady, settled in Mecbanicsbiirg township, where 
James was born a little over twenty-eight years 
ago. He is one of a family of four sons and 
two daughters. His father carried on the car- 
penter business in Springfield a number of years 
before his death, in 1875. The subject of this 
article married in September, 18'74, to Miss 
Jennie Neper, a native of New York Slate, but 
a resident of Springfield from early childhood. 
They have three daughters, Bella, Minnie 
and Kittle. In politics Mr. Powell is Republi- 
can. His mother resides in Kansas. 

J. F. Price, M. D., is a son of Jacob F. and 
Mariah R. (Miles) Price, natives of Kentucky; 
his father was a Presbyterian preacher, and was 
connected with the church at Pisgah for a num- 
ber of years; died in June, 1847; his mother is 
still living, at the age of seventy. The subject 
of this sketch was born in Woodford county, 
Kentucky, April 7, 1846; his father died when he 
was one year old; he was sent to live with his 
grandmother, and when thirteen years old was 
sent to Nicholasville, Kentucky, to attend a pri- 
vate school; remained there two years, then 
came to Illinois, and attended the Normal Uni- 
versity, at Normal, nearly three years; then re- 
turned to Kentucky; where he read medicine 
with Dr. Sidney Allen, of Winchester, now of 
Lewislon, Kentucky, one year, when he attended 
lectures at Louisville University; in 1865, came 
to Springfield; read medicine with Dr. Charles 
Ryan, the same year; returned to Louisville, 
where he graduated. The Doctor commenced 
the practice of his profession in Clarke county, 
Kentucky, and remained there two and a half 
years. In 1868 he was connected with the 
Soldiers' Home, at Dayton, Ohio, as Assistant 
Surgeon, one year; in 1869, went to Coles county, 
Illinois, where he followed his profession; the 
following year, went to New York City and 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College; then went 
to Philadelphia, where he spent a short time in 
Jefferson College. He returned to Charleston, 
Coles county, remained one year; in February, 
1872, he married Miss Jesse Loose; she was born 
in this city November 7, 1851; there are three 
children, Jacob L., Charles R., and Jessie. The 
following April Mr. P. located in Springfield, 
where he formed a partnership with Dr. II. B. 
Buck, and with the exception of a visit to Kan- 
sas for his health, has remained here since. 

JoJdi W. Priest, furniture merchant, north 
side of the square, is one of a family of twelve 
children of Frank and Mary (Wood) Priest, of 
whom five of each sex lived to adult age. He 
was born in Vermont, October 18, 1809; n?oved 



with parents to St. Lawrence county. New York, 
in 1816, where he grew to manbo )d; and in 
August, 1835, married Olive Wakefield; starting 
soon after, in a wagon, for Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, consuming forty days in the trip. Mr. 
Priest engaged in the manufacture and sale of 
tinware in that place about fourteen months, 
then sold out and carried on the same business 
in Columbus, Mississippi, over three years; leav- 
ing there, he spent a summer in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. In the spring of 1840, he and wife re- 
turned to New York for the latter's health, where 
she died soon after, leaving a son, who also died 
at three years of age. Mr. Priest came to Spring- 
field in June, 1840, and for thirteen years car- 
ried on brick manufacturing, and also conducted 
the stove and tinware business about four years 
during the time. He has been extensively en- 
gaged in farming many years; owns a six hun- 
dred acre farm in Christian county, which he 
cultivates, and one of five hundred acres in San- 
gamon county, that he rents oat. About six 
years ago he re-embarked in the furniture and 
house-furnishing business in his present store, 
and carries a large stock of furniture, stoves, tin, 
and wooden-ware, crockery, cutlery, etc., and has 
an annual trade of 135,000 to $40,000. Mr. Priest 
cast his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jack- 
son, and has always been a Democrat. He has 
served his Ward — the Fourth — as Alderman, 
eight years; has been Mayor of the city four 
terms,. three consecutively; and is noAV a member 
of the County Board of Supervisors. He mar- 
ried Lucinda M. Stafford, of Rochester, Sanga- 
mon county, March 30, 1845; she died September 
10, 1851, having been the mother of four child- 
ren; two of whom, Olive Lucinda, born Febru- 
ary 24, 1846, and Mary Eliza, born November 2, 
1848, are living. Mr. Priest married his third 
wife, Catharine Wright, in St.JLawrence county. 
New York, in September, 1853; she died child- 
less in July, 1875. September 5, 1878, he united 
in marriage with Phebe T. Eggleston, of Roches- 
ter, Sangamon county; she is the twelfth daugh- 
ter and seventeenth child of Seth and Emma 
Samson, of Ohio. Mr. Priest has four grand- 
children: Olive, Mary M., and John Priest 
Latham, and Mary Lucinda Currier, all born in 
Springfield, Illinois. 

Johri 0. Pames, manufacturer of harness and 
saddles, and dealer in horse clothing, 213 South 
Fifth street, has been conducting the business at 
that number since 1860. A number of years 
ago he replaced the old frame building with the 
neat brick block he now occupies, eighteen by 
seventy-four feet, three stories high. The first 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



708 



floor is used as a salesroom, and the manufac- 
tory, in which seven to ten mechanics are em- 
ployed, occupies the rear j^art of the second 
story. Here all his harness and saddlery are 
made for a trade of 115,000 a year. Mr. Rames 
is a native of Springfield, Illinois, born in 1831; 
served an apprenticeship of four years with Mr. 
R. F. Ruth, in the city, in whose employ he 
continued several years afterwards, pursuing his 
trade as a journeyman until he opened his 
present shop. At the age of twenty-one years 
he married Mary E. Connelly, of Springfield, 
who died two years after. In April, 1859, he 
married his present wife, Mary E. Redman, of 
St. Louis county, Missouri. Six ctjildren have 
been born to them ; the four living are : Martha 
M., Cora B., Mary J. and John O., Jr. Mr. 
Rames' parents, Nathaniel and Sarah (Ogden) 
Rames, were Kentuckians by birth. They 
moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Springfield 
in 1829, where his mother still resides, aged 
seventy-four. Politically, Mr. R. is a Conseiva- 
tive Democrat. He has served two terms in the 
City School Board, and several terms in the City 
Council, of which he is now a member, and 
Chairman of the Fire and Water Committee. 
He has tilled all the chairs in the local lodge of 
I. O. O. F., and is now Vice Grand. He and 
his wife and two eldest daughters belong to the 
Baptist Church. 

Horace /S. Leland^ was born in Lands Grove, 
Vermont. July 2G, 1836, where he attended school 
until 1845; he then went to Cleveland, Ohio, 
and attended school until 1848, when he went to 
New York City, and engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness with his uncles, the Leland Bros'., of New 
York, where he opened the Leland hotel in 
Springfield, Illinois, since which time he has 
been here and with his brothers in the Sturte- 
vant House in New York. He and Bros', own 
the Leland in Chicago, New York, and Albany, 
and, also, the Ocean Hotel at Long Branch. 
The father of Horace, Aron P. Leland, was born 
in Vermont. In politics he was an old time 
Whig, and he died in 1878 his wife. Submit 
(Arnold) Leland was boi'n in Vermont, she was 
a member of the Presbyterian church and the 
mother of eight children, viz: Louis, Horace 
S., Geo. S., Jerome W., Chas. E., Warren F. 
and Clarrissa N. Wiggins. In politics Mr. 
Leland is rather Independent. His grand- 
father, Simeon Leland, was a prominent politician 
and a member of the legislature. 

The Leland and Wiggins Hotel was built in 
1864, and opened in January, 1867. It cost 
),000, and is the finest hotel in tlie State, 

82— 



outside of Chicago. The hotel has an elevator, 
Smith, Berg & Co.'s engine and machinery; and 
accommodations for three hundred and fifty 
guests. In addition to the hotel, they have just 
built a building with engine room, wash and 
drying rooms, with fine engines and a nest of 
boilers with four hundred and fifty horse power 
capacity. In connection with the hotel, Mr, Le- 
land owns a farm of three hundred acres, all 
under good cultivation. On this farm are fine 
gardens, hot houses, graperies, etc., enabling 
them to raise all kinds of fruits and early vege- 
tables. They raise their own jjork, milk, cream 
and produce. 

Fred. L. Reed was born at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, April 11, 1847, where he attended school 
and was engaged in the wholesale boot and 
shoe trade until February, 1866. He then went 
to Chicago and remained in the wholesale boot 
and shoe trade four or five years, and traveled 
for the house over the States of Illinois and 
Iowa. He then became a member of the Chicago 
Board of Trade, in 1870. He went in the dis- 
tillery business in Chicago, but held his mem- 
bership in the Board of Trade; he was engaged 
some four years in the distillery business, when 
he was employed in the register department of 
the Chicago post oftice until December, 1880; 
and January 11, 1881, was appointed to his pres- 
ent position as chief corporation clerk in the 
office of the Secretary of State, in Spr.ngfield, 
Illinois. He was married to Miss Kate M. Mil- 
ler, January 11, 1870; she was born in Buffalo, 
New York, and is a daughter of Hon. H. B. Mil- 
ler, born at Lebanon, Pennsylvania; he held the 
office of Treasurer of Cook county, Illinois, and 
was elected a Representative to the legislature 
of New York State two terms; he is at present 
President of the Riverton, Illinois, Alcohol 
Works; in politics he is a Republican, and a 
strong supporter of that party; his wife, Estey 
(Bowman) Miller, was born in Ohio; she is a 
member of the Baptist Church; she and husband 
reside at Riverton, Illinois. The lather of Fred- 
rick M. Reed, William C. Reed, was born in 
Randolph, Massachusetts; he is of English 
descent; he has for many years been engaged 
in an exclusive provision and packing business 
at Chicago, Illinois, two or th: ee years, and one 
year at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; he is a member 
of the Baptist Church, and in politics he is a 
Republican, and a strong supporter of that 
party; he is still living in Boston, Massachusetts; 
his wife, Lydia Thompson, was born in Thomas- 
ton, Massachusetts; she was the mother of three 
children, all living, viz: William C. Reed, Jr., 



ro4 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



who resides at Boston, Massachusetts; Mrs. Fan- 
nie Walker, also of Boston, and the subject of 
this sketch, Mr. Fredrick L. Reed, who in politics 
is a Republican, and a strong supporter of that 
party; cast his first vote for U. S. Grant, for 
President of the United States. Mr. Reed and 
wife are both members of the Baptist Church. 

L. W. Reed, Springfield, Illinois, was born in 
Chillicothe, Ohio, December 14, 1S43, son of 
Dennis S. and Mary B. Reed, natives of Con- 
necticut. In 1846, they moved to Ohio when L. 
W. received a business education; in 1854, re- 
mc'Ved to Will county Illinois; when eighteen 
years of age, L. W. engaged with Barnes & Smith 
as clerk, in Rockford, where he remained until 
1804, then enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Forty-First Regiment, Illinois Volunteers In- 
fantry, three-months men; remained in the ser- 
vice about six months. After the close of the 
war, returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to 
Connecticut. In the spring of 1865, returned to 
Rockford, where he embarked in the dry goods 
trade as the firm of Moulthorp & Reed; in eigh- 
teen months sold his interest and started a gen- 
eral store in Milford; remained there two years, 
then moved to Wilmington, taking his stock 
Avith him. In 1873, removed to Granby, Con- 
necticut, where he embarked in the wholesale of 
Yankee notions; was afterwards chosen Secretary 
of the Granby Manufacturing Company. In 
April, 1880, came to Joliet, where he commenced 
his present business in February, 1881. He 
married Miss Kate J. Adams, daughter of Joseph 
and Emily Adams, of Will county, Illinois. By 
this union there are six children, three sons and 
three daughters. He is member of the Masonic 
and I. O. O. F. orders; also a member of the 
G. A. R. 

M.. 0. Reeves, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Mason county, Kentucky, on the 14th 
day of September, 1808, son of Austin and 
El zabeth (Dill) Reeves; father of Virginia, and 
mother a native of Maryland; was married in 
Mason county, Kentucky, where four sons and 
four daughters were born, four of which are 
living at the present writing. In 1820, they 
moved to Monroe county, Indiana, where he died 
in 1828; mother died in 1858. The subject of 
this sketch went to Ohio in 1824, where he was 
employed as clerk by an uncle, John Reeves, in 
a dry goods store and post office (in Warren 
county), where he remained three years; thence 
to Batavia, Clearmont county; thence to New 
Richmond, on the Ohio river. In 1828, went to 
Portsmouth, Ohio, where he remained two years, 
when his uncle started a branch store thirty 



miles above, and he was put in charge one year. 
He went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged 
to the firm of Reeves & McLean, in a wholesale 
dry goods house, where he was employed until 
1834. In 1835, bought a bill of goods of Reeves 
& McLean, and shipped them to Springfield, 
where he embarked in mei'chandising, which he 
followed up to 1880, and has been in active busi- 
ness for nearly forty-five years in Springfield. 
In 1836, married Miss Nancy E. Miner, daughter 
of Colonel Gideon Miner, of Ohio, who came to 
Sangamon county about 1830. She was born in 
Clairmont county, Ohio, April 20th, 1816. The 
fruits of this marriage was eight children, two 
of which are livirg, Laura and Georgia. Mr. 
and Mrs. Reeves are members of the Slethodist 
Episcopal Church, also their two daughters. 

Frank Reisch & Brothers. Of the brewing 
business, may be mentioned the firm of Frank 
Reisch <fe Brothers, who constitute the leading 
firm in this branch. The business was estab- 
lished in 1849 by Frank Reisch, Sr., in a frame 
building, 20x30 feet, three stories high. Mr. 
Reisch conducted the business until 1854, when 
he rented it for three years to Andrew Kane. 
After the time expired he again took hold of the 
business; in 1858, he formed a partnership with 
C. A. Helmle; in 1862 Mr. Helmle sold out, and 
Frank Reisch, Jr., was taken in; in* 1875 the 
present firm bought, and have continued the 
business since. The capacity of the buildings are 
as follows: the brewing house, 80x42, five stories 
of brick; one ice house, 40x70, and one 52x100, 
both of brick, having a capacity of 10,000 tons; 
two malt kilns, one 30x30 and one 40x40, two 
stories, also of brick; one malt house 40x80, 
three stories; stables, 35x80; the capacity of the 
brewery is one hundred barrels per day; use 
eighty thousand bushels of barley, employ forty 
men and eight teams. 

Leonard Reisch, of the firm of Reisch tfc 
Thoma, dry goods merchants, 126 South Sixth 
street, east side of the square, is a native of 
Springfield, Sangamon county, Illinois, and is 
twenty-three years of age. He was educated in 
St. Louis, and after leaving school went to 
Bloomington,and was two years there connected 
with a furniture house. Soon after returning to 
Springfield, he formed a partnership with Henry 
Thoma, and in May, 1881, purchased the stock 
of dry goods of L. H. Coleman, and succeeded 
him as the proprietors of one of the oldest and 
most prosperous retail dry goods houses in 
Springfield. Their business occupies two stories 
of the building, twenty-one by one hundred feet, 
on the first fioor, and forty-two by one hundred 



HISTORY OF SANGAMOX COUNTY. 



705 



on the second floor. Their stock invoiced 
$G5,000, and the sales for 1880 were $135,000. 
The business of the new firm gives flattering 
promise, and employs seven salesmen. This 
house has the reputation of carrying the finest 
goods in the market. They make a specialty of 
elegant dress goods, trimmings, and notions. 

Henry Thoma, the other partner of this firm, 
has been identified with the dry goods trade of 
Springfield ten years, and nine years with Mr. 
Coleman, in the store of which he is now joint 
proprietor. He is a Penneylvanian by birth, and 
is twenty-six yeai's old. He came to Springfield 
at eight years of age, and commenced his mer- 
cantile career at fourteen, as delivery boy. Dur- 
ing the years 1878 and 1879, he was Deputy in 
the County Treasurer's office, an experience of 
great value in a business way. In the spring of 
1879, he married Miss Laura Westenberger, of 
Springfield. 

Frank Reisch, Leonard's father, was a native 
of Baden, Germany, where he married, and im- 
migrated and settled in Springfield some years 
before Leonard's birth. He engaged in brick 
manufacturing and in the brewing business. He 
died in August, 1875. His widow still resides 
in the city. 

Frank Meisch, deceased, was born in Baden, 
Germany, July 24, 1809. When twenty-three 
years of age he came to the United States, land- 
ing at New Orleans, then worked his way up the 
river to St. Louis, and from there to Beardstown, 
where he remained about five years, then re- 
turned to his native country, when he married 
Miss Susan Mansen. She was born in 1817. 
They have had thirteen children, seven of whom 
are living, four sons and three daughters. After 
marrying, they returned to Beardstown, where 
Mr. Reisch commenced coopering, and remained 
thereuntil 1889, when he came to this county, 
locating first in Cartwright township, where he 
bought land and followed farming in connection 
with coopering. In 1842, he moved to Prairie 
Creek township, and in 1850 came to Springfield. 
Previous to coming, he had commenced the 
erection of the old brewery, which he finished 
and occupied for a number of years. He died 
in 1875, leaving a large circle of friends to 
mourn his loss. He landed in New Orleans with 
but one five franc piece in his pocket, but at his 
death could count his dollars by the thou- 
sands. 

John W. Meilly, M. X>., Springfield, Illinois, 
born in this city January 20, 1859; is the son of 
Robert and Bridget (Mathews) Reilly, natives of 
Ireland, who emigrated to this country in 1855 



or 1856, and located in Springfield, where he en- 
gaged in the hotel business, which he followed 
for a number of years; is at present engaged in 
farming. The subject of this sketch attended 
the High School of this city, and graduated in 
the class of 1877. He immediately commenced 
the reading of medicine, his preceptor being Dr. 
R. S. Lord, of this city. In 1878 and 1879, he 
attended lectures in Rush Medical College, and 
also spent two years in Bellevue Hospital Medi- 
cal College, New York, and graduated with 
honors. The Doctor has spared no time or 
money to fit himself for the profession of his 
choice; he is at present City Physician of the 
city of Springfield. 

John T. Rhodes, of Rhodes & Brother, con- 
tractors and builders, was born January 14, 18ol, 
near Frederick City, Frederick county, Mary- 
land; came with an elder brother to Springfield, 
Illinois, in February, 1855. Having learned the 
carpenter trade of his father before coming 
West, and being an expert workman, he com- 
manded the highest wages. His brother George, 
partner in the firm, was born in Frederick 
county, also, in September, 1833, learned the 
trade there, and came to Springfield in 1856. 
They both worked as journeymen until the fall 
of 1858, then formed the present partnership, 
and began contracting. They have actively en- 
gaged in the building business since, and have 
erected a great many business blocks and dwell- 
ing houses in and about Springfield. Of late 
years they have confined their attention to city 
contract work almost exclusively. Among the 
business buildings this firm has constructed, are 
the Springfield Watch Factory, and the Central 
Block, just completed this fall, on the corner of 
Adams and Sixth streets. They employ from 
twelve to eighteen mechanics, and did a business 
in 1880 of 835,000, and will run over ^40,000 in 
1881. 

On April 19, 1800, John Rhodes married 
Eliza W. Merriweather, born in Springfield, 
Illinois, May 5, 1840. They have two children, 
William Robert, and Ellie Maria Rhodes. Mr. 
Rhodes has served three consecutive terms in 
the County Board of Supervisors; is now serving 
his third term as City Alderman, having been 
first elected in 1874, and is the only Democrat 
ever elected from the Sixth Ward, it being Re- 
publican by a large majority. He has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity since the 
second day after his arrival in Springfield. 

His parents were both born in Frederick 
county, Maryland; father, Peter Rhodes, in 
1795, mother in 1805. They had ten children, 



106 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



who all lived to adult age, nine now alive. His 
parents died some years ago. 

Jatnes t . Hic.kard, manufacturer of buggies 
and spring wagons, No. 213 and 215, North Sixth 
street, established the business at that location 
February 1 , 1881. He makes all styles of buggies 
and spring wagons, and pays special attention to 
all classes of repair work. He occupies a large 
two-story brick building ample for the business, 
and employs six men in the different depart- 
ments. Mr. Rickard was born in Ireland, in 1855; 
immigrated to the United States, and settled in 
Springfield, Illinois, in I860; learned the black- 
smith and carriage business with Myers, David- 
son & Co., for whom he was employed as a jour- 
neyman until he opened his shop in the early 
part of 18.81. His father resides in the city; 
mother has been dead some years. Mr. R. is a 
finished workman, an energetic young man, and 
his enterprise promises success. 

William liidgely, cashier of the Ridgely 
National Bank, of Springfield, is the eighth of 
thirteen children of Nicholas H. Ridgely, and 
was born in the upper story of the old State 
Bank of Illinois, in Springfield, January 12, 1840. 
He was educated in the Illinois State University 
of Springfield when Rev. Francis Springer was 
President. In July, 1856, he went to St. Louis 
and spent a few months as shipping clerk in a 
large milling and wholesale establishment; went 
thence to Chicago, and was clerk in the commis- 
sion house of Burrell Bros., until they failed, 
when he returned to Springfield. In the fall of 
1857, he entered as clerk in the Merchants' Bank 
of St. Louis, and six months after was made pay- 
ing-teller, at a salary of $1,200 a year, remain- 
ing till December 1, 1860; then came to Spring- 
field to go into his father's banking house, in 
which he became a partner in 1864, under the 
firm title of N. H. Ridgely & Co., and about that 
time succeeded his brother Charles to the Secre- 
taryship of the Springfield Gaslight Company. 
October 1, 1866, the Ridgely National Bank was 
organized and William was elected its cashier, 
which position he has filled to the present time. 
He has never failed in twenty-one years to be 
present the first of every month to make out gas 
bills and close up the monthly business. He has 
held the office of Treasurer of the Springfield 
City Horse Railway since April, 1878. He re- 
mains unmarried. 

Nicholas Ridgely, President of the Ridgely 
National Bank, was born on his father's tobacco 
plantation, near Baltimore, Maryland, April 27, 
1800; is the son of Greenberry and Rachel 
Ragan Ridgely. He was educated in the city of 



Baltimore, and engaged in mercantile business 
there until April, 1828, when he went to St. 
Louis, Missouri, and became a clerk in the United 
States branch bank established there soon after 
his arrival. Continuing in this business until 
May, 1835, he w^as then appointed Cashier of 
the State Bank of Illinois, incorporated in that 
year. Mr. Ridgely filled that office till the expi- 
ration of its charter, and was one of the trustees 
who finally wound up the business of the bank. 
While engaged in closing the affairs of the bank 
and afterwards, he carried on a private banking- 
business on his own account; and after the pas- 
sage of the State banking law, he, in connection 
with the Messrs Clark, organized Clark's Ex- 
change Bank, of Springfield, in 1851 or '52, and 
retained his connection with it until it was dis- 
continued, and all its obligations discharged. In 
1866, Mr. Ridgely, associated with Charles and 
William, — his sons, — J. Taylor Smith and Lafa- 
yette Smith, organized "The Ridgely National 
Bank of Springfield." He became its President, 
and has ever since held the office. Thus Mr. 
Ridgely has been actively identified with bank- 
ing interests for fifty-three years, and is probably 
a longer time in the business than any other 
man in this country. He has been twice mar- 
ried, and reared thirteen children to adult age. 
Henry Ridgely, of Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, April 19, 
1832. When five years of age he came with his 
parents to Springfield, Illinois, where he attended 
school until 1848. He then attended the Hills- 
boro, Illinois, College two years, then attended 
the Illinois College at Jacksonville six months, 
when he returned home to Springfield. He 
then run as engineer on the Wabash, St. Louis 
& Pacific, the Chicago & Alton, and the Union 
& Galena, now the Chicago <fc Northwestern 
Railroad; run on these roads five years, when he 
was employed as teller in the Ridgely National 
Bank, at Springfield, Illinois, two years. During 
this time he was married to Miss Louisiana I. 
Gray, April 22, 1857. She was born in Gull 
Prairie, Michigan, August 30, 1839; she was a 
daughter of Isaac H. Gray and Charlotte A. 
McClary, who reside in Springfield, Illinois. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ridgely have three children, viz: 
George Watson, Kate N. and Howard G. Ridge- 
ly. After Mr. Ridgely was married he remained 
in the bank one year, then bought an interest in 
the Old American House, with Isaac R. Gray; 
some two years after he bought Mr. Gray out, 
and ran the hotel three years, when he went into 
partnership in the Hopping & Ridgely lumber 
yard; he bought out Mr. Hopping some two 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



707 



years after, and he run the Ridgely lumber yard 
and planing mill until August 11, 1881, when 
the mill burned down. His father, Nicholas 
Ridgely, banker, was born in Baltimore, Mary- 
land, May i:}, 1800. He was a merchant in this 
city, and when a young man went to St. Louis, 
Missouri, and was teller in the Bank of Missouri 
a number of years. In 1837, he came to Spring- 
field, Illinois, and was appointed Cashier in the 
State National Bank. For many years past has 
been running the Ridgely National Bank. His 
wife, Jane M. Huntington, was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. She is a member of the Episco- 
pal Church, and is the mother of nine children, 
eight living. The subject of this sketch, Henry 
Ridgely, in politics is a Democrat, and cast his 
first vote for Buchanan for President. 

John liippon, proprietor of the Excelsior 
Foundry and Machine Works, corner Ninth and 
Adams streets; is a native of Connecticut, where 
he learned the machinist trade; came to Illinois 
about 1850; crossing the plains to the mouth of 
the Columbia River, Oregon, in 1851; consum- 
ing one hundred and twelve days in the journey 
from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Portland. He 
spent nearly two years on the Pacific slope, 
returned via San Francisco and New Orleajjs. 
In 1854, Mr. Rippon bought an interest in the 
Excelsior Machine Works, since which he has 
conducted the business as a partner until three 
years ago when he became sole owner. At one 
time the Excelsior works manufactured more 
steam engines than any other works iu Illinois. 
Some twenty engines of its make are running in 
and immediately around Springfield. The works 
still does a fine business in that line, and has a 
heavy trade in coal shafting machinery. He 
employs twelve to fifteen men. Mr. Rippon 
married Susan Keeif, a native of London, Eng- 
land, in 1853. They are the parents of eight 
children, two sons and two daughters alive. 
Some twelve years ago Mr. R , designed and 
built the Excelsior Flouring Mills on Adams 
street near his iron works, and after operating 
them two years sold them. 

George Ritter, hair-dresser, 319 Washington 
street, Springfield, Illinois, of the firm of George 
Ritter & Company, learned his trade in his na- 
tive place, Germany, beginning when he was 
fifteen years old. He embarked for America in 
1860, and landed at New York in May, and then 
went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he 
opened a barber shop, and subse([uently came to 
Springfield, Illinois, in 1861, and was employed 
in his business by John Dillman, and remained 
in his employ eight months, and then opened a 



shop of his own, and at the end of one year 
sold out, then returned to Germany in the fall of 
1863, remaining there till the spring of 1864, 
then returned to Springfield and formed a part- 
nership with the firm of Brandeberger <fc Kraft, 
which firm lasted two years and was then sold 
out at public sale. Mr. Ritter then formed a 
partnership with Jacob Ritter, and at the end of 
two years, 1868, the subject of our sketch, 
George Ritter, dissolved his connection with the 
firm, and the same year formed a partnership 
with George B. Ritter, which partnership 
continues under the title of George Ritter & 
Company, and doing a good business. George 
Ritter was born in Grohszimmern, Hessen, 
Darmstart, Germany, April 28, 1843, is the son 
of John and Dora Ritter, natives of Germany. 
George Ritter received his education in the com- 
mon schools of Germany; was married Decem- 
ber, 1865, to Lizzie Hoose, of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. By their union have six children, viz.: 
Dora, John, Fred, Ernst, Anna and Bernhart. 
Mrs. Ritter is the daughter of John Hoose, na- 
tive of Germany. Mr. Ritter's parents came to 
Springfield from Germany in 18 71, and returned 
to their home in 1874. Mr. Ritter is a member 
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Teu- 
tonia Lodge, No. 166, is a member of the Work- 
ingmen's Savings and Homestead Association, 
and Vice President of the same, and was one of 
the projectors and directors of its first organiza- 
tion in Springfield, Illinois. Is a member of the 
City Council from the Second Ward. 

George IB. Hitter, hair dresser, of the firm of 
George Ritter & Co., Springfield, was born in 
Germany, May 18, 1840 ; is the son of Konrad 
and Catharine Ritter, natives of Germany. Mr. 
Ritter came to America in January, 1852, with 
his parents, and landed at New Orleans, where 
they lived five years, during which time the 
family were afliicted with the yellow fever, in 
1853, and but one died — a son. Mr. Ritter 
began his trade in New Orleans in 1854, and 
worked there till 1857, then came with his 
parents to St. Louis, and after working one year, 
opened a shop of his own, which he sold out iu 
1859, from which time to 1861, worked in New 
Orleans and Vicksburg. In 1861, he enlisted in 
the Southern army of the Potomac, and was 
taken prisoner by the Union army, 1863. Taking 
the oath of allegiance, he enlisted in the Union 
army, in which he remained to the close of the 
war, 1865 ; was mustered out ot service, and 
returned to St. Louis, where he followed his 
trade for two years, after which he came to 
Springfield and formed a partnership with 



ros 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



George Riiter, which continues under the 
title : George Ritter & Co. Mr. Ritter was 
married in St. Louis, Missouri, April 9, 1 867, to 
Louisa E. Yehlen, and by this union have seven 
children — George F., Nettie, Fred. W., Lena M., 
Ellen and Carrie E. Mrs. Ritter is a native of 
Switzerland. Her mother died in New Orleans 
in 1849, of yellow fever. Mr. Ritter is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic Order, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, Teutonia Lodge, No. 166, Work- 
ingmen's Savings and Homestead Association, 
and Director of the same. 

Edward JR. lioberts. Circuit Clerk, was born 
in Tazewell county, Illinois, in 1843; came to 
Springfield in 1857, with his parents, which has 
been his home since, save while he was in the 
army. Upon the inauguration of the civil war, 
he enlisted in April, 1861, as a private in Com- 
pany I, Seventh Illinois Infantry; received sev- 
eral promotions; was made First Lieutenant at 
the battle of Fort Donelson, and in 1864, be- 
came Captain of Company C. At the expira- 
tion of his first term of enlistment he veteran- 
ized; was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel of United 
States Volunteers, March 3, 1865, and was mus- 
tered out in July of that year. On March 7, 
1864, Captain Roberts was captured at Florence, 
Alabama, and was in prison at Macon, Georgia, 
Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, and 
Mobile. Alabama. On the 26th of November, 
1864, he escaped from Columbia prison, and 
reached General Sherman's lines, about the mid- 
dle of Georgia, December 5th following. At 
the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, October 4, 
1862, he was wounded by a gunshot in his right 
han<l, resulting in the loss of the index finger 
and stfl^ening the next one. After returning 
from the army, Colonel Roberts was clerk in 
the Adjutant General's office for a time. In 
1868, he was elected City Comptroller, and three 
times re-elected, filling that office four consecu- 
tive terms. He was then made Superintendent 
of the Capital Coal Company for two years, at 
the end of which he became the book-keeper at 
the rolling mills store, and held that position 
until elected Circuit Clerk, in 187 9, for four 
years, by a majority of one thousand four hun- 
dred, leading all other candidates on the Demo- 
cratic ticket. Mr. Roberts is a Mason, a mem- 
ber of St. Paul Lodge No. 500, Springfield Chap- 
ter No. 1, and Elwood Commandery No. 6, is 
Captain General of the latter. 

Henson Mobinson, dealer in stoves, tin-ware, 
mantles, grates and house-furnishing goods, 114 
North Fifth street, established the business in 
a small way, in that location, March 13, 1861. 



The magnitude of trade has steadily increased, 
and he now keeps a large stock of these several 
kinds of merchandise to meet its demand. He 
also carries on a manufacturing and job work 
department, in which he regularly employs ten 
to fifteen men ; employs a capital of $16,000, 
and did a business in 1880 of over $35,000, with 
an increase in 1881 for corresponding months. 
Mr. Robinson was born in Xenia, Green county, 
Ohio, March 14,1839 ; learned the tinner's trade 
there ; came to Illinois at nineteen years of age, 
arriving in Springfield July 1, 1858, which has 
since been his home. After spending about a 
year in school he worked as a journeyman at his 
trade until he started business as proprietor. 
May 8, 1861, he united in marriage with Hen- 
ri ettaM., daughter of James W. Keyes,of Spring- 
field, who settled here in 183 L Two daughters, 
Lydia M. and Margaret H., and a son — Charles 
Henson Robinson — composes their family. 
Mr. Robinson has served three terms in the 
Board of Supervisors ; was a candidate on the 
National Temperance ticket for Mayor, in 1878, 
in opposition to both the old political parlies, 
and was only beaten one hundred and twenty- 
one votes. He is now Chairman of the City 
Board of Education ; is Treasurer of the 
Citizen's Street Railway, of which he was one 
of the projectors and builders ; in 1878 and 1879 
served as Treasurer of Sangamon County Agri- 
cultural Society. He is a member of the 
Masonic order. Lodge, Chapter, Council and 
Commandery ; is Treasurer of the Lodge and 
Chapter, and is a member and trustee of the 
First M. E. Church. 

Edward T. Hoe, Assistant United States Dis- 
trict Attorney, was born in Shawneetown, Gal- 
latin county, Illinois, November 28, 1847. In 
1848, he moved with his parents to Jacksonville, 
Illinois, where he remained until 1852, when the 
family moved to Bloomington, Illinois. He re- 
mained there and attended the Illinois Univer- 
sity until 1868, when he attended the New York 
State University, at Albany, and graduated in 
the law department of that University, May, 
1869, and was admitted to practice in the Su- 
preme Court of New York State. He became a 
member of the Illinois bar in 1870, and prac- 
ticed law in Bloomington, Illinois, until 1871, 
when he was chosen for the position he now oc- 
cupies. Assistant United States District Attor- 
ney. He was married to Miss Cornelia B. Glen, 
at Monticello, Illinois, April 13, 1875. She was 
born near Newark, New Jersey, and was a 
daughter of William R. Glen, who was born in 
Glasgow, Scotland. He was a Presbyterian 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



709 



minister, and died in 1880. His wife, Miss Mary 
S. Avery, was born in New York. She is a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and is liv- 
ing with her son-in-law, E. T. Roe. Mr. E. T. 
Roe and wife have three children, viz , Jean 
Paul Roe, Daniel Roe, and Lillian May Roe. 
Mrs. Roe is a member of the Second Presbyter- 
ian Church in Springfield, Illinois. The father 
of E. T. Roe, ex-United States Marshal E. R. 
Roe, was born at Lebanon, Ohio, and came 
to Illinois in 1841. He was a practicing physi- 
cian at Shawneetown, Illinois, nine years. He 
then removed to Jacksonville, Illinois, and es- 
tablished the daily issue of the Jacksonville 
Journal. He Avas also editor of the Blooming- 
ton Pantagraph four years. He was Professor 
of Natural Sciences at the Normal University, 
at the commencement of the wai*. He was a 
Major and Lieutenant Colonel in the Thirty- 
third (Normal) Illinois Regiment was wounded 
at the siege of Vicksburg. He was afterward 
Circuit Clerk in McLean county live years, and 
was appointed United States Marshal of South- 
ern District of Illinois, December 12, 1872, a 
position he held two terms — eight years. He 
is at present engaged in the drug business at 
Bloomington, Illinois. He "was married to Miss 
Ellasan Dunham, in 1836. She was born in 
Pennsylvania. She was a member of the Bap- 
tist Church, and died February 30, 1881, and 
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery. She was 
the mother of five children, viz.. Charters S. 
Roe, who is now mining in Cjolorado; Albert J. 
Roe, practicing physician, at Decatur, Illinois; 
Mrs. Mary E. Eberhart, who resides at Bloom- 
ington, Illinois; Mrs. Jennie Uhl, wife of E. C. 
Uhl, Dixon, Illinois, and E. T. Roe, the subject 
of this sketch, who in politics is a Republican, 
and a strong supporter of that party, and cast 
his first vote for U. S. Grant for President of 
the LTnited States. He is of English descent, 
and the family are formerly from Long Island. 
Charles W. Roepper, Superintendent of the 
Steel Mills of the Springfield Iron Company, was 
born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1848. His 
father. Professor William T. Roepper, deceased, 
was a scientist of considerable eminence in that 
State. Besides the advantages of the schools of 
his native town, Charles enjoyed private instruc- 
tions from his father, which were administered 
with special care, and these were supplemented 
with a course in Lehigh University. At the age 
of fifteen years, he went into the machine shops 
in that place; and at seventeen, into the labra- 
tory of the Lehigh Zinc Company, and filled the 
position of chemist in their works until 1872, 



during which he enjoyed rare opportunities for 
witnessing the practical workings of the estab- 
lishment. From 1872 to 1876, Mr. Roepper was 
employed as chemist for the Bethlehem Iron 
Company, and from that time until 1879, had 
charge of a blast furnace in New Jersey, in the 
manufacture of pig and Spiegel iron. In 1879, 
he became associated with the Springfield Iron 
Company, and has since had supervision of their 
steel mills. Mr. Roepper is a member of the 
American Institute of Mining Engineers, and is 
a devoted student of science, of which he already 
possesses a wide range of knowledge. 

Henry W. Hokker, proprietor of Rokker's 
book bindery and printing house, 309 South 
Fifth street, came to Springfield in 1865, and in 
1867 opened a book bindery on South Fifth 
street, between Adams and Monroe. In 1872, 
his bindery was totally destroyed by fire, in 
which he lost about $10,000. A month after he 
re-opened business on the corner of Washington 
and Sixth streets, and continued there until he 
moved into his present quarters, in 1876. Mr. 
Rokker purchased the lot and erected the fine 
three-story brick building, 20x157 feet, that year. 
He then added a book and job printing oflice, 
starting with one small press, in connection with 
the bindery. His business in both departments 
rapidly grew under his practical and efiicient 
management; presses and material were put in 
from time to time, of the most approved pat- 
terns, until the plant now contains four large and 
two small presses, with ample supply of the 
latest styles of type. The bindery is equipped 
with the finest improved machinery, the whole 
constituting one of the most complete book 
binding and printing establishments in the 
West. The concern employs sixty hands, whose 
weekly salaries aggregate $500. Mr. Rokker 
started business with a cash capital of $225. He 
was born in Holland, learned the book binding 
trade in Eui'ope, and was foreman of an estab- 
lishment there at twenty years of age; immi- 
grated to the United States when twenty-one, 
and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he 
pursued his calling a number of years, the latter 
part of that period on his own account 

Samuel Hosenwald was born in Buende, near 
Minden, Prussia, June 18, 1828, where he at- 
tended school and was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business until 1854, when he emigrated to 
the United States; he came alone and landed in 
Baltimore, Maryland, wheie he remained one 
year, and peddled with pack; then went to W^in- 
chester, Virginia, and kept a clothing store one 
year, when he returned to Baltimore and kept a 



TlO 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



store some nine months; was married in Balti- 
more to Miss Augusta Hammerslough, August 
23, 1857; be then entered into partnership with 
L. Hammerslough, in a clothing store at Peoria, 
Illinois, six months, when he bought out Ham- 
merslough and ran the store until 1860, Avhen he 
went to Talledega, Alabama, and lan a clothing 
store one season, when he opened a store in 
Evansville, Indiana, ran a store there one year. 
In July, 1801, he came to Springfield, Illinois, 
where he went into partnership with the Ham- 
merslough Brothers, at 117 west side of the 
square, and in 1868 bought out the Hammer- 
slough ]3rothers' interest, and has run the store 
ever since, and has now one of the largest and 
mo&t complete clothing houses in the city; this 
store was established in 1876, and Mr. Ros- 
enwald established the one-price system. He 
and wife are both members of the Hebrew 
Church, on Norih Fifth street, and have six child- 
ren, viz: Benjamin S., Julius S., Maurice S., 
Selma S., Sophie and Lewis S. Rosenwald. The 
father of Samuel Rosenwald, Buedix Rosen- 
wald, was born in Prussia, Geimany; he was a 
merchant and a member of the Hebrew Church, 
and died in 1840. His wife, Miss Vogal 
Frankford, was born in Prussia, Germany; she 
is a member of the Hebrew Church, and is still 
living in (xermany, in her seventy-ninth year; 
she was the mother of four children, two living, 
viz: Samuel, the subject of this sketch, and 
Herman Rosenwald, a dry goods merchant in 
Prussia, Germany. Mr. Samuel Rosenwald is a 
member of the A. O. U. W., Capital City Lodge 
No. ,'58, and of the I, O. B. B. Lodge No. 67, in 
Springfield, Illinois. In politics he is rather 
independent; he cast his first vote for Buchanan 
for President of the United States. Mrs. Sam- 
uel Rosenwald was a daughter of Salmon A. 
Hammerslough; born in Hanover, Germany; 
his wife, Julia Benjamin, was born in Hanover, 
Germany; they were members of the Hebrew 
Church, and had a family of six children. 

Patrick J. Hourke, Superintendent of Schools 
for Sangamon county, was first elected to that 
office in November, 1873, for the term of four 
years, and re-elected in 1877, for a like term. 
Mr. Rourke is a product of Sangamon county, born 
in May, 1849. He graduated in the classical 
course of the Springfield High School in the 
class of 1866, since which time he has pursued 
scientific and other studies privately. Prior to 
assuming the duties of County Superintendent 
of Schools he was engaged in civil engineering 
and teaching; also served as Deputy United 
States Clerk from 1870 till 1872. His parents, 



Owen and Margaret Rourke, emigrated from 
Ireland forty years ago, and after living about 
four years in Vermont, came to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, where they have since resided. 
In October, 1879, Mr. Rourke united in marriage 
with Miss M. Emma, daughter of Samuel Ray, 
deceased, a prominent citizen of Gardner town- 
ship, which he represented several years in the 
Board of Supervisors. 

Edward Miitz, State Treasurer, of Illinois, is 
a native of Heidleberg, Germany, and was born 
in 1829. When eighteen years of age he emi- 
grated to the United States and settled in St. 
Clair county, Illinois. In 1854, he took a tour 
through Iowa and Kansas, and in 1858 went on 
through to California, remaining there till the 
war broke out in 1861. He entei'ed the army 
from that State as a member of Battery C, U. 
S. Artillery, and served chiefly in the Army of 
the Potomac; fought in twenty-one battles, 
among them were, Yorktown, Williamsburg, 
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorville, and others; was discharged in 
October, 1864, having never been absent from 
duty from inability a day during the three years 
of his service. Upon retiring from the army 
Mr. Rutz went to St. Louis, and was employed 
there, and in Tennessee in the Quarter Master's 
department with General Myers, from Novem- 
ber, 1864, till April 7, 1865. He spent that sum- 
mer prospecting through the South, but not be- 
ing pleased with the outlook, returned to St. 
Clair county, Illinois, and that fall was elected 
County Surveyor for two years. At the expira- 
tion of that time he was elected Treasurer of 
that county for two years, and was re-elected in 
1869 and 1871; and in 1873, was elected State 
Treasurer for the term of two years. He was 
again elected to the same office in 1877 and in 
1880, the last times from Cook county, he hav- 
ing moved there about two years previously. In 
politics Mr. Kutz is a pronounced Republican, 
and has been a member of the party from its 
organization. He married in St. Clair county, 
Illinois, in 1866, to Miss Mary Mans, a native of 
that county. Three daughters and one son com- 
pose their family. 

JR. Francis JRuth was born in the city of 
Springfield, Illinois, May 5th, 1856. He attend- 
ed the Fourth Ward School until 1869, when he 
began in the High School, where he graduated 
in the class of June, 1873, along with J. H. 
Matheny, Jr., Edward C. Hainey, Samuel 
Grubb, Miss Anna Painter, now Mrs. Tudin, and 
others. In July, 1873, he was employed in the 
hardware store of O. F. Stebbins, where he re. 





y. 



C^-^^i-^x/Ttti-^Yj 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1\3 



inained until July, 1877, when he went into 
partnership with his father, on the south side of 
the square, where he is still located. His father, 
R. F. Ruth, was born in Pennsylvania. He was 
a member of the First Presbyterian Church in 
Springfield, where he died September 28, 1881. 
His wife, Maria Diller, sister of R W. Diller, 
was a member of the Third Presbyterian Church, 
and died May 28, 1870; she was the mother of two 
children, viz: J. D. Ruth and the subject of this 
sketch, R. Francis Ruth, who is a member of 
the First Presbyterian Church, and was a Sun- 
day school teacher in that church two or three 
years, and in 1879 was elected Superintendent, a 
position he still retains. He was one of the first 
to join the Young Men's Christian Association 
in Springfield, of which he is an active member. 
He is a member of the Board of Directors of 
that Association. In politics he is a Democrat, 
and cast his first vote for Hayes for President of 
the United States. 

William H. Sampson, partner in the queens- 
ware house ot James A. Rhea & Co., 225 South 
Fifth street, was born in Medford, Massachu- 
setts, and is twenty-eight years of age. He en- 
joyed the advantages of the superior public 
schools of his native place; at the age of sixteen 
entered the employ of a wholesale leather firm 
in Boston, and had become one of their leading 
salesmen before attaining his majority, when 
they sold out and retired from business. In 
August, 1874, Mr. Sampson came to Springfield, 
Illinois, and passed some four years as traveling 
salesman for Springfield and Chicago houses, 
three of these years, he represented the extensive 
wholesale queensware establishment of Pitkin 
& Brooks, Chicago. In June, 1881, Mr. Samp- 
son formed a partnership with James A. Rhea 
and A. Anthony, and opened their present store 
with a fine new stock of queensware, glassware, 
cutlery and house furnishing goods, which they 
handle at wholesale and retail. They are all 
practical, thorough-going business men, which, 
with the liberal trade the house has enjoyed dur- 
ing its brief history, augurs a successful future. 
Mr. Sampson united in marriage with Miss Min- 
nie A. Hawk, of Cleveland, Ohio, May 26, 187 7. 
One son, Odiorne, aged three years, is the fruit 
of their union. 

Mr. Rhea is a native of Missouri, but for the 
past twelve years has been engaged in manufac- 
turing and mercantile business in Piitsfield, 
Pike county Illinois. 

Jonathan JR.. Saunders, was born February 17, 
1802, in Fleming county, Kentucky; and the son 
of Gunnell Saunders, who was born July 27, 

83— 



1783, in Louden county, Virginia, of English 
ancestry. His parents emigrated to the vicinity 
of Lexington, Kentucky, and a year or two later 
moved to Fleming county, in the same State. 
Mary Mauzy, his wife, was born April 15, 1784, 
in Fauquier county, Virginia; her parents were 
of French descent; moved to Bourbon county, 
Kentucky; they were married in 1801, and had 
a family of seven children. He was a soldier 
from Fleming county in the war of 1812, and 
afterwards moved his family to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving May 10, 1828, and settled four 
miles north of Springfield, where they resided 
for a number of years. Gunnell Saunders and 
his wife moved from Springfield, Illinois, to Mt. 
Pleasant, Iowa, in the summer of 1846. Hon. 
E. D. Baker, of Ball's Bluff fatal memory, with 
whom Mr. Saunders was on terms of most inti- 
mate friendship, visited Mt. Pleasant, and made 
a speech in favor of the election of General Tay- 
lor. Mr. Saunders took Colonel Baker in his 
carriage to Ottumwa, and on the morning of 
October 26, 1848, bade him adieu and left for 
home. He was found about two miles from Ot- 
tumwa, in his carriage, dead, with the lines so 
adjusted as to bring the carriage on a cramp. 
Gunnell Saunders was about sixty miles from 
home, but his rerhains were taken to Mt. Pleas- 
ant for interment. His widow continued to live 
there until October 18, 1851, when she died from 
the effects of a dose of arsenic carelessly put up 
by a druggist in place of morphine. Jonathan 
R., who was 'the first son of the preceding, was 
married December 18, 1823, to Sarah McKinnie. 
They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, ar- 
riving November 28, 1824, at Springfield. He 
entered the land on which the Sangamon county 
fair is held, two miles north of Springfield, and 
moved there in 1828. His family consisted of 
six children, of the number, two living and four 
deceased. 

Asbury H. Saunders, son of the preceding, is 
now engaged in the grocery business; first in 
April, 1854, in partnership with W. T. Hughes, 
in a room adjoining his present store. The fall 
following they added a stock of dry goods. In 
1858, Mr. Saunders bought Mr. Hughes' interest, 
and the next year sold out the business, and en- 
gaged in the live stock business up to 1866, since 
which time he has been carrying on business in 
the store he now occupies. His stock consi.vts of 
a large assortment of staple and fancy groceries, 
in which he does a retail business of about $30,- 
000 a year. Mr. Saunders was born on the lot 
where he now resides, corner of Carpenter and 
Sixih streets, November 7, 1828. His father and 



714 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



mother now reside with him; his father is now 
in liis eightieth and his mother eighty-one years 
old. Mr. Ai-bury H. Saunders was married Oc- 
tober 20, 1856, to Marcia E. Underwood, in 
Mount Pleasant, Iowa. She was born February 
T, 1837, at Portage, Ohio. They had four child- 
ren; three died young. His only daughter, 
Helen, born June 2, 1803, lives at home with her 
father. Mrs. Marcia E. Saunders died September 
30, 1874. He is one of the leading members in 
the Chi'istian Church, and a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity. Central Lodge, No 71. 

John II. Schuck., lumber merchant, corner of 
Ninth and Jefferson streets, embarked in the 
lumber trade in Springfield in 1805, as a member 
of the firm of Schuck & Baker, located on the 
corner of Tenth and Jefferson streets, where 
they continued the business until April 1, 1877. 
Then Mr. Schuck sold out to his partner and 
opened his present yard. He carries a large 
stock of the various grades of lumber, and of 
eash, doors, blinds, cement, nails paints, etc, 
comprising a complete assortment of builders' 
materials. Daring the year 1880, his sales were 
over two million one hundred thousand feet of 
lumber, one million five hundred shingles, three 
hundred and sixty-five thousand five hundred 
laths, five hundred barrels of fcement, and two 
hundred and eighty barrels of plaster, besides 
sash, doors, blinds, hair, drain tile and sewer 
pipe. His trade for 1881 is running consider- 
ably larger. Mr. Schuck was one of the origi- 
inal projectors of, and prime movers in building 
the Citizen's Horse Railway in Springfield, which 
was accomplished under persistent opposition 
and very harrassing circumstances. He is now 
President of the company; is also one of the 
Directors of the First National Bank, and of the 
German American Building Association. He is 
a native of Heidleburg, Germany; came to 
Springfield, Illinois; in 1848; pursued the cabi- 
net maker's trade for some years, and since 1854 
has been associated with the lumber business. 
As an experimental test of the value of red cedar 
blocks for street pavings, Mr. Schuck urged that 
a piece of pavement be put down, which was 
done in front of the Government building and 
Leland Hotel on Sixth street, by him as con- 
tractor, in 187 8, and that fine piece of road may 
attest the wisdom of his suggestion in making 
the trial. Mr. Schuck is one of the oldest mem- 
bers of Springfield Masonic Lodge No. 4. 

John Schoeneman, proprietor of the Western 
Hotel, corner Third and Jefferson streets, was 
born in Wedinburg, Germany, Februaiy 8, 1830. 
When sixteen years of age, he came with his 



parents to the United States, landed at New 
York City, and came to Springfield, Illinois, ar- 
riving here August, 1847. Mr. Schoeneman 
worked here for different parties untill 1856, 
when he went to Franklin county, Kansas, where 
he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land 
and lived for five years, and in the spring of 
1803, went with a government outfit as teamster, 
to Wyoming Territory; remained there in the 
employ of the government eleven months, when 
he went to Montana, and mined in the gold 
mines three years. He was successful in mining, 
and in the fall of 1866 returned to Springfield, 
Illinois. In 1868, he built the Western Hotel, 
which he now owns and runs in first-class order, 
well filled up. He was married to Miss Helena 
Hoechter, June, 1870. She was born in Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois. She was a daughter of 
Baltzer Hoechter, born in Germany, and who 
settled in Sangamon county in 1844. He died 
in 1877. His wife, Mary Eck, was born in Ger- 
many, and still lives in Woodside township. The 
father of John Schoeneman, Andrew Schoene- 
man, born in Germany, was a gardener, and died in 
1878. His wife, Margaret Fischter, was born in 
Germany, and died in 1847. She was the mother 
of six children, four living. Mr. John Schoen- 
man and wife are members of the Catholic 
Church, and in politics he is a Democrat. 

William J. Schroyer., Police Magis'rate of 
Springfield, Illinois, was born in Fayette county, 
Pennsylvania, January 7, 1836; son of Joseph J. 
and Mary Ann (Sparks) Schroyer. Joseph J. 
was a merchant, and William was brought up in 
the mercantile business, received a collegiate 
education and graduated at Oxford College; 
went to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he read 
law with Philip Spooner, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1859; the same year was elected Prose- 
cuting Attorney, in Ripley county, Indiana, 
where he remained about a year. In 1857, en- 
gaged in the mercantile and distillery business 
in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which was not a finan- 
cial success. In 1861, was appointed Bounty 
Clerk, under Captain D. W. Cheek, Mustering 
and Dispensing Officer, at St. Louis, Missouri, 
of the Thirteenth Regiment United States In- 
fantry, where he remained eighteen months. In 
February, 1862, he came to Springfield, where he 
was in the Provost Marshal's office. In 1880, was 
elected to the office of Police Magistrate, which 
he has since held. He married Miss Sarah Roll, 
who was born in this county in September, 1849. 

Lyman Sherwood, deceased, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in the State of Vermont, Novem- 
ber 17, 1815; is the son of Josiah Sherwood, a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



15 



native of Vermont State. Mr. Sherwood was 
quite young when his father moved to Auburn, 
New York, in which place the subject of this 
biography was raised, and received his education 
in the common schools. He reraainad at home 
until he was twenty years old, and then went to 
Buffalo, New York, and then to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where he worked at the trade of cabinet- 
maker. Afterward he went to St. Louis and en- 
gaged in the foundry business, and the firm was 
known as Sherwood & Graham. In this busi- 
ness he remained for twenty-seven years, after 
which he went to Marine, Illinois, and purchased 
a farm, on which he stayed nine years, and then 
moved to Springfield, Illinois, in the fall of 1865, 
in which city he made improvements on agricul- 
tural implements, viz: the corn cultivator and 
sulky plow, which was a success. Mr. Sher- 
wood had some of his implements manufactured 
in Belleville, Illinois, and he manufactured in 
Springfield, Illinois. He was inventing a spad- 
ing plow, which was not completed before his 
death; however, he gave it a test. He was still 
engaged in the manufacture of the plows to his 
death, on January 3, 1873, which was too soon 
for him to reap the full benefit of his labors. 
Mr. Sherwood's first marriage took place in St. 
Louis, Missouri, in the year 1848, to Mary Fox, 
a native of Rochester, New York, and by this 
union were blessed with three children, two of 
whom are living, Maria A. and Mary E. Sher- 
wood. Mr. Sherwood's second marriage was in 
Auburn, New York, and celebrated on the 26th 
day of March, 1853, to Mrs. J. E. Fowler, 
a widow, daughter of Mr. John and Mrs. 
Eva Hoff, natives of New York, in which State 
Mrs. Sherwood was born. Mrs. Sherwood's 
education was in the common schools at Arcadia, 
New York, and subsequently in the graded 
schools in Elbridge, New York. She is a mem- 
ber of the Second Presbyterian church in Spring- 
field, Illinois. Mr. Sherwood united with the 
Baptist Church in his early life; he was a mem- 
ber of the City Council when he died. 

William W. /Shrader, boot and shoe merchant, 
518 Adams street, south side of the square, has 
been engaged in that branch of merchandising 
exclusively in Springfield, ten years, over eight 
years at the above number. His business occu- 
pies two floors of the building twenty by one 
hundred and fifty-four feet in dimensions. He 
makes a special feature of standard goods in 
medium and low priced honest work, of which 
he carries an average stock of $20,000 to 125,- 
000, and sells $00,000 a year, his trade having 
increased forty per cent, in the past two years. 



Mr. Shrader was born near Fostoria, Wood 
county,- Ohio, in 1837,, and was partly reared 
there. John Shrader, his father was a farmer, ex- 
cept the last few years of his life. In 1849 he 
moved with his family to Knox county, Illinos, 
and settling in Abingdon, engaged in the mer- 
cantile business and pursued it until his death, 
in 1857. William began his commercial career 
in his father's store in the autumn of 1^54. In 
July, 1862, he entered the array; recruited Com- 
pany I, of the Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, 
and was chosen its Second Lieutenant, which 
oftice he held until discharged, in July, 1865. 
The last year and a half he served as Assistant 
Adjutaht General, on the staff of General A. A. 
Smith. He came to Springfield in February, 
1866, and was employed as a salesman until he 
started as proprietor, in April, 1871, in the firm 
of Sims, Smith & Co. Two years later he 
bought the interest of both partners, and has 
since been sole owner. Mr. Shrader started with 
very little capital and lim ted experience in this 
branch of trade, succeeding a firm who had 
failed, and on the eve of the general financial 
depression which followed. He now owmis a 
home worth 110,000, and a half interest in the 
store building he occupies, together with his 
stock of goods and |5,000 in bank. He married 
Miss Lute Sims, of Springfield, and daughter of 
A. M. Sims, his former partner, in 1870. She 
was born in Kentucky. A son and daughter con- 
stitute their family. 

Frank >Simmo7is, bookseller and stationer, 124 
South Sixth street, was born in 1849, in Hamil- 
ton county, Ohio; is the son of Moses Simmons 
and Ann Riggs. His father was a native of 
New Y^ork; mother, of Ohio. They moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, when Frank was four 
years old, and settled about three and one-half 
miles east of Springfield. During the late civil 
war, they removed to the city, where his father 
died soon after, leaving his widowed mother and 
a younger brother in straightened circumstances. 
Frank began mercantile life at thirteen years of 
age, as a bundle boy in a book store in the city, 
being hired on trial for one week. He remained 
in that store seven years. Upon the death of 
his father he was obliged to assume the posi- 
tion of the head of the family, and provide for 
the household. He commenced business on his 
own account in 1873, with about |50 capital, on 
the northeast corner of Monroe and Sixth streets. 
From there he moved to the Central Hotel block. 
In August, 1876, bought the stock of Patterson 
& Co., at assignee's sale, and in May, 1880, 
removed into his present fine, commodious store. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



His is the only exclusive book and stationery 
store in Springfield; be carries the largest stock 
Id Central Illinois, and his annual sales, which 
are rapidly increasing, aggregate between |45,- 
000 and 150,000. He does considerable jobbing 
in stationery and picture frames. Mr. Simmons 
married the daughter of Judge William P. 
Robinson, of Hairison county, Missouri, in the 
spring of 1875. Two sons and a daughter com- 
pr ise their family. 

Clark M. Smithy merchant, corner Adams and 
Sixth streets, was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, 
May 10, 18i0. In November, 1835, he located 
in Carrollton, Illinois, and the following year 
began selling goods as clerk; in 1840, embarked 
in general merchandising on his own account; 
later, his brother Stephen became a partner. In 
1852, they came to Springfield, and formed a 
partnership with William Yates, as Yates, Smith 
&> Co. C. M. Smith became sole proprietor Jan- 
uary 1, 1864, and the latter part of the same 
year Mr. John S. Condell, Senior, purchased an 
interest in the business. The concern embraces 
five departments, dry goods, clothing, boots and 
shoes, groceries and drugs, each occupying a 
separate room. They employ twenty hands, and 
conduct a trade of over $150,000 a year. Mr. 
Smith was one of the projectors and prime actors 
in the improvements of Oak Ridge Cemetery. 
He married Ann M., daughter of Robert S. 
Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, October 26, 1846, 
They have two daughters and two sons. 

timith & Brother, fancy bazar, No. 405, south 
side of the square, is owned and conducted by 
WilJiam F., and Fred Smith, natives of Massa- 
chusetts, where William was born in April, 1833, 
and Fred in November, 1835. The former came 
to Illinois and settled in McHenry county, near 
Galena, until he entered the army, in the fall of 
18bl. He was two years in the service as a 
member of the Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry, and 
being disabled by sickness, was discharged in 
the fall of 1863. William began his mercantile 
life in Boston at the age of twelve, and after re- 
covering his health sufficiently, formed a part- 
nership with his brother Fred who had come 
West in 1863, and entered into business in Spring- 
field, in October, 1863, with a stock of fancy 
goods and notions to which has been added 
druggist's sundries. The firm moved into their 
present splendid store in April, 1880. They 
occupy two stories of the building, twenty by 
one hundred and fifty feet in area, and do a large 
wholesale and retail business in the lines of goods 
above noted, ranging from $50,000 to $80,000 a 
year. In 1880, they established a school of de- 



signing and decorative needle-work, in which a 
lady superintendent and assistants are employed 
to give instructions in all kinds of ornamental 
handiwork with a needle. All orders for stamp- 
ing and for this decorative needle -work are care- 
fully and promptly executed in this school. This 
new enterprise is meeting wiih very encoui aging 
success. 

William Smith is a member of the Masonic 
order, and the G. A. R., Stevenson Post, and is a 
staff officer of the Second Brigade, I. N. G. He 
has been twice married, first in 1857 to Electa J. 
Loomis, in McHenry county. She was born in 
Pennsylvania and died in Springfield, Illinois, 
in 1872, leaving four children. In April, 188], 
he married Ada Richardson, of Springfield, born 
in Connecticut. 

Thomas C. S^nith, undertaker and dealer in 
funeral requisites, South Fifth street, has been 
in the business at that point since 1864, and 
erected the building he now occupies in 1870. 
It is a brick structure, 20x154 feet in area, three 
stories high. The first floor and the rear part of 
the second story are devoted to his business, 
and admirably adapted to the purpose. The 
store is furnished with elegant walnut cabinets, 
used as depositories for caskets, coffins, and 
funeral goods. These cabinets are the climax of 
perfection in beauty and convenience for pre- 
serving and exhibiting this class of goods. They 
were made to his order and under his personal 
supervision, and are the conception of Mr. Smith 
after visiting the finest undertaking establish- 
ments in many of the Eastern cities. Combin- 
ing the choice features of all, his place is the 
completeness of harmony, and the embodiment 
of good taste, in the adaptation of means to 
ends. The stock of goods kept is very large, 
and embodies every grade. 

fl. Taylor Smith, Vice President of the 
Ridgely National Bank, was born in Frankfort, 
Kentucky, in 1825 ; is the son of Joseph Smith, 
who was a native of Loudon county, Virginia, 
moved, when a boy, to Kentucky, and engaged 
in the dry goods business in Frankfort, where 
he married Miss Sallie, daughter of Rev. John 
Taylor, a Baptist clergyman of renown in that 
State. They moved to Illinois and settled in 
Sangamon county, on a iarm, in 1834. A few 
years later, Mr, Smith embarked in the dry 
goods trade in Springfield, but resided on the 
farm. He was elected to the legislature, and 
served in the session of 184 4-5, and died in 
August, 18fi3. The subject of this sketch re- 
turned to Woodford county, Kentucky, and 
took a course in the High School. In February, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



717 



1844, he entered the employ of Hawley & Ed- 
wards, of Springfield, as store-boy in their dry 
goods house. At the end of a year, he went 
into his father's store, remaining two years ; 
then became the junior partner in the store, 
where he was first employed, in company with 
Ninian Edwards, the firm title being N. W. 
Edwards & Co. After several changes of 
partners, Mr. Smith sold out the business to 
Messrs Kimber & Co. He was appointed Post- 
master of Springfield, by Andrew Johnson, 
without solicitation, and served during the year 
1868, till General Grant's accession to office, 
when, being a Democrat, Mr. Smith retired. 
In March, 1870, he succeeded E. B. Pease, 
deceased, in the hardware business, as a partner of 
O. W. McKinstry, continuing until the death of 
the latter, in February, 1874, soon after which 
the stock was sold to S. liudson, and Mr. Smith 
retired. In October of that year he was made 
Vice President of the Ridgely National Bank, 
having been one ot its directors since its organi- 
zation, October 1, 1866. In 187'2,he was elected 
one of the directors of the Springfield Iron 
Company, a posit'on he still holds. In 1850, 
Mr. Smith married Sophia N., the second 
daughter of N. H. Ridgely, President of the 
Ridgely National Bank. Four children have 
been born to them, two living — Frederick E., an 
attorney, in Springfield, who graduated from 
West Point Military School in 1876, and Miss 
Jessie Taylor Smith, at home. 

Lafai/ette Smith, of Smith & Hay, wholesale 
grocers. East Washington street, is a native of 
Sangamon county, Illinois, born in Springfield 
township in 1834. His parents, Greenbery B. 
Smith and Nancy Killen, were born and reared 
in Kentucky. After marriage, they came to Illi- 
nois, and settled in Sangamon county in 1831. 
They both died in Springfield, he aged seventy- 
eight and she seventy-three years. Lafayette 
left his father's farm and located in the city in 
the fall of 1858, and embarked in business as a 
grocer. At twenty-two years of age, he married 
Harriet A. Buchanan, who was also born in San- 
gamon county. Her mother, now aged sixty- 
nine, came to the county when eight years old. 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a family of three sons 
and one daughter. The eldest Frank B., aged 
twenty-two years, is a graduate of Rush Medical 
College, Chicago; Edwin F., eighteen years old, 
having graduated from the City High School at 
sixteen, is collector for the Ridgely National 
Bank; Harry L. Smith is eleven, and Eloise lona 
Smith is two years of age. Besides these, they 
have had several children, now deceased. Mr. 



Smith has been, for many years a member and 
trustee of the Central Baptist Church of the 
city. 

Ethan A. Snively, Clerk of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, is a native of this State, born 
in Fulton county in 1845. After a limited at- 
tendance in the common schools, he went to the 
printer's trade, at sixteen years of age, in 
the city of Havana, Mason county, Illinois, in 
the office of the Squatter Sovereign. He spent 
about a year and a half there, and the same 
length of time in the Ledger office, at Canton, 
Fulton county; sold goods as clerk a short time; 
was employed as foreman in the printing office 
at Lewiston, and in January, 1866, became pro- 
prietor of theRushville, Schuyler county. Times, 
which he published as a Democratic journal two 
years and a half, and sold it. He then started 
the Galesburg Times, which continued nearly a 
year, and suspended. Soon after, Mr. Snively 
became city editor of the Peoria National Dem- 
ocrat, retaining that position during 1869 to 
1871, in the fall of which year he took charge 
of the Carlinville Enquirer, published it for the 
company and as proprietor until the spring of 
1877, when he sold it. He then spent a year as 
traveling salesman for the Springfield Manufac- 
turing Company. In the spring of 1879, Sam- 
uel Reed, his present partner, issued the first 
number of the Macoupin County Herald, and 
employed Mr. Snively to edit it. January 1, 
1880, they purchased the Enquirer, and discon- 
tinued the Herald. Under their joint manage- 
ment, the Carlinville Enquirer is one of the live 
Democratic journals of the State. In 1878, Mr. 
Snively was elected Clerk of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois for the term of six years, and 
entered upon the duties of the office in Decem- 
ber of that year. He is a member of the Execu- 
tive Committee of the Illinois Press Associa- 
tion, and was the President of that society for 
the years 1879 and 1880. Mr. Snively married 
Miss Kate Dubois, a native of Carlinville, Illi- 
nois, in February, 1876. 

Charles Smoroioski, Secretary of the Illinois 
Watch Company, was born in Berlin, Germany, 
in 1846; was reared and educated in the Royal 
College, in his native city, from which he gradu- 
ated in 1863. In 1867, he crossed the Atlantic, 
and locating in Chicago, he entered the employ 
of R. G. Dunn & Company, in connection with 
their commercial agency. Severing that relation 
at the end of two years, he came to Springfield 
in 1870. January 1, 1878, he engaged as clerk 
for the Illinois Watch Company, and six months 
later was promoted to his present position. 



718 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Mr. Sinorowski united in marriage with Mips 
Christina Moore, in \8li, in Springfield, Illinois. 
He is a member of the American Legion of 
Honor, Amity Council, No. 409, Springfield. 

Joseph II. Spear., of the firm of Spear & 
Loose, lumber merchants, Washington street, be- 
tween Ninth and Tenth streets, is a native of 
Springfield, Illinois, born in April, 1853. His 
father, David Spear, was born in Ireland; emi- 
grated to the United States, and after living 
some years in Kentucky, settled in Springfield 
prior to 1840, and was engaged in the dry goods 
business in the city about a quarter of a ceutur}'. 
He died a number of years ago. Joseph oper- 
ated in hard-wood lumber quite extensively in 
Springfield for about four years, before forming 
the present partnership, woich occurred in the 
early part of 1880, and their yard was opened in 
March of that year. Their stock comprises a 
large assortment of building and finishing lum- 
ber, soft and hard woods, and sash, doors, blinds, 
nails, and builder's material generally, in which 
they already have a heavy trade, their sales for 
the fraction of the year 1880 reaching 160,000, 
with a considerable increase in the correspond- 
ing months of 1881. 

Phil M. Springer was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, July 15, 1840. Owing to ill health, after 
twelve years old he was unable to attend school. 
His education was therefore gathered from his 
father's library at home, during the eight years 
following. A good portion of this time was de- 
voted to the study of natural history and the 
making of collections, chiefly in entomology and 
conchology. Pencil drawings and water-color 
paintings were also favorite pastimes with him 
in those days. After he was twenty years of age, 
improved health enabled him to engage in the 
active pursuits of life, and his education was 
continued in the school of practical business ex- 
perience. 

In 1864, he rendered some assistance with his 
pencil in illustrating the first two volumes of the 
Illinois Geological Survey. The next year he 
was engaged at the Chicago Academy of Science, 
in similar work. Indoor confinement and lake 
breezes proving injurious to his health, he re- 
turned to Springfield, in the summer of 1865. 
In November of that year he and his younger 
brother Frank began the improvement of a tract 
of land on the North Fork of the Sangamon, 
eight miles east of Springfield. This land had 
been entered by their father, many years before. 
They commenced by erecting a small frame 
house in the midst of what was then a wild for- 
est. With a pair of yearling mules, a light 



wagon, a cow, and a few pigs and chickens, and 
the hope usual to beginners, of speedily acquir- 
ing wealth, they were as happy here and worked 
wiih as hearty a good-will as ever two young 
men did anywhere. Thus originated the well 
known firm of Springer Brothers, and the place 
since known among breeders and stockmen a& 
"Haw Hill." The breeding of Berkshire pigs, 
Cotswold sheep and Light Brahma fowls has en- 
gaged the attention of the firm ever since. The 
circuit of their shipments has extended from 
Massachusetts to Colorado, and from Minnesota 
to Louisiana and Texas. 

"Phil." as he is usually called by all who 
know him, resided on the farm until the fall of 
1875, when his business relations with the 
American Berkshire Association required his re- 
turn to Springfield, thus leaving the farm to the 
immediate care of his brother; it being still con 
ducted however, by Springer Brothers, as form- 
erly. Since February, 1875, he has served as 
Treasurer or Secretary of the American Berk- 
shire Association — part of the time in both 
capacities. He is now Secretary of the Associa- 
tion, and editor of the Record, four volumes of 
which have been issued under his care. From 
1875 to 1881, he served continuously as Assist- 
ant Secretary of the Sangamon County Agri- 
cultural Board. In 1881 he was elected Secre- 
tary, by the Board. He has been for many 
years, and is still Secretary of the Sangamon 
County Bible Society. 

Besides the interests above mentioned, which 
have engaged his attention, he has devoted con- 
siderable time to newspaper work, writing chiefly 
far the agricultural press. During the last twenty 
years he has been the statistical correspondent 
and reporter of Sangamon county, for the De- 
partment of Agriculture at Washington. His 
residence in Springfield, is on Governor street, 
between Lincoln and Baker Avenues. 

Joshua B. Sprague, M. D., Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in Washington county, Ohio, 
January 14, 1826, fourteen miles above Marietta, 
on the right bank of the Muskingum river. His 
first occupation was working on a farm, and was 
afterwards flat-boating, steam-boating, peddling 
books, and merchandising, until he was twenty 
years of age. Desiring more education, he at- 
tended College, at Beverly, Ohio. He was mar- 
ried at twenty-three years of age, to Miss V. F. 
Martin, of Coal Run, Washington county, Ohio. 
In 1848, went to Elizabethtown, Indiana, where 
he was engaged in the drug business, and re- 
mained about four years; on account of the fail- 
ing health of his wife, he returned to Beverly, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



719 



where he read medicine with Dr. Ross. In 1866, 
he went to Marietta, Ohio, where he continued 
the reading of medicine; in the years of 1862-3, 
attended lectures at the Cincinnati Medical Col- 
lege. The Doctor practiced in various parts of 
Pike and Christian counties previous to coming 
to Springtield, and during the years of 1868-9, he 
attended the Rush Medical College, at Chicago, 
Illinois, where he graduated; and in 1872, he 
went to Monticello, Piatt county, where he prac- 
ticed previous to coming to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, where he is now engaged in the practice 
of medicine. The Doctor makes a specialty of 
chronic diseases, and warrants a cure in all cases 
of epilepsy. 

Warjidd Stalei/, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
in Baltimore, Maryland, May 7, 1815; was the 
son of Peter and Edna (Todd) Staley; father of 
German descent and mother of English. In 
1835, he married Miss Mary A. Horn, daughter 
of John and Christina Horn; she was born in 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1817. 
The fruits of this marriage were six children, 
four of whom are living, viz: William H , born 
August 17, 1838; Margaret S., December 22, 
1842; Charley E., September 26, 1845; John W., 
April 27, 1850. Mrs. Staley died April 8, 1880, 
a sincere Christian and a kind mother, loved and 
respected by all who knew her; she is mourned 
by a large circle of friends. Mr. and Mrs. 
Staley lived together over forty years. 

Royi. Alexander Starne, was born iu Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1813. His 
parents were Maurice and Mary Stone. Alexan- 
der attended school until he was sixteen years 
old, then entered the drug store of T. W. Dyott, 
as clerk, where he remained until 1836. Leav- 
ing Philadelphia, he arrived at Alton, Illinois, 
on the first day of May of that year. He con- 
tinued his journey to Griggsville, Pike county, 
where he commenced as a general merchant. 
September 23, 1840, he was mari'ied to Miss Re- 
becca Hatch, by whom he had one daughter, 
Lucy Ann. Mrs. Starne died March 1, 1840, 
loved and respected by a large circle of friends. 
In 1847, Mr. Starne was married to his present 
wife, Mrs. Elvira S. Swetland, and by this mar- 
riage there are three sons and one daughter. In 
1839, Mr. S. was elected Commissioner of Pike 
county and served three years. In 1842, he was 
elected to the House of Representatives and 
served until 1845. In the meantime he had sold 
out his stock of merchandise and removed to 
Pittstield, Pike county, here he was appointed 
by Judge Purple, Clerk of the Circuit Court, and 
when subsequently this office was made elective. 



he was elected for four years. In 1S52, hiving 
been elected Secretary of the State, he removed 
to Springfield, and at the close of his term, in 
1856, he Avas chosen President of the Hannibal 
and Naples Railway, and again removed to 
Griggsville for the purpose of giving personal 
supervision. This road is now an important 
link to the Wabash and Western Railway, and 
was completed under the successors of Mr. 
Starne in 1864. In 1861, from the district com- 
posed of Pike and Brown counties, he was elec- 
ted a member of the Constitutional Convention, 
and in 1862, was elected State Treasurer. He 
again removed his family to Springfield, where 
he has since continued to reside. In 1872, he 
was chosen Senator from the county of Sanga- 
mon. 

Out of public life he has conducted an exten- 
sive business, being owner of the West End 
Coal Mines in which his sons, Maurice and 
Charles, are associated under the firm name of 
Starne & Sons. The life of Mr. Starne has been 
one of great activity. His public services have 
been highly appreciated. He has a cheerful dis- 
position, makes friends everywhere. Although 
he has taken an active part in public affairs, he 
makes no pretentions to oratory; but his good 
sense and plain manners of forcibly presenting 
facts, has sometimes staggered his opponents of 
more pretention. In his domestic life he is kind 
and affectionate. He loves his home and family 
and there he is always to be found when not en- 
gaged in business duties. 

Oscar F. -lS'<ei6^■ns, hardware merchant,northeast 
corner Fifth and Washington streets, has been 
conducting the same branch of merchandising 
since the spring of 1863, in the same location. 
From that date until January 1, 1870, as a partner 
with J. T. Warne, and since, alone. He carries 
a stock of legitimate hardware and house-fur- 
nishings of $15,000, and does a business of §130,- 
000 to 135,000 a year. Mr. Stebbins was born 
in Franklin county, Mass., in 1832; was brought 
up there ; began mercantile life at fifteen 
years of age, passed the first six years in a 
country store, then two years as an apprentice in 
a store in Northampton, Massachusetts. In 
1854, he came west to St. Louis, and was en- 
gaged nine years with Plant Brothers, dealers 
in hardware and agricultural inplements, at the 
close of which he located in Springfield. Mr. 
Stebbins has for ten years been an active mem- 
ber of the order of Odd Fellows ; in 1 880 was 
chosen delegate to the Grand Lodge of the 
State. He married Miss Sarah E Warne, a 
native of New York City, in St. Louis, in June, 



720 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1863. Their family consists of one son and a 
daughter. Mr. S. is a stockholder in, and di- 
rector of the Northwestern Railroad. 

William Steiger, Springfield, Illinois; born 
near Freiburg, Baden, Germany, May 25, 1816, 
and emigrated to this State in the spring of 1852, 
and located at Springfield; being in limited cir- 
cumstances, he worked by the day and month 
for John Busher. a butcher. In 1854 he embark- 
ed in business for himself, in a small way; and 
continued till 1868, when he retired from busi- 
ness; his two sons then took hold, and have 
made it one of the leading business firms of this 
branch in the city, having four markets where 
they cut their meat. They use in their business 
eighteen hundred head of cattle, eighteen hiin- 
dred head of sheep, fifteen hundred head of 
hogs, besides their calves and lambs. They also 
do a jobbing business in dried beef, hams, 
etc. William Steiger married Miss Julia A. 
Schneider, of Germany; she was born February 
16, 1816. There was a family of eight children, 
seven of whom are living. Mr. Steiger landed 
in this country without anything, and had to 
borroAV money to bring him to Springfield; but 
"by industry and economy has secured a fine 
property. 

Henry StorJc, steam laundry works, Spring- 
field, Illinois, was born in this city on 
April 25, 1861; is the son of George and Ma- 
linda Stork, natives of Germany. Mr. Henry 
Stork received his education in the ward schools 
of Springfield, which he pursued till he was fif- 
teen years old, when he began to learn the trade 
of blacksmithing with Drake & Palmer, Spring- 
field, Capitol Boiler Works, After working one 
year and a half he was given charge of a forge, 
and continued with this firm till February 19, 
1881. Mr. Stork took charge of the Springfield 
Steam Laundry Works, February 21, 1881, as 
proprietor. The works were established 1863, 
and is the leading establishment of the kind in 
Springfield, and has a large trade, turning out, 
in fine laundry style, six hundred shirts per week. 
Mr. Stork was married in Springfield to Katy 
Malters, daughter of Mrs. Mary Malters, native 
of Germany. Mrs. Malters had three children, 
of whom two are living, Caroline, who was born 
in St. Louis, and Katy, a native of Springfield. 
Mrs. Stork is a member of the German Lutheran 
Church. Mr. Stork is a member of the English 
Lutheran Church. 

James C. Sutton, contractor and builder, resi- 
dence 516 East Jefferson street, has been a citizen 
of Springfield since 1841. He was born in Sum- 
merset county, New Jersey, August 22,1813, 



After partially learning the c irpenter trade there, 
he came to Illinois, April, 1839, and completed 
it with a cousin in Jacksonville, Morgan county, 
remaining there about eighteen months. Sooxi 
after coming to Springfield, he entered into part- 
nership with a brother-in-law, Samuel Simpson, 
and began building by contract; and as no 
money was to be had for work, they made some 
novel trades. On one occasion they received as 
pay a lot of rolls from the carding machine; on 
another a |25 clock and one hundred head of 
geese. The clock Mr. Sutton still owns. It is a 
good time-keeper, and has never had but one 
dollar expended on it. Mr. Sutton's first shop 
was an old school house, which stood a few feet 
east and on the opposite side of Washington 
street from the Chenery Hotel. He has erected 
many important business blocks and other build- 
ings in and about Springfield. It is a sufticient 
testimonial of his mechanical skill and business 
integrity to note that such representative citi- 
zens as Col. John Williams, Hon. Milton Hay, 
and others, have employed him to do all their 
building for more than forty years. He and his 
brother, G. A. Sutton, were partners in the busi- 
ness many years, and were contractors for some 
of the work on the old State House. In those 
days they employed from twenty-five to thirty 
mechanics. Mr. Sutton is gradually retiring 
from active labor, having made a competence by 
industry, and only takes small jobs, or superin- 
tends work for others November 23, 1843, Mr. 
Sutton married Miss Clementine Simpson, in 
Springfield. She was also a native of New Jer- 
sey, and came to Sangamon county in the fall of 
1839. Her father, John P. Simpson, settled in 
Fancy Creek township, near the present site of 
Williamsville. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton are the 
parents of three sons and two daughters, all 
living. Stephen P., the eldest son, is in the 
building business; James S., the second in age, 
is clerking in a grocery; and George E. attend- 
ing the High School. Maggie is now Mrs. G. S. 
Pennington, and resides in Pittsfield, Pike 
county; Mary Ella resides with her parents in 
the homestead, which they have occupied since 
1852. During the civil war, Mr. Sutton was for 
a time Assistant Quartermaster, under Col. John 
Williams. He was for many years a member of 
the Board of Water Commissioners; superin- 
tended the construction of the sewer system of 
the city. In early life he was a Democrat in 
politics, but has been a Republican since the 
birth of that party. He is a stockholder and one 
of the directors of the First National Bank of 
Springfield, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



721 



tharles I\ Siciyert, Auditor of Public Ac- 
counts for Illinois, was born in Baden, Germany, 
in November, 1843, was brought by parents to 
the United States at the age of nine years. The 
family settled in Kankakee county, Illinois, in 
1854, and he there attended the district school 
in winters and worked on the farm in summers 
until seventeen years old. At the age of twelve 
years he became 8elf-sup}Dorting, starting out as 
an ox driver at four dollars per month, which 
was increased the next year to six dollars, and 
the third year to eight dollars per month. Dur- 
ing that time he assisted in breaking over four 
hundred acres of raw prairie with ox teams. In 
August, 1861, Mr. Swigert entered the United 
States Army as a member of Company H., 
Forty-second Illinois Infantry. On the 9th of 
May, 1862, during the siege of Corinth, he was 
struck with a six-pound solid shot which carried 
away his right arm from the shoulder to the 
elbow, leaving the hand dangling by a strip of 
skin. No aid was at hand, and he grasping the 
wound firmly with his left hand, thus saving his 
life by preventing hemorrhage, walked three 
quarters of a mile to the rear, was then put in 
an ambulance, and while on the way to the hos- 
pital was run away with for a mile over a cor- 
duroy road during which he lay on the bottom 
of the vehicle still staying the life-current with 
his remaining hand. After spending three 
weeks at the field hospital he was sent to Jeffer- 
son Barracks, Missouri, thence to Quincy, Illi- 
nois, from which place he was discharged in 
December, 1862. Mr. Swigert was one of the 
twenty sharp-shooters of Captain Hottenstein's 
company who ran the blockade of the Island No. 
10 on the "Carondelet," on the Friday night 
previous to the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and 
spiked the enemy's guns for a distance of twenty- 
two miles leaving the river clear down to 
Memphis, then preparing the way for the cap- 
ture of 7000 Rebel prisoners and the large quan- 
tity of supplies on that island immediately fol- 
lowing. Upon retiring from the army Mr. 
Swigert spent a year in Bryant & Stratton's 
Business College as a student; then taught two 
terms of school in Kankakee county, and in May, 
1865, entered the postal service as carrier in the 
west division of Chicago, remaining until Octo- 
ber, 1866, when he became Deputy County 
Clerk in Kankakee county, till September, 186'7; 
spent the school years of 1867-8, and 1868-9 in 
the Illinois Soldiers' College at Fulton; and in 
the fall of 1869 was elected Treasurer of Kanka- 
kee county, and re-elected on the Republican 
ticket five times successfully, serving until be 

84— 



resigned to qualify for his present office, Novem- 
ber 24, 1880, to which he was appointed by the 
Governor to fill the vacancy caused by resigna- 
tion of Senator T. B. Needles. He was elected 
in November for the term of four years, com- 
mencing January 10, 1881. In December, 1869, 
Mr. Swigert married Lavina L. Bigelow, in Kan- 
kakee county, born in the State of Vermont. 
They have a family of four sons. Mr. S., is 
the son of Philip Swigert and Caroline Lewen- 
der. His mother died in 1869, father is a resi- 
dent of Kankakee county. 

W. S. Tho7nas, M. Z>., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Franklin county, Ohio, April 22, 
1821. His father was a botanic physician, and. 
the son was brought up in the same school. He 
has made it his study for life. When twenty- 
one years old he attended lectures, and gradur.ted 
in 1845. In 1851, he came to Illinois, and located 
in Pike county, where he followed his profession 
until 1865, when he came to Springfield; has fol- 
lowed his profession ever since. He married 
Miss Anna Courson, of Muskingum county, Ohio. 
The doctor thoroughly understands this businet-s, 
gathering herbs and plants from all parts of the 
country, and shipping all over the United States 
and Europe. 

Thomas J. Tliompsofi, Justice of the Peace, 
was born in Philadelphia, where his parents set- 
tled soon after their marriage. His father. John 
Thompson, was born near Belfast, Ireland, and 
was of English ancestry, while his mother, Mar- 
garet Coleman, born in Belfast, was descended 
from Scottish Covenanters. Their religion was 
as their ancestry, one Episcopalian and the other 
Presbyterian. The subject of this sketch was 
taken by his parents when a child to Ohio, and 
he received his early education at the public 
schools of Dayton (at which place he was in- 
jured on the play-grounds and crippled for life,) 
and Springfield, in that State Passing from the 
High School at the latter place to Wittenberg 
College, ai the same place, he finally completed 
his collegiate education at Williams College, 
with the class of 1874. The succeeding year he 
passed as principal of the Williamstown Aca- 
demy, at the town where Williams College is 
situated. The next three years he spent in the 
study of law with S. A. Bowman, one of the 
leading lawyers of Ohio, thence he came to this 
city, in the winter of 1879, and was engaged as 
private secretary for Hon. Bluford Wilson, of 
this city. In the spring he was admitted to 
practice in the courts of Illinois, and since that 
time has been engaged in the practice of the 
law and in short-hand reporting. At the spring 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



elections of 1881, he was elected a Justice of the 
Peace on the Citizens' and Democratic tickets, 
by a very complimentary vote. On entering 
upon the duties of his office he at once took a 
stand for reform in relation to the fees charged 
in such courts, and in consequence of that and 
an impartial discharge of his duties, is now en- 
joying a fair compensation. Mr. Thompson is 
now twenty-eight years of age, and expects, at 
the close of his present term of office, to return 
to the practice of law. He is, like most persons 
of Irish parentage, a Democrat in politics, and 
was Secretary of the Democratic State Central 
Committee during the late campaign, and will, 
no doubt, be on hand for a similar work again, 
as with him it is a work of love. 

Louis H. 7\c^7ior, County Clerk of Sangamon 
county, has been in public life from fifteen years 
of age. He is a native of Morgan county, Illi- 
nois, born in 1843. His father. Barton P. Tick- 
nor, was born, reared, and married Hannah 
Smith, in Brown county. New York, came to 
Illinois, and settled in Morgan county, in an 
early day; engaging in farming. Louis' mother 
died in his infancy, too early for him to retain 
any remembrance of her. He was educated in 
the public schools, and obtained a situation in 
the Circuit Clerk's office of Morgan county, at 
the age of fifteen. April 16, 1861. he left the 
office to enlist in Company B, Tenth Illinois In- 
fantry, the first company registered in the State. 
Having completed his term of enlistment, he re- 
tired from the service at the end of four months, 
suffering fi'om ill health. In the spring of 1862, 
he entered the Paymaster's office, St. Louis, as 
Clerk; left there in the fall of 1803, and came 
to Springfield, and soon after became deputy in 
the County Clerk's office, retaining that position 
until December, 1873. In November, 1874, he 
was elected Sheriff of Sangamon county for two 
years, on the Republican ticket, by a liberal ma- 
jority, and in the autumn of 1877 was chosen to 
his present office by the same party. 

Mr. Ticknor was united in marriage with Miss 
Mary E. Deyo, in February, 1867. She was 
born near Fairfax Court House, Virginia. The 
fruit of their union is one son, Fred, born Au- 
gust 9, 1868. 

Justus Townsend, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Ulster county. New York, July 17, 1828, 
son of Joseph and Nancy (Tompkins) Townsend, 
natives of New York; was reared on a farm and 
attended school in the winter. When seventeen 
years of age he went to the Academy at Liberty, 
and also one term at Albany. Afterwards, was 
engaged in EUenville, New York, in a drug 



store, prosecuting his studies in the meantime. 
Soon after, he attended a practical course of lec- 
tures at the old Crosby Street Medical College. 
In 1851, went to Berkshire Medical College, 
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1852. 
In January, 1853, commenced practice in Sulli- 
van county, New York, where he remained two 
years; then to Sioux City, Iowa; from Sioux City, 
he went to Dakota, in 1861, and while there was 
elected Territorial Auditor of Dakota, where he 
remained until the war broke out; then to the 
Indian Territories, where he was Acting Assist- 
ant Surgeon, and had charge of the surgical de- 
partment at Fort Randall. In 1864, came to 
Springfield, where he has been engaged in the 
practice of his profession since. In 1869, he 
married Mrs. Clara Brown, a native of Sangamon 
county, and former wife of John H. Brown. 
There were two sons and one daughter from for- 
mer marriage, one son and one daughter still 
living. The Doctor is a member of three differ- 
ent medical societies, viz: The State, the San- 
gamon County, and the Central Illinois Medical 
Society. He is also physician of the St. John's 
Hospital. 

Frank W. Tracy, President of First National 
Bank of Springfield, is widely known as one of 
Illinois' ablest business men, and most esteemed 
citizens. His physical and mental organism is 
of the finest American type, embodying the at- 
tributes of a sterling manhood — strong bodily 
powers, a clear, forcible intellect, great social 
qualities, and high moral integrity. This rare 
combination of elements has won for their pos- 
sessor the implicit confidence of the commercial 
public, and the firm friendship of resident citi- 
zens and visiting statesmen and people of note, 
many of whose monied interests he]has been the 
faithful custodian. Mr. Tracy was born in the 
city of Baltimore, Maryland, July 31, 1834. His 
father, J. P. Tracy, who was purchasing agent 
of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and a man of 
superior business qualifications, furnished his 
son with the most liberal educational advantages 
of that city. Frank was graduated from Balti- 
more College in the class of 1851, and soon after 
moved with his father's family to Mason county, 
Illinois, where the senior Tracy engaged in 
farming. Frank entered the employ of Mr. Henry 
Foster, a dry goods merchant of Beardstown, 
Illinois, remaining four years in the store. In 
1856, he became |book-keeper for Messrs. Nolte 
& McClure of that place, in which position he 
rendered complete satisfaction and formed many 
lasting friendships. In 1863, Mr. Tracy came to 
Springfield and entered one of the city banks as 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



72?) 



teller. The following year he and several other 
gentlemen perfected the organization of the 
First National Bank of Springfield, and he was 
chosen its casliier. The financial flood-tide then 
fairly settingin throughout the country, resulting 
from the civil war, the geographical location of 
Springfield and its growing prosperity as the 
capital and political center of the greatest agri- 
cultural State of the Union, all contributed to 
usher the young bank upon an era of marked 
"Success, which is noted in the history of the 
banking interests in another chapter of this work. 
Fifteen years of uninterrupted faithful services 
as cashier, during which many millions of dol- 
lars of government and private funds has passed 
through his hands, were terminated by the elec- 
tion of Mr. Tracy in 1879 as President of the 
bank. Aside from his duties as a banker, Mr. 
Tracy has been active in developing the interests 
and resources of the State, as director of a num- 
ber of manufacturing and mining corporations, 
which have proven public benefactions. As a 
member of the Board of Education of the city, 
he has for years been a zealous friend and 
advocate of liberal education. He officiated as 
a director of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, 
during which he did efticient work in solving 
the transportation problem in this State. On 
October 23, 1855, Mr. Tracy united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah Jones, of Cass county. They 
have reared a family of two sons and two daugh- 
ters. The eldest son is now assistant cashier of 
the bank, and is a young man of bright qualities 
and great promise. 

Albert S. Trapp^ M. D., Springfield, Illinois, 
was born in Germany, June 30, 1813; the son of 
John Frederick and Eva Maria (Marline) Trapp; 
father was a prominent lawyer and a man of 
influence. Albert H., attended school in his 
boyhood, also commenced reading medicine. 
Having some unpleasantness in Germany, he 
went to Switzerland, where he graduated in the 
Surick University. In 1836, he came to the 
United States and located in St. Clair county, 
Illinois, where he immediately commenced the 
practice of medicine, and remained there twenty- 
one years; then came to Springfield, where he 
has been ever since. In 1854, he was elected to 
the legislature from St. Clair county. He mar- 
ried Miss Minnie Michael, who was born in Ger- 
many, October 25, 1823; there are three living 
children, Augusta, born February 21, 1848; Fred 
erick, born April 9, 1851 ; William, born October 
23, 1854. The Doctor is a member of the School 
Board which position he has held nearly twenty 
years; takes a great interest in the education | 



of the young, and was raised in the Lutheran 
Church. 

Charlton C. Troxell^ of the firm of Troxell & 
Dubois, dealers in farm implements, buggies, 
ph;T3tons, spring wagons, farm and garden seeds, 
hides and pelts, corner of Jefferson and Fourth 
streets, is the son of William Troxell and Louise 
C. Staley, who were both natives of Washing- 
ton county, Maryland. Three children, Charl- 
ton C, Mansfield S., and Laura L., were born of 
their marriage. Mrs. Troxell was born in Octo- 
ber, 1836, and died in October, 1874. Her hus- 
band died in November, 1877. He established 
this business in Springfield in 1865, and con- 
ducted it until his death, when for a short time 
it was continued by his son, in company with 
W. Staley, then was bought by the present firm. 
The subject of this sketch has been continuously 
in the agricultural implement trade since, save 
a month or so spent in the grocery business. 
The firm keeps a large stock of the best patterns 
of farm machinery, buggies, phfetons, and spring 
wagons, and also seeds for the farm and garden. 
The concern does an extensive and prosperous 
business. 

William Troxell settled in Springfield, Illi- 
nois, in 1861, and previous to engaging in the- 
sale of farming tools, carried on a shoe and har- 
ness store. 

Joseph Trutter, grocer and butcher, corner 
First and Jefl'erson streets, began business as a 
butcher in Springfield in 1866. In 1874, he com- 
menced erecting the brick building he now occu- 
pies, sixty by forty feet in size, opened a grocery 
and meat market in it the following year, and 
has conducted both branches of business to the 
present time. He keeps in stock quite a com- 
plete line of groceries, and has a trade in the 
two departments of more than $20,000 a year. 
Mr. Trutter is a German by nativity, born in 
January, 1841; came to the United States when 
twelve years of age; spent ten years at Long 
Branch, New Jersey, as a laborer on a farm. He 
then joined his father in the butcher business in 
Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Trutter, senior, also 
emigrated in 1853, and settled in Springfield 
in 1S57, residing there until his decease, in Feb- 
ruary, 1879. In April, 1866, Joseph married 
Miss Ellen Sauer, born in Switzerland, but 
brought up from a small child in Sangamon 
county. Their family consists of two boys and 
three girls. Mr. Trutter is a member of the St. 
Vincent Benevolent Society, and he and family 
belong to the Catholic Church. 

EdiL'cird R. Ulrich, grain merchant, corner of 
Adams and Tenth streets, is extensively en- 



'24 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



gaged in this brancli of merchandising, both in 
Springfield and at several other railroad points. 
He embarked in the grain traffic five years ago, 
and has steadily increased the volume of busi- 
ness until he shipped, in 1880, two thousand 
cars of the dilerent cereals, chiefly over the 
Wabash and Springfield & Northwestern rail- 
roads, finding a market in Toledo and Baltimore. 
For twenty years previous to engaging in this, 
he had devoted his attention to buying, feeding 
and shipping live stock, mainly cattle. Mr. 
Ulrich is a New Yorker by nativity, born in 
Duchess county, in 1829. His father, Augustus 
L. Ulrich, was a woolen manufacturer in that 
county. He died in 1841, and the same year 
Edward came with his mother to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and settled in Springfield, 
which has been his home since. He was for a 
time employed as an errand boy and sub-clerk 
in a general store ; later was identified with the 
lumber business for a time, and also carried on 
farming, which still receives a liberal share of 
his attention in the management of a large 
farm west of the city. In March, 1853, he 
married Maria V. Vredenburgh, a New Jersey 
lady by birth, and daughter of a pioneer mer- 
chant in Springfield. They have seven sur- 
viving children — four sons and three daugh- 
ters. 

tZoJm B. Vasconcellos, of the firm of Vascon- 
cellos & Goveia, grocers, 1135 North Sixth 
street, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, in May, 
185;]; started in life as a jockey boy before he 
was eight years of age, and has been entirely 
self-dependent ever since. He followed that 
pursuit till 1869, visiting seventeen States, while 
thus employed. Leaving that he obtained em- 
ployment as a laborer on a construction train of 
the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; 
later he became a brakeman, and in November, 
1875, was made conductor, which position he 
held till November, 1880, then resigned to em- 
bark in the grocery business. His parents were 
Manuel Vasconcellos and Ida Nunes, natives of 
Maderia Island, and born in 1812 and 1814 re- 
spectively. They came to the United States and 
settled in Jacksonville, Illinois, thirty-three years 
ago, being the first Portuguese to immigrate. 
Mrs. Vasconcellos was the mother of twelve 
children, nine now alive Six of the seven sons 
were at one time engaged in railroading; Joseph, 
the second son, was accidentally killed in 
Springfield May 1, 1881, while performing his 
duties as yard-master, for the Wabash Railroad, 
after having been eighteen yeais in that com- 
pany's employ. The subject of this sketch mar- 



ried Estelia Stringham, a native of Ohio, in 
September, 1879. 

M. R, Goveia, was born in Springfield, in 
November, 1855; is the son of Manuel Goveia, 
who settled in this city in 1849, immediately 
after emigrating from Maderia Island, his birth 
place. He is a painter by trade, married Mary 
DeFrates, also of foreign birth. The subject of 
this sketch has been identified with the grocery 
business since 1872, as clerk until 1875, when 
he located in that portion of the city where he 
and his partner are now doing business. They 
have a fine local trade. 

John Vetter, grocer. 111 North Fifth street, 
started in business at that point in September, 
1878. He keeps in stock a complete variety of 
family groceries, staple and fancy, of |4,000 
value, and has a trade of 120,000 a year. Mr. 
Vetter is a native of Germany, born in Hessen, 
and is twenty-five years old He emigrated to 
the United Slates in 1873; worked the first nine 
months on a farm in St. Clair county, Illinois, 
then came to Springfield. His first wages were 
$2 a month, which was soon imcreased as his 
worth was demonstrated. By incessant industry 
and rigid economy he saved 8800 with which to 
commence the grocery business in 1878. His 
trade is quite extensive both in city and country 
and rapidly increasing. Mr. Vetter obtained a 
good German education in his native land. 

e/. /S. Vrodenhurg, deceased, was born in Som- 
erset county. New Jersey, March 11, 1809. 
He entered a large di-y goods house in New 
York City, when a boy, and remained until he 
was twenty-one years of age. He then married 
Miss Ann Doremus, daughter of Francis Dore- 
mus, of New York City; the same year came 
West and bought land in this county, and soon 
after returned for his family, and located here 
permanently in 1832. The old homestead is at 
present owned by his son Peter. He remained 
on the farm until 184], when he came to Spring- 
field and engaged in merchandising on the north 
side of the Square, and was known as No. 4. In 
1852 he sold out and returned to the farm until 
1856, when he again came to the city and engaged 
in the lumber business which he continued until 
his death. The business is now owned and con- 
trolled by his son, Peter. Mr. Vredenburg was a 
member of the City Council two years, and in 1865 
was elected to the office of Mayor; was senior 
elder in the Presbyterian Church; he died March 
9, 1879, leaving a widow who followed him in 
October, 1 880. They left a family of eight child- 
ren, MariahD., (now Mrs. E. R. Ulrich, of Spring- 
field) Francis and Peter of this city; Thomas D., 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



now of Springfield, who enlisted in 1861, in the 
three months service; again enlisted in the Tenth 
Illinois Cavalry as a private, and was promoted 
step by step until he became Lieutenant Colonel 
of the r'egiment. He participated in all the 
engagements of the regiment; he married Miss 
Maria Reynolds, daughter of the Rev. William 
M. Reynolds, and they had one child, William 
R. The next son is John S., now engaged in the 
wholesale business at Chicago; was also in the 
same regiment with his brother, and was pro- 
moted as Captain. Annie, (now Mrs. Partridge, 
of Missouri); Margaret and LaRue, a graduate 
of Ruger's College, New Jersey, and one of 
the rising attorneys of Springfield. LaRue was 
married to Miss Minnie N. Tapping of New 
Jersey, October 20, 1881. 

Hiram Walker, money loaner and real estate 
dealer, Springfield, Illinois, was born in Loudon 
county, Virginia, April 10, 1811, son of Daniel 
and Sally (Bail) Walker; mother a native of 
Pennsylvania, whose parents came over in the 
ship with William Penn. When a young girl, 
she went to Loudon county, Virginia, where she 
grew to womanhood and married. Mr. Walker 
was of Scotch descent. The subject of this 
notice was raised on a farm until he was seven- 
teen years old, when he learned the trade of iron 
worker. In the spring of 1835, he came to Illi- 
nois, and located on Horse creek, Sangamon 
county, where he commenced farming. His 
health failing, he went to Taylorville, Christian 
county, where he remained ten years; thence to 
Springfield, where he has been engaged in his 
present business ever since. Mr. Walker is one 
of the most extensive dealers in the county; has 
bought and sold thousands of acres of land, and 
is at present owner of two thousand acres of im- 
proved lands in this county. 

HobertWebster, grocer, 913 East Monroe street, 
has operated in that line of merchandising since 
1870, in Springfield, and for the past seven years 
at the above number. He keeps a general as- 
sortment of family groceries for the retail tiade, 
and does a business of $10,000 a year. Mr. 
Webster is a native of Birmingham, England, 
and was born in 1828. In 1853, he came to 
America, and lived three years in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania; came to Illinois, and settled in 
Springfield in 1856; in 1860, went to Texas and 
spent two years; thence to California, and en- 
gaged in mining from January, 1863, until July, 
1868, when he returned to Springfield. Mr. 
Webster sent to England for his father, James 
Webster, who came over in 1857, and carried on 
the grocery business in Springfield until his 



death, in 1875. Mr. Webster married Betsey 
Watson, an English lady, in Springfield, in the 
fall of 1874. 

Hoioard K. Weber, cashier of the First 
National Bank, is one of a family of four chil- 
dren, and the younger of two living sons of 
William and Mary Weber nee Phillips; and was 
born in Maryland, June 27, 1843. His father 
was a Virginian by birth, and his mother is a 
native of his own State. Mr. Weber was edu- 
cated in Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania. Owing to the excitement caused by the 
war of the Rebellion, he left school in the junior 
year, expecting to enter the Confederate army; 
but his father, being a War Democrat, opposed 
the measure, and by way of compromise induced 
him to come to Springfield, Illinois, in 1863, to 
visit some friends. He at once saw the struggle 
in a different light, became a Republican in poli- 
tics, cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln, and has voted with that party since. 
Soon after locating in Springfield, Mr. Weber 
was appointed Assistant Commissary Sergeant of 
the post of Camp Butler, and held the office till 
the war closed; then left it to become messenger 
in the First National Bank. In 1879, he was 
elected to his present position. He is a Master 
in the Masonic fraternity, and a member in the 
Knights of Pythias. In Denver, Colorado, on 
September 20, 1879, Mr. Weber was united in 
marriage with Kate M. Gaw, of Baltimore, Mary- 
land. They have one son, James Horace. Mr. 
Weber is a member and trustee of the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church. His father and 
mother reside in Maryland, aged respectively 
seventy-four and sixty-six years. The brother, 
William E., is Cashier of the Third National 
Bank, Cumberland, Maryland. 

William C. Wenzel, grocer, 306 North Fifth 
street, established the business at that point in 
1878. He keeps a general stock of goods for 
the retail trade, and has a business of 811,000 
per annum. Mr. Wenzel was born in Germany 
in 1853; came to the United States at the age of 
sixteen years, locating first in Clinton county, 
Iowa. In 1872, he changed to Crawford county, 
that State, and in August, 1874, came to Spring- 
field. He spent four years in the Lutheran Con- 
cordia College, from which he graduated in 1878; 
during the two last years he preached a portion 
of the time, and continued his ministerial labors 
a year after leaving the institution. In the latter 
part of 1878, he retired and engaged in the 
grocery business soon after. Mr. Wenzel mar- 
ried Katie Annie Maise , in May, 1879. She is 



72G 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



a native of Springfield, Illinois. They are both 
members of the German Lutheran Church. 

Gerhard Weste^iberger, furniture dealer and 
manufacturer, 417 East Adams street, located in 
the business at that number in 1861; first as joint 
proprietor, but has been sole proprietor for fif- 
teen years. His stock embraces a large assort- 
ment of parlor, bedroom and kitchen furniture, 
occupying four floors of his building, twenty by 
seventy-five feet in area. He is a practical cabi- 
net-maker, and carries on manufacturing in a 
moderate way, employing several hands, and 
conducts a thriving business. Mr. Westenberger 
is a native of Germany; emigrated to the United 
States when twelve jears of age, settling in 
Springfield, Illinois, in July, 1848. He learned 
the trade early in life, and has steadily pursued 
it. In 1860, he married Mary Louise Bretz, in 
Springfield; she was a native of Kentucky. Her 
mother was a Kentucky lady, and married Mr. 
Bretz, a German by birth, in Frankfort of that 
State. Mr. and Mrs. Westenberger have nine 
living childrcH, four sons and five daughters, and 
one son deceased. The eldest daughter is now 
married. He and family are members of the 
Catholic Church. His father carried on building 
and the manufacture extensively in Germany, 
and moderately after coming to Springfield, 
where he died about twelve years ago, aged 
nearly eighty-two yeai's. His widow resides in 
the city, over seventy years old. Their family 
of four sons and a daughter are still living. 

Floyd K. Whittefnore, cashier of the State 
National Bank, of Springfield, is a native of 
Cayuga county, New York, and is thirty-five 
years of age. When a small boy he came with 
his parents to DeKalb county, Illinois, and was 
there educated in the district and high schools. 
Upon the election of Hon. James H. Beveridge 
to the office of State Treasurer, Mr. Whitte- 
more came to Springfield as his deputy, and 
after the completion of his term of office, ac- 
cepted the position of cashier in Jacob Bunn's 
banking house. After over four years service 
in that capacity, Mr. Whittemore, having been 
chosen cashier of the State National Bank, re- 
tired to enter i;pon the duties of his present of- 
fice. He has earned a place in the front rank 
among Springfield's business men. His father, 
some years a widower, resides in DeKalb county, 
Illinois. Mr. Whittemore has never married. 

ColoneUmnes White, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born in Adams county, near Gettysburg, Penns- 
ylvania, March 28, 1796; son of James and 
Polly White. He was reared on a farm and re- 
ceived an elementary school education. When 



twenty-one years of age, he engaged in the 
stock business, buying and selling, his principal 
market being Philadelphia and Baltimore, till 
1864. February 4, 1830, he came to Springfield, 
where he still kept up his stock business, dealing 
in land, owning one thousand eight hundred 
acres in this county. The Colonel is over eighty- 
five years of age; a man who has accumulated 
large fortunes; but by endorsing for others, has 
lost heavily. He is a man who has always been 
temperate, using neither intoxicating liquors or 
tobacco; is a strong Spiritualist, believing that 
he has communications from some of his old ac- 
quaintances that have passed away; has always 
been just in his dealings, never taking a cent that 
did not belong to him, and always paying the 
last dollar for men that he has gone security for, 
paying over $50,000; is a member of the Good 
Samaritan, and Masonic orders. 

Silas M. Whitecra/t, farmer, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, was born in Bath county, Kentucky, on 
the sixth day of March, 1828; son of John and 
Rachael (Arnet) Whitecraft ; father of Irish 
and mother of English descent. In 1835, his 
parents emigrated to this county, and located 
in Woodside township, where he remained one 
winter, then removed to Christian county, then 
back to this county, when Mr. W. entered Gov- 
ernment lands and made a home, where he 
resided until his death, which occurred in July 
25, 1847. In 1879, while his mother was return- 
ing from the fair, she was thrown from a wagoa 
and killed. They were members of the Pi'esby- 
terian Church, and died as they had lived, 
sincere Christians. Mr. Whitecraft planted the 
first orchards in this part of the country. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on a farm. In 
1864, he married Miss Lottie Price, daughter 
of Abram Price, of Madison county. New York. 
They have four children, viz : Mattie, Lottie, 
Mabel and Bessie. Mr. Whitecraft has been 
identified with the interests of the county for 
over forty years ; is one of the large and enter- 
prising farmers of the central part of Illinois ; 
he raises and feeds two hundred and fifty head 
of cattle and two hundred head of hogs. 

George W. Whitecraft, retired farmer, resi- 
dence corner of Eighth and Douglas streets, was 
born in Bath county, Kentucky, in September, 
1830. His parents, John Whitecraft and Rachel 
Arnett, were also natives of the same county, 
where they married and moved to Sangamon 
— now Christain coianty, in September, 1835. 
His father died on the old homestead sixteen 
miles southeast of Springfield, in 1847. His 
mother was killed by a runaway team while 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



727 



returning from a fair at Springfield in Septem- 
ber, 1875. Tiiey were the parents of six sons 
and a daughter, of whom the subject of this 
memoir is the youngest. His active life was all 
spent on the farm in the neighborhood of the 
old homestead in Christian county. In October, 
1873, he purchased the property he now occupies 
and moved to the city. Mr. Whitecraft married 
Susan Williams, November 10, 1853. She is the 
daughter of Josiah Boynton Williams, of Cotton 
Hill township, Sangamon county, Illinois, where 
he settled forty-three years ago. Susan was 
born about three miles north of his present 
home in January, 1834, and is one of a family of 
five brothers and four sisters, eight of whom 
survive. Her parents are both alive, father aged 
seventy-two, mother sixty-seven years. Two 
brothers and a sister of Mr. W., reside in Chris- 
tian county, and one brother in Springfield. Mr. 
and Mrs. Whitecraft are members of the Second 
Presbyterian Church. They own five hundred 
acres of fine farming land and a comfortable 
home in the city. In politics he is a Republi- 
can. 

Dudley Wickersham, grocer, 609 Monroe 
street, has been engaged in that branch of mer- 
cantile life, in that location, twelve years. His 
store is large, being one hundred and fifty-seven 
feet deep, and amply stocked with the finest 
staple and fanc}^ groceries in the market. He 
makes a specialty of the best grades of goods, 
and his store, which is a model of its class, 
abounds with the most tempting edibles, in 
which he conducts a very large retail trade. 
Col. Wickersham is a Kentuckian by nativity, 
born in Woodford county, where the first 
eighteen years of his life were passed on a farm. 
At that age he began mercantile life as a clerk 
in the town of Mortonsville. In 1844, he came 
to Springfield, and entered the employ of Col. 
John Williams, as salesman in his dry goods 
store. In June, 1846, Mr. Wickersham enlisted 
in the Fourth Illinois Regiment, Col. E. D. 
Baker commanding, and served a year in the 
war with Mexico. He started out as Corporal, 
and was promoted to Sergeant of Company A. 
Among the important battles in which he par- 
ticipated was that of Cerro Gordo, where he 
helped to carry General Shields from the field, 
in what was then supposed to be a dying condition. 
Returning home, Mr. Wickersham resumed 
work for Col. Williams, till he set him up in 
business in Athens, where he carried on a gen- 
eral store three years, then closed out and came 
back to Springfield. He became a pai'tner in 
the dry goods firm of Smith, Edwards & Co., | 



which relation continued until lie entered the 
army in September, 1861, as a member of the 
Tenth Illinois Cavalry, of which he was ap- 
pointed by Governor Yates, Lieutenant Colonel, 
and two months later was elected Colonel. He 
commanded the regiment through the nearly 
four years of his military career. He was con- 
nected with the army of the frontier, west of the 
Mississippi, and saw much hard service. Owing 
to failing health. Colonel Wickersham resigned 
iu May, 1865, and was unable to engage in busi- 
ness for nearly a year. After retiring from the 
service, he was appointed United States Assessor 
for the Eighth District, and filled that office 
several years, at the termination of which he 
embarked in the grocery trade. Colonel Wick- 
ersham is a Mason, and has taken all the 
degrees of the Order, to Knight Templar. In 
1847, he married Miss Margaret Dickey, in 
Springfield. She was born in Kentucky, but 
brought up from childhood in Sangamon county, 
Illinois. They have two surviving children, 
William, salesman in the store, and Carrie, at 
home. 

James Wickersham, attorney at law, firm 
of Wines & Wickersham, is a native of Illinois, 
born in Marion county, and is twenty-four years 
of age. After attending school there, he came 
to Springfield, in 1877, and in July of that year 
began the study of law in the office of ex-Gov- 
ernor John M. Palmer. In December, 1879, he 
was admitted to practice in the courts of Illi- 
nois, and in March, 1881, opened a law oflice. 
Previous to that, and up to the fall of 1881, he 
and his partner, Walter B. Wines, have been 
engaged in the United States census work, pre- 
paring a digest of the criminal laws of the 
different States as a part of the census report, on 
crimes and charities. In politics, Mr. Wicker- 
sham is a staunch Republican, and was a zealous 
supporter of Mr. Garfield's principles and ad- 
ministration. Mr. Wickersham married Debbie 
Bell, in October, 1880, who is a daughter of 
Isaac Bell, deceased, an early settler of Roches- 
ter township. He died the day after Mrs. Bell 
graduated from the city High School, in June, 
1880. Her mother died some years before. 

Noble JB. Wiggins, of Leland & Wiggins, Leland 
Hotel, was born in Newburg, Ohio, October 21, 
1841, where he lived on a farm and attended 
school during the winters; when eighteen years 
of age, he attended Hiram College, Ohio; re- 
mained there one year, when he enlisted in Gar- 
field's Regiment, Company G, Forty-second 
Ohio Infantry Volunteers, September 19 1861, 
and remained in the service until December 2, 



T--?,*^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1864, when he was mustered out at Columbus, 
Ohio. He then returned to the farm at New- 
burg, Ohio, where he remained two years when 
he came to Springfield, arriving here April 6, 
1867, and was employed as steward in the Leland 
Hotel, a position which he held until 18*74, when 
he was admitted as a partner, in the firm of Le- 
land & Wiggins. His father, Benjamin L. Wig- 
gins, was born in Montpelier, Vermont, and 
when a young man drove a wagon from Vermont 
to Ohio, and peddled tinware and Seth Thomas 
clocks, finally settling on a farm in Cuyhoga 
county Ohio, where he remained until his death, 
July, 1864. His wife was Miss Lucy Bates 
Wiggins, born in Newburgh, Ohio. She died 
May 1868; she was a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and the mother of four children, three 
living. The subject of this sketch, Noble B. 
Wiggins, married Miss Clarissa N. Leland, Octo- 
ber 21, 1869; she was born in Cleveland, O., and 
was a daughter of Aaron P. Leland, and Miss 
Submit (Arnold) Leland. Mr. and Mrs. Wig- 
gins attend the First Presbyterian Church, and 
have a family of three children, viz.: Horace L., 
Louis N., and Lucy A. Wiggins. 

Henry l]^illiams, furniture merchant and un- 
dertaker, 420 East Washington street, has carried 
on this branch of merchandising in Springfield 
since 1848, and for six years previously worked 
in the city as a journeyman cabinet maker. The 
undertaking feature he has conducted over thirty 
years. His stock embraces a complete assort- 
ment of parlor, bed-room and kitchen furniture, 
and undertaker's supplies, and does a heavy retail 
trade, acting upon the " nimble shilling" motto, 
turning over his capital several times a year. 
Mr. Williams was born in Massachusetts in 1824; 
came to Illinois in 1839, and located in Brown 
county; in 1842 settled in Springfield and learned 
the cabinet trade; in 1850 he married Sarah 
Wall, who was born in Ireland. They have a 
family of two sons. The eldest, James H., is 
with his father in the store, and is serving his 
second year as alderman from the Second Ward. 
Both of Mr. Williams' parents were natives of 
Ireland. His mother is a resident of Sangamon 
county, aged eighty years; father died some years 
ago. 

Colonel John Williains, one of the pioneer 
merchants, and one of Sangamon county's most 
enterprising, highly esteemed and successful 
business men, was born in Bath county, Ken- 
tucky, September 11, 1808. His paternal ances- 
tors emigrated from Wales and settled in Vir- 
ginia, where his father, James Williams, was 
born. His maternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish, 



of the Presbyterian order, and settled in Penn- 
sylvania. His mother, Hannah Mappin, was 
born near Pittsburg, in 1776. After marrying, 
his parents settled in Kentucky, from whence 
they moved to Illinois in 1823, and settled on 
the farm still owned by the subject of this 
memoir, and where they both ended their earthly 
life a number of years ago. 

Mr. Williams' school privileges were confined 
to the primitive log school house of Bath county, 
and chiefly to the winter terms, his summers be- 
ing occupied with labor on the farm; but being 
fond of books and study he made the most of 
what advantages offered. At fourteen years of 
age he began mercantile life, as store boy, in the 
store of J. T. Bryan, in Kentucky. He received 
no salary the first year, and the second year |50 
and board was the compensation. In the fall of 
182.4, having completed his engagements, he, in 
company with several of his father's old neigh- 
bors, came on horseback to Illinois, and after 
visiting at his father's house two weeks, pro- 
ceeded to Springfield, arriving October 11, 1824, 
and at once entered the employ of Major Elijah 
lies as store boy, at a salary of $10 per month 
and board. At the end of a year, Mr. lies cred- 
ited him with 1 150, and offered him for the next 
year's services |200, which was accepted, and 
this was the annual amount received for five 
successive years of labor. In the fall of 1830, 
Mr. lies wishing to retire from business, Mr. 
Williams bought his stock on four quarterly 
payments, started out as proprietor of thestore, 
with a capital of $800, saved from his small salary 
in the six years. By energetic application and 
management, the payments of the purchase 
money were promptly met, and having a good 
credit the young merchant bought goods to keep 
up his stock, and by discounting his bills before 
due, saved paying interest. Pursuing the plan 
of his predecessor in honorable dealing and strict 
justice to his customers, success crowned the 
years of Mr. Williams' life, which, with two 
brief intermissions, extended over a period of 
fifty years, as proprietor of the business, begin- 
ning in September, 1830, and closing with the 
sale of the business to C. A. Gehrmann in Sep- 
tember, 1880. A part of this time he had sev- 
eral different parties successively as partners. 
During the last twenty-five years George N. 
Black was in company with him. 

In 1864, upon the organization of the First 
National Bank of Springfield, in which he was 
the prime mover, Mr. Williams became its 
President, and held the oflSce about eleven years, 
when he sold out his stock. When the Spring 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"729 



field & Northwestern Railroad was being built, 
Mr. Williams loaned the contractors $50,000, 
and other amounts subsequently, amounting in 
the aggregate to $200,000. The company being 
unable to repay the money, he had a receiver 
appointed, and after four years of his adminis- 
tration, the road was sold in 1878, by order of 
court, and Mr. Williams became the purchaser. 
Upon the re-organization of the company, Mr. 
Williams owning a controlling interest, was 
made President of the road, which office ex- 
pired by the sale of his stock in July, 1880, to 
parties in the interest of the Wabash, St. Louis 
& Pacific Railway Company. In the summer of 
18V2, Mr. Williams, in pai'tnership with George 
N. Black and S. H. Melvin, formed the Barclay 
Coal and Mining Company. They sunk the 
shaft the same year at Barclay, eight miles from 
Springfield, on the Illinois Central Railroad. 
The company — now composed of Mr. Williams, 
George N, Black and Samuel Yocum — owns 
eighty-seven acres in fee simple, on which they 
have erected over forty tenement houses, also 
the coal right of twelve hundred acres, and fifty 
coal cars. They employ from one hundred to 
one hundred and twenty-five miners, and mine 
from four hundred to five hundred tons per day. 
Mr. Williams owns a number of pieces of city 
property and several farms, principal among them 
are the homestead of one hundred and forty 
acres, in and adjoining the corporate limits of 
Springfield, and a splendid farm of seventeen 
hundred acres in Menard county, near Athens, 
where his father first settled. At the breaking 
out of the late war. Colonel Williams was ap- 
pointed Commissary General of Illinois, by 
Governor Yates, which position he filled six 
months, till the United States Government was 
prepared to take charge of the troops. He was 
afterwards appointed at the head of the Sanitary 
Commission for Illinois, to receive and forward 
supplies donated to the soldiers. He served in 
this capacity, without compensation, about two 
years. He was nominated and run for Congress 
in this district in 1856, on the Fremont and Fil- 
more ticket, and ran nearly two thousand ahead 
of his ticket, but the district being Democratic 
by about four thousand, he was beaten two 
thousand one hundred votes. He was one of 
the Board of "Water Commissioners during the 
building of the City Water Works. Is Presi- 
dent of the Barclay Coal Company. Colonel 
Williams was one of the original Trustees of 
the Lincoln Monument Association, and still re- 
tains that position. He is also a large stock- 
holder and a Director of the Springfield Iron 

85— 



Company. In 1840, Colonel John Williams 
united in marriage with Lydia Porter, a native 
of Livingston county, New York, but a resident 
of Sangamon county, Illinois, at that time; six 
children have been born to them, all living, viz: 
Louisa I., the wife of George N. Black; Albert 
P., John E., Julia J., the wife of A. Orendorflf; 
George and Henry C. Williams. Mr. and Mrs. 
Williams are members of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Springfield. 

jSamnel tT. Willett, merchant tailor, 227 South 
Sixth street, came to Springfield, Illinois, nine- 
teen years ago, and entered the employ of Woods 
& Henkle, as cutter in their clothing establish- 
ment, some fourteen years ago, continuing in 
that relation until both proprietors died, when he 
was made manager of the business for the 
estate for two years, at the end of which time 
he opened a merchant tailoring house on his own 
account. He moved to his present choice loca- 
tion February 1, 1880, and in August, 1881, put 
in a splendid stock of gentlemen's furnishings. 
His stock of piece goods is large and elegant, 
embracing an assortment of the finest American 
and imported fabrics for men's wear, which are 
made up to order in the most approved style. 
He is doing an extensive, growing business. 

Mr. Willett was born in Cheshire, England, in 
1829; emigrated to the United States in 1851; 
worked over eleven years at merchant tailoring 
in New York City, and then came to Springfield. 
He is a member of the Masonic Order, Lodge, 
Chapter, Council, and Commandery; is a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Pythias; is Prelate of 
Capital Lodge, No. 14; is Past Grand Chancel- 
lor for Illinois, having served in that position 
two terms consecutively; is Supreme Represent- 
ative to the Supreme Lodge of Knights of the 
World. He is also an Odd Fellow, since 1853, 
and has passed through the degrees of the 
Grand Lodge. In 1860, Mr. Willett married 
Miss Emma S. Clark, a native of New York 
City. They have five surviving children, three 
daughters and two sons; one son deceased. 

Fred W^ilms, President and General Manager 
of the Wabash Coal Company, has been engaged 
in the coal mining interests of Sangamon county 
since 1870. He was first connected with the 
Western Coal and Mining Company, a corporate 
organization with an authorized capital stock of 
$500,000, at first, as its cashier, and later as its 
manager. The company operated at Riverton, 
this county, and at Danville, Vermilion county. 
At Riverton, it re-equipped the old shaft sunk 
by P. L. Plowlett some years before, having se- 
cured a ten years' lease of the mine, and worked 



730 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



a force of one hundred and fifty men, who 
mined a million bushels of coal per year. This 
company closed out in 1877. The Wabash 
Coal Company was organized in March, 1880, 
with a capital stock of 140,000, and Fred Wilms 
was made President and General Manager; Wil- 
liam Wilms, Secretary and Treasurer. This 
company sunk a shaft at Dawson, twelve miles 
east of Springfield, on the line of the Wabash, 
St. Louis & Pacific Railway, in the spring and 
summer of 1880. A five-foot vein of coal of 
very fine quality was reached at a depth of two 
hundred and fifty feet. This shaft works one 
hundred miners, who take out one hundred 
thousand bushels of coal per month. This com- 
pany is also operating the old junction mine, 
situated at Springfield Junction, two miles south 
of the city, Mr. Wilms having leased it in May, 
1879. A hundred and fifty men are employed 
at this mine, and it yields an average product of 
one hundred and seventy-five thousand bushels 
per month. The coal from these mines finds a 
market chiefly at points east and west on the 
line of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Rail- 
way, as far east as Toledo, and west to Quincy 
and Hannibal. The company has two retail 
yards, one in Springfield and one in Jacksonville. 
They also do a large business in hard coals, both 
at wholesale and retail. 

The subject of this memoir was born in 
Quincy, Illinois, in 1842; from fourteen to 
twenty years of age, clerked in a dry goods 
store in his native city; was then six years in 
the employ of a wholesale and retail boot and 
shoe house there, as book-keeper and buyer of 
the stock. At the expiration of this time he 
engaged in the same line of business as proprie- 
tor. In 1870, he sold out and moved to Spring- 
field and has since devoted his attention to coal 
mining. He has been President of the Spring- 
field Coal Association three years; is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and has passed 
through all the degrees of the order to Knight 
Templar. In January, 1867, Mr. Wilms mar- 
ried Anna Dickhut, of Quincy, and a daughter 
of a pioneer in that place. They have two 
children, Carrie, aged twelve years, and Fred, 
six years old. 

Edioin A. Wilson, real estate and loan agent, 
and publisher of the Sunday School journals 
"Labor of Love," and "Food for Lambs," was 
born in Carroll county, Maryland, in June, 1840; 
passed most of his early life in Baltimore City, 
where he received a good English education. 
During the years 1863, 1864 and 1865, he was 
employed on clerical duties in the office of the 



United States Sanitary Commission; left there 
in November, 1865, and after visiting Boston 
and Indianapolis, landed in Springfield, Illinois, 
in January, 1866, and still being in the service 
of the Commission, was engaged in examining 
and classifying the rolls of Illinois soldiers till 
November of that year, then resigned to locate 
permanently in Springfield. Engaging in the 
real estate and insurance business, he carried 
both on till eight years ago, when he dropped 
the latter, and has since chiefly devoted his at- 
tention to dealing in and improving city real 
estate. Besides building many houses for others, 
he has erected some forty residences on his own 
property, and now owns thirty-seven occupied 
dwellings. Mr. Wilson was one of the publish- 
ers of the book entitled "Reminicenses of Old 
Settlers," of Sangamon county, in which he in- 
vested $6,000, quite a large per cent of which he 
has never realized. He is one of the elders of 
the Third Presbyterian Church, and is Superin- 
tendent of its Sunday School. He is publishing 
two Sunday School journals of the above titles, 
which are non sectarian in character, and both 
ai'e extensively circulated. In 1864, Mr. Wil- 
son united in marriage with Miss Cynthia C. 
Hannon, in Washington City. She is also a 
native of Maryland. They have two children 
of each sex alive. 

George Withey, of the firm of Withey <fc 
Brothers, Carriage Manufacturers, Washington 
street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, was 
born in Sommersetshire, England, and is fifty- 
four years of age. He is one of the five living 
sons of a family of seven sons and two daugh- 
ters of James and Jane (Stich) Withey of Ger- 
man ancestry, and who crossed the Atlantic in 
the spring of 1842, and settled in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, where the mother died about 
twelve years ago and the father about seven 
years ago. The senior Withey was a wagon- 
maker by trade; the sons took kindly to the 
sire's calling, and the three who compose the 
firm, William H., George D., and James, all 
learned the trade, and two of the brothers have 
five sons journeymen in the same business and 
engaged in the factory. The subject of this 
sketch married Miss M. T. Kiraes, born in Knox- 
ville, Tennessee. They have a family of four 
daughters. In spite of several serious reverses 
of fortune the Withey Brothers are doing a 
large and prosperous business, in which they 
employ an average of thirty men. 

Seneca Wood, Springfield, Illinois, was born 
in Springfield, Massachusetts, October 1, 1806 ; 
his father and mother died when he was a mere 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



31 



child, and he was left to take care of himself. 
He was taken by Enos Coles, a blacksmith ; to 
learn the trade ; but as he had a farm, he was 
busy there instead of the shop, except rainy 
days, when he could not work out-doors. He 
remained with Mr. Coles until he was nineteen 
years of age, then engaged in Belchertown, Mass- 
achusetts, to work by the year, at one hundred 
and twenty dollars ; remained there three years, 
and accumulated a few hundred dollars. He 
spent one winter in Georgia, peddling clocks for 
a man named Kendall ; the following spring re- 
turned to Belchertown, when he hired for two 
years to the same party he had previouly worked 
for. Taking his hard earned money, he, in 
company with a man named Wilson, came to 
Schenectedy, New York, when they started a 
paper. Mr. Wood being the money-man in the 
enterprise, and being ignorant of the business, 
it was not a successful undertaking, and he sold 
out to Wilson, getting what he could out of it ; 
came to Buffalo ; from there to Painesville, 
Ohio, where he spent the summer, and in August 
started out with a team and light Dearborn 
wagon for Illinois, and located in Springfield. 

In 1835, he entered land in Island Grove 
township, which he sold to a Mr. Brown, from 
Kentucky, who bought a large tract of land in 
that county. Mr. Wood then went to Berlin, 
where he built the Half-way House, between 
Jacksonville and Springfield, and kept it for a 
number of years. Among his guests were 
Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Forquer, 
John J. Harding, Daniel Webster, Martin Van 
Buren, E. D. Baker, and many men who rose to 
eminence. He married Miss Sarah Ann Todd, 
of Bourbon county, Kentucky. She was born 
May 22, 18L)0. There were eight children, four 
of whom are living. Mr. Wood held the office 
of postmaster in Berlin, and was justice of the 
peace for a number of years. 

Henry 'Wohlgemuth^ M. D., may well be 
placed among those of whom there are so many, 
so-called "self-made men." He is a native of 
Germany, was born on the 22d day of May, 1822, 
in the city of Hanover, and is the eldest son of 
Frederick and Maria Wohlgemuth, ( parental 
name, Boehne). His parents were of industrious 
habits, not possessed of large fortunes. His 
father died at the age of forty-two years, in Ger- 
many. His mother died in the year of 1859, at 
the age of fifty-four, in St. Louis, Missouri. His 
brother. Christian, died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 
the year of 1849, of cholera, at the age of twenty- 
three years. Two sisters are still surviving, 
both married, and live respectively, one, the 



eldest, in Montana Territory, and the younger 
sister in Illinois. 

Henry, from his earliest boyhood, applied 
himself to industrious and steady habits, avail- 
ing himself of what means his parents were able 
to bestow, in obtaining an education, and at the 
age of sixteen years, he chose the study of 
medicine, and his chief desire was with an am- 
bition to acquire a thorough knowledge of his 
chosen profession. 

In 1845, unknown to him, and being absent 
from home, his widowed mother and three chil- 
dren, (one son and two daughters) decided to 
emigrate to America, and informed of their ac- 
tion, though unprepared for so sudden a change, 
he decided to go with them. They embarked in 
a sailing vessel at Bremerhaven, in the month of 
September, 1845. After a long and tedious voy- 
age of sixty -two days they arrived in New 
Orleans in the month of November. Having 
friends living in Illinois, they proceeded on 
their journey up the Mississippi, thence the Illi- 
nois river, and landed at Beardstown, where they 
had friends living. In the winter of the same 
year the Doctor made his way to Springfield, 
laboring first under many embarrassing disad- 
vantages, poor in health, poor in purse, unac- 
quainted with the language and an entire 
stranger among the people with whom he had 
cast his lot. Springfield, then, with not more 
than three thousand inhabitanis, now has grown 
to be a city of twenty-two thousand or more, 
what was the woodlands and open prairies has 
given away to stately mansions and fine culti- 
vated farms. 

His determination and honesty of purpose, 
aided by a sound and well-directed judgment, 
soon overcame all obstacles. Although his health 
being much impaired, owing in a great measure 
to a change of climate, together with the many 
other disadvantages and embarrassing circum- 
stances. Dr. Wohlgemuth opened an office in the 
spring of 184 6, and began the practice of his 
profession. Giving himself industriously to his 
work, he met with marked success, rapidly ac- 
quired a knowledge of the language and laid the 
foundation of an extensive and lucrative prac- 
tice, his practice extending through a wide circle 
outside the city, and he was called upon to endure 
all the hardships incident to a physician's life of 
about thirty-five years in a country where farm 
mansions, cultivated fields, and well-worked high- 
ways with railroads in every direction, have sup- 
planted the log cabins, dreary prairies, heavy 
timbers, and almost impassable roads that then 
existed. The resident physicians, of whom there 



732 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



were some thirteen, besides the scattering ones 
throughout the country, of whom there were but 
few, have all passed away except it be one or two 
in the county, who still survive but no longer 
engaged in active practice, which leaves Dr. 
Wohlgemuth, so to say, the pioneer, or oldest 
physician, in Sangamon county, at an age of 
sixty years, still vigorous and engaged in active 
practice. 

In August, 1849, Dr. Wohlgemuth was married 
to Miss Mary Elizabeth Wolgamot, a native of 
Ilagerstown, Maryland, who removed to Spring- 
field with her parents in the year of 1840, when 
she was eleven years old. They have had six 
children, tw© of whom died in infancy. The 
eldest, a daughter, Mariette, was born June 10th, 
1850, and died on the 22d day of October, 1872, 
beloved by all who knew her. The two sons, 
Henry I., aged twenty-nine, and William, twenty- 
five, both promising young men, engaged in mer- 
chandise pursuits. The only daughter, Minnie 
Bell, now a promising young lady, was born July 
5, 1865. 

Generous and public spirited. Dr. Wohlge- 
muth has contributed largely to the interest and 
growth of Springfield, and apart from his regu- 
lar practice, has held many positions of confi- 
dence and public trust. 

In 1856, he was elected City Physician, in 
which capacity he acted until that office was 
combined with that of County Physician. This 
latter position he held from 1861 to 1863. 

In 1863, he was elected Alderman, and held 
the office till 1866, and was chairman of inany 
important committees. He was for one year a 
member of the Board of Education, and in 1865 
was appointed one of the Water Works Com- 
missioners, and while acting in this capacity, 
rendered valuable service to the city in the con- 
struction of the works. 

For many years past, the Doctor has been a 
member of the Board of Managers of Oak Ridge 
Cemetery, for most of the time has been its 
President, and it is justly due in saying, to him 
is greatly due, as also the gentlemen who were 
and still are his associates, in making Oak Kidge 
Cemetery what it is, the pride of Springfield. 

He has been for many years an active mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, of Sangamon 
Lodge, No. 4; is a member of the Chapter and 
Royal Arch, also a member of Elwood Com- 
mandery. No. 6, K. T., since 1859, and is at 
present its Eminent Commander. He has also 
been a member of other associations. 

To more fully prepare himself for the duties 
of his profession, the Doctor, in the year of 



1854, upon attending lectures, received the 
degree of M. D. from the Eclectic Medical In- 
stitute, Cincinnati, Ohio. In the advancement 
of medical science, he has taken a special inter- 
est, and at the organization of the Medical Asso- 
ciation, was elected its President; is also a mem- 
ber of the National Eclectic Medical Associa- 
tion, honorary member of the New York State 
Medical Society; and in all that pertains to the 
medical art and the advancement of science, he 
takes a deep interest. He has amassed a liberal 
competence. His reputation is that of honor, 
and unimpeachable. 

Christian Wolf, hatter and furrier, Pasfield 
Block, southwest corner of the square, estab- 
lished this branch of mercantile business in 
Springfield in 1865, occupying a small store on 
the north side of the square. Two years after 
he formed a partnership with John Hablizel, 
which continued until the spring of 1880, when 
Mr. Wolf purchased his partner's interest and 
became sole proprietor. In 1869, the increase of 
trade demanded more room, and they moved to 
the large store, 109, west side of the square, 
which was abandoned for the present elegant 
quarters in the new Pasfield block in the fall of 
1881. Mr. Wolf carries a stock of the finest 
hats, caps, furs and gentlemen's furnishings in 
the market, the largest in the State outside of 
Chicago, and has an annual retail trade of $40,- 
000. He makes a specialty of elegant fur goods, 
of w^hich he sells a large quantity. Mr. Wolf is 
a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born in 1838; 
after being partially educated there, emigrated to 
the United States, at the age of sixteen years; 
lived over five years in Cincinnati, Ohio; went 
thence to New Albany, Indiana; there carried 
on the hat business on his own account over two 
years, after which he located in Springfield, Illi- 
nois. He married in New Albany in October, 
1861, to Jennie Welch, a native of that city. 
Their family consists of three children of each 
sex. In 1877, Mr. Wolf was elected City Alder- 
man from the Sixth Ward on the Republican 
ticket, without effort on his part, but resigned 
after a little more than two years of service. He 
is a member of Capital Lodge No. 465, I. O. O. 
F., and a member of Brigadier General I. N. 
Reece's staff. I. N. G. 

Fresco Wright, Treasurer of the City of 
Springfield, was born in Somerset county. New 
Jersey, in 1820. His parents, Presco Wright, 
Senior, and Jane McKissack, were also natives 
of that State. The son and subject of this 
sketch grew to manhood and received an aca- 
demical education there. He began mercantile 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



733 



life as a clerk at fourteen years of age; and upon 
coming to Springfield, in 1849, pursued the same 
avocation, first as salesman for Jacob Bunn, then 
for Lewis & Adams, and in 1851 engaged in a 
general merchandising business, as a uiember of 
the firm of Wright & Brown, which continued 
five years, at the end of which he sold out and 
retired. During two of those five years, he 
filled the ofiice of City Treasurer. In the fall of 
1856, Mr. Wright was elected Circuit Clerk of 
Sangamon county for the term of four years, 
running six hundred votes ahead of his ticket in 
the city and township, and was the only Demo- 
cratic candidate elected at that time. Being a 
pfonounced War Democrat, he was elected in 
1862 to the office of County Treasurer on the 
Union ticket, by a handsome majority, and served 
two years. In 1865, he was appointed Post- 
master of the city by Andrew Johnson, and 
filled the position till 1868; was then appointed 
Assistant Assessor for the two years following; 
subsequently, he served two years as Deputy 
County Clerk, and in the spring of 18Y9 was 
elected to his present office, having been twice 
re-elected since by a liberal majority. At the 
age of twenty-four, Mr. Wright married Phebe 
A. Sutton, in New Jersey They have an adopted 
daughter, Mettie Wright. Mr, W. is a member 
of the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery 
in the Masonic Order. 

James T. Wright, grocer, 421 East Washing- 
ton street, has been identified with the grocery 
trade of Springfield for many years. He first 
started as a delivery clerk, for Forden & Seely ; 
was afterwards employed as salesman ; in 1872 
became joint proprietor with Mr. Forden, and 
three years later, sole owner, by purchasing Mr. 
Ford en's interest. In August, 1879, he located 
in his present store, which is one hundred and 
fifty-seven by twenty feet in front, and forty 
feet at the rear end. He occupies two floors, 
carries a large stock of goods, and has one of 
the heaviest retail trades in the city in family 
groceries and country produce. Mr. Wright is 
a product of Sangamon county, Illinois, born on 
Round Prairie, in 1840. Thomas Wright came 
from Kentucky to Sangamon county in an early 
day, and man ied Sarah Smith, also of Kentucky, 
but came here in childhood. Their family con- 
sisted of one daughter, and the subject of this 
sketch. Thomas Wright died when James was 
fourteen year's of age, leaving the widow, who 
now lives with her son. James left the farm 
when twenty-two, and settled in the city, which 
has since been his home. In 1878, he married 
Mary A. Lloyd, a native of Springfield, who 



has borne him one son, Elmer, aged seven 
years. 

Fred H. Zahn, merchant tailor, 135 South 
Fifth street, Lincoln's old law office, established 
the business in that room, July 8, 1875, with 
fifteen dollars capital, having lost everything in 
becoming surety for friends in the East. Upon 
arriving in Springfield, in 1873, he worked as a 
cutter two years. Having good credit with 
friends in Eastern cities, he was able to start 
with a fair stock of goods, and keeping nothing 
but the finest grades of American, English, and 
French suitings, which are made up in the high- 
est style of the art, his business rapidly grew 
from $9,000 the first year to |2,000 to $4,000 per 
month, in which over twenty skilled hands are 
regularly employed. He also keeps a fine line 
of ready-made clothing for children. 

Mr. Zahn was born in Berlin, Prussia, May 25, 
1840; from early childhood was brought up in 
city of Baltimore, Maryland, where he learned 
the tailor's trade. In May, 1861, he enlisted in 
the Union army, in the Second Maryland In- 
fantry. In the second battle of Bull Run he 
was shot through the left lung with a minnie ball 
which he still carries in his body. After remain- 
ing in the hospital six months, he had so far re- 
covered that he started for the front, but being 
seized with hemorrhage of the lungs, was com- 
pelled to return to the hospital, and was 
afterwards made Hospital Steward, holding 
that office till mustered out of service in June, 
1864. Mr. Zahn married Miss Ellen M. Brown, 
of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1872. His 
father, August Zahn, died June 11, 1881, aged 
seventy-one, in Baltimore, Maryland, where his 
mother still resides. 

Robert B. Zimmerman, of Zimmerman & 
Prouty, dealers in wall papers, shades, paints, 
etc., 427 Washington street, and of R. B. Zim- 
merman & Co., painters, and decorators and 
dealers in papers and paints, was born in 
Center county. State of Pennsylvania, Octo- 
ber 5, 1811, and is the son of Ezekiel and Esther 
Zimmerman, the former a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, the latter born in South Carolina. Her 
father, William Swanzey, was in General Fran- 
cis Marion's army at the time of her birth, and he 
did not see her until a year old. At the age of 
seventeen years, Mr. Zimmerman began|learniiig 
the trade of chair-making and house-painting, in 
Newton — now Elmira— New York, remaining 
there four years and a half. After spending 
another year in Tompkins county, he came 
West, stopped three months in Indianapolis, and 
made the first chairs used in the Indiana State 



734 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Capital; landed in Springfield, November 18, 
1835; passed the early sumnier months in St. 
Louis, the next year; returned in July, and 
bought out Mr. Powell, of Phelps & Powell; 
sold out to Mr. Phelps in 1839, and in company 
with John A. Mason, carried on a chair manu- 
factory, eighteen months. They then dissolved, 
and Mr. Z. formed a partnership with A. P. 
Willard, in the painting business, in 1841. This 
relation lasted until Mr. Willard's death, in 
1865, which occurrence severed a life-long friend- 
ship, of the most fraternal nature. For eight 
years, Mr. Z. carried on* business alone; then 
took two of his employes, Thomas Armstrong, 
and Henry Bolte, as partners in one house; and 
about three years ago took Mr. Prouty in part- 
nership in the other establishment. Both firms 
do a large business, employing from thirty to 
forty men in the busy season. Mr. Zimmerman 
settled in Springfield when it was a village of 
nine hundred inhabitants, and has been an active 
business man in the place forty-five years. He 
married Miss Susan P. Seeley, of St. Lawrence 
county, New York, on December 25, 1838. She 
died October 30, 1840, leaving a daughter, 
Susan L., now the widow of E. L. Gross, late of 
Springfield. Mr. Z. married Mary C. Townsend, 
of Calidonia county, Vermont, in October, 1845. 
They had two sons, both deceased. They reared 
an adopted daughter, Lizzie Zimmerman, now 
the wife of M. V. Smith, superintendent of the 
rolling mills at the National Tube Works, near 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In early life Mr. Zim- 
merman was a Whig in politics, and late years 
has been a Republican, He has always been a 
reader, has been a constant patron of the New 
York Tribune for forty years, of the Evangelical 
Alliance, forty-five years, and of the Illinois 
State Journal, since 1836, and has been a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church since 1835. Mrs. 
Zimmerman was very active in Aid-Society work 
during the war, even going to the front to see 
that the supplies I'eached those for whom they 
were intended. 

Frank M. Sperry, Springfield, Illinois, was 
born at Anna, IJnion County, Illinois, March 6, 
1857, when three or four years of age he moved 
with his parents to Cobden, Illinois, remained 
here a short time when he went with his mother 
south, and remained a couple of years during 
the war at Memphis, Tennessee, Paducah, Ken- 
tucky, Bix'd's Point, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois. 
At the close of the war the family returned to 
Anna, Illinois, where he remained until nine 
years of age, when he moved with his parents on 
his father's fruit farm, one-half mile west of 



Cobden, Illinois. He remained here working 
on the farm and attending the graded schools of 
Cobden until fifteen years of age, when he was 
employed as a clerk in the dry goods and cloth- 
ing store of H. Blumenthal, at Cobden nearly 
two years. He then attended school one term 
at Cobden when he came to Springfield, Illinois. 
He worked here in the Illinois State Journal 
with his uncle, D. L. Phillips, some fourteen 
months, when his uncle was appointed Post- 
master of the Springfield Post Office, he was 
then employed here with his uncle until June, 

1879, when he went to learn railroading at 
DuQuoin, Illinois, on the B. & S. I. Railroad, of 
which his uncle, D. L. Phillips, was President. 
He remained here as bill clerk in the office of 
the I. C. and B. & S. I. Railroads, studying tele- 
graphing until the death of his uncle. Major E. 
T. Phillips, who was station agent. Since that 
time he has worked for W. J. Young & Co., in 
Clinton, Iowa, six or eight months. In August, 

1880, he returned to Spi'ingfield, Illinois, where 
he was engaged in the sewing machine trade 
some five or six months, when he began to sell 
pianos and organs, and in July 20, 1880, was 
employed by the Inter-State Publishing Com- 
pany, to assist in writing up Sangamon county 
for a historj^, and by whom he is still employed. 
His father. Captain Isaih M. Sperry, w^as born at 
Hoosac Falls, New York. At the outbreaking 
of the late rebellion he raised Company B, Sixth 
Illinois Cavalry Volunteers, and was commis- 
sioned Captain of this company by Governor 
Yates. At the close of the war he settled on his 
fruit farm in Union county, Illinois, he was 
married to Miss Maggie L. (Phillips) Sperry; 
she was born at Belleville, St. Clair county, Illi- 
nois, she was the youngest of a large family, 
among whom were Mrs. Governor E. H. Finch, 
residing at Anna Illinois, Thos. H. Phillips, 
lawyer at Anna, Illinois, auvi D. L. Phillips 
deceased, of Springfield, Illinois. Captain I. M. 
Spen-y and wife have had twelve children, eleven 
living, viz: Frank M., Ella M., Fred. B., in bus- 
iness at Anna, Illinois, Ralph P., Aggie, Samuel 
H., Don. C, Sadie F., Maggie L., Olivia M., and 
Nellie Sperry. Captain Sperry is a Mason and a 
member of Jonesboro Lodge. Mrs. Sperry is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. The sub- 
ject of this sketch is a Republican and a strong 
supporter of that party, and cast his first vote for 
James A. Garfield who was so cruelly assassinated. 

SPRINGFIELD AS A RAILROAD CENTER. 

Springfield, the Capital of the State, centrally 
situated, is fast becoming a great railroad center. 
On the opposite page is a well executed map, 



(36 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



showing the railroads that now center in the 
cily. This makes the place easily accessible 
from all parts of the State, and serves to insure 
the permanency of the Capital. It is to be hoped 
the citizens will continue wide awake in this 
matter; that they will give the people every op- 
portunity of easily reaching the place, and af- 
fording the manufacturers that are now center- 
ing here, competition in freight rates to any 
part of the Union. 



THE COLORED PEOPLE OF SPRINGFIELD. 

There was a time in the history of Springfield, 
when the face of a colored man or woman was a 
rare sight. Before the deep snow, old Aunt 
Polly, a colored woman, reigned supreme in 
Springfield. It was not until and after the war 
that the race made their advent here in large 
numbers. The first installment of " contra- 
bands" that arrived while the war was in prog- 
ress were almost as much, objects of curiosity 
as the first that came. But time has passed, and 
the colored people of Springfield form an import- 
ant factor of it. But no more are they " contra- 
bands, " or slaves, but American citizens, with 
all the rights and privileges which the name im- 
plies. They are permitted to own property and 
as much of it as they can accumulate; they are 
permitted to testify before courts of justice; and 
above all, they have that right which is so dear 
to every American citizen, the right of a free 
ballot. It has been thought proper to represent 
a few of the number who have settled in Spring- 
field and made it their home, and who feel an 
interest in the well-being and prosperity of the 
city. The greater number know what it is to 
experience the hardships of a slave life, and to 
enjoy the blessings of freedom. 

Rev. Henry £rown, a native of Raleigh, Hali- 
fax county. North Carolina, was born April 17, 
1823. His father's name was Staten Jones, but 
he assumed the name of Brown, which name he 
retained through life. He was a native of 
North Carolina, and died about 1824. Henry's 
mother was born in North Carolina, and her 
maiden name was also Brown. Henry Brown 
left the State of his nativity about 1835, for 
Ohio, and one year later to Rush county, Indiana, 
■when he was bound to a family of Quakers at 
the age of fourteen, and assigned to the ordi- 
nary labors of the farm, which he continued 
until 1843, when, at the early age of twenty, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Roberts, who 
lived but about one year. Mr. Brown was 



licensed to preach about 1846, and has been a 
faithful and constant laborer in the Lord's vine- 
yard up to the present time, his ministry having 
therefore, extended over a period of thirty-five 
years, during which time many souls have been 
led out of darkness into the light of Christ. In 
1847, Mr. Brown met, at Paris, Illinois, 
Mrs. Mary A. King, a young widow lady of 
eighteen years, and the daughter of Allen Wil- 
liams, a wealthy gentleman of that place. A 
mutual admiration and a matrimonial engage- 
ment was the result of their first meeting, which 
culminated, a few weeks later, in their marriage 
at the residence of the lady's parents, in Paris, 
Illinois. Mr. Brown came to Springfield as early 
as 1847, and except about four years' residence 
at Galena and Quincy, has made Springfield his 
home to the present time. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
are the parents of five children — Louella, now 
Mrs. Taylor, Nannie, Thomas T., Katie, and 
Edward. Thomas T. is a law student in the 
office of Sterling & Grout, and will probably be 
admitted to the bar at the May terra of the 
Appellate Court, in 1882. Mr. Brown is a great 
admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and was employed 
by the great Emancipator for a number of years 
in various capacities, ending only when Mr. 
Lincoln removed to Washington, in the spring 
of 1861, to assume the duties of President of 
the United States. In 1865, when Mr. Lincoln's 
remains were brought to Springfield, Mr. Brown 
came, by request, from Quincy, Illinois, and led 
Mr. Lincoln's old family horse, "Bob," in the 
funeral procession. At present, Mr. Brown is 
pastor of the A. M. E. Church at Milwaukee, 
Wieconsin, and resides in Springfield. 

William Florville was born about 1806, at 
Cape Haytien, West India. When the revolu- 
tion, in 1821-22, occurred, his god-mother took 
him to Baltimore, Maryland, and kept him in 
St. Mary's Convent until her death, when he was 
bound by the Orphan's Court to learn the trade 
of barber. He then went to New Orleans, thence 
to St. Louis, and went with others from St. Louis 
on a hunting excursion up the Mississippi, Illi- 
nois and Sangamon rivers, to New Salem, then 
into Sangamon county the fall of 1831. While 
approaching the village of Salem, he overtook a 
tall man w'earing a red flannel shirt, and carry- 
ing an axe on his shoulder. They fell into a con- 
versation, and walked to a little grocery store 
together. The tall man was Abiaham Lincoln, 
who soon learned that the stranger was a barber 
out of money. Mr. Lincoln took him to his 
boarding house, and told the people his business 
and situation. That opened the way for an eve- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ning's work among the boarders. The next 
morning he started on his way rejoicing, and 
through the advice of Mr. Lincoln, he came to 
Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Florville was soon 
recognized by Dr. E. H. Merriman, with whom 
he was acquainted in Baltimore and St. Louis. 
Dr. M. enabled him to open a shop in Spring- 
field, the first barber shop in the city. Mr. Flor- 
ville spent some time in the employ of General 
James D. Henry. He was married to Phebe 
Rountree soon after his arrival in Springfield. 
She was born near Glasgow, Kentucky. She is 
living in Springfield, Illinois. At the death of 
her husband, in 1868, she was left a considerable 
property, consisting of fifteen business and ten- 
ement houses in the city of Springfield, and a 
farm of eighty acres in Rochester township. 
She is a member of the First Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, in Springfield. She is now in her 
seventy-second year, and resides on EastAdams, 
between Tenth and Eleventh, where she owns 
a nice residence. She is the mother of six child- 
ren, four living, viz.: Samuel H. Florville, born 
in the city of Springfield, Illinois, May 10, 1832. 
He lived here, attended school, and worked in 
his father's barber shop, until seventeen years of 
age, when he struck out for himself. He worked 
in Chicago and New York City, and also worked 
in a hair store in Buffalo, New York, one year; 
then worked at the barber's trade in Madison 
and Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1865, returned 
to Springfield, Illinois, where he now has a shop 
nicely fitted up, at his father's old stand, 602 
East Adams street. 

He was married to Miss Mary B. Greening in 
the spring of 1814. She was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and mother of one 
child. She died November 23, IS'ZS. Mr. Flor- 
ville was again married, to Mrs. Annie Wilson, 
January 10, 1881. She was born in the Maderia 
Islands. She is a member of the Baptist Church. 
Samuel H, Florville OAvns five tenant houses and 
six lots in the city of Springfield. In politics, 
he is a Republican, and cast his first vote for A. 
Lincoln for President of the United States. 

George JBrent, pastor of Zion Baptist Church, 
was born near Green sburg, Green county, Ken- 
tucky, July 2, 1821. His parents were both 
slaves, the property of Louis C. Patterson. His 
father in some manner secured his freedom and 
moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where, by ex- 
cellent deportment, he won the regard of many 
of the best families of white people in that city. 
George continued to work for his master until 
August 2, 1850, being placed in a blacksmith 
shop as soon as he was able to wield the hammer. 

86— 



The elder Brent enlisted the sympathies of eight 
persons, among whom was Rev. Sir. Brown, sub- 
sequently pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Springfield, and the eight on the date 
heretofore given signed a note for the sum of 
1)1, '200, to purchase the freedom of George. In 
one year afterwards they paid the note, and in- 
sured the life of George to secure them from 
loss in case of his death. George, in the mean- 
time, secured a position in a blacksmith shop in 
Lexington, and working faithfully at his trade, 
in three years he paid the entire amount of 
|1,200, and thus became truly a free man. The 
year before George secured his freedom, he was 
married to Mildred Smith, a free-born woman, 
in Campbelhville, Kentucky. Thirteen children 
have since been born unto them, only five of 
whom are now living — two of the dead bt ing 
killed by a stroke of lightning, an account of 
which is given on a previous page. While at 
work in Lexington, Kentucky, he endeavored to 
learn to read by the aid of a fellow-workman, 
whom he paid five dollars to teach him. He in 
time was able to read the Bible, the book of 
books, and which has since been his constant 
companion, and almost the only work he has 
ever read. He learned to write since coming to 
Springfield. The efforts made to secure the 
little knowledge obtained, would have discour- 
aged nine hundred and ninety-nine men out of 
one thousand. In 185Y, Mr. Brent and family 
came to Illinois, and settled on a farm on Rich- 
land Prairie, remaining only during the fajl and 
winter. He then took his family to Menard 
county, where he worked at his trade some two 
years, when he purchased a farm on Richland 
Prairie, and moving on to it, continued there 
about six years, when he purchased a residence 
at 1417 East Adams street, Springfield, where he 
has since resided. When twenty-one years of 
age, Mr. Brent made a pi'ofession of religion, 
and while living in Lexington, Kentucky, com- 
menced to talk in public in an acceptable man- 
ner, with probably no thought of ever becoming 
a regular minister. It was not until May, 1864, 
that he was regularly ordained to preach the 
gospel. In May, 1865, he was called to the pas- 
torate of the Zion Baptist Church, where he has 
since labored to the best of his ability in his 
Master's cause. 

John E. Jackson was born in the City of 
Springfield, Illinois, August II, 1845, where he 
worked for different parties and attended school 
until October, 1862, when he was employed as 
messenger boy in the Adjutant General's office 
until August 24, 1869. He then went to Chicago, 



738 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Illinois, and was there employed on the Pitts- 
bui'g & Fort Wayne and C. C. & I. C. Railroads 
as porter and conductor of a Pullman Palace 
Sleeper. He remained in this business until 
1871, when the big tire in Chicago broke out, 
and he lost all he had in the fire and eame back 
to his home in Springfield, and was employed in 
L. H. Coleman's carpet store, where he remained 
about three years. November 13, 1875, he began 
to work in the Ridgely National Bank, where 
he is still employed. He was married to Miss 
Matilda J. Wright, at Springfield, Illinois, July 
9, 18 74; the fruits of this marriage is three 
children, one living, viz: John T. C. Jackson. 
Mrs. Matilda (Wright) Jackson was born in 
Huntsville, Missouri, February 11, 1847; she 
was a daughter of Thomas J. Wright, born in 
Kentucky; he was a member of the M. E. 
Church, and came to Springfield, Illinois, in 
1856. His wife, Sarah Fortune, was born in 
Virginia; she is also a member of the M. E. 
Church. The father of J. E. Jackson was born 
in Culpepper county, Virginia, July 16, 1804; 
he was a member of the Baptist Church; he 
died November 20, 1876. His wife, Matilda 
Foster, was born in Kentucky; she was a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church, and died August 26, 
1880. J. E. Jackson, the subject of this sketch, 
has a common school education, and cast his 
first vote for U. S. Grant for President. He 
owns a nice residence at 608 South Ninth street, 
Springfield. He and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church. 

Monroe T. Ogleshy, was born near Charleston, 
South Carolina, October, 1843. When five years 
of age, he came with his mother to Carlyle, 
Clinton county, Illinois, where he remained 
until 1859. He then went to Decatur, Illinois, 
and worked for a banker there until the fall of 
1861, when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and 
worked as cook at the Chenery and St. Nicholas 
hotels, two years. He then worked in a feed and 
sale stable for Ward Dana one year, when he 
learned the barber's trade under Thomas Kil- 
lion; remained with him six or seven months, 
then worked at that trade in Decatur one sum- 
mer. He then worked in Springfield some 
months; then run as porter on a Pullman sleeper 
from Springfield, Illinois, to Lafayette, Indiana, 
on the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad, 
three years. He then worked as barber a year, 
in Springfield, Illinois, then for different parties 
until the meeting of the Twenty-sixth General 
A-sembly, when he was made a janitor. He 
then continued his trade until the meeting of 
the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, when he 



worked as janitor for Colonel Harlow six 
months. He then worked for Governor Bev- 
eridge as porter and messenger, during, his term 
of oflice, when he began to work for Governor 
Cullom, as porter and messenger one year and 
some months. He then run as porter ot a Pull- 
man out of Chicago, on the Chicago & North- 
western Railroad, six months, when he worked 
as barber in Springfield, Illinois, one year. 
Since that time has been top-man at Starne, Dres- 
ser & Company's coal shaft, in Springfield, a po- 
sition he still retains. His father, William W. 
Oglesby, was born in South Carolina. His wife, 
Nancy Oglesby, was also born in South Caro- 
lina. Both were members of the Baptist Church. 
Monroe T. Oglesby, the subject of this sketch, 
was married to Miss Sarah Fry, Jauuary, 1863. 
The fruits of this marriage is two children, viz.: 
James W. Oglesby and Annie L. Oglesby. Mrs. 
Oglesby was born in Sangamon County, Illinois. 
She was the daughter of Henry Fry and Mary 
Stonestreet, who were born in Kentucky and 
both were members of the Baptist Church. Mr. 
Monroe T. Oglesby is a mem ber of the Baptist 
Church, and he is a steward in Masonic Lodge, 
No. 3, at Springfield, Illinois. He cast his first 
vote for U. S. Grant, for President. He owns a 
nice residence at 1724, East Adams street, where 
he resides. He has only a limited education. 
He had to work hard for what he has. 

^'illiamH. Dulf was horn in Saline county, 
Missouri, May 1, 1840. When an infant he 
went with his parents to Fayette, Howard coun- 
ty, Missouri, and remained there two years, then 
went to Randolph county, Missouri, and re- 
mained there on a farm until 1857, when he 
came to Springfield, Illinois, stopped here a short 
time, then went to Chicago, Illinois, where he 
was janitor for H. H. Brown three years. He 
then went to Springfield, Ohio, and remained 
there six years, returned to Springfield, Illinois, 
in 1865; he then wprked on a farm near River- 
ton, Illinois, for Levi Hasbruck, until 1875, 
when he returned to Springfield, Illinois, where 
he has since been engaged as porter of the 
United States Internal Revenue. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Parthena M. Mausell, September 
18, 1860, at Springfield, Ohio; she was born in 
Ohio, January 4, 1841. She is a daughter of John 
L. Mausell, born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 
1799. Is now in his eighty-second year. Is a 
member of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is living in Springfield with his 
son-in-law, Mr. Dulf, a hale, hearty old man. His 
wife, Elizabeth Battles, was born in Virginia. 
She was a member of the African Methodist 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



780 



Episcopal Church, and the mother of six chil- 
dren. She died October, 1833. The father of 
William H. Dulf, Robert M. Dulf, born in West 
Virginia. He was a farmer and teamster, and 
died in 1841. His wife, Elizabeth Lewis, was 
born in West Virginia. She was a member of 
the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
the mother of eight children, four living, viz: 
William H. Dult, Annie Todd, Lucinda Todd, 
and Emanuel Todd. All reside in Springfield, 
Illinois. Mr. Dulf and wife have nine children 
living, viz: Florence E., Emily M., Clara P., 
Alice L., John W., George E., Frederic O., Ida 
A. and Beatrice Dulf. Mr. Dulf is a Mason, 
and a member of Central Lodge, No. 3, Spring- 
field, Illinois, and cast his first vote for Abraham 
Lincoln. He has a nice house and lot at 1509 
East Mason street, where he resides. 

George Stevens, was born in Georgetown, Ken- 
tucky, December, 1815. When two years old he 
was sold to Vick Buckhart, and went with him 
to Randolph county, Missouri, and remained 
with him fifteen years, when he was sold to Jack 
Viley, and remained with him until 1854, when 
he was sold to Wra. Eley, and remained with 
him until the war broke out; he then enlisted 
under General Scofield and remained with him 
two years and five months, when he was detailed, 
on a government gunboat, commanded by Cap- 
tain's Bell and Hughey, where he remained until 
the close of the war. He was in the battle at 
Vicksburg, and went in on the tugboat "Thomp- 
son" the night Vicksburg was taken; was in the 
Big Black Battle, Paw Paw Island, and other 
battles. At the close of the war he came to 
Springfield, Illinois, and began to work in a 
lumber yard for J. P. Tyson on East Jefferson 
street near the Wabash depot, where he still 
remains in the same yard but at present owned 
by Wm. Baker. He was married to Emma 
Danals, December, 1849. She was born in 
Randolph county, Missouri, her father was — 
Danals, and her mother Sallie Danals, born in 
Virginia; she is a member of the Baptist Church 
and is now married to Jack Cavanaugh, a Baptist 
preacher, both are living in Missouri. The 
father of George Stevens, Washington Stevens, 
was born in Kentucky; he was a farmer, and his 
wife, Maria Stevens, was born in Georgetown, 
Kentucky, and died in 18G2. Mr. and Mrs. 
George Stevens are both members of the St. 
Paul African Methodist Episcopal, Church on 
Fourth street, and have had eight children, two 
living, viz: Harry Stevens and Maria Stevens. 
George Stevens was first married to Caroline 
Roberson; she had three children, two living, 



Alex and Mary Stevens. Gtorge Stevens cast 
his first vote for U. S. Grant for President of 
the United States. He owns a nice, lot and 
house on Fifteenth and Jefferson streets, where 
he resides. 

-Robert Gormn was born near Raleigh, North 
Carolina, .June 15, 1851; remained there until 
1864, when he went as waiter for Chaplin Bea- 
ger, in the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry; at the 
close of the war he came to Springfield, Illinois, 
and worked at the St. Nicholas Hotel three 
years. He then worked for John E. Rosette 
and attended school during the winters for seven 
years. He then opened a restaurant near the 
town clock, on Adams street; sold out some 
eighteen months afterward and went to Kansas 
City, Missouri, and worked in the State Line 
House ten months, when he returned to Spring- 
field and was employed at the Leland Hotel for 
eight years; he was appointed to his present 
position as usher in Governor Cullom's office at 
the State House Robert Gorum was married to 
Amanda Coleman, October 14, ]8'75; the fruits 
of this marriage is four children, viz: Robert 
C, Thomas E , Ollie R. and Essie Gorum. Mrs. 
Gorum was born in Missouri; she was a daugh- 
ter of Ruben Coleman and Eliza Coleman. The 
parents of Robert Gorum were Robert Gorum, 
Sr., and Eliza Hinton, who were both members 
of the Baptist Church. Robert Gorum, Jr., and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church; he is 
also a member of I. O. O. F., Lodge No 1824, 
at Sj^ringfield, Illinois. He owns a nice resi- 
dence on the southw^est corner of Scarret and 
Passfield streets. Cast his first vote for U. S. 
Grant for President. 

Thomas Wright w^as born at Person Court 
House, North Carolina, March 15, 1813; he was 
married to Miss Sarah Fortune, December 25, 
1840; she was born at Fi edericksburg. Virginia. 
They are the parents of twelve children, five of 
whom are still living, viz: Francis, now Mrs. 
Rodgers; William, Matilda, now Mrs. Jackson; 
Gertrude, and Willis F. Gertrude and Willis 
F. are both graduates of the Springfield High 
School, the latter a valedictorian of the class of 
1881; they are both teachers in Missouri. Mr. 
Wright owns a farm of one hundred and eighty 
acres in Cotton Hill and Rochester townships; 
he also owns a house and three lots in this city; 
also his large private residence at 204 East 
Mason street. In politics he is a staunch Re- 
publican, and cast his first vote lor U. S. Grant. 

Abner JVailor, was born in Prince William 
county, June 15, 1856, and in the fall of 1863 he 
enlisted in Company C, Eighth United States 



740 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Infantry, and remained in the service until the 
close of the war. He came to Springfield in the 
fall of 1871. Three years later he began work 
in the Leland Hotel, where he has remained ever 
since. He was married to Miss Luella Brown, 
October, 1871; she was born in Springfield, Illi- 
nois; she was a daughter of Rev. Henry Brown, 
of this city, and was mother of two children, 
namely: Estella J. and Mary I. August 14, 
1879, he was again married to Miss Ella Bar- 
nette, born in Paris, Missouri. The fruits of 
this marriage is one child, Arthur W. William 
Nailor, father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Virginia. He was a carpenter by trade, 
and was killed in the late war. Mr. and Mrs. 
Abner Nailor are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. He is a Mason, and mem- 
ber of Central Lodge, No. 3, Springfield, Illi- 
nois. He was wounded at the battle of Fort 
Harrison. He cast his first vote for U. S. Grant. 
Mrs. N. is a graduate of the Young Ladies' Athe- 
neum, at Jacksonville, Illinois. She is now 
teaching music in this city. 

Johyi W. Peterson, was born at Falling Water, 
Virginia. At the close of the war, he came to 
Pana, Illinois, then to Sangamon county, worked 
for different parties four or five years, when he 
learned the barber's trade under .Tames Rayburn, 
where he remained six or seven months. He 
again worked for other parties five or six years. 
In 1874, he opened a barber shop corner of Ninth 
and Mason, where he still continues business. 
He was married to Miss Martha Smith, March 
5, 1874. She was born in Campbellsville, Ken- 
tucky. The fruits of this marriage is three child- 
ren, viz: Laura, Stella and Charles. Mr. Peter- 
son is deacon of the Zion Baptist Church, of this 
city, a position he has held for thirteen years. He 
owns a fine house at 1422, East Monroe. In pol- 
itics, Republican, and cast his first vote for Grant 
in 1808. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, the parents of 
the subject of this sketch, were born in Virginia, 
and are both members of the Methodist Church. 

Thomas Killion was born at Charleston, Coles 
county, Illinois, June 17, 1830. When two years 
of age his parents took him to Carlyle, Clinton 
county, Illinois. When fourteen years of age 
he went to St. Louip, Missouri, and learned the 
barber trade, remained there two years, when he 
opened a shop of his own at 112 South Sixth 
street, Springfield, Illinois. Has been a barber 
in this city for the past thirty-six years. He is 
now located at 614 East Washington street, 
where he has a first-class shop. His father, 
Thomas Killion, was born in Lexington, Ken- 
tucl<y. He was a doctor. He went from Cali- 



fornia to Europe, with other physicians, on a 
medical tour, and was lost at sea. His wife, 
Amelia Curtis, was born in Virginia. She was 
a member of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and the mother of fourteen children, 
twelve living, viz: Obedia, Harvey and Henry 
Killion, Mary A. Beard, Mrs. Francis Scott, 
Elizabeth Williams, Emily Clems, Oliver, An- 
drew, John and Thomas, the subject of this 
sketch, who was married to Miss Margaret Fry, 
August 18, 1858. She was a daughter of Richard 
and Mary Fry, who were born in Kentucky. 
Mrs. Killion died in the fall of 1863. She was 
the mother of three children, two living, Frank 
Stephens and Laura Killion. Mr. Killion was 
married to Jane Smith, who was a daughter of 
Jacob Smith. The fruits of this marriage is five 
children, all living, viz: Allie, Georgia, John, 
Joseph and Bessie. Mrs. Killion had two 
children by her husband Smith, viz: James and 
Fred Smith. Mr. Killion owns a nice residence 
at 1818 East Adams street. He cast his first 
vote for U. S. Grant for President. Mr. Killion 
saw the first man hung in Sangamon county. It 
was a brute named Wilson, who was hung on 
Vinegar Hill, near where the new State House 
now stands. He was hung for kicking his wife 
to death. He also shaved the last two men hung 
in Sangamon county, the morning they were 
hung. These men were Lemon and Vanarsdale, 
who were hung by Sheriff Crafton in the county 
for killing Saunders, at Pawnee, Illinois, while 
they were robbing his store. 

Noah Thomas was born in Hinds county, 
Mississippi, July 14, 1842. When twenty-one 
years of age he then went as hostler for Frank- 
lyn Fisk, Captain, of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry. 
He remained wich him until October 30, 1864, 
when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and 
worked at the blacksmiths' trade. He was 
married to Harriet E. McDanals, October, 1866. 
She was born on Wolf Creek, in Sangamon 
county. After his marriage he worked for Wm. 
Chamberlin, nearly three years, then worked 
for J. C. Melton & Tt oxell, nearly three years, 
when, in 1872, he opened a blacksmith-shop on 
Seventh street, near Everybody's Mill, in which 
he still continues business. He and wife have 
had eight children — five living, viz.: Emma L. 
Thomas, Lizzie A. Thomas, Mary E. Thomas, 
Nettie Thomas and Josie E. Thomas. Mrs. 
Thomas, wife of Noah Thomas, was a daughter 
of Mose. McDanals, born in Kentucky, and 
Nancy McDanals, born in Kentucky also. The 
father of Noah Thomas, Thomas J. Thomas, 
was born in Wayne county, Mississippi ; a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



V41 



raember of the Baptist Church, and died dur- 
ing the late war. He was in the Sixth Louisiana 
Infantry ; his wife, Harriet Thomas, is a member 
of the Baptist Church, and is still living in 
Hind county, Mississippi. She was the mother 
of eight children, four living. The subject of 
this sketch, Noah Thomas, has a nice house and 
lot, his residence, on East Carpenter street. He 
cast hie first vote for XJ. S. Grant for President. 
Willkoii Holt was born on a plantation about 
seventeen miles north of Jacksonville, North 
Carolina, February 1, 1836. He lived there as a 
slave of Allen Jones until twenty-six years of 
age, when he was sold to a speculator, Stephen 
Page, who took him to Greensboro, North Caro- 
lina, where he was sold to Dr. B. F. Arington. 
One year after he went with the Doctor to Ral- 
eigh, North Carolina, where he remained until 
Sherman was expected, when he was sold to 
Henry Hazel; remained with him one week, 
when he was freed. He was then employed at 
Sherman's headquarters as cook for Major Day- 
ton until July 19, 1865, when he came to St. 
Louis, Missouri, and hired to a man named 
Douglas, and went with him to Arkansas; was 
at Pine Bluff and Litte Rock three months, then 
came to Cairo, Illinois, and was employed as 
janitor in the Judge Bross' building nearly 
three years, then worked in the old Richmond 
Hotel in Chicago, five months, and St. James 
one month, then came to Springfield, Illinois, 
since worked in the Leland Hotel six or seven 
months, then worked for Jake Strawn on a farm 
twelve miles east of Jacksonville, Illinois, and 
in Jacksonville some seven or eight months; then 
came back to Springfield and worked in the Le- 
land Hotel until four years ago. Since that time 
has done janitor work; is the present janitor of 
the Second Presbyterian Church. He was mar- 
ried to Mary J. Beatty, July 24, 1873; she was 
born in Indiana. She was a daughter of Isaac 
Beatty, born in Tennessee. He was a member 
of the A. M. E. Church. His wife, Julia Brown, 
was born in Maryland. The father of William 
Holt, John Holt, was born on Bricqjs creek. 
North Carolina. He was a member of the A. 
M. E. Church, and began preaching when he was 
eighteen. His wife, Susan Starkey, was born in 
North Carolina. She was also a member of the 
A. M.E. Church, and mother of sixteen children. 
Mr. and Mrs. William Holt are members of the 
A. M. E. Church, at Springfield, and have one 
child, Matilda E. Holt. Mr. Holt is steward of 
the Second A. M. E. Church. He cast his first 
vote for U. S. Grant for President. He owns a 
nice residence at No. 1522, East Capitol Avenue. 



William Fry was born in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, November 27, 1846. When eighteen 
years of age, he came to Spi'ingfield and began 
to work as assistant miller and engineer in the 
Metropolitan Mills; remained there until 1865, 
when he began work in the Illinois Mills; 
remained in these mills four years and ten months, 
then went to Lincoln, Illinois, and worked in the 
Elliott Mills and Elevator four or five months, 
when he returned to Springfield and began 
work at the Leland Hotel as engineer; remained 
there six months, then was chief engineer in the 
Illinois Mills eleven months, when he took the 
position as chief engineer at the Riverton Paper 
Mills, remained there four months, then August, 
1872, he began work in the Excelsior Mills as 
chief engineer, a position he still holds. His 
father, Henry Fry, was born in Kentucky; he 
was a farmer; he died January 2, 1875, His 
wife, Louisa Bell, was born in Danville, Ken- 
tucky. She is a member of the M. E. Church 
and has had nine children, five living, viz: 
Fannie Dyer, Mary Mosby, Annie Fry, Joshua 
Fry and William Fry, the subject of this sketch, 
is a member of the Central Masonic Lodge, No. 
3, at Springfield, Illinois. He has a common 
school education and attended school at Spring- 
field, Illinois; cast his first vote for U. S. Grant 
for President. 

Gustaviis B. George was born on a farm in 
Wilson county, Tennessee, May 4, 1836, when 
nineteen years of age he went to Clinton county, 
Illinois, and worked on a farm eleven years, then 
worked at Alton, Illinois, as blacksmith, two 
years, when he enlisted in Company G, Fifty- 
fifth Massachusetts Infantry, and served two 
years and six months, he then went to Clinton 
county, Illinois, and married Miss Mary Gains, 
March 7, 1865. She was born in Carlyle county, 
Illinois, November 30, 1851; she was a daughter 
of Anthony Gaines, born in Tennesse and Sarah 
J. Cole, born in South Carolina; the fruits of 
this marriage is six children, viz.: Mary J. 
George, Mattie, William A., Clara, Benjamin and 
Nettie George. After his marriage, he farmed 
in Clinton county, Illinois, five or six years, 
when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and has 
worked in this city for different parties ever 
since; is at present working in Elder's tin and 
stove store. He is a member of Masonic Lodge 
No. 3, at Springfield, Illinois, and cast his first 
vote for U. S. Grant for President. 

Clark Duncan, was born in Logan County, 
Kentucky, October 15, 1848. In 1862, he enlis- 
ted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Colored 



(42 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Infantry, and was shortly afterward made first 
Sergeant in Co. B., Sixth Cavalry, (col'd.); re- 
mained in the service about two years, and when 
he was mustered out near Helena, Arkansas, he 
then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and remained 
three or four months, then went to Russelville, 
Kentucky, and remained there nearly three years, 
when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and 
remained some eight months, then returni.d to 
Russelville, Kentucky. Some six weeks after he 
returned to Springfield, Illinois, and began work 
at the Leland Hotel, where he now is. He was 
married to Miss Julia Chavious April 28, 1871, 
she was born in the city of Springfield, Illinois; 
is a daughter of Malan Chavious — born in 
Kentucky. He was a barber, by trade, and died 
May 29, 1879. His wife, Alseen Florville, was 
born in Springfield, Illinois; she is a member of 
the Baptist Church, and is living in Springfield, 
Illinois. The father of Clark Duncan, George 
Duncan, was born in Logan County, Kentucky. 
His mother, Louisa Orendoff, was born in Ken- 
tucky; she was a member of the M. E. Church, 
and is living in Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Clark 
Duncan and wife have three children, viz: Alsee 
M., Otis B. and Ada L. Mrs. Duncan is a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church, Mr. Duncan is a Knight 
Templar, Mason, and Senior Warden in Lodge 
No. 3, at Springfield, Illinois, and his wife is 
Grand Treasurer of the Grand Court of Illinois. 
He owns a nice residence at 312 North Thir- 
teenth Street, has a common school education, 
and cast his first vote for U. S. Grant, for 
President. 

Mary Faro, widow of Joseph Faro, was born 
in Shelby County, Kentucky, December, 1830. 
July 18G1, she was married to Joseph Faro. He 
was born in Trumbull County, Kentucky. His 
parents were Joseph Faro, Sr., and Hannah Faro 
Joseph Faro, Jr., was first married to Hettie 
Davis, and they had ten children, six living, viz: 
Joseph, Daniel, Ada, Carrie, Laura and Martha. 
His second wife, Mary Faro, the subject of this 
sketch, had two children, both dead. Joseph 
Faro, Jr., her husband, was a member of the M. 
E. Church, and a farmer — died October 15, 1878. 
Mrs. Faro is a member of the M. E. Church, on 
Fourth Street. Her father, Abson Taylor, was 
born in Shelby County, Kentucky, as was his 
mother, Jane Taylor, they were members of 
the Baptist Church. Mrs. Faro has a nice resi- 
dence at 313 North Tenth Street, where she 
resides. 

WilUatn Hatcher was born on his father's 
farm in Chesterfield District, South Cai'olina, 
May 13, 1817; his father died when he was 



some six years of age; when eight years of age 
he struck out for himself. He remained in South 
Carolina until eighteen years of age. He then 
ran a cotton boat on the Pee Dee river. South 
Carolina, a few months, then served an ap- 
prenticeship three years and learned the trade 
of bricklayer. In 1855, he went to Indianapolis, 
Indiana; remained there three years, and mar- 
ried Miss Minerva Fair, June, ]856 He then 
removed to Paris, Illinois, and worked at his 
trade seven years; then moved to Battle Creek, 
Michigan, and remained there until 1865, when 
he came to Springfield, Illinois, where he now 
resides, and is still working at his trade of brick- 
laying. His father. Griffin Hatcher, was born 
in South Carolina; he was a farmer, and died in 
1823. The wife of Griffin Hatcher, Susan Cooper, 
was bora in South Carolina; her father was a 
Frenchman and her mother an Indian. Mr. and 
Mrs. William Hatcher are members of the M. 
E. Church; in politics he is a Republican, and 
cast his first vote for Pope, for President of the 
United States. Mr. Hatcher owns a nice resi- 
dence at 919 East Carpenter, where he resides. 
He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 4, 
at Springfield, Illinois. 

Madison Mial, was born in Wilkinson county, 
Mississippi, March 9, 1844, he lived there until 
June 11, 1863, when he enlisted in Company H, 
Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantry, was mustered 
out at Brownsville, Texas, and discharged at 
Camp Butler, Illinois, October, 1865. He then 
worked at the Hewlett Distillery at Riverton 
one winter and spring; then worked on a farm 
for J. H. Murphy, at Auburn, Illinois, one year 
and five months, when he worked for L. B. 
Adams on a farm seven years, then visited his 
old home in Mississippi, returned to Springfield, 
and worked on a farm for Enoch Snyder one 
year; then began to Avork for F. Tracy, where 
he now remains. His father, William Veal, was 
born in Tennessee; he is living near Woods- 
ville, Mississippi; his wife, Mary Brent, was 
born at Holly Grove, Mississippi, she is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and is living in Mis- 
sissippi. Madison Veal was married to Miss 
Laura Cheetam, May 5, 1871, she was born near 
Goodrich Landing, Louisiana; she was a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Melonia Cheetam. Madison 
Veal and wife are both members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, in Springfield, Illinois. 
He cast his first vote for U. y. Grant for Presi- 
dent. He lives at 1039 Spring street, in Spring^^ 
field, Illinois. 

Zioids A. Jones, was born on Cassiday's Plan- 
tation, near Bowling Green, the county seat of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



74:^ 



Barren county, Kentucky, July 4, 1852. When 
8ix years of age, he was sold and taken with his 
mother to Oakalona, Mississippi; two years after 
he was made free and began to work for Captain 
Conover, who is now living in Cass county, Illi- 
nois. At the close of the war he went with Cap- 
tain Conover to Cass county, and remained three 
years, and was in Livingston county one year, 
when he came to Springfield, Illinois, and worked 
for J. B. Spaulding, in a nursery, at Riverton, 
one yeai ; then laid track on the Wabash Rail- 
road from Jacksonville, Illinois, to Alexander, 
Illinois, one summer; then was messenger boy 
three years for Charles Matheny, Sr.; he then 
•worked as messenger boy for R F. Ruth, two 
years; then, March 2, 1877, he began to work as 
messenger boy, and worked for him two years 
and two months when he kept a provision store 
on Monroe, between Fourth and Fifth streets, 
eighteen months, when he was employed in the 
office of Railroad and Warehouse Commission 
as janitor, a position he still retains. He was 
married to Miss Ada Chavons, May 13, 1879; 
she was born in Decatur, Illinois, December 12, 
1856; was a daughter of Malon Chavons; died 
May 29, 1879. The father of Louis Jones, John 
T. Jones, was born in Kentucky; he was a farmer, 
and died in tha fall of 1859; his wife, Nancy J. 
Cassiday, was born in Kentucky. Mr. Jones and 
wife have one child, Julia M., born February 29, 
1879. Mr. Jones is a Mason, and a member of 
Blue Lodge, No. 3, at Springfield, Illinois; and 
his wife is a member of Shiloh Court, No. 1, and 
Eastern Star Chapter, No. 2. 

Thomas Fry was born in Kentucky, June 14, 
1844. When an infant, he came with his parents 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, and lived on a 
farm near Springfield with his father, until 1860, 
when he went to Minnesota, and farmed two 
years there, then returned to Sangamon county 
and farmed until 1867, when he began to 
work at the Leland Hotel, where he still re- 
mains. His father, Richard Fry, was born in 
Kentucky, and came to Springfield in 1844. He 
died in 1866. His wife, Mary Fry, was born in 
Kentucky. She was the mother of ten children, 
six living, viz., Thomas, Sarah Oglesby, Amanda 
Nelson, Mary, John, and Robert. Thomas Fry, 
the subject of this sketch, has a common school 
education. He cast his first vote for U. S. Grant 
for President. 

Elias JRollins was born on a farm near Vin- 
cennes, Knox county, Indiana, October 1843. 
When seventeen years of age he went to Indian- 
apolis, Indiana, wLere he remained about two 
years, when he returned to Vincennes, Indiana, 



and worked at various places up to the time he 
came to Springfield. He is at present employed 
in the carpet department of Kimber & Ragsdale, 
which position he has held for the last fourteen 
years. He married Miss Sarah Oglesby, March 
10, 1871. She was a member of the M. E. 
Church, and died in 1876. He Avas again mar- 
ried to Mary E. Taborn, May 10, 1877. She was 
born in Springfield, Illinois, June 15, 1859. She 
was a daughter of Burton Taborn, who was 
born in Alabama, and died in 1875. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rollins are members of the M. E. Church. 
They have one child, Jussu M., born July 9, 1881. 
Mr. Rollins is a Master Mason of Central Lodge, 
No. 8, at Springfield. Mrs. R. is a member of 
Shiloh Court No.^1, Eastern Star Chapter No. 2. 
Mr. R. has a fair education, which he has ob- 
tained by studying nights. He owns a fine 
residence at 1127, East Mason street. 

William Head, born at San Domingo, West 
Indies, March 16, 1822, When eight years of 
age, he was kidnapped by a slave ship and taken 
to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was sold to 
Dodson & Sons' estate. He remained in bond- 
age until eighteen years of age. He then ran as 
cook and second engineer on the Ohio river 
until 1861, when he went into the army as body 
servant for Colonel Veach. While at the battle 
of Shiloh he was struck by a piece of shell, while 
carrying Colonel Morgan from the field, break- 
ing both his legs. He remained with Colonel 
Veach two years; then went to St. Louis, where 
he remained for two years; then came to Spring- 
field, Illinois, filling different positions, for about 
seven years, when he opened a restaurant on 
Eleventh and Mason sti'eets, where he still con- 
tinues in business. He now owns his business 
building, also his large and commodious resi- 
dence, and two lots adjoining. He was married 
first to Miss Martha Lewis. She was the mother 
of one child. He was married to his present wife 
Clarinda Butler, September 25, 1863. She was 
born in Kentucky and was the daughter of 
Samuel and Jane Buckner, born in Virginia. 
The parents of the subject of this sketch were 
born in the West Indies. Mr. and Mrs. Head, 
Jr., are both members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church of this city. In politics, he is a 
Republican, and cast his first vote for U. S. 
Grant in 1868. 

Henry Heard was born in South Carolina, 
March, 1833. When an infant he was taken to 
the home of S. Craven, where he remained until 
he was twenty years of age. At the close of the 
war he came to Springfield, Illinois, where he 
learned the barber's trade, of Thomas Killion 



I44r 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



remaining with hira about one year, then opened 
a shop at 625 East Washington street, where he 
still continnes business. He married Mrs. Mary 
A. Truxley, {iiee Killion.) The fruits of this 
marriage was one child, George. Mr. and Mrs. 
Beard are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of this city. Mr. Beard is steward of the 
Church. In politics he is a Republican, and 
cast his first vote for XT. S. Grant for President, 
in 1868. 

The biographical sketches of the colored peo- 
ple of the city of Springfield, given in this chap- 
ter, represents only a few of the large number 
who reside here, but those selected for biograph- 



ical men are from the best class of the colored 
race; many of whom are fairly educated, though 
not a few of them were born slaves, for years 
suffered and toiled under the galling yoke of the 
crudest tyranny ever visited on any portion of 
the human race, African slavery. 

It is a fact worthy of mention in this connec- 
tion, that the transition from slavery and conse- 
quent ignorance to a condition of citizenship and 
comparative education stands without a parallel 
in either modern or ancient history, and the 
unprejucial observer of events must predict, for 
the future of the African race, a grand and 
glorious future. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



<45 



Chapter XXVIII. 



AUBURN TOWNSHIP. 



Auburn township is in the extreme southern 
portion of the county, and is bounded on the 
north by Chatham, on the east by Pawnee, on the 
west by Talkington, and south by Macoupin 
county. It comprises all of congressional town- 
ship thirteen, north of range six w^est. and a part 
of township thirteen, range five west. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlement made within the limits of 
the township was in 1818. Sometime during 
that year the following named located their 
claims and erected their cabins: 

Jacob Ellis, on the north half of section fif- 
teen, township thirteen, north of range six west. 

James Black on the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion fourteen, same town and range. 

Samuel Vancil, on southwest quarter of the 
southeast quarter of section eleven. Mr. Vancil 
was about fifty years of age when he arrived 
here, in November, 1818. Mr. Vancil died in 
1828. 

John Wallace, on the northeast half of sec- 
tion two. 

In 1819, a few more families came to the town- 
ship, of whom were the following: 

George Lott, on the north half of [the north- 
west quarter of section thirty-three. 

William Woods, on the south half of sections 
twenty-one and twenty-two. Mr. Wood has 
been dead many years. 

Jesse Wilson and Joseph Thomas, on the 
north half of section eighteen. (Evidently an 
error — not 18-6). 

In 1820, Daniel Kessler made a settlement on 
section fourteen, where he built and run the 
first blacksmith shop in the township. 

Edward White, the same year, settled on the 
west half of the northwest quarter of section 
twenty-two. Mr. White in a short time sold his 
claim to John Dui-ley, who, in 1821, built on the 

87— 



premises a small distillery. (Distillery part is 
evidently wrong). 

Thomas Black was a settler in 1819, and 
erected a cabin on section 6-5. He wag born in 
South Cai'olina, moved from there to Kentucky, 
where he was married, and then to Southern 
Illinois in 1811. Mr. Black died in 1851, aged 84 
years. 

Robert Orr came in 1826. as did also George 
Wimmer — the latter is still living. Andrew 
Orr came in 1818 and Robert in 1826. 

Among others of the early settlers, were Is- 
rael Thompson, William Johnson, Henry Hunt. 

Henry Gatlin settled on section twenty-one, 
in 1818. On this farm is a well known sjiring, 
since known as the Gatlin spring, now known as 
the "Haydon spring." Mr. Gatlin has been 
dead many years and his family scattered. 

James Fletcher settled just north of Gatlin, in 
1828. He died two years afterwards. 

Samuel McElvain came in 1828, and settled 
on Sugar creek, on section twenty-two. Mr. Mc- 
Elvain was a soldier in the war of 1812, and 
was in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 
1815. He was a good man, and was a ruling 
elder in the Presbyterian Church in Auburn 
from its organization at his house, in 1830, till 
his death, in 18 tS. Preaching was held at his 
house for many years. 

Jeremiah At ell came from Adair county, Ken- 
tucky, in 1829, and settled on section fifteen. 
He subsequently removed to McDonough county, 
where he died. 

Daniel Kessler came in 1820, and settled about 
a mile and a half southeast of the present vil- 
lage of Auburn. He died in 1828. 

Micajah Organ came in 1828, and settled on 
section twenty-one. He was from Jessamine 
county, Kentucky. After remaining in the town- 
ship a number of years, he moved to Virden, 
Illinois, and there died. 



746 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



James and George Wallace came in 1822, 
from South Carolina. George died here in 1840, 
but James, in 1835, moved to Macon county, 
Illinois, where he died some ten years later. 

Robert Crow was originally from Virginia, 
but came to Auburn from Christian county, Ken- 
tucky, in 1822. He was a miller by trade, and 
engaged in milling some years after his arrival 
here. Mr. Crow died in Auburn township, Sep- 
tember 23, 1840. 

Benjamin Kessler came in 1826. 

John Roach came in 1829, and subsequently 
died in Logan county. 

William Caldwell was from Jessamine county, 
Kentucky, and settled in Auburn in 1836. He 
was a man of great public spirit, and while a 
citizen of Kentucky, served as sheriff of his 
county, and was twice a member of the legisla- 
ture. He also served Sangamon county twice in 
the legislature. He died in 1844. 

Tbomas Black came to Sangamon county 
April 9, 1819 He was born in South Carolina 
in 1768, and went from there to Christian 
county, Kentucky, where he was married to 
Edith A. Pyle. From Kentucky they moved to 
Southern Illinois, just before the " Shakes " — 
meaning the earthquake of 1811, that sunk New 
Madrid, Missouri. They fled in terror back to 
Kentucky ; but finding the earth did not all 
gink, they returned to Southern Illinois, and 
moved to what has since become Auburn town- 
ship, in Sangamon county. Mrs. Edith A. Black 
died April 15, 1822, and Thomas Black was 
married in 1823 or '4 to Mrs. Rebecca Viney, 
whose maiden name was Shiles. She died Feb- 
ruary 13, 1851, and Mr. Black died November 3, 
18.'>1, aged eighty-four years, both where he 
settled in 1819. 

Robert Crow was born iu 1781, in Wythe 
county, Virginia, and was married in that State, 
then moved to Christian county, Kentucky, and 
subsequently to Sangamon county, arriving in 
1822 in what is now Auburn township. Mr. 
Crow died September 23, 184U. 

Alvin Cross was born in Madison county, 
Kentucky, and when a young man moved to 
Humphreys county, Tennessee, where he married 
Margaret Forbes. Subsequently he moved to 
Johnson county, Illinois, and from there to San- 
gamon county, arriving January, 1829, in what 
is now called Auburn township. He lived a few 
years, and died in 1849, 

James Nuckolls was born January 5, 1777, in 
Botetourt county, Virginia, and the family mov- 
ing to Grayson county, same State, he was there 
married January 5, 1804, to Janey Swift, who 



was born March 2, 1781, in that county. In 1818, 
moved to Madison county, Illinois, and moved 
to what became Sangamon county, arriving in 
1820, in what is now Auburn township. Mr. 
Nuckolls died in 1859. 

James Patton, one of the best known of the 
early pioneers of Auburn township, was born 
March 17, 1V91, in the city of Baltimore, Mary 
land. When a child, his parents moved to Stan- 
ton, Virginia, and from there to Clark county, 
Kentucky, in 1798. There James was apprenticed 
to the tanning business, and in 1808 the family 
moved to Christian county, where he joined 
them in 1810, having finished his apprentice- 
ship. James Patton and Polly Husband were 
there married, April, 1855. Subsequently they 
moved to what became Auburn township, in 
Sangamon county, arriving in the spring of 
1820. Mrs. Polly Patton died February 15, 1844, 
and James Patton was married in 1846, to Mrs. 
Lettie Nifong, who died February 6, 1856, and 
he was married August 1, 1865, to Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Gregory. She died June 23, 1876. He 
was always known as Colonel Patton, a title he 
acquired in connection with early military train- 
ing in the county. He established a tannery 
soon after he i^ettled in the county, and supplied 
the early settlers with leather for miles around. 
The nearest mill to him at the time he settled 
there was at Edwardsville, sixty miles south. 
He was in better circumstances than most of the 
early settlers, and when he saw a family labor- 
ing under disadvantages, he interested himself 
in their welfare, and assisted them in many 
ways. Noah Mason, of Springfield, speaking of 
their eariy experience in the new country, says: 
"My father found a true friend in the now ven- 
erable Colonel James Patton, which lasted to 
the end of his life, and is gratefully remembered 
by his descendants." He was strictly honorable 
in all his transactions, and was highly esteemed 
by his neighbors and acquaintances. He was a 
generous, noble-hearted man; no one in distress 
ever applied to him in vain. Although not a 
classical scholar, he was better educated than 
many of the early settlers of the country, and 
being possessed of fine common sense and excel- 
lent judgment, he was frequently called upon by 
his neighbors to arbitrate their disputes, and so 
keen was his sense of justice, and so correct was 
his judgement, that he rarely failed to settle 
their difiiculties, and thereby save them much 
trouble and expense. His father was a tanner, 
and dealt largely in leather, saddlery and har- 
ness, in the city of Baltimore. He equipped 
one of General Washington's regiments during 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 






the Revolutionary War. Colonel Patton died 
where he located when he first came to the 
county, two and one-half miles southeast of 
Auburn, September 12, 1877, leaving a large 
number of descendants, the most of whom re- 
side in this county. 

Joseph Foley was born in Logan county, Ken- 
tucky. His father was a native of France, and 
was educated there with a view of becoming a 
Lutheran minister. When he came to America 
he abandoned the ministry, married in Logan 
county, and raised a family. Joseph was mar- 
ried there and came to Illinois and settled in 
Auburn township in 1829. Joseph Foley died 
August 17, 1866, and his widow, Mrs. Frances 
Foley, resides at the family homestead, two and 
a half miles southeast of Auburn, Sangamon 
county, Illinois. Joseph Foley acted as Justice 
of the Feace for many years; he was a man 
whose counsels were often sought by his neigh- 
bors. His advice, when followed, always led to 
the settlement of difficulties without litigation, 
and in a peaceful and friendly manner. 

Mr. Foley brought some money with him to 
the county, but his greatest success was after 
coming here. He left his heirs the title to three 
thousand acres of land, two thousand five hun- 
dred of it was in one body. He died in 1867. 

Nicholas Fyle and wife, with their two 
youngest sons, came to Auburn township in 
1825. Mr. Fyle died in 1829. 

Power, in his history ot the early settlers, 
thus speaks of Johan Jacob Ranch: 

Johan Jacob Ranch was born July 25, 1796, 
in Stutgardt, Wirtemburg, Germany. He came 
to America in 1818, and was eleven weeks on 
the passage from Amsterdam, arriving at Phila- 
delphia in September. He entered into an agree- 
ment, before starting, with a man who came on 
the same vessel, by which that gentleman was to 
pay his passage across the ocean in exchange for 
labor Mr. Ranch was to perform. He had ful- 
filled part of the agreement before starting, and 
acted as servant to the gentleman and his wife 
on board the vessel. On arriving at Philadel- 
phia, he found that the money had not been 
paid. The only excuse the man made was that 
his wife objected to it. In the early history of 
the American colonies, some of them enacted 
laws under which emigrants might be sold at 
auction to pay for their passage across the ocean. 
The custom still prevailed at the time Mr. Ranch 
arrived in the country, but I have thus far 
failed to learn that there was any law for it at 
that time. Seventy dollars was the amount de- 
manded by the owners of the vessel, and he was 



put up at auction to raise the money. The 
lowest, and perhaps the only bid, was to pay the 
money on consideration of his serving three 
years in return, at hard labor, as the following 
paper will show: 

Philadelphia. 

This Indenture Witnesseth : That Johan 
Jacob Ranch, of his own free will, to go to Ala- 
bama Territory, hath bound himself servant to 
Francis C. Clapper, of Philadelphia, merchant, 
for the consideration of 170, paid to Lewis, 
Haven & Co., for his passage from Amsterdam; 
as, also, for other good causes, he, the said Johan 
Jacob Ranch, hath bound and put himself, and 
by these presents doth bind and put himself, 
servant to the said Francis C. Clapper, to serve 
him, his executors, administrators, and assigns, 
from the day of the date hereof, for and durmg 
the full term of three years, from thence next 
ensuing. During all which term the said servant, 
his said master, his executors, administrators, 
and assigns, faithfully shall serve, and that hon- 
estlj'^ and obediently in all things, as a good and 
faithful servant ought to do. And ihe said 
Francis C. Clapper, his executors, administrators, 
and assigns, during the said term, shall find and 
provide for the said servant sufficient meat, 
drink, apparel, washing and lodging, and to give 
him, at the end of the term, two complete suits 
of clothes, one thereof to be new. And for the 
true performance hereof both the said parties 
bind themselves firmly unto each other by these 
presents. In witness whereof they have inter- 
changably set their hands and seals. Dated the 
second day of October, A. D. one thousand, 
eight hundred and eighteen. 

F. C. Clapper. 

Bound before Conrad VYile, Register. 

Mr. Rauch was at once sent to Alabama, and 
labored fathfully for two and a half years, the 
principal part of the time at boat-building, and 
must have earned many times the value of the 
money paid out for him. His food and clothing 
during the whole of that time was of the very 
worst description, in addition to which, he was 
treated to all manner of indignities on account 
of his lack of knowledge of our language, and 
for any other cause which the caprice or malig- 
nity of those with whom he was associated 
might suggest. Six months before the expira- 
tion of his time his hardships became intolerable. 
He left Alabama and made his way into Muhlen- 
burg county, Kentucky, arriving in 1821, There 
he found German people who gave him employ- 
ment by which he was soon able to cloth himself 
decently, and began to save money. He worked 



748 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



both in wood and stone as the opportunity for 
either presented itself. October 24, 1824, he was 
married to Pauline Poley, sister to Joseph Foley. 
Soon after his marriage he built a saw-mill on a 
small stream, and occasionally worked at his 
trades, doing a good business. As Mr. Ranch 
learned more of the influence of slavery, he re- 
solved to seek a free country in wnich to bring 
up his family. He accordingly removed with 
bis wife and two children, to Illinois, arriving 
October, 1829, in Sangamon county. In Decem- 
ber he bought three-fourths of section thirty- 
three, which is in the southern tier of sections in 
this county. It is in Auburn township, between 
the towns of Auburn and Virden. The stream 
called Sugar creek ran through his land, and 
among the first things he did was to build a saw 
and grist-mill, and for many years Ranch's mill 
was known far and near, and hundreds of weary 
emigrants found rest under his roof, his house 
being on the road from Springfield to St. Louis. 

John Jacob Ranch died November 23, 1848, 
where he settled in 1829; His widow, Mrs. 
Pauline Ranch, resides there with her son 
Charles. It is in Sangamon county, near Vir- 
den, Macoupin county, Illinois. 

Mr. Ranch left his family with the title to a 
sufticient quantity of land to make a good farm 
for each one; with a large amount of personal 
property, and his children are among the most 
respected citizens of the county. When we con- 
sider that he was twenty-two years of age at the 
time he came to America, without a knowledge 
of our language, compelled to lose so much of 
the best time of his life to pay for the privilege 
of coming, and that he died before he was fifty 
years of age, his success was wonderful, and it is 
highly probable that his early death was caused 
by over exertion. Although he had been so 
treacherously dealt with on coming to the coun- 
try, and for the first three years after his arrival; 
yet his abhorrence of anything like repudiating 
a contract was such, that he charged his sons if 
the duplicate to the contract by which he was 
robbed of his three years time, should ever be 
presented, tbey should pay the whole seventy 
dollars, for the reason that he had not rendered 
the last six months service, and that because it 
was physically impossible for him to endure it. 
In the later years of his life, when pondering on 
the hardships and indignities he had endured, he 
wrote in German on the margin of the contract 
quoted, "Jacob Ranch says this indenture was 
not good." He doubtless alluded to the fact that 
it was not binding because it was never signed 
by himself. The back of the indenture bears an 



inscription, also in German, in his own hand- 
w^riting. It appears to have been more intended 
as an expression of a sentiment than an address 
to any particular one of his children. It is in 
these words: 

"Dear child, you had better remain in a low 
station of life; the higher you stand the more 
you may be humbled; and the Lord will love 
you better, for He is the Most High, and does 
great things by means of the lowly. 

Jacob Rauoh." 

James Wallace, was born in 1776, in Pendle- 
ton district. South Carolina, of Scotch Presbyte- 
rian parents. They being Whigs, were driven 
from their home by the British and Tories, pre- 
vious to his advent in the world, and he was 
born in a camp. On arriving at the age of man- 
hood he went to Nova Scotia, and was there mar- 
ried to Ann Doole. About 1816, he moved back 
to South Carolina. Having lived where all men 
were free, on his return to his native State, it 
appeared to him as though slavery was indeed 
" the sum of all villainies," and he determined 
to seek a land of freedom in which to bring up 
his family. He accordingly moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinos, arriving November 3, 1822, in 
what is now Auburn township, one mile south of 
the present town of Auburn. Subsequently he 
removed to Macon county, and died in 184f>. 

William Wood was born in Knox county, 
Tennessee, and came to Sangamon county and 
Auburn, in the fall of 1818. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school house in the township Mas 
ei'ected in 1828, of logs, and was situated on the 
premises of James Patton, and was known in 
after years as the "Patton School House." The 
first school taught in this building was by Wil- 
liam Fritz. There are now eight school houses 
and ten whole and fractional school districts in 
the township. The school houses have a total 
valuation of -1^14,000. Schools are kept about 
nine months in the year. 

CHURCHES. 

The first church was erected by the Old School 
Presbyterians in 1845. It was a modest frame 
structure, and was located in the edge of the 
woods, just west of Crow's old mill. It was used 
some years, and subsequently moved to the vil- 
lage of Auburn and used as a dwelling house. 
There are now eight church buildings in the 
township, of which six are in the village of 
Auburn. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



^49 



It is not known where the first religious ser- 
vices were held in the townshij), but Revs. 
James Sims, Rivers Cormack and Peter Cart- 
wright were early Methodist Episcopal minis- 
ters; Elder Simon Lindle}^ the first Baptist, and 
Rev. J. G. Bergen, one of the first Presbyterian 
ministers. The first church organization was 
doubtless that of the Old School Presbyterians, 
organized in 1830, at the house of Samuel McEl- 
vain, which yet exists. 

FIRST THINGS. 

The first marriage in the township was that of 
Gideon Vancill and Phoebe Wilson, in March, 
1820. The ceremony was performed by Rev. 
James Sims, a local preacher of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church^ It was for many years sup- 
posed this was the first couple married in the 
county. 

A daughter was born to the foregoing couple 
in 1821, and supposed to be the first birth in the 
township. 

The first death was that of Mrs. Elizabeth 
Walker, daughter of Samuel Vancill, who died 
in the fall of 1819, and was buried in what is 
now calle 1 the "■Winmer burying ground." An 
incident occurred at the time of this death that 
exhibits one of the dangers that beset the early 
settlers. While the friends were gathered around 
the dying bed, it was discovered that a prairie fire 
was rapidly approaching, propelled by a strong 
westerly wind. The grass, seven or eight feet in 
height, was as dry as powder. By the most vig- 
orous exertions in keeping the end of the cabin 
near the fire, wet, the house was saved, but all 
the hay stocked for winter feeding, was de- 
stroyed. In the midst of the excitement the sick 
woman breathed her last. 

Tne first tan-yard was established in 1826, by 
James Patton. 

The first orchards were planted by Robert 
Crow and Philip Wineman, in 1825, and the first 
cider was made by the latter a few years later. 

MILLS. 

The early settler had great difficulty in se- 
curing mill privileges, and the building of a mill 
in any neighborhood was hailed as a joyful 
event. 

The first grist mill in Auburn township was 
built by James Sims, and stood on the north part 
of the Wineman farms, east of the present 
village of Auburn. 

The first water mill was only for sawing lum- 
ber, and was built in 1825-6 by Robert Crow, on 
Sugar creek, about a mile northeast of the pres- 
ent village of Auburn. The mill was subse- 



quently rebuilt by E and W. D. Crow, sons of 
Robert, and a pair of burrs attached. 

The second water mill, which was both a saw- 
and grist-mill, was built by Jacob Rauch, some 
six miles above Crow's, some years later. Not 
long after James Wallace erected a saw-mill on 
the creek, between the two. Nearly all traces 
of these mills are now obliterated. 

The first steam mill was built in 1838, by A. 
& G. Eastman, on the branch, about a quarter 
of a mile north of the present village of Auburn. 
This was also a grist-mill. The engine and 
machinery were afterwards removed and taken 
to Springfield. 

In 1856-7, Bond & Ely erected an extensive 
steam flouring mill in the village, at a cost of 
$15,000, which finally ruined the projectors, and 
it afterwards fell into the hands of J. U. Grove, 
who, in 1864, used the engine, boiler, and 
machinery, in the outfit of a new mill in Carlin- 
ville. 

There are now two grist-mills in the town- 
ship, one owned by Morris, Harris & Co., in the 
village, and the other situated South of Auburn, 
and owned by Joseph Poley, Jr. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. ^ 

The face of the country is generally level, 
except along the water courses, where it is undu- 
lating. The soil is unsurpassed in richness, and 
is well adapted to corn, oats and grass. Spring 
wheat yields well. The land is about all under 
cultivation. 

The timber land comprises about one-sixth of 
the territory, and is mostly of a good quality, 
consisting of white, red, black, Spanish and 
bur-oaks, scaly bark and white hickory, sugar 
and white maple, ash, black walnut, sycamore, 
cherry, red and slippery elm, black and honey 
locust, hackberry, Cottonwood, linden or. bass- 
wood, and mulberry. 

WATER COURSES. 

The principal stream is Sugar creek, which 
rises in Macoupin county, and entering the 
township in section thirty-two, flows in a north- 
east course, emerging from the township on sec- 
tion one. Panther creek, a branch of Sugar 
creek, also runs in a northeasterly course through 
sections thirty, nineteen, twenty, seventeen, 
eight, nine, four and three, into Chatham town- 
ship, where it joins Sugar creek. Kessler 
branch and Little Painter creek also water the 
town. 

ORGANIC. 

Auburn township was organized in 1861, and 
the first election held in April of th^same year. 



i50 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



The following named were then elected: Super- 
visor, Mathew Patton; Town Clerk, M. G. Wads- 
worth; Assessor, N. C. Brooks; Collector, A. S. 
Orr; Overseer of the Poor, W. D. Wheeler; 
Road Commissioners, E. Stout, Peter Yates, 
John R. Fletcher; Constables, William H. Wine- 
man, James Rauch; Justices of the Peace, 
Joseph McKinney, A. Rauch. At this election 
there were one hundred and lifty-eight votes 
cast. 

On the organization of the township it com- 
prised only Congressional township thirteen, 
range six west. In 1869 a part of Pawnee was 
added, consisting of twelve sections on the west. 
This change was made for the reason that it was 
more convenient for the voters living in the two 
mile range taken off, to meet with Auburn than 
Pawnee. The township now comprises forty- 
eight sections or square miles. 

The following is a complete list of the town 
officers for the time mentioned: 

1862. — Supervisor, Mathew Patton, senior; 
Town Clerk, M. G. Wadsworth; Assessor, L. B. 
Richardson; Collector, J. G. Spencer. 

1863. — Supervisor, Mathew Patton, senior; 
Town Clerk, Mathew Patton, junior; Assessor, 
J. W. Ten Brook; Collector, William C. 
Brooks. 

1864. — Supervisor, L. B. Richardson; Town 
Clerk, E. M. Tucker; Assessor, J. H. Hart; Col- 
lector, W. C. Brooks. 

1865. — Supervisor, J. W. Ten Brook; Town 
Clerk, M. G. Wadsworth; Assessor, Charles 
Rauch; Collector, W. C. Brooks. 

1866. — Supervisor, A. S. Davenport; Town 
Clerk, John Piper; Assessor, Jas. M. Stout; Col- 
lector, Jesse Plain, 

1867. — Supervisor, John Buck; Town Clerk, 
John W. Hart; Assessor, L. M. Bumgarner; Col- 
lector, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1868. — Supervisor, Matthew Patton, senior; 
Town Clerk, John Mclnnes; Assessor, D. F. 
Kessler; Collector, W. W. Lowdermilk. 

1869. — Supervisor, Mathew Patton, senior; 
Town Clerk, M. G. Wadsworth; Assessor, S. P. 
Hart; Collector, W. W. Lowdermilk. 

1870. — Supervisor, J. M. Lochridge; Town 
Clerk, D.W. Savage; Assessor, M. G. Wads- 
worth; Collector, W. W. Lowdermilk. 

1871. — Supervisor, J. M. Lochridge; Town 
Clerk, A. D. Sanders; Assessor, W. H. Wine- 
man; Collector, S. P. Hart. 

1872. — Supervisor, J. M. Lochridge; Town 
Clerk, A. D. Sanders; Assessor, C J. Sanders; 
Collector, M. G. Wadsworth. 



1873. — Supervisor, J. S. Organ; Town Clerk, 
D. W. Savage (appointed); Assessor, W. H. 
Wineman; Collector, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1874. — Supervisor, J. S. Organ; Town Clerk, 
Chas. Sclioles; Assessor, J. T. Welch; Collector, 
M. G. Wadsworth. 

1875. — Supervisor, J. S. Organ; Town Clerk, 
Jas. H. Burtle; Assessor, J. T. Welch; Collec- 
tor, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1876. — Supervisor, J. S. Organ; Town Clerk, 
A. M. Gordon; Assessor, J. T. Welch; Collector, 
Wm. Burtle. 

1877. — Supervisor, F. J. Nuckolls; Town 
Clerk, J. W. Lowdermilk; Assessor, Wm. 
Brownell; Collector, M, G. Wadsworth. 

1878. — Supervisor, A. S. Davenport; Town 
Clerk, D. W. Savage; Assessor, Geo. W. Hut- 
ton; Collector, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1879. — Supervisor, A. S. Davenport; Town 
Clerk, D. W. Savage; Assessor, A. S. Orr; Col- 
lector, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1880. — Supervisor, L. B. McCarter; Town 
Clerk, D. W. Savage; Assessor, A. S. Orr; Col- 
lector, M. G. Wadsworth. 

1881. — Supervisor, J. A. Able; Town Clerk, 
D. W. Savage; Assessor, J. S. Organ; Collector, 
Elihu Stout. 

Three hundred and sixty-seven votes were 
polled at last township election, April, 1881. 

OLD AUBURN.* 

The original Auburn, of which the present 
town is a namesake, occupied some forty or fifty 
acres of the east half of section three. The spot 
where the public square was situated is in the 
northeast quarter of three. Patton street, in the 
west part of this town, if continued far enough 
would strike the centre of it. The town was 
laid out by Asa and George Eastman, in 1835. 
The land was bought from Messrs. Godfrey <fc 
Gilman, Alton. The town was named "Auburn" 
by Miss Hannah M. Eastman, (now Mrs. Brown) 
sister of the proprietors. The place was very 
pleasantly located, the square comprising quite 
an elevation, that commanded a tine view. 

In 1840, Auburn contained but five or six 
dwellings. A two-story tavern, built by the 
Eastmans, stood on the west side of, and facing 
the square. This was occupied by William S. 
Swaney, an Ohio man, with a large family, a 
blacksmith by trade, who kept a man working in 
the shop, and devoted the greater part of his 
own time to trips abroad in his buggy, being 
absent, frequently, weeks at a time. It was ac- 

*Froni a Sketch in the Auburn Citizen, by the Editor. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"751 



cepted as general rumor that he handled cards 
very successfully and that this was the secret d 
his mysterious journeys. There came a time 
when he failed to return. Weeks rolled into 
months, and finally the papers reported the find- 
ing of the body of a man who had evidently been 
murdered, near Ewington, in the east part of the 
State. The clothing was described quite min- 
utely. The widow vis^ited the place and fully 
identified the clothing. The body had been dead 
sometime when found, and was already buried. 
It was supposed that some gambling comrade 
whom Swaney had fleeced, had taken this means 
to obtain revenge and re-secure his wealth, for no 
money was found upon his body. 

On the north side of the square, and fronting 
it, stood a story and a half house, occupied by 
Asa Eastman and family, consisting of himself 
and wife, and little boy, his sisters. Misses Ann 
H. and Hannah M., and brother, George; Wm. 
B. Fondey, (a cousin of Mrs. Eastman,) who 
afterwards settled, married and died in Spring- 
field, was a boai'der there. Rev. Wm. C. Green- 
leaf and lady, lived in a small house just north 
of the lattt^r. Mr. G. had a small nursery on his 
premises, from which fruit trees were dispensed 
to the farmers of the neighborhood, and the good 
man delivered excellent practical discourses to 
the people on the Lord's day. Just west of Mr. 
Eastman dwelt Piatt S. Carter and wife; young 
married people, from Litchfield county, Connec- 
ticut, who had recently emigrated west to take 
possession of the farm that Mr. C. had recently 
opened west of town. North of this house stood 
a log house, occupied by a Maryland family, 
Evan John, his wife, and children, Martha, 
George and Edith. With these, boarded Elwood 
Ewing, a fellow countryman of Mr. J. He was 
a cabinet-maker, and had a shop in the rear of 
the house. 

A family — man and wife — named Daniels, 
from Missouri, lived temporarily in the school 
house, (there being no school that winter.) This 
was the only building east of the public square. 
A substantial two-story house had been com- 
menced the previous summer, on the south side 
of the square, for Mrs. Susan Eastman, step- 
mother of the Eastmans above mentioned, and 
was occupied during the following winter by 
two families; Mrs. Eastman, her son, S. F. and 
stej)-daughters, and Daniel Wadsworth, who with 
family, four in number, had just removed from 
Maine. Mr. David Eastman and family, wife 
and sons, Augustus F., Charles H. and George 
L. lived just southeast, but <)ut of the town 
limits. 



The two-story house above alluded to, (the 
Eastmans having several years previously re- 
moved from the town,) was finally purchased by 
Peter S. Freeman, a blacksmith of Chatham, who 
had bought a tract of land near Elm Grove, 
some six or seven miles southwest of this. He 
attempted to remove the house to said tract, 
across the open prairie, with ox teams. The 
building was a very heavy one, everything being 
of hard timbei*. It was a tedious journey, occu- 
pying, I think nearly a whole summer. The 
labor was finally accomplished with thirty yoke 
of oxen. The blacksmith's bills for mending 
broken chains, etc., were a pretty serious matter 
to Mr. Freeman. 

It seemed a pity that so pretty a site as that of 
the old town should be abandoned for so un- 
promising a one as tbe northeast quarter of sec- 
tion ten then appeared — much of it a mere 
swamp — but railroad corporations possess no 
bowels of compassion, the practical more than 
the beautiful being their object. 

A vigorous and persistent effort was made by 
the residents of the old town to get the Alton & 
Sangamon Railroad Company (the original name 
of this road) to locate a water tank and station 
directly east of the town, expecting that in that 
event the intervening land would be eventually 
converted into lots and connect with the old 
town. Messrs. Roach & Organ (William Roach 
and George L. Organ) erected, in 1852 or 1853, 
what was then considered a substantial store 
building, on the west side of the track on the 
above-named site, hoping that this would be a 
material inducement to the company to locate 
the new station there. Mr. Philip Wineman, 
meanwhile, was offering the company more val- 
uable temptations to locate the town further 
south. The struggle between the two factions 
was long and fierce, many persons taking sides 
one way or the other, but Mr. Wineman finally 
prevailed. When Roach & Organ found their 
cause hopelessly lost, they picked up their build- 
ing and moved it to the new town, on tbe lot 
now occupied by F. M. Nicols' carpenter shop, 
from whence it was afterward removed to the 
east side of the square, and is the building now 
occupied by P. W. Jones, as a grocery. 

The residents of the old town remained and 
nursed their disappointment as long as they 
could, and finally yielded to the pressure, and 
several of them transported their houses — small 
one-story buildings — to the rival town. Israel 
Davis' present residence is one of these build- 
ings, and I think one or two others are still ex- 
tant, in the east part of town. As to the re- 



■752 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



raaining ones, one took fire and burned down, 
and the others were eventually torn down and 
hauled off, not a building being left except Mr. 
D. Wadsworth's house and out-houses in the 
south part. Mr. A^a Eastman, of Springfield, 
who had become proprietor of the unsold lots, 
bought out the claims from the various lot own- 
ers, petitioned the State Legislature for a vaca- 
tion of the town, and Mr. Eastman sold the land 
to Madison Curvey; it was converted into a corn- 
field, and thus fades Old Auburn, as a town, 
from the public view. 

THE VILLAGE OF AUBURN. 

On the 24th day of February, 1853, Philip 
Wineman had platted and recorded a new vil- 
lage, comprising the north part of the east half 
of the northeast quarter of section ten, township 
thirteen, range six, west, under the name of 
Wineman. This village was located about one 
mile south of the old village of Auburn, and on 
the line of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. Mr. 
Wineman subsequently made two additions to 
the original plat, one on the north end the other 
on the south. In 1854, John Buck laid out some 
lots adjoining on the west, and m 1858, made an 
addition on the north and west of the lattei'. 
These, with "Wineman," and additions, were 
incorporated by the legislature at its session of 
1864-5, under the name of Auburn, the old vil- 
lage bearing this name having ceased to exist. 
The first election under this charter was held in 
the spring of 1865. The records of the village 
being lost or misplaced, only the officers of the 
present year are given, as follows: D. Mason, 
S. F. Goodwin, J. A. Able, Fred Faust, B. F. 
Hutton and J. K. Harris; William Harris, Vil- 
lage Constable; A. S. Davenport, Police Magis- 
trate; W. H. Gibbins, Clerk. 

One hundred and fifty-six votes were cast at 
this election. 

RELIGIOUS, 

Auburn village and township is represented 
by eight religious denominations and eight 
church edifices. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL,. 

A class of this denomination was organized 
at Harlan's Grove, in Chatham township, pre- 
vious to 1830, which met for some years at the 
house of John French. Services were held 
here with more or less frequency until l84l, 
when they began to be held in old Auburn, 
where they were continued until the congrega- 
tion began to worship in the present village. In 
1855, the congregation erected a house of wor- 



ship, which they continued lo occupy until 1863. 
They subsequently disposed of it to the Baptist 
and then to the Catholic brethren, and built a 
second house, at a cost of about $2,000. At 
present, the church holds services every other 
Sunday. For a time Auburn was in the Sanga- 
mon circuit, and then in Virden circuit. In 
1876, it was placed in Auburn circuit, with Rev. 
W. S. Matthews as pastor. Mr. Matthews was 
followed by the following named, in order given : 
Revs. Johnson, Slater, Beckhart, and Sloan, the 
present pastor. Abraham Gist, R. McCoy R. 
W. Savage, and Daniel Wadsworth, are the 
present trustees. The present membership of 
the church is quite large. A Sunday School 
was organized in 1855, which has had regular 
meetings ever since. R. McCoy is the present 
Superintendent. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN. 

The Auburn congregation of the Presbyterian 
Church organized June 3, 1854, in the Baptist 
Church building, on Sugar creek, by Rev. W. C. 
Bell, with the following named members : John 
Wallace, A. S. Orr, James H.Keysler, Benjamin 
Kessler, Sr., Mary A. Kessler, Elizabeth Organ, 
Catharine Kessler, Sarah Gates, H. C. A. Yiney, 
C. Viney, Thomas Black, David F. Kessler, 
Rebecca A. Kenney, James M. Hart, Evaline 
Wallace, George W. Wallace, John Hart, Phebe 
Hart, Joseph Johnson, Wealth Johnson, Martha 
A. Storia, Rebecca Drennan, Henderson Seals, 
Levi .lohnson, Harriet Kessler, James T. Kenney, 
Francis Cassity, Maria Johnson. 

John Wallace, James H. Keysler, and John 
Hart were chosen elders, and A. S. Orr, Deacon. 
For some years the congregation worshipped in 
the meeting house of other denominations and 
in school houses. The first house of worship 
erected by the congregation was in 1863; and 
was situated about three fourths of a mile south 
of the village of Auburn. In 1874, this house 
was removed to a point three miles south of the 
village, and is now known as the Walnut Grove 
Church, and is occupied by a part of the congre- 
gation. In the winter of 1874, a new house of 
worship was erected in the village at a cost of 
$3,000, with a sitting capacity of five hundred. 

Since 1863, there have been three hundred 
conversions in the church, but on account of 
removals and deaths the active membership has 
been reduced to about fifty. 

The following named ministers have had 
charge of the congregation: W. C. Bell, W. C. 
Roach, G. W. Reynolds and W. Knowles. W. 
Knowles had charge from March, 1864, to 



'-p^S^^^ 



%9^r 





/ '■-' 



' Y ^^^i^7-'f.-j_yC^^^ 



HISTOEY OF Si^NGAMON COUKTY. 



155 



March, 1867. From 1867 to 1873, the pulpit 
was occupied by the following: Revs. F. Bridg- 
man, W. M. Schenck, W. C. Bell and S. R. 
Shull. W. Knowles, the present incumbent has 
occupied the pu.pit since September, 1873. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church building in 
Auburn was sold for debt in 1867, and purchased 
by the Baptists, who occupied it until 1871, when 
they sold it to the Catholics, and erected the 
present building at a cost of $5,000. 

The church was organized on Sugar creek, 
March 23, 1843, and known as the Sugar Creek 
Baptist Church, with the following named mem- 
bers: C. Wrightsman and wife, George Win- 
nier and wife, John Dill and Joshua Mackey. 
Elder Thomas Taylor was the minister who 
officiated at its organization. Elder Alfred Brown 
was the first pastor, about 1844. Elders — Morris 
Bailey, Thomas Taylor, L. B. Richardson, Wil- 
liam Meigs, Joseph Wightsman, Uarver, Debo 
and Kitzmiller. The first house of worship was 
erected in 1851, the congregation furnishing the 
heavy timber and shingles, C. Ewing furnishing 
the balance of the material and building the 
house for $300. This house was sold in 1871 
for $50.00, the congregation having been trans- 
ferred to Auburn. Since the church was trans- 
ferred, the pastors serving have been: Revs. M. 
V. Kitzmiller, A. Gross, A. H. Scott, M. C. 
Clark, Mr. Chapin and Calvin Allen, the latter 
being the present pastor. The Sunday school 
was organised in 1868. 

ST. benedict's koman catholic church. 

This church was purchased by the Catholic 
people of Auburn and vicinity, of the Baptist 
denomination, in the year 1871. It is the oldest 
church building in the town, having been erected 
by the Methodists in the year of 1856. Pre- 
vious to its purchase, the Catholics were obliged 
to attend services at Yirden and Sugar Creek, 
and consequently looked forward anxiously to 
the time when they would have a little church 
of their own, and in their midst, in which to 
worship God according to the behests of their 
faith. This opportunity came when the Baptists 
I'esolved to erect a larger and more imposing 
edifice for Divine service. The sura paid by the 
Catholics for the old church building was $750, 
It was immediately fitted up for Catholic service 
and was dedicated by Rt. Rev. P. J. Baltes, on 
April 12, 1872. Since that time, the congrega- 
tions, though small and not possessed of a very 
large amount of worldly wealth, has shown re- 
markable spirit in the support of their church. 

88— 



Besides the amount originally paid for the 
church, over $1,000 has been expended in im- 
proving and beautifying it. The membership 
numbers about two hundred souls altogether, 
and a Sunday school class of seventy children, 
none of whom was over fifteen years of age, 
received the sacrament of confirmation at the 
hands of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of this diocese, 
less than a year ago. This church was formerly 
under the spiritual charge of the Catholic priest, 
of Virden, but since December, 1878, a regular 
pastor has resided in Auburn, with the two par- 
ishes of Auburn and Sugar Creek, under his 
charge. Those two congregations have since 
purchased a nice pastoral residence, situated one 
block from the church, on North Waverly 
street, and furnished it for occupancy at a cost 
of $2,000. At present the parishes are under 
the Pastorate of Rev. D. J. Ryan. 

christian church. 

The Christian Church in Auburn was organ- 
ized in 1868, with A. G. Harney and A.M. Black 
as elders, and John Piper and M. S. Wadsworth 
as deacons. There had previously for years been 
occasional preaching, bnt no regular organiza- 
tion. A house of worship Avas commenced in 
the spring of 1869, thirty-two by fifty feet. The 
membership was small and financially weak. 
With only $600 on the subscription list, a part 
of which was to be paid in work, and a part in 
materials, and a good part of it contributed by 
persons outside of the church, the M^ork was 
commenced by two of the members, who were 
carpenters. The money was used up, and the 
two brethren started out on foot, visiting con- 
gregations in this and other counties to solicit 
money to carry on the work. As fast as means 
could be procured, it was worked up. No debts 
were incurred, and the house was not completed 
until 1876, although it was used for a long time 
in an unfinished state. 

The congregation has never added much to 
its membership, and has not been able to keep 
up regular services but a part of the lime. The 
following have been employed as pastors at dif- 
ferent times: Elder John L.Wilson, P. D.Ver- 
milion, A. P. Sears, Jos. B. Allen, and Dr. J. 
U. Smith, though many others have held pro- 
tracted meetings. 

ADVENT christian CHURCH. 

The Advent Christian Church, of Auburn, was 
organized in the fall of 1868, by Elder A. S. Calk- 
ins, who at this time was Pastor of a church of 
the same faith and order at Carlinville, Macou- 
pin county, Illinois. The organization of the 



'56 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



church grew out of a revival meeting held in the 
old Baptist House, on the east side of the rail- 
road. During the progress of this meeting, up- 
wards of forty professed faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and publicly put on Christ by baptism. 
After the close of the meeting a request was 
made on the part of several of the leading men 
of the town, to be organized into a church of 
Gospel order. Accordingly a meeting was called 
to consider the matter, and after some exchange 
of thoughts, a short church covenant was read, 
as follows: "We, the undersigned, believing 
the Bible to be a sufficient rule of faith and 
practice, do agree to take the Bible as our only 
creed, making Christian character the only test 
of Christian fellowship, and that we will meet 
together to worship God, and to exhort one 
another, and so much the more as we see the day 
approaching." 

After the reading of the article some forty 
persons subscribed their names thereunto, after 
which they chose two Deacons, and one ruling 
Elder, with one Clerk and Treasurer. The church 
thus organized, hired the lower hall of the Ma- 
sonic building, in which they worshipped the most 
of the time until they built the present house in 
which they now worship. The house was built 
in 1871, costing about |5,000, Mr. David Martin 
taking the contract, since which time there has 
been some changes in the membership of the 
church. Death having removed several from 
our original membei's, and quite a number moved 
to other states, has reduced the numbers of the 
original members. But others having been 
added, the membership remains about the same 
as at first. Some improvement has been made 
the present year on the house, both inside and 
out. The society is clear of debt, sustaining a 
Sabbath school every Sunday morning, prayer 
meeting every Thursday night, with preaching 
every two weeks, by Elder D. R. Mansfield, the 
present pastor of the church, assisted by his wife. 
Elder Calkins having had Pastorial charge some 
eight years after its organization. 

BENEVOLENT AND OTHER SOCIETIES, 

The village is represented by one lodge of 
Free and Accepted Masons, and one Chapter, 
sketches of which accompany this chapter; also, 
one lodge of Odd Fellows, and one of United 
Workmen. For many years the Good Templars 
had an efficient organization in the village, and 
much good was the result of their efforts. 

MASONIC. 

Ark and Anchor Lodge, No. 354, A. F, and A. 
M., was organized under dispensation, May 3, 



1860, and a charter granted October 3, of the 
same year. Its first officers were, Daniel Wads- 
worth, W. M. ; Matthew Patton, Sr., S. W.; 
Francis H. Clark, J. W. Its charter members 
were Daniel Wadsworth, Matthew Patton, Sr., 
Francis H. Clark, William R. Head, Thomas J, 
Nuckolls, John N, Kenney, Thomas J. Inglish, 
David Clark, Isaac Colean. Its principal elec- 
tive officers since organization have been as fol- 
lows: 

1861.— F. H. Clark, W. M.; Matthew Patton, 
S. W.; D. Wadsworth, J. W-; Joseph McKinney, 
Secretary. 

1862.— F. H. Clark, W. M.; Joseph McKinney, 
S. W.; J. Nuckolls, J. W.; J. M. Nuckolls, Sec- 
retary. 

1863.— Joseph McKinney, W. M.; J. M. Stone, 
S. W.; J. C. Spencer, J. W.; D. Wadsworth, 
Secretary. 

1864.— J. W. Stout, W. M.; Jas. W. Patton, 
S. W.; A. C. Spencer, J. W.; D. Wadsworth, 
Secretary. 

1865. — J. W. Stone, W. M.; J. McNuckolls, 
S. W.; J. G. Spencer, J. W.; A. S. Davenport, 
Secretary. 

1866.— J. G. Spencer, W. M.; J. M. Benning- 
ton, S. W.; W. H. Wineman, J. W.; A. S. 
Davenport, Secretary. 

1867. — J. M. Bennington, W. M.; Joseph 
Dodds, S. W.; D. D. Martin, J. W.; A. S. Da- 
venport, Secretary. 

1868.— Jos. Dodds, W. M.; J. G. Spencer, S. 
W.; Jas. A. Drennan, J. W.; John Piper, Sec- 
retary. 

1869. — J. M. Stoney, W. M.; J. G. Spencer, S. 
W.; W. P. Brooker, J. W.; J. W. Hart, Secre- 
tary. 

1870. — Joseph Dodds, W. M.; A. Jamieson, S. 
W.; C. M. Caldwell, J. W.; W. H. Coleman, 
Secretary. 

1871.— J. M. Stone, W. M.; A. Jamieson, S. 
W.; W. H. Wineman, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

1872— J. M. Stone, W. M.; D. D. Martin, S. 
W.; Jas. H. Ogg, J. W.; M. G. Wadsworth, 
Secretary. 

1873.— D. D. Martin, W. M.; E. M. Tucker, 
S. W.; Elisha Foley, J. W.; M. G. Wadsworth, 
Secretary. 

1874.— E. M. Tucker, W. M.; E. Foley, S. 
W.; Geo. E Ledgerwood, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

1875.— J. M. Stone, W. M.; A. P. Stone, S. 
W.; G. E. Ledger wood, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



•5Y 



1876.— T. J. Nuckolls, W. M.; E. M. Tucker, 
S. W.; A. P. Lorton, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

1877.— D. Wadsworth, W. M.; W. H. Cole- 
man, S. W.; R. T. Cleavenger, J. W.; M. G. 
Wadsworth, Secretary. 

1878.— George Sinniger, W. M.; J. W. Nuck- 
olls, S. W.; Elijah Bradley, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

1879.— George Sinniger, W. M.; W. H. Wine- 
man, S. W.; E. Bradley, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

1880.— J. E. Robinson, W. M.; B.R.Crumpter, 
S. W.; E. T. Stone, J. W.; M. G. Wadsworth, 
Secretary. 

1881. — Benjamin R. Crumpter, W. M.; L. C. 
Taylor, S. W.; A. P. Lorton, J. W.; M. G. Wads- 
worth, Secretary. 

The remaining officers for 1881, are as fol- 
lows: W. Knowles, Chaplain; William D. Pat- 
ton, Treasurer; O. M. Cheney, S. D.; James 
Able, J. D.; George Sinniger, Sr. Steward; D. D. 
Martin, Jr. Steward, A. Davenport, Tyler. 

Since its organization the lodge has lost by 
death, J. M. Nuckolls, W. H. H. Bennington, B. 
P. Dodds, D. M. Easley, J. M. Hunter, T. J. 
Hutton, J. S. Campbell, Matthew Patton, Sr., J. 
T. Scott. 

The present membership is seventy-one, and 
the lodge is in a flourishing condition. 

Auburn Chapter, No. 92, A. F. and A. M., was 
organized December 26, 1865, and charter 
granted October 5, 1866. Its first officers were: 
J. N. Williams, H. P.; Matt Patton, Sr. King; 
J. M. Bennington, Scribe; A. S. Davenport, 
Secretary; Wm. H. Wineman, Treasurer; Thos. 
J. Nuckolls. C. H.; J. M. Stout, P. S.; J. M. 
Wells, R. A. C; J. G. Spencer, M. 3d V.; D. 
Wadsworth, M. 2d V.; John Piper, M. IstV.; 
Jesse Plain, Tyler. Its present membership is 
fifty-nine, with the following named officers: 

George Siunigar, H. P.; W. H. Wineman, 
King; L. B. McCartur, Scribe; D. D. Martin, 
C. M.; George E. Ledgerwood, R. S.; E. E. 
Bradley, R. A. C; J. A. Able, M. 3d V.; C. M. 
Caldwell, M. 2d V.; J. N. Kermay, M. 1st V.; 
W. M. Hummell, Treasurer; R. B. Crumpter, 
Secretary; Rev. W. Knowles, Chaplain; A. S. 
Davenport, Tyler. 

ODD FELLOWS. 

Auburn Lodge, No. 543, I. O. O. F., was in- 
stituted February 18, 1874, with James M. 
Wyatt, J. N! Squier, Stephen larnam, A. A 
Lowdermilk, and J. N. Gibson, as charter mem- 
bers. Since that time it has initiated about one 



hundred persons and now has a membership of 
sixty-six. This lodge has paid about |300 for 
sick and funeral benefits, and has nearly -|500 in 
its treasury. In 1878, two members of this 
lodge, J. W. Lowdermilk and A. D. Sanders, 
established at Springfield, Illinois, the Odd 
Fellows Herald, one of the most influential 
society papers in the United States. The pres- 
ent officers of Auburn Lodge are: Henry Daw- 
son, Jr., N. G.; J. A. Garber, V. G.; H. H. 
White, Secretary; Philip Faust, Treasurer, and 
J. W. Lowdermilk, Representative to the Grand 
Lodge. 

UNITED WORKMEN. 

Auburn Lodge No. 49, A. O. U. W., was in- 
stituted March 14, 1877, by Deputy G. M. W. T. 
L. Matthews, of Virginia, Illinois, with thirty- 
three charter members. The first officers were 
as follows: W. W. Lowdermilk, P. M. W.; G. 
W. Murray, M. W.; A. D. Sanders, F.; H. M. 
Hart, O.; G. W. Hutton, Rdr.; A. A. Harney, 
Fin., and W. H. Harris. Rec. Life insurance 
being one of the prominent features of this 
order, and the Grand Lodge, reports not being 
satisfactory to some, during the sunomer of '77, 
a large number of members withdrew, until at 
one time the roll showed but thirteen members 
in good standing. By the united efi'orts of 
these, the membership was increased to twenty, 
the number now on the roll. The present offi- 
cers are: C. M. Caldwell, P. M. W.; J. W. 
Lowdermilk, M. W; C. J. Sanders, F. ; W. 
Knowles, O. and Deputy G. M. W.; W. A. Wal- 
lace, Rdr.; H. M. Hart, Fin. and W. H. Hum- 
mel, Rec. But one death has occurred among 
the members of this lodge, that of Bro. John 
McKay who died August 21, 1879. Being 
composed of good men, this lodge is in an excel- 
lent financial condition, a good feeling prevails, 
its meetings are well attended and splendid i)ro8- 
pects are before it. 

AUBURN BANK. 

This bank was organized in April, 1872, by H. 
Stevens and Samuel Lewis as the Exchange Bank 
of Auburn, with the former as President, and 
the latter as Cashier. It was conducted by them 
until May, 1874, when G. W. Hutton, I. J. and 
B. F. Poley, and J. M. and Samuel Lewis be- 
came the proprietors, I. J. Poley succeed! rg H. 
Stevens as President. In 1875, I. J. Poley and 
G. W. Hutton purchased the interest of J. M. 
and S. Lewis, Mr. Hutton becoming Cashier. 

In January, 1877, T. S. Parks, Esq., purchased 
I. J. Poley's interest, and in the succeeding April 
that of G. W. Hutton becoming sole proprietor. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



As President and proprietor, Mr. Parks has 
managed the business since that time. The 
present officers are: T. S. Parks, President, and 
J. W. Lowderrailk, Cashier. When Mr. Parks 
first took charge of the bank it was doing a 
limited business, but by close attention to its 
affairs and indefatigable energy, he has suc- 
ceeded in placing it on a solid basis, and the 
bank is at this time in an excellent financial con- 
dition with a constantly increasing deposit. 

MANUFACTORIES. 

Auburn may not be able to boast of extensive 
manufactories, but it has a wagon and carriage 
factory that turns out more work than any like 
ins itution in the county. 

Morse's Wagon, Carriage, and Agricultural 
Implement Manufactory was established in 1856, 
as a wagon and repair shop, by Mr. Babcock. 
In 1857, Robert E. Morse bought out the con- 
cern; and has since been the sole proprietor. It 
was then a small institution, in which a few 
wagons were made, and general repair work 
was done. Immediately after purchasing, Mr. 
Morse began to enlarge the business and capac- 
ity of the factory, and from time to time in- 
creased its size, until in 1880 the shop had at- 
tained quite large dimensions, and employed 
about twenty men. 

On the night of the 15th of May, 1868, the 
factory proper was totally destroyed by fire, with 
a loss in building and machinery of 'tlO,000. 
The warehouse was saved, in which was a con- 
siderable quantity of partially and wholly com- 
pleted work. Mr. Morse began to re-build in the 
fall, and the brick portion of the structure, one 
hundred and eight by sixty feet, was ready for 
the workmen in the spring of 1881. The capital 
invested is over $30,000, and employment is 
given to from fifteen to twenty hands, with a 
capacity for completing a lumber or spring 
wagon or buggy per day, besides carrying for- 
ward the large amount of job and repair work 
done. A set of hands is employed for carriage 
and spring wagon work, and a set for farm 
wagons. A feature is also made of manufactur- 
ing plows, harrows, and cultivators for the gen- 
eral trade. Two traveling men are kept on 
the road, who find market for the work chiefly 
through the central counties of Illinois. 

GROWTH or THE VILLAGE. 

Auburn is not a village of mushroom growth, 
but has had a steady increase in its population 
and business from the beginning. It now num- 
bers more inhabitants than at any previous time 
in its history. It is the largest town in the 



county, outside of Springfield, and the only one 
that has its weekly newspaper. 

THE AUBURN CITIZEN. 

As a history of this paper is given in the chap- 
ter on the Press, it is unnecessary now to 
repeat in this connection; but it is but due the 
Citizen to say that as a local paper it is sui)erior 
to three-fourths of the papers in the State, printed 
in villages of twice the size of Auburn. The 
columns of a local paper are usually an index of 
the enterprise of a town. If filled with live ad- 
vertisements of the business men of the place, 
the town is judged by the outsider to be a live 
town. The judgment of the people in this case 
is correct ninety-nine times out of a hundred. 

BUSINESS OF AUBURN. 

The first merchandise sold in Auburn was in 
1853, by Ham & Poley. In the quarter of a 
century that has passed, many others have en- 
gaged in business here, some of whom have met 
with success; others have had reverses. 

To give the reader of this volume in the future, 
an idea of the business of the place in 1881, the 
following directory is appended, as compiled in 
October of that year: 

Dry Goods — Hutton & Wallace, Smith & 
Hamlin. 

Groceries — Cassity & Nicoles, L. B.^McOarton, 
Gordon & Harvey, Patton & Stone. 

Drugs, Paints, etc. — Patton & Stone, C. H. 
Wineman. 

Hardware — Geo. Siuniger, Patton & Stone. 

Restaurants — Simpson & Epling, Yoakley & 
Burnett, Harris & Corzin. 

Saloons — P. W. Jones, W. H. Wineman, 
Titus Jones. 

Stationery— Geo. W. Hutton, Patton & Stone, 

Millineries— Mrs. M. S. Hart. 

Harness and Saddles — C. L. Bridges 

Agricidturcd Implements — R. E. Morse, D. D. 
Martin. 

Gentlemen^ s Furnishing House — Etrick & 
Lemkey. 

Furniture and Undertaking — H. M. Hart. 

Boot and Shoe Making— i. P. & W. H. Nor- 
cross, G. W. Giley. 

Blacksmiths — R. E. Morse, Tinkle & Gray, 
J. W. Hederick. 

Auburn Bank — Thos, S. Parks, President ; 
J. W. Lowdermilk, Cashier. 

Wagon-making — R. E. Morse, R. Drury. 

Resident Clergymen — D. R. Mansfield, Ad- 
vent-Christian ; A. Sloan, Methodist; D. J. 
Ryan, Catholic ; Allen, Baptist. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



759 



Physicians — J. R. Trott, M. S. Wheeler, L. 
P. Taylor. 

Coal /Shaft, J^ile and Brick Factory — Dawson, 
Foley & Co. 

Lumber, Lime &C. — W. H. Hummel. 

Grain Elevator — P. S. Bronaugh & Co. 

Hour Mill and Grain — Morris, Harris & Co. 

Auburn Citizen — M. G. Wadsworth. 

Meat tiliop—V. Faust. 

Livery Stable — Wm. Harris. 

Barbers — O. M. Cheney, Chapman & Wizard. 

POST OFFICE. 

The Auburn post office was established in the 
early part of 1839, in the old town, David East- 
man, postmaster. Previous to this date there 
has been no office nearer than the Sugar Creek 
postoffice, kept at John L. Drennan's stage stand, 
five miles northeast. Mr. Eastman was post- 
master until 1842, when Daniel Wadsworth was 
appointed under Tyler. He retained the office 
until 1852, when the railroad (now C. & A.) 
drew the business to the new towji. From that 
time until the present, the office has been filled 
by the following, in their regular rotation: H. 
Tibbatt, Benjamin Kessler, John Bond, N. P. 
Brooks, R. N. Han, A. M. Black, A. S. Daven- 
port, J. W. j^yers, W. W. Lowdermilk, and 
George W. Hutton, the present appointee. Up 
to Mr. Lowdermilk's incumbency, the office has 
been kept in the east part of the town. Mr. 
Lowdermilk removed it to the public square, 
where it has since remained. 

This is now a third-class office, with a salary 
of $1,000. Fifteen years ago, the delivering ca- 
pacity amounted to fifty boxes, all told. Now 
the office has upwards of three hundred and 
fifty. The revenue for the year ending Septem- 
ber 30, 1881, .was $2,332.99. The number of 
pieces of mail matter during the first week of 
December, 1880 (the only time during the year 
that any record was kept,) was one thousand six 
hundred and twenty-one pieces. The following 
letter explains itself: 

Publisher Sangamon County History. — 
Dear Sir: In compliance with your request, to 
furnish you a statement of the amount of busi- 
ness at this office, in the money order depart- 
ment, during the first fiscal year and the last, I 
submit to you the following: 

The first order was applied for July 22, 1872, 
by William W. Lowdermilk, then postmaster, 
payable to Herman Redlick, Springfield, Illinois, 
for $14. 

There were is^^ued during the fiscal year's 
business, four hundred and one orders, amount- 



ing to $5,377.55; and for the last fiscal year, 
ending July 22, 1881, there were issued one 
thousand one hundred and ninety-one orders, 
amounting to $12,122.45. 

I will add that at the time the money order 
office was established, in July 22, 1872, there 
was no bank here, and the greater part of the 
business of the village of Auburn and vicinity, 
was done through the money order office, while 
at the present time the heavier part of the busi- 
ness is done through the Auburn bank. 

Yours truly, G. W. Hutton, P, M. 

The history of Auburn township is continued 
by giving short biographical sketches of a large 
number of the most prominent citizens of the 
township, many of whom came here in an early 
day, and were foremost in developing the wild 
prairies into one of the finest townships of ag- 
ricultural lands in this great State. 

Jacob Anthony, post office, Virden, Macoupin 
county; son of Jacob and Eva Anthony; father 
born in New York, about 1788; mother born in 
Raenselear county, New York, in 1790; father 
of English extraction; mother of German ex- 
traction. They were married in the State of 
New York, and had twelve children — six sons 
and six daughters. The subject of this sketch 
was born October 26, 1801, in Sharon, Skoharie 
county. New York, and served a regular appren- 
ticeship to the carpenter trade, following it most 
of his life. In the fall of 1843, was married to 
Miss Margaret Lacy, daughter of Elliott and 
Sarah Lacy; father born in North Carolina; 
mother born in Tennessee. They have five 
children living: William, James, Mary, Martha 
and Agnes. Mr. Anthony owns two hundred 
acres of valuable land, well improved. His ad- 
vantages of early education was such as the 
county schools afforded in his day. His son 
John was a member of the One Hundred and 
Forty-fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, and died from disease contracted in 
the army. 

John Beechly, farmer and real estate dealer. 
Auburn, Illinois, was born in Montgomery 
county, Ohio, on the 20th day of September, 
1820, son of Michael and Susannah Beechly; 
father of German descent and a native of Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania, who emigrated to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, where he bought a farm 
and remained there until his death, which oc- 
curred about 1859. There was a family of eleven 
children, seven sons and four daughters. 

The subject of this sketch came to Sangamon 
county in 1868, where he engaged in farming, 
i;ince which time he has been engaged in various 



760 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



branches of business, prominent among them is 
dealing in real estate, having charge of many 
farms and loaning money, etc. Mr. Beechly 
married Miss Susan Garber, daughter of John 
Garber, of Virginia, where she was born in 1826. 
By this union there was a family of ten children, 
SIX of whom are living: Nancy, now Mrs. J. J. 
Meyers, of Kansas; Hettie, now Mrs. John W. 
Hart, ot Auburn ; Allen, Susan, Milton and Laura. 
Mr. B. has a farm of two hundred acres of land, 
valued at $100 per acre. The entii'e farm is 
worth '^20,000; is a large farmer; handles consid- 
erable stock, and raising in one year three thou- 
sand five hundred bushels of wheat; is a member 
of the German Baptist Church. 

Thomas Black., Sr., Auburn, Illinois, son of 
Thomas and Edith Black father born in South 
Carolina, October 25, 1768, mother born in Ken- 
tucky. They were married in Christian county, 
Kentucky, moved to Sangamon county, April 
0, 1819. They came with horse teams, camped 
out at nights, carried their household goods in 
the wagon with them, located in what is now 
Auburn township, the land grant settled upon 
being about a hundred and twenty acres. 

Their family consisted of four sons and three 
daughters, all born in Kentucky: Sarah, born 
July 3, 1796; David, September 17, 1798; Eliza- 
beth, March 6, 1803; Nancy, August 4, 1806; 
John, August 8, 1809; Thomas, September 3, 
1813; Carter T., January 24, 1818. 

The subject of this sketch was the sixth child. 
He was married March 7, 1855, to Miss Mary 
Jane Wallace, daughter of John and Eveline 
Wallace, her father was born in Nova Scotia, 
June 17, 1808; her mother was born November 
20, 1813; Mr. Black was born November 1, 1835; 
they have three children, all daughters: Malah 
Edith, born November 8, 1861; Mary Francis, 
January 7, 1868; Marchie Ellia, March 12, 1871; 
father died, November 20, 1854; mother died, 
August 20, 1876. Carter T. Black is living in 
Bates county, Missouri, is a contractor for build- 
ings; he is the youngest of the family, and the 
only remaining brother of Thomas Black, Sr. ; 
owns quite a large farm, valued at $6u per 
acre. Mr. Black is of German extraction, Mrs. 
Black of Scotch and German. The early educa- 
tion of both were such as the country schools of 
their day would afford. 

Charles JV. JBroicn, farmer. Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Kennebec, Maine, on the 14th day 
of November, 1840; son of William and Sarah 
( Smily,) Brown; father a native of New Hamp- 
shire, and mother of Maine. His father was 
twice married; his first wife was Maria How- 



ard, by whom he had five children, one of M'hom 
has lived to manhood, Ambrose U., who was a 
soldier in the Third Maine Infantry, and was 
captured in the first battle of Bull Run, and was 
taken prisoner and incarcerated iii L bby Prison, 
where he starved to death. The second fan?ily 
consisted of seven children, five of whom are 
living, Mary, Charles, Henry W., Mariah S., and 
Warren F. Henry was a soldier in the late war 
and was taken prisoner at Spotsylvania Court 
House, taken to Andersonville Prison, where he 
was kept for eight months. Charles N. came to 
Sangamon county in 1860, where he became ac- 
quainted with Miss Matilda E. Foster and was 
married in December 1864. Mr. Brown enlisted 
in 1861 in the Seventh Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, three months' service, being one of the 
first to enlist in the regiment, and remained 
until the expiration of his term, when he re-en- 
listed in the Ninth Volunteer Infantry, Company 
K. He participated in several hot engagements, 
among them were Fort Donalson, Pittsburg 
Landing, Corinth, and others; was wounded at 
the battle of Fort Donalson in the arm and leg, 
where he carries the ball at the present time. In 
politics he is a Republican. 

William Brownell, druggist, Aubui-n, Illinois, 
was born in Ball township, Sangamon county, 
on the tenth day of December, 1822; son of John 
and Nancy (Pulliam) Brownell, a daughter of 
Robert Pulliam, the first settler in Sangamon 
county, coming as early as 1817, and built the 
first log cabin in Ball township. Mr. John 
Brownell came to the State in 1818, and located 
on Sugar creek, where he embarked in farming 
and in various other branches of business. He 
is still living in Auburn township, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-one, and is probably the 
oldest living resident of the county. There was 
a family of eleven children. Mr. William Brow- 
nell, the oldest son, remained at home, and on 
account of his father's health, took charge of the 
business uniil 1863. In 1848, married Miss 
Elizabeth Bridges, daughter of George Bridges, 
of Harrison county, Kentucky; she was born in 
Harrison county, Kentucky. By this union 
there Avas a family of six children; four of whom 
are living, Jane, Isabel, and Columbus V.; John 
W. died October 25, 1881, of consumption. She 
died February 14, 1869. She was a member of 
the Baptist Church, and was loved and respected 
by all who knew her. In December, 1869, mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Vaughn; she was born in 
Harrison county, Kentucky, March 3, 1840. 
There were two children, one of whom is still 
living, Ora Viola. In 1863, he came to Auburn, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



761 



where he embarked in the drug business, and 
bought and repaired the hotel, which he run for 
twelve years. Auburn, at that time, was a small 
place, there being but two buildings on the west 
side of the railroad. Mr. B. has been identified 
with Auburn and vicinity all his life; has seen it 
from its wild, uncultivated prairies, to one of 
the finest agricultural sections in the State. Has 
held several local ofiices of trust in the gift of 
the people, as police magistrate, school director, 
etc. Is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
Ark and Anchor Lodge, No. 354, of Auburn. 
The family are members of the Baptist Church. 

Sudden Change. — Reminiscences by Mr Wil- 
liam Brownell. — He says a man by the name of 
Welch was relating how, at the time of the sud- 
den change, that he had chickens which were 
on a fence at the time the cold wave struck them 
were blown off into the slush, and as soon as 
they struck the ground would freeze in their 
tracks; when a Dutchman who heard him tell it; 
said that at the time, his wife was making a ket- 
tle of hominy over the fire-place, and the top of 
it was frozen over about two inches; he took a 
hatchet, chopped into it, and found it boiling 
furiously in the center. Mr. Brownell had a 
cousin driving stage from Springfield to Mechan- 
icsburg, and at the time of the sudden change, 
was prssing Clear Lake, and had driven into the 
lake when the blast struck him, and before he 
could get his team out, the wagon had frozen in, 
and in order to extract his team, had to cut his 
harness and leave the wagon, and jump on his 
team with his mail bag and make for Mechanics- 
burg, which he reached in a frozen condition. 
On tiie following day he returned to the lake, 
cut out the wagon and took it to town. 

John Buck (deceased), Aubui'n, Illinois, was 
born in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, January 
3, 1797, son of Ebenezer and Ann Talcott, 
natives of Connecticut, where they were married 
and raised a family of seven children, four sons 
and three daughters, all of which lived to be 
adults 

Mr. .John Buck was married in Lanesborough, 
Massachusetts, to Miss Cynthia Brown, by whom 
there were three children, viz., Edwin, Franklin, 
and Mary N. Mrs. Buck died in Lewis county. 
New York, November 27, 1836, when he became 
acquainted with Miss Avis Rich, whom he mar- 
ried. She was born in Lewis county. New Y'ork, 
June 15, 1819. By this union there was one 
child, Mary L.,born in Lewis county, New Y^ork, 
January 3, 1843. 

In 1853, Mr. Buck, with his family, left New 
Y^ork and came to Sangamon county, and bought 



a large tract of land near Auburn. In 1854-55, 
laid out what is known as Buck's Addition to 
the Village of Auburn. Being a liberal man, 
donated several lots, besides donating the ground 
for a public square. Masonic Hall, and Metho- 
dist Church. Through his influence, has suc- 
ceeded in building up a flourishing little village. 

Mr. Buck died August 23, 1880, leaving a 
large number of friends to mourn his loss. Mr. 
Buck, in politics, was a Republican; held sev- 
eral local ofiices of trust, representing his town- 
ship as Supervisor. 

Mrs. Buck has a grandchild living with her — 
Miss Jennie Antisdale, a daughter of Nancy 
Ann Antisdale, who died, leaving an only child. 

William Hurtle, Esq., Auburn, Illinois, was 
born in Grayson county, Kentucky, on the 9th 
day of August, 1822; son of Wm. Burtle and 
Sarah Ogden, who emigrated to Sangamon 
county in 1826, coming with a team and located 
in Ball township. After renting one year, pur- 
chased land and made a farm, where he remained 
until his death, which occurred July 24, 1860. 
Mother died February 11, 1868. The subject 
of this sketch was four years old when he came 
to the county, and has been identified with the 
county since. September 4, 1856, married Miss 
Elizabeth White, who was born in Hopkinsville, 
Kentucky, December 28, 1829. The fruits of 
this marriage were five children, one of which is 
living, he was born in Auburn, May 9, 1864. Mr. 
B. came to Ball township when there was but 
ten to twelve families in the township, and the 
prairies were unbroken, the deer and wolves 
roving over them, and has lived to see it one of 
the most thickly populated townships which now 
compose the county of Sangamon. Mr. B. has 
held several local ofiices of trust in the county 
and representing them in the Board of Super- 
visors, and is at present a justice of the peace. 
Is a member of the Catholic Church, being 
brought up as one. In an early day has hauled 
wheat to Macoupin Point and sold it for six and 
one-half cents, and has raised pork for one dollar 
and twenty-five per hundred. 

Elder Alcmson S. Calkins, Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Delaware county. New York, on 
the 27th day of October, 1823, son of Smith and 
Cornelia (Foster) Calkins; father and mother 
were of English descent whose ancestors came 
over in the Mayflower and located in Con- 
necticut, where his father was born. When a 
young man, he moved to Delaware county. New 
York, where he remained several years and then 
returned to Connecticut, where he died in 183P, 
and his mother died the previous year. Mr. 



'02 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Calkins was very young when his father died 
and was thrown onto his own resources to battle 
against a cold world. December 29, 1849, mar- 
ried Miss Dina C. Bennett, daughter of William 
and Sarah (Bronson) Bennett, natives of Con- 
necticut, where she was born October 10, 1832. 
By this marriage there was one child, Sarah B., 
who was born in Connecticut, June 5, 1849. 
They remained in Connecticut a few years, came 
to LaSalle county, Illinois, where they remained 
a short time, when they went to Hancock county, 
where he had charge of the church near Car- 
thage. They remained there one year. They 
then returned to LaSalle county, when he or- 
ganized several churches and supplied their 
pulpits. From there he came to Springfield, 
Illinois, where he held several meetings. From 
there he had a call at Collinsville, where he held 
several protracted meetings and supj^lied the 
pulpit one year. He then came to Auburn where 
he established a church and has remained since. 
His first meetings were well attended and a good 
number connected themselves with the church. 
In 1870, they erected a church edifice, the dimen- 
sions being forty by fifty, a frame building large 
enough to accommodate the congregation . There 
is a Sabbath school in connection with the church 
which is in a prosperous condition. The present 
oificers: Superintendent, Thomas Parks; Bible 
class teacher, Allen Gordon ; teachers. Miss Parks, 
Alice Welch, Caroline Spencer, Sarah Conklin. 
The average attendance now is about twenty- 
five. 

L. B. McCarton, grocer. Auburn, Illinois, was 
born in Shelby county, Ohio, January 16, 1835; 
son of Colin B. and Mary (Black) McCarton; 
there was a family of three children, two sons 
and one daughter, L. B., Julia, and Colin B. 
His father was a millwright by trade, which he 
followed until his death, which occurred in Cass 
county, Indiana, in 1837. His mother is still 
living with Mr. McCarton. L. B. was reared on 
a farm and received a liberal education; married 
Miss Sarah A. Fortney, a daughter of Jacob and 
Ann Fortney of Pennsylvania, who were early 
settlers of Ohio; she was born September 1837. 
The fruits of this union are six children, five 
of whom are living, Oscar, Charles L., Mary, 
Frank and Viola. Mr. McC. is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and a member of A. O. U. 
W., of Auburn. ' Mr. and Mrs. McC. are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church, Coming to 
this county in 1866 he embarked in farming, 
which he followed until 1868, when he engaged 
in his present business, groceries and provisions. 
In politics he is a Republican, has held several 



local offices of trust, and in 1880 represented the 
town as supervisor. 

Hoy ce McCoy, carpenter and joiner, Auburn, 
Illinois, was born in Washington county, In- 
diana, December 4, 1826; son of lioyce, Sr., and 
Malinda (Pound) McCoy; his father was a pio- 
neer preacher, preaching Sunday and working 
on a farm through the week; he died in Indiana 
in 1836; his mother living some years later, 
died in 1866; they died as they had lived, sin- 
cere Christians. Royce, Jr., was reared on a 
farm, and received what schooling the country 
afi:'orded at the time. When seventeen years of 
age, he was apprenticed as a wagon-maker, 
where he remained about two years; he then 
went to Fulton county, where he was employed 
at his trade for a couple of years. In 1847, came 
to Morgan county; previous to coming, and 
when twenty years of age, married Mary 
Hattabough, who died July 1 1, 1849. Two years 
later he married Mrs. Mary Barton, widow of 
Henry Barton, a native of North Carolina, and 
born in 1827. In 1856, came to Auburn; there 
were two houses on the west side of the railroad, 
where Auburn now stands, and at that time the 
town was called Wineman, after a man by the 
name of Philip Wineman, who first laid out the 
town. Mr. McCoy has been identified with Au- 
burn from its infancy, and has always worked 
for its best interest. Is a member of the M. E. 
church, and has been identified with it for 
thirty years. 

Henry Datoson, Jr., Superintendent of Tile, 
Brick and Auburn Coal Shaft, Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Richland county, Ohio, on the 1 6th 
day of December, 1855; S3n of Henry, Sr., and 
Rebecca (Carvan) Dawson; father a native of 
England; mother of Ohio. His mother died in 
Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1875. In 1878, came 
to Auburn, where he was cashier of the Auburn 
Bank over two years; he gave up that position 
and engaged in his present occupation. Mar- 
ried Miss Minnie Van Zile, daughter of Abram 
Van Zile, of Hancock county, Illinois. She was 
boin in Rutland county, Vermont, in 1857. The 
fruits of this marriage are two children — Minnie 
Inez and Henry, Jr. Mr, Dawson is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. of Auburn, and the A. O. U. 
W. In politics is a Republican. Mrs. D. is a 
member of the Baptist Church. 

Andreio Eagan, brickmaker. Auburn town- 
ship, section twenty-eight, was born in Kilken- 
ney county, Ireland, in 1842. When a child his 
parents emigrated to the United States, and 
landed in New Orleans, thence by river to Jersey 
county, Illinois, where he followed farming, and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



763 



where his parents died soon after coming to the 
State, which left the subject ot this sketch an 
orphan, and he was forced to tight the battles of 
life alone. In 1870, he married Miss Mary 
Vancil, a daughter of Simeon Yancil, an early 
settler of the county, whereshe was born in 1844. 
There are three children — Annie Ella, Katie 
May, and Fannie Emma. In 1861, enlisted in 
the Eleventh Missouri Infantiy, Company C, 
Captain M. M. Warren ; participated in all the 
engagements of the regiment, some of the 
principal being : New Madrid or Island No. 10, 
siege of Corinth, luka, battle of Corinth, 
when he was wounded near the ear by a buck- 
shot ; also siege of Yicksburg, when he was 
again wounded, by a ball, on the top of his 
head, being in the service nearly four years ; 
mustered out at St. Louis, January 19, 1866. Is 
a Republican in politics, and a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

William A. McElvain, farmer, section sixteen, 
Auburn township, was boi*n in Adair county, 
Kentucky, December 1, 1822; son of Samuel and 
Penelope (Abell) McElvain, natives of Virginia, 
and of Irish descent. They were married Janu- 
ary 4, 1816, in Adair county, Kentucky. The 
fruits of this marriage were six children, three 
sons and three daughters, five of whom lived to 
be men and women, viz: Harriet N., Margaret 
J., William A., James E,, Theresa M.; Jeremiah 
A, died in infancy. In 1828, they emigrated to 
Sangamon county, and located in Auburn town- 
ship, where he took up government land and 
made a farm from the wild prairie. He left 
Kentucky with a four horse team, coming over- 
land, camping out. They moved into a log cabin, 
sixteen by sixteen feet, with a dirt chiainey, and 
their furniture was of the plainest kind. They 
were a little crowded, there being a family of 
nine who remained there through the winter. 
At that time, Springfield was their nearest trad- 
ing post, and for their milling, they went to Mr, 
Thomas Black's, who had a mill which was run 
by a horse, where they ground corn. Mr. Mc- 
Elvain says he has pounded and grated corn all 
day long for the use of the family; has hauled 
corn to Springfield and sold it for six and one- 
fourth cents per bushel, and also has hauled wheat 
with ox-teams to St. Louis, taking from seven to 
nine days to make the trip, and sell his load for 
thirty-five cents per bushel, pork selling then at 
$1.25, net. At the time they came here there 
were but few schools and churches, Mr. McEl- 
vain being a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. In connection with Jeremiah Abell, a 
Presbyterian minister, organized the first Sab- 

89— 



bath school in the township. His house wa? a 
home for all preachers who traveled through this 
vicinity, and many a time Elder Cartwright has 
stayed at his father's house. His father partici- 
pated in the war of 181 2, and was at the battle of 
New Orleans, and at the close of the war walked 
from New Orleans to Kentucky, and was so 
thin and spare when he arrived there that he 
could span himself with his hands. He died 
April 1, 1848. Mother died September 29, 1855. 
They were both members of the Presbyterian 
Church, and died in the faith. The subject of 
this sketch came to the county when he was six 
years of age and remained at home until his 
father's death, when he took charge of his 
father's aifairs. After his father's death, his own 
and mother's health failed, and they traveled ex- 
tensively through the northern part of Maine 
and the Red River country, being for days and 
weeks among the Indians. Mr. McElvain has 
traveled through fourteen different States and 
Territories. After spending one summer they 
returned, wath their health greatly improved. 

November 1, 1853, married Miss Angeline 
Lowell; born in Sangamon county, August 29, 
1832. There was a family of eight children, 
six of whom are living. Howard A , Samuel S., 
James W., Nellie J., Margaret A., Elizabeth G. 
Mr. McElvain has a fine farm of three hundred 
and twenty acres, all of which is under good 
cultivation, and valued at $75 an acre. 

Mr. McElvain has been identified with the 
county nearly all his life, and has seen it devel- 
oped from the broad, wide prairies, to a beauti- 
ful cultivated country. 

-Philip Faust, Auburn, Illinois, was born in 
Rhine, Prussia, on the 5th day of February, 
1850. When twenty-two years of age, came to 
the United States, landing in Philadelphia, 
where he remained a short time, then to Chi- 
cago, where he was employed as a butcher, and 
remained a few months, when he went to Bloom- 
ington for a short time, thence to Lincoln, from 
there to Auburn, where he commenced his pres- 
ent business. In 1880, Mr. Faust drew in a lot- 
tery the Patty House, of Fond du Lac, Wis- 
consin, valued at $95,000. The Patty Brothers, 
who got up the scheme, being rascals, he was 
swindled out of nearly the whole, which by 
rights belonged to him. Mr. Faust married Miss 
Katie Naland. She was born in Auburn. The 
fruits of this marriage are two children, Julia 
and Berdie. Mr. Faust is a member of Ark and 
Anchor Lodge, No. 54 3, I. O. O. F., and a mem- 
ber of the Masonic Lodge, No. 354, Auburn. In 
politics, is a Democrat. 



"JLU 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



John. R. Fletcher^ deceased, Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Kentucky, September 15, 182*7; son 
of James and Jane Fletcher. There was a 
family of sixteen children, eleven of which lived 
to be men and women. James Fletcher emi- 
grated with his family to Sangamon county in 
1828, and located on Sugar creek. Auburn town- 
ship, where he died the following year. His 
mother died October, 1853. They were members 
of the old school, Presbyterian, and died as they 
had lived sincere Christians, and loved and re- 
spected by all who knew them. John R. was a 
mere boy when he came to the county, he was 
reared on a farm and received a liberal educa- 
tion. January 16, 1851, married Miss Margaret 
J. Kessler, a daughter of Benj. Kessler, of 
Auburn, where she was born September 26, 1831. 
By this union there was a family of seven chil- 
dren, two of whom are living, Anna S., now Mrs. 
Wm. H. Hunterand Jennie V. Mr. Fletcher died 
August 16, 1870; was a member of the Presby- 
terian church. He was a kind husband and an 
indulgent father, and was mourned by a large 
body of friends. 

Nathan Fletcher, retired farmer, section six- 
teen, post office, Auburn, was born in Simpson 
county, Kentucky, on the 8th day of March, 
1810; son of James and Jane (McElvain) 
Fletcher; father of English descent and mother 
of Scotch and Irish. They were married in Vir- 
ginia, where one child was born, when they emi- 
grated to Kentucky in 1801, and located in 
Simpson county, where he carried on a farm in 
connection with the wheel-wright business. 
Their family consisted of sixteen children, ten 
of whom lived to be men and women, viz: Job 
L., Margaret, James W., Mary, Nathan, Elizabeth, 
Rebecca, John, Martha and Nancy, who were 
born in Sangamon county, three of whom are 
living at the present writing. In 1828, his 
father left his home in Kentucky with an ox- 
team and wagon, with one horse in front, with 
his large family for the far West, or the wilds 
of Illinois; traveling slow, camping out and 
cooking their own meals, taking some three 
weeks to make the journey, and locating where 
Mr. Organ now resides, moving into a log cabin 
sixteen by sixteen feet, with puncheon floors, 
and a hole between the logs for light, without 
glass. Their bedsteads were of the Jackson 
style. They remained in the cabin about eighteen 
months, when they moved to a larger and more 
commodious house of hewn logs, where his 
father died in 1830. Nathan remained at home 
until he was twenty-eight years old, when he 
married Margaret Baxter, she was born in Adair 



county, Kentucky, November 27, 1827. By this 
union there were six children, all of whom are 
living, James B., born December 5, 1849, Thomas 
A., born October 23, 1851, Martha, born Febru- 
ary 11, 1853, Henry M., and Lucretia, born 
April 22, 1856, Mr. Fletcher commenced on a 
forty acre tract thirty-six years ago, without 
means, and by hard work and good judgment 
has accumulated a fine property, and is the 
owner of four hundred and thirty-six acres of 
land, which he has divided up among his chil- 
dren. The family are members of the Presby- 
terian Church. Mr. F, is a Republican in poli- 
tics, and has held several local offices of trust. 
In an early day their trading post was at Spring- 
field, twenty miles away, and he has known his 
mother to take a pail of butter on horseback, go 
to Springfield, do her trading and return the 
same day. He also remembers after his father 
died that they had a field of five or six acres of 
wheat, which his mother and himself put up, 
cutting it with a reap-hook or what is called 
a sickle; his mother being about fifty years old 
at the time. 

Leonard Foster (deceased), Auburn, Illinois, 
was born about 1830 ; son of George and Sarah 
Foster, who came to the county in an early day, 
where they raised a family of eight children, 
all of which lived to be men and women. In 
December, 1857, he married Miss Elvira Gates, a 
daughter of John and Lucinda Gates, of Ken- 
tucky, where she was born March 25, 1885. By 
this union there were eight children, seven of 
whom are living, viz : Alice, born June 9, 
1859; Flora, born September 6, 1860; George 
E., born November 4, 1861 ; Mary, born Feb- 
ruary 3, 1865 ; William E , born May 30, 1867 ; 
Minnie, born January 12, 1870 ; Etta, born 
August 5, 1873. Mrs. Foster is living on the 
old homestead, where they first commenced 
keeping house, where she has spent many happy 
hours, and some very sad ones. Mr. Foster 
died May 8, 1880. He was a kind and good 
husband and father, and was respected by all 
who knew him. He died leaving the family in 
comfortable circumstances, with a farm of two 
hundred and ten acres of land, valued at $60 
an acre. 

JBenjamin, 0. Foster^ farmer and stock raiser, 
post office Auburn, section 27; was born in Ken- 
nebec, Maine, on the nineteenth day of October, 
1833, son of Otis and Phoebe (Goodwin) Foster. 
In 1843, his parents emigrated to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, where they rented a farm in 
Auburn township, for three years, when they 
bought a farm one and a-halF miles northwest of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



765 



where Auburn now stands, there being no Anburn 
at that time, and made a farm out of the wild 
prairie. Mr. Foster left his old home in Maine 
in limied circumstances, went by water to New 
Orleans in a sailing vessel, and thence by steamer 
up the river. Arriving in Auburn, his means 
were nearly exhausted, the first few years they 
lived in a log cabin, sixteen by twenty, with split 
clapboards for a roof, through which the snow 
would sift and cover their beds in winter. 

The subject of this sketch was a boy when he 
came to the county, received what schooling the 
county afforded at the time. In 1864, he mar- 
ried Miss Caroline Foley, daughter of Joseph and 
Francis Foley. She was born in Auburn town- 
ship, December 16, 1839. 

There are three children, Florence P., born 
October 7, 1865; Amina C, born February 28, 
1870; Frank L., born October 28, 1872. They 
commenced their married life on a farm near 
Brush Creek, where they remained four years. 
Mrs. Foster's health failing, in the fall of 1868, 
they went to California, where he bought a farm, 
where he remained until the Spring of 1874, re- 
turned to Illinois, with the intention of selling 
out his interest here and returning. Being una- 
ble to sell here at anything near a reasonable 
figure, he returned to California, where he had 
left his home just as they had been keeping house, 
sold out, and returned to Auburn, where he 
bought a home for the better chance of educa- 
ting his children, and embarked in the milling 
business, in company with the Foley family. 
Not liking it, he sold his interest and bought the 
land where he now resides. Mr. Foster is a 
large and wealthy farmer of the township, owning 
six hundred acres of land under good cultivation, 
valued at $'iO per acre; raises two hundred acres 
of corn; one hundred and fifty acres of wheat; 
forty acres of oats; turns out fifty head of hogs; 
fifty head of cattle; fifteen head of horses, and 
five hundred sheep. 

Andrew Gates, farmer, P. O. Virden, Sec. 32. 
Was born in Muhlenburg county, Kentucky, on 
the l7th day of January, 1807, son of Michael 
and Catherine (Groves) Gates. Father of Penn- 
sylvania, and of German descent, and mother a 
native of North Carolina, where they were mar- 
ried, and soon after came to Kentucky, where he 
embarked in farming. The family consisted of 
ten children, seven of whom lived to be men 
and women, of which at the present writing 
there are but two living, Mrs. Fanny Foley 
and the subject of this sketch. In the spring of 
1880, his father and a portion of the family 
started for the far West, (leaving the older sister 



and Mrs. Gates in Kentucky until the following 
spring,) and located on the place where Mr. 
John Ten Brook now resides. The family com- 
ing through with an ox team and cart, and doing 
their own cooking. On February 13, 1833, An- 
drew married Miss Lucinda Wood, daughter of 
William and Polly Wood, who came to Madison 
county, Illinois, in 1812, where they were mar- 
ried in 1814. In October, 1818, came to Sanga- 
mon county. She was born in Madison county, 
December 31st, 1816. The fruits of this mar- 
riage was twelve children, four of whom are 
living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gates' early mai-ried life was spent 
in a log cabin sixteen by sixteen. Puncheon floors, 
and a clay and stick chimney, and for a window, 
cut out a log. Many a time Mr. Gates was called 
to St. Louis on business, leaving his young wife 
home night after night to hear the wolves howl 
at the door. Their trading post was at Spring- 
field, generally patronizing Colonel John Wil- 
liams, and for their milling would take a grist 
on horse-back and go to Thomas Black's old 
mill, run by horse power. Mr. Gates is a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist Church, and Mrs. 
Gates and children members of the Baptist. 
Mr. Gates has resided in the county for more 
than a half century. Has seen the rough and 
smooth side of a new country. Coming in lim- 
ited circumstances, but by hard work and good 
management has accumulated a fine property, 
owning at one time seven hundred acres of land, 
valued at 135,000, leaving his family comfort- 
ably located, giving each a farm. 

(T. A. Garber, builder and contractor, Auburn, 
Illinois, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
March 1, 1853, son of John and Susan (IJeech- 
ley) Garber, father a native of Virginia, and 
mother of Ohio, and were married in Ohio, 
where he embarked in farming and remained 
until 1851, when he moved to Miami county, 
Indiana, where they remained ten years, when 
they came to Sangamon county, where he still 
remains. There was a family of nine children, 
five boys and four girls, all of which lived to be 
men and women. J. II. worked on a farm until 
1873, when he commenced the trade of carpen- 
tering, under the teaching of his present partner, 
Mr. Nicols. He married Miss Mary Josephine 
Bridges, a daughter of C. L. Bridges, of Auburn. 
She was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, July 
28, 1860. By this union, there were two children, 
one of whom is living, Arthur B. Mr. G. is a 
member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge of Auburn. 

Joh7i H. McGlothlin, farmer and stock raiser, 
was born in Alton, Madison county, Illinois, on 



^6G 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



the 24th day of February, 1837. Son of Wil- 
liam and Mary (Kennedy) McGlothlin, natives 
of Kentucky. In 1836, his parents emigrated to 
Alton, when he embarked in the cabinet business, 
where he remained a short time, when he went 
to Carrolton, where he bought a farm and re- 
mained some years; then went to Kansas, where 
he remained until 1859, when he came to 
Auburn township and located on the place 
where Mr. Ten Broek now resides. He is at 
present living in Shelby county, Missouri, at the 
age of eighty years. The subject of this sketch, 
in 1863, took a trip to California, in company 
with the Rauch brothers, of Auburn township, 
where he was employed by the month, receiving 
860 per month, running a mowing machine. He 
was afterwards employed on a vegetable ranch, 
where he remained a short time, bought it and 
peddled vegetables through the mines, accumu- 
lating about $3,000. In 1866, returned to Sanga- 
mon county, rented land, and in 1869, married 
Miss Rebecca Rauch, who was born in Auburn 
township November 6, 1839. There are four 
children — Luella B., Horace G., Charles A. and 
Lena R. Has been identified with the Demo- 
crat' c party ; has held the office of Road Com- 
missioner. Has two hundred and sixty acres of 
land, valued at ^20,000. Raises one hundred 
acres of corn, one hundred of wheat. In 1880, 
raised two hundred acres, which averaged 
twenty-eight bushels per acre, and fourteen 
acres that averaged forty-six bushels per acre. 

Samuel F. Goodvnn, retired. Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Kennebec county, Maine, July 23, 
18(19, son of Daniel and Sarah (Haskell) Good- 
win. His father's family consisted of seven 
children, five sons and two daughters, all of 
whom lived to be men and women. His father 
was a natural mechanic and his boys took to 
the trade and became thorough workmen. Mr. 
Goodwin learned the trade of carpenter and 
joiner of Daniel Wadsworth and remained with 
him until he was twenty-one years of age. In 
1832, went to Boston where he followed his trade 
until 1839, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
when he became acquainted with Miss Caroline 
E. Welch, his present wife, remaining there 
three years. In 1842, returned to Boston and 
remained there until the summer of 1843, when 
he returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and while on 
the way to Boston was married in Providence, 
Rhode Island. Arriving in Boston, they started 
out in their new life, he prosecuting his trade 
until 1852, when he was employed by E. & 
G. G. Hook, organ factory, where his time was 
occupied for five years. Hearing much of the 



west, he concluded to come to Illinois, where he 
located in Auburn, boarding for a few months, 
until he had time to erect a dwelling, being the 
first of any size, on the west side of the railroad. 
Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin have met with sad be- 
reavements, having a family of three sons and 
three daughters, all of which have passed away. 
Mr. G. has property in Auburn valued at $10,000. 

A. M. Gordon, grocer. Auburn, Illinois, was 
born in Rushville, Schuyler county, Illinois, on 
the ninteenth day of November, 1834. Son of 
William and Mary Gordon, nee Taylor, who em- 
igrated from Kentucky to Illinois in 1825, and 
located in Schuyler county, where he took up 
land and made a farm, where he remained until 
1840, when he moved to Rushville, where he 
held the office of deputy sherifi^; remaining until 
his term of office expired, when he returned to 
his farm, where he remained until his death, 
which occurred in 1844; mother died in 1853. 
A. M. remained on the farm until he was seven- 
teen years of age, when he, in company with 
three other brothers, embarked in the dry goods 
trade, in which he continued about three years, 
when his health failed and he went to Texas, 
where he remained a short time, when he pur- 
chased a couple of ponies, and in company with 
a brother came through on horseback to Illinois. 
The following spring, in company with an elder 
brother who was troubled with a lung disease, 
went to Texas, where they remained one year. 
He then came back to Illinois, where he remained 
one year, and at the Pike's Peak excitement, in 
company with George Gates, started out with 
an ox-team for the gold-fields, making the trip 
in two months, and stayed in the mines two 
years. Returned to Illinois in 1861; enlisted in 
the Sixteenth Regiment Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, Company D; was engaged in the battles 
of New Madrid, Shiloh, Stone River, with Sher- 
man on the march to the sea, as far as Jones- 
boro, when he was taken sick and sent back to 
Nashville, where he participated in the battle of 
Nashville, under General Thomas; was mustered 
out at Columbus, Ohio, after which he returned 
to Hamilton and embarked in farming. After 
coming to Auburn, put up a hay-press, which he 
run two years, when he embarked in his present 
business. Married in 1863, to Miss Mintie 
Welch. She was born in McDonough county, 
in 1848. Four children blessed this union, three 
of whom are living: Viola F., Blanche L. and 
Eva — Grace died October 7, 1881. Member of 
the Second Advent Church. 

H. H. Harnly, farmer and stock raiser, post 
office Auburn, was born in Lancaster county. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



767 



Pennsylvania, on the 15th day of March, 1828, 
son of Jacob and Barbara (Herschey) Harnly, 
natives of Switzerland. There were nine child- 
ren by this union, six of which lived to be 
adults. His father is still living, at the advanced 
age of eighty years. His mother died at the age 
of fifty-six. Mr. H., the subject of this sketch, 
was reared on a farm, and received a common 
school education. August 15, 1854, married 
Miss Elizabeth Horner. She was born in the 
same county, May 14, 1837. The fruits of this 
marriage were twelve children, nine of whom 
are living, viz., Mary, born July 16, 1857; Eliza- 
beth, born July 23, 1859; Henry J., born Febru- 
ary 23, 1862; Andrew, born February 13, 1864; 
John, born June 21, 1866; David, born August 
15, 1868; Joseph and Benjamin (twins), born 
September 9, 1870; Fanny, born December 16, 
1872, and died October 5, 1876; Susanna, born 
in Illinois, March 29, 1876; and two died in in- 
fancy. 

February 25, 1875, came to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and located in Auburn township, where 
he purchased a farm of two hundred and twenty- 
two acres of land, valued at |75 an acre — $16,650. 

The family are members of the German Bap- 
tist Church. 

John R. Harris, Auburn, Illinois, was born in 
Carrick, Tipperary county, Ireland, near the river 
Suir, May 17, 1852; son of Thomas L. and Mary 
A. Doran, who were mariied June 15, 1840. 
Father born September 22, 1814; mother, March 
4, 1821. Previous to coming to the United 
States, his father was employed in boating for a 
Quaker firm, which he followed until he came to 
the States, being in 1849 or 1850; leaving his 
family in Ireland. He landed in New Yoi*k, 
where he remained about six months. Having 
some friends in Newark, New Jersey, he went 
there, where he remained a couple of years. 
From there, went to New Oreans, where he was 
employed at various work, and remained one 
year, when he came to Chatham, this county, in 
the summer of 1855; the same year that his 
family came. After arriving in the county, went 
to work for William Lockard, Sr. He was after- 
wards employed by the railroad company, and 
had charge of the pumps at Sugar creek and Vir- 
den, for which he received 152 per month, 
at that time considered good wages; he remained 
in that business until the wind-mills took the 
place of horse power, and then was engaged as 
switchman, etc., which he followed until his 
death, which occurred November 25, 1870; mother 
died July 1, 1880. John R. married Miss Katie 
Young, daughter of Garrard Young, an early set- 



tler of the county; she was born in 1861. The 
fruits of this marriage is one son, Garrard 
Thomas, born July 3, 1881. Members of the 
Catholic Church. Mr. Harris has a beautiful 
residence in the village, valued at $2,500. 

William Harris, livery and feed stable Auburn, 
Illinois; was born in Tipperary, Ireland, Decem- 
ber 19, 1842; son of Thomas and Mary Doran, 
natives of Ireland. The subject of this sketch 
was reared in Auburn township, where he has 
followed various occupations. In 1870, married 
Miss Mary Ahern; she was born in Frankfort, 
Kentucky, May 20, 1852. The fruits of this 
marriage is six children, Thomas B., born Janu- 
ary 22, 1872; William V,, born March 25, 1873; 
George O., October 21, 1876; Leo Edward, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1877; Francis D., September 27, 1879, 
and Charles J., April 6, 1881. Mr. Harris en- 
listed in the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, Company B, 
in 1862, and served four years and six days, and 
participated in all the engagements of the regi- 
ment. He is a member of the Roman Catholic 
Church of Auburn. 

George P. Harris, Aubui*n, Illinois, was born 
in Ireland on the 10th diy of March, 1847. His 
parents emigrated to the States when he was 
quite young, and first located in New Jersey. 
Shortly afterward they removed to Auburn, San- 
gamon county, where George P. received a prac- 
tical education. In March, 1866, was employed 
on the Chicago & Alton Railroad as carpenter, 
and remained with them up to 1874. He was 
afterwards employed by the Wabash Railroad as 
time keeper at Litchfield; was afterwards em- 
ployed as conductor of a construction train, 
having charge of a gang of men on the Chicago 
& Alton Railroad, between Jacksonville and 
Louisiana, Missouri. In the spring of 1879, 
bought the Auburn Flouring Mill and the firm 
is know as Morris, Harris & Co. He married 
Miss Mary E. Cook June 25, 1873, daughter of 
Francis M. and Sarah E. (Harland) Cook. She 
was born in Chatham township February 23, 
1852. They were blessed by two children, 
Agnes, born March 20, 1874, she died July 23, 
1875, Sarah Scott, born November 2, 1875. Mr. 
Harris is one of the enterprising men of the 
township, and has been identified with its inter- 
est all his life. 

Joh7i W. Hart, stock dealer. Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Morgan county, Illinois, on the 21st 
day of October, 1843, Son of Millington Hart 
and Mary A. Majors, natives of Kentucky, 
whose parents emigrated to the country when 
mere children, and located in Morgan county, 
where his father followed farming, and remained 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



there until his death, which occurred in 1846. 
Mother died December 25, ISYO. The family 
consisted of four children — three boys and one 
girl — mother keeping her family together after 
his father's death. His mother married Mr. 
George W. Wimmer, one of the early pioneers 
of the county. The sons remained with their 
mother a few years, when they started out for 
themselves, when nineteen years of age. The 
subject of this sketch embarked in school teach- 
ing, which he followed for six years, when he 
was employed by the Chicago & Alton Railroad 
as agent, for a couple of years, and afterward 
for one year clerked in a store, for Wineman & 
Williams. Here he met and afterward married 
Miss Hattie Eeechley, whose parents came from 
Dayton, Ohio. She was born near Dayton, 
Ohio, in 1853. The fruits of this marriage 
were three children, two of whom are living. 
Louisa Earl died when thirteen months old, 
Arthur Albert and Sterling Perry still living. 
In 1870, embarked in the lumber trade, which 
he made a success, and sold out March 9, 1881, 
since which time has been dealing in stock ; 
member of the Masonic fraternity, Lodge 354, 
of Auburn. Mr. H. is a native of this State ; 
his father died when he was three years old, 
leaving him a poor boy, but by close attention 
to business has accumulated a fine property and 
home. 

Henry M. Hart, furniture dealer, Auburn, Illi- 
nois, was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, on 
the 13th day of February, 1850. Son of John 
M. and Phoebe (Frost) Hart. John M. was 
born in Simpson county, Kentucky, March 8, 
1816. His parents emigrated from South Caro- 
lina in an early day to Kentucky, where he em- 
barked in farming. There were a family of 
thirteen children, ten of which lived to be adults 
— five sons and five daughters. He emigrated 
to Sangamon county in the winter of 1829, and 
located on Spring creek, coming through 
with teams, camping out and doing their own 
cooking. He remained on Spring creek but a 
short time, when he went to Morgan county, 
where he bought land and made a farm. John 
M. remained on the farm when his father died. 
At twenty-two years of age he married Miss 
Phoebe Frost, daughter of Jedadiah Frost, who 
were pioneers of Sangamon county, but after- 
wards of Montgomery county. Nine children 
blessed this union, four of whom are living, viz: 
James M., Nancy J., Henry M., Emma C. Mr. 
Hart's people came to this county in limited cir- 
cumstances, occupying the first winter a log 
cabin, fourteen by sixteen, one room, puncheon 



floor, no window. Mr. Hart is one of the old 
and honored pioneers of the county, and has 
lived to see it from its infancy to one of the 
most flourishing and populous counties in the 
State. Mr. Hart is a. member of the Baptist 
Church. The subject of this sketch, when fif- 
teen years old, was apprenticed with D. D. Mar- 
tin to the carpenter trade, where he remained 
one year. He was afterwards employed by 
McCoy & Stearns for five years. He then em- 
barked in business on his own hook, contracting 
and building, which he followed about two 
years, when he formed a partnership with a man 
by the name of Nichols, and prosecuted the same 
business about a year and a half, when he pur- 
chased his present business, which he has fol- 
lowed since. In 1872, married Miss Mary A. 
Wrightsman. She was born in Sangamon 
county, September Vth, 1854. There are three 
children, Grace T., Bertha A. and Paul W. Mr. 
Hart is a member of the A. O. U. W., Auburn, 
Lodge No. 49. Also a member of the Sugar 
Cieek Baptist Church. • 

William Humphry, Virden, Illinois, son of 
Squire and Sarah Humphry; father born in 
Rhode Island, September 20, 1789, mother in 
Cherry Valley, New York, 1799. His mother's 
maiden name was Sarah Sweet, daughter of 
Erastus Sweet. The grandfather and grand- 
mother of William Humphry were born in Rhode 
Island, and both were of English extraction. 
His great-grandfather was born in 1737, and 
served in the English army against the French 
and Indians, and afterwards in the Revolution- 
ary war as Colonel in the Colonial army; was a 
prisoner in Quebec nine months. 

Father and mother married in 1815, in Ohio. 
Father died in Ohio, April 4, 1843. Mother died 
in Ohio, February, 1847. They had eleven 
children, four sons and seven daughters, all 
growing to maturity: Lydia, Susan, Sarah, Han- 
nah, Cyrus, William, Elizabeth, ^'alhan, Emma, 
Walter, Amelia. Hannah died in 1850. Lydia 
died in 1873. 

The subject of this sketch was the sixth child, 
and was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, April 
16, 1824, and was married to Miss Sarah Stocker, 
daughter of Adam and Sarah Stocker, in 1844; 
remained there until 1850, when he came to 
Morgan county, this State, and in 1855 came to 
Sangamon county, and improved the farm where 
he now resides. The fruits of their marriage 
were ten children, three sons and seven daugh- 
ters: Caroline E., born January 13, 1846; Squire 
H., born December 13, 1846; Sarah M., born 
August 31, 1848; Otis, born December 30, 1850; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



709 



Mary J., born November 4,1851; Charles W., 
born August 26, 1854; Susan E., born August 

22, 1857; Ida K., born January 4, 1859; Illinois, 
born December 18, 1860; Lillian A., born April 
24, 1863. Charles W. died November 7, 1855; 
Mary J. died December 10, 1858. Mrs. Humphry 
died May 29, 1864. 

Mr. Humphry, at the age of fifty-seven years, 
resides on his beautiful and finely cultivated 
farm of three hundi-ed and sixty acres. 

Wni H, Husband, Auburn, Illinois, son of 
Harmon and Sarah Husband. His father was 
born in North Carolina, April 10, 1791, and 
mother in South Carolina, November 12, 1790. 
They were married in Christian county, Ken- 
tucky, in 1811; were the parents of twelve 
children: Evelina, born April 1, 1813; Eliza- 
beth, October 1, 1814; Polly, November 18, 1816; 
Jane, July 18, 1818; Martha, January 22, 1820; 
Susan, October 29, 1821, born in Kentucky; James 
E. D., January 2, 1824; Martha, February 24, 
1826; John Q. A., February 14, 1828; Sarah R. and 
Wm. H., July 5, 1831; Emily, July 17, 1834, 
born in Illinois; Harmon, died February 14, 1848; 
Susan, July 31, 1850; Elizabeth M., December 

23, 1851; Martha, March 8, 1850; Sarah, April 
20, 1881, Father and mother with their family, 
came to Sangamon county in 1820, with cearas 
across the country, in company with Flower 
Husbands and family, James Patton and family, 
and grand father and grandmother Husbands, who 
made their home with James Patton, until 
tlie death of Mrs. Patton. Grandfather Hus- 
bands died December 20, 1842, about eighty- 
one years of age, and was buried in the family 
burying ground, on the farm of Flower Husbands. 
After his death the grandmother came to live 
with her son Harmon, and remained there until 
his death, and then lived with her grand-daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Elihu Stout, and died there. They 
settled on Sugar creek, and commenced farming, 
when government land came into market in 1823, 
when they entered several hundred acres, and 
improved a farm of three hundred and thirty-six 
acres, where his children now reside. He made 
a specialty of raising wheat and flax for the manu- 
facture of cloth to be made into clothing About 
1839 or 1840, he bought the first threshing ma- 
chine that was used in the county. It was a 
tread power machine. The school advantages 
of the children were such as subscription schools 
of the day afforded. 

Benjamin F. HuUon, deceased. Auburn, Illi- 
nois, was born near Nashville, Tennessee, on the 
11th day of October, 1815, son of Samuel and 
Mary (Levi) Hutton, native of South Carolina. 



They were married in 1835. In 1S23, Mr. Ben- 
jamin F. Hutton emigrated to Sangamon county, 
and located on Sugar creek, in Auburn town- 
ship, where he became acquainted with Miss 
Lucinda Mason, a daughter of Noah and Lucinda 
(Stilson) Mason, who emigrated to the county 
in 1824. Soon after marrying, they left for 
Henry county, Iowa. At that time the Indians 
were very troublesome. But with a strong heart 
he made a claim on which he built a log cabin 
sixteen by sixteen, living on a dirt floor, their 
chimney being made out of clay and sticks, and 
their furniture was of the rudest kind. Thus 
Mrs. Hutton, who is still living, says she started 
out from Sangamon county with an ox-team, 
that being her wedding trip. Few at the present 
time would hardly think of taking their wedding 
trip with an ox-team and lumber wagon. They 
remained in Iowa until 1845, when he sold out 
and returned to Sangamon county, Spring creek, 
where he lived until 1850, when he came to 
Chatham township, where he purchased a large 
tract of land, some five hundred acres, and re- 
mained there until his death, which occurred on 
July 10, 1877, leaving a widow and seven child- 
ren, one of whom has died since. The children 
are as follows: Noah M., Mary A., Benjamin F., 
George W., and John. In 1861, he enlisted in 
the Tenth Illinois Cavalry^ Company B. and his 
son Noah, enlisting in the same regiment; was a 
member of the Advent Church, and one of the 
principal movers in building the church. Mr. 
H. came to the county in limited circumstances, 
and by good judgment accumulated a fine prop- 
erty. Mrs. Hutton is at present making her 
home with her son, George W., who was born 
on Spring creek, Illinois, August §, 1847; was 
reared ou a farm, and received a business educa- 
tion. In 1874, embarked in the grain business as 
Poley, Hutton & Co. Two years later he was 
made Cashier of the Auburn Bank. He was 
afterwards appointed postmaster of Auburn by 
President Hayes, and is at present engaged in 
the mercantile business as the firm of Hutton 
& Wallace; February 4, 1879, married Miss 
Maggie Harris. She was born in Auburn, 
Augu-st 27, 1858. There is one child, Ursula H. 
She was born July 31, 1881. 

Moses A. Jones, retired farmer, was born in 
Hart county, Kentucky, July 21, 1820. Son of 
Alexander and Susan (Woosley) Jones, who 
were natives of Kentucky, and farmers by occu- 
pation. In 1821, moved to Fairfield, Wayne 
county, Illinois, where they resided six years, 
after which he moved to Sangamon county, in 
1827, and located on Sugar creek, Ball township, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



where he engaged in farming. His mother died 
January 20, 1844; and his father on October 22, 
of the same year. The subject of this sketch 
was raised on the farm, and brought up with a 
thorough knowledge of the farm, receiving only 
a common school education in the common 
schools of this county, and January 18, 1846, he 
married Nancy Armstrong, who was born Feb- 
ruary 16, 1824; immediately after their marriage 
they began farming in moderate circumstances; 
their family consisted of eleven children, of 
which ten are still living, viz: Caroline, now 
Mrs. Patton; Elizabeth A., now Mrs. H. A. Pea- 
body; Lafayette, Thomas A., James B., Robert 
W., John M., Andrew J., Eliza B. and Charlotte 
F. In the meantime, Mr. Jones moved to Chris- 
tian county, Illinois, where he resided four years, 
and returned again to this county, since which 
time he has continued to reside in the county. 
He is the owner of five hundred and thirty-three 
acres of land in Sangamon county. In Novem- 
ber, 1881, he gave up to his sons the charge of 
the farm, and moved to the quiet little town of 
Auburn, where he now is comfortably situated. 
In politics he has always been a supporter of the 
Democratic partj^. 

JBepjamin Kessler, Auburn, Illinois, was born 
in Beloit county, Virginia, December 28, 1803, 
son of Benjamin and Margaret (Clare) Kessler; 
father of German descent, and born in Mary- 
land, and mother of Virginia; were married in 
Virginia where they reside; family of twelve 
children, eleven of whom lived to be men and 
women; father was a farmer, lived and died in 
Virginia, and mother died in Virginia. In 1827, 
left his native State for the Sangamon country, 
having heard much of its broad prairies; also, 
having an uncle who was living here by the 
name of David Kessler, who died while they 
were on the road to the State. After arriving, 
he hired out by the month for #10, and worked 
one year for that wages. In September, 1830, 
married Miss Mary Ann Wallace, daughter of 
James and Annie Wallace, nee Duill, who 
came from South Carolina in 1822, and located 
in Auburn township, one mile south of where 
Auburn now stands. She was born in Nova Sco- 
tia, October 18, 1812. In September, 1880, they 
had their golden wedding, having lived together 
half a century. There was a large concourse of 
people and they were recipients of some valuable 
presents, among which were a gold-headed cane, 
and an easy chair-. Their family consisted of 
seven children, all of which are living. Mar- 
garet J., James H., Harriet E., David F., Mary 
A. and Benjamin L. Soon after coming to the 



State, purchased sixty acres of land, where Mr, 
Charles Ranch now lives. He afterwards sold 
and purchased other lands, and at one time had 
between seven hundred and eight hundred acres. 
Mr. K. is one of the pioneers of the county, and 
has lived to see it pass from a wild, uncultivated 
wilderness to a thickly and densely populated 
county. 

Jacob Kessler, farmer, section twenty-two, 
Auburn, was born in Virginia, February 5, 1820; 
son of Benjamin and Margaret (Clair) Kessler, 
who was a native of Virginia. The fruits of this 
marriage were twelve children, eleven of whom 
lived to be adults. The subject of this sketch, 
the youngest, was reared on a farm and received 
a common school education; when twenty years 
of age, his father died. On Mai'ch 3, 1842, mar- 
ried Miss Menerva A. Oliver; she was the daugh- 
ter of James K. Oliver; she was born May 7, 
1826. There was a family of eleven, eight of 
whom are living, viz: Leanah, William W., Bar- 
nett, Benjamin C, Madorah C, Mollie A., 
Charles S., Georgia V. On the 22d day of May, 
1857, came to Sangamon county, Illinois, and 
located in Auburn township, where he has fol- 
lowed farming since, with the exception of two 
years. Has fifty-five and two-thirds acres of 
land, valued at $60 per acre. In politics, is a 
Democrat. 

Mev. Wiley Knowles, J3. S., Auburn, Illinois, 
was born in Gibson county, Indiana, August 17, 
1835. The sixth year of his life found him in a 
little log school house, puncheon floor and slab 
seats. In the fall of '48 his parents moved to 
Menard county, Illinois; from this time forwarc^ 
his opportunities for school were limited. He 
professed religion in 1850, and being impressed 
with the duty of preaching, presented himself 
to Sangamon Presbytery. Being licensed by 
said Presbytery, was assigned the Apple Creek 
Circuit, and proved himself an efiicient worker 
in his Master's cause. Many amusing incidents 
attended these labors. On his first visit to the 
several congregations, many would keep looking 
for the preacher, not expecting the strange, 
awkward-looking boy, to be the man. In the 
autumn of 1860, entered the High School at 
Owensville. November 12, 1861, was mustered 
into the United States Army — Fifty-eighth Reg- 
iment of Indiana Volunteers. Was at the bat- 
tles of Shiloh, Perryvil.le, Stone River and 
others. At the terrible battle of Stone River, 
he was wounded in both hands, while nobly de- 
fending the cause of freedom. April 22, 1863, 
was honorably discharged, and entered again 
upon ministerial labor. December 1, 1864, was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



V71 



joined in marriage to Miss Anna Ripson. Was 
ordained and continued three years, when he 
found his health failing. Retiring for a time, 
concluded to ent r Lincoln University, the win- 
ter term of 1868. He continued an earnest and 
successful student, graduating with the class of 
1872. He grasped readily the truths of science, 
and made, practically, a fund o*" knowledge. 
He was a leader in the Athenian Society, and 
was often assigned parts of honor and trust. 
Since graduation, he has been actively engaged 
in the interest of souls. Mr. Knowles is a 
pleasant and logical speaker, and truly zealous 
in his Master's cause, and great good will attend 
his labors. 

Horace Landon, farmer and stock raiser, post 
office. Auburn, was born in Jersey county, Illi- 
nois, January 16,1842; son of William D. and 
Alvira (Cowan) Landon. In 1830, his father left 
Vermont with team, for the ^wild prairies of 
Illinois, at that time there being but few settle- 
ments in the State; arriving after a journey of 
about two months, in Greene county, where he 
located, at that time a part of Jersey county; 
where he worked by the month. In 1837 he 
married Mrs. Alvira Cowan, wife of William 
Cowan, (deceased), her former husband, by 
whom he had ten children, eight of whom are 
living, viz: Oscar and Austin, twins, Horace, 
Alice, now Mrs. B. F. Workman; Mary, now 
Mrs. Merrian; Emma, now Mrs. Andrew Everts; 
William, Sarah, now Mrs. T. S .Chapman; an 
attorney at Jerseyville. Mr. Landon commenced 
in Illinois a poor boy, and by good judgment 
and hard work has made a large property and at 
his death had one thousand acres of valuable 
land to divide among his children. He died in 
1873 at the age of sixty; mother is still living. 
The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, 
and received a common school education. In 
1866, married Miss Flora A. Converse, daughter 
of Uriah C, formerly of Bridgeport, Vermont. 
She was born in Greene county, December 29, 
1849. There was a family of seven children, 
five of whom are living, Ella M., born August 
9,1867; Eugene, born May 22, 1869; Charles, 
born April 8, 1871; Mabel, born June 9, 1877; 
Frank, born May 29, 1881. Mr. Landon has a 
fine farm of five hundred acres, all of which he 
has under a high state of cultivation, and valued 
at $65 per acre. His yearly crops are as follows: 
corn, eighty acres; wheat, eighty acres; oats, 
thirty acres; some sixty head of hogs, and feeds 
four carloads of cattle. 

Joseph Lanham,, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office. Auburn. Was born in Marion coun- 
00— 



ty, Kentucky, on the 23d day of Septem^^er, 
1837. Son of Edward and Elizabeth (Bland) 
Lanham, The family consisted of twelve chil- 
dren, six of which are living. Mary, Nancy, 
Annie, Manda, Thomas, James, Joseph. March 
4, 1850, his parents left their Kentucky home 
and started for Illinois, coming by water to St. 
Louis, from there to Greene county, where he 
located, and where he remained until his death, 
which occurred January 4, 1867. Mother died 
July, 1869. The subject of this sketch was 
reared on a farm, and received a limited school 
education. In 1871, married Mrs. Mary Stout, 
widow of William Stout. She was born in Jer- 
sey county, Illinois, February 3, 1841. There 
are three children: Ida M., born July 15, 1872; 
OUie E., born July 15, 1872; Charles H., born 
December 29, 1877. Has three hundred and 
twenty acres of land, all of which is beautifully 
located, under a high state of cultivation, and 
valued at $65 per acre. Mr. L. commenced a 
poor boy, and by his own exertions has accumu- 
lated a fine property and home, and is one of the 
large and well-to-do farmers of the county. 

H. W. 1/arrabee, farmer and stock raiser, sec- 
tion 30, post office, Virden, was born in Som- 
erset county, Maine, on the 2d day of August, 
1830. Son of William and Sarah (Pluramer) 
Larrabee. The subject of this sketch was 
reared on a farm, when he received a common 
school education. When twenty-two years of 
age tried his fortune among the gold fields of 
California. He shipped from New York via 
the Isthmus, and from there in a sailing vessel, 
with three hundred passengers on board, which 
was a poor and rickety old bark. There were 
thirty-five days' rations placed on the boat, 
this being the time in which the trip should be 
made. It was some time longer, and the rations 
and water running short, the passengers were 
only allowed one biscuit and a half a pint of 
water a day. They were at the point of mutiny, 
but finally landed in California, after many of 
the passengers dying from the heat and for the 
want of proper food and water. He engaged in 
mining, where he remained one 5^ear and a half. 
Making a "stake," he returned to Maine, where 
he married Miss Julia A. Leighton, daughter of 
Abigal Leighton, of Maine, in 1855. The 
fruits of this marriage was five children, four of 
whom are living — Sadie J., Ella, Minnie and 
Charles, Mr. Larrabee has a beautiful farm of 
eighty acres, which is under a high state of culti- 
vation, valued at $75 per acre. Mr. L. has been 
identified with the county, socially, for twenty- 
one years, and is one of its well-t' -do farmers. 



7V2 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



John M. ZiOckridge, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office Auburn, Illinois, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Kentucky, on the 18tb day of 
January, 1814; son of John and Margie (Kill- 
ough) Lockridge, who were natives of Ken- 
tucky, of Scotch and Irish descent. They were 
married in Montgomery county. There was a 
family of nine children, five eons and four 
daughters, eight of whom lived to manhood and 
womanhood. In 1826, his parents emigrated to 
Owen county, Indiana, where he purchased a 
farm and remained until 1838, when he came to 
Sangamon county. Previous to bringing his 
family, he and the subject of this sketch came 
out, purchased three hundred acres of land, and 
built a log cabin on Lick creek, where he re- 
mained until the year 1850. Meeting with some 
financial embarrassments, he concluded to go to 
California to retrieve his losses, but while on the 
way, died, and never arrived at his destination. 
His mother died in 1866, a sincere Christian, and 
was loved and [respected by all who knew her. 
The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, 
and received a common school education. In 
1840, he married Miss Jane Nuckolls, a daughter 
of James and Jane Nuckolls, who were early set- 
tlers of the county; she was born in Madison 
county, Illinois, in October, 1819. By this mar- 
riage there were seven children, five of whom 
are living, John W., James M., Andrew H., 
Robert H., and Charles; two daughters, Martha 
J. and Margaret, died in childhood. In 1854, he 
commenced on his present home, with no capital 
but good strong arms and a strong will, and by 
good management and hard work, has accumu- 
lated a fine property and home, and is one of the 
large and well-to-do farmers of the county. He 
owns four hundred and forty-five acres of land, 
valued at $85 per acre, all of which is under a 
high state of cultivation, and the j^remium farm 
of the township. He raised one hundred and 
fifty acres of corn, which will average forty 
bushels per acre; ninety acres of wheat, fifteen 
bushels per acre; owns seventy-five head of hogs 
and one hundred head of steers. Mr. L. has 
held the office of supervisor of the township for 
several years, and also held other local offices of 
trust. In politics, he was an old line Whig 
until the time of the organization of the Republi- 
can party, joining that, and has officiated with it 
since. Mr. Lockridge has been identified with 
the county over forty years, and has lived to see 
the wild prairies of Illinois, from their virgin 
soil to one of the best cultivated and richest 
counties in the United States. Mr.andMrs Lock- 
ridge are members of the Presbvterian Church. 



W. JV. LoiodermWi, Auburn, Illinois, was 
born in North Carolina on the 10th day of 
August, 1843, is the sen of William and Lorinda 
(Laws) Lowdermilk, father of (Tcrman descent 
and mother of Scotch. They emigrated from 
Norpi Carolina to East Tennessee, when the 
subject of this sketch was a child and remained 
there on a farm until he was thirteen years old, 
when they moved to Macouj^in county, in 
1858. He remained on a farm with his parents 
until he was sixteen, wlien he enlisted in the 
One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment Illi- 
nois Volunteers, Co. B., under Captain 
Furguson, mustered in at Springfield, August 6th, 
1862. He participated in several engagements, 
the first being at Holly Springs, also Port Gib- 
son, Cuampion Hills, Siege and capture of 
Vicksburg, and battles of Jackson, Miss. In 
June following, went on expedition against Gen- 
eral Forrest and at an engagement at Guntown 
was wounded in the left arm, which caused the 
loss of that member. He was a prisoner in 
Macon and Andersonville for about ten months, 
where he suffered all the privations of those horrid 
pens. After being exchanged at Vicksburg came 
home and attended school, and in the Fall of 
1865, mariied Miss Elizabeth Roberts, by this 
marriage there are two children, Hattie and 
Arthur. In 1866 was appointed deputy post 
master, and in March, 1867, received the appoint- 
ment under Johnson's administration, and held 
that office continually up to and including six 
months of Hayes' administration. During this 
time he established the Auburn Herald, the first 
newspaper published in Auburn, which he edited 
and published for about six months, at which 
time the paper passed into the hands of Mr. 
Wadsworth, the present owner and editor. Re- 
tiring from the post office, Mr. LoAvdermilk con- 
cluded to go West and settle, but not liking the 
out-look returned to Springfield, In 1881, Mr. 
L. received the appointment of Assistant Private 
Secretary to Governor CuUom, which office he 
now fills. 

William Luth, farmer and stock raiser, section 
thirty-five, post office Virden; was born in 
Michaelsburg, Germany, September 8, 1826. 
Came to the United Siates in 1857 in a sailing 
vessel, and was eight weeks in making the trip, 
landed in New York City; where he remained a 
short time, when he went to Chicago, where he 
worked at his trade of blacksmithing From 
there he went to Bloomington, Illinois, where he 
engaged to work on a farm, but remained only a 
couple of months; from there went to St. Louis, 
where he worked at his trade three months, then 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



V73 



to Sangamon county, where he married Mrs. 
Martha Owens, a daughter of Jacob Shutt. She 
was born in Muhlensburg, Kentucky, April 30, 
1825. By this marriage there was three children, 
one of which is living, William Luth, Jr., born 
July 28, 1806. Mrs. Luth was previously mar- 
ried to Elias O wens, by whom she had ten child- 
ren, six are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Luth 
have a beautiful farm of two hundred acres, all 
of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
valued at 1^75 per acre. 

David D. Martin, manufacturer and dealer in 
agricultural implements. Auburn, Illinois, was 
born in Providence, Rhode Island, February 28, 
1831, son of David and Caroline (Wilcox) Martin, 
who emigrated to Alton, Illinois, in an early 
day, where he organized the first I. O. O. F. 
Lodge in Alton, where he died the same year. 
He was buried by the order, the funeral being 
one of the largest ever seen, many lodges 
coming from St. Louis. His mother was again 
married to a man by the name of Samuel Avis. 
She died in St. Louis in 1842, Of the original 
family there was two sons and two daughters, 
viz: Henry F., of Macoupin county, who has 
figured extensively against the court house folly, 
and was elected to the State Legislature of that 
district; Sarah, who died from the bite of a rattle- 
snake, when twelve years of age; David D. and 
Caroline. 

The subject of this sketch remained with his 
mother until her death, when the family was 
scattered, being cast onto the cold world without 
a cent. For some years he worked around 
making enough to keep soul and body together, 
working two years for five dollars per month, 
and paying for his washing out of that. After- 
wards commenced selling books, which he fol- 
lowed until he was twenty years of age, when 
he formed the acquaintance of Maranda Buck 
who was born June, 1833. By this union there 
were nine children, five of whom are living, viz: 
Henry J., David I., Willie L., Lillie and Edith. 
Mr. and Mrs. Martin commenced life in very 
limited circumstances. After buying his license 
and paying the minister for marrying them, had 
sixty cents, and a horse valued at twenty-five 
dollars, and his wife got a cow as a dowr}-- from 
her mother, and that they sold for ton dollars to 
buy their set-out which consisted of two knives 
and two forks, a set of plates and tea cups and 
saucers, a set ot chairs made by hand, and for 
their table, used a dry goods box. Their domi- 
cile was a log cabin eighteen by eighteen, with 
puncheon floor, an old-fashioned fire place with 
stone jambs and clay and btick chimney, etc. 



Thus they started out, and as Mr. Martin says, 
it was some of their happiest moments, owing 
no one, enough to eat, with good strong hearts, 
they pulled through, and by hard work and good 
management, have accumulated a fine property 
and liome. The family are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

John O. Moore, Virden, Macoupin count}^, son of 
Henry and Mary Moore. Father born in Som- 
merset County, N. J., in 1801, and his mother 
was a native of the same State. Both were de- 
scended from German ancestry. Father's occu- 
pation, a farmer. They were married in New 
Jersey, and had five children, to-wit: John, 
Eliza, Sarah, Catharine, William. Catharine 
and Matilda both died in New York State. 
Father again married to Miss Sarah Allen. She 
was thedaughterof Gideon and Mrs. Allen. The 
subject of this sketch was the first child of this 
union, born March 25, 1825, in New Jersey. In 
October 9, 1847, he married Miss Catharine 
Compton, daughter of Moore and Mary Comp- 
ton. They have one child, Howard Malcom 
Moore, born Nov. 28, 1848, in New Jersey. 
Came to Jersey County, III., in 1856, and re- 
mained there about a year, then came to Sanga- 
mon County, where he owns 200 acres of valu- 
able land. Mr. M. attended the county schools 
until sixteen years of age and then entered the 
Suffield Literary Institute of Connecticut. 
After leaving there taught school in New Jersey 
for ten years. 

Robert E. Morse, manufacturer and dealer in 
wagons, buggies and agricultural implements, 
Auburn, Illinois, was born in Sidney, Maine, 
August 23d, 1833. Son of Samuel and Sarah 
(Taylor) Morse.' Father now living in Maine at 
the advanced age of 90. There were a family 
of ten children, four sons and six daughters. 
The subject of this sketch was the ninth child. 
Left home when a mere boy. At the age of ten 
years went to work for a Quaker by the name 
of Captain Sherman, on a farm, summers, and 
receiving three to four weeks of schooling win- 
ters. There being a shop on the place he soon 
became acquainted with their use. After leav- 
ing Captain Shei-man he engaged with a man by 
the name of Alonzo Davis, where he remained 
two years, getting for his first year's work §15, 
as an apprentice, but most of his time was spent 
on the farm. He then went tb Bangor with 
the idea of finishing his trade, where he became 
acquainted with B. H. Thorns, who manufac- 
tured and repaired Concord coaches, and re- 
mained one year. Thence to Boston by steamer, 
and a greener bov, as he savs, never struck the 



114 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Hub. From Boston went to Dedhara, where he 
was employed in a wheel factory, at $35 per 
month, where his part of the work was driving 
spokes. Not fancying the work, he went to 
Worcester, but remained a short time, when he 
left there and went to Concord, where he was 
employed by E. R. Thayer, and remained three 
years. When he got the Western fever in his 
head from what he had heard from a man by the 
name of E. G. Loring, who had located in 
Winona, Minnesota, and had returned to Con- 
cord for his family. Taking his advice he came 
West, and located in Winona, at that time a 
small town. Nothing but small shanties, and 
the chilling winds, and drinking the Mississippi 
w^ater, made him sick, and was also sick of town, 
concluded he would leave. Took a boat and 
came down as far as Davenport, and from there 
went to Iowa City, where he made the acquaint- 
ance of a young man, and he not being sat'siied 
started out for Omaha, Nebraska. Being desir- 
ous of obtaining land, they proceeded beyond 
the Pawnee village, where they found land and 
pitched their tents, having taken provisions 
along with them. They remained until they had 
eaten up their provisions, then returned to 
Omaha, where he left his friend, embarked on a 
steamer, which he will always remember by the 
class of men it had on board. B y the descrip- 
tion given by Mr. Morse they were the border 
ruffians. Long hair, slouched hats, with a bowie 
knife and a revolver in their belts, and were 
looking for a d — d Abolitionist. Came down to 
St. Joe, where he remained over one night, took 
the first boat for St. Louis. From there came 
to Girard, Illinois, where he stopped over night, 
but not liking the appearance of the town went 
to Springfield, but not finding work engaged to 
a man in the country by the name of William 
Search. He became acquainted with a man by 
the name of Babcock, who persuaded him to 
come to Auburn, where he purchased a small 
shop of James Babcock, eighteen by twenty- 
four, which he paid for by finishing and making 
eighteen wagons. 

F.3L iWco/es, builder and contractor. Auburn, 
Illinois, was born in Cass county, Indiana, on 
the 31st day of May, 1841. His father, Nathan- 
iel D., was a native of Virginia, where he left 
in an early day, and went to Ohio. The subject 
of this sketch was reared on a farm, and re 
ceived a common school education. When 
eighteen years of age, went to learn a trade, 
and remained one year, which he followed up 
until 1862, when he started for the gold fields, 
and got as far as Denver, where he enlisted in 



the Third Colorado Cavalry. He was in one 
engagement, under General Shippington, fight- 
ing, and was in the service over one year, when 
he received an honorable discharge. Mairied 
Miss MaiyJ. Hollipater. She was born in Ohio,. 
November 6, 1841. There M'ere three children, 
two of whom are living: Eita Adrian, Isadore 
Jentiliska, member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 
543, of Auburn, and also member of the En- 
campment at Springfield. Also the family are 
members of the Christian Church. 

William JVorcross, boot and shoemaker. Au- 
burn, Illinois, was born in Burlington county. 
New Jersey, on the second day of October, 1824; 
son of Samuel F. and Elizabeth (Britton) 
Norcross. There was a family of thirteen 
children, nine sons and four daughters. The 
Norcross family was well represented in the 
Union Army, there being six who enlisted in the 
Thirty-third Regiment New Jersey volunteers. 
Samuel, who contracted a disease and died in 
1865; George, Joseph, Jonathan, who was killed 
at Chancellorville, Elisha and Wesley. William, 
the subject of this sketch, enlisted in the One 
Hundred and First Regiment Illinois volunteers. 
Company G., and mustered in at Jacksonville, 
September 2, 1862. He participated in the 
following engagements: Holly Springs, Missis- 
sippi, where six companies were captured by the 
Rebels, companies A, B, G and H, only saving 
themselves by retreating to Coldwater, where the 
Irish Legion was then stationed, where they re- 
pelled the attack by Van Dorn, of seven thousand 
cavalry. Afterwards was attached to the Four- 
teenth Illinois Infantry, and detached as scouts; 
from thence to Vicksburg, and on the twenty-fifth 
of March, run the batteries on the United States 
steam ram Switzerland, for which the men on 
board got a furlough for meritorious conduct, by 
U. S. Grant. After the expirations of their fur- 
loughs, they joined their regiment at Union 
City, Tennessee, being in September, 1863; thence 
to Bridgeport, Alabama, took part in a midnight 
fight; from there to the battle of Mission Ridge; 
thence to Knoxville, to release Burnside, when 
Longstreet held him besieged, and immediately 
after the siege returned to Chattanooga, march- 
ing across the country bare-footed, witbout shoes, 
with their feet bleeding so they could be tracked 
by the blood from their feet. May 2, 1864, 
started on the Atlanta campaign, and employed 
the enemy at Kingston, Dalton, Ressaca, New 
Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree 
Creek, Jonesboro, and entej ed the city of Atlanta 
on the second day of September, 1864, being the 
first regiment in the city. At the time of Sher- 



HISTORY OP^ SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"75 



man's March to the Sea was detailed as Forage 
Master of the first division of ordinance train, of 
the Twentieth Army Corps, and remained with 
Sherman until he arrived in Washing; on. Was 
mustered out at Bladensburg, Virgiilia, June 9, 
1865; from there came to Springfield, where they 
were discharged and paid off June 20, 1865. He 
then returned to Waverly, where he engaged in 
the boot and shoe business, and remained there 
four years, when he worked at farming for a 
short time; he afterwards engaged in railroading 
for a short time. In 1872, he came to Auburn, 
where he has followed his trade since; married 
Miss Martha H. Pittit. She was born October 1, 
1824. The fruits of this union was nine children, 
seven of whom are living, viz: Merrietta, Job, 
Joseph R., William Jr., Albert, Waller and Ella. 
Previous to coming to the Slate, Mr. Norcross held 
the office of Assessor and Collector of Burling- 
ton towt ship, New Jersey. Mr. Norcross came 
to the State in 1855, where he remained a short 
time, when he returned to New Jersey, In 1857 
he returned to the West, where he has remained 
since, not living at any time, over sixteen miles 
from Auburn. 

W. D. Patton, Auburn, Illinois, was born in 
this township on the 2.3d day of January, 1845; 
son of Malhew and Margaret (McElvain) Pat- 
ton, natives of Kentucky. His grandfather Patton 
emigrated to Sangamon county in 1820, and lo- 
cated about two and a half miles southeast of 
Auburn. The family consisted of three sons 
and two daughters. When his father came to 
the county was a small boy; was reared on a 
farm to manhood, married and settled in the 
township, and raised a family of six grown chil- 
dren, two daughters and four sons. He remained 
on a farm until a few years previous to his death, 
when he moved to Auburn, where he died Sep- 
tember 16, 1879; mother died June 2, 1865. On 
January 23d, 1867, married Sarah J. Mackey, 
who slill lives. The subject of this sketch was 
reared on a farm and received a liberal educa- 
tion. In 1873, went to Pawnee townsliip, where 
he engaged in farming for several years, when 
he embarked in merchandising, wliere he re- 
mained two years, and in the spring of 1875 
came to Auburn where he encfaged in the drug 
business the following November, and in 1880 
the firm of Patton & Stout, was formed. In 
August, 1865, married Miss Addie M. Black, 
daughter of John Black. She was born May 25, 
1847. There was one child, Minnie F., born 
December 24, 1867. His wife, Addie, died Jan- 
uary 26, 1875. loved and respected by all v ho 
knew her. For his second wife Le married Miss 



Caroline A. Jones, daughter of M. A. Jones of 
Ball township, born in Christian county, March 
7, 1849. The fruits of this union was one child, 
Mabel Jones Patton; she was born in Auburn, 
Illinois, on the 7lh day of November, 1879. Mr. 
Patton is a member of the Masonie fraternity, 
Ark and Anchor Lodge, No. 354, and of Auburn 
Chapter, No. 92. Mr. Patton is a man with good 
business abilities, and has been identified with 
the county all his life, and has seen it change 
from its broad wild prairies, to one of the best 
cultivated counties in the State. At this writing 
the firm of Patton & Stout are doing an exten- 
sive business in the line of drugs, medicines and 
druggists' sundries,jwall paper, books and station- 
ery, pocket and table cutlery, jewelry and hard- 
ware; also a complete line of groceries, handled 
in connection with country produce. 

Dawson, Poley & Co., Auburn, Illinois, man- 
ufacturers of drain tile, brick, and proprietors 
of the Auburn Coal Shaft. Among the leading 
business interests of Auburn, we are pleased to 
mention the above fii'm. In the year 1878, 
Henry Dawson, Sr., and James K. Ruder em- 
barked in the manufacturing of tile and brick, 
and continued up to February, 1881; in the 
meantime, opening up the Auburn Coal Shaft. 
In February, 1881, a company was formed, as 
follows: Henry Dawson, Sr., Henry Dawson, 
Jr., Benjamin F. Poley, C. M Poley and L. E. 
Ruder. A six and one-half foot vein of coal is 
found two hundred and sixty-eight feet from the 
surface, aud will compare favorably with any in 
this section of the country. Their capacity for 
making brick is one million per year, and tile, 
five hundi-ed thousand to six hundred thousand. 
They employ about forty men. In June, 1881, 
the shaft caught fire and destroyed the most of 
their buildings, causing a damage of $5,600. 
The capital stock is estimated at $2o,000. 

Charles liaiich, farmer, postoffice Virden, 
Macoupin County, Ills., was born in Muhlenburg, 
County, Ky., on the 28th day of December, 1827; 
son of Jacob and Pauline (Poley) Rauch, who 
was married in 1824; two children being born in 
Kentucky, Andrew and Charles; and in 1829, he 
left his home in Kentucky and came to Illinois, 
in wagons, camping out and driving their stock, 
and located in Auburn Township, where he pur- 
chased land and made a farm. Soon after 
coming to the country, built what was known 
far and near as Rauch Mills, one of the first grist 
and sawmills in this part of the country that was 
run by water. Coming to the country in limited 
means, but by good management and close ap- 
plication to business, accumulated a fine property 



116 



IIISTOKV OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and at his early death, owned 2,000 acres of land, 
dying at the age of forty-seven, in 1843. Mother 
died February 5, 1 880. She was a member of the 
German Baptist church and died as she had 
lived — a sincere Christian. Mr. Charles Rauch 
has been identified with the county for more 
than a half century and has seen the various 
changes. Married Miss Mary Brooks, daughter 
of Wm. C. and Sarah Brooks, of Delaware. 
She was born June 22, 1838. There are a family 
©f six children, three daughters and three sons, 
viz: Louise E, born November 3, 1861; Jennie 
B., born April 13, 1863; James C, born June 14, 
1865; John B., February 24, 1868; Grace, born 
January 11, 1878; Chai'les M., born August 24, 
1881. In politics, a Democrat, and has held 
several local offices in the gift of the people. 
Has two hundred and fifty-seven acres of land, 
all of which is under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, valued at $"7 5 per acre. 

Andrew Ratich, farmer; post office, Virden; 
was born in Muhlenburg, Kentucky, on the 14th 
day of August, 1825; son of Jacob and Pauline 
Rauch. Andrew came to the county with his 
parents, when he was four years old, and has 
spent over half a century in Auburn township. 
June 13, 1854, he married Miss Margaret E. Cas- 
sity daughter of Alexander Cassity, who was 
one of the pioneers of the county ; she was born 
in Kentucky, October 13, 1833. There were 
nine children, six of whom are living — Frank, 
born August 18, 1857; Clara, born February 19, 
1861; Emma, born February 7, 1864; Elmer, 
born July 20, 1867; AUie, born September 6, 
1872, and Edgar G., born November 8, 1876. 
Mr. Rauch has held several local offices of trust 
in the gift of the people, holding some town- 
ship office ever since he was twenty-one years of 
age. Mr. Rauch has been in the county nearly 
all his life, and has seen all the changes, from a 
vast, wild prairie, to one of the best cultivated 
portions of the State, and can well be claimed 
as one of its pioneers. Is a member of the 
Masonic Order, Virden Lodge, No. 161. 

Father 1). J. My an, Auburn, Illioois, was 
born in Peoria, Peoria county, Illinois, on the 
3d day of August, 1852. Son of William and 
Margaret (Keller) Ryan, natives of Ireland ; 
father emigrating in 1847, and mother in 1850, 
and were married in 1851. There was born to 
them a family of eight children, seven sons and 
one daughter, all of whom are living. His 
father died June 9, 1880, at the age of sixty- 
four. When the subject of tlis sketch was two 
j'ears old, his parents moved to Marshall county, 
where he remained on a farm until he was 



thirteen years of age, Avhen he went to LaSalle, 
where he commenced his preparatory studies, 
and remained there about a year and a half. 
Thence went to Niagara Falls, New York, where 
he finished his classical and divinity studies. 
In 1876, he commenced his first mission, at 
Grafton, Illinois, where he remained one year, 
and in the fall of 1876, came to Auburn, Illinois, 
where he has the charge of Auburn, Sugar 
Creek and Christian county congregations. 

Jacob JT. Shutt, farmer, section thirty-iive, 
post office Virden, was the son of Jacob and 
Elizabeth (Wagoner) Shutt; was born in Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, on the 10th day of October, 
1834. His father was of German descent, and 
was born in North Carolina; mother a native of 
Georgia, born July 31, 1799. In 1810, came to 
Muhlenburg, Kentucky, where they were mar- 
ried. There were thirteen children, tenof whom 
lived to be men and women. In 1829, they em- 
igrated to Sangamon county, where he bought a 
small piece of land of a man by the name of 
Black. Being in limited circumstances, he had 
to commence at the bottom and work up. Mr. 
S. accumulated a fine property prior to his death, 
owning five hundred acres of valuable prairie. 
He died in 1856. He had to put up with all the 
privations of the pioneers, going to Springfield 
and St. Louis with his grain and to do his trad- 
ing, with ox-teams. When coming from St. 
Louis, was overtaken by the darkness, and lost 
his way, and had to remain until morning. The 
country was full of wolves at that time, and it 
was anything but pleasant to lie and hear the 
wolves howl. 

Jacob W. was reared on a tarm, and received 
an elementary school education. When twenty- 
one years of age, went to work for himself. 
When twenty-six, he married Miss Susan C. 
Gates, daughter of Daniel Gates, of Kentucky. 
By this marriage, there were six children, one 
of which died in infancy. The living are as 
follows: Laura C, Charles M., Elizabeth L., 
Amos E., Phineas E. Mr. S. died April 1, 1873. 
For his second wife, married Miss Fannie Be- 
vins, of Kentucky, where she was born in 1844. 
By this union, there were three children, two of 
whom, James J. and Lewis B., are still living. 
Mr. S. has one hundred and twenty acres of 
land, all of which is- under a high state of culti- 
vation, with a fine home, valued at $10,000. He 
has been identified with the county all his life, 
and has seen all its various changes. 

George /^emii^er, hardware merchant. Auburn, 
Ills. Among the principal business interests of 
Auburn we are pleased to mention Mr. George 



HISTORY OF SAXGAMON COUNTY. 



vr.r 



Seuuiger, who embarked in business in 1874, as 
the firm of Buck & Senniger. The following 
year, Captain W. H. Hummel bought the interest 
of Mr. Buck and continued in business up to 
1878, when he bought his interest, and is at 
present sole proprietor. He carries a full line 
of shelf goods, stoves and everything else that 
is usually kept in a first-class store. He manu- 
factures all his tin-ware, roofing and spouting. 
Mr. S. is located on the northwest corner of the 
square, in a large and commodious building 
twenty by sixty, two-story frame building, and 
carries a stock of $3,000. Mr. Senniger was 
born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, Decem- 
ber 28th, 1837. When seventeen years old he 
was apprenticed, where he remained four years. 
In 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infan- 
try, nine months men, and participated in the 
battles of Fredericksburg and Chandlorville. 
Previous to entering the army in 1861, he mar- 
ried Miss Mary DeBaugh. She was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1841. The fruits of this marriage 
was nine children, eight of whom are living, 
Mary F., George J., David V., Allie, Julia, John, 
Louis and Charles. Mr. S. is a Republican in 
politics, and a member of the Masonic Order, 
Ark and Anchor Lodge No. 354, Auburn, Chap- 
ter and Commandery. 

John F. Smith, of the dry goods firm of 
Smith & Hamlin, Auburn, Illinois, is a native of 
Germany, and was born in 1842. Being of an 
adventurous turn of mind, he emigrated to 
America, alone, in 1856. After spending a year 
in Chicago he came to Springfield, and has since 
been a resident of Sangamon county, save two 
years (1867 and 1868) spent as book-keeper in a 
bank at Carbondale, Illinois. In 1869, Mr. Smith 
located in Pawnee, Sangamon county, as a gen- 
eral merchant, and carried on business there 
until 1876, when failing health compelled him to 
sell out. During the first year at Pawnee his 
sales were $11,000, and in 1875 they aggregated 
$43,000. The rapid increase of $32,000 in six 
years, in a village eleven miles from a railroad, 
demonstrated the business qualifications of the 
man. After closing out, he settled nearly three 
years on a farm near Pawnee; when, having re- 
cuperated his health, at the solicitation of his 
friend, J. A. Abel, he re-entered the mercantile 
business in Auburn, in September, 1879, with a 
stock of general merchandise, embracing dry 
goods, boots and shoes, clothing, hats, caps and 
notions. Frank L. Hamlin bought Mr. Abel's 
interest in April, 1881. The firm carries a stock 
of $13,000 to $15,000, and has an annual trade 



of $40,000; the sales of 1881 being twenty-five 
percent, larger than those of 1880. Besides 
his commercial interests, Mr. Smith, in company 
with Mr. Abel, has been engaged in the buying 
and shipping of live stock, of which they ship 
about one hundred and twenty-rive cars a year. 
In 1870, Mr. Smith married Maty E. Jarred, who 
was born in Indiana, in 1846, but rear d in San- 
gamon county, Illinois. They have two child- 
ren — Pearly, aged eleven years, and Lelia, eight 
years old. Mr. Smith was made a Mason in 
Pawnee, in 1869-70, and has taken the Royal 
Arch Degree; is also a member of I. O. O. F., 
Auburn Lodge. Mrs. Smith's father resides at 
Crow's Mill, Sangamon county, Illinois. Her 
mother died in 1869. Mr. Smith's parents both 
survive, and with four of their six children, re- 
side in Germany, His only brother in this 
country lives in Northern Iowa. 

Elihxi Stout, farmer and stock raiser, post 
office Auburn, was born in Scott county, Ken- 
tucky, January 30, 1816; son of Philemon and 
Penelope (Anderson) Stout. They were married 
in Kentucky, about 1810. There was a family 
of twelve children, six of whom lived to be men 
and women. In 1836, his father left his home 
in Kentucky for the Sangamo country, with 
team, where they arrived in due course of time, 
camping out on the way. It was customary in 
an early day, if they met movers, to ask them 
where they were going; remembers of asking a 
party (when they were coming through) where 
he was going, and he said to Iowa; being foreign 
to him, as he had never heard of Iowa before. 
Mr. Stout located in Ball tow^nship, where Phile- 
mon Stout now resides, where he bought an im- 
proved farm of three hundred and fifty acres, 
with eighty acres under cultivation, with a log 
cabin with two rooms, and known as the Dr. 
Dailey place, where his father remained until his 
death, which occurred in 1845. He was a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. At his death, was a 
large land owner, and one of the large and 
wealthy farmers of the county. The subject of 
this sketch married for his first wife. Miss Re- 
becca P. A. Patton, daughter of Colonel James 
Patton, by whom there was three children, two 
of which grew to manhood, James M. and Phile- 
mon. Mrs. Rebecca Stout died September 21, 
1852; and Elihu Stout married Mrs. Sarah J. 
Moore, whose maiden name was Williams. By 
this union there was five children, Thomas E. 
and Charles H.; three died in infancy. Mrs. 
Sarah J. Stout died September 17, 1866. For 
his third wife, married Mrs. Margaret E. Davis, 
whose maiden name was Williams. Mr. Stout 



118 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



has held several local offices of trust; has been 
a member of the Baptist Church for thirty-eight 
years. Is one of the large and influential farmers 
of the county, owning at one time seven hundred 
acres of land, all of which is under a high state 
of cultivation, valued at $65 per acre. Mr. Stout 
has been identified with the county for forty-five 
years, and has lived to see the wild uncultivated 
prairies converted into one of the finest counties 
in the State. 

X. C. Taylor,M. D. Auburn, Illinois, was born 
in Sa'igam.on county, Illinois, on the 9th day of 
April, 1854. Son of Ninian R. and Catharine 
(Halbut) Taylor. Mother a native of Virginia, 
and father a native of Illinois, who came to the 
county in an early day and located on a farm, 
which he followed for a number of years. Is 
at present engaged in the hardware and grocery 
business, at Williamsville. The Doctor received 
a good business education. In 1872, commenced 
reading medicine, with Dr. J. M. West, o£ 
Springfield, where he remained about four years; 
in the meantime, attended lectures at Rush Med- 
ical C'ollege, Chicago. In 1874 and 1875, attended 
Bellevue Medical College, where he graduated. 
He then returned to Springfield, where he 
entered into company with Dr. West, and re- 
mained one year, when he came to Auburn, 
where he has followed his profession since. The 
Doctor is a member of the District Medical 
Society ; also of the I. O. O. F., and Masonic 
Lodge, No. 354. 

William P. Taylor^ farmer, section twenty- 
five, postoffice at Auburn, Illinois, was born in 
Morgan county, Illinois, December 22, 1835. 
Son of George and Polly E. (Tucker) Taylor, 
natives of Kentucky. Emigrated in an early day 
to Morgan county, where he made a farm and 
raised a family of ten children, all of whom are 
living at this writing, the youngest being thirty- 
one years old, and the oldest fifty-one. His 
father came to the county in limited circum- 
stances, but by good management and hard 
work has accumulated a fine property, and to- 
day is living a retired life in Jacksonville, and 
himself and wife have lived together over half a 
century. William P. married Miss Mary 
McKain, in 1861. She was the daughter of John 
McKain, a native of Ireland. She was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, August 21st, 1840. By 
this union there were six children, five of whom 
are living: William W., Ulysses W„ Mary F., 
Laura E., George E. Has one hundred and 
twenty acres of land, all of which are under a 
high state of cultivation; value, $60 per acre. 



John Ten Brook, farmer and stock-raiser, post- 
office Virden, was born in Lycoming county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 19th day of February, 
1811, son of Jacob and Richard (Tate) Ten 
Brook, of German descent; mother being born on 
the ocean just previous to being landed in New 
York. His grand-fathers, Ten Brook and Tate 
were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. There 
were three children of his father's, two of whom 
are living, William, now a resident of Douglas 
county, Illinois, and the subject of this sketch. 
In 1820, his father moved to Ohio, near Cincin- 
nati, where he followed farming, and remained 
five years. He then removed to Parks county, 
Indiana, where he purchased three hundred and 
twenty acres of timber land, and commenced to 
make a farm, remaining there until his death. 
In 1833, married Miss Miry Wilkins, a daugh- 
ter of Michael Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, where 
she was born in 1813. There were ten children, 
five of whom are living, viz: Joseph, Martha, 
George, M. D., Annie and Ashbell. In 1860, his 
family having a throat disease, thought perhaps 
a change would be beneficial, he sold out and 
went to Springfield, Missouri . Mr. T. saw that 
there was trouble brewing, so he concluded as he 
had considerable gold that the bushwhackers 
would want to count it for him, but not needing 
any help that way, made up his mind to return to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, knowing that it was 
one of the best farming sections in the State, and 
settled on the farm where he now resides. Mr. 
Ten Brook has a farm of three hundred and 
forty-six acres, all of which is under a high state 
of cultivation, valued at seventy-five dollars per 
acre. 

J. R. Trott, M. D., was born in Lenn, April 
22, 1837; son of James J., and Rachel (Adair) 
Trott. His father was of Irish and mother of 
Scottish descent. His mother was a relative of 
Gen. Adair, who was a soldier of the Revolution- 
ary war. His father was a missionary, and his 
field of labor was among the Cherokee Indians. 
The subject of this sketch attained only a com- 
mon school education, and at- eighteen years old 
took up the study of medicine and his precep- 
tor. Dr. J. T. Evans, whom he studied under 
three years, and graduated at the St. Louis Med- 
ical College in 1857. He then took a trip in the 
Western States and Territories, and for several 
yeai-s was in the west; in 1863, returned to Mor- 
gan county, 111., where he took up the practice 
of his profession and continued up to 1872, when 
he again made a trip to the Indian Territory, 
after which he returned to Virden, Montgomery 
county. 111., where he opened a drug store in 






**S.^ 




HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



781 



connection with his practice. He was married 
to Miss Clayton, of Virden; she was born in 
1848. They have one child. Oscar, born March 

14, 1868. 

Daniel Wadsworth was born of a Quaker family 
in Winthrop, Kennebec county, Maine, May 

15, 1*799; married in December, 1823, Margaret F. 
Goodwin, a native of Freeport, Maine, and set- 
tled in Hallowell, in the same State. They have 
raised one son and three daughters, all of whom 
are* yet living. Several children died in infancy. 
Mr. Wadsworth spent the winter of 1839-40 in 
Mobile, Alabama, working at his trade of car- 
penter, and in the following spring he came up 
the river to Sangamon county, Illinois, stopping 
at Auburn, where the family of an old Maine 
friend, David Eastman, lived. He bought a 
small piece of land, worked thi'ough the sum- 
mer, returned home in the fall, sold his Maine 
property, packed up, and started in October for 
the far West, as Illinois was then called. The 
goods were sent by ship around to New Orleans, 
and thence to Alton. The family were a little 
over three weeks en route, much of the journey 
(through the Middle States) having to be made 
by canal. 

Mr. Wadsworth built him a home on South 
street, Auburn (old town), into which he moved 
in 1843, and still resides there — the only build- 
ing left within the limits of the town. The ven- 
erable pair, one eighty-two, and the other eighty, 
with an unmarried daughter, constitute the 
household. 

Mr. Wadsworth is one of the oldest Masons in 
Illinois, having taken the Chapter degrees about 
sixty years ago. He has ever been a very active 
and zealous member of this Order, and generally 
an officer. From his early manhood, he has been 
a faithful and consistent member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. He was postmaster at 
Auburn for ten years; has repeatedly held school 
cilices, and has been Notary Public for several 
years. 

William A. Wallace, merchant. Auburn, Illi- 
nois, was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the 
Slst day of December, 18o8. Received a good 
business education in Springfield. When four- 
teen years of age he commenced driving a 
delivery wagon for J. W. Bittenger, of Spring- 
field, and remained in that position for six 
months, when he was called into the office as 
bookkeeper, where he remained two years, when 
Mr. B. sold out and he was employed by iiis suc- 
cessor for a short time. He afterwards went to 
Mechanicsburg, wheie he was employed in a 
store for an uncle for three years. Then came J 
91— 



to Auburn, where he was employed as an agent 
a short time, when he embarked in his present 
business. Mr. Wallace commenced a poor boy, 
and by his own exertions has accumulated a fine 
property, and is one of the enterprising business 
men of the town. 

William M. West, farmer and stock raiser, 
section thirty, post office Virden, was born in 
Nicholas county, Kentucky, on the 30th day of 
April, 1828; son of Elijah and Elizabeth (Hen- 
derson) West; father of English descent and na- 
tive of Delaware, and mother of Maryland. They 
were married in Maryland, and emigrated to 
Kentucky in an early day. There was a family 
of ten children, nine of whom lived to be men 
and women. In 1833, with a four horse team, 
they started for Morgan county, Illinois, where 
they arrived in due course of time; camping on 
the prairies and cooking by the way. Tiie first 
winter was spent in a log cabin, eighteen by 
twenty feet. The following sj^ring they moved 
to Macoupin Point, where he kept a stage stand, 
being twelve miles from any other habitation; 
and in the spring following, came to Auburn, 
Sangamon county, Illinois, and located near 
Sugar creek, where he purchased one hundred 
and twenty acres of land of a man named Abells. 
The improvements consisted of a log cabin and 
twelve acres which were under the plow; where 
he made a farm and lived until his death, which 
occurred July 8, 1840. His mother, surviving 
him some years, died in 1863. They were mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
sincere Christians, and left a large family to 
mourn their loss. William M. was married in 
1855, to Miss Hannah Landes, a daughter of 
David Landes, of Kentucky. She was born in 
Sangamon county, April 22, 1838. They have 
six living children, Cornelia, Flora, William II., 
Annie Lucretia and Mary. In 1852, he bought 
his present place of one hundred and sixty acres, 
which was in its wild state, and through his 
own exertion has brought it under a high state 
of cultivation, and it is valued at |75 per acre. 

Mr. West has held several local offices of 
trust in the township, and is at present justice 
of the peace. Mr. West has lived in the county 
for nearly fifty years; has seen the county from 
its infancy and wild state to one of the best 
counties in the State. 

M. S Wheeler, M. D , Auburn, 111., was born 
in Belfontaine, Ohio, on tlie 29th day of Sep- 
tember, 1838; son of John and Margaret (Donald) 
Wheeler; father of English descent and mother 
of American; father by trade wasa ship-builder, 
which he followed for many years; afterwards 



1S2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



embarked in merchandizing, and owned and 
controlled a line of stages running from Cincoto 
Sandusky City. In 1852, came to Illinois, and 
located at Greenville, 111., where he purchased a 
farm, where M. S., received a liberal educa- 
tion. At the age of twenty-two, commenced the 
reading of medicine with Dr. Wm. P. Brown at 
Greenville, 111., where he remained three years in 
the time attended lectures at the Rush Medical 
College, Chicago. In the spring of 1864, com- 
menced the practice of his profession at Tren- 
ton, Clinton county, 111., where he remained 
until the fall of 1866, when he came to Auburn, 
and after practicing one year, when he attended 
Rush Medical College and gra'iuated with 
honors, since which time he has prosecuted his 
profession here. By close attention to his busi- 
ness, has secured a large and lucrative practice, 
and is the oldest resident physician in the 
village. In 1869, married Miss Kate B.Harney, 
a daughter of Alfied Harney, an early settler of 
Auburn township; she was born in Morgan coun- 
ty. There are three children — John A., Thorn- 
ton R., and Frank, members of the Masonic 
Lodge, No. 354, of Auburn. 

St/lvanus J. Wineman, deceased, Auburn, 
Illinois, was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, 
on the 23d day of March 1823. Son of Philip 
and Jane Wineman, of this county, where he 
was reared on a farm, and received a common 
school education ; June 11, 1862, married Mrs. 
Margaret Kessler, who was born December 22, 
1833, widow of George Kessler, who died August 
12, 1859, leaving a family of two children — 
John W. and Florence Bell — who died January 

22, 1860. Mrs. Wineman is the daughter of 
Eddin and Winfield Lewis, who emigrated from 
Kentucky in 1818, and located on Sugar creek, 
where he lived until his death, which occurred 
January 29, 1850, leaving a family of nine 
children to mourn his loss. Mr. Lewis was an 
energetic business man, coming to the county 
with nothing but his hands, accumulated a lai'ge 
properly, and at his death owned 1,000 acres of 
land. iVIrs. Lewis died previously in 1843. 
Mr. Wineman was father of two children, 
one of whom is still living — Mary A., born 
September 22, 1865. Mr. Wineman died July 

23, 1875. At his death, he left a property of 
three hundred and twenty acres, since which 
time Mrs. W. has added eighty, making a farm of 
four hundred acres, being located near the village 
of An'- urn, and valued at %1b per acre. She is 
a member of the Presbyterian Church, having 
been connected with that church since she was 
sixteen years of age. 



Joel B. Wbolsei/, farmer and stock raiser, sec- 
tion seven, post office. Auburn, was born in On- 
ondaga county. New York, on the 25th day of 
May, 1834; sou of Joseph and Percilla A. (Bar- 
ber) Woolsey, who were married in Onondaga 
county, New York, May 4, 1831. There was a 
family of eight children, of whom six are living, 
Edward P., James D., George W., Simeon L., 
Amos H., and Joel B.; two died in infancy. In 
1836, left his home in Onondaga county, New 
York, with his family and started then for the 
Far West, and located near Jerseyville, where 
he entered eighty acres of land, where he has 
resided since. Joel B. was reared on his father's 
farm where he received a limited education, re- 
maining at home until he was twenty-one. 
When twenty-three he married Miss Martha 
Fitzgeralds, a daughter of Jessie and Elizabeth 
Fitzge raids, natives of Kentucky, who came to 
Jersey county in an early day, where she was 
born, April 28, 1839. By this union there were 
nine children, five of whom are living, Ella V., 
born September 18, 1858; Elizabeth, A. born 
November 26, 1866; Clara Z., born April 25, 
1870; Frances S., born March 11, 1873; Daisy E., 
born March 7, 18 76. Mr. W. is a member of the 
Masonic and I. O. O. F. lodges of Auburn; has a 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land, all 
of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
valued at $65 per acre. He came to the county 
in 1859 a poor man, and rented for some years 
but finally bought his present place, where he is 
comfortably located. 

James M. Wyatt, (deceased). Auburn town- 
ship, was born in Morgan county, Illinois, near 
Jacksonville, on the 8th day of April, 1829. Sou 
of John and Rebecca Wyatt, who came to that 
county in an early day. James M. was reared 
on a farm, and received a good business educa- 
tion. When seventeen years of age embarked 
in the mercantile business, which he followed 
for twelve years. In 1856, married Miss Martha 
J. Lutrell, daughter of John R. and Margaret 
(Duncan) Lutrell. She was born in Moi'gan 
county, Illinois, in 1836. There was a family of 
six children, all of which are living. Chas. E., 
John W., Ella M., Frederick S., Maggie A. and 
James M. In August, 1860, came to Sangamon 
county, and located six nales west of Auburn, 
on a farm, where he remained a few years, when 
he came to where the family now reside and re- 
mained until his death, which occurred July 27, 
1875. Mr. Wyatt was a man that was highly 
respected by all who knew him. He was the 
embodiment of honesty and morality. The loss 
was severely felt by his death. He was buried 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



783 



by Auburn Lodge I. O. O. F., (assisted by the 
Auburn Lodges) of which he was a member. 
There was an appropriate address delivered by 
Dr. W. D. Wheeler, in an impressive manner. 
Mr. W. was a kind and indulgent father and 
husband. He died leaving a fine property of 
one hundred and eighty-five acres of valuable 
land, worth $15 per acre. 

Mrs. Wyatt resides on the farm, is a member 
of the Christian Church, and has been since she 
was nineteen years old. 

In the history of Auburn township, we have 
given short personal histories of a large number 
of the pioneers, and the best and most enterpris- 
ing men and women in the township. In mak- 



ing selections of subjects for these brief memoirs 
we are not ignorant of the fact that we have 
omitted some — indeed, many — who are worthy 
an honorable mention in these pages. An end- 
less amount of historical matter found in Sanga- 
mon county, has swelled this volume to propor- 
tions much larger than was at first contemplated 
by the publishers, and space would not, there- 
fore, admit of a more extended biographical 
mention of the titizens of this township. In the 
notices given, we were compelled, for reasons 
given above, to confine ourselves to mere fact, 
leaving unwritten much that is really due the 
strong- hearted, hardy first settlers, and those 
who followed to I'ound up and polish the work. 



784 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XXIX. 



BALL TOWNSHIP. 



To Ball township belongs the honor of the 
first settlement in Sangamon county. In the 
fall of 1816, Robert PuUiam erected a cabin on 
Sugar creek, on section twenty-one, being the 
first building in all the territory now comprising 
the county of Sangamon. Mr. PuUiam brought 
with him a herd of cattle for the purpose of 
wintering them in this favored region. During 
the fall he cut a large quantity of grass and pea 
vines, with which he fed them during the win- 
ter. Power, in his history of the early settlers, 
says: "Robert Pulliam was born April 12,1776, 
in Henry county, Virginia. His father, John 
Pulliam, emigrated to ITentucky when Robert 
was a boy, and the family moved from there to 
Illinois, arriving in 1 796, in what was then called 
the New Desian settlement, now a part of Mon- 
roe county. The next year they moved into a 
settlement in the District of St. Louis, in what 
was then locally known as 'New Spain.' They 
moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a few 
years later to Randolph county, Illinois, near 
where the town of Red Bud now stands. In 
1802, Robert Pulliam improved a farm a few 
miles east of Belleville, St. Clair county, and 
about 1803 he settled in the American Bottom, 
near the Bluff, six or seven miles below the pres- 
ent city of Alton. Mary Stout was born April 
9, 1776, but the locality is not known. Robert 
Pulliam and Mary Stout were married Septem- 
ber 13, 1804. In 1815 they moved to St. Clair 
county, and in the fall of 1817, leaving his fam- 
ily in St. Clair county, he, with two or three 
hired men, and a woman by the name of Strick- 
land — sister of one of the hired men — to cook 
for them, he came to Sugar creek and built a 
cabin in the timber, on the east side of the 
creek. The land is now owned by James Scott, 
and is situated three-fourths of a mile west of a 
point ten and a half miles due south of Spring- 
field, on a line with Sixth street. The cabin 



was built in a forest composed principally of 
sugar trees. As the spring approached, Mr. Pul- 
liam put his men to work and made sugar. As 
the season advanced, causing the grass to grow, 
he collected his horses and cattle and returned 
to his family in St. Clair county, in the spring 
of 1818." 

Mr. Pulliam did not return to Sangamon 
county until the Spring of 1819. When he did 
so he found Zachariah Peter in possession of 
his cabin, Mr. Peter at once vacated and Mr. 
Pulliam and family took possession. This was 
the home of Mr. Pulliam until his death, which 
occurred July 31, 1838. 

A paper was prepared by Governor John Rey- 
nolds, to be I'ead at the first old settlers' meeting 
in Sangamon county, in 1859. In that paper 
Governor Reynolds relate some incidents in 
the life of Robert Pulliam. It is known to all 
the old settlers that Mr. Pulliam wore an artific- 
ial leg. Governor Reynolds says that one of 
Mr. Pulliam's legs became diseased, and in the 
summer of 1808 it was found to be absolutely 
necessary to amputate it in order to save his life. 
Dr. Tuthill, of Cahokia, performed the opera- 
tion. The Governor says : "I resided with my 
father in the neighborhood of Mr. Pulliam, and 
knew the circumstances of the amputation. The 
patient possessed such courage that he !held 
his body as firm as a rock, without assistance, 
during the operation. I presume this was the 
first amputation of a limb that occurred in Illi- 
nois, and at that time was considered a surgical 
operation almost superhuman." Governor Rey- 
nolds describes Mr. Pulliam as a man of tine pro- 
portions and perfect physical development. He 
says the circumstances of his life prevented his 
obtaining an education from books, to any con- 
siderable extent, but his natural good sense and 
opportunities for studying men, enabled him to 
hold a place in the front rank of business men of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



■85 



that time. He was fond of the rude sports of 
the times; such as horse racing, hunting, and 
games of various kinds, but later in life he felt 
that the example was injurious, and changed his 
course. He first united with the Baptist church, 
and then, for greater convenience, connected 
himself with the Methodist church, and his wife 
did the same. They continued in this commun- 
ion to the end of their lives. Mr. Pulliam un- 
derstood the advantages of improved machinery, 
and endeavored to introduce it into the settle- 
ment whenever it was practicable. He was one 
of the earliest to build a mill in the county. It 
was run by tread-wheel, and the motive power 
was either horses or oxen. All the early settlers 
raised cotton quite extensively, and he was one 
of the first, if not the first, to introduce a cotton 
gin into the settlement. 

The first meeting of the Old Settlers' Society 
was held on the site of the first cabin, an account 
of which is given in the chapter on the Pioneer 
Society. 

In the spring of 1818, William Drennan and 
his half brother, Joseph Drennan, his son-in-law, 
Joseph Dodds, and George Cox, left their families 
near Alton, and, with their teams, farming im- 
plements, provisions, and all the young men and 
boys belonging to the families who were able to 
assist in making a home, started, piloted by a 
white man named William Moore, who had be- 
longed to a company that had been over the 
country before, in fighting the Indians. He was 
called an Indian Ranger. Arriving at Sugar 
crock, they took a day or two for exploring, and 
on March 10, 1818, drove to the spot on which 
William Drennan built his cabin, and which 
proved to be section thirty- two, town fourteen, 
range five west, when the government made its 
survey. It is on the northwest side of Sugar 
creek, and about twelve miles nearly due south 
of Springfield, and near where the Sugar Creek 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church now stands. 
Immediately after their arrival they built two 
cabins. One was occupied by George Cox alone. 
The other was occupied for the summer by Wil- 
liam and Joseph Drennan and Joseph Dodds. 
That was the one spoken of as belonging to 
William Drennan. As they had not the slight- 
est idea of cultivating the prairie, these three 
men agreed to clear all the land they could in 
one body, and have a crop from it that year in 
comtn.( n, with the understanding that before 
another year they were all to work together until 
an equal sized piece was cleared for the other 
two. They cleared the timber from about fifteen 
acres, fenced it, plowed as well as they could 



among the roots and stumps with a little short 
wooden mould-board plow, and planted it in corn 
and pumpkins. The soil in the timber was very 
light — so much so that in some places they would 
almost sink in OTer their shoes. In fencing this 
land they inclosed about three-foui-ths of an acre 
of prairie. After they had plowed and planted 
their crop, one of the men suggested that it was 
quite a waste to have that under fence and noth- 
ing growing on it, and proposed that they break 
it up and plant something on it. In order to 
make sure work, they uncoupled one of their 
wagons, hitched four horses to the forward wheels, 
and fastened their wooden mould-board p'ow to 
the axle. They soon found this was a failure. 

Try as they would, the plow would not enter 
the sod, and they reluctantly gave it up. While 
they were taking off the team and plow, one of 
the boys, full of fun and mischief, took up a 
hoe, and began to shave the grass off, saying he 
could break the prairie with his hoe. That sug- 
gested an idea to one of the men, and he, also, 
took a hoe and began shaving the grass. It was 
the work of but a few minutes to remove the 
sod from a spot several feet in diameter. He 
then called one of the other men, and proposed 
that, as they were well advanced with their 
work, and there were seven or eight of them, 
and all had hoes, that they call all hands to- 
gether and shave the grass from the whole piece, 
plant something on it, and see what would be. 
the result. The man spoken to first laughed at 
the idea as ridiculous, but after studying a 
moment, he fell in with it, and the men and boys 
were all called up, and the grass shaved oft", holes 
dug, and corn and pumpkin seed planted. They 
did not touch it any more; that killed the grass. 
The crop was fully twice as much, in proportion 
to the area, as that planted among the stumps, 
and the next spring it broke up the nicest of any 
land they had ever seen. This taught them an 
important lesson, and caused them to make 
greater exertions to induce some one to invent a 
plow that would break the prairie. I have this 
account from the venerable William Drennan, 
who was one of the young men that assisted in 
doing the work, and who has lived in sight of 
the spot to the present time. Several years 
elapsed before a plow was invented that would 
do good work at breaking. In the meantime, 
the early settlers continued clearing their land, 
that they might have it to cultivate, and were 
always uneasy for fear their timber would be ex- 
hausted. 

In the fall of 1818, the Drennans, with Cox 
and Dodds, brought their families. The Dren- 



•786 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



nans and Cox had their cabins built on arrival, 
but Dodds was not so fortunate, and therefore 
moved into a rail pen, where he lived until a 
cabin could be erected. 

While the men were gone after their families, 
they left the boys in charge of their growing 
crops. On one occasion an Indian came along 
and cffered tbe boys twenty-five cents for as 
many pumpkins as he could carry. His offer was 
accepted by the boys and he was allowed to take 
bis pumpkins. He took his blanket and gathered 
the corners, filled it, then taking up one and 
placing the stem in his month ga\ e a grunt and 
started off. This was probably the first cash sale 
of produce in the county. 

William Drennan lived to a good old age, and 
was " gathered to his fathers" in 1847, while his 
wife survived him many years. Joseph Dren- 
nan died October 22, 18G5, and his widow, Mrs. 
Rebecca Drennan in 1866. George Cox died 
November, 1819. Joseph Dodds died January 
21, 1869, and his wife, Martha Dodds, January 
10, 1853. 

Ball township was settled quite rapidly after 
the arrival of the parties above mentioned. 

Louis Laughlin came in 1821, with his family, 
and settled on section twenty-nine, where he re- 
mained about fifteen years, when he moved to 
Wisconsin, and died since the war. Mr. Laugh- 
lin was one of the first persons in Sangamon 
county to advocate the abolition of slavery, and 
lived to see it accomplished. 

James Anderson came in 1820. He was born 
in Virginia, moved from there to Kentucky, 
thence to Indiana, and then to Illinois. He set- 
tled on section thirty-three, but afterwards 
moved to the north fork of the Sangamon river, 
and died in 1828. 

Thomas Black came in 1819, and settled near 
the Auburn line. He soon built a distillery and 
horse mill, which were extensively patronized by 
the surrounding country. 

Alexander Richie settled on section thirty- 
three in 1822, from which place he moved to 
Texas, ard died about 1844. 

John Richie also came in 1822, and settled on 
the same section. He afterwards removed to 
Iowa where he died., 

Job Fletcher, Sr., was born in Rockbridge 
county, Virginia, from whence he moved to 
Kentucky, and from there to Illinois, settling in 
this towi.f-hip in 1819. On the very night of his 
arrival in the settlement, Mr. Fletcher was called 
to write the will of George Cox, who came the 
year before with the Drennan and Dodds fami- 
lies. That was the first will from what is now 



Sangamon county, ever put on record, and was 
registered at Edwardsville. 

Mr. F. had to buy corn for bread and to feed 
his stock until he could I'aise a crop. The 
nearest point at which he found any for sale was 
three miles south of Edwardsville. Mr. Fletcher 
bought of Major lies the first window glass ever 
sold in Springfield, and the first ever put in a 
window in Sangamon county. He also believed 
that he taught the first school in the county, in 
a log cabin built for that purpose, in 1820 or 
'21, south of Sugar creek. A Sunday school 
was organized near where he lived in 1825, by 
Rev. J. M. Peck, and Mr. Fletcher taught in 
that school also. It was near where the Sugar 
Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church now 
stands. Mr. Fletcher occupied a prominent 
position in the county at an early day, and was 
one of the famous "Long Nine." He died in 
1872. 

Joseph Dodds was born in Abbeville District, 
South Carolina, in the year 1786 on the 28th of 
May. He was taken by his mother to Caldwell 
county, Kentucky, in 1797, or '8. He was there 
married. May 3, 1810, to Mattie Drennan. They 
had three children in Kentucky, and in October, 
1817, he accompanied his father-in-law, William 
Drennan to Illinois. In November, they stopped 
on Wood river, in Madison county, two miles 
north of Alton, and remained there until the 
next March, when the men and boys connected 
with four families started for Sugar creek, San- 
gamon county, piloted by William Moore, an 
Indian ranger. They reached their destination 
on the first of March, 1818, stopping in what is 
now Ball township, northwest of Sugar creek. 
There had not been any survey made, but the 
spot selected by Mr. Dodds, and on which he 
built his cabin, is now section twenty-nine, town 
fourteen, range five west, and that of William 
Drennan is section thirty-two, same town and 
range. Mr. Dodds had been too busy with his 
crop to build anything better than a double rail 
pen for the protection of his family. Mr. Dodds 
brought his family to their new home November 
3, ]8l8. Mrs. Martha Dodds died January 10, 
U53, and Joseph Dodds died January 21, 1868, 
both on the farm where they settled in 1818. 
Joseph Dodds became very much dissatisfied 
soon after coming to Sangamon county, and 
determined to return to Kentucky. He sold all 
the property he could spare to obtain money to 
defray the expense, and loaded his wagon; but 
his horses strayed away the night previous to 
the time he intended starting, and before he 
could find them his money was gone. He was 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



rsT 



thus compelled to remain. After becoming 
reconciled, he often expressed his thanks to those 
horses for running away. 

Abram Pease was born July 22, 1791, in Mar- 
tha's Vineyard, Dukes county, Massachusetts. 
The ancestors of this family were from Wales, 
and came to America more than two hundred 
years ago, settling in Massachusetts. Abram 
Pease went to the State of New York when a 
young man, and was married there, August 18, 
1811, to Orpha Southwick. He was a soldier in 
the War of 1812, from Cayuga county. New 
York. Abram Pease and wife came to Sanga- 
mon county with the family of Jesse Southwick, 
arriving in 1818 in what is now Ball township. 
He died in 1832. 

Joseph Drennan was born in the Pendleton 
District, South Carolina, April 16, 1786. He was 
a half-' rother of and much younger than Wil- 
liam Drennan, senior. Joseph Drennan was 
married in South Carolina to Rebecca Evets. 
About 1807, the family moved to Caldwell coun- 
ty, Kentucky, and they moved to what is now 
Ball township, Sangamon county, Illinois, com- 
ing himself in March 10, 1818, and bringing his 
family in September of that year. 

John Taylor was born in Danville, Kentucky. 
He came when a young man to Madison county, 
Illinois, and was there married to Elizabeth 
Burkhead, who was born near Charleston, South 
Carolina. They returned to Kentucky, and 
moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, and from there 
to what became Sangamon county, arriving in 
1819 on Sugar creek, in what is now Ball town- 
ship. 

Job Fletcher, Sen., was born November 11, 
1793, in Rockbridge county, Virginia. His 
father died when he was an infant, and his 
mother moved with her elder son, John, in the 
autumn of 1808, to Logan county, Kentucky, and 
the next spring to that part of Christian which 
was afterwards Todd county. Job remained in 
the family of his brother John, attending school 
and teaching. He served as a soldier six months 
in the War of 1812, and as such assisted in bury- 
ing the dead after the Battle of Tippecanoe, al- 
though he was not in the battle. Mary Kerch- 
ner was born May 25, 1878, in Augusta county, 
Virginia, and was taken by her parents to Todd 
county, Kentucky. Job Fletcher and Mary 
Kerchner wei'e there married, December 22, 1818, 
and moved to what became Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving November IJ, 1819, in what is 
now Ball township. 

He died September 4, 1872, within half a mile 
of where he settled in 1819. 



John Brownell was born in Rhode Island, Au- 
gust 14, 1800. During his infancy his parents 
removed to Seneca, New York. He came west 
with the family of William Seely. Mr. B. and 
the other members of his family came by water 
to Shawneetown, and from there in wagons, ar- 
I'iving in what is now Ball township, July 5, 
1819. John Brownell was married to Nancy 
PuUiam in 1821. 

James Sims was born in Virginia, and taken 
by his parents to South Carolina, where he was 
married to DoIlySpillers. They moved to Logan 
county, Kentucky, and from there to Caldwell 
county; thence to St. Clair county, Illinois, and 
from there to Sugar creek, Sangamon county, 
arriving in the spring of 1820, in what became 
Ball township, Sangamon county. He built a 
hoi'se mill there to run by bands. He quarried 
stone of the same kind of which the first [State 
House in Springfield was built, and by the aid 
of his brother-in-law, William Spillers, made 
the burrs for his mill. He was the first Repre- 
sentative from Sangamon county in the State 
Legislature. He moved to Rock Creek, in what 
is nowMenard county, and from there to Morgan 
county. He was a Methodist preacher, and 
formed the first circuit ever organized in Sanga- 
mon county. 

George Brunk was born December 22, 1804, 
in Miami county, Ohio. At seventeen years of 
age he came to Sangamon county. III., arriving 
in the fall of 1821. He entered eighty acres of 
land in what is now Ball township, returning to 
Ohio, and brought his mother, and step-father, 
Thomas Royal, with his brothers and sisters, to 
Sangamon county, and settled them on the land 
he had entered, where Dr. Shields now resides. 
He entered more land, built for himself a hewed 
log house, and was married Dec. 30, 1827, to 
Mary Boyd. 

Job F. Harris was born in Rockbridge county, 
Va., Sept. 19, 1798, and was taken by his parents 
to Barren county, Ky., in 1806. He was ap- 
prenticed to learn the business of cabinet 
making, and moved to St. Louis, in 1816. Busi- 
ness being dull, his master released him, and he 
spent some time on the lower Mississippi, and 
went from New Orleans to the Rocky Mountains, 
with a company of trappers, returning in the fall 
of 1818. In the Fall of 1822 he came to Sanga- 
mon county, in what is now Ball township. In 
1827, he enlisted in a Sangamon county company 
in the Winnebago war. He died July 29, 1866. 
His widow and children live two and a half 
miles northeast of Auburn. 



788 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



I" 



Mr. Harris voted for Abraham Lincoln every 
time he was a candidate for any office, from Cap- 
tain of a military company to President of the 
United States for the second time. 

Anthony Deardoff was born in 1786, in Penn- 
sylvania. Elizabeth Powell was born in 1800, 
in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. They were 
married in 1818, in Franklin county, Ohio. The 
family then moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in the fall of 1823, in what is now Ball 
to w n sh i p . ' ' ■• j 'li' i^'' • ' '''-^ 

Thomas Royal was born about l-^-Sr^, in Man- 
chester, England. He came to America with a 
comrade about his own age, near the beginning 
of the war for Independence. They both volun- 
teered in the army of the Colonists, and his com- 
rade at his side had his head blown completely 
off. At the same time Mr. Royal was severely 
wounded by a charge of buckshot entering his 
ankle, some of Avhich he cairied to his grave. 
After the Revolution he married a Miss Cooper, 
in Virginia, and rait^ed a family. Mrs. Royal 
died, and he married Rebecca Matthews. They 
moved to Franklin county, Ohio, where Mrs. 
Rebecca Royal died. Mr. Royal married Mrs. 
Ellen Brunk. They moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, with her sons, George and David Brunk, 
the Newcomer family, and others, numbering 
in all nearly sixty-three persons, arriving in the 
fall of 1824, in what is now Ball township. He 
died in 1834. 

Joseph Logsdon was born in Madison county, 
Kentucky, about 1780. lie was married to a 
Miss Simmons. They moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving in 1824, in what is now 
Ball township, near where St. Bernard Church 
now stands. In 1832 or '33, he moved his fam- 
ily to Missouri, and from there to Texas. He 
died in 1848, on his road from Texas to Califor- 
nia. He is particularly remembered in the 
vicinity of St. Bernard Church, from the fact 
that the first religious services ever conducted 
by a Catholic priest in Sangamon county was 
held at his house in 1829. 

Peter Dtardoff, brother to Anthony, was 
born in Pennsylvania ; married in Ohio to 
Hannah Brunk, came to Sangamon county in 
18-24 with George Brunk. 

David Brunk was born December 17, 1819, in 
Ohio ; came with his mother and step-father, 
Thomas Royal, to Sangamon county in Decem- 
ber, 1824. He was married November 5, 1833, 
to Maria Shoup, and died in 1855. 

Gilbert Dodds, born in Spartanburg District, 
South Carolina, June 6, I7i)3, and was taken by 
his mother, first to Tennessee, and from there to 



Caldwell county, Kentucky. He was married 
October 12, 1815, in Caldwell county, to Mary- 
Clinton. Her father, James Clinton, was Cap- 
tain of a company in the Revolution. Gilbert 
Dodds and wife moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in August, 18-24, in what is 
now Ball township, and joined his brother 
Joseph, who came six years previous. 

Rev. Gilbert Dodds became a minister in the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in early life. 
He was for many years pastor of the Sugar 
creek church, and was always an active, energetic 
advocate of temperance. In 1847, he moved to 
Menard county, a few miles south of Peters- 
burg. Mrs. Mary Dodds died July 9, 1866, and 
Rev. Gilbert Dodds died May 3, 1872, both near 
Petersburg; the latter was a strong advocate of 
the Abolitionist party up to his death. 

William Burtle was born July 1, 1780, near 
Montgomery Court House, Maryland. His pa- 
rents moved when he was a boy to Washington 
county, Kentucky. Sarah Ogden was born in 
1786, in St. Mary's county, Maryland. Her 
father died when she was a child, and her 
mother moved, with several children, to Wash- 
ington county, Kentucky. William Hurtle and 
Sarah Ogden were there married, about 1805. 
The family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in October, 1826, in what is now Ball 
township. Mr. Burtle entered land and made 
improvements for a permanent home, about two 
hundred yards east of where St. Bernard's Cath- 
olic Church now stands, and moved on it in the 
spring of 1828. 

William, Jr., born August 9, 1822, in Grayson 
county, Kentucky, came with his parents to San- 
gamon county in October, 1826; was married 
September 4,' 1856, to Mrs. Elizabeth A. Simp- 
son, whose maiden name was White. William 
Burtle has been a school teacher, justice of the 
peace, and for more than twenty years Treasurer 
and Collector of Ball township; also a member 
of the Board of Supervisors of Sangamon 
county. He was also elected President of the 
Old Settlers' Society, in 1874, for one year. He 
now lives in Aubiirn, engaged in mercantile 
business with his step-son, Jerome Simpson. 

William Burtle, Jr., remembers that his father 
and James Simpson sent a request to St. Louis 
that a priest visit their neighborhood. Rev. Mr. 
Dusuaswa came in 1829, and held services at the 
residence of Joseph Logsdon. That M'^as the 
first service ever held by a Catholic priest in 
Sangamon county, and long before any thing of 
the kind took place in Springfield. William 
Burtle remembers that there were but two 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



789 



Catholic families in Springtield. The next ser- 
vices were at the house of Wm. Burtle, Sr., by 
Eev. Joseph A. Lulz. The next priest to visit 
them was the Rev. Mr. Van Quickenbon. Ser- 
vices were held at the house of William Burtle, 
Sr., until 1849, when St. Bernard's Church was 
built. One edifice was burned, and the present 
one was built on the same ground. St. Bernard's 
church is associated with that at Virden in sus- 
taining a priest. 

Id I Mrs. William Burtle relates, in a very amusing 
manner, some of her experience on coming to 
the county. She had listened to the descriptions 
of the flowers blooming on the prairies, and 
made up her mind that it Avould lend additional 
charms to those she was acquainted with to culti- 
vate them on the prairie, where the wild flowers 
could grow around them. She came prepared 
with seeds, and at the proper season armed her- 
self with a hoe and sallied forth to indulge her 
taste for horticulture on the raw prairie. The 
romance all vanished at the first blow, as the 
hoe rebounded without making the slightest im- 
pression. Until that time she thought that j^low- 
ing with large ox-teams was overdoing the work, 
but then became fully satisfied that it was in- 
dispensable as a preparation for the cultivation 
of the soil. 

Zachariah Ogden was born November 11, 
1794, near Frederick City, St. Mary's county 
Maryland. His father died there when he 
was quite young, and his mother moved to 
Washington county, Kentucky. Zachariah was 
married, in 1815, in Grayson county, to Eliza- 
beth Peerce. The family moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving October 13, 1827, in 
what is now Ball townships. He died 1869. 

James Simpson was born about 1785, in Mary- 
land and went to Washington county, Kentucky, 
when he was a young man, and was there mar- 
ried to Mary A. Boone, and she died. Pie then 
married Monica McAtee, and the family moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall 
of 1828. He located about one hundred and 
fifty yards southeast of where St. Bernard 
Catholic church now stands, in Ball township, 
George Moftitt was born in Augusta county, 
Virginia, about 1780, was married to Rebecca 
Gilkison, and then moved to Fayette county, 
Kentucky. The family moved to Christian 
county, Kentucky, and from there to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving in w^hat is now Ball 
township in 1829. He died in 1860. 

Richard Simpson, brother to James, was born 
in 1790 in Maryland, went when he was a boy, 
with his parents to Washington county, Ken- 

92— 



tucky. He was there married to Monica Hig- 
don. She died, and he married Ann Vinson, 
in Kentucky, and moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in lb30, in what is now Bali 
township. After a stay of but one year in San- 
gamon county, Richard Simpson moved his 
family to Christian county, and both died 
there. 

David H. Hermon was born in Wilks county. 
North Carolina, January 12, 1805. His grand- 
father was German and his grandmother English. 
Sally Mitts was born February 11, 1811, in Grant 
county Kentucky. They were married in that 
county, August 27, 1827, moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving October 26, 1830, in 
what is now Ball township. They lived in a 
cabin one mile west of Sugar creek timber, and 
spent the winter of the " deep snow" tliere. 
But one other family lived away from the tim- 
ber. The recollection of Mr. Hermon is that 
rain fell for a day or two until the earth was satu- 
rated. The day before Christmas the rain turned 
to snow, and by night it was about six inches 
deep. Snow continued to fall almost every day 
for six weeks. February 11, 1831, was the first 
time he saw the sun, and then it was partially 
eclipsed. He burned all the rails and loose 
timber of every kind near his house, and it was 
all he could do to keep himself and family from 
freezing. 

Jacob Gi'eenawalt was born October 27, 1804, 
in Hardin county, Kentucky. Mary Bradley was 
born August 4, 1810, in Larue county, Kentucky. 
They were there married, January 29, 1827, and 
moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving 
October, 1830, in what is now Ball township, and 
the next year moved to Putnam county. The 
Black Hawk Indian war breaking out, he returned 
to Sangamon county. After the capture of 
Black Hawk, he went back to Putnam, but sold 
out there, and returned to Sangamon in 1836. 
He died in 1863. 

John Fletcher was born about 1774, in Rock- 
bridge county, Virginia. Was a brother of Job 
Fletcher. Was a younger brother of his. John 
Fletcher was married in 1803, in Augusta coun- 
ty, Virginia, to Elizabeth McElvain, a native of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. 
Fletcher in 1806 emigrated to that part of Chris- 
tian county which became Todd county, Ken- 
tucky. They moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, arriving in the spring of 1830 in what is 
now Ball township. The family, including his 
son Job, with his wife and child, consisted of 
eleven persons, and their first place of residence 
was a log cabin sixteen feet square, belonging to 



791) 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



his brother Job, who liad preceded him eleven 
years. 

Daniel Easley was born October 18, 17*73, in 
Stokes county, North Carolina. In I'/Ql he 
went to South Carolina, ajid in 1801 to Cald- 
well county, Kentucky. He was there married 
in ] 805 to Mrs. Margaret Ritchie. They came 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the 
spring of 1830, in what is now Ball township. 
Daniel Easley died at Auburn, Sangamon county, 
February 13, 1874. If the date of his birtli is 
correct, as given to the writer by the old gentle- 
man himself about fifteen months before his 
death, he was one hundred years, three months 
and twenty-five days old. 

His recollection of events was quite distinct. 
He related incidents connected with the ascen- 
sion of the first steamboat on the Ohio river, 
which he witnessed; also of the War of 1812. 
He united with the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church when he was eighty years of age. 

The Stout family, though not as old settlers as 
many others, are worthy of mention in this con- 
neclion. Power, in his History of the early set- 
tlers of Sangamon county, has this to say of the 
family: 

"The origin of this family in America is quite 
romantic. The principal points in their history 
may be found in Benedict's History of the Bap- 
tists. Some of his statements are based on the 
writings of an earlier historian. The following 
embraces all that is known on the subject: 

"Some time during the seventeenth century, 
probably about 1680 or 1690, a young couple, 
just married, in Holland, embarked on a vessel 
bound for America. The voyage was prosper- 
ous until they were nearing the port of New 
Amsterdam, now the city of New York. The 
vessel was wrecked off what is now the coast of 
New Jersey, and nearly all on board drowned. 
The young couple of Hollanders escaped drown- 
ing, and with a small number of the passengers 
and crew succeeded in reaching the shore. Upon 
landing, they were attacked by Indians, who lay 
in ambush awaiting their arrival. The whole 
party were tomahawked, scalped, and otherwise 
mutilated, and left for dead. All were dead ex- 
cept the wife, from Holland. She alone sur- 
vived, and although her scalp was removed, and 
she was otherwise horribly mangled, she had 
sufficient remaining strength to crawl away from 
the scene of the slaughter, and secreted herself 
in a liollow log, which was concealed by under- 
brush. She lay there a day or two, during 
which time her mental and bodily suffering may 
be imagined, but cannot be described. She 



finally made up her mind that there was no pos- 
sibility of her escaping with life; that if she re- 
mained quiet she would certainly die of hunger 
and thirst, and if she attempted to seek suste- 
nance, that would expose her to the Indians, 
who would be sure to kill her. At this junc- 
ture, a deer, with an arrow sticking in its body, 
ran past where she was. This led her to believe 
that Indians were near, and she reasoned that it 
would be a much easer death to let them kill her 
than to endure the pangs of starvation by re- 
maining where she was. She then summoned 
all her remaining strength, and dragged her 
body out to an open space, that the Indians 
might see her, should they pursue the deer. In 
a short time, three of the savages appeared on 
its trail. Two of them rushed upon her with 
uplifted tomahawks, but the third one, a chief, 
restrained them, and saved her life. It was not 
humanity, but gain, that prompted him to this 
act of mercy. He took his prisoner to New Am- 
sterdam, and there received a ransom ior her. 
That placed her in the hands of friends, who 
gave her the proper surgical treatment and nurs- 
ing as she recovered. The name of her husband 
is not known, neither is her own family name — 
nothing but her fii'st and given name, Penelope; 
a name that has stood for more than twenty-five 
centuries, in tradition and literature, as the 
highest ideal of a true and loyal wife. It will 
readily be understood that I allude to one of the 
creations of Homer, the father of Greek poetry. 
A brief statement of the case, gleaned from his 
works, will not be out of place here. 

"When the Greeks declared war against Troy, 
in consequence of the abduction of Helen, the 
wife of Menelaus, a Greek chieftain, it was 
found that one of their number, Ulysses, 
although a soldier by profession, and a farmer 
in time of peace, manifested great reluctance to 
leaving his young and beautiful wife, Penelope, 
and their infant son, Telemachus, for the pur- 
pose of engaging in war. He feigned insanity, 
by sowing salt instead of wheat. As a test of 
his sanity, Nestor, whom all respected for his 
wisdom and probity, proposed that the infant 
son of Ulysses should be laid in the furrow in 
front of the oxen with which he was plowing. 
The device was successful, and caused him to 
throw off the disguise by saving his child. It 
was expected that the war would be brief, but it 
was extended to a long series of years, and of 
those who finally returned, Ulysses was the last, 
after twenty year's absence. Meanwhile, he was 
supposed to be dead, and many suitors for the 
hand of Penelope, pressed their claims, and a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



J9l 



simple 'No' from her w^s not taken for an an- 
swer. The very thought of marrying again, 
especially while the fate of her husband was in 
doubt, was peculiarly revolting to her, and she 
announced her intention of choosing a husband 
among the suitors, when she had completed the 
weaving of a shroud for her father-in-law. 
Her ardent suitors waited with all the patience 
which they could command until it was discov- 
ered that slie undid at night what she had woven 
through the day. She was then obliged to pro- 
ceed with her work when the long absent 
Ulysses returned just in lime to save her from 
what seemed a horrible fate. 

"This modern Penelope had no such doubts to 
contend with. The death of her first husband 
was only too sure, having been witnessed by her 
own eyes. After her recovery, she became ac- 
quainted with and married an Englishman by 
the name of Richard Stout. They then went 
over into New Jersey, made themselves a home 
and raised a family of twelve sons. One of them, 
Jonathan Stout, and his family were the found- 
ers of the Hopewell settlement, in Hunterdon 
county, New Jersey, where Hopewell Baptist 
Church was afterwards constituted. Of the first 
fifteen members, nine were Stouts. The church 
was organized at the house of a Stout, and for 
forty years their meetings were held chiefly at 
the houses of the Stouts; aft^ which they 
erected their first house of worship. In 1790, 
two of the deacons and four of the elders were 
Stouts. Jonathan Stout lived until his de- 
scendants were multiplied to one hundred and 
seventeen. Another one of their sons, David, 
had a son Benjamin, born in 1706. He had a 
son, Jediab, born April 10, 1757. His son Phile- 
mon, came to Sangamon county in 1836, and 
died some ten years later. Several of the 
family yet live in the township, and are well 
known. 

" The Stouts very justly take pride in their 
family history, and being mostly Baptists, they 
take pride in their Baptist history also. When 
they meet a stranger by the. name of Stout, who 
manifests a disposition to claim relationship, 
they apply one test only in their family history. 
They do not ask him to pronounce the word 
Shibboleth, but ascertain if he has any knowl- 
edge of Penelope, and if he knows nothing of 
her, they know nothing of him. In other words, 
they do not cultivate his acquaintance in the 
direction of relationship, any further." 

Captain Job Fletcher, one of the oldest living 
settlers now living in the township, came in 1830. 
(See sketch.) 



In 1829, a company of sixty-three persons 
came from Ohio, among whom were Absolom 
Meredith and family, Isaac Clark and family, 
David Clark and family, Mr. Snell and others. 
Among other early settltrs were Joseph Dixon, 
Joseph Gatliu, Daniel Ford, Mr. Averill, Edin 
Lewis, William Eads. 



The tirst mills in the township were the old 
fashioned horse mills, often described. Thomas 
Black had one on his place, and also Joseph 
Drennan and Robert Pulliam. The tirst water 
mill was erected in 1827, by A.Lathropon Sugar 
creek, on section two. This was a saw mill. 
Subsequently it was sold to John Purvis, who 
built agristmill in connection. Mr. Purvis run 
a distillery, which, like others at that day, was 
extensively pati'onized. Mr. Purvis sold to 
Leroy Hill and Hill to Robert McCond}- about 
1840. Mr. McCondy died in 1843, and the mill 
passed into the hands of Timothy Shoup. In 
1850, William D. Crow purchased it, and in 
1857 tore it down and re-built a larger and more 
substantial building. The mill was run exclu- 
sively by water until 1866, when steam was ij?- 
troduced. It is now run by water or steam or 
both, as it pleases the operator. The mill has 
three run of stone and does a large business, 
about one-half of which is custom work. Wil- 
liam D. Crow died in 1869, and was succeeded 
by his son. , 

POST OFFICE. 

In 1862, after the organization of the One 
Hundredth and Foui'teenth regiment Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, a large number of whom 
were from Ball and Cotton Hill townships, the 
desire sprung up by many living in both town- 
ships for a post oftice in the neighborhood, that 
they might earlier receive news from the seat of 
war. A petition was circulated, praying for the 
establishment of an oftice, and the appointment 
of Davis Meredith as postmaster. The prayer 
of the petitioners was granted, and the office 
was established with Mr. Meredith as postmas- 
ter. It was called Cotton Hill, although located 
in Ball township, on section twelve. During the 
dark days of the war, the yard of Mr. Meredith 
was often filled with anxious men and women, 
awaiting the arrival of the mail that they might 
hear news from absent ones, fighting their coun- 
try's battles. When the war was over, Mr. 
Meredith resigned the office, and James Terry 
was appointed postmaster. The office was re- 
moved to Mr. Terry's residence, two miles south, 
on section 24. Here is remained aboutone year, 



792 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



when it was removed to Crow's mill, and George 
Stakey appointed postmaster. Mr. Stakey was 
subsequently succeeded by Charles Silash, and 
he by Taylor Crow, and finally Virgil Downey 
was appointed, and is the present postmaster. 

MAZEPPA. 

Few of the younger generatioin know that 
Ball township once boasted of its village, but 
such was the fact. In 1837, just previous to the 
financial crash of that year. George R. Spotts- 
wood had planted a village which he gave the 
high sounding title of Mazeppa. The inquisi- 
tive reader may wish to know who Mazeppa 
was. The writer has seen no account of the 
person in any of the biographical dictionaries of 
tbe day, and can only refer to the poem of 
Lord Byron. The village had its store, the 
principal article sold being a prime article (at 
least they called it prime) of whisky, distilled 
from corn. Here the annual musters were held, 
and the brave militia "fit, bled and died" on the 
gory field. It is no mistake about its often 
being gory, for it raoi*e than once occurred before 
the close of the day there would be several 
fights, causing bloody noses, and all for "the 
fun of the thing." But Mazeppa never had a 
postoftice, and of course could not flourish, for 
what place without mail privileges could ever 
exist? The store was started by John Deardorff, 
who continued it but a short time and then 
sold it. 

WATER COURSES. 

The principal stream running through the 
township is Sugar creek, which enters on section 
thirty-one, from which it passes into and through 
sections thirty-two, thirty-three, twenty-eight, 
twenty-one, sixteen, nine, four, three, two and 
one, thence into Woodside township. Grindstone, 
Panther and Lick creek, are tributaries to Sugar 
creek, and empty into the latter stream in this 
township. The first bridge across Sugar creek 
was constructed by Thomas Black and his neigh- 
bors, about 1827. It was of hewn timber, with 
puncheon floor, and was built across the creek 
near the Ball line, but in Auburn township. 

SCHOOLS. 

A school house was erected in 1821, on the 
northeast quarter of section nine, which was 
probably the first school house built in the county. 
Charles Wright was the first teacher in this 
house. 

A school house was also built about a quarter 
of a mile north of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, in 1823. Joseph White was one of the 
first, if not the first teacher in this house. 



There are now a number of districts in the 
township. Schools are held in the various school 
buildings, six to nine months in the year. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The first to preach the gospel in this township 
is unknown. The Methodist circuit riders were 
early in the field, and the Baptists and Cumber- 
land Presbyterians were not far behind. 

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church, situ- 
ated on section thirty-one, was organized in 1824, 
at the house of William Drennan, Senior, by 
Rev. John M. Berry. Among' those comprising 
the original organization, or who united shortly 
afterwards, were William Drennan, Joseph 
Dodds and wife, William Wallace, Gilbert 
Dodds and wife, Lewis Laughlin and wife, 
James Anderson, Robert Anderson, James Wal- 
lace and John Durley. The congregation wor- 
shipped for some years in school houses and 
private dwellings, and in 1838 built a log church, 
twenty-four by thirty, clapboard roof, without 
ceiling save the roof, cracks between logs 
daubed with mortar, the whole lighted with two 
small windows. The seats were of slabs, with 
pins to rest upon. The pulpit was a board eight 
inches wide, resting upon the posts. The inside 
of the house remained in this condition for some 
years, when it was lathed and plastered, and a 
stove put in by which to warm it. No further 
change was made until 1846, when a new frame 
building was erected. An addition was subse- 
quently built to the frame, and is now in good 
condition, and near the same site of the old 
building. The church has now, in 1881, a mem- 
bership of one hundred and one. The church 
at first was ministered unto by such traveling 
preachers as chanced to be in the neighborhood. 
Among those who served as pastors were Revs. 
Dodds, Randall, Campbell, Berry and F. S. 
Bridgeman. The latter served the church for 
fourteen years. Rev. George Hudson is the 
present pastor. 

The first Sunday school in the county, and 
supposed to be the second in the State, was or- 
ganized by Rev. J. M. Peck, at the house of 
William Drennan, Sr., in 1825. It was placed 
under control of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
church, organized at the same place. William 
Drennan, who always took an active part in 
every good work, was its first superintendent. 
Mr. Drennen was succeeded by Job Fletcher, 
who for twenty years served in the same capac- 
ity. After Mr. Fletcher, a number of others 
held the position, the present superintendent 



J 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



"93 



being John T. Drennan, a grandson of its first 
superintendent. 

The first services held by a Catholic priest, was 
in 1829, at the house of Joseph Logsdon, and 
also the first in the county. Rev. Mr. Dusuaswa 
ofiiciated. The next service was at the house of 
William Burtle, Sr., by Rev. Joseph A. Lutz. 
The next priest to visit the neighborhood was 
Rev. VanQuickenbon. Services were held at 
the house of William Burtle until 1844, when a 
frame church twenty by thirty was built and 
dedicated by Father Gifferd, who resided in 
Springfield. The parish at this time numbered 
about forty families. Tlie church building was 
subsequently destroyed by fire, and a large and 
better structure was erected in 1866. Father 
Henderson was the pastor of the church when 
the new house was erected. He was succeeded 
by Father Grant, and he by Father J. Murphy, 
who resided in the parisli, the others residing in 
Virden. Father Murphy continued his labors 
three years and held services each Sunday. 
Father Hickey, of Virden, then took charge of 
the church and continued two years. Father 
Ryan followed him and ministered to the chuch 
for one year, coming from Virden once a month. 
Father Kane, of Springfield came next, and was 
succeeded after the expiration of six months by 
Father D. J. Ryan. The present pastor is 

Father who has served for four years, 

holding services every three weeks. The parish 
now numbers seventy families. The trustees 
of the church, while their new house of worship 
was being erected were William Burtle, Garrett 
Young and Josiah Gatton. The present trustees 
are Thomas Burtle, Garrett Y'^oung and D. J. 
Ryan. The present church building is thirty- 
six by sixty feet, and cost $5,000. A cemetery 
is connected with the church and occupies about 
two acres of ground. 

Salim Sugar Creek Church was first built in 
1843 and re-built in 1874. 

ORGANIC. 

At the fall election of 1860, the county voted 
to adopt the township organization law, and 
commissioners were appointed to divide the 
county into townships, which was accordingly 
done, and township fifteen, range four, was made 
a political township, under the name of Ball, so 
named in honor of one of its principal citizens. 
The following comprises the list of the principal 
township officers from 1861 to 1881, inclusive: 



SUPERVISORS. 



J. J. Weber... 
J.J Weber... 
William Burtle. 



.1861 
.1862 
.1863 



William Burtle isM. 

Philfmon Stout !.'.".'!. .1865 

Jacob Weber '..".' .1866 

Joseph Dodds i867 

J J- webei-. . . .-. ;;;.;;; ;;;;;; .'iges 

VV . A. Lockner 1869 

Pliilemon Stout .1870 

Philemon Stout '.!!!!!!!!!! 'l871 

Philemou Stout .',*.'.'.*.'.".'.'.' .' .' .. A872 

Philemon Stout ] 'i873 

Philemon Stout .'..'."".'.'.'." 1874 

B. F. Fletcher i875 

B. F. Fletcher .*!.'.'.*.'.".'.'!.'. . .".".* .1876 

J. W. Jones ^ ",....1877 

S.J. Stout '...".*.'..'.".'.." .1878 

S.J. Stout ... ]879 

S. T. Matthew '. '. i880 

S. T. Matthew '.'.'.'.'.'.','.'.'.1881 

CLERKS. 

William H. H. Bennington 1861 

L- J- Hire 1863 

A. C. Campbell 1864 

William Burtle .'...*..".' .1865 

William Burtle 1866 

George T. Drennan ,/.', 1867 

A. C. Campbell 1868 

A. C. Campbell 1869 

A. C. Campbell . .1870 

Levi Cassidy 1871 

Levi Cassidy 1873 

James M . Burtle ..]...[.............. 1873 

James H. Burtle 1874 

A. W. Stickel 1875 

A. W. Stickel 1876 

Z. Burtle i877 

Levi Cassidy 1878 

C. E. Clayton .1879 

C. E. Clayton 1880 

C. E. Clayton 1881 

ASSESSORS. 

William Gardner 1861 

William Gardner 1863 

William Gardner 1863 

J. W. Jones 1864 

J. W. Jones 1865 

Joseph Campbell 1866 

W. R. Megredy 1867 

W. R. Megredy 1868 

Z. Burtle 1369 

Levi Cassidy 1870 

Z. Burtle 1871 

Z Burtle 1873 

Z. Burtle 1873 

Levi Cassidy 1874 

J. R. Lockbridge 1875 

G. R. Lockbridge 1876 

Levi Cassidy 1877 

Joseph Campbell 1878 

B F. McAtee 1879 

B. F. MtrAtee 1880 

B. F. McAtee 1881 

COLLECTORS. 

William Burtle 1861 

Joseph Campbell 1863 

Will iam Gardner 1863 

Z. Burtle 1864 

H. W. Walker 1865 



'94 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



W. p. Scott 18G6 

E. B. Lawley 1867 

L. Cassidy 1868 

Samuel Knolts 1869 

Jefferson Clayton 1870 

Virgal Downey... 1871 

J. H. Burtle 1873 

James A. Drennan 1873 

R. G. Simpson 1874 

R. G. Simpson 1875 

Gilmer Simpson 1876 

J . F. Burt 1877 

R. G. Simpson 1878 

G. W. Funderburk 1879 

W. E. Jones 1880 

Joseph Knotts 1881 

JUSTICES OP THE PEACE. 

James A. Drennan 1861 

Daniel Felter 1862 

Leonard Fry 1863 

Leonard Fry I860 

S. Crane 1869 

Joseph Bean 1869 

R. H. Easley 1872 

Joseph Beiin 1873 

William O. Burtle 1873 

William O. Burtle 1877 

Joseph Bean 1878 

M. P. Loot 1879 

E. H. Lewis 1880 

G. Burtle 1881 

Joseph Bean 188 1 

HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 

James Wilson 1861 

Philemon Stout 1861 

Jsseoh Bean 1861 

J . A. Ball 1863 

M. M. Moore 1864 

J. H. W . Lockridge 1865 

J . W . Jones 1866 

William Patterson 1867 

Josiah Lard 

J. W. Jones 1869 

Josiah Lard 1870 

J. A. Drennan 1870 

N. H. Ingles 1870 

J. Graham 1871 

W. P. Allen 1872 

Josiah Lard 1873 

Joseph Dodds 1873 

B. R. Headley 1874 

Drury Jones 1876 

S. N. Shoup 1876 

Hiram Walker 1877 

S. T. Matthew 1877 

J. W. Berry 1878 

J. A. Drennan 1879 

A. Clayton 1880 

George Black 1881 

TOWN HALL. 

In the year 1876, the township of Ball erected 
a neat frame building for town purposes, at a cost 
of $600. 

In connection with the history of this town- 
ship is given short personal histories of many 
of the more prominent residents which will prove 



of interest to the friends of those of whom we 
write. 

J. A. JBall, section twenty-one, was born in 
Madison county, Kentucky, July 5, 18U0; his 
parents were John and Nancy (Adan\s) Ball, the 
former a native of Virginia, and the iMter of 
North Carolina. They moved to Madison county, 
Kentucky, in 1792, where they lived thirty years 
on a farm; father died on the old homestead in 
Virginia while on a visit there. In 1829, the 
mother of the subject of this t-ketch moved to 
this county, where she died in 1845, at her son's 
house. James A. was twenty-live years of age 
when he came to this county, and bought three 
hundred and twenty acres of land, before the 
township was named. December 2, 1828, he 
married Sarah E. Henderson, who was born in 
Tennessee in 1811, and they had two children, 
Clarissa Jane, James II. Mr. B. lost his wife 
in 1832; he married again, this time Marinda 
Davis, who was born in South Carolina, in 1800; 
she died in 1855, and for his third wife, Mr. Ball 
married Melissa Morrison, who was born in Ohio 
in 1840. By this marriage there were two child- 
ren, John M., and Fannie M. In 1840, Mr. Ball 
settled on his present farm, where he now owns 
two hundred and ten acres of land. He has 
been justice of the peace seven years, and also 
assistant county judge. He fought in the Win- 
nebago war under T. M. Neal, and in 1831, in 
the Black Hawk war, as First Lieutenant under 
Captain Morris sixty days, and in 1832, he again 
served in that war sixty days, as Captain under 
Major Thomas Long. In politics, he was a 
Democrat. 

Joseph Bean was born in Clark county, Indi- 
ana, July 27, 1820, and is a son of Jecob and 
Rachel {nee McClure) Bean, the former a native 
of New Jersey, and the latter of Pennsylvania; 
they came to Sangamon county in the fall of> 
1828, arriving one day before the election of 
Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, 
and settled in Cotton Hill township, where Mr. 
Bean carried on farming until his death, April, 
1837. Mrs. B. died in March, 1850. June 1, 
1843, Joseph, the subject of this paragraph, 
married Mary P. Spicer, By this union there 
were two children — Nancy J., now Mrs. Henry 
Hertel, and Sarah E., who married Isaac Porter, 
and died in 1869. Mrs. B. died in October, 
1850, and April 25, 1854, Mr. B. married Barbara 
Deardorif, who was born in this county December 
23, 1827 ; and by this marriage there were these 
four children : Joseph L. and Waldo P,, now 
living, and Thomas W. and Lindsay C, deceased. 
Mr. B. owns, in Ball and Cotton Hill townships. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



795 



two hundred and sixty acres of land, worth $45 
an acre. Politically, he is a Democrat. For the 
last fifteen years he has been justice of the 
peace, and has been almost a life member of the 
School Board. 

Joseph Oauipbcll was born in Montgomery 
county, Ky., May 3, 1799; son of Alexander and 
Jane (Anderson) Campbell, natives of Virginia, 
who moved to Wayne county, this State, in 1817, 
where they lived until their death, the latter in 
September, 1844, and the former July 26, 1857. 
Joseph was married May 12, 1822, to Elsie 
Clark, who was born in Hopkins county, Ky., 
April 29, 1801, Their family consisted of eiglit 
children, of whom only three are now living. 
They resided in Wayne county until 1846, when 
they moved to this township. May 6, 1870, Mr. 
C, lost hif wife, and he now resides on the old 
place, Miss Margaret Jane Campbell keeping 
house. Politically, Mr. C, is a Democrat. 

'W. D. Crow, deceased, was born in Kentucky, 
January 24, 1812, and came to this county in 
1823, locating near Auburn, and engaging in 
farming and milling until 1850. He removed to 
Cotton Hill, Ball township, and operated a mill 
until his death, April 27, 1869. In 1845, he mar- 
ried Jul. a Measick, who was also born in Ken- 
tucky, September l7, 1823; their seven children 
all reside in this county, two of them married. 
William T., his son, and the present owner of 
the mill, took charge of the same after Mr. Crow's 
death, and now has everything in running order, 
with three sets of burrs, run by steam or water. 
The mill is furnished with new and improved 
machinery, which turns out first-class flour. 
William resides with his mother, on the home- 
stead near the mill. 

Virgil S. Doivning, was born in Springfield, 
Illinois., April 2, 1842; son of Jacob and Nancy 
(Sudduth) Downing, the former a native of Ohio, 
and the latter of Kentucky. They both died 
when Virgil was Young, and the latter, at thir- 
teen years of age, went to live with Philemon 
Stout, with whom he remained until the opening 
of the late war, when he enlisted in the One 
Hundred and B'ourteenth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, in August, 1862, serving until the Spring 
of 1865. He was in the siege of Vicksburg, in 
the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, and many 
smaller engagements. On the close of the war 
he returned to farming; October 22, 1873, he 
married Susan A. Shields, who was born in this 
county, December 7, 1842; the daughter of Alex- 
ander and Ann (Capps) Shields; their three 
children are Geraldine, Anna and Alexander. 
In the spring of 1881, Mr. Downing bought the 



store owned by Mrs. C. W. Sali.sch, consisling of 
general merchandise, which he now conducts. 
He is also postmaster at Cotton Hill. 

James A. Drennan was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, August 5, 1828, son of William 
and Margaret (Anderson) Drennan, the former a 
native of South Carolina, and the latter of Vir- 
ginia. His father came to this county in March, 
1818, and resided in the county untiljhis death, 
September 13, 1876. His mother died August 
28, 1881, on the old homestead. James grew 
up on the farm, and his education was received 
in the common schools of this county. He 
married in 1852, to Rachel Cannon, who was 
born in Kentucky, March 3, 1833, and came to 
this county with her uncle, her parents being 
both deceased at the time. Their fagiily con- 
sisted of nine children, six of whom are now 
living, viz: Jennetta F., now Mrs. J. F.Burt, 
Mary E., Robert W., Minnie W., Ira, and Gil- 
bert; three deceased, Ida Bell, Hattie and Fred- 
die. Mr. D., moved on the present farm De- 
cember 9, 1853, on which he has continued to 
reside. His farm consists of one hundred and 
sixty-one acres of land, well improved, and 
worth |50 per acre. He has held the office of 
road commissioner and justice of the peace 
for many years, and is a lifetime member of the 
school board. Politically he is a Republican. 

John T. Drennan was born in this county, 
January 13, 1832. Son of William and Marga- 
ret Drennan, {nee Anderson.) He received a 
cjmmon school education, and enlisted in the 
war of the rebellion in the Seventy-third Regi- 
ment Illinois Volunteers, where he served till 
September 20, 1863. At the battle of Chicka- 
mauga he received a wound in his left ankle, 
also a flesh wound in the right arm. He was in 
the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and Stone 
River, Tennessee. After his discharge he came 
home, and has since been engaged in farming in 
this township, near the old home of his father. 
He has held the office of School Treasurer six 
years, is a member of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, is unmarried, and a staunch Re- 
publican. 

Job I^letcherwaH born in Rockbridge county, 
Virginia, August 27, 1801, but was brought up 
in Todd county, Kentucky. His parents were 
John and Elizabeth (McElvain) Fletcher, natives 
also of Virginia, who moved to Kentucky in 
1806, and to Illinois in 1830; their family con- 
sisted of three sons, four daughters and two 
grand-children. They settled in a house sixteen 
by eighteen, made of logs, and owned by Job 
Fletcher, his brother, who came in 1819. He 



V96 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



built an addition to the cabin, planted a crop, 
and lived there during the summer. During 
this season John and his brother, James, died. 
The mother lived with her son. Job, until her 
youngest daughter was married. She then went 
to Montgomery county, Illinois, and from there 
to Macoupin county, Illinois, where she died. 
Job, the subject of this notice, was married in 
Kentucky, to Frances Brown, November 24, 
1825, who was born December 12, 1801, in 
Augusta county, Virginia, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Kashner) Brown. They emigrated 
to Macoupin county, Illinois. Their children 
are: Mary E., who married I. N. McElvain, and 
died in 1875; Margaret Frances, who died in her 
tenth year; John S., who died in 1854; William 
D., whcf died in his third year; Preston R., who 
in 1854 married Sarah Wright and now resides 
in Missouri; he had seven children, two of whom 
only are now living; Pauline K., who married 
Francis E. Dodds, son of Joseph Dodds, a well 
known old settler; Benjamin F., who enlisted in 
the late war, in the One Hundred and Fourteenth 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company B, and 
served three years, eleven months of which time 
was passed in Andersonville prison. He mar- 
ried Mary E. Drennan, daughter of William 
Drennan, and they had four children, of whom 
one is deceased. Virginia A., wlio married 
Charles G. Brown, and of their five children two 
are living. Mr. Fletcher owns two hundred and 
eighty acres of land, including the home place, 
which he bought in 1833, besides giving his 
children nearly seven hundred acres, all of which 
he purchased since he came to this county. Jan- 
uary 11, 1881, his wife died, and he now resides 
with his son, Benjamin F., who carries on a 
farm and makesgrain and stock-raising a special- 
ty. They have been members of the Presby- 
terian Church since 1843. Politically, he was 
an old Clay Whig, and then a Republican. 

liobert II. Maalty was born in Ball township, 
September 19, 1841. He is the son of James B. 
and Margaret (Dodds) Ea8ley,the former a native 
of Kentucky, and the latter of Illinois. Mr. 
Easley's father was one of the early settlers of 
Ball township, and at one time knew every man 
in Sangamon county, he removing here in 1829, 
and living in the township until his death, which 
occurred September 10, 1857. His mother, some 
time after his lather's death, was married to W. 
Easley, and now resides in Missouri. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and 
educated in the common schools of the town- 
ship and the Illinois State University. In 1862, 
he enlisted as a private in Company F., Twelfth 



Illinois Cavalry, and served three years, the 
greater part of the time in the Army of the Po- 
tomac. Mr. Easky participated in many of the 
important battles of the war, among which were 
the battle of Stoneman's Raid, summer of IStiS; 
Gettysburg, Boonesboro, Upperville, Darksville, 
and numerous others, for further details of 
which we refer to "Patriotism of Illinois." Mr. 

E. held a number of non-commissioned ofKces, and 
was mustered out as Sergeant. At the close of 
the war, he returned home, and was married, in 
1865, to Mary F. Easley, a daughter of Ambrose 
and Elizabeth (Haggard) Easley, and a native 
of Kentucky. The family of R. H. and Mary 

F. Easley consists of four children, Laura E., 
Henrietta F., James A., and Arthur K. Mr. 
Easley is the possessor of three hundred acres 
of fine land, valued at |60 per acre; has held the 
offices of justice of the peace and member of 
the School Board. In politics, is a Republican. 

Willimn JR. Ford was born in Fayette county, 
Kentucky, July 3, 1824. The son of Daniel and 
Mary (Randolph) Ford, the former a native of 
New Jersey, and the latter of Kentucky. They 
came to this county in 1838, arriving November 
8, and settling in what is now Ball township^ 
where he lived until his death. May 22, 1852. 
Mrs. Ford died in 1864. William R., the subject 
of this sketch, was married in 1849, to Minerva 
Jane Scott, who also was born in Kentucky, in 
April, 1830, and came to Morgan county with 
her parents. The two children in this family are, 
William P. and Sarah E., now Mrs. Charles M. 
Shepherd. Mr. F. moved upon his farm, where 
he now lives, in 1856, when there was not even 
a rail upon it. He now owns two hundred and 
ninety-three acres of land, well improved, worth 
|50 an acre. Mr. Ford and Mrs. Ford are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Church. Politically, he 
is a Democrat. 

Ra2ie Funderhurh was born in this county 
February 10, 1821, and is the son of Henry and 
Polly (Rape) Funderburk. The latter was born 
in South Carolina, moved to Tennessee, and then 
to St. Clair county, Illinois, and finally to this 
county, in the spring of 1847, with William 
Nelson, where they cleared up a piece of land, 
planted a crop, built a cabin, and, after maturing 
the crops, went back and brought out their fami- 
lies to their new home on Horse creek, in 
Cotton Hill township In Mr. Henry Funder- 
burk's family were fifteen children, of whom 
eight are living. Their mother died August 1, 
1841, and their father August 14, 1843, in Ball 
townghip. In 1843, the subject of this biography 
married Amanda Jones, who was born in Wa^ne 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



(97 



couiily, Illinois, and died in 1845. Their only 
child was Alexander. Mr. F., in 1845, married 
Mary Sanders, a native of Sangamon county, 
who died in April, 1848. In 1849, for his third 
wife, Mr. F. married Caroline Armstrong, a 
native of Ohio. By this marriage have been 
ten children ; the living are, Mary J., Abel, 
George W., Amanda, Albert, Melvin, Edward 
and Miles. The two deceased were Thomas L. 
and Stephen A. Mr. Funderburk's farm, in 1862, 
consists of two hundred and forty acres, well 
improved, and worth 150 an acre. Politically, 
he is a Democrat. Mr. F.'s principal occupa- 
tion is trading in stock. 

Williatn Hermon was born in this county, 
November 20, 1842; son of David and Sally 
(Mitts) Hermon, the former a native of North 
Carolina, and the latter of Kentucky. They 
came to this county in 1830 and located in Ball 
township where they still reside. William re- 
ceived his education in the common schools and 
resided with his father on the farm until 1865, 
when he married Emma Mitts, who was born in 
this county February 12, 1851. She was the 
daughter of Jacob and Marinda Mitts, both de- 
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hermon have one child, 
David Tilden, born December 21, 1876. Mr. H. 
moved upon his present farm in the fall of 1877. 
It consists of fifty acres of well improved land. 
He is a Democrat. 

Nathan H. Ingles was born January 1, 1837, 
in Bourbon county, Keptucky; is the son of 
William and Parmelia(Jacoby) Ingles, who were 
both Kentuckians. His fatherdiedin Kentucky; 
in 1855, his mother with her family, came to Illi- 
nois and settled in Sangamon county. His 
mother died here February 6, 1877. Mr. Ingles 
received his education in the common schools. 
In 1860, he was married to Sarah B., daughter of 
William and Sarah (Moore) Lockridge, who was 
born January 1, 1841. Her father died June 10, 
1879, and her mother died November 23, 1857, 
in Ball township. Mr. and Mrs. Ingles have 
been blessed with six children, five of whom are 
now living, viz: Sarah P., Henry G., Fred- 
erick B., John A. and Jessie N. One child 
has passed " over the river" — William B. Mr. 
Ingles moved on to his present farm in 1878, and 
is now the possessor of two hundred acres of 
land under a fair state of cultivation. Politically, 
he is a Democrat. 

Drury Jones was born January 12,1830, in 
Ball township, and is the son of Robert Jones, 
who was born September 25, 1790, in Orange 
county, North Carolina. In 1816, he married 
Sabitha Lord, who was born June 18, 1795. 

93— 



They moved to this county May 13,1828, in 
what is now Ball township, and he followed 
farming until his death, May 16, 1874. Mrs. 
Jones died September 22, 1861. Drury, the sub- 
ject of this notice, was married June 11, 1850, 
to Amanda M. Porterfield, who was born in this 
county, 1831, and of their three children, only 
one, James Madison, is living. Robert Philemon 
and Minerva Jane are deceased. Mrs. Jones 
died April 22, 1855, and on September 11, 1856, 
Mr. Jones married Susannah Meridith, who was 
born May 4, 1837. By this marriage there have 
been nine children, of whom seven are now liv- 
ing, viz: Amanda Jane M., born November 13, 
1857. She was married October 1, 1874, to 
Charles R. McClure; they have one child, Hattie 
A. McClure. Charles Calvin Lafayette, born 
November 21, 1859, married October 20, 1880, 
to Clara I. Vigal. Davis A. Washington, born 
March 8, 1862; William Arthur E., born No- 
vember 28, 1864; Franais M. Josiah, September 
26, 1867; Sarah Melissa Ann, born August 6, 
1870, died May 22, 1871; MaryEttie, born June 
12, 1872; Samuel Christopher, born Jan. 11, 
1875, died January 24, 1876; and Emma 
Louise, born January 17, 1877. Mr. Jones 
received his education in the common 
schools. He now resides on his farm, of which 
there are eight hundred acres, in a good state of 
improvement, worth $50 per acre. He is a 
Democrat. 

Alexander J. Jones was born in Wayne county, 
this State, January 9, 1820, the son of Robert 
and Tabitha Lard Jones; father Av^as born in 
Orange county. North Carolina, September 25, 
1790, and mother June 18, 1795; they moved to 
Tennessee, thence to Kentucky, thence to 
Wayne county, Illinois, in 1819, and to this 
county in 1828, where he followed farming until 
his death. May 16, 1874; mother died September 
22, 1861. Alexander J. Jones, the subject of 
this sketch was brought xip on a farm, and June 
26, 1871, he married Cassandra E. Hunt, a native 
of Tennessee: Melissa J., their only child. Mrs. 
J. died May 5, 1875.' He was again married 
January 23, 1878, to Artrilla Bozant, nee Peddi- 
cord, who was born in Ohio June 17, 1837. 
Their child is Robert Alexander; her two child- 
ren by her former husband are Viola E. and 
Phoebe Lillian. Mr. Jones has been a resident 
of this county ever since he first settled here 
except four years in Christian county. He now 
owns one thousand one hundred and eighteen 
acres of land, one hundred and sixty in Christian 
County, well improved and worth $60 an acre. 
In politics he is a Democrat. 



798 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



George Lamb was born December, ISYG, near 
Hagerstown, Maryland, and when quite a young 
man went to Mt. Pleasant, Westmoi eland 
county, Pennsylvania, where he learned the busi- 
ness of saddle and harness-making. He was 
married at Mt. Pleasant, May 24, 1820, to Eliza 
H. Hubbs, who was born in that place in 1794. 
She was the daughter of Dr. Charles Hubbs, 
who, althongh a member of the Society of 
Friends, was a surgeon in the American army, 
near the close of the Revolution. Later in life. 
Dr. Hubbs became a preacher in the Baptist 
church. George Lamb's ancestors were mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends also. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lamb had three children in Pennsylvania, 
and moved to Kaskaskia, Randolph county, Illi- 
nois in the spring, 1830. Mrs. Eliza H. Lamb, 
died August 15,1834, in Chester, Illinois, and in 
June, 1836, George Lamb moved to Springfield, 
Mr. George Lamb was again married, the second 
time, in 1840, to Mrs. Lucinda Crowder, and re- 
sided in Sangamon county until his death, 
August 26, 1867. His wife Lucinda Lamb, died 
January 18, 1872, both in Sangamon county, 
Illinois. 

Charles II. Larnb, son of George, born May 
19, 1822, at Brownsville, Fayette county, Penn.; 
accompanied his parents to Illinois, and came to 
Springfield in 1832, preceding his father, to at- 
tend schoo'. He remained one year, and returned 
to his parents, who had moved from Kaskaskia 
to Chester, Illinois. He afterwards learned the 
printing business, in the Sangamo Journal, in 
Springfield, with Simeon Francis & Co. In 1841, 
Charles H. Lamb started the Rock River Regis- 
ter, at Grande de Tour, Ogle county, Illinois, but 
sold out the following spring. He was afterwards, 
with his uncle, James L. Lamb, in the pork 
packing business, and continued in the same for 
twenty years; he sold out to his uncle, James L. 
Lamb, in 1866, and engaged in farming, in Ball 
township, where he mostly resides. He is yet 
unmarried, and divides his time between this 
and Michigan. In politics, he is a Republican. 

Willlayn B. Laioley, deceased, was born in 
Tennessee, June 24, 1811, son of Stephen and 
Abigail Lawley, natives of Virginia. They 
moved to Tennessee, where they lived till 1828, 
then came to thi-i county, locating in Springfield, 
and the next year moved to Ball township, where 
they resided until their death. The mother died 
January 6, 1853, and the father December 28, 
1861. William B. received his education in 
Tennessee, and at eight years of age his father 
moved with him to this place. December 25, 
1831, he married Amy, daughter of Davis and 



Mary Meredith, who were born, respectively, 
October 8, 1810, and September 12, 1838. They 
had three children, two of whom are now living, 
David W. and Mary E. The deceased was Stephen 
T. November 28, 18'9, he was married the 
second time, to Sarah M, Duncan, who was born 
in North Carolina, September 18, 1821, and came 
to this county in 1829. Of their nine children, 
seven are now living, namely: Ruth J., now 
Mrs. L. Sallanger; Elijah D., James P., Amanda 
E., now Mrs. Dr. J. B. Mathew; Sarah M., now 
Mrs. W. J. Knotts; Leonard W. and Prudence 
A. Nancy A. and Francis J. are deceased. 
March 24, 1877, Mr. L. died, and his widow now 
resides on the homestead, which consists of one 
hundred and nine acres. Mr. L. was a Republi- 
can, 

Josiah Lard, section twenty-six, was born in 
St. Louis county, Missouri, May 12, 1819. His 
parents were John and Lydia Lard, father a 
native of South Carolina, and mother of St. 
Louis county, Missouri, and farmers by occupa- 
tion. His mother died in February, 1824, and 
his father November 16, 1845. His father moved 
to this county in the spring of 1836, where he 
carried on farming. Josiah was married Sep- 
tember 22, 1842, to Jemima Jane Crowder, who 
was born June 5, 1825, in Hardin county, Ken- 
tucky, and came to this county with her parents, 
in 1830. Mr. and Mrs. Lard have had six child- 
ren, five of whom are living, viz.: Job J., Lydia 
E., Sarah L., Elsie P., and George R. Martha 
A. is deceased. Four of these children are 
married. Mrs. Lard died April 3, 1855, and Mr. 
Lard afterwards married Millie Funderburk, who 
was born in Sangamon county, March 1, 1833. 
Four of their children are living, namely: Jacob 
F., John H , Emma and Minnie E. Four are 
deceased — Orlena Jane, and three in infancy. 
Mr. Lard commenced farming on forty acres of 
land, but now owns one thousand, eight hundred 
acres, which he has obtained by his own indus- 
try. His land is worth fifty dollars an acre. He 
has been identified with the interests of his 
township for many years. In politics, he is con- 
servative. 

Robert Maker, was born in Tipperary county 
Ireland, August 15, 1838; son of John and Mary 
Maher, nee Connors, who were natives of Ireland, 
and both deceased. The subject of this sketch 
came to America in 1851 and landed in New 
York, where he remained for a number of years, 
and in 1859 went to Iroquois county, and from 
there to Sangamon county in the fall of the same 
year, where he engaged in feeding cattle for 
Henry Soup, at ten dollars per month, and the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



^99 



next year he engaged to work for Philemon 
Stout at twelve dollars per month, and worked 
one year and only lost one day, and in August, 
1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Four- 
teenth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and served 
until April, 1862, being discharged on account 
of disability. He then returned to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and resumed his labors for 
Philemon Stout, and March 20, 1864, married 
Cynthia Ann Lard, who was born in Wayne 
county, Illinois, June 14, 1828. She was the 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Lard. Their 
family consisted of two children, Louisa Price 
and John Philemon, deceased. He moved to 
the present farm in February 1872, and now 
owns one hundred and seventy-four acres of land 
which he has under a fair state of improvement, 
and worth fifty dollars per acre. His first vote 
in the United States was cast for Stephen A. 
Douglas for President. Politically, he is a 
Douglas Democrat. 

John M. Matthews was born in Franklin 
county, Ohio, near Columbus, December 14, 1815; 
fion of Simon and Ann (Deardorfl^) Matthews, 
natives of Virginia, who moved to Washington 
county, Indiana, and in November, 1833, to this 
county, where he followed farming and cooper- 
ing until his death, in 1847, from the effects of 
a broken leg. His mother died in 1835. John 
M., the subject of this biography, married Mrs. 
Sarah Crowder, nee Woozley. Their five child- 
ren are: James H., born October 13, 1838, and 
married March 28, 1860, to Sally A. Handlin; 
Simon T., who married Mary A. Clayton; Susan 
Ann, born August 29, 1844, married Marcus D. 
Clayton; William O., who married Mary E. 
Lamb; Leonard S., married September 24, 1874, 
to Alice Galloway. James H. has two children, 
Everett S. and Jennie M., who live in Spring- 
field; Simon T. has three children, Etta E., 
Luther F. and Charles Carroll; William O. has 
two children, Ida May and Fannie A.; Mrs. 
Sarah Matthews died in 1851, and in 1856, Mr. 
M. married Mary E. Scoot, who was born in 
Kentucky. By this marriage there are five 
children, Fannie, John M., Jr., Laura, Lucy and 
Josephine. Mr. M. owns two hundred and sixty 
acres of land, fairly cultivated. Himself and 
Mrs. M. are members of the old-school Baptist 
Church, and politically he is a Democrat. 

Archibald J. 3Iegredy, son of E. and Mary 
Megredy; was born January 30, 1838, and re- 
sides on his farm, situated in the northwest cor- 
ner of Ball township, consisting of one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, which he has under a 
fair state of cultivation and worth $50. uO an 



acre. His two sisters reside with him. He is a 
Republican. 

jjavis Meredith. — One of the best known citi- 
zens of Ball township, is Davis Meredith, who, 
in coDopany with his parents, came to this county 
in 1829. His father, Absalom Meredith, and 
his mother, Mary Meredith, and whose maiden 
name was Royal, were both natives of the Key- 
stone State — Pennsylvania. Shtrtly after their 
marriage, they moved to Butler county, Ohio, 
where they remained some years, and from there 
moved to Miami county, in the same State- 
While residing in Ohio, the second war with 
Great Britain took place, and Mr. Meredith en- 
listed, and served his country faithfully as a pri- 
vate soldier. In 1829, he sold his farm in Ohio, 
and emigrated to Illinois, chosing as the place 
of his future residence the "beautiful country of 
the Sangamo," and Ball township, in Sangamon 
county. Here he arrived October 27, of the 
same year, and where he remained until his 
death, which occurred in 1842. His widow sur- 
vived him two years, when she too passed away. 
Davis Meredith was one of a family of six chil- 
dren, and was born in Butler county, Ohio, June 
14, 1812. His early life passed without any in- 
cident of special interest. From the time he 
was old enough, he had to do his share of work 
upon his father's farm, being permitted to go to 
the common country schools of his neighborhood 
about three months in the year. When he ar- 
rived in Sangamon county, he was in his 
eighteenth year, and, like a dutiful son, he re- 
mained with, and assisted his father in opening 
up a new farm and making a house for the 
family. When the call for volunteers was issued 
to put down the invasion of Black Hawk, he en- 
listed, and served till his company was dis- 
charged. After the close of the war, he went to 
Galena, and worked for a time in the lead mines. 
He then returned to Sangamon county, and pur- 
chased a farm on section twelve. Ball township, 
where he hassincecontinued to reside. In 1836, 
Mr. Meredith Avas married to Mary, daughter of 
Christopher and Susan Newcomer, by whom he 
has had seven children: Susan, now the wife of 
Diury Jones; Charles N.; Mary Jane, now the 
wife of John R. Kincaid; Sarah Ann, now the 
wife of Lewis R. Hedrick; Christopher C, 
Luther Osborn and Fannie L. Mr. Meredith's 
first son, Charles N., was amemberof Company 
E., One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois 
Infantry, and served until discharged, October, 
1864, at Memphis, Tennessee. In politics, Mr. 
Meredith is a true-blue Republican, and has been 
ever since the organization of the party. In his 



800 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



political views, he has always been consistent, 
and the opposition always know right where to 
find him. On the establishment of the Cotton 
Hill post office, of which mention is made on a 
preceding page, Mr. Meredith was appointed its 
first postmaster. In the meetings of the old 
settlers, Mr. Meredith has always taken an active 
interest, and served one year as President of the 
association. In his old age, he loves to recount 
the scenes of the "long ago," having a vivid 
recollection of past events dating back previous 
to the deep snow. Mr. Meredith is a plain, un- 
assuming man, one who believes in doing unto 
others as he would be done by. He is a kind 
and indulgent father, an accommodating 
neighbor, a good citizen in every sense of the 
word, and one who will be missed when life's 
journey is over. He has provided well for all 
his children, and is living comfortably with his 
companion of almost half a century, upon the old 
homestead. 

Samuel O^Neal, deceased, was born October 
11, 1811, in Kentucky, and came to this county 
while young. He has been three times married; 
two of his wives are deceased. He was married 
to Lucy Scoot June 5, 184*7, who was born in 
Caldwell county, Kentucky, March 3, 1825. 
Tliey had six children, four of whom died under 
eleven years of age, two are living, Minerva E., 
now Mrs. W. A. Stickel, resides on the farm. 
Mr. O'Neal had two children by a former mar- 
riage, he died in 1863 and his wife resides on 
the farm with her son William. She owns two 
hundred acres of well-improved land worth $50 
an acre. She is a member of the Methodist 
church. 

James W. Osburn was born in Mongomery 
county, Illinois, August 14, 1826, and the son of 
Bailey and Phoebe Osburn, nee Landis. His 
education was received in the common 
schools. He was married in 1860 to Mary E. 
Lewis, who was born in Kentucky. They have 
five children, John, Ellen, Belle, Laura and 
Nancy I. He enlisted August 9, 1862, in the 
Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and 
served nearly three years. He was in a number 
of engagements, among which there was the 
battle of Stone River. He was taken sick and 
afterwards transferred to the ordinance train. 
He was with Sherman through Georgia, then 
with Hood until the close of the war. He 
then came home and engaged in farming and 
milling. He now owns thirty acres of land on 
which he farms and also runs the saw mill situ- 
ated in the southeast corner of Ball township. 
Politically he is a Republican. 



Thomas B. SJiephard, was born in Washing- 
ton county, Maryland, September 28, 1835; son 
of Thomas C. and Ellen (Miller) Shephard, who 
were natives of Virginia, and moved to this 
county in 183(), when Thomas was but one year 
old. The latter attended common schools until 
nineteen years of age, then attended the Illinois 
State Univert-ity, ac Springfield, two terms. He 
was married October i!6, 1859, to Arminda Pyle, 
born October 13, 1889, and daughter of Alfred 
and Malinda (Padfield) Pyle, and their family 
consists of three children: Thomas A., Ann E. 
and Mary E. Mr. S. moved upon his present 
farm February 14, 1860, which is located on 
section thirty-six. At that time the farm con- 
sisted of three hundred acres, but now he has 
seven hundred acres, under a good state of culti- 
vation, with good substantial buildings, and 
worth 1 60 an acre. He is principally engaged 
in stock raiding; himself and wife are members 
of the M. E. Church, and Mr. S. is a Republican. 

S. JV. Shoup, section two, was born in Piqua 
county, Ohio, May 16, ]828; son of Jacob and 
Sarah Shoup, nee Downing, who came to Sanga- 
mon county in the fall of 183i', and engaged in 
farming. His father died in 1849, and mother in 
1850. The subject of this sketch was only five 
years of age when he came to the county; his 
education was principally in the common schools, 
and educated to farm. In 1857, he was married 
to Alice J. Mourrer; she was born in Sangamon 
county; their family consists of seven chil- 
dren, viz: The living are, Willie H., Ettie 
May, Harry S,, Lucia D.. and three dead, Luella 
M., John I. and Sarah. In 1850, he came to the 
present farm, and continued to farm up to 1863, 
when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Four- 
teenth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and was 
one of the same until the close of the war. 

In 1878, he was elected to the office of Sheriff 
of Sangamon county, and served two years, after 
which, he moved back on his farm. He now 
owns two hundred and eighty acres of land, situa- 
ted on section two, which he now has under a 
good state of improvement, and worth |75 per 
acre. 

Andrew Southwick was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and the son of James and 
Louisa Southwick, [nee Trumbo,) who was 
born in Kentucky. His father died January, 
1869, and mother in 1875. The subject of this 
sketch received a common school education, and 
was raised on a farm, and married in 1874, to 
Ann Brunk, who was the daughter of David 
and Maria Brunk. They have three children: 
John B,, Samuel and George. He moved on 



i 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



801 



the present farm in 1875, and owns eighty acres 
of land, which is worth $50 per acre. Demo- 
cratic in politics. 

Samuel J. Stout was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, August 22, 1849, and was the 
son of Philemon and Melissa Stout, nee Shoup. 
He was raised on a farm, and his education was 
recieved in the common schools, attending 
Mount Zion one year, Lincoln one year. He 
was married July 30, 1871, to Emma L. Brass- 
field. She was born in Menard county, Illinois, 
August i', 1850. They had born to them Edna 
May and Sarah Malissie, both of whom are 
deceased. He lost his wife December 20, 1875. 
He owns one thousand and forty acres of land, 
situated in Ball township, which is under a fair 
state of cultivation, and worth $50 an acre. Has 
held the office of Supervisor for two terms, and 
politically is Democratic. 

Philemon Stout was born in Scott county, Ken- 
tucky, April 19, 1822, and was the son of Phile- 
mon and Penelope (Anderson) Stout, natives of 
New Jersey. They emigrated to Kentucky, and 
afterward to this county, in the fall of 1836, 
locating in Ball township, where they are en- 
gaged in farming. His father died January 21, 

1846, and his mother in November, 1860, The 
subject of this notice was raised on a farm, and 
remained with his father until his death. In 

1847, he married Melissa Shoup, who was born 
in Ohio March 25, 1829, and they had four 



children. In 1855, Mrs. Stout died, and in 1856 
Mr. Stout married Louisa P. Brassfield, born in 
Clark county, Kentucky ; of their four children, 
three are living : James B., Joab P. and Malissa 
M. Clara is deceased. Mr. Stout commenced 
on his farm in moderate circumstances, but he 
now owns one thousand eight hundred acres of 
well improved land, and has given large quanti- 
ties to his children. He has held the office of 
supervisor in this township several terms, and is 
an enterprising and benevolent citizen. In poli- 
tics, he is a Democrat. 

Hiram, TF] 'Walker was born in this county, 
April 31, 1832; son of Samuel and Martha (Han- 
nah) Walker, who were natives of Virginia, and 
came to this county in October, 1828, where they 
resided on a farm until their death; the father's 
occurring August 31, 1834, and the mother's 
in April, 1852. Hiram W. resided on a farm 
until 1857, when he was mai-ried to Martha J. 
Scoot, born in Morgan county, Illinois, February 
13, 1832; and they have had three children, viz: 
Mary Luella, born March 24, 1858; Lucy Alice, 
born October 26, 1861, now Mrs. W. J. Peddi- 
cord; and Charles Frederick, born July 21, 1863. 
Mr. W. moved upon his farm of eighty acres in 
186^; it is a well improved farm, and worth |50 
an acre. He has held the office of Road Commis- 
sioner, and has been a member of the School 
Board. Himself and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Democrat. 



802 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XXX. 



BUFFALO HART TOWNSHIP. 



This township lies in the northeastern part of 
the county, and was so named for Buffalo Hart 
Grove, where the first settlement was made. The 
township, with the exception of the grove, con- 
taining about two thousand one hundred acres, 
is all prairie. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settUment in Buffalo Hart township 
was made in 1824, by William Bridges and 
Charles Moore. Robert E. Burns came nexi:, iu 
1825, and was followed, extending over a period 
of years, by the following named, most of whom 
brought their families: James Lynn, John Con- 
stant, Robert Cass, William P. Lawson, Thomas 
Greening, John Robinson, James F. Robinson, 
Adam Starr, and others. Short sketches of seme 
of the earliest settlers will, perhaps, prove not 
uninteresting. 

William Bridges was born April 28, 1787, in 
South Carolina. Subsequently he was taken by 
his parents to Tennessee, and from thence to 
Green county, Ohio, where he was married to 
Martha Martin, tear Xenia. Martha Martin was 
born March 11, 1784, in Clarke county, Ken- 
tucky. She was the third child of her parents. 
When they had two children the family were, 
with many others of the settlers, in Strcde's 
Station, for protection against the Indians. 
When the savages attacked that fortification, 
whicii terminated in its destruction, the men 
were in the fields. The women and children col- 
lected in one of the block-houses. The men, 
finding the fort at the mercy of the Indians, 
thought it would be impossible to save their 
families, and each one locked out for his own 
peisonal eafety. Mr. Henry Martin, of all the 
men, went alone to the block-house, and by his 
earnest entreaties induced them to open the 
door. He then compelled his wife, against her 



protestations, to accompany him with their two 
children, and they at once entered a cane brake, 
eluded the Indians, and thus saved their lives. 
One old lady followed them until they crossed a 
stream, and when she could travel no further, 
concealed herself in a cave until the danger 
passed. The fort was burned, and all the others 
were slain. Henry Martin remained in Ken- 
tucky until after the birth of his daughter, Mar- 
tha, when he moved with his family, to Green 
county, Ohio, After marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Bridges resided in the city of Xenia until they 
had two children. Mr. Bridges served one year 
in the war with Great Britain, from the summer 
of 1812 to 1813. He then moved to Fayette 
county, Indiana, where they had one child, and 
next removed to Sangamon county, Illinois, ar- 
riving about 1824 in Buffalo Hart Grove. Mr. 
Bridges is the gunsmith and blacksmith of 
whom mention is made in this chapter. He 
moved to other parts about 1830, and died. 

Charles Moore came from one of the Southern 
States, built a cotton gin at the east side of Buf- 
falo Hart Grove, in 1823 or '4, ran it for several 
years, and then moved farther north. He had 
been a Revolutionary soldier, and while going 
to draw a pension, the stage upset, and caused 
his death. 

Robert E. Burns settled on the east half of 
the north-west quarter of section twenty-one, in 
October, 1825. His land had been entered by 
John Parker, and the deed was made in May, 
1826. Mr. Burns was born in Washington 
county, Virginia, March 28, 1799, but subse- 
quently moved to Clarke county, Kentucky, 
where he was married to Patsy Cass, September 
15, 1825. The young couple immediately set 
out lor Sangamon county, arriving as already 
stated. Buffalo Hart Grove was selected as the 
place for their future home, and a better selec- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



803 



tion could not. have been made. Mr. and Mrs. 
Burns raised two children to maturity: Robert 
Franklin, born July 11, 1832, and Elizabeth C, 
born June 7, 1835. Robert died July 11, 1852, 
and Elizabeth married John T. Constant. Rob- 
ert E. Burns lived a practical and useful life, 
enduring many of the hardships incidental to 
old age, but having a sufficiency to keep him 
comfortably in old age. He died May 2-lth, 
1880. His widow yet lives on the old home- 
fitead. 

James Lynn came in the fall of 1825. Mr. 
Lynn was born in Rowan county. North Carolina, 
February 24, 1 788. In 1809, he went to Muhlen- 
burg county, Kentucky, and when the war be- 
tween the United States and England com- 
menced, in 1812, he enlisted in a regiment at 
Russelville, Kentucky, and served eighteen 
months. He was severely wounded by a gun- 
shot in Canada. After leaving the army he re- 
turned to Muhlenburg county, Kentucky. James 
Lynn and Sai'ah DePoysterwere married Novem- 
ber 27, 1814, in Butler county, and at once visited 
his parents in North Carolina, remaining one 
year, and in the fall of 1815 moved to Barren 
county, Kentucky, and subsequently as stated 
moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 
the fall of 1825, at the north end of Buffalo 
Hart Grove. Mrs. Lynn says that the country 
looked so new and wild, it required three days to 
look around and consult before they could decide 
to unload their wagons. Her husband would will- 
ingly have gone back, but she would not consent 
to It. Indians were very numerous, but never 
did them any harm. James Lynn died March 
11, 1860. 

John Constant arrived here October 7, 1826. 
Mr. Constant was a native of Kentucky, and was 
in Clarke county, September 13, 1781, and was 
married March 11, 1802, to Susan Edminston, 
Mr. Constant lived but nine years after coming 
to Illinois. He died November 18, 1835, and his 
widow, March 18, 1864. 

Robert Cass came in October, 1826, in com- 
pany with John Constant. Mr. Cass was born 
in 1768 or '69, in Iredell county, North Carolina. 
His father, James Cass, was born in England, 
and when he was six or seven years of age, was 
pressed into the British navy, and trained to a 
sea-faring life. Being separated from his rela- 
tives at so early an age, he never understood his 
own name, and called himself James Cast, lie 
came to Philadelphia, and finally settled in Ire- 
dell county, North Carolina. After raising a 
family there, he moved with his children to 
Clarke county, Kentucky, and there met two 



Englishmen by the name of Cass. After becom- 
ing acquainted, he found that one of them was 
his brother, and the other his cousin, and for the 
first time learned that the family name was not 
Cast, but Cass. His son Robert, whose name 
heads this sketch, having always been called 
Cast, did not think it prudent to resume the 
original name, but related the facts iu the case 
to his children, and his descendants have very 
generally returned to it. Robert Cass was mar- 
ried February 26, 1790, in Iredell county. North 
Carolina, to Lucy Riley. They bad one child 
there, and moved to Clarke county, Kentucky, 
where they had four children; and Mrs. Lucy 
Cass died, February 13, 1809. Robert Cass was 
married in Clarke county, April 26, 1810, to 
Mary Boggs, and had two children there. The 
family then moved to Sangamon county. He 
died July 9, 1852, his wife preceding him about 
twelve years. 

William P. Lawson settled in the grove in 
1828. He was born in Kentucky in 1794. Was 
married February 3, 1820, to Priscilla Duncan. 
Mrs. Lawson died in 1824, and Mr. Lawson mar- 
ried Frances Dunn, October 19, 1826. They 
raised a large family in Sangamon county, and 
Mrs Lawson died October 10, 1867. 

Thomas A. Greening was born November 19, 
1798, in Fauquier county, Virginia. His parent", 
Reuben Greer iug and Sarah Allen, were born 
and married in that county. In 1804, they 
moved to Cumberland Gap, Claiborne county, 
Tennessee, and in 1808 moved to Clarke county, 
Kentucky, where they spent the remainder of 
their lives. Thomas A. was a soldier from that 
county in the War of 1812. He was married 
there in 1816, to Elizabeth Dawson. She was 
born January 1, 1789. They had six children 
in Kentucky; moved to Montgomery county, 
Missouri, and from there to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1830, at Buffalo 
Hart Grove, where they spent the winter of the 
"deep snow." In the spring of 1S31, they 
moved to what is now Loami township. Mr. 
Greening died in 1855. 

John Robinson was born in Virginia, and 
married in Maryland to Nancy Robbins. They 
moved to Delaware, where they had four child- 
ren, and moved to Nicholas county, Kentucky, 
where five children were born, and from there to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall 
of 1830, in Buffalo Hart Grove. He died in 
1841. 

James T. Robinson, was born January 21,1808, 
at New Malton, Yorkshire, England. Of his 
ancestors, Thomas Robinson, merchant, of Mai- 



804 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ton, England, died October 23, 1779, aged sixty- 
eight years. His son, Marmaduke, died April 
28, 1797, aged seventy-nine. His son, William 
Barton Robinson, married Alice Blackburn; they 
had foiir children; their two youngest were James 
T. and Barton, pketches of whom are herewith 
given: James T. came to New York in 1829, 
traveled through the Eastern States and Canada, 
and came to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving 
in December, 1830, in BuflPalo Hart Grove, just 
in time to witness the "deep snow." 

In the spring of 1832, Mr. Robinson having 
business East, embarked on the steamboat Talis- 
man, on the Sangamon river, near Springfield, 
and went as far as St. Louis, on that boat, an 
account of its trip up the Sangamon river is given 
elsewhere in this volume. James T. Robinson 
died December 8, 1871. 

Barton Robinson, a brother of James T., was 
born May 19, 1819, at New Malton, Yorkshire, 
England. He studied medicine and graduated 
from a medical college in London. He came to 
America and joined his brother in Buffalo Hart 
Grove, in December, 1831. 

Adam Starr was l3orn about 1777, iu Culpep- 
per county, Virginia, and went with his parents 
to Bourbon county, Kentucky, when he was 
a young man. He was married in Clarke county, 
to Mary Carson, a native of Baltimore, Maryland 
They had eight children in Clarke county, Ken- 
tucky, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in the fall of 1828, at Buffalo Hart 
Grove. Mr. Starr died in 1852. 

Among other early settlers were Robert 
McDaniel, Thomas Dunn, John St. Clair, and 
Ausburn Ridgeway. After 1832, others came, 
of whom mention may be found among the bio- 
graphical sketches at the close of this chapter. 

NAME OF THB TOWNSHIP. 

The name of the township, as already stated, 
is derived from that by which the grove was 
known by the very earliest settlers. The name 
is that of Buffalo Hart, a combination of Buffalo 
and Hart, two animals that once were plenty in 
this region. A hyphen, in truth, should sepa- 
rate the two words, though it was never so writ- 
ten, and as custom makes law, it must be known 
as Buffalo Hart. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The first religious services held iu the town- 
ship were in the summer of 1826, at the house 
of James Lynn, by a traveling minister of tbe 
Methodist Episcopal Chuich. Only four per- 
sons were present, besides the preacher — Mr.and 



Mrs. Lynn and Mr. and Mr. Burns. Subse- 
quently, ministers of other denominations came 
along, and services were first held in the dwell- 
ings of the pioneers, and then the school houses. 
In 1832, two preachers from Eng.and, of the 
Episcopal persuasion — Dr. Barton Robinson and 
Mr. Davis — having settled in the township, pro- 
ceeded to erect a chapel on section twenty-nine, 
in which religious services were held by them- 
selves, and subsequently by others representing 
different denominations. This house, after the 
failure of Revs. Robinson and Davis to effect 
an organization, was used for school purposes for 
many years. No other church edifice was erected 
in the township until 1867, when a union church 
was built, at a cost of $2,400, near the site of the 
old chapel, in which the various religious de- 
nominations represented in the township assem- 
bled for worship at stated times, and by appoint- 
ment. The Methodist Episcopal denomination 
organized a class here at a very early day. At 
the present time, four religious bodies have or- 
ganizations and stated time for worship — Meth- 
odist, Episcopal, Christian, Baptist, and Pres- 
byterian. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

In the summer of 1829, Kennedy Kincade 
taught a term of school in one room of the first 
cabin erected by John Constant. This was the 
first school in what is now Buffalo Hart town- 
ship. The next school was in the summer of 
1830, and taught by a Mr. Blue, in a log house 
on the west half of the southeast quarter of sec- 
tion twenty. 

The first house erected for school purposes 
was on the farm of John Constant, in the sum- 
mer of 1833. This was the old log school house 
of the regulation pattern. Eliza Hood held the 
first term of school in this house. Subsequently 
the old chapel, built by Robinson and Davis, 
was purchased and for years used as a school 
house. There are now three school houses in the 
township, valued at $6,700. The children of 
school age number two hundred and seventy 
five. 

FIRST EVENTS. 

The first marriage in what now constitutes 
the township of Buffalo Hart was that of Isaac 
L. Skinner and Harriet L. Constant, who were 
united in marriage August 13, 1829. Their first 
child was born January 10, 1831, in the time of 
the deep snew. Mr. Skinner went on a visit to 
his father in the summer of 1831, and there died 
on the 26th day of August. Mrs. Skinner after- 
wards married James W. Langston, he died 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



807 



May 29, 1860. Mrs. Langston now lives in 
Mechanicsburg. 

Martha, daughter of James Lynn, born De- 
cember 29, 1826, was the firstborn in the town- 
Bhip. She died September 25, 1830. 

John Ridgeway died in March, 182*7, which 
was the first death in the township. 

The first frame house was that of the chapel 
erected by Robinson and Davis in 1832. 

The first frame dwelling house was built by 
Robert E. Burns in 18l;9, and it yet stands upon 
the old homestead. 

John Constant erected the first brick dwelling 
house, in 1829. This house was burned down in 
1855. 

The first school was taught by Kennedy Kin- 
cade, in the summer of 1829. 

The Methodists were the first to occupy the 
township. 

The first merchandize sold in the township 
was in 1848, James Haney opening a store on 
section thirty-one. 

POST OFFICE. 

For many years the citizens of Buffalo Hart 
were dependent on Springfield and other points 
for their mail privileges. The first oflice was 
established in 1848, near the present Buffalo 
Hart station, with James T. Robinson as post- 
master. Mr. Robinson was succeeded by Robert 
Cass, who held it until discontinued, on the 
completion of the Wabash Railroad, and the 
establishment of two offices on that line — one 
at Buffalo station and the other at Dawson. In 
1871, when the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield, 
now the Springfield Division of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad, was completed, a station was made 
near the residence of Robert E. Burns, and an 
office established, with W. A. Mudd as post- 
master. Mr. Mudd retained the office two years, 
and was then succeeded by Frank L. Priest, who 
held it three years, W. S. Greening was then 
appointed, and at the expiration of one year, 
resigned, and John T. Constant was appointed. 
Mr. Constant still retains the office. 

MANUFACTORIES. 

Buffalo Hart had its horse mill at an early 
day, Thomas Skinner erecting one on his place, 
which answered the purposes of the farmers, for 
want of something better. No other grist mill 
has ever been erected, but in 1861, Robert Cass 
built a saw-mill about the center of the grove, 
and in 1874 moved it to its present location, at 
Buffalo Hart station. The mill is an excellent 
one, and is a prime necessity for the county. 

94— 



In 1879, Farnum Brothers erected works and 
commenced the manufacture of drain tiles. 
Their sales are constantly increasing among the 
farmers of the neighborhood. 

PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

Buffalo Hart Grange, No. 644, P. of H., was 
organized September 22, 1873, with the follow- 
ing named charter members: G. K. Greening, 
Z. T. Greening, William Huffman, John Lee, 
George Kuhler, Oliver McDaniel, John T. Con- 
stant, Marcus Costello, Harrison McDaniel, Jen- 
nie Enos, ^Helen Finfrock, Sarah Ford, Mattie 
McDaniel,' Hannah Lee, F. M. Merrick, Ara- 
minta Ford, Lucinda Costello and Elizabeth C. 
Constant. The meetings of the Grange were 
held in the old chapel in Buffalo Hart Grove for 
nearly two years, when a hall was built at the 
station and occupied for the first time the even- 
ing of June 26, 1875. The first officers were G. 
K. Greening, Master; J. T. Constant, Secretary; 
Oliver McDaniel. Corresponding Secretary. The 
Grange flourished for a time, interesting meet- 
ings were held and much good accomplished. 
Since March, 1876, no meetings have been held, 
though the charter has not been surrendered. 

ORGANIC. 

Buffalo Hart township was organized at the 
same time with other townships, in 1861, on the 
adoption of the Township Organization Law. 
The first election was held the first Monday in 
April of that year. The following is a complete 
list of the officei's holding the several offices 
named, and for the time mentioned: 

SUPEK VISORS. 

Michael Finfrock 1861-2 

George McDaniel ...1863 

John T. Constant 1864 

Thomas Wilson 1865 

James T. Robinson 1866 

Thomas Wilson 1867 

Robert Cass 1868 

Thomas Wilson 1869 

Thomas Wilson 1870 

William T. Phares 1871 

Michael Finfrock 1872-75 

John T. Constant 1876 

Joseph A. Berry 1877 

John T. Constant 1878 

Joseph A. Berry 1879 

Oliver McDaniel 1880 

W. B. Robinson 1881 

CLERKS. 

James T. Robinson 1861-63 

John T. Constant 1863 

James T. Robinson 1864 

Levi McDaniel 1865 

Gersham K. Greening 1866 

A. M. Ellington 1867 

George W. Thompson 1868 



808 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Lewis C. Hall 1869 

John B. Wright 1870-71 

Z. T. Greening 1873 

Z. T. Greening 1873-74 

Orville F. Priest 1875 

Frank Phares 1876 

Frank L. Priest 1877 

A. T. Gunnett 1878 

Frank L. Priest 1879-81 

COLLECTORS. 

Robert Cass 1861 

Levi McDaniel 1862-63 

Jacob A. easier 1864 

James Cheatham 1865 

A. T. Ford 1866 

William A. Burns 1867 

Abner T. Ford 1868 

Thomas Constant 1869-70 

John T, Constant 1871 

Abner Pattie 1872 

G. K. Greening 1878 

John B. Wright 1874 

Scott Greening 1875 

Harrison McDaniel 1876 

*Orville F. Priest 1877 

Thomas E. Constant 1878-80 

J. W. Martin 1881 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

Robeit Cass 1861 

Benjamin F. Edwards 1861 

Wiliiara R. Constant 1865 

Georae McDaniel 1865 

John T. Constant 1866 

John H. 1 ucas 1867 

John T. Constant 1869 

William T. Phares 1869-70 

Garrett Laughlin 1871 

William H. Langston 1873 

John T. Constant 1873 

G. K. Greening 1874-76 

G . W. Edwards 1877-80 

H. McDaniel 1881 

G. K. Greening 1881 

BUFFALO HART VILLAGE. 

On the completion of the Gilman, Clinton and 
Springfield railroad a station was established on 
Robert E. Burns' farm, with G. W. Edwards, as 
station agent. Mr. Edwards held the position 
for some years, and was succeeded by another, 
on account of his not being a telegraph operator. 
John R. Fielding is the present operator and 
agent, and has held the position since May, 1881. 
" Around the station has grown up a small vil- 
lage, which has not yet been platted. 

Jack & Priest commenced the mercantile bus- 
iness here in 1871. Subsequently Mr. Jack 
withdrew from the firm, which is now composed 
of O. F. & F. L. Priest. 

The other business of the place is now repre- 
sented by the following named: F. J. Dufour, 



Thos. E. Constant appointed to fill vacancy. 



groceries and harness; Mr. Dufouris also assis- 
tant postmaster; Samuel Harris, blacksmith; 
Wm. A. Burns, carpenter and wagon maker; G. 
W. Edwards, shoe maker; Mrs. Alice Harris, 
dress maker; B. McCue, Robert Cass and J. T. 
Constant, dealers in grain and live stock; J. T. 
Constant, dealer in agricultural implements and 
grass seeds. 

Following the general history of Buffalo Hart 
township is given biographical notices of a num- 
ber of many of the early settlers and pioneers of 
the township. 

Jbhti Ridgeway Bums, born October 19, 1803, 
in Jessamine county, Kentucky; married in San- 
gamon county, April, 1828, to Lucy A. Cass. 
They had twelve children, all born in Sangamon 
county; three of whom died under three years of 
age. Mrs. Burns died July 19, 1876; of the liv- 
ing children, Mary J., born March 26, 1831, 
married to John Cass, February 28, 1847; Thos. 
F., born January 9, 1833, married Ursula Green- 
ing, he enlisted July 25, 1862, in Company F, 
One Hundred and Fourteenth Infantry, for three 
years, but was honorably discharged for physical 
disability; William Ambrose, born November 
28, 1839, married Lucy E. Jones, December 24, 
1867. They have had three children, William 
Elmer, Joy May, and James Leslie; reside at 
town of Buffalo Hart Station; Joy May died 
December 8, 1876; Martha A., born February 
27, 1843; Arminta, born December 30, 1844, 
married to William B. Robinson, (see his 
name); Sophia, born February 13, 1849, mar- 
ried James F. Hickman, December 27, 1871; 
Iva, born March 18, 1851, married to James L. 
Wright, October 25, 1871; John I., born January 
11, 1854, married Lizzie Perry, September 2, 
1875. She is the daughter of Horatio and Maria 
(Hill) Perry, natives of Louisville, Kentucky. 
They have had three children, two are deceased, 
Lucy M., born December 4, 1877, is the only one 
living; Robert B., born October 26, 1856, mar- 
ried Nettie Moore, October 18, 1876, in Spring- 
field, Illinois. They now live in Decatur, have 
one child living, George E. 

John R. Burns and Lucy Cass came to this 
county in 1826, he entered land in Logan county, 
which he traded for land in Sangamon county. 
Robert Cass entered the land where the old 
homstead stands. Mr. Burns served in the Black 
Hawk war, and was afterwards captain in a 
military company. He is a Democrat and has 
been for some years, was formerly on the other 
side of the political fence; he is a member and 
for many years deacon of the Predestinrian Bap- 
tist denomination. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



809 



ISamuel R. Campbell, son of William aud 
Nancy (Reeder) Campbell, the former a native 
of Tennessee, and the latter of Kentucky. 
Samuel R. was born in Morgan county, Illinois 
December 13, 1842. He married Miss Frances A? 
Funk, November 1, ISe?. She was born July,- 
1845, in Scott county, Illinois. By this marriage 
there were two children born — Henry L., born 
May, 1869, and Lillie M.,born January 27, 1871. 
Mrs. Campbell died November 20, 1872. He 
was married January 22, 1 875, to Martha A. Burns. 
They have two childreif — John W., born March 
29, 1879, and Bertha E., born March 9, 1881. In 
1866, he moved to Macon county, Illinois, and 
purchased a farm, remaining there until the fall 
of 1874, when he sold out, returned to Sanga- 
mon county, and purchased the farm on which 
he now resides, located on section twenty-nine, 
Buffalo Hart township. He is a member of the 
Baptist Church, and in politics a Republican. 

Alexander Cass, born in this township, Novem- 
ber 3, 1853, is the son of John R. and Mary Jane 
(Burns) Cass, natives of Kentucky. He is one 
of a family of thirteen children. He married 
Cornelia Fenton November 3, 1875. She is the 
daughter of Alexander and Mary Fenton, of San- 
gamon county, and lives four miles northwest of 
Springfield, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Cass have 
one child, Mary Ethel, born May 12, 1880. 

Mr. Cass is a farmer and lives near Buffalo 
Hart Station. He and his wife belong to the 
Baptist denomination. Politically, he is a Re- 
publican. 

Ambrose Howen Cass was born February 1 1 , 
1811, in Clark county, Kentucky^ and is the son 
of Robert and Mary (Boggs) Cass. He came to 
Sangamon county with his parents and a brother, 
Ninian R., and a sister, Lucy Ann, 1826, arriving 
in Buffalo Hart Grove, October 2d of that year, 
and on January 17, 1830, was married to Melinda 
Burns, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth 
(Ridgeway) Burns, They had eleven children, 
eight of whom are now living, as follows: 
Elizabeth, born November 14, 1830, married 
Michael Finfrock, November 8, 1849, and are 
now living in Waynesville, DeWitt county, Illi- 
nois. They have seven children, viz: Bowen, 
Helen, Charles, Paul, Irving, Willis, and Ernest. 
Mary C, born May 8, 1833, married to B. F. 
Edwards, March 31, 1858, (see his name); Lucy 
A., born August 31, 1835, married to Dr. Leslie 
Gillette, April 20, 1859. They have three child- 
dren, Leslie, Fanny and Georgiana, and reside in 
Buffalo. Louis, born March 10, 1838, married to 
Christina Lawson, December 24, 1862. They 
have three children living, four deceased, Clar- 



ence, Arthur and Fred. Amos, born March 4, 
1838, died April 4, 1840; Albert born March 
4, 1841, died August 28, 1842; Paulina, born 
October 4, 1843, married to Albert Shrieve, 
October 13, 1864, live in Logan county; Hardin, 
born September 16, 1845, married to Harriet N. 
Landis, October 10, 1866, have three children, 
Phil, Louis B. and Mable. They live in Otto 
county, Nebraska; Scott, born November 20, 
]847, married Sarah Joaes, June 18, 1874; she 
died November 3, 1878; one child living, Gracie, 
born June 18, 1875; Marion, born April 12, 1850, 
married Catharine Shrimp, March 31, 1875; have 
two children, Hattie and William; live at old 
homestead. Harry, born February 3, 1854, 
married Catharine Cole, September 14, 187H; 
have one child, Bowen; live at old homestead. 
The land owned by Mr. Cass was entered by 
himself, R. E. Burns, Robert Cass, Mr. Price 
and others. He has about eight hundred and 
sixty acres in this township, all under cultiva- 
tion. A branch of the Illinois Central Railroad 
passes through the farm. Mr. Cass was in the 
Black Hawk war. He and John R Burns are 
the only survivors who participated in that war, 
now in Buffalo township. Mr. Cass is of English 
descent; his grandfather came from there and 
settled in North Carolina where A. B. Cass' 
father was born; his mother was a native of Vir- 
ginia; they moved to Kentucky in 1793, and re- 
mained there till 1826. The family are among 
the earliest settlers in Sangamon county. 

John T. Constant, the son of John W., and 
Lucinda (Cass) Constant, was born February 13, 
1830, on section twenty-seven, of Buffalo Hart 
township, and was married April 16, 1854, to 
Elizabeth C. Burns, a daughter of Robert E., 
and Patsy (Cass) Burns, and was born June 7, 
1836. They had seven children: two died in in- 
fancy. Of those living, Mattie Sybil was mar- 
ried December 15, 1880, to Thomas A. Jack; 
they live in Buffalo. Robert F., Emma M., 
Cora K., and Una, Tomasa A. Burns live with 
their parents in Buffalo Hart Grove. John T. 
Constant is a farmer and stock dealer, also deals 
in grain; now present postmaster for Buffalo 
Halt. He has held most of the township offices. 
His grand-father, John Constant, came to 
Sangamon county in 1826, settling in this town- 
ship, where he entered a large tract of land. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burns, the parents of Mrs. Constant, 
came to Sangamon county in 1825. They also 
settled in this township, where Mr. Burns died. 
May 24, 1880, At one of the general elections, 
he voted the only Democrat ticket cast in the 
township, and was presented a cane by Thomas 



810 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



L. Harris and John C. Maxcy, two of the candi- 
dates. He eventually succeeded in influencing 
a Democratic majority in the township, and re- 
ceived a handsome watch as a token of respect, 
and acknowledgment of his influence. Mrs. 
Burns is still living, and makes her home 
with Mr. and Mrs. Constant, on the old home- 
stead. 

John E. Constant, born March 29, 1843, and 
married Hester F. King, January 15, 1871, they 
have one child Earl, who was born November 

19, 1871. Mr. Constant's parents, Wm. A. and 
Mary A. (Starr) Constant, were married in 
Sangamon county, 111., in March, 1842. Mrs. 
Constant was born July 4, 1845, her parents, 
James M. and America (Elliott) King, live in 
Clear Lake township, this county. John E. 
enlisted at Springfield, Illinois, July 20, 1861, 
for three years, in what became company B, 
Eleventh Missouri Infantry, on account of Illi- 
nois quoto being filled at the time; re-enlisted as 
a veteran in same company and regiment, Jan- 
uary 1, 1864, and was honorably discharged Jan- 
uary 15, 1866, having served throughout the war. 
He was in the battles of which his regiment 
participated, siege of Vicksburg, Mobile, Nash- 
ville, luka, &c. After the war he attended the 
Normal University at Bloomington, Illinois, and 
finished his education. He then engaged in his 
present occupation, farming. Mr. Constant has 
served as Assessor of the township two terms, 
when his present term expires. He is a Repub- 
lican and has always voted that ticket. He 
belongs to the Christian Church, and is a man 
respected by all his acquaintances. 

Benjamin F. Edwards lives on section twen- 
ty-seven, Buffalo Hart township, is a farmer and 
stock dealer; born in Madison county. New 
York, July 12, 1823; is the son of Peter and 
Mary B. (Anderson) Edwards. Mr. Edwards 
left his home in Neyi^ York, August 1, 1847, ar- 
riving at Springfield, September Ist. Same year 
he entered a section of limd in DeWitt county. 
The land he now owns was bought of William 
R. Constant, and entered by his grandfather, 
John Constant. Mr. Edwards was married 
March 31, 1858, to Mary C. Cass; she died April 

20, 1881. They had four living children (two 
died in infancy) — Gaylord, born January 12, 
1859, now in California; John P., born February 
16, 1862; B. F., born September 7, 1867, and 
Mary B., born September 16, 1869, are all living 
at home. Mr. Edwards was engaged as a drover 
and shipper of cattle, but left that business for 
farming when he was married. He was educated 
at Madison county. New York. Is a Republi- 



can, and was an active politician about the time 
of President Filmore's administration. 

William S. Enos, a native of Sangamon 
county, is the son of Abner and Anna (Burns) 
Enos, and was born December 4, 1832. He was 
married October 12, 1865, to Jane Dunn, who 
was born January 29, 1847, in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land. She is the daughter of John and Ann 
(Hood) Dunn They have three children: 
Annie, Janette and John Abner. Mr. Enos 
enlisted August 15, 1862, for three years, in 
Company B, One Hundred and Thirtieth Illi- 
nois Infantry, and was wounded May 22, 1863, 
in five places, and again, June 4, 1863, by a shot 
through the foot, all at the siege of Vicksburg. 
He recovered and was captured, April, 1864, in 
Gen. Bank's Red river expedition. Was placed 
in a rebel stockade prison at Camp Ford, near 
Tyler, Texa», remained in prison thirteen months 
and nineteen days, was released, went to New 
Orleans, St. Louis and Springfield, and Avas 
honorably discharged June 19, 1865. Since 
then he has been engaged in farming and stock 
raising. He lives two and a half miles from 
Buffalo Hart station. 

John R. Enos was born March 5, 1848, in 
Buffalo Hart township, is the son of Horace B. 
Arminda J. (Constant) Enos. He was married 
October 28, 1874, to Jane F. Wilson, daughter 
of Thomas and Jane (Riddle) Wilson (see his 
name). They have three children living, Horace 
W., born August 23, 1875, Thomas S. born Au- 
gust 24, 1877, Carrie C. born August 23, 1879. 
Mr. Enos enlisted in Company F. of the One 
Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, 
March 8, 1865, for one year, was transferred to 
Company C. Fifty-eighth Illinois Infantry, 
July 1865, and was honorably discharged at 
Montgomery, Alabama. He is at present en- 
gaged in farming on section thirty-one, Buffalo 
Hart Township. Mrs. Arminda J. Enos died 
September 11, 1857, and Horace B. Enos lives 
two and one-half miles from Buffalo Hart station. 

GershomK. Greening was born May 31, 1841, 
near the city of Springfield, Illinois. When 
eighteen months of age his parents moved to 
Buckhart Grove, in this township, where he has 
made his home since. When the war of the 
Rebellion broke out, Mr. Gi'eening enlisted in 
Company I, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth 
Illinois Infantry, for three years ; served full 
term, and was honorably discharged August 8, 
1865. He was forty-seven days under fire at the 
siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi; participated in 
the siege of Mobile, battles .of Jackson, Gun- 
town and Tupola, Mississippi, raid of General 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



811 



A. J. Smith after Pi-ice's army, winter of 1864, 
and all the other many engagements in which 
his regiment participated. Mr. G. was not 
wounded, but while acting as color bearer at 
battle of Guntown, Mississippi, had seven shots 
through his clothing. After being mustei'cd 
out of the service at Camp Butler, in this county, 
he returned home and engaged in farming. He 
has the confidence of the entire community in 
which he lives and has had laid upon him many 
of the public responsibilities of his township, 
having held the offices of Town Clerk and Col- 
lector, and, upon expiration of present term, 
will have been justice of the peace eleven years. 
Being an active member of the Christian 
Church, he has taken great interest in Sunday 
school matters, being at one time superinten- 
dent of two schools, thereby being compelled 
to go from one to the other, a distance of 
several miles. At the organization of the 
Buffalo Hart Grange, in 1873, Mr. G. was elected 
Master, which office he held until the close of 
the organization. He is a temperance advocate, 
being a member of the Good Templars ; also a 
member of Masonic fraternity. Mr. G. is un- 
marrierl, and makes his home with his father, 
John F. Greening, a native of Tennessee, who, 
with his wife, Elizabeth G. (Rose) Greening, 
came to Sangamon county, October, 1839. 

Mary Aym Leaf, widow of William Leaf, 
came to the United States in 1854, arriving 
New Orleans, November 6. She was married 
to Mr. Leaf in Beverly, Yorkshire, England, 
January 26, 1841, and they came to Sangamon 
county from New Orleans in 1856, and located 
in Buffalo Hart township. They were both na- 
tives of England, Mr. Leaf being from there Oc- 
tober 19, 1819. They had ten children, but 
three are living: Charles, born June 19, 
1843, married Susan Stevens; have three chil- 
dren, Charles W., Rosa Bell and John Henry. 
William, born December 11, 1850, married 
Louella Robbins; and Mollie, born May 19, 
1855. Mr. Leaf's children were all born in 
England, except the youngest, Mollie. Mr. Leaf 
built four saw-mills; one is yet standing. He 
left an estate somewhat encumbered with debt, 
but which has been cleared by the management 
of his widow since his decease. 

Ellen {Hendricks) JJiickett, widow of Benja- 
min Luckett, was born February 8, 1833. Mr. 
Luckett, born March 29, 1830, both natives of 
Kentucky. They were married there, and came 
to Sangamon county in 1856, where he died, 
July 18, 1878. They have two children living, 
Benjamin T., born November 16, 1862, and John 



T., born April 16, 1868; four children died in 
infancy, three of them died in Kentucky, and 
one in Sangamon county. 

Mrs. Luckett's parents are living in Kentucky. 
Mr. Luckett died very suddenly, being ill but a 
few hours; he was a large, corpulent gentleman, 
and was highly esteemed wherever he was known. 
Mrs. Luckett lives with her children, on section 
nineteen, this township; carries on farming with 
their assistance. 

William H. Lyon, the son of Harrison D. 
and Mary E. (Hickman) Lyon, lives on section 
eighteen, Buffalo Hart township. He married 
Sarah A. Day, March 12, 1874. She is the 
daughter of tra and Electia E. (Wilson) Day, 
natives of New York, where her father died 
April 12, 1860. Mrs. Day is now living in 
Springfield, Illinois, with her sons, who are of 
the firm of P. F. Day & Bro. Mr. and Mrs. 
Lyon have two children: Macie E., born Octo- 
ber 31, 1877, and May Belle, born February 15, 
1879. Mr. Lyon's grand-parents came to Sanga- 
mon county in October, 1834, and located north- 
east of Springfield. His father was born in Shel- 
by ville, Kentucky, May 7, 1815, and was married 
April 6, 1843. Mr. Lyon is engaged in farming. 
Priest Brothers, Buffalo Hart station, Illinois, 
have the only general line of merchandise in 
the place. The firm consists of O. F. Priest, 
senior and F. L. Priest, junior member. The 
firm was originally Jack & Priest, who com- 
menced business at this place in June, 1873, bulb 
tlie following year Mr. Jack retired, and Mr. 
Priest's brother, Orville, joined and composed 
the present firm. Messrs. Priest Brothers carry 
a very complete line of goods, and enjoy the 
confidence of the public, as is manifest by their 
continued success. Their stock of dry goods, 
clothing, groceries, boots and shoes and numer- 
ous other articles is complete in every particular. 
The Priest bi'others' parents, Fred W. L. and 
Eveline E. Priest, came to Sangamon county in 
an early day. He was a native of New York, 
and she of Vermont. Orville .F. married a 
daughter of Mr. Jack, of Buffalo, Illinois, who 
died a few months after the marriage with pul- 
monary disease contracted before marriage. 
Her death occurred May 11, 1878. He married 
May 25, 1881, Jennie M. a daughter of John and 
Anna (Thompson) Taylor, of Logan county. 
Mr. Priest is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church and was chorister for a long time. 
Frank L. Priest is unmarried and makes his 
norae with his brother. At Buffalo Hart, he is 
at present Township Treasurer. The brothers 
have held many of the local offices of the town- 



812 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



ship, and are among the enterprising citizens of 
the township. 

Willia?n ^. Mobin so?), hoiB May 29, 1838; is a 
son of James T. and Minerva (Starr) Robinson. 
He was married to Arminta Burns, February 2], 
1867, and they have two children, John B., and 
Alice Carey. Mr. Robinson enlisted at Camp 
Butler, Sangamon county, July 25, 1862, in 
Company I, One Hundred and Fourteenth 
Illinois Infantry, Captain King, for three years; 
participated in the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, 
siege of Vicksburg, and after the battle of Gun- 
town was taken prisoner June 10, 1863, sent to 
Andersonville prison, remaining three months; 
thence to Savannah, Milan and Florence, South 
Carolina. On the approach of Gen. Sherman's 
army was removed to Goldsboro, North Car- 
olina, where he was paroled February 25, 1865, 
released at Wilmington next day, ano honorably 
discharged at Springfield, Illinois May 30, 1865. 
He came home and engaged in farming on part 
of the old homestead where his parents lived 
and died. He is at present gupervisor of this 
township. Mr. Robinson's ancestors are natives 
of England, and came to America in 1829. His 



father, James T., was a surveyor in England, 
and his grandfather a barrister. Of the land 
owned by the family, a large tract was entered 
by James T. Robinson. The mother of Wm. 
B., died January 5, 1881. 

Thomas Wilson came to Sangamon county in 
1847, settled near what is now Riverton, in 
Clear Lake township. He was born in Dum- 
freeshire, Scotland, November 4, 1817, and is 
the son of James and Jane (Frood) Wilson, who 
both came to Sangamon county and died here, 
he died December 1, 1875, and she died Febru- 
ary 3, 1861. Thomas Wilson was married in 
Sangamon county, January 15, 1850, to Jane 
Riddle, a daughter of William H. and Maximilla 
(Bonsman) Riddle. She was born April 1 4, 1 828, 
in Logan county Ohio, and came with her parents 
to Sangamon county when she was nine years of 
age. Her parents remained here from 1837 until 
1851, when they moved to Oregon, where her 
mother died in Douglas county, her father is 
still living there. Mr. Wilson has followed 
farming ever since he came to America, and 
has a fine farm of three hundred and sixty 
acres. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



813 



Chapter XXXI. 



CARTWRIGHT TOWNSHIP. 



The township of Cartwright is locaterl in the 
noi'thwest part of the county, and is bounded on 
the east by Salisbury and Gardner, on the west 
by Morgan county, on the north by Menard 
county, aad on the south by Island Grove. The 
township is the largest in the county, being eight 
by nine miles in extent, having seventy full sec- 
tions, equal to two congressional townships. 
The soil is equil to any in the county, and the 
township is well watered by Richland, Prairie 
and Spring creeks. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlement in the township was made 
in 1819, along Richland creek. Among the 
early settlers were Roland Shepherd, Dallas 
Scott, Solomon Price, John B. Broad well, William 
Carson, Samuel Irwin, Moses Broadwell, Robert 
Milburn, William Crow, David S. Purvines, 
Edward Pirkins, Hiram Penney, Maxwell Camp- 
bell, James H. Doherty, Richard Gaines, Samuel 
M. Thompson, Moses K. Anderson, Wright 
Flynn, Robert Wilborn, Mr. Shoosory, David 
Smith, Abraham Lingard, Solomon Pearce, 
Samuel Newhouse, Bradley Vance, Evans Martin, 
Ralph Morgan, Wilson Hamilton, John Purvine, 
Irwin Masters, Joshua Crow, Buck Davis, 
Absalom Baker, Solomon Penney, and Peter 
Cartwright. 

Dallas Scott was born April 6, 1T91, in Cum- 
berland county, Kentucky. Sarah Foster was 
born May 1, 1793, in the same county. They 
were there married in 1815. The family moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving Novem- 
ber 1, 1819, on Richland creek, three miles east 
of the present town of Pleasant Plains. He 
died in 1841. 

William Crow was born March 5, 1793, in 
Botetourt county, Virginia. Three brothers, 
John, Thomas and Andrew Crow, came from 
Ireland to America during the Revolutionary 



War. John was the father of William Crow. 
John Crow moved to Barren county, Kentucky, 
when William was a child. William Crow and 
Miriam Enyart were married in Cumberland 
county, Kentucky. In 18 19, they moved to Madi- 
son connty, Illinois, where he was ordained to 
preach the gospel by the recognized authorities 
of the Old School, or Regular, Baptist Church. 
In the fall of 1820, he moved to what is now 
Cartwright township, in Sangamon county, north 
of Richland creek, where Mrs. Mariam Crow 
died, August 7, 1823. William Crow was mar- 
ried in the fall of 1824, in Cumberland county, 
Kentucky, to Susan Hall. On his return to 
Sangamon county, he sold out and settled in 
what is now the southeast corner of Cass county. 
Mrs. Susan Crow died April 11, 1846, in Cass 
county, and Rev. William Crow died August 22, 
1865, at Brownsville, Nebraska. He preached 
from the time he came to Sangamon county 
until about 1860, a minister of forty years. He 
was known to all Baptists throughout Central 
Illinois. 

David Simpson Purvines was born May 18, 
1787, in Cabarras county. North Carolina. Eliz- 
abeth Weddington was born December 25, 1790. 
Xhey were married in North Carolina, and the 
family moved to Richland creek, in what be- 
came Sangamon county and Cartwright town- 
ship, arriving in the fall of 1820, where he died 
in 1852. 

Edward Pirkins was born March 15, 1791, on 
the river Yadkin, Wilkes county. North Caro- 
lina. His parents moved, when he was quite 
young, to Adair county, Kentucky. He was 
married August 20, 1812, in Campbell county, 
Tennessee, to Anna Pierce, who was born March 
28, 1796, in Blount county, Tennessee. They 
made their home in Campbell county, Tennes- 
see, and subsequently moved, in company with 
the family of his father-in-law, Robert Pierce, to 



814 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Madison county, Illinois, arrivirg in the fall of 
1819. The next spring, the two families moved 
to Sangamon county, ani\'ing in April, 1820, on 
Richland creek, in what is now Cariwright town- 
ship. Edwaid Pirkins lememlers that when 
himself and his father-in-law, Mr. Pierce, were 
looking at the conntiy, they were at Island 
Grove, and Mr, Pierce thought it ought to he 
called "Lost Grove," because there was not more 
than enough timber for one family, and, as ore 
family could not live alcne, it Mould be lost. 
They went to Richland creek, because theie was 
more timber there. Claims were laid to it all 
before it came into maiket, and when it was 
ready for entry, the timber land was all taken 
very soon. It had been a source of great anx- 
iety because there were no pre-emption laws to 
protect the settlers, and they felt veiy much re- 
lieved when they had generally secured their 
homes. This happiness did not last long, for 
they soon began to worry about how long the 
timber would last. Mr. Pirkins reiremlers 
meeting four or five of his neighbois when the 
timber question cgme up. He gave it as his 
opinion that he would cut the last stick of his 
timber in twenty years, and he would have to 
leave the ccuntiy. One man who had read some- 
thing about "peat," or turf, tried to console those 
present with the thought that before the timber 
was exhausted a plan would be invented to break 
the prairie, and they could dry the sod, call it 
peat, and burn it. There is more wood on his 
land now than when he entered it. 

Edward Pirkins took the premium of a gold- 
headed cane, at the Sangamon county fair, Sep- 
tember, 1875, for the best equestrianism by aged 
gentlemen. There v ere eleven entries, all over 
sixty years of age. Rev. A. Gross, on behalf of 
the society, said: "Mr. Pirkins, the committee 
chosen by the Sangamon County Fair consider 
you the most graceful rider, and on behalf of 
the society, I present you with this beauti:^! 
cane, to which we feel you are justly entitled." 

Hiram Penny was born October 5, 1790, in 
North Carolina, and. was taken when quite 
young, by his parents, to Pope county, Illinois. 
He was married in Kentucky, opposite where 
they lived in Illinois, to Catharine McHenry. 
They moved to Sangamon county, arriving in 
the fall of 1822, in what is now Cartwright town- 
ship. Hiram Penny died December 10, 1852, in 
Sangamon county. His widow died April 30, 
1873, in Wilson county, Kansas. 

"William Penny, the father of Hiram, was 
born in 1751, and was captain of a company 
from North Carolina, in the Revolutionary army. 



He moved to Pope county, Illinois, and from 
there to Sangamon county, and died, March 15, 
1821, on Richland creek, in what is now Cart- 
wright township. He had two brothers, Solomon 
and Robert, Solomon married Jane Renshaw, 
raised a family and died after leaving the county. 
His widow, more than ninety years old, lives 
with her daughter, Mrs. Abraham Freeman, in 
Springfield 

Maxwell Campbell was born October 29, 1795, 
in Cabanas county, North Carolina. His grand- 
father, Robert Campbell, came from Scotland, 
bringing six sons: Robert, James, John, "Wil- 
liam, Ssmuel and George. Their arrival in 
North Carolina was not long before the Ameri- 
can Revolution, and all the six brothers Mere 
soldiers in the Revolutionary army. The second 
Robert was the father of the subject of this 
sketch. Maxwell Campbell was married July 
25, 1822, in North Carolina, to Nancy Plunkett. 
She was born June 15, 1806, in the same county. 
They came to Sangamon county, arriving in 
May, 1823, end settled at the north side of Rich- 
land creek, in what is now Cartwright township. 
He died in 1881. 

Richaid Gaines was born November 8, 1777, 
in Charlotte county, "Yirginia. Amy C. Green 
was born February 3, 1782, in the same county. 
They were married and moved to Barren county, 
Kentucky, about 1807, then moved to Christian 
county, then moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, arriving in November, 1825, in what is now 
Cartwright township, and settled about one mile 
north of where Pleasant Plains now stands. 
Richard Gaines was a local preacher in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for twenty-five or 
thirty years. He died January 7, 1845, and Mrs. 
Amy C. Gaines died August 19, 1871; both of 
Sangamon county. 

Samuel M. Thompson was born February 12, 
1801, in Davidson county, eighteen miles west 
of Nashville, Tennessee. He educated himself, 
and, in connection with General Moses K. Ander- 
son, taught a military school, having branches in 
Davidson and Dickson counties. Mr. Thompson 
came to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 
the fall of 1828, in what is now Cartwright 
township. He returned to Davidson county, 
Tennessee, and was married in February, 1831, 
to Cynthia McCrary. He returned to Sangamon 
county in the spring of that year. Mr. Thomp- 
son volunteered in 1832, for the campaign against 
the Indians under their chief, Black Hawk, He 
was in the company of which Abraham Lincoln 
was Captain, and was elected First Lieutenant 
at the time the company was organized, on Rich- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



815 



laud creek. Lincoln was elected Captain at the 
same time and place. That company united at 
Beardstown with another from Sangamon county, 
under Captain Gooding. They were ordered 
from Beardstown to Rushville, and were con- 
solidated with two other companies to form the 
Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. Lieu- 
tenant Thompson was elected Colonel of the 
Regiment. He was thus promoted over Captain 
Lincoln. The latter, however, it should be said, 
was not a candidate for the office of Colonel. 
The call was for thirty days, expecting the In- 
dians would retreat across the Mississippi river, 
as they had done the year before. The savages 
did not retreat, and the regiment was out about 
sixty days without an engagement. It was dis- 
banded and mustered out of service at Ottawa, 
June, 1832, by Colonel Zachary Taylor, after- 
wards President of the United States. Colonel 
S. M. Thompson and wife had one child, born in 
Sangamon county; and moved to Beardstown in 
the fall of 1832. 

Mrs. Cynthia Thompson died in October, 1843, 
near Burlington, Iowa. Colonel Thompson was 
married in 1855, in Mahaska county, Iowa, to 
Mrs. Nancy Waldon, whose maiden name was 
Sullivan. She was a native of Davidson county, 
Tennessee, also. They reside in Osage county, 
near Williamsburg, Franklin county, Kansas. 

Colonel Thompson has always heard that rail- 
road trains were swift, but he was able to keep 
ahead of them until November 26, 1874, when 
he entered a car for the first time at Garnet, 
Kansas, to visit his old friends in Illinois. 

Moses K. Anderson was born November 11, 
1803, in Butler county, Kentixcky. His parents 
died when he was ten or twelve years of age, 
and he was taken by a relative to that part of 
Davidson which is now Cheatham county, on 
Hanpeth river, Tennessee. Cassariller Stroude 
was born November 25, 1812, in Dickson county, 
Tennessee. M. K. Anderson and Cassariller 
Stroude were married in her native county, Sep- 
tember 13, 1827, and moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving March 2, 1829, in Avhat 
is now Cartwright township, four miles east 
of Pleasant Plains, and south of Richland 
creek. 

Roland Shepherd settled on section three, 
township sixteen, range seven, in 1819. He sold 
his claim to Clayborn Jones in 1821, and moved 
to Adams county, Illinois, where he died. 

Clayborn Jones came in 1821, and remained 
until 1833, when he sold his farm and removed 
to Henry county, Iowa; fi"om thence to Lynn 
county, Missouri, where he died about 1845. 

94— 



John B. Broadwell came in November, 1819, 
and settled on section four, township sixteen, 
range seven. He sold to William Carson, and 
subsequently moved to Kansas, where he 
died. 

Wright Flynn and Robert Milborn arrived 
Christmas, 1819. Flynn sold his claim to David 
S. Purvine and moved to Morgan county and 
died. Milborn sold to Samuel L. Irwin; went 
about three-fourths of a mile, located another 
claim which he subsequently sold to Alex Irwin; 
moved to Cass county and died. 

Mr. Shoosong settled on section thirty-one, 
township seventeen, range eight, and subse- 
quently sold it to David Repsear and Daniel 
Troy, who retained it two years and then sold to 
Peter Cartwright. 

David Smith came in the spring of 1820, and 
settled on section thirty-five, township seventeen, 
range eight; lived and died on the place about 
1840. 

Abraham Sinyard settled on the same section 
the same spring. Subsequently sold to M. K. 
Anderson, and moved to Iowa, where he died. 

Solomon Pearce settled on section two, where 
he subsequently died. 

Samuel Newhouse settled on the place now 
owned by Mr. Ballard; sold to Mr. Alexander 
and moved to Gardner township. 

Bradley Vance settled on place now owned by 
the widow Sayres, on same section. Sold to 
William Morgan and moved to Morgan county, 
Illinois. 

Evans Martin settled on section thirteen ; sold 
out and moved to McDonough county, where he 
died. 

Ralph Morgan settled on section thirteen. 
He subsequently moved to Cass county, where 
he died. 

Wilson Hamilton settled on section thirty; 
sold out and moved to Macoupin county; thence 
to Iowa, where he died. 

Samuel L. Irwin was born June 6, 1779, in 
Cabarras county. North Carolina, and was mar- 
ried to Rachel Hudson, September 23, 1802. In 
the fall of 1818, the family moved to that part 
of Tennessee then called the Cherokee pur- 
chase, and then to what became Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving April 20, 1820, and 
first pitched their tents in what is now the north- 
east part of Pleasant Plains. After a few 
months' stay, they moved about two miles down 
Richland creek, at the south side. Mr. Irwin 
was the father of a large family, several of 
whom, with their descendants, yet remain in the 
township. Mr. Irwin died in 1845. 



816 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



John Purvine settled on section thii-ty-two 
and died on the place. 

Irwin Masters settled on section twenty-nine. 
Subsequently sold to Joshua Crow and moved to 
Morgan county, and died there. 

Joshua Crow, who purchased the claim of Mr. 
Masters, afterwards sold to John Baker, and 
moved to Cass county and died there. 

Alexander Purvine made claim to a part of 
section thirty-three. Lived. and died on the 
place where he first located. 

Buck Davis settled on same section, but sub- 
sequently sold out and moved to Schuyler 
county. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

The surface of the country is generally level, 
though sufficiently rolling to afford a fair 
amount of natural drainage. The soil is a rich 
black loam, well adopted for the various kinds 
of grain raised in this latitude. The timbered 
land of the township is about one mile wide and 
six long. 

WATER COURSES. 

The township is watered by Richland, Prairie 
and Spring creeks, and their tributaries. Rich- 
land creek heads on section twenty-seven, town- 
ship seventeen, range eight, and flows in nearly 
an eastern direction through the township, 
emerges from section thirty-six, township seven- 
teen, range seven. One branch of Prairie creek 
heads on section twenty-four, the other on sec- 
tion twenty-five, township sixteen, range eight, 
uniting on section twenty-eight, township sixteen, 
range seven, flows northeast emerges from section 
thirteen, same township and range. Spring 
creek heads in Island Grove township, and 
enters Cartwright, section thirty-three, township 
sixteen, range seven, and flowing in an eastern 
direction enters Gardner, from section thirty-six, 
same town and range. 

MILLS. 

The mill privileges of the pioneer were often 
taken into consideration in the purchase of a 
place, as in the early day many had to go a long 
distance for their supply of meal and flour, often 
at great inconvenience. The old Avater mills 
and the horse mills were slow contrivances, and 
frequently one would be compelled to wait several 
days before their wants could be supplied^ The 
miller always acted upon the motto "First come, 
first served," and each had to wait his turn. 
The first mill in what is now Cartwright town- 
ship was built in 1819, by Mr. Spillars. It was 
the old-fashioned band-wheel, run by horse 
power. It had one set of burrs, and was used 



for grinding both corn and wheat. The second 
mill was built by J. S. Plunkett, on Richland 
creek, on the place now owned by S. T. Plunk- 
ett. It had one run of burrs, and was first run 
by horse power, and then by water. Thei'e is 
now but one mill in the township, and the citi- 
zens have choice of a large number within a 
short distance of their homes. 

FIRST EVENTS. 

The first marriage in what is known as Cart- 
wright, was that of Peter Shepherd and Nancy 
Purvine, July IG, 1820, by Rev. Streator. 

The first birth, or rather births, was three sons 
to Mr. and Mrs. Roland Shepherd, in 1819. 

The first death was that of the wife of Absa- 
lom Baker, who died in 1820. 

The first school was in 1821, John D. Purvine 
being the teacher. 

The first religious services were at the house 
of Absalom Baker, conducted by Rev. James 
Sims, in the summer of 1820. 

The first mill was built by Mr. Spillar, in 
1819. 

A. Sinyard was the first justice of the peace 
and first postmaster. 

The first brick house built in this township 
wa*i erected in 1824, a few miles west of Pleas- 
ant Plains, by Moses Broadwell. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

In 1821, the first step was taken towards the 
advancement of education, by the building of a 
log school house on section thirty-four. John 
Purvine was the first teacher. In the sixty 
years that have past, much has been done in 
this direction, and Cartwright township has 
always been in the front rank in educational 
progress. There are now in the limits of the 
township, eleven good, substantial school build- 
ings, valued at 114,000. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The pioneer preacher is deserving of great 
credit for the noble work which he has done. 
The early settlers are generally with but little 
means, so that they are unable to pay the minis- 
ter of the gospel but a small amount for his 
labor. Nothing but a love for the cause would 
tempt one to engage in this work. 

Rev. James Sims, a worthy minister of the 
gospel, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
whose name often appears upon these pages, 
was the first to proclaim the unsearchable riches 
of Christ in this township. In the summer of 
1820, at the house of Absalom Baker, he delivered 
his first discourse to the Cartwright people. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



817 



There are now seven churches in the township, 
four outside the village of Pleasant Plains. 

^ ORGANIC. 

The townshij) was organized in 1861, by the 
Board of Justices of the county, and named 
" Cartwright," in honor of Rev. Peter Cart- 
wright, the pioneer Methodist minister, who so 
long resided in the township. The first election 
was held the first Monday in April, since which 
time annual elections for township officers have 
been held. The followng embraces the principal 
officers elected, from 1861 to 1881, inclusive : 

SUPERVISORS. 

The following named served from 1861 to 
1881: 

James M. Arnold 1861 

G. M. Harrison 1862 

J. M. Arnold, two years 1863-64 

Wm. Washburn 1865 

P. L. Harrison 1866 

James W. Beekman, two years 1867-68 

John Harnett 1869 

R. F. Hamilton, four years 1870-71-72-73 

Alanson Kernoll, two years 1874-75 

G. W. Fink 1876 

A. B. Irwin 1877 

R. F . Hamilton 1878 

C. C Irwin 1879 

Leonaid Hansbarger, two years 1880-81 

ASSESSORS. 

The following named served from 1861 to 
1881: 

M. C. John 1861 

P. L. Harrison 1862 

E. James 1863 

Daniel L. Clark, three years 1864-65-66 

W. R. Crenshaw, two years 1867-68 

J. C. Boine 1869 

Daniel L. Clark, two years 1870-71 

James W. Beekman 1872 

John F. Purvines 1873 

Daniel L. Clark 1874 

Daniel Fink, four years 1875-76-77-78 

A. D. Irwin, two years 1879-80 

Timothy Lahey 1881 

COLLECTOKS. 

S. M. Harrison 1801 

John Foster 1862 

P. M. Carter, two years 1863-64 

John Harnett, two years 1865-66 

H. Smith, two years 1867-68 

G. W. Fink 1869 

Horatio Corsan 1870 

George Dorand 1871 

Henry Smith 1872 

George Dorand, two years 1873-74 

S. F. Mastick 1875 

S. G. Mastick 1876 

Silas Salzenstein 1877 

W. H. Dorand, two years 1878-79 

Sylvester Connor 1880 

James P. Harnett 1881 



CLERKS. 

G. W. Fink 1861 

A. Atherton 1863 

G. W. Fink 1863 

Wm. S. Cartwright 1864 

J. M. Weir 1865 

J. N. Gilham ... 1866 

Abraham Epler, two years 1867-68 

J. G Conner 1869 

A. N. Sanders, ten years 1870-79 

W. E. Beekman 1880 

T. C. Richardson 1881 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

Daniel Fink | ^^^j^ 

William Washburn ) 

G. W. Fink 1864 

R. F. Hamilton 1865 

J. G. McCoy 1866 

E. A. Aldrige 1867 

Wm. Washburn 1868 

g- S-V'^''' [1869 

E . Mickel I 

M. A. Cartwright 1873 

Samuel Hensley 1873 

F. F. Anderson 1874 

George Anderson 1875 

C. C. Irwin 1876 

James M . Arnold { -.gnn 

C. C. Irwin [ 

J. E. Melick .' 1879 

James M. Arnold 1881 

VILLAGE OF PLEASANT PLAINS. 

Madison Glenn erected a dwelling house in 
1848, the first within the limits of the present 
village. At this time, there was no thought of 
a town ever springing up in the neighborhood. 

In 1849, Jacob Epler commenced here the 
sale of merchandise, it being the first store in 
this section of country. 

John Adams came about four years later, and 
started a blacksmith shop, which added one 
branch of business, and one more individual to 
the neighborhood. 

Mr. Epler becoming the owner of much of 
the land here, determined to lay out a village, 
and accordingly had platted and recorded 
March 13, 1854, "the southeast quarter of the 
southeast quarter of section thirty-one, township 
seventeen, range seven, west, and the northeast 
quarter of the northeast quarter of sec; ion six, 
township sixteen, range seven," which com- 
prised the original village plat. 

A public sale of town lots was held shortly 
after i.t was laid out, which resulted in the dis- 
posal of quite a number at fair, if not at remu- 
nerative prices. 

The village had but slow growth, in conse- 
quence of other villages springing up on the 
line of some newly completed railroads, but 
whatever was gained was of a substantial char- 



81S 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



acter. The village was incorporated in 1864. 
The name given it was that of Pleasant Plains, 
the name by which the political district country 
in which it was situated was known previous to 
the adoption of the township organization law. 

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS. 

The first school within the limits of the village 
was 1857, a school house being erected suitable 
for the wants of the village at that time, but 
which in after years became too small, and was 
finally remodeled to suit the increased demands 
for more school room, it now being a neat two 
story edifice with four rooms, three of which are 
now used for school purposes. In 1865, the 
school was divided into two grades, which con- 
tinued until the remodeling of the house, when 
another grade was added. D. P. .Johnson is the 
present princij)al. The district has in it one 
hundred and thirty-two children of school age. 

During the year the school house was built, 
the Methodist Episcopal brethren, then under 
the pastoral charge of Rev. Wingate J. New- 
man, built a house of worship at a cost of $6,000. 
In the winter following a great revival was held 
in the church at which there were about ninety 
conversions. Rev. John Slater occupied the 
pulpit in 1858 and 1859, Rev. Newton Cloud 
from 1859 to 1861, and then the following 
named in order: Revs. Greenbury Garner, Henry 
Wallace, Ira Emerson, Anderson Orr, John 
Everly, David Lyon, Mr. Irwin, O. H. P. Ash, 
W. E. Johnson and J, W. Eckman, the last 
named being the present incumbent. The 
church is prosperous. 

The Presbyterian Chui'ch was built in 18'71-'72, 
under the supervision of Rev. S. M. Wilson, 
who organized the society, at a cost of $4,000, 
Rev. Mr. Wilson deserves great credit for the 
work accomplished here, as he has kept up the 
congregation under very trying circumstances. 
During the winter of 1880-81 a revival was held 
resulting in about thirty accessions to the 
church. 

The Christian Church of Pleasant Plains, was 
organized by Elder John L. Wilson on the 15th 
of September, 1869, with twenty-six members, as 
follows: J. C. Irwin and wife, Lewis A. Mowery 
and wife, daughter and son; William Harris and 
wife, John Bruner and wife, Russell Williams, 
T. F. Anderson, George Anderson and wife, J. 
Wickliff Anderson and wi^'e, Mrs. Ballard, 
Marina Mitchel, Mrs. M. E. Childs, Fanny 
Howard, Sarah Gardner, Mrs. M. E. Gardner, 
William Jones and wife, Mary Keyes, and 
Charles Smith. 



The first elders were J. C. Irwin and L. A. 
Mowery. Deacons, T. F. Anderson and Russell 
Williatns. A new frame church was completed 
in 1872, at a cost of $4,000. The preachers in 
charge since, have been W. E. Nelson, L. L. 
Norton, Harrison Osborn, J. L. Richardson, J. 
T. Burton, Thomas Tipton; at present, A. J. 
Kane. Protracted meetings have been held by 
N. S. Bastian, McCorkle, Vermilion, Goode, 
Richardson, Foster and Kane, the present mem- 
bership of the society (1881), is forty-seven. The 
church at present is in an unsettled condition, 
and has no legal ofiicers. 

Pleasant Plains may emphatically be termed 
a moral town, it never having had a licensed 
saloon, and has three good churches, a graded 
school, has good sidewalks in various parts of 
the town, owes not a dollar of bonded indebted- 
ness, and has some money in the treasury. 

As a very valuable contribution to tVe history 
of Cartwright township, which will grow in 
interest and importance as time passes, we give 
personal sketches of many of the best known 
residents, including a number who have passed 
away. 

Edward C. Bain^ M. D., Pleasant Plains, was 
born in Nashville, Tennessee, on the 20th day of 
June, 1842; son of Rev. J. R. Bain, of the old 
school Presbyterian Church, and Sarah Crockett, 
father a native of North Carolina, and mother of 
Virginia. They were married in Nashville, 
Tennessee, where children were born, four sons 
and three daughters, six of whom are living, viz: 
Dr. S. 0. D. Bain, a graduate of Nashville Uni- 
versity, now practicing medicine in Tennessee; 
John S. C, a farmer, of Williamson county, Ten- 
nessee; Mary A., widow of Crockett Sayers; 
Sarah J., of Clarksville, Tennessee; Martha A., 
now Mrs. William Macon, near Clarksville, Ten- 
nessee. His father died in 1868; mother died in 
1877. The subject of this sketch received a 
classical education at what is known as the Old 
Oakes School. At the age of sixteen took up 
the reading of medicine, under the tutorship of 
Professor J. Berrian Lindsley, where he re- 
mained three years. In 1861, enlisted in the 
Southern army, where he served with distinction, 
being promoted to a captancy, and ranked as 
major, and was on the stafi' of T. H. Bell. Dr. 
Bain married Miss Sarah Hardin, of Mississippi. 
By this union there were two children, William 
H., and Irvine. In 1865, lie graduated at Nash- 
ville University, with honors; for his second 
wife married Miss Matilda Johnston, a daughter 
of Thomas Johnston, of Virginia. By this mar- 
riage there was two children, one of which is 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



819 



living, Paul Eve Bain. In 1872, the Doctor 
located in Pleasant Plains, Cartwright township, 
where he has followed his profession since. 

E. D. Ballard, farmer, post office, Richland, 
was born in Madison county, Kentucky, in 1825. 
Son of James A. and Paulina (Davis) Ballard, 
a native of Kentucky. Was married in Madison 
county, Kentucky. There was a family of six 
children — three sons and thi'ee daughters — E. D. 
being the only one of which is living. His 
brother, Richard, was a soldier in the Union 
army — Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry 
— and was killed at the battle of Lookout Moun- 
tain, November 25, 1863. Also his brother 
Clifton, was in the Confederate army, and was 
killed at luka. James A. is still living in Ken- 
tucky, at the advanced age of seventy-nine, 
Mr. James A. Ballard was again married to Miss 
Lucy Martin, of Kentucky. She died February 
10, 1881, in the seventy-first year of her age; 
mother died September, 1835. The subject of 
this sketch was reared on a farm, and received a 
common school education. In 1849, came to 
Morgan county, where he made his home with 
Lloyd Brown, of Morgan county, where he re- 
mained until 1857, when he married Miss Cyn- 
thia Ann. a daughter of M. K. Anderson. She 
•was born in Cartwright township, December 10, 
1840. The fruits of this union was three child- 
ren, viz: Hattie, born June 2, 1858 ; James A., 
born June 9, 1860 ; Clifton D., born October 5, 
1863. Mr. Ballard, in politics, is a Democrat. 
Has one hundred and thirteen acres of land, 
eighty acres of which are under a high state of 
cultivation, valued at $50. Mr. Ballard came to 
the State when a young man, with nothing but 
a strong constitution, and willing to work, accu- 
mulated a fine property and home. Mr. and 
Mrs. B. are members of the Christian Church. 

C\ S. Boynton was born in Windsor county, 
Vermont, June 3, 1822. His father, Levi Boyn- 
ton, was born in Vermont, and married Miss 
Mary Griswold of the same State. The subject 
of this sketch was married in Vermont, to Miss 
Paulina De May, who was born May 30, 1828, in 
Vermont. They had two children, viz: Ella 
and Ervin; the latter was married to Miss K'ltie 
Carrington, and resides in this township. Mr. 
Boynton came to this State in 1843, and located 
on a part of his present farm, and lived here 
seven years. In 1850, he returned to Vermont, 
and married as above stated; he brought his 
bride out to the West with him, to settle on the 
wide, wild prairies. They located on a farm of 
one hundred and eighty acres, partially im- 
proved. He now owns nine hundred and twenty 



acres, well improved; raises three hundred and 
twenty acres of corn and one hundred acres of 
small grain. Mr. Boynton is one of the wealthy 
farmers in this part of Sangamon county. In 
politics he is a Republican. 

Thomas H. lerry, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Pleasant Plains, was born in St. Law- 
rence county. New York, May 3, 1818, son of 
Hugh and Fannie Ferry; father a native of Ver- 
mont, and mother of Connecticut. They were 
married in St. Lawrence county about 1812. 
By this union there were twelve childi-en, five 
of whom lived to be adults, three of whom are 
living at the present time, viz: Henry, Louisa, 
of Pleasant Plains, and Thomas H. In 1851, 
emigrated to Sangamon county, Illinois, and 
located in Island Grove township, where he fol- 
lowed farming until his death, which occurred 
July, 1864; mother died November, 1867. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ferry were members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Mr. Ferry was reared on a 
farm and received a common school education. 
In 1844, married Miss Maria Lamphin. She 
was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, 
April 15, 1818. There were four children, three 
sons and one daughter, one of which is living, 
Orl E. Mrs. Mariah Ferry died in 1856. He 
again married Loreita Perrine, a daughter of 
Parley Perrine, of Royalston, Vermont. She 
was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, 
September 16, 1825. The fruits of this marriage 
was three children, two of whom are living, George 
P. and John T. In September, 1844, left his home 
in St. Lawrence county, New York, with teams, 
camping out, and made their journey in thirty 
days, arriving in Sangamon county, where he 
rented land for a few years. In 1849, he pur- 
chased land in Cartwright township where he has 
resided since. Mr. Ferry has a farm of two hun- 
dred and eighty acres, valued at fifty dollars per 
acre; raises one hundred and ten acres of corn; 
turns out one hundred head hogs and two car-loads 
cattle yearly. Mr. Ferry came to the county 
when he was a young man. His only capital 
was a strong and powerful arm and a good will, 
and by hard work and good judgment has accu- 
mulated a fine property and home. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ferry are members of the Baptist Church. 
B. F. Hamilton, farmer and banker, Cart- 
wright township, was born in what is now known 
as Gardner township, Sangamon county, Illinois, 
on the 15th day of November, 1824, son of Knox 
and Jane (Coleman) Hamilton. They were mar- 
ried in Sangamon county, about 1823, where a 
family of three children were born, the subject 
of this sketch being the only living one. Father 



820 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



died in 1827. In 1829, Mrs. Hamilton married 
Mr. Asa Purvines, when R. F. went to live with 
them, and remained nntil he was twenty years of 
age, when he started out for himself, hiring him- 
self for $10 per month, for one year. In Octo- 
ber, 1827, married Tebiatha Purvines. She was 
the daughter of Samuel and Mary Purvines. 
She was born in this county December 18, 1827. 
There was a family of nine daughters and one 
son, seven of whom are living, viz : Fannie A., 
now Mrs. Abram Weir; Mary J., wife of An- 
drew Zane; Emma M.,wife of Samuel Ayres, of 
Chicago; Clara M., wife of H. L. Cokenhour, 
Southwest Iowa, and Willie Lee. 

Mr. Hamilton has five hundred and thirty-six 
acres of land, all under cultivation, and valued 
at $65 per acre. Pie commenced in the county 
a poor boy, at the lower round of the ladder, 
but by good judgment has accumulated a fine 
property and home. In 1873, embarked in the 
banking business, which he is still interested in. 
Has held several local offices of trust in the gift 
of the people. Represented the township in the 
Board of Supervisors for ten years. 

H. M. IIar7isberger was born in Clark county, 
Ohio, February 2, 1823. He is a son of Jacob 
and Martha Harnsberger, who were married in 
Rockingham county, Virginia, and moved to the 
State of Indiana, remained about eight years, 
when his mother died. His father, with his 
three sons, then came to this county, locating in 
Cartwright township, where he died in 1847. 
Mr. H. M. Harnsberger was married February, 
1846, to Miss M. A. Harrison, who was born in 
Kentucky, March 20, 1820. The fruits of this 
marriage were four children, two sons and two 
daughters. Mr. H. has a fine farm of four hun- 
dred acres. Three hundred and seventy is under 
cultivation, valued at $60 an acre. Mr. Harns- 
berger has held the office of County Commis- 
sioner for ten years. He is a Democrat. Mr. 
and Mrs. H. are members of the M. E. Church. 

Jonathan Harnett, lumber dealer, was born in 
Pickaway county, Ohio, January 1, 1832. His 
father, James Harnett, was born in Perry county, 
Ohio, in 1809, and was married in 1829, to Miss 
Mary Pantaus, who was born in Pennsylvania in 
1813. His father, James H.,' died in Ohio, and 
his mother came to Illinois with her son Jonathan 
H., locating in Pleasant Plains. Mr. Jonathan 
H. was married November 13, 1856, to Miss E. 
Fink, daughter of George and Mary Fink. Miss 
Fink was born December 17, 1830, in Muskin- 
gum county, Ohio. The fruits of this marriage 
were three children, viz: George, born January 
21, 1858; Mary, born September 6, 1864; Libbie, 



born March 6, 1867. Mr. Harnett followed the 
carpenters' trade for twenty-four years, and then 
began his present bnsiness here. He carries a 
stock worth $3,500. He belongs to the A. F. 
and A. M., and in politics is a Democrat. Mrs. 
Harnett is a member of the M. E. Church. 

Peyton L. Harrison, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office. Pleasant Plains, was born in Rock- 
ingham county, Virginia, on the 7th day of 
November 1804, son of Fielding and Annie 
(Quinn) Harrison, his father of Scotch-Irish 
descent and a native of Virginia, his mother of 
English descent, also a native of Virginia. They 
were married about 1780, and raised a family of 
six children, four of whom are living at the 
present writing. Peyton L., of Cartwright town- 
ship; John F., of Kansas; Peachey, who died 
some years ago; Mary, now Mrs. Irvin Randall, 
of Edwardsville; Simeon Q., Sangamon county; 
Martha J., of Wisconsin. In 1800, his father 
left Virginia and located in Christian county, 
Kentucky, where he remained until 1822, when 
became to the Sangamo country with a four-horse 
team and an old Pennsylvania wagon, camping 
out and located in Cartwright township, where 
he died soon after. Previous to his death he 
made a visit to what is now Christian county, 
where several families had located from Ken- 
tucky, and through his influence the county's 
name was changed from Dane to Christian. In 
politics he was an old line Whig, and swayed 
some influence in Kentucky; in the M. E. church 
he was a leading member. Mrs. Annie Harrison 
died about 1840. The subject of this sketch 
when twenty-one years of age, was apprenticed 
to a tanner, where he remained three years when 
he purchased the business and remained six 
years. In the meantime became acquainted 
with Eliza B. Cartwright, a daughter of Elder 
Cartwright, the pioneer preacher of the State. 
She was born in the State of Kentucky. The 
fruits of this union was nine children, all of 
which are living, viz: Francis A., Wealthy M. 
J., Sarah M., Peachey Q., Eliza C, Peter L., 
Emily W., Amanda C, and Victoria M. About 
1832, he came to Richland creek, when he pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land, and 
moved into a log cabin fourteen by sixteen, 
without windows, puncheon floors, with a clap- 
board door, clay and sticks for a chimney, and 
for a light, cut a log out, and as Mrs. Harrison 
says, her mother called their cabin the lan- 
tern. After a due course of time, a new one 
took its place, a hewed one, two stories, being at 
the time one of the finest dwellings in this part 
of the county. In 1852, he bought land where 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



821 



he now resides. Mr. Harrison is one of the 
large and influential farmers of the county, 
owning at present two thousand, and nine hun- 
dred acres of land, all of which is under a high 
state of cultivation, valued at 175.00 per acre. 
He raises fifteen hundred, acres of corn, and the 
pi'esent season will average sixty bushels per 
acre, which amounts to ninety thousand bushels, 
about one hundred acres of wheat, ships one 
hundred and twenty head of cattle, and one hun- 
dred head of hogs yearly. Mr. Harrison has 
been identified with the county nearly all his 
life and has seen the prairies from their wild un- 
cultivated state, to one of the most beautiful 
counties in the State. 

George M. Harrison, M. D., (deceased,) was 
born in Rockingham county, Virginia, on the 
13th day of March, 1813. Came to Illinois in 
1822, and settled on Richland creek, Sangamon 
county. Was tound dead west of his residence, 
where he had lived over fifty years. Cause of 
his death unknown. Had been well as common. 
Been to one of his neighbors on business. Was 
on his way home. Came to a deep ravine, where 
he had got off his horse, or fell off before cross- 
ing. Was found dead about midnight, Septem- 
ber 1, 1873. Aged sixty years. Dr. H. pro- 
fessed religion in his seventeenth year of age, 
at Waters' Camp Ground, on Spring creek, 
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and con- 
tinued a member until his death. He was ap- 
pointed class leader of Cartwright Society three 
years after meeting with the church. After the 
Richland Society was formed he was appointed 
leader there, and remained until his death. 
Sangamon Circuit had lost one of her best men. 
His wife had for years kept the light burning 
for his return at night, for he came home when 
he told them, unless Providentially hindered. 
This time God called, and he answered, and w^e 
believe he is forever with the Lord. A wife and 
twelve children and other relations mourn his 
loss. He had been married to Miss Houston in 
Rockingham county, Virginia, who died, and 
subsequently he had married Miss Mary A. 
Megredy. As a physician, he was of the first 
class, and a graduate of Rush Medical College, 
of Pliiladelphia. As a citizen, among the earli- 
est settlers for fifty years. F'or uprightness, 
none excelled him. The Rev. D. P. Lyon was 
called upon to preach the funeral sermon, from 
Numbers 23: 10, and never did he feel more forc- 
ibly the living character of the righteous who, 
though he is dead, yet he livetli and preacheth 
to all in his devoted life. Mrs. Harrison has 
struggled hard and raised the family. The doc- 



tor left a fine property of about six hundred 
acres of land, valued at 150 per acre. 

There was a family by his first wife of three 
children: Ann Amantha, Reuben H. and Sarah 
B. C. Of his second family there were nine 
children, eight of whom are living, viz: Emma, 
now Mrs. Philip Hodgden; Jennie M., now 
Mi's. Bukraan, of Menai'd county; Julia, who 
married W. E. Bukman, died June 18, 1875; 
Abbie; Lillie, now the wife of W. E. Bukman; 
John E., W. H., Mary B. and Henrietta. The 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

John H. Harrison, farmer and stock raiser, 
son of Reuben and Barbara Ann Harnsberger, 
natives of Rockingham county, Virginia, where 
they were married, March 29, 1810, where there 
was born four children, three of whom lived to 
be adults, viz: George M., John H. and Sarah 
N. In 1818, his parents emigrated to Christian 
county, Kentucky, where one daughter was born, 
Malinda A., where they remained until the fall 
of 1822, when he moved to Sangamon county 
Illinois, coming by teams, crossing the Ohio 
river at Louisville, and locating on the place 
where Mr. H. now resides, moved into a log 
cabin eighteen by twenty feet, without a window, 
making his claim on the Seminary grounds, 
which he afterwards purchased, where he lived 
until a few years previous to his death. Having a 
son in Alabama, he went there to spend the win- 
ter, when he died May 3, 1852. Mrs. Babara 
Ann Harrison died August 23, 1842. Mr. Harri- 
son had been married prior to marrying Mrs. 
Barbara Ann Harnsberger, to Prathana Harri- 
son. There was one son by this marriage, Leon- 
ard C. Mrs. H. died September 20, 1809. 

J. H. Harrison was reared on a farm and re 
ceived his education in log cabins, of which he 
says in the first one the only light they had 
came down through the chimney place, there 
not being a window pane in the building; the 
following spring, cut out a log and pasted greased 
paper over that for light. On the l7th day of 
May, 1843, married Miss Sarah Conover, daugh- 
ter of Elias and Sarah Conover, natives of New 
Jersey, where she was born on the 2 2d day of 
March, 1825. The fruits of this marriage was 
ten children, seven of whom are living, viz: 
Charles H., Samuel B., George R., liote T., 
John v., Susan, now Mrs. James G. Crow and 
Annie A. He has four hundred and seventy-two 
acres of land, valued at $65 per acre; raises one 
hundred and eighty acres of corn, fifty acres of 
wheat, fifteen acres of oats and turns off eighty 
head of hogs, yearlv. Mr. Harrison has been a 



822 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



resident of Cartwright township for fifty-nine 
years, and has land that has been under cultiva- 
tion that length of time, and the present season 
will yield sixty bushels of corn to the acre. He 
is one of the large and well-to-do farmers of the 
county, 

Joseph W. Sayes, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Pleasant Plains, was born on the 
place where he now resides, on the twenty- 
seventh day of September, 1852; son of Augus- 
tus W., and Mary Ann (Wright) Hayes, natives 
of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where they 
were married, and seven children were born, 
four of which are living: Sarah, now the wife 
of Dr. Albert Atherton, of Pleasant Plains; 
Mary J., wife of R. J. Rudesall; Charlotte, wife 
of I. P. Smith; Rebecca, wife of George W. 
Fink. In 1824 and 1825, Augustus W. Hayes 
emigrated to Sangamon county, Illinois, and 
located in Cartwright township, where he had 
previously purchased land, and commenced 
farming, where he remained uutil his death, 
which occurred September 12, 1879; mother 
in 1880. Mrs. Hayes was a member of the 
Methodist Ej^iscopal Church, a sincere Christian 
and loved and respected by all who knew her. 
After coming to this county there were children 
born — Margaret H., and the subject of this 
sketch; was reared on a farm until he was twenty- 
one years of age, and received a practical busi- 
ness education — attended the Springfield Busi- 
ness College. In 1872 or 1873, embarked in the 
mercantile business at Pleasant Plains, in com- 
pany with his father, where they prosecuted the 
business for four years, when they sold their 
interests to William Beakman, since which time 
he has followed farming. In 1877, married 
Miss Fannie M. Pierce, a daughter of Lowell 
Pierce. She was born in Connecticut in 1855. 
By this union there are two children, Harry D., 
and Mary M. Mr. Hayes has one hundred and 
sixty acres of land under cultivation, valued at 
$75 per acre. Raises ninety acres of corn and 
one hundred head of hogs. Mr. Hayes is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Hayes is a 
young man and has been identified with the 
county all his life. 

Levns Huher, Cartwright township, is the 
youngest son of John Huber, Sr., and was born 
in a log cabin on his father's farm, in Amanda 
township, Fairfield county, Ohio, June 30, 1810. 
His father, at this time, owned a tract of three 
hundred and twenty acres of land adjoining the 
village of Royalton. Lewis' principal educational 
advantages were those usually enjoyed by the 
sons of pioneers, and consisted of a few terms 



in the district schools, held in a iog cabin, with 
the old fashioned slab benches and writing desks 
of the same material. High schools and acade- 
mies were almost unknown. 

Lewis continued with his father on a farm 
until his eighteenth year, and was hardly off it, 
with the exception of one occasion he spent 
about sixty days, in company with his half 
brother, John Huber, Jr., in driving some twelve 
hundred head of hogs to market at Baltimore, 
the principal shipping point of that region of 
country. About this time he had a severe at- 
tack of billions fever, which incapacitated him 
for farm labor. He says he was attended by an 
old school physician, and was "bled, blistered, 
and purged with combined doses of calo- 
mel and ipecac," until he "thought Heaven and 
earth was about to unite, being refused both 
fresh water to drink or fresh air to breathe." 
On recovery, as he could not labor on the farm, 
he was sent to an academy for three months, at 
Circleville, Ohio, at the expiration of which time 
he engaged with his half brother, Isaac Darst, 
who had removed to Circleville with a stock of 
merchandise, as salesman and book-keeper. Here 
he remained from 1828 to 1832. His health 
still being feeble, he engaged in out-door work, 
purchasing horses for the eastern markets, and 
cattle for the Michigan trade, that territory 
then being rapidly settled by eastern people. He 
followed this business until the fall of 1833. 

The firm of Drain & Fauger, of Lithopalis, 
Ohio, being dissolved, by the death of the former, 
Mr. Huber was pursuaded by Mr. Fauger to ac- 
cept a position in the store. The fall trade 
being brisk, Mr. Fauger desired a partner, and 
offered the position to Mr. Huber, who accepted, 
for the double reason, a good trade was being 
had, and the location was healthy. The firm of 
Fauger & Huber existed until the fall of 1834, 
when Mr. Huber purchased the interest of his 
partner, and enlarged the business, by establish- 
ing a branch store at Royalton, under the charge 
of a nephew, Jefferson Darst. This branch 
store was continued until the fall of 1836, when 
he sold out and established another branch store 
at Jefferson, Fairfield county, Jefferson Darst 
superintending the business. In 1837, the stock 
of goods was withdrawn to Lithopolis. During 
this year, Mr. Huber packed the first barrel of 
pork in Lithopolis, but rather from compulsion 
than choice, as the finances of the whole 
country were so unsettled, and money so scarce, 
that collections could not otherwise be made. 
The business, however, proved very profitable, 
and Mr. Huber purchased a large number of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



823 



hogs from the farmers, on time, as well as re- 
ceiving them on debts. Mr. Uuber continued 
in business until his health became so much im- 
paired that, in 1838, he sold out his entire stock 
to certain parties, giving them time to make the 
payments. He then remained out of business 
for a time, when the firm to whom he sold be- 
came involved to such an extent that, to save 
himself, in part, he purchased the stock. He 
has the satisfaction of knowing the firm yet 
owes him |1,000. Going to Baltimore, Mr. 
Huber made a satisfactory compromise with his 
debtors' creditors, so that he might purchase the 
real estate, which was to be sold at sheriff's sale. 
A bachelor uncle died about this time, and left 
him about $3,000, which enabled him to make 
the necessary transactions. The real estate then 
purchased, with what he was owning previously, 
gave him $15,000 worth of unproductive capital. 
Mr. Huber still remained in business, but in 
1850, he closed out his stock of merchandise 
and began to settle up outstanding claims then 
due him. About this time, his business trouble 
began. Needing about $3,000, circumstances 
were such that neither of the banks at Columbus 
or Lancaster, Ohio, could accommodate him, al- 
though his credit had always been good with 
them, as he never had a note protested, and the 
cashier of the Columbus bank complimented 
him by saying that he was among his best cus- 
tomers. A friend informed him that he could 
be accommodated at Zanesville, Ohio, and he 
went to that place, and, unfortunately, gave a 
judgment note for the amount he wished to 
borrow. Sickness overtaking him, when the 
note was due he was unable to pay. Judgment 
was entered up against him, and an execution 
sworn out, and the end was that similar to 
thousands of others. Every creditor felt that 
he must push his claim or he would lose it all. 
They did push. It is unnecessary to say 
more. 

Mr. Huber experienced the joys of religion in 
the winter of 1831, and united with the First 
Presbyterian Church, in Circleville, Ohio, subse- 
quently by letter, he united in Lithopolis, and 
was there e]ecte<l a ruling elder. In every work 
of the church there, he was an active participant. 
In 1855, Mr. Huber and family removed to Illi- 
nois, and settled in Cartwright township; there 
being no Presbyterian Church near, he united 
with the First Presbyterian Church, Springfield. 
When the church at Pleasant Plains was formed 
he and his wife united by letter, and remained 
in that connection until 1857, when by request, a 
letter of dismissal was given him, to unite with 

96— 



the First Presbyterian Church, at New Orleans, 
and he is now a member of that body. 

In politics, Mr. Huber was originally a Whig, 
and on the dissolution of that party was unde- 
cided where his lot shouid be cast, politically. 
Finally, after a visit South, he concluded his 
place was with the Democracy. In 1860, he 
voted for John C. Breckenridge; he remained a 
Democrat up to 1872, when the nomination of 
Horace Greeley was too much for him. In 1873, 
he helped organize the Anti-Monopoly party, 
and again, assisted in the organization of the 
Greenback party, with which he now affiliatts. 

Mr. Huber, for many years, has been a strong 
advocate of the hydropathic system of the treat- 
ment of the sick, and since 1853, has used no 
drugs in his household. 

In concluding this sketch, it is but just to say 
that Mr. Huber bears testimonials from Hon. 
John M. Palmer, Judge C. S. Zane, Governor S. 
M. Cullom, Hon. John T. Stuart, and J. Thayer 
& Co., endorsing [him asa business man of integ- 
rity, and worthy the confidence of all. 

Alexander B. Irwin, farmer and stock raiser, 
section three, post office Pleasant Plains, was 
born in Cabarras county. North Carolina, on the 
7th day of February, 18H, son of Samuel L and 
Rachel (Hudson) Irwin; father of Irish descent, 
and a native of North Carolina; mother of Ger- 
man descent, and a native of Virginia. They 
were married in Cabarras county. North Caro- 
lina, in 1801, where there was a family of ten 
children born, seven daughters and three sons. 
In the fall of 1819, his parents left North Caro- 
lina with a four-horse wagon, and came to East 
Tennessee, where they spent the winter, and 
where one son was born. In the following 
spring, came to Sangamon county, and located 
where the town of Pleasant Plains now stands. 
Their first summer was spent in their wagon-bed. 
Cutting a couple of logs, they rolled them up, 
and placed their wagon between them, building 
their camp-fire in front. That spring, broke and 
planted twelve acres of corn. The following 
fall, built a log cabin, sixteen by eighteen, where 
they remained one year, when they moved to 
where Mr. Irwin now resides, took up land, built 
a cabin, which is standing at the present time, 
where he remained until his death, which oc- 
curred March 1, 1845. In politics, was an old- 
line Whig. Mrs. Rachel Irwin died in 1866 or 
1867. The subject of this sketch was reared on 
a farm, and received a limited education. Octo- 
ber 18, 1838, married Miss Cynthetia Broad- 
well, daughter of John B. Broadwell, of Ohio. 
She was born in St. Louis, October 17, 1819. 



82 + 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



The fruits of this marriage were five children, 
three of whom are living, viz.: Amos D., Betsey 
J., and Sarah P. Mr. Irwin has resided on the 
place where he now lives forty-three years, and 
says his intention is to spend the balance of his 
life in the same place. Mr. Irwin has held sev- 
eral local offices of trust in the gift of the people, 
justice of the peace for four years, and super- 
visor of the town; is one of the large and en- 
terprising farmers of the county, owning seven 
hundred and seventy-eight acres of land, six 
hundred under cultivation, valued at $75 per 
acie; raises three hundred acres of corn, fifty 
acres of wheat, fifty acres of oats; feeds two car- 
loads of cattle, and the same of hogs. 

B. F. Irwin, retired farmer, was born m San- 
gamon county, in 182'2. His father, S. L. Irwin, 
was born in North Carolina, 1779. He was 
marr ed in North Carolina, 1802, to Miss R. Hud- 
son, who was born in Virginia in 1785. In 1819, 
they emigrated to Tennessee, resided there one 
year, then came to Sangamon county, April, 1820, 
and located where Pleasant Plains now stands; 
lived there two months, then moved to a small 
.farm where he resided until his dea'h, which 
occurred in 1845; his wife followed him in 1367; 
they left a family of fifteen children. Mr. B. 
F. Irwin was married to Miss Jane Combs. 
They had one child. Mrs. Irwin died in 1848. He 
man led for his second wife. Miss Martha Huber, 
who was born April 1, 1834. The fruits of this 
marriage were two children, one son and one 
daughter, the latter now deceased. Mr. Irwin 
has a fine farm of four hundred acres in this 
township, and one of four hundred and eighty 
acres in Nebraska. The farm in this county is 
valued at sixty dollars an acre. In politics, he is 
a Republican. 

F. M. Jordan, M. D., Pleasant Plains, Illi- 
nois; was born in Menard county, Illinois, on the 
22d day of May, 1826. His father, Henry Jor- 
dan, was born in Ohio, about 1804. His mother, 
Ksah Hull, was born in the same State in 180S, 
where they were married in 1825. The follow- 
ing year came to Illinois and located in Menard 
'county, where he lived until his death, which 
occurred in 1869; mother still living and resides 
in Kansas. The subject of this sketch married 
Miss R. M. Michner; she was born in Ohio, 
May 29, 1840. Her parents emigrated to Illi- 
nois and located in Decatur, Macon county, 
when she was three years old. The fruits of 
this marriage is two children, viz: Aura D., born 
July 27, 1866, and Frank T., born March 7, 
1870. The Doctor received a classical educa- 
tion at the Normal University of Illinois. After 



leaving school, commenced the reading of med- 
icine in Decatur, with Dr. W. B. Hosttetler, where 
he remained one and a half years, and the fol- 
lowing six years practiced medicine, and in the 
meantime taught school. In 1872, attended lec- 
tures and graduated at Rush Medical College, 
Chicago; thence went to Shelbyville, Illinois, 
where he followed his profession four years. He 
then went to Chicago, where he attended a post 
graduate course, and practiced in the free dis- 
pensary for three years, when he came to New 
Berlin, where he formed a partnership with Dr. 
W. L. Fulton, where he remained one year, 
when he came to Pleasant Plains, where he has 
followed his profession. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan 
are members of the M. E. Church. 

Martin S. Mosteller, M. Z>., Pleasant Plains, 
Illinois, was born in Salisbury township, San- 
gamon county, Illinois, on the twenty-first day 
of April, 1842. Son of Thomas and Chai'lotte 
(Morris) Mosteller; father of German descent 
and a native of Ohio, and mother a native of 
Tennessee. They were married in Franklin 
county, Indiana, July 21, 1827. There was a 
family of four sons and four daughters, six of 
whom are living, viz: Alice J., now the wife of 
Job Davenport; Dorcus, wife of Dr. F. P. 
Antler, of Petersburg; Christopher E., a 
practicing physician of Rising Sun, Polk county, 
Iowa; Martin S.; John H. A.; Eliza W,, now 
Mrs. Thomas Davis, of Vandalia, Missouri. His 
father, by occupation, was a carpenter, and died 
in Cartwright township, February 22, 1881; 
mother died March 2, 1865. The subject of 
this sketch was reared on a farm until he was 
twenty-one years old, when he commenced read- 
ing medicine under his brother, Dr. Christopher 
E. Mosteller, and remained with him one year. 
In 1867, attended a course of lectures at Cincin- 
nati Eclectic Medical College, and in 1869, 
another course, when he graduated with honor. 
In 1864, married Miss Sarah M. Antler, a 
daughter of Leonard Antler; she was born in 
Morgan county, Illinois, May 11, 1842. By 
this union there were five children, four of 
whom are living, viz: F'reddie F., Albert A., 
Maud M., Bertie B. The doctor came to 
Pleasant Plains in 1870, where he engaged in 
the practice of his profession, where he is meet- 
ing with a lucrative pj*actice. In politics is a 
Republican. 

Lewis A. Moiory, farmer, post office. Pleasant 
Plain*; was^born in Smithfield, Providence county, 
Rhode Island, May 27, 1821; son of Levi and 
Alpha (Aldrich) Mowry, native of Rhode Island, 
where they were married, June 12, 1814. There 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



825 



was a family of eight children, seven sons and 
one daughter, four of which are living at the 
present writing: Duty, Lewis A., Martin C, and 
Maranda B., wife of Baxter Arnold, of Rhode 
Island. Mr. Levi Mowry died in Rhode Island, 
October 10, 1803; mother died in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, July 28, 1868. They were mem- 
bers of the Free-will Baptist Church. Mr. 
Mowry, in early life, learned the trade of boot 
and shoe making, at Waterford, Massachusetts, 
which he followed about four years, when he 
was employed as a clerk in a general store, where 
he remained six years. In 1842, married Miss 
Johanna M. Taft, a daughter of Benona and 
Nancy Taft, native of Rhode Island, where she 
was Born, December 28, 1820. The fruits of 
this marriage is four children, three of whom 
are living, Charles L. B., born Sept. 1, 1845, died 
Aug. 18, 1840; Mary M., born Feb. 21, 1848 ; Chas. 
L.,bornFeb. 5, 1855;IrvingL.,born May 17,1861. 

Mr. Mowry in politics, is a Republican, and 
has affiliated with the party since its organiza- 
tion; has one hundred and thirty-four acres of 
land under a high state of cultivation, valued at 
fG5 per acre; raises sixty-five acres of corn; 
twenty acres of rye; ten acres of oats; turns out 
eighty-five head of hogs, yearly. Mr. and Mrs. 
Mowry came to the county in limited circum- 
stances, but pulled together, and they have made 
a fine property and home. 

Robert S. Phmkett, farmer, was born in Ca- 
barras county. North Carolina, on the 15th day 
of June, 1808; son of John H. and Elizabeth 
(Purvines) Plunkett. In about 1804, they were 
married in North Carolina, where there were 
eight children born. In 1823, left his home in 
North Carolina, with teams, for the Sangamo 
country; camping out, and was seven weeks 
making their journey. He first located on the 
place where S. P. Plunkett now lives, and moved 
into a log cabin about twelve by fourteen feet, 
where he remained until the following fall; liv- 
ing in it without any floor or a window glass. 
He entered land and made a farm, and remained 
until his death. Mr. Plunkett, in politics, 
was an old line Whig. The subject of this 
sketch was reared on a farm, and received but a 
limited school education, in a log cabin. In 1829, 
married Miss Ruth Combs, a daughter of Samuel 
Combs, a native of Kentucky, where she was born 
in Green county. The fruits of this marriage 
were six children, four boys and two daughters, 
five of whom are living, viz: Martha A., Asa 
W., Jason D., Richard M. J., John N.; Rebecca 
J., Martha, deceased. Mrs. Ruth Plunkett died 
in 1844. For bis second wife, married Miss Ann 



Alexander, a daughter of Joshua Alexandei'. 
Mr. Plunkett has been a farmer all his life, and 
has lived on the same place, with the exception 
of one winter. Has one hundred and ten acres 
of land, ninety acres under a high state of culti- 
vation — valued at $75 per acre. Mr. Plunkett 
has been identified with the county all his life; 
has seen the prairies, in their wild, uncultivated 
state, covered with wild game, to one of the most 
beautiful countries in the world. Mr. Plunkett 
was an old hunter, and many a deer, turkey and 
wolf have bit the dust by his unerring aim. For 
his third wife, married Mrs. Joseph Grateley;her 
maiden name was Hind; she was born in Ten- 
nessee. By this union there were two children, 
Nancy L. and Ruth. Mrs. Plunkett died Feb- 
ruary, 1879. 

G. M. Menshmo was born August 7, 1830, in 
Sangamon county. W. P. Renshaw, his father, 
was born November 7, 1800, near Salisbury, 
Georgia. His mother, Martha Nesbet, was born 
November 8, 1794, near Lexington, Kentucky. 
They were married in Bond county, Illinois, 
December 31, 1818, and came to Sangamon 
county in 1821, locating in what is now Cart- 
wright township. Seven children were born to 
them, viz: Jane, Mary A., now Mrs. S. L. Harri- 
son; Margaret E., now Mrs. F. Butler; James 
N., deceased; Barbara, now Mrs. Haughton; 
John S. and WiJiam P. G. M. was married 
October 22, 1800, to Matilda F. Parker, who was 
born in Robertson county, Tennessee. They 
had three children, two daughters and one son. 
Mr. Renshaw has a fine farm of seventy-six 
acres, all of which is under cultivation. 

William Iliggms, farmer, post office, Rich- 
land; was born in Cape May county, New Jer- 
sey, on the 28th day of July, 1812, where 
they were married. Son of Caleb and Charlotte 
(Little) Riggins. By this union there were ten 
children, one oied in infancy. The children 
were as follows: William, Ellen, James, Jonas, 
John, Jeremiah, Samuel, Sarah and Mary, of 
which one is living at the present writing. In 
1839, his parents emigrated to Mason county, 
where he entered land and made a farm, and re- 
mained until his death, which occurred about 
1852; his mother died some years later. When 
William was twenty-one years of age, he went 
to work in a ship-yard, where he remained three 
years. He afterwards rented land, but not 
meeting with financial success he came West. 
In 1834, married Martha Mosslander. She was 
born in Cumberland county. New Jersey, July 
28, 1813. The fruits of this marriage was six 
children, two of whom are now living: Eliza- 



826 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



beth, now Mrs. Jane Tripp; Mary, now Mrs. 
Franklin H. Wood. Mrs. Martha Riggins died 
April 4, 1844. He again married Mrs. Rathsack, 
whose maiden name was Bohme. She was born 
in Germany, January 22, 1827. There were two 
children — Annie and William H. Mr. Riggins 
is one of the large and well-to-do farmers of the 
county; has one hundred and eighty acres of 
land, valued at $50.00 per acre. Mr. Riggins 
came to the county in an early day, without 
means, but by close attention to business has 
made a fine home. In politics, was a Repub- 
lican. 

Edwin '^atts, farmer, post office, Farming- 
dale, Avas born in Sangamon county, on the 14th 
day of June, 1839; son of Charles and Elizabeth 
(Innes) Watts, who emigrated to Sangamon 
county, in 1833. The subject of this sketch was 
reared on a farm and received a good business 
education, being a graduate at Bell, Bryant & 



Stratton's Business College, at Chicago, Illinois. 
In 1860, embarked in the cattle trade, in Kansas, 
which he prosecuted some twelve years, when 
he returned to Cartwright township, where he 
has followed the same business in connection 
with farming. In October, 18Y1, married Miss 
Laura E. Rickard, a daughter of S. P. Rickard 
and Sophia Emet. She was born in Sangamon 
county, September 6, 1847. There are two child- 
ren, Mary E., born May 21, 187.5; Laura E., born 
November 2, 1879. Mr. Watts has a beautiful 
home with one hundred and twenty acres of 
land, all of which is under cultivation, valued at 
sixty-five dollars per acre; raises two hundred 
acres of corn, fifty acres of wheat, turns out four 
hundred head of cattle and four hundred head of 
hogs yearly. 

Mr. Watts has been identified with the county 
all his life and has seen it from its infancy to a 
fine cultivated country. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



8-J7 



Chapter XXXII. 



TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE OF CHATHAM. 



TOWNSHIP OF CHATHAM. 

The township of Chatham is situated in the 
southern part of Sangamon county, being town- 
ship fourteen north, range six west of the third 
principal meridian. Originally, the township 
was three-fourths prairie, the timber land being 
confined to points along Panther and Lick 
creeks The fears of the early settlers have 
never been realized that the timber would soon 
all be destroyed, for in 1881 there is more tim- 
ber in the aggregate, but not same quality, than 
when John Campbell selected his land on Lick 
creek, and cleared away timber for his farm. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settler of Chatham township was 
John Campbell, in 1818, who arrived on the 22d 
day of Mai'ch, and located on Lick creek, in the 
west part of the town. John Campbell was born 
November 4, 1790, in Carter county, Tennessee. 
His father, Jeremiah Campbell, settled there 
before the American Revolution, and was a sol- 
dier during the Revolution, under General 
Francis Marion. He lived to be about one 
hundred years old. His youngest son, Jackson, 
was the owner of the old homestead at the be- 
ginning of the great rebellion. The farm had 
been in the family about one hundred years. 
John Campbell enlisted in a company from Car- 
ter county, in the second war with England, 
served six months, re-enlisted, and served until 
March, 1815. He was an ensign in the last cam- 
paign, and drew a pension to the end of his life. 
He remained in Tennessee until 1818, when he 
moved to Madison county, Illinois, and was 
there married, November 6, 1818, to LavinaPark- 
ison, who was born February 21, 1803. They 
had six children — Alfred C, William P., Jere- 
miah, Josiah W., Peter C, and Caroline. 



Mrs. Lavinah Campbell died December 13, 
1853, and John Campbell was married in 1855, 
to M rs. Margery Carson, whose maiden name 
was Parkison, a sister of his first wife. She died 
March 5, 1870. John Campbell died February, 
18Y5, on the farm where he settled in 1818, five 
miles west of Chatham, leaving a large estate, 
which he had accumulated by industry and econ- 
omy. He, as nearly all the earliest settlers, took 
part in the Black Hawk war. The first mill in 
the county, built by Daniel Lisle, was sold by 
him, and after changing hands once or twice, 
was bought by Mr. John Campbell, and moved 
to his farm on Lick creek, where he put it up 
and ran it for years, each customer bringing his 
own horses to run it. That kind of mills went 
out of use long ago, and one of the burrs was 
used by Mr, Campbell as a doorstep, to the day 
of his death. 

Henry Brown was probably the second settler 
in the township. He arrived in the summer of 
1819, from the South, and remained but a few 
years, when he left the State. 

John Darneille, another of the pioneers of 

1819, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, 
June 8, 1*791. He served fourteen months in 
the war of 1812-13, half the time as first Lieu- 
tenant, and was then promoted to Captain. Mar- 
garet Norton was born October 25, 1793, in 
Bourbon county, also. They were married there, 
February 20, 1814. The family moved to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, arriving November, 1819, 
in what is now Chatham township, first at a 
place called Turkey Point, and in the spring of 

1820, moved further up Lick creek, and made a 
permanent settlement five miles west of the 
present town of Chatham, Mr. Darneille learned 
to write by fire-light, and in the absence of paper, 
peeled buckeye bark from the trees, and when 
it became dry, did his writing on that, until he 



828 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



learned to keep accounts of all his business 
transactions. He acquired such fame as an 
accurate and legible penman, that he became the 
neighborhood letter-writer. He was on the first 
grand jury that was ever empanneled in Sanga- 
mon county, May 1, 1821. They held their 
deliberations, some sitting on a pile of rails, and 
some on gopher-hills out on the prairie, within 
the present limits of Springfield. He was elect- 
ed as one of the Representatives of Sangamon 
county in the State Legislature of 1840, the first 
that ever assembled in Springfield. Mr. Dar- 
neille died March 10, 1854, and his widow April 
30, 1875, both on the farm on which they settled 
in 1820. 

Levi Harbur, and Samuel Harbour, broth- 
ers, (but spelling their name diflferently,) also 
came in 1819. Levi Harbur was born Novem- 
ber 21, 1*797, in Garrard county, Kentucky. 
When he was a child his parents moved to 
Christian county, in the same State. He was 
there married, June 29, 1817, to Eleanor Ashley, 
and moved to Madison county, Illinois, in Sep- 
tember following, accompanied by his wife and 
his brother Samuel. He left his brother in Madi.- 
8on county, and with his wife went to the south- 
ern part of Missouri, remaining one and a half 
years, and had one child there. He returned to 
Madison county, where Mrs. Eleanor Harbur 
died September 10, 1819. Leaving his child in 
the care of a friend, he came to what is now 
Sangamon county, one and a quarter miles east 
of the town of Loami. He went eighty miles 
to Edwardsville, obtained a license, returned to 
the San-ga-ma country, and was married March 
25, 1820, to Mary Sawyers. Mrs. Mary Harbur 
died September 8, 1857, and Mr. Harbur married 
Frances Y^oung, October 1, 1861. 

Levi Harbur says that the snow of 1830-31 
was three feet four inches on an average, and 
that he resolved that if it ever went ofl:', Illinois 
would not hold him long. The snow went ofl^, 
but he did not. I have measured a stump near 
where Mr. H. resides. It is a white oak, eight 
feet high and two feet in diameter at the top. 
Mr. Harbur says he cut it not more than two 
feet above the snow, so that the snow must have 
been six feet deep at that place, but that was 
drifted. 

Samuel Harbour was born September 24, 1799, 
in Garrard county, Kentucky, and was taken by 
his parents, in infancy, to Christian county. In 
1817, he accompanied his brother Levi to Madi- 
son county Illinois, and from there he came to 
what is now Chatham township, Sangamon 
county, arriving October, 1819. He was married 



March, 1823, to Elizabeth Briscc e, who died Feb- 
ruary, 1824, shortly after the birth of their child. 
Mr. Harbour married the second time, Elizabeth 
Lindley, being his second wife. Mr. Harbour 
died in 1874. 

Simon Lindley, came in the spring of 1820. 
He was born January 20, 1769, in Orange 
county. North Carolina. Anna Standley was born 
February 3, 1766, in Kent county, Delaware. 
Her parents moved to Pendleton District, South 
Carolina. Simon Lindley and Anna Standley 
were there married, July 14, 1789. They came 
to what became Sangamon county, arriving 
April 14, 1820, in what is now Chatham town- 
ship. Mr. Lindley was a very eccentric man, 
and many anecdotes are related of him, both in 
connection with his preaching and in private 
life. Mr. Lindley was also a man of liberal 
education. He was educated at some college in 
Philadelphia, but whether he was a graduate or 
not, I cannot say. After the town of Spring- 
field was laid out, there was a discrepancy 
between the surveyors of that and the former 
town of Calhoun, and Mr. Lindley was called on 
to re-survey it and harmonize the differences, 
which he did, to the satisfaction of all parties. 
Mr. Lindley was also a minister of the Regular, 
or Predestination Baptist Church, and preached 
the gospel as the occasion offered. It is related 
of him that on one occasion he was holding forth 
to a congregation not far frOm his own house, 
and in the midst of his sermon he heard a noise 
to which he gave instant attention. Turning to 
his hearers, he said: "Brethren, the trap is 
down. Hold fast to the text till I return, and I 
will finish my sermon." Leaving the stand, he 
went to the place where he had set a trap, and 
which had been sprung on a wolf. He instantly 
dispatched it, re-set the trap, and returned and 
finished his discourse. Mr. Lindley died in 1827. 
His widow survived him many years. 

Jacob Miller came in 1824, and settled in the 
northwest corner of the township. Here he 
raised a large family, and died July 27, 1862. 

Thomas and David Alexander, Andrew Starr, 
Peter Ballou, Randall and Joseph Davis, John 
Wychoff, Stephen and John Neal, Joseph Hil- 
liard, Henry Hall, William and David Work- 
man, Eli Harlan and Allen Bridges, were also 
among the early settlers of the township. 

Thomas Alexander was born about 1768, in 
Ireland, and bis parents came to America when 
he was about four years old, landing at Charles- 
ton, South Carolina. Lynna Goodlett was born 
October 11, 1780, in Greenville District, South 
Carolina. They were there married. In 1806, 



ftlSTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



82? 



they moved to Christian county, near Hopkins- 
villa, Kentucky, where they had two children, 
and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriv- 
ing in October, 1828, three miles east of Auburn. 
In 1829, they moved to what is now Chatham 
township, south of Lick creek. He died August 
12, 1844. 

Daniel Neal was born about IVVO, in Bedford 
county, Virginia. He was married there to Polly 
Booth, a native of the same county. They moved 
to Franklin county, Tennessee, in the fall of 
1808. JDied in 1838. The family then moved 
to Bourbon county, Kentucky. They moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving November 
10, 1823, in what is now Chatham township. 

Silas Harlan was born January 5, 1781, in 
Berkley^ ounty, Virginia. He went to Christian 
county, Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in 1827. He entered about one 
thousand acres of land, and improved a farm, 
three and a half miles south of Chatham. Eliza- 
beth Messick was born March 26, 1809, in Rock- 
ingham county, Virginia, and her father moved 
the next year to Christian county, Kentucky. In 
18-:7, Elizabeth came to Sangamon county with 
the family of John French. Silas Harlan and 
Elizabeth Messick were married September 10, 
1829. 

Jacob Miller was born in 1789, in Kentucky. 
He was a soldier in the War of 1812, mustered 
in at Winchester, Kentucky, and was in the 
battle of Tippecanoe. Lucina Poats was born 
December 18, 1793, in Stafford county, Virginia, 
and was taken to Clark county, Kentucky, when 
she was quiie young. Jacob Miller and Lucina 
Poats were there married, in 1812. Moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving December, 
1824, in what is now the northwest corner of 
Chatham township. He died in 1862. 

William Gibson was born about 1780, near 
Staunton, Virginia, and was taken by his parents, 
at six or seven years of age, to Fayette county, 
Kentucky. He was married in Boone county, 
in 1809, to Mary Holman. She was born July 
29, l789, in Woodford county. Her father, 
Edward Holman, and Jesse Holman — for many 
years Judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana — 
were brothers. She was, consequently, a cousin 
to Hon. Wm. S. Holman, of the Fifth Congres- 
sional District of Indiana. Moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving November 1, 1829, and 
settled in what is now the northwest corner of 
Chatham township. 

FIRST EVENTS. 

The first birth in the township was Alfred C. 
Campbell, who was born July 22, 1819. When 



the war with Mexico broke out he enlisted in 
Captain Morris' company, and served until his 
regiment was discharged, holding the commis- 
sion of Lieutenant. When the rebellion broke 
out he raised a company, October 2, 1861, and 
became Captain of Company E., Thirty-second 
Illinois Infantry, under Colonel John Logan, 
and fought in all the battles from Fort Donel- 
son to the sea. At Pittsburg Landing, his com- 
pany lost thii-ty-two men, killed and wounded, 
out of fifty-six in action. He served three years 
and four months, and was honorably discharged. 
Captain Campbell moved, in 1851, to the vicinity 
of Mowequa, Shelby county, where he now re- 
sides. 

The first death was that of Jane Kimes, who 
died with flux. Her coffin was made from tim- 
ber split out of a tree, and hewn and dressed 
with a broad-axe by John Darneille. 

Samuel Wychoff was the first justice of the 
peace. 

The first school was taught on section nine- 
teen, in 1822, by Ira McGIassen. 

Simon Lindley, a Baptist minister, already 
spoken of as an early settler, preached the first 
sermon. 

The first church v^as organized by the Bap- 
tists in 1821. 

The first mill was the old-fashioned horse 
mill, built by John Campbell, shortly after his 
arrival. 

The first water-mill was a saw-mill, built and 
run by Johnson Hardin, on Lick creek, as early 
as 1828. 

The first steam grist-mill was erected in Chat- 
ham village, in 1856. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school, as stated, was on section nine- 
teen, and the house in which it was held was a 
small log one of a very primitive style. Im- 
provements have since been made in this respect, 
and the township is now pretty well supplied 
with school houses, with accommodations much 
superior to those in the beginning. There are 
now seven school houses in the township, out- 
side of the village, and one in the village, having 
a total value of '$6,000 or 17,000. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The pioneers of Chatham were mostly a God- 
fearing people, and as opportunity offered, as- 
sembled themselves for religious worship. 
Separated from home and friends, far away from 
the sound of the church-going bells, they earnest- 
ly craved the bread of life, and the minister of 
the gospel, of whatever name or creed, r* ceived 



830 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



a royal welcome. Rev. Simon Lindley was the 
harbiijger who went before, to prepare the way 
for other disciples to follow after. The meet- 
ings were first held in the private dwelling 
houses of the pioneers, then in the school houses, 
and lastly in the more modern church buildings 
that now point their spires Heavenward. The 
Advent Christians have an organization and 
meet at the school house on section nineteen; 
the United Brethren have an organization and 
a neat house of worship on section thirty. The 
Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists have 
each houses of worship and effective organiza- 
tions in the village of Chatham. 

ORGANIC. 

The township of Chatham was organized, and 
first election was held in April, 1861. The town- 
ship records being destroyed by fire, in 18*79, the 
officers of the township cannot be given, save 
those of 1880 and 1881, which are as follows: 

1880. — Edward R. Thayer, Supervisor; Leon- 
ard Ledbrook, Town Clerk; George W. Green- 
wood, Assessor; John G. Ransom, Collector; 
Jacob Leonard, Ezra Barnes, Henry Brawner, 
Commissioners of Highways; E. J. Short, John 

A. Neal, Justices of the Peace; Arza B. Pilcher, 
Joseh McWhorter, Constables. 

1881. — Edward R. Thayer, Supervisor; Leon- 
ard Ledbrook, Town Clerk; George W. Green- 
wood, Assessor; John G. Ransom, Collector; 
James M. Darneille, Noah D. Mason, Henry 
Brawner, Commissioners of Highways; E. J. 
Short, John A. Neil, Justices of the Peace; Arza 

B. Pilcher, William Decker, Constables. 

VILLAGE OF CHATHAM. 

The village of Chatham was laid out and 
platted on he 22dday of October, 1836, by Luther 
N. Ransom. Several additions have since been 
made and it now comprises a portion of section 
seven, township of Ball, and section twelve, of 
Chatham. The village is pleasantly situated, and 
is of a home-like appearance. 

The first house was built by Mr. Ransom, of 
logs, and was situated where the post office now 
stands, on Main street. This house was erected 
the same season in which the village was platted. 
But little more was done that season; in fact, it 
was not until 1852, after the completion of the 
present Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, 
that the village began to grow. 

POST OFFICE. 

A post office was established at Chatham, in 
1838, the mail being carried by the stage running 
from Springfield to St. Louis and return. George 



Crocker was the first to hold the commission of 
Uncle Sam with the privilege of signing his 
name and affixing the title of "P. M." to it. 
Since Mr. Crocker's day up to 1881, the follow- 
ing named have held the office in order named: 
Peter Freeman, Henry Chew, Joseph Whitney, 
Curtis J, Norton, Nehemiah Wright, S. S. 
Sabine, E. B, Smith, S. S. Sabine, Jr., Francis 
Sabine. 

SCHOOLS. 

A school was held in 183V in the smoke house 
of Luther N. Ransom, by Roxana S. Lyman. 
This was the first in the place. A school house 
was not erected until 1839. This was a frame 
building and did good service for the purpose 
for which it was built, for nineteen years. The 
house is now used as a grocery store by Chailes 
A. Smith. The next was a frame building, two 
stories in height, which was erected in 1858, at a 
cost of $2,400. It is yet used and well answers 
the purpose for which it was built. It has three 
large recitation rooms, with halls and closets. 
The graded school system was adopted in 18—. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The religious development of the place has 
kept pace with other improvements, there being 
now three good church buildings and organiza- 
tions — Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist. 

The Presbyterian Church was organized at the 
house of Rev. D. Whitney, two miles north of 
Chatham township, June 21, 1835, by Revs. D. 
Whitney and T. A. Spillman The following 
named comprised the membership on its organi- 
zation : William Thornton, Judith P. Thorn- 
ton, Mary E. Thornton, Emma D. Thornton, 
Martha W. Thornton, Mildred R. Jones, Louisa 
Whitney, Alonzo H. Whitney, Julia M. Whit- 
ney, William H. and Eliza Meteer, Harvey and 
Rebecca Ann Hall. The same date of organiza- 
tion William Thornton was elected elder, since 
which time the following named have been 
elected, and have served in the office : Luther 
N. Ransom, Cornelius Lyman, William W. 
Meteer. February 3, 1841, William Holland 
and Ashal Thayer; April 7, 1844, Cyrus W. 
Van Deren, Harvey H. Hall, J. R. Lewis ; Janu- 
ary 15, 1859, John Smith, Henry Thayer; Feb- 
ruary 14, 1864, Joseph B. Whitney, James Mel- 
vin, John L. Turner; March 5, 1876, William 
Lockridge. Of the foregoing all are thought to 
be dead, save James Melvin, Henry Thayer and 
Cyrus W. Van Deren, who are the present 
ruling elders. The following named have 
served as pastors or stated supplies for the 
church : Rev. Dewey Whitney, William C. 







K 



'^ye^ 



(3i/pc^ (/ie.1^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



833 



Greenleaf, William Fithian, Josiah Porter, A. 
M. Dixon, Noah J3ishop, E. W. Thayer, W. B. 
Spence, John H. Harris, John D. Jones, H. G. 
Pollock and H. V. D. Nevius. The first meet- 
ings of the church were held at private houses 
and school houses, and it was not until 1851 that 
a house of worship was erected. At this time, 
a building was erected, at a cost of 11,300. Sub- 
sequently it was remodeled, at a cost of |800. 
In 1875, a parsonage was erected, at a cost of 
|1,600. The church is now out of debt, and 
has a membership of thirty-five. A good Sun- 
day school has been kept going for many years, 
and is now under the superintendency of Henry 
Thayer. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The first Baptist families that settled in Chat- 
ham, came in 1854, but it was not for some 
years after that an attempt was made to organize 
a church. Rev. A. Stott was the first to pro- 
claim Baptist principles in the place, and Rev. 
M. V. Kitzmiller the second one. In February, 
1866, a revival occurred in the village, in great 
part among the pupils of the high school, and 
about fifty experienced a change of heart. On 
Saturday, March 81, 1866, the Baptists met in 
council. A confession of faith and covenant 
was read and adopted. They met again April 
28, 1866, and Rev. M. V. Kitzmiller, of Girard, 
and Rev. A. Gross, of Springfield, being present, 
the^ First Baptist church of Chatham was 
formally organized, with the following named 
constituent menabers: James Gibson, Margaret 
Gibson, C. J. DeWitt, Helen Smith, Thomas 
Beerup, Sinai Beerup, Jefferson Wright, 
America Wright, Moses Winslow, Mary Camp- 
bell, Charles Aldrich, Lucinda Wright, James 
Miller, Hannah Winslow, Elizabeth Aldrich, 
Mary Aldrich, Anna Aldrich, Melinda Miller, 
Mary Wright. The day after organization, 
several parties were "buried with Christ in bap- 
tism," the first in the place. Subsequently the 
church built a neat house of worship, where they 
meet regularly. 

MEDICAL. 

Men will get sick and the services of the phy- 
sicians are usually in demand. One feels safer 
if he knows the doctor is within call. 

Dr. Alansan Stockwell was the first physician 
in the place. In 1837, he "hung out his shingle" 
and offered his professional services to all within 
call. The people were too healthy or too per- 
verse to get sick, and Dr. Stockwell, while here, 
was compelled to labor as a mechanic or day 

97— 



laborer, in order to secure a living. He soon 
left for Tremont. 

Dr. Fitzhugh came next, in 1839, He was a 
good physician, had a large practice, and was re- 
spected by the community. He moved to Mis- 
souri. 

Dr. John R. Lewis came in 1843. He was a 
Connecticut man, and a good physician. He died 
in 1857. 

Dr. Thomas Spottswood came in 1844. He 
secured a good practice, but only remained two 
years. He went from here to Florida. 

Dr. Malone came in 1847 and left in 1849. 
He was a fair physician, and secured a good 
practice. He moved to Waverly, and subse- 
quently died. 

Dr. Nehemiah Wright came in 1850, and yet 
remains. The estimation in which he is held, is 
testified by the gold-headed cane which he car- 
ries — a present from those whom he has profes- 
sionally served. 

Drs. Johnson, Fox, Helmle, Hammond and 
Sprague have each dispensed powders and pills 
to the afilicted, and have resided in the village. 

The following named are the present resident 
physicians: N. Wright, A. B. Hewitt, S. C. 
Hewitt, J. H. Smith and Charles A. Wright. 

BUSINESS OF CHATHAM. 

In the summer of 1837, Luther N. Ransom 
erected a building for a store-room, which was 
occupied that season by Daniel Miflflin, with a 
stock of general merchandise. This was the 
beginning of trade in Chatham. Since that date 
many have come and gone. Business for a time 
would flourish, and then hard times would ensue. 
The following now comprises the business of 
the village: 

General Merchandise — B. F. Caldwell, E. B. 
Smith, C. A. Smith. 

Drugs — L. Ledbrook, H. F. Thayer. 

Restaurant — William Anderson. 

Shoemakers — L. R. Butler, William Bell. 

Meat Shops — Joseph McWherter. 

Lumber — Mitchell, Smith & Co. 

Hotel — George W. Sword. 

Blacks7niths — William C. Hellerpian Joseph 
Adams. 

Carpenters — Daniel Keller, Brown Pilcher, W. 
I. Aldrich, Wallace Lord. 

Grain Dealers. — Mitchell, Smith & Co. 

Mill—M.. R. Thayer. 

Stock Men. — Job McGredy, David Pyle, Ben 
McAtee, William Gardner, William Lockridge, 
John Lockridge, John Marshall, Newton Yutton 
& Bros. 



834 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



MILLS. 

Chatham was without mill privileges until 
1856, when S. N. FuUenwider built a large grist- 
mill, with three run of stone, and which has 
from the beginning had the reputation of manu- 
facturing a superior article of liour. The 
mill has changed hands several times, and 
is now owned and run by M. R. Thayer 
& Co. 

ORGANIC. 

Tlie village of Chatham is incorporated, but, 
as the records were destroyed by fire, the offi- 
cers for 1881 alone are given: Village Trustees, 
Thos. Butler, President; J. M, Darneille, E. B. 
Smith, Jas. Headley, D. Keller. Village Clerk, 
Z.T. McGinnis. Police Magistrate, S. S. Sabine. 
Village Marshal, W. H. Decker. Street Com- 
missioner, C. W. Shipley. 



The Bank of Chatham was organized in the 
fall of 1879, and opened for business January 20, 
1880. The laws of the State being such as to 
prohibit the organization of a joint stock com- 
pany for banking, it was made a partnership 
concern. The following named embraced the 
original partners: Benjamin Caldwell, Jesse H. 
Smith, Edwin B. Smith, E. F. McConnell & Son, 
Peter C. Campbell, John Workman, L. F. 
Hamilton, Edward V. Lewis, E. W. Pike, and 
M. R. Thayer. The first election for officers re- 
sulted in the choice of B. F. Caldwell, President; 
E. B. Smith, Vice President; Edward V. Lewis, 
Cashier. The officers are elected yearly, and 
in 1881, the old oflQcers were re-elected but 
subsequently E. V. Lewis resigned, and John 
T. Lewis was elected to fill the vacancy. 
The bank does a general banking business, re- 
ceiving deposits and selling exchange on all the 
principal cities. From its commencement its 
business has steadily increased, its success being 
beyond all expectation. The deposits now, ( in 
the fall of 1881) amounting from $50,000 to 
$60,000. Being an unlimited partnership, and 
the members of the firm being among the 
wealthiest men in Chatham and vicinity, makes 
it a specially safe place of deposit. A few 
changes have occurred in the number of partners, 
it now embracing B. F. Caldwell, Edwin B. 
Smith, Peter C. Campbell, John Workman, M. 
R. Thayer, Matthew Cloyd and John T. Lewis, 
all of whom are well known business men, the 
aggregate wealth of which amounts to thousands 
of dollars. 



MASONIC. 

A flourishing lodge of Masons now exists in 
the place, with the following named officers for 
1881: B. Y. Smith, W. M.; S. C. Hewitt, S. 
W.; E. R. Thayer, J. W.; E. B. Smith, Treas- 
urer; M. R. Thayer, Secretary; D. McCulley, 
S. D.; J. J. Martin, J. D.; Wm. Hillerman, 
Tyler; W. J. Chapin, Chajjlain. The lodge is 
known as Chatham Lodge, No. 553, A. F. and 
A. M., and has a membership of fifty. 

The history of Chatham township is contin- 
ued by biographical mention of a number of 
representative citizens, a lack of space prevents 
us from inserting many others who would add an 
interest to the volume. 

Hiram Alexander. — The early progenitor of 
the Alexander family, in Sangamon county, was 
Thomas Alexander, born in Ireland, about 1768. 
At four years of age his parents moved to 
America, landing at Charleston, South Carolina; 
he married Lynna Goodlett, born October 11, 
1780; they moved to Christian county, Kentucky, 
in 1806, where they had two children. They 
came to Sangamon county in October, 1828, and 
settled in Chatham township, 1829, on eighty 
acres of land. 

Thomas Alexander died December 18, 1855; 
Mrs. Alexander died August 12, 1844. Their 
daughter, May Ann, born in Kentucky, 1810, 
married John L. Dr<?nnan, in 1830, had three 
children. Mr. Drennan died in 1842. 

David Alexander, born in Kentucky, October 
3, 1814; came to Sangamon county, with his 
father, in 1828; married Catharine Darneille, 
March 13, 1833; she was born in Bourbon county, 
Kentucky, August 2, 1817; was a daughter of 
John Darneille, who came to Sangamon county 
from Kentucky in 1818, and was one of the first 
families that settled in Chatham township. 
David Alexander had fourteen children, seven of 
whom died in early life. 

John T., born December 25, 1835, was among 
the first to respond to the call for seventy-five 
thousand troops to crush the Rebellion; served 
his three months, re-enlisted for three years, and 
enlisted as veteran, January, 1864; he lost his 
right hand at St. Charles, Arkansas, by prema- 
ture discharge of a cannon, in firing a salute over 
Lee's surrender; lives on home farm. 

David S., born November 20, 1842; enlisted 
in the war, August 13, 1861, was discharged 
one year later for physical disability; died March 
10, 1866, from disease contracted in the army. 

Catharine, born December 20, 1844; married 
Lafayette Brash, May 29, 1862; lives near old 
home. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



835 



Hiram Alexander, the subject of our sketch, 
was born March 30, 1847; enlisted in the Missouri 
Eleventh Infantry, March 14, 1864 — then seven- 
teen years old, for three years; served until July 
14, 1865, when he was discharged for physical 
disability; married March 9, 1873, to Mary E. 
Van Doren, born December 3, 1856, daughter of 
P. C. Van Doren, who was born in New Jersey, 
April 1 8, 1 8 1 8. In 1 824, the family moved to Ohio, 
■where he married Margaret Hathaway, and with 
his father's family, moved to Sangamon county, 
settling in Curran township, May 22, 1839. 

Mr. Hiram Alexander is now living near the 
old home, four miles southwest of Chatham vil- 
lage, on a farm which he is cultivating in the 
finest manner. His farm is mostly fenced with 
living hedges; his buildings are commodious, 
and are surrounded with fruit and ornamental 
trees, all of which bespeak the thrifty farmer. 

William, born October 1, 1849, married Emma 
Price, and now lives in Loami township; Mary 
Belle, born June 17, 1856, lives at home with her 
mother; Cyrus M., iDorn January 29, 1859, lives 
at home, managing farm, and settling his father's 
estate. David Alexander, died January 28,1881, 
on the farm, where he settled wilh his father, in 
1829. His educational facilities were very limited, 
yet he acquired a business education sufficient 
for general purposes, conducting all with the 
strictest integrity. He, by his untiring industry, 
added over six hundred acres to the original 
purchase, of eighty acres. 

In his last will he made a very judicious divis- 
ion of his estate, among his children; giving the 
widow the "old home," on which she now resides, 
with her children settled near her. 

Peter C. Camphell. — Around the "Campbell 
family" cluster many interesting reminiscences 
of the early settlers of Sangamon county. There 
appears to be several lines of ancestry in the 
family name in the county, and the nearness to 
which they may trace their genealogy is a matter 
not definitely arrived at. The diflerent lines as 
represented here seem to have originated in one 
of the then "British Isles." Whatever may have 
been their land of general ancestry, each line, 
from the earliest knowledge of them, has 
promptly responded to the country's call in the 
defense of her rights and liberties. And that 
love of freedom, and country's good, that so 
animated their progenitors in the old French 
and Indian war — so quickly followed by our 
Revolutionary struggle, has been re-animated, in 
the generations that followed, in the War of 
1812, and other wars since that time. The 
rebellion in our own States found many ready to 



place their lives upon the country's altar, and 
not a few sacrificed them there. Jeremiah 
Campbell, the direct ancestor of P. C. Camp- 
bell, was settled in Tennessee before the Revolu- 
tion, was in the immediate command of the 
intrepid General Marion during the war, shar- 
ing alike his dangers and frugal fare, even pota- 
toes baked in the ashes, and eaten without any 
condiments whatever; he lived to near one hun- 
dred years of age. He had two sons, John and 
Jackson; of Jackson little is known beyond his 
living in 1860 on the home farm in Tennessee, 
which the family had owned one hundred years, 
John Campbell was born in Carter county Ten- 
nessee, November 4, 1790, he enlisted for the War 
of 1812, into a company from that county, and 
served six months, and then re-enlisted and served 
until March, 1815. He was a Lieutenant in 
the last campaign, and drew pension until death. 
In 1818 he moved to Madison county. Illinois, 
and on November 6, 1818, married Lavina Park- 
ison, who was born February 21, 1803; her fami- 
ly moving from Tennessee at same time of Camp- 
bell family. Mr. Campbell then moV( d to San- 
gamon county, arriving March 22, 1819, on Lick 
creek, in Chatham township, and they had seven 
children. Mrs. Lavina Campbell died Decem- 
ber 13, 1853, and Mr. Campbell married Margery 
Carson, sister of his first wife; she died March 
5, 1870, and Mr. Campbell died January 29, 
1875, — 85 years of age — on the farm where he 
settled in 1819, five miles west of Chatham, 
leaving a very large estate, the accumulation of 
years of hard labor and economy, preserving 
always the strictest integrity, making his word 
as good as the bonded paper. He took part in 
the Black Hawk war, as did most of the settlers 
of that day. The first mill built in the county, 
built by Daniel Lisle, after being sold once or 
twice, came into his hands, he moved it to Lick 
creek, where he put it up and ran it for many 
years. One of the burrs of that mill was used 
by Mr. C. as a door-step until he died. Alfred 
C. Campbell, son of John, was born July 22, 
1819, was the first white child born in the town- 
shijj of Chatham, and the third one born in the 
county; one Joseph E. McCoy being born March 
13, 1819, was the first one in the county. Alfred 
C. married Polly Foster, daughter of Peyton 
Foster, who had reached Loami townshij^ in 
1826, from Kentucky, May 13, 1838. June 10, 
1846, he enlisted with Illinois Infantry for the 
Mexican war, as second Lieutenant under Col. 
Baker. After the death of Captain Morse at 
Tampico, Mexico, he commanded the company 
at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. When the re- 



83G 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY- 



bellion broke out, he was Captain of company E, 
Thirty-second Illinois Infantry, under Col. John 
Logan, and fought in all the battles from Fort 
Donelson to the sea His company at battle 
of Pittsburg Landing lost thirty-two of its fifty- 
six men. Wm. P. Campbell was born Novem- 
ber 4, 1820; also a soldier in the Mexican war, 
contracted disease, from which he ciied, twenty 
years after. Peter C. Campbell, youngest son of 
John Campbell, was born January 19, 1882, and 
has always lived on same home farm; May 5, 
1852, married Amanda E. Carson, who was born 
April 17, 1829; her father, John Carson, was 
born August 10, 1*794, on Saluda creek. South 
Carolina, removed to Tennessee, was in War of 
1812, came to Madison county, married, and in 
1820 or '21 came to Chatham township, on Lick 
creek. Mr. Campbell has had three children, two 
died early. Rachel C, born May 5, 1857, married 
Geo. W. Hunter, November 8, 1880. Mr. Hun- 
ter is a man of energetic business character, and 
as he has located with Mr. Campbell, will be a 
very serviceable assistant in managing his large 
estate. 

Mr. Campbell had no advantage for school be- 
yond that offered in the log house and slab-seat, 
common in that day. Beside the very poor 
facilities, he had a long distance co go, and the 
work on the farm often detained him, so as to 
render his days at school very short, yet he, by 
general business application, has acquired suffi- 
cient education to transact any business necessary. 
He has never connected himself directly with 
any church organization, yet he has been a gen- 
eral attendant with the Presbyterian people. 

He has always maintained the strictest integ- 
rity in his business, making his verbal obliga- 
tion good as his written one. He is now living 
within one mile of where he was born; has a fine 
residence, with suitable other buildings, and finds 
ample employment in the general management 
of his large interests. He has added, year by 
year, to his lands until he now has in one body 
fifteen hundred acres of as well selected land, 
comprising timber, prairie and living water, as 
Illinois can produce. 

The ruling passion of his life seems to be 
strong with him in declining years, to possess 
the piece of land that joins him. 

Rev Wm. J. Chapin. — The first settler of the 
"Chapin family" in America, as far back as rec- 
ords show, was Deacon Samuel Chapin, who set- 
tled in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1642, and 
from whom all bearing the name are presumed 
to have originated. The name of Chapin is rep- 
resented in almost every profession and occupa- 



tion in the county. Probably no family name 
presents more distinguished men, among them 
eminent clergymen, lawyers, doctors and states- 
men, and not a few prominent capitalists, who, 
by dint of well directed application in the vari- 
ous forms of business, have amassed princely 
fortunes. 

The subject of this sketch was a native of 
Grandville, Washington county. New York, be- 
ing born September 2, 1821. His father, Salma 
Chapin, was a blacksmith, a "Stalwart of the 
Old Stock." In the spring of 1832, Chapin, Sen- 
ior, moved with his family to Wayne county, 
New York, where in connection with his trade, 
he worked a farm. 

The advantages for education in the new coun- 
try were limited, and W. J. had no other school 
than country schools, except three terms at the 
Marion Academy in 1842-43. 

In 1839, during a series of revival meetings, 
he made profession of faith, from that until 
1845, when he was licensed to preach. He 
worked upon the farm, devoting his leisure 
hours to study. 

In same year he came to the State of Illi- 
nois, and taught one term of school. Also 
taught one term of school in Jo Daviess county, 
pursuing his studies while teaching, and during 
intervals of school. 

In 1847, he went to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, 
where he was formally ordained as Baptist cler- 
gyman. Here he remained one year, showing 
good results from his labors. Here, February 
16, 1848, he married Harriet L. Horton. In 
same year (1848) he went to Aztalon, where he 
was pastor of that church, and preaching also at 
Lake Mills, although there was but one charge. 
Here he labored, most successfully, eight years, 
holding several series of meetings, adding many 
to the church. In 1856, he was called to Mans- 
ton, Wisconsin, when the church was in its in- 
fancy, having no edifice for worship. Here he 
remained four years, greatly increasing his mem- 
bership; besides, he hfd put his efforts into 
building a church, and even had the building up 
and covered, when he was called to Reedsburg, 
Wisconsin, in 1860. In 1868, he was re-called to 
Manston, remaining until 1865. During that 
time he finished the church, and awakened the 
people to such a sense of duty that his member- 
ship was greatly enlarged. From 1865 to 1873 
he did a vast amount of hard preliminary work, 
at Bangor, Salem, Fall River and Windsor, (all 
in Wisconsin), showing most happy results in 
his every field of labor. In 1873, he removed to 
Troy, Madison county, Illinois, remaining until 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



8.37 



1877, producing wonderful results. Also sup- 
plying at Edwardsville and other occasional 
•places. In December, 18*77, he went to Chatham, 
Sangamon county, where he is now, (1881 ), en- 
gaged in connection with his pastorate at Au- 
burn. 

He has ever been an earnest, self-sacrificing 
laborer in the ministry, and his efforts have been 
productive of the happiest testimonials of good. 

Mrs. Harriet L. Chapin died at Manston, Wis- 
consin, January '2 5, 1860. Mr. Chapin married 
Lucinda M. Marshall, at Aztalan, July 11, 1860. 
Children, Lucius H., born July 2, 1849; married 
in August, 1876, to Emma W, Nutter; Edwin 
L , born April 25, 1857; Hattie J., August 26, 
1861. 

Thomas C. Cloyd. — The first representative 
of the large and favorably known '-Cloyd 
family" in Sangamon county, was one David 
Cloyd, born in Virginia about 1766. He married 
in Virginia, had three children, and in 1815 
moved to Washington county, Kentucky. In 
October, 1825, he settled in Sangamon county, 
Curran township. He died in 1839; his widow 
died soon after. His son, Thomas, was born in 
Virginia, .January 14, 1798; married Anna 
Withrow, born in Virginia, December 29, 1795. 
In 1811, her family had moved to Washington 
county, Kentucky, and she there married. April 
27, 1820; moved to Curran township with his 
father in October, 1825. They had six children, 
all of whom became heads of families, and all 
are now (1881) living, the youngest being fifty 
years of age. Mr. Thomas Cloyd died Septem- 
ber 21, 1878. He went to the field to catch a 
refractory horse. As he was soon after found 
dead in the field, with no mai-ks of violence 
upon him, it was supposed the effort and excite- 
ment attendant upon it had resulted in heart 
disease, to which he was predisposed. His 
widow is now (1881) living, in her eighty-sixth 
year of age. His death was the first and only 
one that has occurred in Thomas Cloyd's family. 
Thomas Gordon Cloyd, his son, was born in 
Sangamon county .June 5, 1827. Married Sep- 
tember 27, 1849, Priscilla J. Banscom, born De- 
cember 31, 1831. Bought a farm in section one, 
township Chatham, where he lived till October 
20, 1880, when he moved to Christian county. 
In early life, he became identified with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church; was an active mem- 
ber for many years. Later in life, he took 
fellowship with the Christian Church, of which 
he is now a zealous member. They had two 
sons and one daughter. Thomas C. Cloyd was 
born December 24, 1850. Lived on home farm 



until twenty-eight years of age (187s). He at- 
tended the public schools of the county, with 
one year in the excellent schools of Chatham. 
In 1871, he entered upon a course of study in 
the Normal school of Kirksville, Missouri. His 
preparation had been so thorough, that he 
entered one year in advance, enabling him to 
graduate in three years — June 25, 1874. He 
followed teaching as a profession for six years, 
with marked results. April 24, 1879, he mar- 
ried Julia A. Winston, of Springfield. They had 
one child born June 6, 1880, He is now on a 
farm adjoining the village limits of Chatham. 
While engaged in farming very ardently, he is 
also following his literary pursuits. John C. 
Cloyd born September 3, 1853, lived on home 
farm until April, 1881, when he moved to 
Christian county, and is still with his father. 
Married Mary Staley, of Auburn, September 2, 
1880. His opportunities for education were 
confined to attendance on the district schools, 
with addition of one year's study at Kirksville, 
Missouri, Normal. He has taught several terms 
with success. Annie E. Cloyd was born Feb- 
ruary 22, 1860; died June 10, 1881. Her short 
life was one of almost constant sickness and 
suffering. At an early age she became a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. During her long 
suffering she was patient, looking forward to 
that blissful immortality beyond the grave. 

James W. Greenwood. — The Greenwood family 
is one, around which cluster many interesting 
reminiscences, they being early identified in the 
settlement and growth of Sangamon county. 
The direct line of descent is traced to William 
Greenwood, who was born near Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia, 1772; married Ruth Brooks, and moved 
to Cabell county. West Virginia; moved to San- 
gamon county, and settled in Curran township, 
October, 1824. 

Mr. Greenwood died July 6, 1837. His widow 
died August 16, 1855. 

William Greenwood's father enlisted for the 
war of the Revolution. When marching orders 
came, he was unable to go, by reason of sick- 
ness. Wishing to have his place filled, he sent 
his son, Abraham — a brother of William — to 
serve until he could relieve him. When sufti- 
ciently recovered to do duty, he went to his 
command — found Abraham unwilling to go back 
— was resolved to continue in the service. 

We hear of many of his peculiar exploits, 
many of them being upon the Tories. He con- 
stituted himself a forage company, and made 
the Tories his means for supplies. One day, 
calling at a Tory's house, the old lady ordered 



838 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



him away in an emphatic manner. He had pro- 
vided a strong line, with fish hook attached, well 
Lai ted. He cast his line into a flock of geese; 
an old one seized it. He, obeying her command, 
rode away, taking the goose with him, to the 
chagrin of the old lady. He served to the end 
of the war, never forgetting to live upon the 
Tories. Of William's children, all became heads 
of families. Many of them attained promi- 
nence in the educational and executive depart- 
ments of State. John, his son, was born in West 
Virginia, January 3, 1810; moved to Sangamon 
county with his father, in 1824; married Eliza 
Miller, October 20, 1832. She was born in Ken- 
tucky, June 1, 1815. Her father, Jacob Miller, 
was born in Kentucky, 1789; was a soldier in 
the War of 1812. 

John Greenwood had three children: James 
W., born February 2, 1834; Leah M. (see F. M. 
Neal), Ruth J. Mrs. G. died February 10, 1841. 
Mr. G. married her sister, Emily Miller, March 
10, 1842. His second wife died April 21, 1866. 
Mr. Greenwood died May 4, 1880. 

His son, James W. Greenwood, was born in 
Curran township, February 2, 1834; married De- 
cember 18, 1856, to Margaret Baker, who was 
born in Loami township, October 2*7, 1834; was 
daughter of Thomas Baker, born in Campbell 
county, Kentucky, March 3, 1794; married Nancy 
Robertson, December 29, 1823. She was born 
in Harrison county, Virginia, October 9, 1806; 
lived in West Virginia until 1826, where they 
had two childi'en; moved to Sangamon county, 
locating in Loami township, November, 1826, 
where they had eight children. Of their ten 
children, nine became heads of families. Some 
of them, like many others of Sangamon county, 
responded promptly to the call for troops in our 
civil war, and offered their sacred all upon their 
country's altar. Thomas Baker died January 5, 
1852. His widow lives where they settled in 
1826. 

James W. Greenwood now lives on section 
twelve, Curran township, where he has a farm of 
two hundred and twenty acres, composed of land 
suitable for all purposes of farming. He is 
adding year by year to the value of his farm. 
His advantages for education were limited to the 
facilities of the early day. Has six children: 
N. Jennie, born October 18, 1857; John W., 
born June 5, 1850; J. William, born August 
16, 186-; Harriet -C., born February 27, 1868; 
Thomas S., born June 10, 1870; Joel F., born 
October 3, 1873. 

James Headly was born of English descent, 
in Virginia, July, 1808. In 1809, the family re- 



moved to Licking, Ohio, where they engaged in 
farming until 1815, when they went to Butler 
county, Ohio; here they remained until 1817, 
when they removed to Orange county, Indiana. 
Their home there was situated upon '• Lost 
River," a river that takes upon itself many 
curious freaks, by occasionally losing itself in 
the earth, and, at some distance below, coming 
to the surface again. This is repeated at inter- 
vals. That district is also c'alled "Hurricane 
District," by reason of a terrible tornado that 
swept over that territory some years since, de- 
vastating dwellings and forests that came within 
its range. Living here two years, in 1810 they 
moved to Vigo county, in that part now known 
as Parke county; They settled upon a river near 
a place known as "Array Ford," a point quite 
familiar in history as the camping 'and fording 
place of General Harrison's army, in the War of 
1812. During all these years his opportunities 
of acquiring even a limited education was poor 
indeed, the duties upon the farm engaging all 
his working hours. His untiring energy and 
inate thirst for learning found him employing 
his every leisure moment in pursuit of that edu- 
cation he so longed for. That assiduous appli- 
cation, with his life-love of books, placed him 
quite in the front ranks as an intelligent and suc- 
cessful business man. In 1832, he married Miss 
E. H. Brown, a Kentucky lady of fine family. 
In 1847, he came to Knox county, Illinois, where 
he remained until 1856, when he located near 
Chatham, in Ball tovvnship. His farm there is 
of three hundred and forty acres, and is a fine 
specimen of the home of the intelligent and 
industrious Illinois farmer. At this writing, Mr. 
Headly has retired to his quiet home in Chatham 
village, where, with books and general news, he 
is enjoying the fruits of an active life. Mr. H. 
in early life strongly identified himself in every 
moral and religious enterprise, and has ever been 
an earnest worker in them. 

Mr. and Mis. Headly have had eight children, 
three of whom died in early life. John Milton 
was born October 20, 1835. In early life he 
evidenced a fondness for books, and eagerly em- 
braced every means, however limited, for self 
improvement, and, almost wholly through per- 
sonal application and such assistance as he could 
obtain at home, he secured an education that 
would do credit to one of greater facilities. 
When our civil war began, he felt the influence 
of that love of liberty which was early instilled 
into his mind, and had grown with his growth, 
and he at once hastened to the front, ready for 
any duty at his country's call. Faithfully he 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



839 



served, until disease, contracted in an uncongen- 
ial climate, prostrated him. He died at Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, December 21, 1861. Ma- 
tilda, born September 27, 1838; married Wm. 
Scott, a farmer, in 1852. Jennie S., born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1846; married J. R. Lockridge, March 
18, 1869; Mr. L. is an extensive and successful 
general trader and stock dealer. Columbus C, 
born January 11, 1849, is now on the farm so 
finely improved and cultivated by the united 
efforts of father and sons, and the farm has lost 
none of its former attractions under his skillful 
<3are. Edwin R., born April 4, 1851, married 
Minnie Ridgeway, in 18*76. He early expressed 
a foridness for learning, and seizing upon every 
opportunity, aided by the father, now with abun- 
dant means, he secured such an education that 
his services were soon in demand as teacher, and 
teaching winters, and working on the farm sum- 
mers, he acumraulated such an amount of money 
that, aided by his ever ready father, he settled 
upon a farm in Chatham township, where he ex- 
emplifies what an intelligent farmer can do. 

Samuel C. Hewitt, M. D., was born September 
1, 1835, in Harrison, Licking county, Ohio; his 
father was Rev. Jeremiah Hewitt, a Lutherian 
clergyman, who, in connection with his minis- 
terial duties, devoted much time to teaching. 
Samuel C. remained at home on the farm until 
bis father's death, which occurred July 14, 1855; 
his mother having died September 17, 1835. 
While at home he attended the public schools 
in the winter season. In the winter of 1852-3, 
he was in Delaware High School, and made 
marked progress. In the winter of 1854-5, he 
read medicine with D. Ferguson, who was a 
Methodist Episcopal clergyman, at Kerkerville, 
Ohio. May 1, 1856, he came to Chatham, and 
continued his reading, with A. B. Hewitt, until 
1858, when, in company with A. B. Hewitt, he 
commenced the practice of medicine. August 
12, 1861, he responded to the early call for troops. 
A company was raised and officered, and marched 
to Springdeld, and there assigned to the 
Third Illinois Cavalry, at Camp Butler. Soon 
after, he was detailed into the medical depart- 
ment, where he remained until April 15, 1863, 
and was discharged through physical disability. 
He returned to Chatham. After one year, he 
regained his health sufficiently to resume the 
practice of medicine. In 1873, he took a course 
ot lectures in the Cincinnati ( Ohio ) Eclectic 
Medical Institute, since which time he has been 
in successful practice in Chatham, By a law 
passed July 1, 1877, every physician in the State 
was required to obtain a certificate of ability from 



the "State Board of Health;" he received his 
February 16, 1878. Dr. Hewitt married Caro- 
line E. Hawkins, January 17, 1858. The Haw- 
kins family came to Chatham from New York, 
in 1855; in March, 1870, they removed to Kansas, 
and still live there. Mrs. Caroline E. Hewitt 
died November 20, 1858, and Dr. Hewitt mar- 
ried Lucy M. Hawkins, sister of his first wife, 
March 24, 1862. She was born October 4, 1844, 
in Brookfield, New York. They have an adopted 
daughter, Mary Hewitt, born February 15, 1867. 
The family are attendant upon the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, where they are consistentand 
active members. 

Jaynes Irioin. — The father of James Irwin was 
Robert Irwin, born about 1774, in Limerick 
county, Ireland. He married Mary Cordon, who 
was born at same place, about 1794, He was a 
farmer, and, as usual then, upon a rented farm — 
a rental he held most of his lifetime. They had 
five sons and two daughters. One son and both 
daughters died at their Ireland home, the four 
sons remaining came to America. In 1866, the 
aged couple crossed the ocean to visit their sons 
in America. Mr. Irwin was then ninety-two, 
and Mrs. Irwiu was seventy-two. They remained 
here two years, when, despite the entreaties of 
the sons to remain with them, each offering 
them a home for life, they returned to their old 
home to spend their remaining years. 

Mr. Irwin died in 1877, one hundred and three 
years of age. His widow is now (1881) living, 
eighty-seven years of age. During the last 
year of his life, his sons provided him with the 
comforts and even the luxuries of life, and the 
aged mother is now the recipient of their united 
care. While here, the old people sought their 
regular daily exercise, in the garden and else- 
where. One part worthy of note is, that Mr. 
Rubert Irwin never used tobacco or ardent 
spirits, in any form, and it may be remarked his 
sons are like abstainers. Mr. Irwin has left be- 
hind him the reward of a true Irish gentleman. 

James Irwin was born March 1, 1833, in Kil- 
malloch, county Limerick, Ireland, the county 
seat of Limerick, situated on both sides of the 
river Shannon — a city of great age. We find 
the Danes occupying it in the ninth century, 
and held it nearly a century. In 1210, King 
John fortified it. Edward Bruce burned it in 
1314. It was the last stronghold of King 
James. King William, of Orange, besieged it, 
without success, after the battle of Boyne (1690). 
In 16yl, it was again invested, and, after a bril- 
liant defense of several weeks, an armistice was 
proposed, which resulted in a capitulation of 



840 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



surrender. lie remained with his father until 
1851, when eighteen years of age, he came to 
America ; his first work being on the Chicago 
& Alton railroad, then being graded through 
Chatham. Here he worked six months, then en- 
gaged with a farmer for two years. He had 
saved all his earnings, and invested in land, in 
Christian county. This he sold, having made 
$300 by the investment. He then rented a farm, 
for two years; two good crops gave him a fine 
beginning. 

He married November 19, 1854, Rachel Har- 
lan, who was born February 6, 1840. Her 
father was Silas Harlan, born in Virginia, Jan- 
uary 1, 1*781; moved to Kentucky, and in 1827 
came to Chatham township and bought one 
thousand acres of wild land, and an improved 
farm. He married Elizabeth Messick, who was 
born in Virginia, March 26, 1809, and one year 
later moved to Kentucky; in 1827, she came to 
Sangamon county, where she married Mr. Har- 
lan, September 10, 1829. Mr. Harlan died No- 
vember 9, 1844. His widow married George 
Roberts, September 14, 1846. 

The farm upon which Mr. Irwin now lives is 
Mrs. Irwin's portion of the "Harlan Estate;" 
besides this he has bought two huUdreT^acres, 
and also has bought one hundred and twenty 
acres, on which Mrs. Roberts ( Harlan) has a life 
lease; making him a farm of over four hundred 
acres of finely situated land, of prairie and tim- 
ber, well watered by Panther creek. The farm 
has a beautiful grove for picnics, which Mr. I. 
kindly opens for any national, religious or social 
gathering, and his proverbial geniality always 
adds to the enterprise, whatever it may be. 

His opportunities for education were good, 
being the Parish school — kind to the poor, where 
they have as good care as the rich. These 
schools were under the immediate supervision of 
the village priest, who employed the best teach- 
ers. 

His religious tenets are of the Catholic order, 
where he has been «n active member. While he 
has his own views in modes of worship, he 
cheerfully awards to others their particular 
tenets and views. He has sufficient income to 
render his life easy, with his books and papers, 
of which he is in daily receipt, he passes many 
an hour, profitably and pleasantly. He needs no 
written obligations to strengthen his business 
transaction. 

Mr. Irwin, Cincinatus like, left his plow in the 
field, and joined tlie Springfield Light Artillery, 
August 14, 1862, for three years. His captain 
was promoted to Chief of Artillery of Seventh 



Battery, and Mr. I. was promoted to First Lieu- 
tenant; was mustered out June 20, 1865. Was 
in the battles of Columbus, Kentucky; Corinth, 
Mississippi; Bolivar, Tennessee; and Little Rock, 
Arkansas; much of the time on skirmish duty. 
They have seven children, four sons and three 
daughters. 

Henry Kinney was born at Cazenovia, Madi- 
son county. New York, August 4, 1 807. His 
father was Henry Kinney, born in Woodstock, 
Connecticut, Mai'ch 1, 1774; in 1795, he went to 
Carzenovia, Madison county. New York. There, 
on March 4, 1798, he married Dicey Pond, from 
Hartford, Connecticut. There are so many in- 
teresting incidents in the history of the Pond 
family, that we propose to give a hasty sketch 
of them. Early records states that two brothers 
Pond came from England, in 1630; after land- 
ing here, it seems Governor Winthrop, who had 
been a neighbor of their father, in England, 
wrote to his son in Groton, England, saying: 
"Tell old Pond that both his sons are well, and 
remember their duty." We also find, that Sam- 
uel, from whom those of the name have origi- 
nated, married at Windsor, Connecticut, Novem- 
ber 14, 1642, and he died March 14, 1654. We 
also learn that Nathaniel, third son of Samuel, 
was killed in a fight with the Naragansett In- 
dians, December 19, 1675. The will of Samuel 
Pond, taken from the "original records in the 
State House in Hartford, Connecticut," all in 
"ye olden style," and the inventory of "ye es- 
tate, made March ye 19, 1654," all in that quaint 
old style, are very curious records. The "sum 
total," was, "129 pounds and 02 shillings, 
all without incumbrance." 

Among those who first sprang to arms at the 
"battle cry" at Lexington, on April 19, 1775, 
were several of the name of Pond, who did not 
lay down their arms until peace was declared. 
One Barnabas Pond was a Major in the Revolu- 
tionary War, and was so efficient a soldier, under 
or near the command of General La Fayette, 
that on the visit of that distinguished man to 
this country in 1824, as he was pressing his way 
on through the crowd in the streets of Iltica, 
New York, his keen military eye caught sight of 
the brave Major Pond, he raised himself in his 
carriage and addressed him as " Major Pond." 
They afterward met, and a very affecting scene 
followed. The same illustrious family held im- 
portant places in the War of 1812, and in the 
last civil war many of the name won records of 
bravery. » 

To return to the subject of our sketch. His 
early life was passed upon the home farm. His 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



841 



advantages for obtaining an education were in- 
deed limited; none other than a few weeks each 
winter in the old-time log school house, and the 
proverbial inefficient teacher. On February 2 3, 
1822, the family left New York for Illinois. 
Reached Olean, on Allegheny river; there they 
built a flat-boat, and taking on some small fami- 
lies with them, they ran down to Shawneetown, 
Illinois, where they disembarked. They were 
then two hundred miles from their destined 
place; having brought one good team with them 
and had also been so provident as to lay in a 
year's supply of provisions, they engaged a good 
four-horse team, and on May 6, 1822, they ar- 
rived in Loami township. There they entered 
two hundred and forty acres, and some time 
after entered one hundred and sixty acres more, 
making four hundred in all, most of which 
is still in the hands of the family; i's well selected, 
consisting of prairie and timber, well watered 
by Lick creek, Mr. Kinney remained on the 
farm with his father until his majority — August 
4, 1828; he then arranged to go onto one of the 
farms of his father, and on October 23, 1828, he 
married Miss Margaret Dorrance, daughter of 
Daniel Dorrance, who, with his family, consist- 
ing of one son and two daughters, left Wayne 
county. New York, in the sjjring of 1822, for 
Illinois. They arrived at Olean, on the Alleghe- 
ny river, at the same time of the Kinney fam- 
ily; they going down to Cincinnati on a raft of 
lumber. At Cincinnati they took a boat for St. 
Louis, thence by team to Loami township, and 
located on a farm adjoining Mr. K's. 

Mr. Kinney remained on his farm until 1833, 
when his father became infirm, and desired his 
return to the old home. He accordingly changed 
farms with his brother and remained with his 
father until his death, on March 18, 1859, being 
eighty-five years of age, his mother having died 
September 15, 1850, at seventy -two years of age. 

His son Daniel was born August 19, 1829; 
married Annie Elmore, April 1, 1856; now on 
farm in Loami township. Clarrissa, born April 
9, 1831; married to James M. Darneille, January 
1, 1852; now in Chatham, retired farmer. Caro- 
line, born October 9, 1831, died March 6, 1853; 
Eliza Jane, born October 9, 1834, married John 
R. Shelton November 30, 1854, a farmer; Re- 
becca M., born January 14, 1837, married David 
Van Deren, December 8, 1859, who died after a 
short illness, February 15, 1874, leaving his wife 
and daughter in afiluent circumstances. 

During the Black Hawk war, in 1831, Mr. 
Kinney was out in a cavalry company, under the 
command of Captain Sanders; was present at the 
^ OS- 



burning of the Indian town, near Rock Island, 
During a heavy rain, the troops crossed the river 
in a steamboat that had been sent to rescue 
them from the woods should they ambush them. 
The surprise upon the Indians was most com- 
plete. They fled in all directions, leaving many 
stores behind them. The troops burned the 
village, which was probably one of the best built 
ones. 

Mr. Kinney associated himself with the Baptist 
Church, in 1840, and has since been an active 
and consistent member; has ever been prompt 
and efficient in every moral and religious move- 
ment. For many years he was deacon in the 
church, the sacred mantle falling upon him from 
his father, who had sustained it for many years 
before him. 

Mr. K. has removed from his farm to his pleas- 
ant home, in Chatham village, where, surrounded 
with many who have passed through the vicissi- 
tudes of the early settlers' life, with him, he is 
passing the remaining years of his useful life, 
fully assured of duty done. 

Isaac Newton Lowe was born near Three 
Bridges, New Jersey, April 2, ] 841, he was a 
son of Richard I., who was born in Lancaster, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, June 1802, and 
who married for his second wife Sarah William- 
son, who was born 1820, married about 1837. 
His grandfather, Isaac, was of German descent, 
and for many years was a " village landlord" of 
the genuine old Pennsylvania type. His wife 
died leaving only one child, Richard I., about 
1838; they moved to New Jersey, where Rich- 
ard I, engaged for several years in successful 
merchandising and manufacturing flour. While 
thus engaged he bought a tract of land of two 
hundred and forty acres in Jersey county, Illi- 
nois, and in the fall of 1847, with his father and 
family, he moved upon it, then a wild prairie. 
To expedite business he bought a small piece of 
land with a house on it, and at once set to im- 
proving his farm. His father being well stricken 
with years of active life, died early in 1848 
Richard, year by year, continued his improve- 
ments until now (1881), he has one of the finest 
farms in Jersey county, in fact, in Southern Illi- 
nois. His farm upon its boundary lines has a 
fine living hedge fence; all kinds of fruit are 
grown in abundance. 

He is now ( 1881), in his eightieth year, in full 
enjoyment of all his mental faculties, superin- 
tending his great interest. He has been rcost 
abstemious during his life, having never used 
tobacco, or used liquor of any kind other than 
for medical purposes. 



842 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



He had twelve children, five now living. Two 
of his sons were among the first to respond to 
the call for troops to crush the Rebellion. Abra- 
ham W., born 1839, enlisted in the Ninety- 
seventh Illinois Infantry, but before he was mus- 
tered in he went to the Springfield Light Artill- 
ery, August 25, 1862, and joined that. He dis- 
tinguished himself in the service, but after a few 
months became partially disabled by rheumatism; 
was detailed as hospital steward, and served till 
the close of the war; mustered out June 30, 
1865. Edwin, born April 2, 1843, enlisted in 
the Ninety-seventh Illinois Infantry, 1862, then 
nineteen years of age; served with distinction 
in many battles; was killed at the siege of Fort 
Blakely, Alabama, an out-post of Mobile; the 
rebels had surrendered, and he, a color bearer, 
was planting the colors on the walls when a 
rebel in the trenches shot him; his body was 
brought home some months after. 

Isaac N., the subject of this sketch, was born 
in New Jersey, April 2, 1841, moved to Illinois 
with his father, in 1847. He remained upon the 
farm at home until he was twenty-five years 
old, (1866) when he mariied Helen E. Davis, 
October 31, 1866, who was born October 22, 
1849. She was a daughter of John W. Davis, 
of Jerseyville. 

Mr. L. worked his father's farm on shares 
until February, 1872, when he moved into Talk- 
ington township, Sangamon county, where he 
lived until 1880, when he bought the farm known 
as the W. T. Mason farm, in Chatham township, 
of one hundred and sixty acres, at $50 an acre; 
and is now (1881), a substantial citizen of Sanga- 
mon county. His farm is finely situated, com- 
posed of rolling prairie; his boundary lines are 
living hedges. 

Hi^ opportunities for education were good for 
that period. The Jersey county schools at that 
time bad assumed a high standard. Like his 
father he uses no tobacco or liquor, -They have 
had eight children; two died young; the others 
are at home with their parents. 

Hugh S. Magill. — There are many very in- 
teresting features connected with the Magill 
family. The subject of the sketch was born 
June 10, 1830, in the county of Downs, the most 
northeasterly county of Ireland, separated from 
Scotland by the North Channel. His birth- 
place was near Belfast, the manufacturing city 
of Ireland, and the largest linen manufacturing 
city in the world. The "Giant's Causeway," so 
celebrated in the history of Ireland, is only a 
short distance from his birthplace. The inhabi- 
tants are largely of Scottish descent, and of 



strong religious principles. His father, James 
Magill, was born in 1784; was a cotton goods 
manufacturer. His mother was Elizabeth 
Stuart, born October 12, 1792; was in direct line 
of descent from Robert Stuart, of Scotland. On 
May 12, 1844, the elder Magill, with a family of 
eight children, landed in New York, and at once 
went to Utica, where he again engaged in cotton 
goods manufacturing. He died in Utica, Octo- 
ber 2, 1855. His widow died February 11, 1881, 
at the residence of her daughter, in Winnebago 
county, Illinois, eighty-nine years of age. Her 
body was buried beside her husband in Utica. 
H. S. Magill moved to Sangamon county, Chat- 
ham township, March 1, 1856; bought one hundred 
and sixty acres of unimproved rolling prairie. 
In a few days he had a house built and moved 
into it. The house thus hastily built forms a part 
of the present structure. From the time the first 
blow was struck, he has been steadily increasing 
his gains, beautifying his buildings and grounds. 
While he is thus engaged, he is not unmindful 
of his own or his family's mental culture. He 
has a good library, to which he adds from time 
to time, besides he provides himself with the 
general news of the day by papers and periodi- 
cals. He married Charlotte A. Richmond, born 
in Madison county. New Jersey, September 7, 
1831. They were married November 24,1853, 
in Utica, New York. Her father was Dr. Hoyt 
Richmond, born in Castleton, Vermont, January 
15, 1805. He graduated at Castleton Medical 
College, and for many years was a successful 
physician and surgeon. Her mother was Lydia 
Cazier, born in South Britton, Conn., June 26, 
1803. She was a daughter of Matthias Cazier, 
born 1760, on Staten Island, New York; was a 
Presbyterian clergyman, who graduated at 
Princeton College, New Jersey, soon after the 
close of the Revolutionary war. The father of 
Matthias, and Guat Grome, father of Miss 
Magill, was one of the Huguenots (a sect of 
Protestants) who, for years, were persecuted in 
France, (see History of Reformation) and finally, 
with others, fled to America. Mr. Cazier settled 
on Staten Island, and obtained large possessions, 
bringing much wealth with him. At what date 
they came is not defined. At the breaking out 
of the Revolutionary war, we find the elder 
Cazier, with his four sons, able to bear arms, 
rallying around the standard of liberty. 
Matthias was the youngest, but when seventeen 
years old he too, joined the army. There are 
many amusing, as well as sad incidents connected 
with their war history. At the time they lived 
upon Staten Island, slavery had been introduced 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



843 



iiito America, and theCazier family owned afew 
slaves. Their treatment to them was kind 
indeed, and a mutual attachment existed between 
master and slaves. 

One day, when Mrs. Cazier was nearly alone 
on the farm with the slaves, a number of Tories, 
who knew her situation, came to the place, col- 
lected all the valuable stock, and with several 
slaves they urged to go with them, drove the 
stock away. Mrs. Cazier sadly felt the loss of 
the stock, but was greatly grieved to have the 
slaves she had been so kind to, go away at that 
time from her. A few days after, she saw her 
faithful slaves returning, driving the entire stock 
back; going out to meet them, they said: "Missus, 
dat was de best way to fool dem beats." The 
slaves had been so willing to go that the Tories 
put them in charge of the stock — how faithfully 
they held their charge is seen. 

During the long years of the war, Mrs. Cazier 
had died, the British had captured New York, 
the Cazier property had been destroyed or scat- 
tered, all of the heirs except Matthias, had died, 
or been killed. At the close of the war Mr. 
Cazier returned to his home to find desolation 
made desolate. The brave old man, who had 
faced the bloody carnage of Catholic France for 
his religious liberties, and for eight long years 
had stood shoulder to shoulder with his comrades, 
in defense of the liberties of his adopted country, 
looked upon the scene — his brain reeled — he took 
a last look upon his once loved home, became a 
wanderer, and of his death no one knows. 

Some kind friend aided the young Matthias, 
he finished his collegiate course at Princeton, and 
when properly fitted, was ordained, and settled 
at Castleton, Vermont; was the first settled 
minister in the State. 

Vermont, at some time later, passed a law, 
giving to the "first settled minister in the State" 
a certain amount of land. After preaching a 
while, (time not known) in Vermont, he went to 
Pelham, Massachusetts, thence to South Britton, 
Connecticut, where the mother of Mrs. Magill 
was born, in 1803. It must have been about this 
time the law in Vermont came in force, and he 
came into possession of his land. 

Three years later, (1806,) we find he had sold 
the land, and moved to Madison county. New 
York; there he invested his money in lands 
again, and from the proceeds made his own sup- 
port. He was so Calvinistic in his belief, that he 
always regarded it as a special interposition of 
Providence in his behalf. He continued in the 
ministry, preaching regularly, for thirty years, 



but he would never receive a cent in payment. 
He died in 1856; was seventy-six years of age. 
Thus closed the last chapter of the eventful life 
of that family of devoted Huguenots. 

The Magill family is equally interesting in its 
ancestry. We find them for many generations, 
active adherents of the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church. Three brothers, Magill, graduated at 
Edinburg University, and became prominent 
clergymen. The Rev. Magill, D.D., of Philadel- 
phia, is one of those brothers. Mr. IT. S. Magill 
has now nine living children. 

Noah D. Mason. — The grand-father of Mr. 
Mason was born January 15, 1782, at Mendon, 
Worcester, Massachusetts. He was apprenticed 
to a hard master, from whom he ran aw'ay, and 
followed the sea as a sailor several years. July 
15, 1804, Mr. Mason married Luciuda Stetson, 
who was born June 14, 1782. She was born in 
Hanover, Plymouth county. After their mar- 
riage he made a voyage of near two years to 
China. On his return from that voyage he re- 
linquished the life of a sailor and moved to Han- 
cock county. State of Maine, near Belfast. This 
would be about 1806. In 1814, he moved to 
Genesee county. New York, and in the early 
part of 1819 he wenttoOlean Point, on the Alle- 
gheny river. In 1821 he with others built a 
boat, and their families ran down that river and 
the Ohio, and landed in Pope county, Illinois. 
A little more than two years later they started 
for Tazewell county, but finding Sangamon 
county possessing more advantages they settled 
in Auburn township, April 10, 1824. Of their 
children, Noah, junior, comes in the line of 
descent we wish to follow. He was born Febru- 
ary 25, 1807, near Belfast, Maine. He married 
in Sangamon county, February ]9, 1885, to Mar- 
tha Nuckolls. They had six children. j\Irs. 
Mason died March 24, 1852, and he married 
Elizabeth Talbott, August 9, 1853. By this mar- 
riage they had but one child, Noah D. Mason, 
the subject of our sketch. 

Noah D. Mason was born October 3, 1854. 
Married July 31, 1878, to Maria McGraw, born 
January 19, 1855. Her father was Absalom D. 
McGraw, was born in Harrison county, Ken- 
tucky, May 30, 1812. Leaving Kentucky, he 
arrived in Springfield November 28, 1836. He 
has a vivid recollection of the "sudden change" 
which occurred December 20, 1836. 

He married Rebecca H. Hunter, April 30, 
1859, in Springfield. She w^as born in Hardin 
county, July 17, 1815, Mr. McGraw died in the 
fall of 1 875, on his farm in Woodside tow^nship. 



844 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Charles G., a brother of Absalom, came to 
Springfield about the same time, and engaged in 
successful merchandise business. 

N. D. Mason lived on the home farm until 
1866, when, with his father, he went to Spring- 
field. He went through the several grades, 
reached the High School, took part of a course, 
took two terms in Springfield Commei'cial Col- 
lege, where he obtained a thorough business edu- 
cation. He is now on the southwest quarter of 
section twenty-six, a farm assigned him by his 
father, in the partial division of 'his estate. The 
farm is fine rolling prairie, with sufficient water 
from creeks for all stock porposes. 

Mr. Mason is entrusted with responsible posi- 
tions on town, school and other boards — places 
he fills honorably. Has one child, Lizzie, born 
June 4, 1879. 

Edvmrd F. McCo7inell, son of James and 
Sarah (Smith) McConnell, was born in Madison 
county. New York, April 30, 1816. His early 
life was passed in assisting his father on the farm 
in his native county, and in attending the com- 
mon schools, Math one year at an academy, in 
Clinton, New York. On the nth of September, 
1840, he was united in marriage with Ann, 
daughter of Curtis Hoppin, of Lebanon, New 
York. Six children were born unto them, only 
one of whom is now living — James S., now re- 
siding in Girard, Illinois, where he is engaged 
in the milling business. 

In the fall of 1842, Mr. McConnell and wife, 
in company with his father and family came to 
Sangamon county with the special object of 
engaging in farming and stock raising. Fine- 
wooled sheep has been a specialty with him, and 
since his advent in Sangamon county, he has 
sold more than 1110,000 worth of wool, and 
thousands of dollars worth of sheep. When he 
arrived here, the neighborhood in which he 
settled, about two miles southwest of Chatham, 
was all open prairie. He was troubled for some 
years with the prairie wolves which infested 
the country, and had a particular fondness for 
mutton; not only the prairie wolves, but occa- 
sionally a large gray or black one was seen. 

Mrs. McConnell died June 14, 1853, and Mr. 
McConnell was again married, forming an alli- 
ance with Mary Hoppin, a sister of his first wife, 
March 13, 1855. Mrs. Mary McConnell died 
August 28, 1877. 

A third marriage contract was formed by 
Mr. McConnell, the lady in question being Mrs. 
Sarah P. Morse, whose maiden same was Storrs, 
a daughter of Ashabel Storrs, of Des Moines, 



Iowa. The ceremony was performed January 
18, 1878. 

Mr. McConnell has never been a seeker for 
public favors, but has held the" oflice of super- 
visor and other minor offices of the township. 
He devotes his time closely to his business, and 
has been in a measure, quite successful. 

James McConnnell, the father of Edward F., 
was born in 1789, near Belfast, Ireland. Sarah 
Smith was born at the same place, in 1787. They 
were married in 1811, and soon after embarked 
for America, landing in New York City. In a 
short time he went to Belleville, New Jersey, 
where he labored in a powder mill three years, 
without losing a day. The war with England, 
from 1812 to 18l5, was then in full force, and 
caused a great demand for powder. Mr. McCon- 
nell having learned all the processes of manu- 
facturing the same, and was an especial adept in 
the most difficult part — that of refining saltpetre. 
He went to Madison county, New York, and es- 
tablished works on his own account, and con- 
tinued to manufacture powder there, seven or 
eight years, when he turned his attention to 
farming and raising fine stock in the same county. 
After making several trips to Kentucky, selling 
stock, he was advised to take some to Illinois. 
Acting upon this advice, he embarked at Pitts- 
burg with a lot of jacks and jennets, landed them 
at Shawneetown, and drove them from there to 
Springfield, arriving in the fall of 1840. He had 
no thought of making his home here, but was so 
well pleased with the country that he bought the 
land about three miles south of Springfield, mak- 
ing part of the farms on which two of his sons 
now reside. He went back to New Y^'ork, set- 
tled up his business, and came with his family 
the next year. His removal was the cause of 
several other families coming, also. Mr. McCon- 
nell brought a fiock of about two hundred fine 
merino sheep, and at the same time some thor- 
ough-bred Berkshire hogs. His son, Edward F., 
brought a flock of merino sheep, also. This was 
about the first efliort to introduce fine blooded 
sheep and hogs into Sangamon county. 

Zachary T. McGinnis — The biography of 
Mr. McGinnis is identified with that of some of 
the earliest settlers of this portion of Sangamon 
county, and we refer to a few of them. 

Mr. David McGinnis, grandfather of Z. T., 
was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1798. 

December 24, 1820, he married Eliza Gibson, 
a natiA^e of Boone county, Kentucky. 

Mr. McG. visited Sangamon county in 1826, 
to select a home. He returned to Kentucky, 
and in the fall of the next year he, with his fam- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



845 



ily, his brother G. D. and wife, set out for their 
new home. 

On November 21, 182'7, they arrived at what 
is now Island Grove township. David McGinnis 
stall-fed sixty head of cattle in 1838, the first 
effort of the kind in Sangamon county. He 
drove the herd to St. Louis, and sold them at $18 
per head. The pay was received mostly in silver. 
This he placed in an oid business secretary at 
home, without lock. Neither had his house a 
lock upon it. His own laborers and other men, 
knowing of it, were passing to and fro, but 
never was a penny disturbed. This speaks well 
for the honesty of early settlers. David died 
July 2, 1867, from the effects of being thrown 
from a carriage. Of their children born in Ken- 
tucky, William, born in Boor county, July 7, 
1823, married, July 19, 1845, Lorinda Darnielle, 
a daughter of John Darnielle, who located in 
Sangamon county from Kentucky in the spring 
of 1820. William lived in the western part of 
Chatham township until November 18, 1879, 
when he went to Kansas. 

David and William invented a device for 
grinding the prairie plow, by wheels and levers. 
It was used in 1829, and generally adopted by 
the farmers. They might have realized quite a 
fortune from it, had they secured a patent on it. 
O' his children, Zachary T.was born September 
24, 1849. He received an academic course of 
study, and in 1867, began his mercantile life in 
Loami township. Afterward, he was with E.B. 
Smith, at Chatham, where he was most thor- 
oughly instructed in everything relative to mer- 
-cantile pursuits. 

In 1877, Hon. B. F. Caldwell, knowing his 
positive fitness for business, assigned to him the 
entire supervision of his mercantile interests in 
Chatham, a position of trust he occupies at pres- 
ent writing (1881). 

Mr. McGinnis married, November 24, 1871, 
Miss Fannie, an accomplished lady, the daughter 
of Dr. N. Wright, who has been the leading 
practitioner of medicine and surgery in Chatham 
for many years. 

Mr. McGinnis has now three interesting chil- 
dren. 

Jo&eph Mc Wherter wa,8 born in Mai'ion county, 
Ohio, April 17, 1846. His father, James Mc- 
Wherter. who was engaged in farming, died in 
1851. The boy, Joseph, was left to the care of 
his mother. In 1 854, his mother again married 
and removed to Knox county, Missouri, in 1855, 
where Joseph was employed on the farm until 
February 14, 1862, when he enlisted in the 
Second Missouri Cavalry, and hastened to the 



defense of his country. His company being 
composed of expert horsemen, they were, most 
of the time, ordered into scout or skirmish duty, 
and the record of the Second Missouri Cavalry 
was one bravely won. Mr. McWherter was in 
thirty-two close battles and skirmishes. He was 
wounded but twice — once in the body, just above 
the hip, by a shot discharged in a close fight, at 
Scatterville, Missouri. The wound was not 
severe, only keeping him off duty about two 
weeks. The other, by accident, near Herman 
City, Missouri, while on guard duty. Three 
drunken soldiers were put under guard, one 
broke away and ran, was re-arrested, and while 
the Captain of the company was binding him, 
he drew his revolver and aimed at the captain's 
heart. At that instant, a bystander seeing the 
movement, quickly knocked his hand up, and the 
ball passed through the captain's hat and left its 
mark across h's scalp. The captain drew his 
revolver, and in his excitement and struggle 
with the prisoner, missed his object and badly 
wounded McWherter, who was off duty four 
months in consequence of it. The captain then 
shot the prisoner twice, causing him to carry 
the remembrance of his spree to his grave. He 
was mustered out April 8, 1865. He being then 
near his majority, he began work for himself, 
farming about two years, when he began buying 
stock and supplying a meat market, which he 
had opened, locating at Newark, Missouri. 
April 1, 1870, he came to Adams county, Illi- 
nois, and engaged in farming and general stock 
trade. In 1873, he went to Williamsville, San- 
gamon county, and conducted a large meat 
market, remaining until 1875, when he came to 
Chatham, and still remains, now wholly in the 
stock business. In December, 1871, he married 
Miss S. J. Conrad, daughter of Mr. Conrad, 
proprietor of hotel at Williamsville. Have had 
four children. Mr. McWherter always managed 
his business, from a small beginning, very suc- 
cessfully, maintaining an unimpeachable charac- 
ter for honesty and integrity. His school 
facilities, while in Missouri, were of very low 
order, in a slave district, where there were no 
advantages except for the rich, but by making 
the best of his limited means, and by personal 
application, he has acquired a fair business edu- 
cation. 

Fielding M. Neal. — Mr. Neal is in direct line 
of ancestry from Daniel Neal, born in Bedford 
county, Virginia, in 1770; then he married Polly 
Booth, a native of same county. They had ten 
children in Virginia. In fall of 1808, they moved 
to Franklin countv, Tennessee, where John A. 



846 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Neal was born, July 31, 1809; then moved to 
Bourbon county, Kentucky, where five children 
were born; then moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and located in Chatham township No- 
vember 10, 1828. Daniel Neal died August 26, 
1838; Mrs. Polly Neal died in 1854. Stephen 

B. Neal, father of Fielding M. Neal, was born in 
Virginia, December 25, 1807; came to Chatham 
township with his father, November 10 1828; 
married Julia A. Wyckoff. Fielding M. was 
born in Chatham township, October 29, 1832; 
married Leah M. Greenwood, January 25, 1855, 
she was born in Chatham township, September 
18, 1836, was a daughter of John Greenwood, 
who was born in West Virginia, January 3, 
1810, and came with his father to Sangamon 
county, in 1824. (See James W. Greenwood.) 
Mr. Neal's brothers were among the first to re- 
spond to the call for troops for our civil war. 
Samuel M. enlisted in 1862, in company B, 
Eleventh Missouri Infantry, for three years, 
served faithfully till close of war, was honorably 
discharged; married and lives in Missouri. 
William A. enlisted in Fourteenth Illinois In- 
fantry, for three years, in 1861; served his time; 
re-enlisted as a veteran in 1864; saw the last 
rebel lay down his arms, and was honorably 
discharged. He now lives near Chatham. Henry 

C. enlisted in company B, Thirtieth Illinois 
Infantry, for three years, August 9, 1861; was 
captured at the battle of Atlanta, Georgia, July 
22, 1864; was thrown into the Andersonville 
prison pen, where he died one month later, 
adding another victim to the never to be written 
horrors of that southern prison. Mr. F. M. Neal 
lived on the farm with his father until his mar- 
riage (1855); then worked the farm one year on 
shares; he then moved to Loami township, where 
he lived two yeai's; in 1858, he bought and 
moved upon the eastern part of present farm. 
In 1873, he purchased an adjoining farm on 
which he now lives, giving him a farm of two 
hundred and forty acres His opportunities for 
education were confined to the rude log school 
house, with slab seats, but nevertheless, with 
such appliances and his own energy, he acqxiired 
suflicient education to conduct his interests in 
such a manner that the balance sheet shows 
largely in his favor. His children are: Wil- 
liam A., born March 26, 1856; Julia A., born 
January 24, 1858, died 1860; John F., born June 
10, 1860; Eliza Ann, born March 23, 1862, mar- 
ried Geo. Works, February 11, 1881; Ruthy 
Jane, born in October 24, 1864; Henry E., 
born May 2, 1867; Cora Louvania, born July 10, 
1870. 



Warre?i Phinny. — At a date prior to t1 e Rev- 
olutionary War, three "Brothers Phinny" came 
from England to Rhode Island; one of them was 
lost track of; the other two had families. We 
find one of them able to bear arms in active 
service in the Revolutionary War. Their fami- 
lies were burned out, and much property de- 
stroyed by the British and Tories, during their 
absence 

His father, Benjamin Phinny, was born in 
Warren, Rhode Island, in 1770; married Betsy 
Stephens; born at same place, about 1795; soon 
after they moved to Montpelier, Vermont, where 
he bought a heavily timbered farm, and began 
life in earnest. Soon he had felled the timber 
and converted his wilderness into fruitful fields. 
Was in the War of 1812, at Plattsburg. The 
subject of this sketch was born September 6, 
1816. His father dying when he was fourteen 
years of age (1830), he was apprenticed to the 
blacksmiths' trade, where he remained until he 
became an expert workman. He journeyed in 
the Northeastern States, plying his trade, and 
also in some of the Western States. Located in 
Cartwright township, Sangamon county, in 1849. 
He had married in Rhode Island, February 28, 
1840, Caroline M. Arnold, born in Woonsocket, 
Rhode Island, September 16, 1824. She died in 
Sangamon county. May, 1870, leaving three 
children. Mr. Phinny married Mrs. Elizabeth 
Gear, whose maiden name was Good, May 31, 
1880, by whom he has one child. He rented 
his farm in Cartwright township and moved to 
Chatham, in August, 1880, where he has a vil- 
lage residence, living easily after many years of 
very active life. In 1861, he went to Idaho, 
where he mined for gold one year with good 
success. Then went to Portland, Oregon, where 
he spent a few weeks prospecting; thence to 
San Francisco, when, having seen the sights, he 
returned home by way of the Isthmus, reaching 
home in the fall of 1863. 

Edwin B. Smith, was born at Summers Hill, 
Cayuga county. New York, March, 1824; son 
of John and Margaret (Cooper) Smith. His 
father being an extensive farmer, his sons 
usually spent their minority at home on the 
farm, receiving at the same time a good, 
thorough business education. After arriving at 
his majority in 1845, he was employed at general 
farming until 1855, when he came to Chatham, 
Illinois, where he continued farm work two 
years longer. In 1857, he formed a mercantile 
association with his two brothers, who had 
preceded him, under the name of "Smith 
Bros." 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



847 



Although the silver money of 1857 proved 
80 fatal to the interests of so many, in the then 
new State, these enterprising Smith Bros., were 
equal to the occasion, and by strict business in- 
tegrity and honesty they rode out the financial 
storm without disaster. 

In 1863 or 1864, he assumed the entire busi- 
ness, his brothers retiring. Since E. B., has as- 
sumed the entire business, he has been steadily 
and successfully prosecuting it, and at present 
writing (1881) he is occupying his fine brick 
block, which has two large sales-rooms, well 
stocked with choicest selections of all grades of 
goods. 

His plan of business will compare very favor- 
bly with those of much greater pretentions in 
our cities, in point of general direction and 
amount of stock. During the many years 
of active mercantile life, he has schooled and 
drilled many young men into his present system 
of business, who are now occupying places of 
trust. Beside his extensive business interests, 
he has found time to give a helping hand to the 
affairs of the ^village — was postmaster four 
years, and for several years served on the board 
of trustees. 

In December, 1861, he married Betsey 
Tichnor, a lady from Rockford, Illinois. They 
have had two children. Charles, born September, 
1862, was drowned by falling in a cistern, 
August 21, 1864; Frank, born June, 1865, died 
at an early age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are now 
occupying their beautiful home in Chatham, 
surrounded by luxuriant groves and gai'dens, 
which they have brought from the barren prairie. 

iJr. Jesse Henderson /Smith was born in Warren 
county, Kentucky, August 19, 1825. His parents 
were David and Jane Smith. The subject of 
this sketch was brought up under Presbyterian 
influence and united with that church when four- 
teen years old and continued with them until 
1852, when he voluntarily withdrew from that 
church and was immersed by Elder John N. 
Mulkey and took membership in the Mount 
Zion Congregation of Disciples, four miles from 
his birthplace. He preached while a Presby- 
terian about seven years. On uniting with the 
Church of Christ, he continued to sound out the 
word of life, and has continued in the work ever 
since. During his first year of labor in the 
Church of Christ, he assisted Elder T. G. Mar- 
shall, of Kentucky, in the baptism of his aged 
father, then seventy-four years of age. His 
mother made a profession of faith in Christ 
about the same time, but died of paralysis a few 
months afterward. His preaching was chiefly 



done in Kentucky, Warren and adjoining coun- 
ties, till the year 1865, when he reraoved"^to Car- 
linville, Illinois, and the next year to Girard in 
the same county, remaining three and a half 
years, preaching to that church and practicing 
medicine. He then removed to Chatham, Illi- 
nois, his present home, and has practiced his 
profession there ever since. 

While residing in Kentucky he had two oral 
discussions with Timothy C. Frogge, a presiding 
elder of the Methodist Church, embracing to- 
gether, ten days, and covering the ground of 
difference between the two churches. 

His education is fair, consisting of a good 
English education and a few years study of the 
Greek and Litin languages. He began his study 
of medicine in 1846, and attended lectures in the 
E. M. Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the winter 
of 1847-8, and has practiced medicine in con- 
nection with preaching ever since, except four 
years that he served the Kentucky Christian 
Missionary Society as aii Evangelist. 

He was married to Miss Eliza J. Norman, of 
Cromwell, Kentucky, November 7, 1854, and 
eight children were the fruit of this marriage, 
four sons and four daughters. During the spring 
of 1873, he suffered a sore affliction in the loss ot 
his wife and two daughters, within a few days, 
three of his childi'en having been called away 
previously, while three yet remain on earth with 
him — one daughter and two sons. Heart and 
home were greatly desolated by this sad bereave- 
ment, but the hope of a better life beyond the 
cold river, sustained him. 

He was again married on June 27, 1876, to 
Mrs. Margaret A. Taylor, of Carlinville, Illinois. 
He is to-day in the enjoyment of health and 
vigor, a good home, and is surrounded with a 
multitude of friends and comforts for which he 
is truly thankful to 'the giver of all good and 
perfect gifts." 

William JPoivell Thayer. — The effort to obtain 
and arrange the geneology of the Thayer family 
has been attended with great labor and research. 
The work was assigned to General B. Thayer, of 
Mexico, New York, and his labors have resulted 
in almost complete success. While we can only 
treat directly with the family in question, we 
will give a hasty sketch of the brothers Thayer, 
who first landed on our American shores, and to 
whom all bearing the name, as far as is known, 
owe their origin. There were two brothers — 
Richard and Thomas, who settled in Massa- 
chusetts. The exact time of their arrival is not 
known, but supposed to be about 1630. Thomas 
was found to have lands in 1636, and Richard 



848 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



in 1640. William Powell Thayer, Sr., to whom 
we propose directly to confine our attention, was 
born in Petersburg, Virginia, March 15, 1815. 
His father, Martin Thayer, was a native of Am- 
herst, Massachusetts, and when a young man, 
located in Petersburg, Virginia, when, August 
4, 1814, he married Mrs. Mary C. Mason, who^e 
maiden name was Russell. Mrs. Thayer died 
January 17, 1821. Mr Thayer closed his busi- 
ness and returned to Amhurst, where William, 
when of suitable age, was placed in a classical 
school, where he remained until 1830. He was 
then placed as clerk in a dry goods store, in New 
York. 

In the year 1831, he engaged, with his father, 
in a dry goods business, in Philadelphia. In 
1835, he went to Newville, Cumberland county, 
Pennsylvania, and began his first business for 
himself. He was then married, January 4, 1837 
to Miss Mary Houston, she then being twenty 
years of age. Mr. Thayer closed out his busi- 
ness then, and on January 31, 1838, with his 
wife, an infant son, a few months old, and a 
servant girl, he set out for Illinois. He had 
fitted up a two-horse wagon, with close top, 
with windows on sides, and a stove. Thus they 
were enabled to keep warm, and to see the 
country as they passed. The season selected 
for the jouraey was, perhaps, the most inclem- 
ent of the year. After six weeks' tedious travel, 
with many narrow escapes, from icy roads, and 
rapid streams, they reached Springfield, March 
13, 1838. The roads were so bad that they came 
near sticking fast, near the southeast corner of 
Court House Square, the wheels of their wagon 
sinking to the axles in the mud. He imme- 
diately settled on his farm of three hundred and 
twenty acres, near the preseni village of 
Chatham. A few years of privations sufiiced to 
place them in fine circumstance^). He soon 
entered upon sheep raising, often having three 
thousand at a time. This business he followed, 
most successfully, for nearly twenty-five years. 
During this time, he gave his children a good 
business education, and fitted them for any 
business of life. In 1863, he retired from his 
farm to his pleasant home in the village of 
Chatham, where he has since engaged in no 
active business, only looking after his large 
interests, many of which are very efficiently 
managed by his sons. 

Mrs. M. H. Thayer, after some years of ill 
health, died June 10, 1872, On December 31, 
1873, Mr. Thayer married Elizabeth Dresser, 
daughter of Rev. Charles Dresser, D.D., of 
Springfield. 



Of children, James H. was born September 
19, 1837, in Pennsylvania, and died July 25; 
1861, in Springfield, Illinois; Sarah F., born 
September 2, 1839, married October 14, 1857, 
Thomas P. Boone, of Kentucky, a relative of 
Daniel Boone, of ear'y Kentucky history, lives 
in Springfield; Martin R., born February 27, 
1842, married Hattie Melvin, a lady from Penn- 
sylvania, September 19, 1867. Martin R. is now 
managing proprietor of Chatham Flouring Mills, 
of which his father and himself are proprietors. 

William P., Jr., born January 10, 1846, mar- 
ried Mollie E. Patton, of Paris, Illinois, June 
26, 1873. He is proprietor of a flouring mill at 
Springfield. 

Archie T., born October 17, 1849, married 
Maggie Ricks, May 1, 1878; drug business at 
Lovington, Moultrie county, Illinois. 

Edward R., born September 21, 1850, is in 
very successful drug business at Chatham. Ed. 
is at present member of the Board of Super- 
visors, on his second term. 

Dollie, born March 23, 1853, married Joseph 
Hudson, Agent of C. & A. Railroad at Lin- 
coln, September, 1873. 

Bertha, born January 21, 1855, married Lee 
Hickox, a farmer near Springfield, November 30, 
1876. 

Cyrus W. Van Deren, the oldest of nine chil- 
dren, (five sons and four daughters) of Bernard 
and (Eliza McKee) Van Deren. Was born in 
Bourbon county, Kentucky, May 6,1815. He 
was brought up on a farm, and early learned to 
labor thereon. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native State, attending the last 
three months of his school days when nearly 
grown, a select school kept in Millerburg, Ken- 
tucky, by T. Lyle Dickey, the present Chief 
Justice of Illinois, and who was not much older 
than himself. Mr. Van Deren's first trip to Illi- 
nois was made in the fall of 1834, leaving the 
old home in Kentucky the l7th of September. 
He was twenty-four days on the road, driving a 
four-horse team to an old Kentucky wagon, 
laden with the household goods of an uncle, 
who afterwards settled in Morgan county, Illi- 
nois. He remained here until the latter part of 
November, assisting his father, (who had come 
through in advance on horse-back), in finishing 
and completing the bouse on the farm, now 
owned by Nathan Dennis, and to where he 
moved with the balance of the family the follow- 
ing spring, 1835. (See Old Settlers' book.) He 
returned with his father to the old home in Ken- 
tucky. He concluded a pre-determined contract, 
and on the 2d day of April, 1835, was united in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



849 



marriage with Margaret, the youngest and only 
daughter and child of John Patten, (also of Bour- 
bon county, Kentucky), by his second wife, Mar- 
garet McClintock Patton. His father and the 
balance of the family having removed to Illinois 
in the spring, as stated, arriving in June, and his 
father dying in July, only one month later. He, 
at the earnest request of his mother, who was so 
soon left a widow in a land among strangers, 
came on from Kentucky, and assisted her in the 
preliminary settlement of the estate, remaining 
until after the sale of personal property. And 
in connection with that sale, Mr. Van Deren 
gave us an incident that at this day is worthy of 
mention as an example to others. At the sale 
of the personal property of the estate, he, con- 
trary to hitherto universal custom and usage of 
the country, refused to provide, or have pro- 
vided, any spirituous liquor or beverage of any 
kind, except water, for those in attendance, and 
although the auctioneer intimated his refusal to 
cry the sale, and some of his friends warned him 
it was very likely to cause the property to sell 
very low. He still persisted, and backed up by 
his mother, and admonished by the death of his 
recently deceased father, who had only within a 
year held his sale in Kentucky without liquor of 
any kind. He said there should be no liquor on 
the grounds, if the stock did not sell at all. 
That a «ian that wou^d not bid because there 
were no drinks of that kind, was one that he did 
not want to have anything to do with, for neither 
him nor his note would be worth the paper it 
was written on. The sale was held without 
liquor, and to the surj^rise of all, aggregated in 
amount handsomely over the appraisement bill, 
and every note given at the sale was collected at 
maturity, one year later. Mr. Van Deren in- 
forms us he took the pledge forty-six years ago 
to abstain from the use of all distilled or intoxi- 
cating liquors, and also the use of tobacco in 
any way or form, and that he has sacredly kept 
it up to the present day, and is now president of 
the temperance organization in Chatham. The 
early decease of Mr. Van Deren's father after 
his arrival at their new home, leaving his mother 
with six younger brothers and sisters, (the 
brother next in age to him and second sister 
haviug died in Kentucky, when young), strang- 
ers in a strange land. He, in 1838, also con- 
cluded to remove to Illinois, and on the 14th 
day of May, of that year, he settled on the farm 
in Woodside township, which he still owns, and 
where he remained thirty-two years, or until he 
removed to Chatham. For three years after his 
settlement Mr. Van Deren and family were very 

99— 



much afflicted with fever and ague, and realized 
to the fullest extent the many discomforts at- 
tending those numerous visitations of the accli- 
mating diseases. 

In 1841, the quadrennial election forjus.ice of 
the precinct occurring, Mr. Van Deren was 
strongly urged, both by Whigs and Democrats, 
to become a candidate, and consenting, he was 
elected and re-elected for four terms in succes- 
sion, serving sixteen years; and during the entire 
term of service, he never had a party to any suit 
commenced before him to apply for change of 
venue to another magistrate, nor but one appeal 
taken from his decision in any case, and that 
single case never reached the Circuit Court, the 
party appealing, by advice of counsel, settling 
as decided by him. And during those years, 
while acting as justice of the peace in his pie- 
cinct, as they were termed at that day, he was 
also elected one of the Associate Judges of the 
County Court, being associated with the late 
Thomas Moffet, as the County Judge, and the 
late Colwin F. Elkin as the other Associate, and 
constituting the County Court, with the late N. 
W. Matheny as Clerk (all now deceased), in 
which all probate and other business of the 
county was tranf^acted, and taking the place of 
one Probate Court Judge and three County Com- 
missioners, as under the former Constitution. 

Mr. Van Deren took an active part in all mat- 
ters of public interest— public schools and rail- 
roads — and was, from the first organization of 
the schools in his district, either director or 
trustee the larger portion of the time he resided 
on his farm in Woodside township; also in rail- 
roads; and when he was really hardly able to 
risk or bear the loss (as it proved), he became 
one of the original stockholders in the now Chi- 
cago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, and now holds 
a five-huudred-dollar certificate of stock, which, 
at the usual interest then and since paid, would 
amount to several thousand dollars that he has 
invested in that road; and, while he says the 
road has advanced his interests, it has also much 
more the interest of others more able at that 
time to take stock than himself. 

Mr. Van Deren, politically, was identified with 
the Whig party during its organized existance. 
But in 1856, he was nominated by the Ameri- 
can, or Fillmore, party, as their candidate for 
State Senator in the district composed of San- 
gamon and Morgan counties, and, being accepted 
by the Republicans as their candidate also, he 
was elected, and faithfully served out his term 
of four years, and which, with the exception of 
school trustee, and one year as president of 



850 



HISTORY OB^ SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the village board of trustees of Chatham, closed 
his official civil service, and ever since he has 
been identified with the Republican party. 

In early life, or soon after marriage, Mr. and 
Mrs. Van Deren united with the church of their 
parents (Presbyterian), in Millersburg, Kentucky, 
and have maintained that relation up to this 
time, and since 1844, he has been one of the rul- 
ing elders of the church at Chatham, filling the 
same office as his father, who was an elder in the 
church at Millersburg, Kentucky, for eighteen 
years before his death. Mr. and Mrs. Van Deren 
have had four children born to them, all daugh- 
ters, to-wit: Eliza I., Margaret E., Martha S., 
and Mary Luella Van Deren. Eliza I., born in 
Kentucky, and Jesse F. Taylor, also born in 
Kentucky, were married at the homestead, in 
Woodside, November 21, 1855; they had three 
children, all boys, viz: Cyrus W., Litchfield, and 
Jesse F. Taylor, the oldest being born in Jackson 
county, Mississippi, and the two youngest in 
Helena, Montana Territory. Margaret E., born 
in Illinois, died in infancy. Martha S., the third 
daughter, and John M. Taylor, born in Kentucky, 
were married November 11, 1869; they have 
three children, to-wit: George W., Fred V., and 
Luella Taylor. Mary L., the youngest, is still 
single, and living with her parents. Mr. and 
Mrs. Van Deren are also tenderly caring for and 
raising the two younger and motherless children 
of Jesse F. and Eliza I. Taylor, their mother 
having died in Helena, Montana Territory, Octo- 
ber 31, 1874. Since 1872, Mr. Van Deren has 
resided in Chatham, where he owns a comfortable 
and pleasantly located house and grounds, and, 
we presume, financially independent, as he in- 
forms us that to-day, with the exception of a 
store bill and the taxes assessed for this year, |75 
would pay every debt he owed in the world, and 
have some left. 

JVehemiah Wright, M. D. — In 1G41, we find 
one Samuel Wright located in Springfield, Mass- 
achusetts, and from him all bearing the name 
have originated. Said Samuel Wright was a 
deacon in the early Puritan Church, at Spring- 
field. Their first minister, Rev. William Maxon, 
returned to England, and Deacon Wright con- 
ducted the services, and was allowed fifty shil- 
lings per month. He was one of the first set- 
tlers of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1656. 
Died in his chair, October 17, 1665, The great 
grandfather of Dr. N. Wright, was Rev. Job 
Wright; was born October 15, 1737; graduated 
at Yale College in 1775. He was immediately 
called to the charge of the Congregational 
Church at Bernardstown, Massachusetts, where 



he remained as a pastor forty years, enjoying 
the undivided love of an united people — discord 
among them was not known. He died January 
7, 1823. The grandfather was Nehemiah Wright, 
a substantial farmer, settled at Derby, Vermont, 
about 1800. The father was Samuel Wright, 
M. D., a very efficient surgeon and physician, at 
Holderness, now Ashland, New Hampshire, for 
over thirty year-:, mostly within the limits of 
that section of country, although his consulta- 
tion cases extended from over a much larger ter- 
ritory. He died September 20, 1854, aged fifty- 
nine. The direct subject of our sketch. Dr. Ne- 
hemiah Wright, was born at Ashland, New 
Hampshire, February 20, 1824. His early life 
was passed at home and in the common school, 
until eighteen years of age, when he came to 
Springfield, Illinois, and fitted for college in the 
classical school of Professor Beaumont Parks, 
who made a specialty of fitting students for col- 
lege. In 1844, Mr. Wright entered Jacksonville 
College, at Jacksonville, Illinois; his excellent 
preparation and personal effort enabled him to 
complete his four years' course in three years. 
Having coinpleted his studies, he left college 
without taking his degrees, and immediately en- 
tered upon his medical course. He first went 
through the Harvard (Mass.) school, and received 
his finishing course at Rush College, Chicago. 
Having completed that course, he returned to 
Jacksonville, in 1849, and received his A. M. 
Degree. On January 10, 1850, he located at 
Chatham, Sangamon county, where he has since 
been in most successful practice. In connection 
with his general practice of medicine, he has 
been eminently succesful in surgery. For more 
than twenty years he has been an active member 
and officer in the State Medical Society; also a 
member of the Americam Medical Association. 
Dr. Wright was one of the seven charter mem- 
bers of the Phi- Alpha Society, at Jacksonville, 
in 1845 (all now living — 1881). The society 
now numbers five hundred. The poetical pro- 
duction of Dr. Wright, read before that society 
in May, 1876, awards him an enviable reputation 
as a literary writer. 

His children — M. Fannie, born June 23, 1851, 
married Z. T. McGinnis, November 25, 1870; 
Mr. McG. is Superintendent of B. F. Caldwell's 
mercantile interest in Chatham; Jesse F., born 
November 29, 1853, married Benjamin J. Det- 
rich. May 23, 1878; salesman for Van Duyn & 
Co., Springfield; Charles D., born February 20, 
1857, married December 30, 1880, Lizzie Felch. 
Dr. W. read medicine with his father, attended 
Rush Medical College, and is now practicing. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



851 



Chapter XXXIII. 



TOWNSHIP OF CLEAR LAKE. 



The township of Clear Lake comprises all of 
township sixteen north, range four west, and is 
80 named from the lake of that name, in section 
twenty-two. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

The town ship is almost equally divided between 
timber and prairie, and is quite rolling. The 
soil is of good quality, and large crops of corn 
and wheat are raised. 

WATER COURSES. 

Clear Lake township is well supplied with 
streams of living water. The north fork of the 
Sangamon river enters on section thirty-six, and 
the south fork enters on section thirty-three, the 
two uniting on section twenty-seven, and flowing 
northward, emerges from the township from sec- 
tion five, but returns within a quarter of a mile, 
flows westward, and enters Springfield township 
from section six. Sugar creek enters the town- 
ship on section thirty-one, and flowing in a north- 
easterly direction, unites with the Sangamon 
river on section twenty-eight. Clear Lake is a 
beautiful sheet of water, about one half mile in 
length and an average width of two hundred 
yards. On the banks of this lake, many pic-nic 
parties are held each summer, and boats are pro- 
vided for sailing and rowing upon the lake. 

RAILROADS. 

Clear Lake township is traversed by two rail- 
roads, the Wabash and the Springfield & North- 
western. The former enters from Springfield on 
section nineteen, runs in a northeasterly direction 
through the village of Riverton to section ten, 
when it runs due east into the township of 
Mechanicsburg. The latter from Springfield 
enters on section eighteen, and runs northeast, 
enters Williams township from section two. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The township was first settled in 1820, Hugh 
McGary was the first settler. He settled im- 
mediately upon the banks of Clear Lake. He 
was an old soldier under Harrison, and was a 
man highly respected, being a high-minded hon- 
orable man. 

Harrison McGary, a brother of Hugh, came 
about the same time, and settled upon the farm 
where Thomas King now lives. He was dissatis- 
fied, and returned to Indiana, from whence he 
came. 

Samuel Danley came about the same time and 
settled about a mile from McGary. He was a 
rough man, but Avith a large heart, and was 
always a friend to the poor. He became a 
Christian some years before his death and lived 
conscientiously up to his profession. 

John Smith came also quite eai'ly. He was 
possessed of considerable wealth, but run 
through with it all and sold out to Thomas 
King. 

Benjamin Cherry came from Tennessee. He 
was a good man and ultimately died a Christian. 

Thomas J. Knox came and settled on the farm 
now owned by J. F. King. He was County 
Treasurer and Collector for one or two terms, 
justice of the peace for several years. He died 
in Springfield. 

Valentine R. Mallory came about the same time 
with the others already mentioned. He served 
in the War of 1812. He died several years ago. 

Samuel McDaniels came previous to the deep 
snow, as did also Philip Smith. 

John Wilcox was born in Maryland, on the 
eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. His 
parents died when he was quite young, and to 
keep from being bound out, he ran away, em- 



852 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



barked on a sailing vessel, and went to the West 
India Islands; returning to Maryland, and when 
he was sixteen or seventeen years old, went with 
a family to Virginia, and from there to the 
vicinity of Danville, Kentucky. He was married 
in Oldham county, Kentucky, to Lucinda Ogles- 
by. She was born in Loudon county, Virginia, 
and her parents moved to that part of Shelby 
which afterwards became Oldham county, Ken- 
tucky. Her father, William Oglesby, was a sol- 
dier in the Revolution. John Wilcox moved to 
Davidson county, Tennessee, then moved to 
Logan county, Kentucky; died in 1823. In 1818, 
the family moved to St. Clair county, Illinois, 
and from thereto what became Sangamon county, 
arriving in the fall of 1819, about six miles east 
of where Springfield now stands, and settled be- 
tween the mouths of Sugar creek and the south 
fork of Sangamon river. 

Archer G. Herndon was born February 13, 
1*795, in Culpepper county, Virginia; went to 
Greensburg, Green county, Kentucky, when he 
was about ten years old, and was there married, 
in 1816, to Mrs. Rebecca Johnson, whose maiden 
name was Day. Her father was a Revolutionary 
soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Herndon had one child 
in Kentucky, and they moved to Troy, Madison 
county, Illinois; from there they moved to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, arriving in the spring of 
1821, settling on what is now German Prairie, 
five miles northeast of Springfield. 

Archer G. Herndon, Sr., was engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits, from 1825 to 1836, in Spring- 
field, and during that time erected the first regu- 
lar tavern in town. He was one of the "Long 
Nine" who were instrumental in having the 
Capital removed from Vandalia to Springfield, 
having been elected State Senator in 1836. He 
was receiver of public moneys, from 1842 to 
1842, in the Land Office, in Springfield. A. G. 
Herndon, Sr., died January 3, 1867, and Mrs. 
Rebecca Herndon died August 19, 1875. 

Larkin Bryant was born November 2, 1800, in 
Woodford county, Kentucky. He was married 
there in 1820, to Mrs. Harriet Chapman, whose 
maiden name was Thornberry. They moved to 
the Missouri lead mines, and from there to 
Sangamon county, in the fall of 1821, and 
settled five miles northeast of Springfield. 

John Shinkle was born in February, 1 783, in 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, and when he was 
a boy his parents moved to Brown county, Ohio. 
Mary M. Shinkle was born November 12, 1784, 
in Berks county, Pennsylvania. In May, 1805, 
her parents moved to Brown county, Ohio. 
John Shinkle and Mary M. Shinkle were there 



married November 7, 1805. They had ten 
living children in Brown county. The family 
moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving 
December, 1826, in what is now Clear Lake 
township, north of Sangamon river. John 
Shinkle died August, 1827, in Sangamon county, 
less than one year after his arrival in the 
country. His widow raised her family on the 
farm where they settled, and now resides there. 
It is three miles southwest of Dawson, Illinois. 
She is ninety-two years old, and has been a 
widow nearly half a century. 

Valentine R. Mallory was born December 16, 
1798, near Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky. 
He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was 
at the battle of the river Thames. Nancy Daw- 
son was born September 20, 1802, in Fairfax 
county, Virginia, and in 1804, was taken by her 
parents to Bracken county, Kentucky. V. R. 
Mallory and Nancy Dawson were there married, 
June 28, 1821. They had three children, and in 
March, 1827, united with the Baptist Church. 
They moved, in company with her brother, 
John Dawson, (see his name) to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving October 22, 1827, in 
what is now Clear Lake township. 

John Dawson was born November 24, 1791, in 
Fairfax county, Va. His parents moved to 
Bracken county, Kentucky, in 1805. He enlisted 
in Bracken county in the war against England 
in 1812, and was wounded and captured at the 
battle of River Raisin. After being held as a 
prisoner in Canada by the Indians who captured 
him, his friend paid a ransom for him, and he 
returned home. Gary Jones was born May 22, 
1801, in Nicholas county, Kentucky. John Daw- 
son and Cary Jones were married in Nicholas 
county, October 9, 1817. They moved to 
Bracken county, and then the family moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, October 24, 1827, 
north of the Sangamon river, in Clear Lake 
township. John Dawson died November 12, 
1850, in Sangamon county. His widow resides* 
on the farm where they settled in 1827. It is 
three miles southwest of Dawson. Mr. Dawson 
was Captain of a company from Sangamon coun- 
ty in the Black Hawk war of 1831. He was 
elected to represent Sangamon county in the 
State Legislature of 1831, and '32. He was 
again elected in 1835, and continued by re-elec- 
tion, to represent the county until 1840, and was 
consequently one of the "Long Nine" who 
secured the removal of the State Capital to 
Springfield at the session of 1836-'7 Mr. D. was 
also a member of the convention that framed the 
State Constitution of 1848. Theball received in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



S53 



his lungs at the battle of River Raisin was 
never extracted, and was the cause of his death. 

Samuel Ridgeway was born May 10, 1777, in 
Berkley county, Virginia, and was taken by his 
parents to the valley of the Yadkin river. North 
Carolina, when he was quite young. He was 
there married, about 1799, to Elizabeth Caton, 
who was born August 25, 1775, in Berkley 
county, Virginia, also. Shortly after marriage 
Samuel Ridgeway and wife packed all their 
worldly goods on one horse, and each rode 
^.nother. Thus equipped, they set out for Ken- 
tucky, and settled near Stanford, the capital of 
Lincoln county. The family moved to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, arriving in November, 
1829, in what is now Clear Lake township, west 
of the Sangamon river, and five miles northeast 
of Springfield. Died in 1847. 

John Blue was born September 9, 1777, in 
South Carolina. His father was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary army, and was taken prisoner by 
the British the very day of his birth. His par- 
ents moved to Fleming county, Kentucky, when 
he was quite young. Elizabeth McNary was 
born in South Carolina, and taken by her parents 
to Fleming, county, Kentucky, also. They were 
there married about 1806. About 1823 they 
moved to Green county, Ohio, then moved to 
Sangamon county, arriving in the fall of 1830, in 
what is now Clear Lake township. 

William Fagan was born in 1777, in North 
Carolina, was married there to Peninah Fruit, 
who was born January 29, 1774, in the fame 
State. They moved to Virginia, and from there 
to Christian county, Kentucky. In 1819, they 
emigrated, with four children, to southern Illi- 
nois, thence to Sangamon county, arriving in 
what is now Clear Lake township, in 1820. They 
moved next year to Buffalo Hart Grove, and 
from there to Springfield. In 1831 they settled 
on a farm three miles northwest of Springfield. 
He iiied in 1843. 

Uriah Mann was born September 17, 1810, in 
Bracken county, Kentucky. He came to Sanga- 
mon county, with his sister Anna, and her hus- 
band, Thomas A. King, arriving the first Sunday 
in October, 1831. 

He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, in 
1832, in the same regiment with Captain Abra- 
ham Lincoln, with whom he had many a wrest- 
ling match. Uriah Mann was married January 
6, 1832, in Sangamon county, to Elizbeth King. 
He hauled all the rails and limber for improving 
his farm, on a wagon constructed by himself, 
without any iron, the wheels being hewn each 
from a single piece of timber, from the largest 



tree he could find. His house was built by him- 
self, of round logs. His tables, cupboard and 
other furniture were made from wild cherry 
lumber. In the absence of saw-mills he split the 
timber into broad slabs, fastened them into a 
snatch block, hewed them to a uniform thick- 
ness, and after waiting a suflScient time for them 
to season, worked them into his household furni- 
ture. The first meal he ate in his own house, 
the meat was hog's jowl, and the bread made 
from frost-bitten corn. He hauled the first 
wheat he raised for sale to St. Louis, and sold it 
for thirty-five cents in trade. He is now among 
the most successful farmers of the county. 

James Frazier Reed, was born November 14, 
1800, in county Armagh, Ireland. His ancestors 
were of noble Polish birth, who chose exile 
rather than submission to the Russian power, 
and settled in the north of Ireland. The family 
name was originally Reedooski, but in process 
of time the Polish termination of the name was 
dropped, and the family was called Reed. James 
F. Reed's mother's name was Frazier, whose 
ancestors belonged to Clan Frazier, of Scottish 
history. Mrs. Reed, and her son, James F., 
came to America when he was a youth, and set- 
tled in Virginia. He remained there until he 
was twenty, when he left for the lead mines of 
Illinois, and was engaged in mining until 1831, 
when he came to Springfield, Sangamon county, 
Illinois. He served in the Black Hawk war, and 
at its termination returned to Springfield, where 
he engaged in mercantile pursuits, made money, 
and bought a farm near the latter city. Mr. Reed, 
was for several years engaged in manufacturing 
cabinet furniture at a point on the Sangamon 
river, seven miles east of Springfield. He em- 
ployed a large number of men, and a village 
grew up there, which, in honor of his first name, 
was called Jamestown. It has since been 
twice changed, first to Howlett and then to Riv- 
erton, the present name. He was married, in 
1834, to Mrs. Margaret AV. Backenstoe, whose 
maiden name was Keyes, a daughter of Humphrey 
Keyes. Mrs. Reed had one child by her first 
marriage. In April, 1846, Mr. and Mrs. Reed, 
with many others, started overland for California; 
Mr. Reed settled at San Jose Mission, California, 
and invested in land from time to time. He 
was among the first who tried their fortunes at 
gold hunting, in which he was very successful. 
Of Mrs. Reed's child by a former marriage — Mrs. 
Virginia E. Murphy writes me, in December, 
1875, that she never was taught or made to 
feel, during Mr. Reed's lifetime, that she was a 
step-child or half-sister, and that he was the most 



854 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



loving and indulgent step-father that ever lived. 
So thoughtful was he of her feelings that he took 
occasion, after the death of her mother, to assure 
her of his continued affection, and that he knew 
no difference between herself and his own child- 
ren, as she came to him with her mother, a little 
babe. He made no distinction between Mrs. 
Murphy and his own children in his will. 

John Hoover, Mr. Howell, Solomon Blue and 
Uriah Blue, settled on the south side of the San- 
gamon river in 1824 or 1825. They all being of 
German descent, gave to the neighborhood the 
name of German Prairie. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The recollection of the first school in what is 
now Clear Lake township, by the " old settlers " 
of 1881, dates back to 1828. About this time 
there were two school houses built, one on the 
north, and the other on the south side of the 
river. Riley Jones taught the one on the south 
side of the river in the winter of 1828. This 
school house was similar to all others built in the 
county at the time, being of logs. 

Time has changed the course of things. There 
are now no log school houses, but instead, the 
township has two brick and five frame edifices 
for school purposes, the total value of which is 
$6,600. 

EBLIGIOUS. 

The first house of worship erected in the town- 
ship was by the Baptists, in 1829, though the 
denomination was not the first to be represented 
in the preaching of the gospel. The Methodists 
were here previously, represented by that trio so 
often spoken of in these pages — Revs. Peter 
Cartwright, James Sims, and Rivers Cormack. 
Aaron Vandever was the first Baptist minister. 
There are now four church edifices in the town- 
ship. Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal, on sec- 
tion twenty-four; the Christian, on section twen- 
ty-one; and the Methodist Episcopal and Catho- 
lic, in the village of Riverton. 

MINERAL. 

Coal was first discovered in this township at a 
very early date, and for many years surface 
mining was carried on, though none of the early 
settlers, and few of those that came at a later date, 
ever imagined that underneath their feet would 
be found thick veins of coal that would be almost 
inexhaustible. P. L. Howlett, an enterprising 
citizen of the village, that for some years bore 
his name, but was subsequently changed to Riv- 
erton, in 1865, conceived the idea that there was 
an immense bed of superior coal at a great depth 
below the surface. Accordingly, he employed 



experienced men from the Pennsylvania oil 
region, to erect the necessary machinery, and 
bored down two hundred feet into the earth, 
which resulted in striking a rich vein of coal 
about six feet in thickness. This test was made 
a few feet from his distillery, about eighty rods 
from the railroad. In order to make this matter 
sure, he moved his boring machinery up near the 
railroad switch, and bored down again with the 
same results. In the spring of 1866, he sunk a 
shaft from which he began to take a superior 
coal to any heretofore mined. This was the first 
attempt at mining coal in Sangamon county. 

ORGANIC. 

Clear Lake township was organized in 1861. 

VILLAGE OP RIVERTON. 

The village of Riverton was laid out and 
platted by John Taylor, December 1, 183'7, its 
location being described as "the south half of 
the northeavSt quarter of section nine, township 
sixteen, range four, west." The plat was re- 
corded under the name of Jamestown, so named 
in honor of James F. Reed, whose adventures 
are given on a preceding page, in connection 
with George Donner and a trip across the plains. 

The village grew but slowly for some years, 
and until Mr. Howlett came and erected the 
distillery and mill adjoining. Up to this time, 
the village bore the name of Jamestown, but 
soon after it was changed to Howlett, which 
name it retained until 187-, when it w^as changed 
to Riverton — an appropriate name, it being 
upon the banks of the Sangamon river, the 
principal stream in the county. 

There being already one Jamestown post 
office in the State, another name had to be 
chosen, and it was called Reed. This was one 
reason why the name of the village was afterward 
changed, as it was inconvenient to citizens and 
correspondents to call the town by one name and 
the post office by another. When the name of 
the village was changed to Howlett, the name of 
the post ofiice was also changed, it taking the 
name of the village. The same change was 
made to Riverton. Jesse Sweatman was the 
first jjostmaster. The large correspondence of 
the distillery here gives quite a large amount of 
mail to handle. 

RIVERTON ALCOHOL WORKS. 

The most noted institution of Riverton is the 
large distillery of the Riverton Alcohol Works. 
In 1865, it w^as"owned and operated by P. L. 
Howlett, and was then said to be the largest in 
the State, with a capacity of 2,400 bushels of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



855 



grain per day. It has since been eclipsed by 
some Peoria houses, but is yet considered a large 
distillery, its revenue, paid the Government 
annually, amounting to thousands of dollars. In 
connection with the distillery there is a large 
flouring mill, with six runs of burrs. 

A MINING VILLAGE. 

The village of Riverton is what might be 
termed a mining village, its coal mines afford- 
ing employment to by far the larger part of its 
inhabitants. Next to the mines the distilleries 
and mill furnishes employment to the greater 
number The cottages of the miners are 
among the things to attract the eyes of a 
traveler as he passes through on the railway 
cars, and the question is often asked, why so 
many cottages, as well as the name of the town. 

A NEWSPAPER. 

Riverton, like many other small villages, has 
had its newspaper, which flourished for a time, 
like the mushroom, and like the mushroom, soon 
passed away. 

CHURCHES. 

The religious welfare of the villagers is at- 
tended to by the Catholic and Methodist Episco- 
pal brethren, each of whom have houses of wor- 
ship. 

(J has. Beerupvi^^ born April 27, 1841, in San- 
gamon county. He is the son of Andrew and 
Mary (Maltby) Beei'up, natives of New York and 
Vermont, and came to this county at an early 
day and resided until their death, the former 
occurring in 1872, and the latter in 1873. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and 
that occupation he has followed thus far through 
life. Mr. B. was married, January 14, 1864, to 
Miss Mary Babcock. Her parents were James 
and Jeanette Babcock, who were natives of 
Ohio, emigrating to this county in 1850. Miss 
B. was born January 14, 1843, in Muskingum, 
Ohio. By the union, seven children were born, 
six of whom are living: John R., Alice J., Le- 
ander, William R., Jennie, and jimmie. Mr. 
B. located in this township in the spring of 1881, 
on section thirty-two, where he owns fifty acres 
of land, worth $80 an acre. 

William A. Butler, one of Sangamon county's 
pioneers, was born July 23, 1817, in Adair county, 
Kentucky. He is the son of Nathan M. and 
Mary (Hardin) Butler, the former a native of 
Virginia, and the latter of Kentucky, who emi- 
grated to this State in the year 1824, and settled 
in Morgan county, ten miles east of Jackson- 
ville, where he resided until the spring of 1831, 
at which time he sold out and located near Ber- 



lin, where they resided until death ; the former 
occurring April 4, 1842, and the latter Novem- 
ber, 1834. Mr. Butler fought under General 
Jackson in the fight below New Orleans, in the 
year 1815. He also, in the year 1831, fought 
Black Hawk. So popular was he among his 
friends that he was elected major. Our subject 
was reared on the farm, and only received about 
eighteen months' schooling, although he has 
acquired a good education since he became of 
age. Mr. Butler began life a poor man, in the 
city of Springfield, in the livery business, with a 
capital of less than |300. By close attention to 
business he accumulated enough to purchase a 
farm, seventeen miles west of Springfield. Mr. 
Butler served as Marshal of Springfield the 
years 1860 and 1861. Mr. B. was mairied in 
the year 1863, to Mrs. Jane Clark, daughter of 
James and Mary A. Trotter, who came to this 
county 1827, and settled on section thirty-two, 
this township, where the latter still resides, 
the former having died many years ago. Mrs. 
Clark is mother of two children — Thomas and 
Emma. Mr. B. is holding the office of town- 
ship trustee ; he owns one hundred and eighty- 
eight acres of good land, where he carries on 
mixed farming. 

6. S. C hiir chill wsis born June 30, 1842, in 
Shelby county, Kentucky. lie is the son of 
George and Sarah (Arnold) Churchill, both of 
whom were natives of Virginia, and emigrated 
to this county, settling near Mechanicsburg, in 
1827, where they resided a number of years, 
and then came to this township and settled on 
section eighteen, where they both died. Our 
subject was reared on the farm, which occupa- 
tion he has followed thus far through life. He 
was married July 31, 1845, to Miss Hester F. 
King. Miss King was born January 21, 1825, in 
Bracken county, Virginia; by this union nine 
children were born, three of whom are living — 
Henry, Parmelia A. and Amanda P. Mr. C. 
owns three hundred and sixty acres of good 
land, well improved. 

Jbh7i Cromley, farmer, was born May 11, 1816, 
in Northamption county, Pennsylvania. He is 
the son of Jacob and Sarah (Hiueman) Cromley, 
both of whom are deceased. They were early 
settlers of Ohio, where they were residing at the 
time of their death. Our subject was reared a 
farmer and he was deprived of the chance for an 
education. Though being possessed with a limi- 
ted education, he has accumulated a large amount 
of property. He is owning three hundred and 
twenty acres of good land, all made by his own 
exertions. 



856 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Mr. Cromley was married to Miss Sarah Fred- 
erick. By her four children were born, three of 
whom are living — Mary J., Jacob and Charles. 
Mrs. Ci'omley was called to her resting place, 
and to supply this loss, he'raarried Julia Lamkie, 
in the year 1870. Miss L. was born in Germany 
in the year 1839, and emigrated to this country 
in 1866. The fruits of this union have been 
three children, viz: Emma, John and William. 
Few have been as successful financially as Mr. 
Cromley. 

Amos Grubh was born May 26, 1826, in Perry 
county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Henry 
and Mary (Smith) Grubb, both of whom died in 
Perry county, Pennsylvania, Amos was reared 
to manhood in his native State, and emigrated 
to this county in the year 1857, first settling in 
the city of Springfield, where he lived a few 
months, and then moved one and a half miles 
east of Springfield. From this he moved to the 
present place, where he has resided eighteen 
years. Mr. G., until three years ago, had 
devoted his entire attention to farming. Since 
that time he, in connection with his farming, 
has been operating a tile mill, with good success, 
his sales averaging about one hundred and fifty 
thousand tile per annum. Mr. G., was married 
in June 24, 1852, to Miss Mary A. Thrasher. 
Miss T., wasborninPerry county, Pennsylvania, 
July 8, 1821. The fruits of this marriage was 
seven children born to them: Elizabeth A., 
wife of Henry Churchill; Michael, Henry, 
Edwin, Dora J., Mai-y C, and Emma F. 

Mr. G., has held several oflices in the town- 
ship, one of which he has held seventeen years 
in succession, that being the office of school 
director. He is owning one hundred and seventy- 
six acres of good land. 

Thomas A. King, farmer, was born April 22, 
1809, in Clarke county, Kentucky; his parents 
were William B. and Annie R. (Greening) King, 
natives of Virginia. The former was educated 
for a surveyor, but never followed surveying to 
any extent, farming being his principal occupa- 
tion; he died October 19, 1863; the latter died 
March 27, 1873, Mr. King emigrated to this 
State in October, 1831, and located in German 
Prairie, where he resided ten years. In 1840, he 
purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, 
where he has resided ever since. He was united 
in marriage to Miss Ann Mann, November 11, 
1830, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Gaterel, 
of Bracken county, Kentucky. The fruits of 
this marriage was twelve children, of whom six 
are living, namely: Elizabeth, now Mrs. Todd; 
Melvin, now a resident of Kansas; Uriah, now 



resides on a farm joining the old homestead; 
John J. resides on the old homestead; Julia, now 
Mrs. Turney; Thomas A., now living with his 
father; he has also an adopted son, Robert. 
Mrs. King departed this life May 11, 1881; they 
had been married fifty years and six months the 
day of her death. He had two sons in the war, 
Melvin and Uriah; the former enlisted in July, 
1862, for three years, in Company I, One Hun- 
dred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry; served 
full term, and was honorably discharged, August, 
1865. The latter enlisted at Springfield, June 
17, 1861, in Company E, Twenty-fourth Illinois 
Infantry, for three years. He fought at Perry- 
ville. Stone River, and Chickamauga, being 
wounded in the latter September 19, 1863, and 
captured the next day, and after enduring the 
horrors of nearly all the famous rebel prisons, at 
Richmond, Danville, Andersonville, Savannah, 
Milan, Thomasville, and back to Andersonville, 
was released March 20, 1865, and returned, via. 
Vicksburg and St. Louis, to Springfield, and was 
honorably discharged June 7, 1865, being within 
ten days of one year over time. Mr. King once 
owned four hundred and thirty acres of land, but 
has divided it among his children, reserving the 
old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, 
valued at $60 per acre. Politically, he is a Re- 
publican; voted for General Fremont; was for- 
merly a Whig. He has filled a number of town- 
ship oflices; was supervisor two terms and school 
trustee a number of years; and other local oflices. 
Post ofl[ice, Riverton. Never had a suit in court. 
Colonel John F. Ring was born December 
12, 1831, in Sangamon county, Illinois. His 
parents were William B. and Annie R. (Green- 
ing) King, natives of Virginia, the former born 
in Forquier county in 1779, and the latter at 
the same place, 1785. Mr. K. was educated in 
the common schools. The school houses at that 
time were all log houses, with slabs for seats. 
The windows were holes cut in the wall, with 
planks to slide back and forward. He resided 
with his parents until 1857, on a farm in Ger- 
man Prairie. They sold their farm and moved 
on section fifteen, where they resided until their 
death. Mr. K. then followed the carpenter and 
joiner's trade, from 1857 to 1860. In July, 1860, 
he organized and was Captain of a company 
called the Wide-Awakes, ninety in number. In 
October 18, 1860, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary J. Threlkeld, of Kentucky, born Jan- 
uary 5, 1838, daughter of Thomas and Melinda 
Threlkeld. The fruits of this marriage were nine 
children, eight of whom are now living, namely: 
Elma E., John L., Jessie V., Charles W., Thomas 




«>^s^ 








ui^-^^^-^^-^i^i-^r 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



859 



M., Henry O., Tillie M. and William B. The 
deceased was Edgar, died April 3, 1873. He 
enlisted July 18, 1862, in what became Com- 
pany I., One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois 
Infantry. He recruited the company and was 
elected Captain, but was not commisfiioned, but 
when the regiment was organized he was elected 
and commissioned, September 18, 1862, as Lieu- 
tenant Colonel. He was commissioned August 
4, 1864, as Colonel, but never mustered, because 
the regiment was then reduced to a minimum, 
and was not entitled to a Colonel. He took 
part in several decisive battles, including the 
first fight at Jackson, Mississippi, siege of Vicks- 
burg, siege of Jackson, Mississippi, and several 
other engagements. He resigned December 7, 
1864, on account of physical disability. On his 
return home he purchased a farm near Mechan- 
icsburg, where he resided about six months, 
when he sold out and purchased the site of his 
present home. January 15, 1866, he was ap- 
pointed Assistant Assessor of the Eighth Dis- 
trict of Illinois. On February 28, 1867, was ap- 
pointed Inspector of distilled spirits of the 
Eighth District. November 22, 1869, *was ap- 
pointed internal revenue store keeper, and is 
now store keeper and ganger of distillery num- 
ber eleven, of the same district. He has held 
several lownship ofiices, was justice of the peace 
four years, also served three years as secretary 
of the Old Settlers' Society. Mr. K. and wife 
are worthy members of the Christian Church. 
Politically he is a Republican. He now owns 
two hundred acres of land, well improved, valued 
at |60 per acre. Post oflice, Riverton. 

Uriah Mann, farmer, was born in Bracken 
county, Kentucky, September 17, 1810. His 
parents were Peter and Elizabeth (Gaterel) 
Mann, natives of Virginia, and of Dutch-Irish 
ancestry. He emigrated to this State in Octo- 
ber, 183], locating in Sangamon county, Spring- 
field township, where he entered eighty acres of 
land, and resided there about eighteen months, 
when he sold his farm and purchased his pres- 
ent home, situated on section seventeen. His 
father was born in Virginia, where he followed 
farming until his death, which occurred in 1833. 
His mother was born in 1785, in the same State, 
where her death also occurred. Mr. M. was 
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth King, Jan- 
uary 6, 1832; she was a daughter of William 
and Annie R. King. They were the parents of 
seven children, four of whom are now living, 
viz: Peter, now a resident of Clear Lake town- 
ship; Sarah A., now Mrs. George Black; Charles, 
now farming on the old homestead, and Frances, 

100— 



now Mrs. Grubb. Mrs. M. departed this life 
September 11, 1800. Mr. M. married for his 
second wife. Miss Ellen Brumbarger, August 5, 
1862; she was a daughter of John and Nancy 
A. Brumbarger; her parents died when she was 
two years of age; she was raised by her uncle, 
Mr. William Chapman. He has had eleven 
children by his second wife, of whom nine are 
living, viz: Fannie, Bettie, Ethel, Sonora, Percie 
A , Richard O., Adeline, Celestia and Mary L. 
When he commenced life in this State, he had 
the sum of six and a quarter cents, and by econ- 
omy and hard work has accumulated consider- 
able property; has owned at one time six hundred 
acres of land; has sold all but two hundred and 
thirty-two acres, which he has reserved for a 
homestead. In 1832, he enlisted in the Black 
Hawk War, under General Whiteside. His son, 
Thomas IL, enlisted in August, 1862, for three 
years, in Company I, One Hundred and Four- 
teenth Illinois Infantry. He was taken prisoner 
at the battle of Guntown, Mississippi, June 10, 
1864; was ten months in Andersonville prison 
pen; exchanged about the close of the rebellion, 
and honorably discharged, June 14, 1865, at 
Springfield, and died at home, February ]6, 
1867, of disease contracted in the rebel prison. 
Politically, Mr. M. is a Republican, and also a 
member of the Christian Church; his estimable 
wife is a member of the Second Baptist Church. 
Post oflice, Riverton. 

Geo. H. Miller was born June 16, 1818, in 
Logan county, Kentucky. His parents were 
Geo. and Mary (Owen) Miller, the former a 
native of Berkley county, Virginia, and the 
latter of Fayette county, Kentucky. They emi- 
grated to this county in the year 1829, and set- 
tled on section nineteen, in this township, where 
they lived happily together some eleven years, 
when their happiness was severed by the death 
of Mr. Miller. Mrs. Miller lived until the year 
1874, when she, too, was called to her final i-est- 
ing place. They both died in the Christian 
faith, and were buried in the German Cemetery. 

Our subject was eleven years old when his 
parents came to this county, and he has lived 
continuously in this township ever since, follow- 
ing the avocation of a farmer. 

He was married, September 14, 1842, to Sarah 
A. Wolf, a native of Allegheny county, Vir- 
ginia, and born May 3, 1827. Her parents were 
Abram and Hannah (Arritt) Wolf, who came to 
this county about the year 1836, and since have 
died, and their remains were interred in the 
German Cemetery. Our subject's family con- 
sists, at present, of eight children: Mary A., 



860 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Geo. H., Serrelda E., Thos. O., Ella B., Lewis 
E., Arthur E., and Alice I. 

Mr. Miller's farm consists of three hundred 
acres of good land. Mr. Miller has held several 
township offices, the duties of which he dis- 
charged to the satisfaction of all. 

Mrs. Miller is a member of the Christian 
Church. Mr. Miller is a member of the Masonic 
order. 

Col. George JB. Richardson was born Decem- 
\)er 22, 1821, in Morestown, Vermont, is the son 
of Eri and Abigal (Bragg) Richardson, natives 
of New Hampshire; his father followed the car- 
penter and joiner's trade to some extent, but 
farming was his principal occupation. Mr. R. 
was educated in the common shools and received 
a fair education. When eight years of age his 
father moved to Cornish, New Hampshire, where 
he remained until eighteen years of age, follow- 
ing farming for his father and also contracting 
and building. After which he started out in 
life for himself, going to Boston and hiring out 
by the month on a farm, at sixteen dollars per 
month for one year, then rented a farm of one 
hundred acres, of David Seai's, of Boston, and 
continued to raise vegetables on his own hook, 
running three market wagons the year around, 
he continued this business about two years, when 
the farm was laid out in town lots, and is now 
what is Brookline. In 184*7, he commenced 
working by the day on what was called the Bos- 
ton and Worcester Railroad, putting in switches 
and laying track, etc. In the spring of 1848, he 
went on the old Colony road following the same 
work, in 1849 he took charge of the work as 
foreman, laying a branch of the Colony road 
from Neponset to Milton, then went to Bridge- 
water and took charge of the Bridgewater branch, 
having every thing in his charge, acting as con- 
ductor and superintendent of the work, followed 
the business between two and three years. 
About 1853, he went to St. Louis, then came to 
Springfield and engaged in railroad work under 
T. J. Carter, on what was then called the Great 
Western Railroad, as the grading was not 
finished he was engaged in completing the grad- 
ing, putting in the ties and laying the rails, also 
was supply agent. Being conductor on the 
construction train, and as that train carried 
the first freight and passengers, he carried the 
first over what is now called the Wabash, St. 
Louis & Pacific Railroad, from Springfield to 
Danville. In the fall of 1857, he returned to 
St. Louis and engaged in the land business, his 
office was located at seventy-one, Market street, 
in the meantime, in 1858, he opened a wholesale 



general grocery and liquor store, on seventy-five, 
Market street, and also had a half interest with 
his uncle. Dr. A. G. Bragg, in two saw-mills at 
Fort Pillow, Tennessee, engaged in getting out 
wood for steamers on the Mississippi and sawing 
lumber for Memphis, Vicksburg, St. Louis, and 
other principal cities, and stays to ship to 
New Orleans for the European market, he 
also dealt in stock, horses, cattle and mules, he 
followed these occupations until 1862, when he 
went to Louisiana, Missouri, and purchased a 
general store, where he carried on business until 
1865; in the meantime he was drafted into the 
army, but never served any length of time, as 
he hired a substitute. He purchased the site of 
his present home in 1856, then one dense wil- 
derness, where he has resided since 1865. He 
now owns five hundred and fifty-seven acres of 
land in Clear Lake township, valued at $40 per 
acre, and nine hundred and sixty acres in Mis- 
souri, also four dwelling houses in the town of 
Riverton. Politically he is a staunch Republi- 
can. Post office, Riverton. 

Thomas Richardson was born in the Parish 
of Lochmaben, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, July 12, 
1812. His parents were William and Elizabeth 
( Hannah) Richardson. He attended the com- 
mon schools of Scotland, receiving a common 
school education. He remained at home until 
about eighteen years of age, when he was bound 
out for three years to Sir William Jardine, of 
Jardine Hall, to learn landscape gardening; fol- 
lowed that business until 1843. On February 3, 
183*7, he was united in marriage to Miss Jannet 
Wilson, born November 21, 1812, they are the 
parents of eight children, all of whom are living, 
William, James W., Jane F., now Mrs. John 
Beaumont, of St. Louis; Elizabeth A., now Mrs. 
E. Johnson, of Springfield; Mary H., now Mrs. 
John Norred, of Christian county; Thomas B., 
John D., and John R. The same 3'ear of his 
marriage he emigrated to America, (his wife 
coming the next year); he first located in New 
Haven, Connecticut, working for Michael Bald- 
win, of York Square, as a gardener; he finished 
the St. John's Conservatory, working there five 
years. He then went to New Y^ork city and 
hired out to Colonel Thomas Mathers, now a 
resident of Springfield, Illinois, for two years, 
laying out the Colonel's residence, where the 
State House now stands. In 1844, he purchased 
one hundred and thirty-five acres of land where 
he resided nineteen years, then moved to the 
site of his present home. He built a beautiful 
dwelling in 1875, and has since laid out the 
front grounds in mathematical style. He com- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



861 



menced life in America with one sovereign, and 
by hard work and economy has accumulated 
considerable wealth, he now owns seven hundred 
and fifty-nine acres of well improved land, 
valued at $60 per acre. Mrs. R. is a worthy 
member of the Presbyterian Church. His son, 
James W., enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Fourteenth Regiment, serving his country all 
during the war, receiving an honorable dis- 
charge. Politically Mr. R. is a Democrat. Post 
office, Riverton. 

Jolxn Wilson, a farmer of Clear Lake town- 
ship, is a native of Scotland, and was born at 
Dumfries, February 1, 1821. His father was 
James Wilson, and his mother Jane (Frood) 
Wilson, both born in Scotland. Dumfries, the 
birthplace of John Wilson, will be remembered 
as the burial place of Robei-t Burns, and the elder 
Wilson was one of the number who attended the 
funeral of the great Scotch bard, who after his 
death became famous, as one of the world's 
greatest poets. They had a family of six daugh- 
ters and two sons, all born in Scotland; emigrat- 
ing to this country in 1844, they settled in Clear 
Lake township, where he bought land. Mr. 
Wilson died December 1, 1872, in Buffalo Hart 
township, and Mrs. Wilson's death occurred Feb- 
ruary 3, 1801. John Wilson came with his 
parents to this country, when twenty-two years 
of age, and is therefore essentially American, 
both by education and adoption. He was raised 
on a farm, received a good education, and when 
quite young formed a co-partnership with his 
brother-in-law, in conducting a farm, and at the 
close of the fourth year severed the co-j)artner- 
ship, and to the present time has continued in 
agricultural pursuits. On January 30, 1851, which 
he well remembers as being a very cold day, Mr. 
Wilson was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Cooper, a daughter of Merideth Cooper and 
Polly (Witcher) Cooper, of Williams township, 
this county, who were early pioneers, and came 
from Tennessee to St. Clair county, Illinois, as 
early as 1817, where Mrs. Wilson was born July 
28, 1822, and came with her parents to Sanga- 
mon county, in 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are 
the parents of three children, Annie, now Mrs. 
Edwin H. Agee; James M. and Thomas W. 
James M. is a graduate of Cornell University, 
and at present, is attending Rush Medical 
College, Chicago. Mr. Wilson has held several 
local offices of crust, as supervisor and justice 
of the peace, and has been school treasurer for 
twenty -four years; has always acted with the 
Democratic party, and is a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. Like most of the early pio- 



neers of a new country, Mr. Wilson began with 
almost no capital, and with that energy and in- 
tegrity so characteristic of the hardy Scotch race, 
from which he sprung, has accumulated a fine 
estate, on which himself and wife live, in com- 
parative retirement, enjoying the fruits of their 
well directed efforts, surrounded by a cultured 
and contented family. 

Joh?i 61 Woltz was born June 5, 1818, in 
Shepherdstown, Jefferson county, Virginia, and 
is the son of John B. and Leah (Updegraff) 
Woltz, natives of Maryland, and of German 
ancestry. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native town, receiving a fair edu- 
cation. When seventeen years of age, he w.;s 
apprenticed for four years to learn the car})en- 
ter's trade, and followed that trade more or less 
for about eight years. In the fall of 1840, he 
emigrated to this State, coming on a stage from 
Shepherdstown to Wheeling, Virginia, and from 
there by boat on the Ohio river to St. Louis, 
stopping there for two or three weeks, then on 
the Illinois river to Naples, from Naples he rode 
on the construction train (it being the first rail- 
road in Illinois) to New Berlin, that being as far 
as the iron was laid at that time; he then walked 
from there to Springfield on the rail, the distance 
being sixteen miles. The railroad was then 
built with what was then called mud sills, laying 
lengthwise of the road, and ties laid across, about 
two feet apart. The rail was six inches high and 
three inches thick, made of wood, with a strip of 
iron three quarters of an inch thick, laid on the 
top. On his arrival in this county he followed 
his trade, with making furniture, about two 
years. Was united in marriage to Miss Sidney 
R. Halbert, December 7, 1843, daughter of Dr. 
James and Nancy (Kennolds) Halbert; she was 
born February 3, 1822, in Essex county, Virginia, 
They are the parents of nine children, of whom 
six are living, viz: Virginia C, now Mrs. Wil- 
liam Summers; Sarah M., now Mrs. John Riddle; 
Julia E., John C, Maggie H., and Alice I. The 
deceased are George A., James P. and Andrew 
H. Mr. W. purchased eighty acres of land, 
the site of his present residence, but did not re- 
side on it; he resided with his father-in-law about 
eight years, improving his own farm in the mean- 
time. He now owns three hundred and ninety- 
five acres of land, well cultivated, and valued at 
S75 per acre. When he left Springfield he had 
nothing; but by economy has accumulated con- 
siderable wealth. He helped set the first hedge 
fence in Sangamon county. Mr. W.'s father. 
Dr. Halbert, was a Baptist minister, but never 
preached but two sermons in Illinois. 



862 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



Chapter XXXIV. 



TOWNSHIP OF COOPER 



The township of Cooper was so named in 
honor of the Rev. John Cooper, one of the 
early settlers and most prominent men of the 
township. It is situated in the eastern part of 
the county, and is bounded on the east by 
Wheatfield township and Christian county ; on 
the west, by Rochester and Cotton Hill town- 
ships ; north, by Mechanicsburg township, and 
south, by Christian county. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

This township is quite rolling, but is pos- 
sessed, in the main, of excellent soil. The tim- 
ber land is found along the streams, while the 
remainder is beautiful prairie. 

WATER COURSES. 

The township is watered by the Sangamon 
river, and Buck Hart creek and their tributa- 
ries. The Sangamon river forms the southern 
boundary for three miles, separating it from 
Christian county. It then runs through the 
township, entering on section nine, and emerg- 
ing on section six. Buck Hart creek heads in 
Christian county, and enters the Sangamon 
river on section seven, in Cooper township. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlement in what now constitutes 
Cooper township, was in 1819. Among the early 
settlers were, John Cooper, Jacob Cooper, Henry 
Giger, Philip Smith, Hiram Robbins, Benjamin 
Giger, John North, Stephen Sowell, Mr. John- 
ston, William Bragg, Mr. Litteral. 

John Cooper was born June 3, 1794, in South 
Carolina, and was taken by his parents to Jeffer- 
son county, Tennessee, where he subsequently 
married to Susannah Peyton, who died after giv- 
ing birth to one child. Mr. Cooper was married 



the second time to Susannah Giger. They moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving April 2, 
1820, in what is now Rochester township, and 
one year later moving to Cooper township, south 
of the Sangamon river. Mr. Cooper was a local 
minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
preached almost as regular as the preachers in 
the traveling connection. He solemnized the 
marriage of many couple among the early set- 
tlers. He was a justice of the peace, and one of 
the county commissioners for many years, and 
when the township organization was effected his 
name was given to the township. Mr. Cooper 
died January, 1860, his wife preceding him a 
few months. 

Jacob Cooper was born December 18, 1800, 
in Jefferson county, Tennessee; was married 
there to Anna Walden. They came to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, with his brother. Rev. 
John Cooper, in 1820. Mrs. Anna Cooper died 
February 22, 1830, and Jacob Cooper was married 
to Jane Kelly, daughter of William Kelly, of 
Springfield. 

Philip Smith was born about 1790, in Mont- 
gomery county. North Carolina. He was mar- 
ried there to Nancy Cooper. They had seven 
children, and moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in 1822, in what is now Cooper 
township, and the next year moved to Williams 
township, where five children were born. 

Hiram Robbins was born December 26, 1793, 
in Buncombe county. North Carolina. His 
parents moved to Overton county, Tennessee, 
thence to Washington county, Kentucky, and 
from there to Vincennes, Indiana territory. At 
that place he entered the array, and served six 
months in the War of 1812 with England. The 
family, after the war, moved back to Tennessee, 
and from there to Pope county, Illinois, where 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



863 



the father died, and the family moved to Madi- 
son county. Hiram Robbins was there married, 
December 29, 1816, to Elizabeth Dean. They 
moved to Sangamon county, arriving in the 
summer of 1821 within one mile of where Bar- 
clay now stands, and in 1823 moved to what is 
now Cooper township. He was a soldier from 
this county in the Black Hawk war. Mrs. Eliza 
beth Robbins died August 17, 1866, and Hiram 
Robbins was married to Merada Gordon. For 
a third wife, he married, October 1, 1872, Mrs. 
Elizabeth E. White, whose maiden name was 
Strode. They reside in Cooper township, San- 
gamon county, Illinois. 

Benjamin Giger was born July 25, 180-3, in 
Jefferson county, Tennessee. He came to San- 
gamon county on a visit in 1828, returned to 
Tennessee, and moved, in company with his 
widowed mother and his brother-in-law, John 
North, arriving April 12, 1829, in what is now 
Cooper township. Benjamin Giger was marrit d 
in Sangamon county, November 18, 1832, to 
Susannah Todd, who was born Decembr20, 1808. 
Mr. Giger constructed many ingenius and use- 
ful implements. He would often study for days 
at a time, sometimes quitting his work in the 
daytime, would go to bed, cover up head and 
ears, and continue in the deepest study. When 
a plan or design was fully matured, he would 
leave his work, or arise from bed, as the case 
might be, and write, without stopping to eat or 
sleep, until his thoughts were transferred to 
paper. He invented a machine for heading 
grain ; also some plows and other agricultural 
implements, and was on his way to Washington 
with his models, for the purpose of obtaining 
patents. He was taken sick on board a steamer 
ascending the Ohio river, and died at Browns- 
ville, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1850. His widow 
died November 28, 1858, in Sangamon county. 

John North was born November 22, 1806, 
near the village of Bent Creek, on James river, 
Buckingham county, Virginia. His grandfather, 
Richard North, was born in England, and 
trained to the business of a cutler. He came to 
America, and worked at his business at Bent 
Creek. His wife's maiden name was Thornton, 
but whether they were married in England or 
America is unknown to their descendants. 
Their third son, Peter, born in Virginia, was 
married there to Elizabeth Franklin, a daughter 
of Robert Franklin, of Campbell county, Vir- 
ginia. Peter North was a soldier in the war 
with England in 1812. In 1819 or '20, he moved 
to Jeffei'son county, near Dandridge, Tennessee, 
taking with him six children. The second son, 



John, whose name heads this sketch, was there 
married, September 22} 1828, to Anna Giger, 
who was born November 4, 1807, in that county. 
They came to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving 
April 12, 1829, in what is now Cooper township, 
north of Sangamon river. 

Stephen Lowell was born February, 1785, on 
the river Roanoke, Charlotte county, Virginia. 
Jane Hannah was born September 12, 1795, in 
that county. They were there married and had 
three children, and moved to Rutherford county, 
Tennessee, about 1817, where three children 
were born, and moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving April, 1828, in what is now. 
Chatham township, thence to Cooper township, 
and from there to Loami township in 1830. He 
died in 1863. 



RELIGIOUS. 



The first religious services held in the town- 
ship were at the house of Rev. John Cooper, on 
the northeast quarter of section twenty. A class 
was formed there from which originated the 
Buckhart Methodist Episcopal Society. Public 
services were held at the house of Mr. Cooper 
for about ten years, when they were transferred 
to the house of Elias Johnson, on the northeast 
quarter of section eighteen, where they were 
continued till a school house was built, and 
there held a number of years, when in 1853, a 
church edifice was erected, thirty by forty, of 
brick, which was valued at 11,500. William 
Johnson made the brick, in which he did the 
greater part of the work himself. Mr. .Johnson 
was a local preacher, and one of the best class 
leaders the church ever had. He died in Monti- 
cello, in 1870. Among the first members of the 
class were John Cooper and wife, Nancy Giger, 
Samuel Powers and wife, Elias Johnson and 
family. The present membership of the society 
is about fifty. At one time it numbered over 
one hundred, its loss being occasioned principally 
by the transfer of membership to other and 
more convenient congregations. 

A class was organized from the Buck Hart 
congregation about 1856 or J 857, known as the 
Nebo class, which met for worship in a school 
house on the northeast quarter of the northwest 
quarter of section thirty-three. When the villages 
of Berry and Breckenridge were laid out, the class 
divided and organized, one at each place, erect- 
ing church edifices at each, at a cost of about 
$1,800 for the one in Berry, and $2,000 for the 
one in Breckenridge. These churches are sup- 
plied with preaching services from the Roches- 
t'^r circuit. 



864 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



A society of United Brethren was organized, 
and a church built on the southeast quarter of 
section four, about 1856. The society flourished 
for some years — until the Patrons of Husbandry 
were formed, and several of the members uniting 
with the order, caused a division in the church, 
resulting in its almost entire dissolution. 

PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

Cooper Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, was 
organized March 31, 1874, by John McConnell, 
Deputy, with the following named as charter 
members and officers: Dauiel Waters, Master; 
W. R. Ross, Overseer; Benjamin A. Giger, Lec- 
turer; J. M. Cooper, Chaplain; George Hicks, 
Steward; S. J. Prather, Assistant Steward; E. 
F. Saunders, Treasurer; Squire Campbell, Gate 
Keeper; W. B. Prather, Secretary; Mrs. Harriet 
Waters, Ceres; Mrs. Sarah Hicks, Pomona; Miss 
Mary Alice Miller, Flora; Miss Gittie Prather, 
Assistant Steward. The Grange continued in 
successful operation until 1876. A Grange was 
also organized at Berry Station, January 21, 
1874, with W. J. Cooper, Master, and Alexander 
Lokin, Secretary. The Grange held weekly 
meetings until 1878, when they met but once or 
twice only, that year; since which time it has 
ceased to exist. It was organized by Jno. Mc- 
Connell. 

VILLAGE OF NEWPORT. 

Few of the present generation know there was 
ever a village laid out in Cooper township, 
bearing the high-sounding name of Newport. 
In the spring of 1838, Rev. John Cooper had 
surveyed and platted, the east half of the north- 
west quarter of section twenty, township fifteen, 
range three. The platting was nearly all that 
was done; only two houses were put upon it. A 
poor man by the name of Moses Wood, came 
along, and Mr. Andrew Crowl bought a lot and 
said he would build a tabernacle for Moses, and 
did so. Another poor man, named Parish, 
needed a parsonage, and a kind owner of another 
lot put up a house for him. So that the new vil- 
lage embraced a whole parish, and had in it the 
parsonage for the rector. But neither continued 
a long time, and long since, all vestiges of the 
anticipated city of Newport have disappeared. 

OAK HILL CEMETERY. 

The first interments made in what is now Oak 
Hill Cemetery, were before the land was in 
market by the United States government; the 
first one being that of Mr. A. Giger, son of 
Henry and Nancy Giger, August 1, 1823. Its 
location is about the center of the township, 



and the section line between section twenty, 
and twenty-one passing through the lot. From 
the year 1823 to 1876, it was known as Cooper 
grave yard, and about the time of the former 
date, Mr. Cooper entered a part of section twenty 
and by tacit consent burials continued to be made 
till about the latter date, the then inclosed lot 
became filled with graves, when the people of 
the vicinity conferred together and agreed to 
enlarge the lot by procuring more land, and 
bought one acre of Robert North, who then 
owned the contigious portion on section twenty- 
one, which was soon after accomplished by the 
organization of what is now known as Oak Hill 
Cemetery Association, and Mr. North deeded 
it one acre for the purpose, receiving therefor 
the sum of $50. The part previously used con- 
sisted of one acre, one half of which was pre- 
sented by Mr. North and the other by the heirs 
of John Cooper, so that now there were inclosed 
two acres and placed under the care of five trus- 
tees, who at once sold a number of lots at public 
auction to individuals at |10 each, the fund thus 
accruing is to be placed at interest, as a source of 
revenue to meet necessary expenses in maintain- 
ing the organization in its legitimate outlays. 
The first trustees were: R. A. Hazlett, Ben- 
jamin A. Giger, Edmund Miller, W. B. Prather 
and Joseph E. Ross. At a subsequent election 
there were chosen as the present board the fol- 
lowing: Albert North, John M. Ross, Samuel 
J. Prather Benjamin A. Giger and Daniel 
Waters. Mr. Waters is President and Mr. Giger 
Secretary of the Association, and Mr. Prather 
Treasurer. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school in this township was taught 
by Mr, and Mrs. Literal, about 1828. There are 
now three whole and three fractional school dis- 
tricts in the township, with six school houses, 
valued at |3,200. 

MILLS. 

Benjamin Giger built a saw and grist-mill on 
the Sangamon river, on section nine, in 1830, 
which was run by him and others twenty-two 
years, doing a large amount of grinding meal 
and flour, and sawing timber for the community 
around, and even sent flour to the city of Spring- 
field. It was re-built, and subsequently burned 
down, when the property passed into the hands 
of Daniel Powers, who again built and operated 
it. 

A small saw-mill was erected some years later 
on Buck Hart creek, by William Johnson, who 
run it a few years. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



865 



A grist-mill was erected some years later, in 
Breckenridge, in 1872 (a steam flouring mill). 

TEMPERANCE. 

The township of Cooper is emphatically a tem- 
perance town. It has never had in it a saloon. 
A division of the Sons of Temperance was or- 
ganized in 1858, which existed about four years, 
until so many of the members enlisted in the 
army that regular meetings could not be held. 

A Good Templar Lodge was organized Febru- 
ary, 16, 1881, with the following named charter 
members: H. Clay McCune, John L. Prather, 
William Furrow, Frank Furrow, Garrett Don- 
ovan, Douglas Giger, George Furrow, Charles 
Waters, Nancy A. Furrow, Mary Furrow, Laura 
Furrow, Margaret McCune, Douglas Giger, Ed- 
ward Furrow, Anna Waters, Andrew Miller, 
John E. Miller, Ida Waddle, Alma McCune, 
Noah Ross, Charles Ross, W. F. Ross, Charles 
Schwartz, Edward Giger, Ida Cooper, Emma 
Troxell, Phoebe Troxell, John Troxell, John 
Hundorf and Frank Cooper. Its first officers 
were: D. Giger, W. C. T.; Nancy Furrow, W. 
V. T.; Frank Furrow, W. Chaplain; H. C. 
McCune, W. S.; Margaret McCune, W. A. 
S.; J. L. Prather, W. F. S.; Laura Furrow, 
W. T.; G. Furrow, W. M.; Anna Waters, 
W, D. M.; Garrett Donovan, T. I. G.; Charles 
Waters, W. O. G.; M. Furrow, W. R. H. S.; 
A. McCune, W. L. H. S.; William Furrow, P. 
W. C. T. 

The Lodge was given the name of Buck Hart 
Lodge, No.' 295, I. O. G. T. It is now in quite 
a flourishing condition, with regular weekly 
meetings in the Buck Hart Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

About eight years prior to the organization of 
this Lodge, another Lodge was organized here 
known as 486, which continued in active exis- 
tance about three years, when it forfeited its 
Charter. 

ORGANIC. 

The township of Cooper was organized as a 
political division of the county, by the Board of 
Justices, in the spring of 18G1, its first election 
being held in April, of that year. From 1861 to 
1881, are given the principal officers elected: 

SUPERVISORS. 

Isaac T. Daruall 1861-62 

Benjamin H. North 1863 

Joseph Mooney 1864 

John R. Able 1865-67 

Ration Boyd 1868 

Isaac T. Darnall . 1869 

Daniel Waters 1870-73 

Joseph E. Ross 1871 



John W. North 1872 

William R. Rosi> 1874 

John A. Barbre 1875 

Joseph E. Ross 1876 

William Goodram 1877 

Daniel Waters 1878-80 

John W. Wigginton 1881 

CLERKS. 

W. R. G. Humphrey 1861 

William R. Ross 1862-68 

Daniel Waters 1869 

Benjamin A. Giger 1870-71 

Joseph H. Johnson . .1 2 

Benjamin A. Giger .^ 1873-74 

H. C. McCune 1875-81 

ASSESSORS. 

p. A. Money 1861 

A. J. Ross 1862-64 

Benjamin A. Giger :* 1865 

A. J. Ross „ 1866-68 

Lewis W. Cooper 1869 

A. J. Ross 1870-74 

•John W. Wigginton 1875-78 

A. Robinson 1879-80 

Andrew J. Ross 1881 

COLLECTORS. 

John S. Cooper 1861-4 

A. J. Ross 1865 

John S. Cooper 1866 

Wm. H. Welch 1867 

Wm. Goodrum 1868-72 

John W Wigginton 1873-74 

Jacob Mooney 1875-76 

A. Robinson 1877-78 

John W. Wigginton 1879 

Andiew J. Ross ....1880 

George R. Ross 1881 

JUSTICES OP THE PEACE. 

William R. Ross 1861 

M. Martin ' 1861 

William R. Ross 1865 

Alfred Lewis 1865 

Benjamin A. Giger 1869 

R. E. Berry 1869 

Benjamin A. Giger 1873 

R. E. Berry 1873 

L. J. Burcham 1877 

R. E. Berry 1877 

Benjamin A. Giger 1881 

Charles Stafford 1881 

CONSTABLES. 

AVilliam Taveruerer 1861 

D. C. Jones 1861 

A. J. Ross 1865 

W. H. Welch 1865 

A. J. Ross 1869 

A. Robinson 1869 

A. J. Ross 1873 

John Wigginton 1873 

A. J. Ross 1877 

P. 11. Plummer 1877 

A. J. Ross 1881 

W. T. Mclntire 1881 

VILLAGE OF BERRY, OR CLARKSVILLE. 

The village of Berry was laid out and recorded 
under the name of Clarksville, May, 1871, by 



866 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Robert E. Berry, and is located upon a portion 
of sections thirty and thirty-one, township 
fifteen, range three. It is upon the line of the 
Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, and twelve miles 
from Springfield. 

On the establishment of the post ofiice, there 
being one Clarksville post ofiice in the State, 
another name had to be taken. It was therefore 
called Berry, in honor of the proprietor of the 
place. In due time, the village began to be 
known and called by the same name. 

Horace Stafford started a store here in the 
summer of 1871, the first in the place. He sub- 
sequently sold to E. E. Berry, who, in time, 
disposed of it to Batty & Hammer, the present 
proprietors. The village has now two stores 
carrying stocks of general merchandise, the 
second being owned by Charles Stafford, w^ho 
commenced business in July, 1881. Mr. Stafford 
has also a blacksmith and wagon shop, but has 
associated with him in the former, John T. 
Evans. 

The first building erected in the place was for 
a store. 

The first agent of the Ohio & Mississippi 
railroad w^as R. E. Berry. The present agent 
is John T. Evans. 

The post ofiice was established in 1871, with 
B. A. Auxier as postmaster. Dr. A. F. Ham- 
mer is the present postmaster. 

In the village there are some ten or twelve 
dwelling houses, a Methodist Episcopal Church 
building, and a good frame school house. 

VIL«LAGE OF BRECKEJSTRIDGE. 

This village was so named in honor of Hon. 
Preston Breckenridge, its village plat being re- 
corded in May, 1870, being described as the 
"north half of the northeast quarter of section 
five, township fourteen, range three." John W. 
Wigginton was the original proprietor. 

The first house was built by C. C. Brecken- 
ridge, and occupied first by Friend & Seligman, 
as a general store. It is now, in 1881, occupied 
by Dr. H. G. Wheeler, as a drug and grocery 
store. 

A post office was established here shortly 
after the village was laid out, Alexander Breck- 
enridge being the first postmaster. W. T. 
Cooper is the present one. 

The first agent of the Ohio & Mississippi 
railroad, at this point, was R. Boyd, and the 
present agent is H. C. Moyer. 

In 1872, II. Breckenridge erected a flour-mill 
in the village, and in 1876, in connection built 
an elevator large enough for the storage of four 
thousand bushels of grain. Both the elevator 



and mill are owned and run by T. J. McWain. 
There is also in the village a small mill for 
grinding corn alone. 

In the village there is a Methodist church, 
erected in 1872, at a cost of $2,000, an account 
of which is given on a preceding page. 

Breckenridge is quite a shipping point for 
grain and stock. There w^ere from the harvest 
of 1880 to July 1 1881, shipped seventy-five 
thousand four hundred and ninety-three bushels 
of grain. 

William G. JBroion was born in Jefferson 
county, Illinois. Son of James 11. and Hannah 
D. Brown, who are now living in Colciado. He 
was married to Maria A. Lewis, August 17, 1876, 
in Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois, the 
daughter of Alfred and Eliza Jane (Obeli) 
Lewis, of the same place, but formerly of Cooper 
township. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two chil 
dren, Alfred L. and Esther Eliza. He lives on 
Mr. Lewis' farm, and superintends four hundred 
and twenty four acres, where the old homestead 
stands, section six of this township. He former- 
ly edited a newspaper at Taylorville, Illinois, 
but sold out his whole interest, and now gives 
his whole attention to farming. 

His father served through the Mexican War 
under General Taylor. Mr. Brown and his 
wife are members of the Christian Church, and 
in politics they are Democrats. From 1869 to 
1880, he was an earnest and efficient school 
teacher in this State. 

Levi J. Jhirchani was born August 9, 1830, in 
West Virginia, and moved to Sangamon county 
in 1839, thence to Plattsburg, Clinton county, 
Missouri, in 1851, where he lived eight years; 
thence, in 1858, to Grayson county, Texas, a short 
time; thence to Nodaway county, Missouri, four 
years, till 1863; returned to Sangamon and set- 
tled on section five. Cooper township. Here he 
married Lydia McCorkle, boi-n in Clay county, 
Missouri, May 25, 1836. They have two chil- 
dren: Charles, born March 31, 1856; Mamie 
Emma Lord and Nannie Z., born in Kansas, 
May 4, 1862. All live in this township, Nan- 
nie, with her parents. Mr. Burcham and family 
came from Missouri as refugees, having been 
financially ruined by the Rebellion. His par- 
ents, Reuben and Nancy (Wheeler) Burcham, 
came to Sangamon county in 1849. Of their 
nine children, six are living in Sangamon coun- 
ty. Mrs. Burcham's parents, Archibald and 
Zerilda (Short) McCorkle had nine children. 
Reuben Burcham died April 9, 1879. 

ZiCiois W. Cooper, was born in Cooper town- 
ship, August 5, 1822; the son of John and Su- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



867 



sannah Giger) Cooper, who came to Sangamon 
county from Jefferson county, Tennessee, on 
April 2, 1820, and settled near Rochester, and in 
1821, came to wliat is now Cooper township. 

Lewis W. died July 19, 1872; his widow lives 
at Breekenridge, with her son. She left Tennes- 
see at the age of seven years, and ten years later 
came to this county, and was married to Mr. 
Lewis, October 12, 1840. He had spent most of 
his life in farming, but at the time of his death, 
was a merchant in Breckeni'idge. They had two 
sons and two daughters, Mary A., married Peter 
Danitz, and they live in Lynn county, Kansas; 
Jno. D., died in 1870; Henrietta, married S. L. 
Neer, and lives in Breekenridge; W. T. Cooper, 
continues the business commenced in Breeken- 
ridge by his father, and resides there, and also 
buys and ships large quantities of grain. He -is 
a man of business capacity and energy, and has 
the confidence of all who deal with him. They 
are members of the M. E. Church. 

Mary Ann Crowl, widow of Joseph Crowl, 
was born February 22, 1804, in Kent county, 
Maryland. She married Mr. Crowl in Washing- 
ton county, Maryland, January 1, 1818. He was 
born September 3, 1794, in Shepherdstown, Vir- 
ginia, and died in this township, September 8, 
18G5. They came to Springfield, this county, in 
the fall of 1834, and the next spring to what is 
now Cooper township. 

Mordecai, the eldest son was born in Maryland, 
July 20, 1820, and married in Springfield, Illinois, 
in December 1869, to Catharine E. Crowl, of 
Berkley county, Virginia, and now lives in Clarks- 
ville, this township. He is a capitalist, stock 
dealer, and farmer, and one of the most success- 
ful men of Sangamon county. His brother, Up- 
ton Crowl, was born February 7, 1822, in Mary- 
land, anddied attheold homestead, this township, 
March 8, 1872. His widow, Sarah E., daughter 
of James and Jane Taggart, was born in Shelby- 
ville, Kentucky, in 1834, and came to Greene 
county, Illinois, in 1835, and married Mr. Crowl 
in 1850. She makes her home with her only 
daughter, Mary J., who was born April 22, 1858, 
and her son-in-law, Eugene W. Renshaw, who 
was born in Decatur, Illinois, Jline 25, 1851, and 
married Februury 10, 1874; they have three 
children. Upton Crowl, served in the Mexican 
war, and his father, Joseph Crowl, served in the 
War of 1812. Mrs Crowl has been a member of 
the M. E. Church more than sixty years, and Mr. 
Crowl was a patron of the same, and contributed 
liberally to charitable institutions. 

Jienjamin A. Giger, one of the old residents 

of Cooper township, lives on section seventeen, 

101— 



where he was born, January 8, 1827. His father, 
Henry Giger, was born May 14, 1799, and died 
November 22, 1844, and Nancy (Todd) Giger, 
Benjamin's mother, was born May 7, 1798, and 
now lives with her daughter, Ann Gore, in Me- 
chanicsburg, this county. Nancy Giger married 
Mr. Giger in Jefferson county, Tennessee. They 
left there February 14, 1820, and reached this 
county on April 2, same year, locating a few 
miles north of Rochester, and soon moved to 
Cooper township, and were the first to settle on 
Sand Prairie. They had eight children, four of 
whom are dead. Those yet living are, Anna, 
now Mrs. Gore, born April 4, 1821, and lives 
with her husband at Mechanicsburg ; Alexander 
T., born June 23, 1824, settled in Jewell county, 
Kansas; Martha D. Eyman, born January 30, 
1831, lives in Macon county, Illinois. ' Mr. 
Giger's grandmother, Anna Giger, was born in 
Pennsylvania, November 19, 1765, and came 
to this county with his uncle, Benjamin Giger, 
and died October 12, 1837. The subject of this 
sketch married Mary A. V. Kirk, November 30, 
1848. She was born in Bath county, Kentucky, 
April 15, 1S20, and died May 10, 1853. They 
had two children, who died in infancy. He 
again married, October 26, 1853, to Margaret J. 
Kirk, a sister of his former wife, born October 
6, 1825, and died May 19, 1869 ; by whom three 
children were born — Ida Luella (now dead), 
William Edward, born September 7, 1857, and 
Henry Douglas, born September 18, 1861. The 
last two named live with their father. Mr. Giger, 
was again married, March 1, 1870, to Mary Ellen 
Johnson, who was born in Springfield, Illinois, 
May 14, 1845, but spent a large part of her life 
in Arkansas. By this marriage one child — 
Nola B. — was born, but died in infancy. Mr. 
Giger inherited land from his father, which was 
entered by him, August 1, 1826, the patents of 
which were written upon parchment and signed 
by John Quincy Adams, then President of the 
United States. The land is still owned by 
Mr. G. 

He has been a prominent and influential actor 
in the local affairs of the township government, 
and has been honored in the appointment to 
most of the offices therein. He is now serving 
in his third term as justice of the peace ; and 
was personally conspicuous in forming the Oak 
Hill Cemetery Association, of which a full report 
will be found in the history of the township. All 
are members of the M. E. Church, and he has 
been so since 1841, and has held offices in 
the church the last twenty years. All are Dem- 
ocrats. 



868 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Dr. A. F. Hammer was born and raised in 
Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois, and came 
into Sangamon county, June 20, 1877, son of A. 
W. and Rebecca A. (Langly) Hammer, and 
married Alice Dickerson, formerly the widow of 
Jno. W. Allen, and was born and raised in this 
county. Her parents were natives of Kentucky. 
Dr. H. has one child, Pearl. He is practicing 
medicine as a homoeopathist, at Clarksville, post 
office. Berry, and at present is post master in the 
village, and also one in the firm of Batty & 
Hammer, general dealers in merchandise. He 
has a large and lucrative practice and is an en- 
terprising and popular citizen. 

Sarah A. Hicks was born November 5, 1827, 
in Loudon county, Virginia, and now the 
widow of Charles J. Hicks, who was born Sep- 
tember 24, 1824, and died November 6, 1858. 
Mrs. Hicks moved to Ohio, with her parents, in 
1835, and thence to Sangamon county in the fall 
of 1851. She owns two hundred and ten acres 
of laud, one hundred and seventy under cultiva- 
tion, and conducts the management of the same 
as a farmer. 

James Lamun was born December 12, 1802, in 
Ross county, Ohio, near Chillicothe, and is one 
of the oldest men in Cooper township. He mar- 
ried Ann McCafferty, May 25, 1822, in Ohio, 
where she died. They had three children. Mr. 
Lamun never married again; has been a widower 
over fifty years. He came to Springfield in 
1839. His son, John Lamun, was born July 2, 
1823, in Chillicothe, Ohio, and came to this 
county in the fall of 1843; he remained in San- 
gamon until August, 1847; he returned to Ohio 
and remained there until October, 1855, when, 
in company with his wife and two children, came 
to this county by the 28th of the same month 
and settled here. He was married to Nancy 
Ann Carson, of Allen county, Ohio, August 19, 
1852; she here died May 21, 1867. His children 
who came West with him, were: Emery P., 
born July 18, 1853, and Leslie G., born October 
20, 1854. They are married and farming in this 
township. The children born here, are: Zodith 
A., born March 8, 1857; Anna B., born Novem- 
ber 12, 1861; Mary E., born July 29, 1864; 
James E., born July 6, 1859, and John F., 
born June 28, 1867 (died in a few days 
after). Mr. John L. married his second wife, 
Mary Ann Hammel, in this county, August 6, 
1869. She was born October 8, 1824, in Fairfield 
county, Ohio, and came to this county the fall 
of 1854. She was the widow of Samuel Ham- 
mel and had six children. In 1865, Mr. L. settled 
on forty acres of timber land and has added on 



until he has now one hundred and sixty acres of 
fine farming land. In the faU of 1856, his father 
gave him forty acres of prairie land three-quar- 
ters of a mile north of what he now owns. He 
remained there until 1864 or '65, and then settled 
on the land he now owns — one hundred and 
sixty acres of choice land — all in timber when 
he took it, and it is now nearly all cleared, and 
worth about $50 per acre. His politics are neu- 
tral, and she is a member of the M. E. Church. 
James E. and Mary E. are at home. 

Jacob C. Miller was born April 9, 1824, in 
Loudon county, Virginia, and married Mary 
Charlotte Prather, in this county, June 10, 1869. 
She was born January 4, 1843, in Washington 
county, Maryland. Mr. Miller is the son of 
Christian and Sarah (Neer) Miller, who were 
born in Loudon county, Virginia; and he came 
with them to Sangamon county, January 20, 1835. 
Her parents. Perry and Elizabeth ( Troxell ) 
Prather, wei-e natives of Washington county, 
Maryland, and came to Sangamon county, June 
1, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have four child- 
ren, Samuel J., Don W., and Edith E., and Lotta 
Mabelle, born September 13, 1881. He entered 
two thousand one hundred and forty acres of 
land when he came to this county, of which 
Jacob C. inherited four hundred and twenty, and 
has added by purchase, one hundred and forty- 
eight. His wife is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. In politics, they are Liberal. 
James W. H. Neer, a farmer, living in section 
thirty-three, in Cooper township; son of Henry 
and Lydia (Derry) Neer, who came from Loudon 
county, Virginia. He was married to Sarah E. 
Zimmerman, daughter of David and Matilda 
Zimmerman. They have three children, Isaac 
H., born May 24, 1867; Freddie Artiiur, born 
July 29, 1872; and Ira Elton, born December 28, 
1875. Mr. Neer was at one time engaged in 
mercantile business at Breckenridge. His parents 
and brothers live in this county. Both parents 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and are, in politics, Republican. 

Robert North was born October, 1814, in 
Buckingham county, Virginia, and taken by his 
parents to Jefferson county, Tennessee, when he 
was a boy. He came to Sangamon county with 
his brother, John North, who had been back to 
Tennessee. They arrived in September, 1832, 
in what is now Cooper township. Robert North 
was married in Sangamon county, March 29, 
1838, to America Schmick, She was born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1816, in Lincoln county, Kentucky, 
and came to Sangamon county in company with 
her mother, brother-in-law — John demons, one 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY, 



869 



brother, two sisters and two nephews, arriving in 
the fall of 1829, and settled three miles south of 
Springfield. Robert North and wife had six 
living children in Sangamon county, all of which 
are married and reside in the county. His first 
farming in the county was on Magor Elijah lies' 
farm, south of Springfield on which he continued 
six years. In the meantime he purchased one 
hundred and twenty acres of land in Cooper 
township, which he moved on to in 1844, and on 
which place he continued to live up to his 
death, September 24, 1880. His first start in the 
farming and house-keeping was on a small scale, 
but by hard work and close economy he accumal- 
ated thirty-five hundred acres of land, all of 
which was in Sangamon county. After his 
death occurred his property was appraised at 
$185,000, leaving to each of his children 130,000. 
His wife still resides on the homestead with 
her daughter. 

John North was born November 22, 1806, in 
Buckingham county, Virginia, and came to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, April 12, 1829, where he 
died December 15, 1880. He was married to 
Anna Giger, September 22, 1828, who was born 
in Jefferson county, Tennessee, November 4, 
1807, and died February 24, 1844. Their four 
children were: Benjamin H., born November 
19, 1832, and married November 15, 1855, to 
Minerva A. Miller, born May 18, 1836, in Loudon 
county, Virginia; Nancy N., born January 26, 
1835, married to Sarah E. Prather, November 
13, 1856; John W., born November 9, 1837, 
married to Maria McDaniel, March 8, 1866, and 
entered the Union army, August 7, 1862, in 
Company A., Seventy-third Regiment Illinois 
Infantry Volunteers, for three years. Was 
captured at Chicamauga, and was confined in 
Lib]^y and Andersonville prisons, in turn, from 
March 20, 1864, to December, 1864; Andrew J., 
born March 18, 1841, and died April 26, 1857. 
All live in this State, except B. H., who is in 
Kansas. Mrs. Anna North died February, 1844, 
and Mr. North married again September 
19, 1844, to Susannah Eckels, who also died 
July 1, 1855, and on February 19, 1856, he 
married a third time to Mrs. Pemelia Woodruff", 
widow of Erastus Woodruff. She was born in 
Spencer county, Kentucky, May 16, 1824, and 
was first married to Mr. Benjamin West, an ex- 
lawyer and member of the Illinois Legislature 
in 1846-7, who died of consumption at Roches- 
ter, June 21, 1847. Two of her children met 
with violent deaths — her daughter, Fanny West, 
who was choked to death by her artificial teeth 
getting into her throat while asleep, and her son, 



Benjamin West, was drowned off the coast of 
the Phillipian Islands, on Christmas, 1863. 

Mrs. North was the daughter of Francis Tay- 
lor, of Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, in 1834. Her eldest daughter, Mrs. 
Rice, lives in Massachusetts, and another, Mrs. 
Mary E. Wilson, resides in Illiopolis township. 
By her third marriage, with Mr. North, she had 
four children: Peter F., died in infancy; 
Robert F., born March 31, 1859, lives on the 
old homestead, and has full charge of the estate, 
and evidently is a success in life; Edward E , 
born January 14, 1861; and Pemelia A., born 
.January 24, 1864. The last two are living with 
their mother on the home place. 

Mr. John North was one of the early settlers 
of this county, and in early days labored hard 
to buy land, mauling rails for his neighbors and 
otherwise, before old age came upon him, and 
then farmed the whole of his large farm of one 
thousand, seven hundred acres. He is one of 
the stoutest men in the community. In politics, 
Mr. North was always a Democrat. For a num- 
ber of years Mr. and Mrs. North have been Ad- 
ventists, and he resided on the same tract of 
land to the day of his death, for moi-e than 
fifty years, being widely and favorably known. 

Elizabeth Prather^ widow of Perry, daughter 
of Abraham and Sarah (Rout) Troxell, all 
natives of Washington county, Maryland. She 
was born October 29, 1813. Her husband. Perry 
Prather, was born April 2, 1798, and died No- 
vember 2, 1858. They were married August 1, 
1830, and had twelve children, six sons and six 
daughters, all of whom are living. Abraham 
P., Wm. D., and Isaac R. live in Arizona, near 
Prescott. The other sons — Washington B., a 
soldier in the late war, married Marietta Kline, 
and lives in Cantrall, this county; Samuel James 
married Mary Alice Miller, and has one child, 
Chas. Marshal, born February 3, 1879, and live 
on the old homestead; and John L. lives at 
home, also single. Of the daughters, Sarah E. 
married Harry H. North, and lives in Christian 
county; Ruth A. married Mr. Sadler, and 
lives in Taylorville, Christian county; Mary C. 
married Jacob A. Miller; Gretna married John 
F. Loe; and Rachel T. lives at home with her 
mother; Jemima J. married Wm. Troxell, and 
lives in Norton county, Kansas. 

Mrs. Prather's parents were of German de- 
scent, and Mr. Prather was of an old Maryland 
family, and English by descent. 

The family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and in politics are Republi- 



870 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Joseph E. Hoss was born October 13, 1823, in 
Clark county, Ohio, and came to Sangamon 
county in 1841. His father, John Ross, married 
Rachel E. Wallace in Ohio, who died there. 
He then married Catharine (Keyser), then widow 
McCurdy, and then came to this county, where 
they both died. 

Joseph E. mariied Mary J. Fairchild, March 
24, 1852, in this county. She was born in Essex 
county, New York, May 27, 1827, the daughter 
of Moses and Ada Fairchild, who came to this 
county in 1832, near to Rochester. They have 
had four children, John Henry, born August 19, 
1853, and married Annie Troxell, February 22, 
1876, daughter of Peter and Susan (Fiery) Trox- 
ell. Mrs. Ross was born February 2, 1849, and 
has three children, Wilbur, Mary and Plomer; 
and lives section twenty-eight, Cooper township. 
The other son, Cbarles Oscar, born October 27, 
1862, is with his parents. They have four 
hundred and sixty-five acres of land, mostly 
under cultivation. 

H. H. Jioss, a farmer, in section eighteen. 
Cooper township, was born in Clark county, 
Ohio, August 7, 1844, and came to this county 
March 15, 1855; the son of John Ross, born in 
Mason county, Kentucky, December 7, 1793, and 
died March 9, 1877, and Catharine Ross, who 
was born in Virginia, June 1, 1802, and died 
April 19, 1870. H. B. married Mary E. John- 
son, September 23, 1868, and they have six 
children, all now under twelve years of age, viz: 
Carrie B., John E., Winn J., Daisy P., Origin 
C, and Orville E. — the last two are twins. Mrs. 
Ross was born in Sangamon county, August 29, 
1848. Her parents, Zachai'iah and Delilah John- 
son, are dead. Mr. Ross owns three hundred 
and forty acres of good land, mostly under culti- 
vation. He inherited eighty acres from his 
father, and all the rest of his property he 
has acquired by his own means. His father 
died in 1877. Of his four brothers and five 
sisters, two are dead; one brother, Charles, en- 
listed in Company B, Eleventh Missouri Volun- 
teers, and served three years, and was severely 
wounded in battle at Corinth, being shot through 
one lung, and his recovery was one of the most 
remarkable on record. He is now living in 
Shelby county, Illinois, engaged in milling. A 
sister, Lethe, married Dr. Lee and moved to 
California. 

Mr. Ross has been an active citizen in his town- 
ship, and at present holds the offices of school 
director and coramisssioner of highways, and 
acting the third year as treasurer. In politics 
they are Republicans. 



William Miley Hoss was born in Rah way. 
New Jersey, October 3, 1809. His father, Wil- 
liam Ross, was born in Essex county, New 
Jersey, February 15, 1769; married Nancy Dunn, 
born in Bound Brook, New Jersey, and moved 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1813; they were the 
parents of thirteen children, of whom six were 
born in New Jersey. The father was a black- 
smith and general iron worker, at the time of his 
death, doing an extensive business, requiring a 
large force of workmen. He was stricken down 
with the cholera, November 18, 1832, leaving a 
large, unsettled business. Wm. Riley Ross was 
appointed administrator and after closing up the 
estate he continued in his father's old business 
for two years, then moved with the family to 
Springfield, Illinois, in December, 1838. He 
soon rented and settled on a small farm in 
Rochester township, and in the spring of 1840, 
purchased part of his present farm and moved to 
it, where he has lived over forty-one years. 
Although farming has been his principal occupa- 
tion, his natural love for mechanicism, has in- 
duced him to retain his shop and kit, and at in- 
tervals, indulged his tastes in using them. From 
1850 'till 1854 he was engaged as foreman in 
plow manufactury and foundry, of Lowry, Lamb 
& Co., who made the first scouring plows in this 
part of the west. Mr. Ross had married Miss 
A. Flagg, in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 18, 1834. 
She was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, and 
died with consumption, February 18, 1844; was 
mother of three children, now all deceased. One 
of the daughters, Lauretta, left an infant daugh- 
ter three weeks old, which was taken by her 
grandmother Ross, who reared her to woman- 
hood and now married, October 26, 1881, to 
Joseph S. Morris, and resides in this township. 
Mr. Ross married again December 28, 1845, to 
Mary E. Crowe, of Washington county, Mary- 
land, who came to this county in 1833. They 
have three sons, George R., Mordecai V., and 
Joseph H. The eldest son studied law, was 
admitted to the bar, and became a member of 
the law firm of Palmer, Palmer & Ross, Spring- 
field, Illinois. He is now engaged in farming in 
Cooper township. The other sons still reside 
with their father, on the old homestead. Mr. 
Ross is a Democrat, and has held nearly all the 
offices of the township. Mr. Ross is now the 
only man remaining that lived on the old road 
between Mt. Auburn and Springfield, when he 
came here, in 1840. 

Henry Sprinkel, a farmer, born January 14, 
1840, at Mansfield, Ohio; went with his parents 
to Arkansas, and there remained until 1860; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



871 



then came to Sangamon county, and settled in 
Cooper township. He married October 20, 1861, 
to Mary Ellen Buzley, the daughter of William 
M. and Priscilla (Evans) Buzley. They have 
had ten (.-hildren, namely: James Henry, born 
August 21, 1862, died October 25, 1862; infant 
daughter born October 25, 1863, and died same 
day; infant son born December 29, 1855, died 
same day; Priscilla Catharine, born November 
10, 1866, and died December 6, 1866; Benjamin 
Franklin, born February 17, 1868; Jesse Davis, 
born November 28, 1870, died May 22, 1877, 
from a wound in the knee, caused by his falling 
on an axe, just one month after the accident; 
Fannie Maria, born August 23, 1873; William 
Otterbein, born March 10, 1876; Cynthia Viola, 
born February 24, 1879; Mary Josephine, born 
December 29, 1880. 

Mrs. Sprinkel's father, William M. Buzley, 
was born in Kentucky; and her mother, Priscilla 
(Evans) Buzley, was born in Meigs county, 
Ohio. Two of her brothers, Joseph and Chris- 
topher C, served in the Federal army in the war 
of the Rebellion, and died in Federal hospital in 
Missouri. Her father returned to Missouri and 
purchased land; but before he got his family 
upon it, the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, 
and their farm was near the battle-field. Her 
brother was taken prisoner, but made his escape, 
and with his father's family he hurriedly left for 
Sangamon county, where they arrived in Sep- 
tember, 1861. One of Mrs. S's. brothers owned 
a nursery in Arkansas during the war, but being 
a Union man, he was constantly in danger, till 
at last his seighbors put a rope around his neck 
to hang him, but by some means he made his 
escape and reached Sangamon county in Sep- 
tember, 1861, and afterwards returned to Mis- 
souri, where he now resides. Her father died 
in Missouri, in 1880, in his seventy-sixth year; 
and her mother is making her home with her, at 
the age of seventy-four. 

Mr. Sprinkel's maternal grandfather was born 
in 1785, and his grandmother in 1786. He died 
in the year 1836, at the age of fifty-seven, and 
■she died in 1831, aged forty-five. Mr. Sprinkel's 
father was born in the year 1813, in Frederick 
county, Maryland, and died August 13, 1867; 
and his mother was born in Cumberland county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1815, and is living on her own 
farm in this township. They were married in 
1835. 

William P. Sprinkel was born January 7, 
1846, in Arkansas; came to Sangamon county in 
the spring of 1860, with his parents, and mar- 
ried Sarah Staines, April 16, 1871; who was 



born May 9, 1854, in Ohio. Her parents came 
to Sangamon county in the fall of l8o5. Wil- 
liam P. has four children: Minnie E., born June 
27, 1872; Nora A., born February 7, 1875; Ger- 
tie A., born February 24, 1878, and Ina May, 
born July 24, 1880. Mr. Sprinkel's father and 
brother died in the Union army of the late war. 
Joseph M., born March 1, 1841, married Mrs. 
Charlotte Cre, and lives in Efiingham county, 
Illinois. He was a member of Company A, 
One Hundred and Seventy-third Regiment Illi- 
nois Infantry — three years' service. John, born 
June 22, 1844, and married Rebecca A. Patts, in 
October, 1869, and lives in Montgomery county, 
Kansas. Mrs. William P. Sprinkel's mother 
now lives in Mechanicsburg with her second 
husband, Hugh McCarty, who owns in Cooper 
township, one hundred and fifty acres of land 
under good cultivation, and worth $60.00 per 
acre. The family ai'e members of the U. B. 
Church, and Mr. S. is a Republican. 

Charles Stafford, an old settler of Sangamon 
county, born October 12, 1820, in Essex county, 
New York He came to this county in July 13, 
1825, with his parents, who settled in Roches- 
ter township the same year, and then married 
Julia A. Stafford, March 21, 1847. They had 
one child, Julia A., born December 6, 1847, who 
married Mitchell Dickerson. Mrs. Stafford died 
December 17, 1847, and Mr. Stafford was again 
married to Mrs. Sarah A. (Wallace) Stafford, 
September 27, 1848. She was the widow of 
John Stafford, and the cousin of Charles. She 
was born December 24, 1822, in Culpepper 
county, Virginia. They have had ten children, 
Mary A., born February 12, 1854, and married 
G. Woyce; Albert R., born September 17, 1856, 
and married Liza Ramond, September l7, 1878; 
Ida L., born January 4, 1860, and died May 26, 
1874; Wm. W., born April 6, 1868. Mrs. Sarah 
Stafford had two children when married to Mr. 
Stafford: Thomas Oliver, the oldest, born April 
18, 1844, in Wapella county, Iowa, and was 
killed in the battle of Stone river, or Murfrees- 
boro, December 31, 1862, while a member of 
the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Infantry 
Volunteers. 

Mr. Stafford's father, Jewett Stafford, was born 
January 13, 1795, in Kent county, Rhode Island, 
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and fought in 
the battles of Plattsburg, Boquet River, etc. He 
was also Colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Illi- 
nois Militia, in 1834. His mother, Harriet 
(Eggleston) Stafford, was born in New York. 
He farms about eighty acres of land, but, having 
also the largest store in Clarksburg, and other 



872 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



interests in care. His first crop of corn was sold 
In Springfield, 111., at six and one-fourth cents 
per bushel, and says that another year he burned 
part of his crop rather than gather it at the mar- 
ket price. Mr. Stafford is a public spirited man, 
and looks into all the improvements of the age 
with confidence and success, 

Geo. W. Taylor, a farmer, in section four, 
Cooper township, was born December 10, 1836, 
in Wayne county, Indiana, and married the 
widow of Isaac T. Darn all, the daughter of 
Joseph and Mary Ann Crowl, who was born in 
Maryland, October 18, 1831, and died September 
29, 1881, at home; was married in Sangamon 
county, December 14, 1852, to Isaac Darnall, 
who died September 10, 1870. 

The homestead was settled by Hiram. Robins, 
and Mr. Darnall located upon it in February, 
1857, and remained there till his death. He 
came to this county in 1840. The children are 
H. W., Benjamin F., Charles A., and Maryland. 
Jos. E. is a practicing physician at Mechanics- 
burg. The farm upon which Mr. T. resides be- 
longs to the heirs of Robins, and consists of 
four hundred and fifty acres, about the half of 
which is under cultivation. 

JJcmiel Waters, was born in Loudon county, 
Virginia, September 14, 1830, and came to Illi- 
nois in 1852, and settled in Round Prairie, in 
what is now Rochester township. He is the son 
of Levi and Sarah Waters, who are both dead. 
Mr. W. came to the county a poor man, and 
commenced farming and working at the carpen- 
ter business, which he continued ten years, and 
thereby accumulated a small capital. He mar- 
ried Harriet V. Miller, February 9, 1862, who 
was born in this county October 13, 1840, the 
daughter of Jno. C. and Melvina (Sattley) Miller, 
"who settled in this township, and so remained 



till the death of Mr. Miller, January 13, 1853. 
Mrs. Miller is now living in Rochester, where 
she lived before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
Waters have had five children, two of whom are 
dead, George C, born February 17, 1864, and 
died in his third year; and Lulu, born January 
29, 1878, and died in infancy. The three living 
ones are Anna A., born December 17, 1862; 
Charles M., born February 28, 1867, and Lilla 
M., born January 29, 1870 — twin to Lulu, and 
lives with her parents. Anna is now pursuing 
her studies at Wesleyan University, at Bloom- 
ington, Illinois. 

Mr. and Mrs. Waters have accumulated a fine 
property, owning a farm of two hundred and 
forty acres, well stocked and handsomely im- 
proved, where they reside and enjoy their pleas- 
ant home, and are highly respected wherever 
known. He has long been associated in the 
township government, holding in turn several 
of the important oflices, and for some years 
trusted and honored as treasurer of the school 
funds. Both are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and politically Mr. Waters is 
a Demociat. 

John W. Wigginton was born in Kentucky, 
January 12, 1835. Son of Sidney and Elizabeth 
Wigginton, who were born, raised and died in 
Trumbull county, Kentucky. Mr. W. married 
Melissa Taylor, daughter of William E. and 
Susan Taylor, September 27, 1866, in Sangamon 
county. He came to Illinois in 1854, first locat- 
ing in Logan county, where he farmed till 1866; 
then moved to Cooper township, and has here 
farmed and raised stock. His land adjoins the 
village of Breckenridge, which he assisted in 
making, and has held most of the town oflices, 
and is now supervisor of the township. He is a 
Democrat, and a member of the Masonic order. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



873 



Chapter XXXV. 



TOWNSHIP OF COTTON HILL. 



The township of Cotton Hill lies in the south- 
eastern part of the county, and is bounded on the 
east by Cooper township and Christian county; 
west, by Ball township; north, by Rochester, and 
south, by Pawnee township and Christian county. 
The soil is of good quality, and the township is 
well watered by Horse creek and the south fork 
of the Sangamon river, and Brush creek, and 
numerous springs. Horse creek enters the town- 
ship on section thirty-one, and running in a 
northerly course, passes out from section six. 
The Sangamon river enters on section twelve, 
and by a meandering course, passing through 
sections twelve, eleven, two, three and four, into 
Rochester township. Horse creek waters the 
western half, from south to north, and enters 
Rochester between sections five and six. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlers of the township were Henry 
Funderburk and William Nelson. The date of 
their arrival is a matter of dispute, which does 
not seem to admit of settlement. The first set- 
tlers of the township are either now dead, or 
have no means of establishing satisfactorily their 
claims. J C. Power, when compiling ''The 
History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon 
County," claims that he spent much time to cor- 
rectly fix the date of the first settlement. Jacob 
Henkle thinks that Funderburk came in 1817, as 
his father and family came in 1818, and he says 
that he well remembers shocks of corn on the 
Funderburk place, which must have been raised 
the year previous. He does not remember Wil- 
liam Nelson so well, and it is an undisputed fact 
that they came about the same time, or together, 
and both raised a crop of corn that same season. 
Other parties, or their descendants, maintain 
that Funderburk and Nelson did not come until 
1818; that the question was often discussed as to 



the first settlers of the county, and it was never 
claimed that they were here prior to that time. 

Henry Funderburk was from South Carolina, 
but lived for a short time in Tennessee before 
coming to Illinois. 

The place where he first settled was on section 
thirty, of this township. He remained here but 
one or two years, when he moved across the line 
into Ball township, where he died, in 1843, 

William Nelson came here from St. Clair 
county, remained some years, and then moved to 
Texas. 

Mason Fowler, was born about 1766, in Vir- 
ginia. He was married and had five children in 
that State, and the family moved to the vicinity 
of Nashville, Tennessee, where they had seven 
children. They moved thence to Southern Illi- 
nois, in 1816, and in the spring of 1818, Mr. 
Fowler, with his two sons, Edward and John 
and a young man by the name of Frederick Wise, 
came to what is now Cotton Hill township, San- 
gamon county. They raised a crop, built a house 
that Slimmer, returned south and brought Mr. 
Fowler's family to their new home on Horse 
creek, in the fall of that year. Edward and John 
were born in Virginia, married in Sangamon 
county to two sisters by the name of Hale, and 
moved to Wisconsin, near Galena. The two 
brothers and ten other citizens, including an In- 
dian agent and interpreter, were riding over the 
countT-y without suspecting danger, and were at- 
tacked by Indians, and eleven of them killed. 
Only one escaped — a man by the name of Pierce 
Holly, who had the fleetest horse, and that alone 
saved his life. Thomas, another son of Mason 
Fowler, after the death of his brothers, Edward 
and John, left home with the avowed pui'pose of 
avenging their death. After an absence of ten 
years with the Indians, he visited his friends in 
Sangamon county, went again to the Indians, 



874 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and was never heard of after. Mason Fowler 
died March, 1844. 

William Baker was born about lv98, in Sevier 
county, Tennessee. He came to St. Clair 
county, Illinois, when a young man. Phoebe 
Neeley was born December 14, 1799, near 
Nashville, Tennessee, and was taken to St. Clair 
county, Illinois, when she was a young woman. 
Williarh Baker and Phoebe Neeley were married 
about 1818, near Belleville. They had one child 
born there, and the family moved to Horse 
creek, in what became Sangamon county, in the 
spring of 1819, in what is now Cotton Hill town- 
ship, where seven children were born. They 
then moved to a mill on the north fork of the 
Sangamon river, three miles north of Rochester. 
William Baker went to Texas previous to 1844, 
started from there to California about 1852, and 
died on the road. Mrs. Phoebe Baker died, 
August, 1861, in Rochester. 

David Funderburk was born January 9, 1795, 
in Orange District, South Carolina, and was 
bound as apprentice to a hatter, but instead of 
teaching him how to make hats, his master put 
him to work in the fields with the negroes and 
otherwise treated him harshly, so he ran away 
and enlisted in the Third United States Rifle 
Regiment for five years, from August 15, 1814. 
It was so near the close of the war with England 
that he was not in any battle. His five years 
were spent in garrison duty on the frontier, and 
was at Ft. Osage, on the Missouri river, near the 
present line between Missouri and Kansas, when 
his term of enlistment expired, August 15, 1819. 
He, with eight other discharged soldiers, fas- 
tened two canoes together, with a platform over 
them, and all left for St. Louis with their knap- 
sacks. Mr. F. says that they were somewhat 
crowded, and on the way down he stole a canoe, 
and taking a comrade left the other seven who 
began drinking and ran their craft on a sawyer, 
which upset it, and they lost everything except 
what they had on their person, but the men 
clung to the sunken log, and but for the stolen 
canoe they must all have drowned. Mr. F. and 
his comrade took them all safely to shore. He 
has always, in his quaint way insisted that that 
was "Providential stealing." On arriving at St. 
Louis, he learned that his uncle, Henry Funder- 
burk, had moved into the San-ga-ma country, and 
he determined to visit him. He found his unc-le 
on the 31st of August, 1819, in what is now 
Cotton Hill township, between Brush and Horse 
creeks, and went to work to supply himself with 
clothing, in place of that which was lost on the 



river. David Funderburk was married in March 
1821, to Hannah Ilenkle. 

Christopher Haines was born July 4, 1795, in 
Russell county, Virginia. His parents soon 
after moved to Allen county, Kentucky. He was 
married in that county, October 12, 1815, to 
Myrah Gatewood. They moved to Bureau 
county, thence to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving October 22, 1829, in what is now Cot- 
ton Hill township. 

John Rape was born about 1794, in South 
Carolina, and taken to Tennessee by his parents, 
at eight years of age. He was a soldier from 
Tennessee, in the War of 1812, and arrived at 
New Orleans the day after the battle of January 
8, 1815. His father, Gustavus Rape, was a 
soldier from North Carolina during the war of 
the Ameiican Revolution. John Rape was 
married August 18, 1818, in Tennessee, had two 
children there, and moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in Cotton Hill, February, 1826. 
He died January 29, 1872. 

Henry Rape came to Sangamon county in 
1825, and settled in Cotton Hill township. He 
subsequently married Polly Snodgrass, and died 
November 11, 1851. Mrs. Ripe never formed a 
letter with a pen until her sixtieth year. Her 
son, James H., was in the army, and she found 
it diflScult to induce others to write to him as 
often as she desired, so she resolved to learn, 
and commenced by copying letters and other 
documents, and was soon able to communicate 
with him. She continued this correspondence, 
to the great satisfaction of both, until his three 
years of service terminated. 

Mathias Vigal was born August 28, 1779, in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. His father 
died and his mother married Adam Mung. 
They moved to Jefferson county Kentucky. 
Mathias Vigal and Mary Roney were married in 
Jefferson county. They moved in 1820, to Clark 
county, Indiana, and from there to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1830, in 
what is now Cotton Hill township. Mr. Vigal 
died December 25, 1862. 

Abraham Viney and family were from Ken- 
tucky, though Mrs. Viney was by birth a Vir- 
ginian. He married in Sangamon county in 
what is now Cotton Hill township, in the fall of 
1819, and died August 4, 1820. 

Elias Williams was born near Clarendon, Ver- 
mont, February 27, 1770. He there married and 
the family moved to Essex county. New York, 
about 1804, where two children were born, thence 
to Hamilton county, Ohio, where one child was 
born, and from there to Butler county, in the 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



875 



same State, where three children were born. In 
1819, the family moved to Wayne or Henry 
county, Indiana, and from there to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving in February, 1822, in 
what is now Cotton Hill township, where he re- 
mained about one year and then moved into 
Rochester township. 

Robert W. Sanders was born April 10, 1815, 
near Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His father died 
when he was a child, and his widowed mother, 
with her eight children, moved to Rutherford 
county, Tennessee, in 1827. Robert W. was 
married there, in 1834, to Kesiah Johnson. 
They had two children in Tennessee, and moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall 
of 1838, in what is now Cotton Hill township, 
where two children were born. Mr. Sanders as- 
sisted in quarrying the stone for the State 
House, then in process of construction at Spring- 
field. His family suffered greatly from sick- 
ness, and in 1840 he returned toTennessee,whei'e 
he died May 31, 1857, leaving a widow, nine 
sons, and one daughter. Robert W. Sanders 
was a minister in the Baptist Church for thir- 
teen years previous to his death. The widow 
felt that some great calamity was about to be- 
fall that part of the country where she lived, and 
without any definite idea of what it was, she med- 
itated long upon the subject, and when her chil- 
dren were wrapped in slumber, she resolved, if 
possible, to take them again to Illinois, as a 
place of safety. She wrote at once to her eldest 
son, who had returned to Illinois soon after the 
death of his father. He was glad to give them 
such aid and encouragement as he could, and 
they all arrived in Sangamon county, October 10, 
1859, just in time to understand the situation of 
the country and add five soldiers to the Union 
army. 

Joseph Dixon was among the earliest settlers 
on Horse creek. He was the principal mover in 
establishing Zion Chapel, in Cotton Hill town- 
ship, in the spring of 1821, to which he after- 
wards deeded five acres of land for church and 
cemetery purposes. His family are buried there, 
but he died in 1844, at the house of a daughter, 
near Franklin, Morgan county, Illinois, and was 
buried there. 

FIKST EVENTS. 

The first birth in the township was that of 
Sarah Funderburk. This was also the first birth 
within the present limits of Sangamon county, 
and the honor of being the first born is rightly 
claimed for Sarah Funderburk, who was born 
April 8, 1819. 

102— 



Rivers Cormack preached the first sermon in 
the township, Mr. Cormack was a local 
Methodist Episcopal preacher. Peter Cart- 
wright was the first circuit rider to visit the 
township, in 1821, at which time his circuit 
embraced Sangamon and Christian counties, and 
part of Macoupin. 

Timothy Rogers taught the first school. 

The first blacksmith shop was built and run by 
Joseph Snodgrass, 1821. 

Daniel Lyle built the first mill in 1819. This 
was the first mill in the county, and was one 
known as a band mill, and run by horse power. 

Elijah Henkle and Mary Funderburk were 
united in marriage by Zachariah Peters, in 1819. 
This was the first couple married in the town- 
ship, and he was the only justice of the peace in 
the county, at that time. 

The first government land was entered by 
Henry Funderburk and William Nelson, in 1818. 

RELIGIOUS. 

Among the first religious teachers in Cotton 
Hill township, were Rev's. James Sims, Rivers 
Cormack, and Peter Cartwright, Mr. Cormack 
having preached the first sermon; all of whom 
were ministers of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and who have long since died; and this 
denomination is foremost in point of numbers, 
in the township. This denomination has two 
church organizations and two church edifices, 
one on section nine, erected in 1869, at a cost of 
about $2,000; the other on section twenty, erec- 
ted in 1864, at a cost of $2,200. The Baptists 
have a church edifice on section thirty, erected 
in 18 — , at a cost of $2,500. Each of these 
churches have regular services, and are doing 
much for the moral welfare of the community. 
There is also a Disciple or Christian Church edi- 
fice on section one. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Cotton Hill is behind no exclusively agricul- 
tural township in the county, in point of educa- 
tion. There are now eight school houses in the 
township, as large a number as in any other 
township of its size in the county. These school 
houses are valued at $6,500. 

VILLAGE OF COTTON HILL T0V7NSHIP. 

Between the years 1836 and 1838, speculation 
was rife throughout the West. Thousands of 
villages were platted and visions of untold wealth 
floated before the minds of many who were pos- 
sessed of small tracts of land. Paper villages 
were the rage. Johnson Whaley, of Cotton 
Hill, platted the southeast quarter of section 



876 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



fourteen, township fourteen, range four, the plat 
being recorded June 2, 1837. How many town 
lots were disposed of, the prices obtained, and 
what else was done here, history and tradition 
are silent. The village plat was long ago vacated. 

The village of New City, in the corner of sec- 
tions nine, ten, fifteen and sixteen, originated 
with the building of the prairie chapel by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1869, and that by 
a good school house in 1868, and that by a resi- 
dence by W. H. Park about 1875, and a store 
house by the same about the same time, a black- 
smith shop by Zimmerly & Lederbrand, and the 
same season a residence by Dr. W. B. Smith. 
A town hall was erected in the same year. There 
are now two physicians and a notary public. 
The place is pleasantly and centrally located and 
promises to be a place of note in the far future. 

ORGANIZATION. 

At the first election held under township 
organization on April 2, 1861, there was chosen 
for supervisor for 1861, Craig White, and for 
town clerk, E. L. Rusk, and for assessor, W. H. 
Boyd, and collector, Thomas Williams; for com- 
missioners of highways, T. C. Spicer, J. B. Wil- 
liams and J. H. Colean; for justices of the 
peace, William C. Williams and John T. Evans; 
for constables, James Snodgrass and Benjamin 
Britain, and C. P. Barton as overseer of the 
poor. The present town oiHcers are: 

Supervisor — Hartman Spingler. 

Town Clerk — James Terry. 

Assessor — T. W. Dozier. 

Collector — John Underwood, 

Commissioners — James Martin, James T. Rape, 
and L. S. Matthew. 

Justices of the Peace — Daniel Rape and Dr. 
W. B. Smith. 

Constables — Thomas Williams and N. C. 
Jones. 

Among the spirited and enterprising farmers 
and stock feeders of the township in the past 
and present might be named: Preston Breck- 
enridge, George Bronk, Craig White, John Penn 
& Sons, of the past; of the present, John North, 
J. R. Kincaid, D. L. Rusk, David Marshall, W. 
H. Vigal, J. H. Colean, L. M. Babb, George 
Paine, etc. 

The township has produced at least one legis- 
tor, in the person of Hon. Preston Brecken- 
ridge. 

As preachers of the gospel, are Revs. W. S. 
Matthews and George Shake, both of the M. E. 
Church. 



As school teachers, W. H. Vigal and his son, 
E. A., and daughter, Marcia, also Miss Sarah A. 
Williams, now W. H. Vigal's wife, and D. M. 
Vigal, his brother; W. S. Matthews, Mary Mil- 
ler, William Shake, Mary Jane Shake, Thomas 
Williams, Emeline Hatler, Rose Hatler, Sarah 
Lawley, Peter and Benjamin Deardorff, brothers, 
and Virgil Deardoff, J. H. Beam, Joseph Orton 
and others, and thus in literatui-e and morals the 
township has acquired a highly commendable 
reputation. And one skillful young physician 
in the person of J. D. Mathews, was raised and 
educated here, and graduated with honors at St. 
Louis as an M. D., and is now practicing at Mt. 
Auburn, Christian county. 

Jacob Boyd was born in Franklin county, 
Ohio, October 30, 1807. His father, John Boyd, 
was born February 5, 1777, in Pennsylvania, 
and his mother, Susannah (Hyner) Boyd, was 
born in Virginia, December 22, 1780 ; they 
were married June 26, 1802, and had nine 
children. They moved to Ohio about the year 
1806, and to this county in 1819 ; they came 
with a wagon, camping out and doing their own 
cooking. The father was frozen to death in the 
great snow storm of 1830, as he was returning 
from work at a mill on the north fork. He was 
a millwright by occupation. Jacob has always 
been a farmer, and had limited school ad- 
vantages. He was married December 1, 1833, 
and by this marriage there were seven children 
— four sons and three daughters. The sons are 
all farmers. Mrs. Boyd's father was named 
Thomas Boyal, an Englishman by birth,; he 
settled in Ohio, and came to this country in 
1824. His first house was a log cabin, sixteen 
by sixteen, with a puncheon floor ; the furniture 
was home-made. Springfield was the first 
town where there was a store. 

W^illiam, H. Boyd was born in Rochester 
township, this county. May 1, 1837. His parents, 
Jacob and Rebecca Boyd, were natives of Ohio, 
and emigrated to this county in 1819, where 
they have resided ever since, engaged in farm- 
ing. William H. was raised on a farm, and re- 
ceived a district school education. He remained 
at home until he was twenty-two years of age, 
then married Miss Mary A. Vigal, daughter of 
Jnhn T. Vigal, a native of Kentucky. She was 
born in this township April 30, 1837. They 
have one child, Delilah, born in this township, 
March 27, 1860. The family are members of 
the M. E. Church. Mr. Boyd has held several 
township offices. He owns four hundred and 
two acres of land, two hundred and sixtv acres 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



under cultivation. He has a good residence, 
costing $2,000. 

Cleophas Breckenridge, son of Preston and 
Catharine (Moler) Breckenridge. The father 
was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, August 
5, 1807; the mother was also born in Kentucky. 
They were married November 17, 1827, and 
came to this county in 1834. They had thirteen 
children — twelve grown to maturity — eight sons 
and four daughters. The father was elected to 
the legislature of 1851-2, beating Abraham 
Lincoln for the nomination. He was also a 
member of the board of supervisors for the year 
of 1873. He died July 25, 1880. Cleophas, 
Hugh, Joseph and Preston were in the army. 
The name Breckenridge was derived from a 
circumstance that occurred in one of the religi- 
ous wars that took place in Scotland. Two 
brothers, named Mcllvain, were Protestants, 
and engaged in the conflict, when their party 
was defeated. They took refuge on a ridge, 
under some shrubs called "brack," and finally 
escaped and came to America, settling in Vir- 
ginia, and in remembrance took the name of 
"Brack-on-ridge," from whom the family de- 
scended. Mr. Breckenridge has in his posses- 
sion a twig plucked from this brack or bush in 
Scotland, and brought to America by John 
Craig. Mr. B., is a lover of strange and quaint 
old relics, and of the many among his collection 
are two gourds, carried by his grand-father 
through the War of 1812, one of which he used 
for dipping water and the other for carrying 
priming powder. Mr. B., also has a pocket 
compass used by his grandfather during the 
same war, for a guide in cloudy weather, and as 
a time piece when the sun shone. 

The subject of this sketch was the sixth son, 
and was born in this township, at the old home- 
stead, August 7, 1836. He was married to 
Lillian T. Cave, from Kentucky, January 30, 
1868. They have two children living: Inez A., 
and Ida B.; one who died in infancy. When 
Mr. B., first settled here, he purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land and commenced 
farming, and erected a carding machine, the first 
in this section of the country; also owned and 
run the first water mill on the south fork of the 
Sangamon river. Mr. C. Breckenridge noM^ 
owns four hundred and eighty acres of land 
valued at $50 an acre; two hundred and fifty 
acres are under good cultivation. He raises 
grain, and feeds cattle for market. Himself and 
wife are members of the Christian Church, at 
the south fork, which, at present, is in a flourish- 
ing condition. In politics, he is a Republican. 



James Clay, post ofiice, New City, is a native 
of England, who came to America in 1844, and 
settled on section fourteen, township fourteen, 
range four, where he has ever since resided. In 
July, 1861, he married Dorcas Davy, a native, 
also, of England; she died August 5, 1872, and 
January 25, 1874, he married Mrs. Mary A. 
Kearns; she was born in Ohio, September 10, 
1836, daughter of Jacob and Jerusha Harman. 
She married Perry J. Kearns, September 10, 
1854, by whom she had two sons and four 
daughters; four of these children died in infancy; 
one son, William, M. D., died August 17, 1878; 
Iva Ellie, the only survivor, married Thomas L. 
Matthews, December 31, 1877. Mr. K. enlisted 
August 12, 1861, in the One Hundred and Four- 
teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
wounded at the battle of Tupelo, Mississippi; 
he died from the effects of a wound, August 10, 
1864. By the second marriage one child was 
born, September 2, 1875, who died August 19, 
1876, named Ola Eva. Mr. Clay owns two hun- 
dred and seventy-three acres of land, valued at 
|50 an acre; and the family are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. The following is 
the record of the Kearns family: William, M. 
D., was born October 16, 1855; Mary E., April 
20, 1827; Louis H., June 27, 1858; Eva Ellie, 
August 27, 1859; Ida Eva, October 6, 1860; 
Liewy Bell, September 14, 1862. Sally M. Clay, 
an adopted daughter of James and Mary A. Clay, 
was born November 15, 1875, and died October 
11, 1877; she was a daughter of Mr. Ashford, 
who lost an arm in the late war. 

Aaron C. Colean, farmer, post ofiice, Pawnee, 
is a son of Joseph H. and Maria L (Gillham) 
Colean, natives of Illinois. They had nine chil- 
dren, four sons and five daughters. Five died 
in childhood, and four grew to maturity. Aaron 
was the fifth child, and was born March 4, 1848, 
in Jersey county, this State. He came with his 
parents to this county in 1855, and October 
3, 1869, married Mary J. Spicer, daughter of 
Thompson C. and Melvina Spicer, who was born 
in this county, November 2, 1850. They had 
four children: Luther E, born May 0, 1871; 
Etta A., born October 27, 1872; Charles A., 
born February 25, 1876, and Mary Melvina, born 
November 4, 1877. Luther E. died August 13, 
1872. Mr. C. OAvns two hundred acres of land, 
worth $50 an acre. His antecedents were Spanish 
and French; hers were German. Both are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He enlisted in the Thirteenth United States Reg- 
iment, served three years in the late War of the 
Rebellion, and was discharged in November, 1867. 



8(8 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Joseph 11. Colean, farmer, post office, Paw- 
nee, a son of Francis and Polly (Cox) Colean, 
the former a native of Illinois, and born July 15, 
1794, and the latter born November 3, 1797, in 
North Carolina; they were married in Madison 
county, August 20, 1814, and were the parents 
of fourteen children; ten grew to maturity — six 
sons and four danghters. The father was a cor- 
poral to General Harrison, during the War of 
1812, when about eighteen years of age, and was 
at the battle of Tippecanoe. Joseph H., the 
subject of this sketch, was born August 31, 1818, 
in Madison county, this State, and has always 
followed farming. On October 3, 1839, he 
married Maria L. Gillham, and they had nine 
children; five died in childhood. Of the 
four living, three are sons and one daughter; 
their names are Aaron C, born March 4, 1848; 
Mead W., born in Jersey county, September 9, 
1852; Maria Louisa, born in Sangamon county, 
December 12, 1855; Joseph Harrison, born in 
this county, August 8, 1858; they descended 
from Spanish and Fiench ancestors. Mr. C. 
owns four hundred acres of valuable land, worth 
$50 an acre; the improvements are a commodious 
dwelling house, a large barn, and other build- 
ings in good order. He was educated in the 
old-tashioned log school house where there were 
puncheon floors and seats, oiled paper used for 
windows, and the room heated by a mud and 
stick fireplace. 

Francis Marion Cross, a farmer, post office. 
Pawnee, is a son of Alvin and Margaret 
(Forbes) Cross, whose father was born in Ken- 
tucky about the year 1800, and his mother, also 
born in Kentucky, June 2, 1802; they were mar- 
ried in Tennessee, and had twelve children, six 
sons and six daughters; five sons and three 
daughters were raised to maturity; the father 
died in 1858. Francis M. Cross, was born De- 
cember 14, 1838, in this county. He married 
Emily A. Hayden, November 16, 1870; she was 
a native of Pike county, Illinois. They have 
three children, William F., born October 5, 
1872; Henry Edgar, born April 28, 1870; Charles 
J., born February 20, 1880. Mrs. Cross' mother, 
Elizabeth (Vancil) Hayden, was born in this 
county, May 2, 1830, and her father, Abner 
Hayden, was born in Virginia, December 3, 1816; 
they were of German extraction. Mr. Cross' 
parents were Scotch and French. Mr. Riley 
Cross, a brother, died in the army during the 
Mexican war, and his father was in the Black 
Hawk war. Mr. Cross owns one hundred and 
eighteen acres of land, worth -^40 an acre. He 
is a member of the Christian Church, and his 



wife of the German Baptist, and politically they 
are Democrats. 

Michael Fay, farmer, post office. Pawnee, was 
born in Baden, Germany, July 18, 1824, and was 
brought by his parents to this county in 1831; 
first settled in Island Grove, and in 1861 came 
to this township, where he married Mrs. Mary 
Greenawalt, widow of Jacob Greenawalt, daugh- 
ter of William and Elizabeth Bradley. Mrs. 
Fay had seven children by her former husband: 
Francis M., John W., George W., Sarah, Sarah 
E , William J., Mary F., and James N. Mr. 
Fay was first married to Jennie A. Youngblood, 
and had two children, Sarah F., who married 
Lewis Clein, and lives in Burlington, Kansas; 
Martha married Henry Beel, and lives in New 
Berlin, this county. By a second marriage to 
Martha Burton, he had a son, Andrew J., who 
married Etta B. Laughton, and lives in Burling- 
ton, Kansas, and Jacob H., who married Mary 
Reynolds^, and lives in this county. 

l>avid Funderburk, was born in South Caro- 
lina, January G, 1795. His father, Joseph Fun- 
derburk, was born in South Carolina, about the 
year 1769, and his mother, Mollie (Sturkey) 
Funderburk, was also born in South Carolina, 
aboutl767; both parents were of German descent, 
the date of their marriage was about 1792. They 
had five children, Margaret, David, Joseph M., 
Daniel and Henry. David was the second child, 
and was apprenticed to Conrad Barch, a hatter, 
but instead of teaching him the trade they 
required him to work on the plantation with the 
negroes; he ran away and enlisted in the Third 
United States Rifle Regiment for five years; this 
was in 1814. He was discharged at the expira- 
tion of his term in 1819; then came to this county 
and worked at whatever he could find to do until 
the lands came into market in 1823, when he 
entered the land on which he now lives, on sec- 
tion eighteen, town fourteen, range four. In 1821, 
he married Hannah Henkle, who was born in 
Virginia, and died September 22, 1873, and was 
of German origin. They had twelve children, 
eight of M'hom are still living, namely: Mary 
Jane, John, Newton, David, Phoebe, William, 
Frank, and Thomas J.; all are married. Mr. F. 
owns three hundred and ninety acres of land, 
mo-tly timber, about one hundred and sixty 
acres under good cultivation. His early school 
advantages were very limited, having attended 
only about four months, and that at irregular 
periods. The first school in his district was kept 
in a log house on Horse creek. The first camp 
meeting in the county was held on the land now 
owned by Daniel G. Jones, October 19, 1S19. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



^19 



Rev. Mr. Walker, an old man, was presiding 
-elder, and Rivers Cormack, preacher in charge. 
Mr. Sims and Mr. Randall were also there as 
preachers; there were only four or five tents, and 
about one hundred people present. David and 
Frank were both in the array; ihe former in the 
Eleventh Missouri Regiment, and the latter in 
the One Hundred and Fourteenth. The Funder- 
burk family generally have been Republicans, 
and are members of the M. E. Church. 

James M. Haines, a farmer; post ofiice, New 
<City, son of Christopher and Mira (Gatewood) 
Haines; the former born in Virginia, in 1795, 
and the latter in Alabama, June 9, 1797; mar- 
ried October 12, 1815. They had seven children 
born in Kentucky, and moved with them to this 
county, in 1829; entered land and commenced 
farming, which he continued until his death, 
March 29, 1850. 

The subject of this sketch married Myrah 
Ricks, of Kentucky, May 24, 1853; had nine 
children: Alice E., born July 22, 1854, and 
married Dr. W. B. Smith, June 7, 1877, and 
with him resides at New City, in this township; 
Benelta S., born February 16, 1856; Margaret 
Emma, born December 19, 1857; William C, 
torn February 5, 1860; Ulysses G., born July In, 
1863; Ida M., born May 4, 1865; Newell E., 
born October 15, 1867, and died February 17, 
1868; Freddie G., born April 9, 1869, and died 
September 19, 1869; Arthur G., born June 13, 
1871. Mr. H. owns three hundred and eight 
acres of land, of which two hundred and fifty- 
six are under cultivation, and worth $50 per 
acre. The house in which he attended school in 
Sangamon, was a small log cabin, with puncheon 
floor and split slab benches, with oiled paper for 
window lights. Thomas Laughlin was his first 
teacher, in 1833. His father was born July 5, 
1795, in Virginia, and died in Sangamon county, 
March 30. 1850, and his mother Mira (Gatewood) 
was born in 1797, and died in this county No- 
vember 18, 1859. They were members of the 
Protestent Methodist Church. Mr. Jas. M. 
Haines and his family are of the M. E. church, 
and in polit'cs they are Republicans. 

John G. Haines, son of Christopher Haines, 
a farmer in Cotton Hill township, was born, 
January 5, 1818, in Allen county, Kentucky, 
came to Sangamon county October 22, 1829, 
with his parents. (See sketch of Jas. M. Haines). 
The subject of this sketch married Mary A. Pal- 
mer, February 20, 1840, the daughter of Ambrose 
Palmer, of East St. Louis, and came to this coun- 
ty in the year 1835. They had eight children, 
Hester Ann, born Julv 29, 1848, and married A. 



J. Maxfield, and lives in Springfield, Illinois; 
Dotia C, born April 15, 1843, died January 8, 
1873; James T., born January 18, 1846, and died 
October 9, 1846; Margaret V., born November 
22, 1841, and died November 2, 1852; Mary F., 
born November 8, 1852, and died December 13, 
1852; Martha J., born Jan. 15, 1854, and married 
June 12, 1873; Jno. F.,born June 15, 1856, and 
died October 18, 1860; Nancy A., born January 
10, 1859, and died September 14, 1859. Mrs. H. 
died January 31, 1874, and Mr. H. married again 
September 7, 1874, to Eliza P. Criteser, the 
daughter of Peter Criteser, of Ohio, and Ann 
(Cowgill) Criteser, of Indiana. They have three 
children, Winfred I, born July 19, 1875; James 
M., born March 22, 1877; and Samuel S., born 
October 25, 1871. Mr. Haines was justice of 
the peace eight years previous to 1869, and has 
held other oftices of trust in the township. He 
served with the Second Artillery, Company C, 
in the late Union army, one year, and was 
crushed while mounting a cannon at Paducah, 
Kentucky, March 7,1862, and was discharged by 
reason of injury, August 6, 1862, and has never 
fully recovered, and is drawing a small pension. 
He and wife are members of the M. E. church. 
They are Republicans in politics. 

Andrew Jones was born in Culpepper county, 
Virginia, January 10, 1783. His parents died 
when he was a child. About 1808, he went to 
Bath county, Kentucky. There he married 
Eleanor Goodan, in 1812, who was born March 
16, 1793, in Pennsylvania, and was taken by her 
parents to Kentucky when she was quite young. 
They had five children in Bath .county, after 
which the family moved to this county, in 1825, 
and settled at Round Prairie, in Rochester town- 
ship, locating on government land, where a son, 
John, was born, October 4, 1829. They made a 
home, and resided there until their death. The 
father died in 1854, and the mother in 1859, 
leaving five children, who settled in the imme- 
diate vicinity. 

Daniel G. Jones, the subject of this sketch, 
was born November 15, 1822, in Bath county, 
Kentucky, where he was raised on a farm, and 
received an elementary education in the schools 
of the neighborhood. He remained at home 
until he was twenty-seven years old, then mar- 
ried Amanda J. Brunk, in 1849. She died Sep- 
tember 28, 1865, leaving two children, Laura and 
George. Her parents were George and Mary 
Brunk, who came to this county in 1821, and en 
tered land in Ball township, where they remained 
many years. She was born January 1, 1830. 
Mr. Jones moved to the place where he is now 



880 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



living in 1855, and has a farm of seven hundred 
and ten acres, valued at #50 an acre; has a fine 
residence, and is one of the solid men of the 
township. His father came to the township in 
limited circumstances. Their first house was a 
log cabin about high enough for a man to stand 
in, sixteen feet in size, covered, and a puncheon 
floor. The family consisted of nine persons. 

On May 5, 1869, Mr. Jones married Mary F. 
Rickard, who was born near Springfield, Illinois, 
August 16, 1840. At the age of twelve years, 
she was sent to the Science Hill Female Acad- 
emy, Shelbyville, Kentucky, and took the full 
course of study. Her parents were Noah and 
Harriett (Talbott) Rickard. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
have two children: Mary R., born November 3, 
ISVO, and Helen, born January 4, 1876. Both 
reside at home with their parents. 

John R. Kijicaid, post oftice. Cotton Hill, is 
a son of James and Mary (Gwin) Kincaid, who 
were natives of Virginia, and were married 
about 18-29. They had three sons and one 
daughter ; all are living except one — James W. 
— who died as a soldier, in the late war. The 
subject of this sketch was the second child, and 
w^as born in Virginia, November 14, 1833. He 
was taken by his parents to Ohio, and came to 
thie State April 15, 1857, He taught school in 
the winter, and broke prairie during the summer 
months, for several years. He was married 
January 1, 1863, to Miss Mary J. Meredith, 
daughter of Davis and Mary Meredith, who 
came from Ohio to this county in 1829. Mrs. 
Kincaid was born December 3, 1842. They are 
the parents of eight children, five of whom sur- 
vive, viz: Luther E., born March 23, 1864; 
Mary J., born December 28, 1865, and died Sep- 
tember 4, 1867 ; James W., born September 25, 
1868 ; Louisa A., born August 28, 1870, and 
died August 11, 1871; Margaret E., born June 
14, 1872, and died July 20, 1873 ; Catalina M., 
born May 30, 1874; Fred. C, born June 29, 
1876 ; Charles J., born October 12, 1878. Mr. 
Kincaid purchased land in this county in 1874, 
and has resided on it since. He received his 
education principally in the common schools 
of Ohio, and attended the academy at Gallipolis, 
Ohio, two years. He owns a large farm of two 
hundred and fifty acres, valued at $50 an acre, 
and has a neat, commodious frame dwelling 
house. Mrs. Kincaid is a member of the M. E. 
Church. Mr. K. votes with the Republican 
party. 

James 31. Martin, post office, Springfield, 
^Evans' Box), is a son of George and Leah 
(Fahs) Martin. His father was born in Hamp- 



shire county, Virginia, October 28, 1805, and 
died October 25, 1841; his mother was born in 
same county, August 12, 1802, and died August 
8, 1860. They had six children, two were born 
in Virginia, one in Ohio, and three in this county; 
four lived to maturity. John Martin, the father 
of George, purchased land in 1834, the same now 
owned and occupied by James Martin, the sub- 
ject of this biography; they were of Scotch and 
German ancestry. James married Mary Wil- 
liams, daughter of I. B. Williams, who was born 
in Ohio; her grandfather was a native of Ver- 
mont. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have had seven 
children; four died in childhood, and three are 
living, namely: George B., Mary Frances, James 
H., John Edgar, William L., Phoebe Adaline, 
and Susan Alice. Mr. Martin owns ninety-six 
acres of land, seventy under cultivation; it is 
worth $40 an acre. He is, in politics, a Demo- 
crat. 

David Marshall, post oflice Cotton Hill was 
born November 6, 1843. His parents, Stephen 
and Amada (Smalley) Marshall, were natives of 
New Jersey, and came to this State and settled 
in Macoupin county in 1845. His father was a 
miller, also farming to some extent. They had 
nine children — two died in childhood, and seven 
grew to maturity. David was the seventh child 
and came to this county about 1857. On Octo- 
ber 27, 1864, he married Emily C. Spicer, born 
August 13, 1843; they had four children, two 
died in infancy and two are living, Mary F., 
born November 3, 1867, and Louisa, born May 
27, 1875. Mrs. Marshall's parents, U. D. and 
Nancy Clifton Spicer, were natives of Delaware. 
He was born September 24, 1793, and died Feb- 
ruary 15, 1855; the mother born October 30^ 
1800; and the father, Mr. Marshall, owns one 
hundred and ten acres of land valued at $50 per 
acre; makes a specialty of cattle and hogs for 
market. He had limited advantages for early 
education, and always worked hard; he iised 
to work sixteen days for a hog, and worked all 
summer for five acres of corn. He bought a 
colt, and the next year worked for six acres of 
corn, and in the winter worked for his board. 
When he was sixteen years old he worked for 
seven acres, and when he was seventeen, herded 
cattle for $30 a month; bought calves and run 
them with the herd, then sold oiit, and had 
about $400, with which he bought forty acres of 
land, cut the wood off, and sold it in Springfield; 
from that time he continued to prosper as a 
speculator. They are Democrats politically. 

Joh7i Popp, post office, Springfield, was born 
in Germany. J J is parents were John G. and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Ann Popp, the former born in 178:5, in Germany, 
where he also died; the mother's birth is un- 
known; she was born, and died in Germany; 
they were married in 1821 and had five children, 
three of whom died young. John was the fourth 
child, and came to this country and settled in 
New Jersey, where he lived four years, then 
came to this county and settled were he now 
lives, in 1860. He married Susan J. Billings 
who was born in this county; her parents were 
from Maryland, and of Welsh and German an- 
cestry; they had five children, Mary E , born 
December 21, 1861, and died March 20, 1876; 
Herschel V., born July 20, 1863, and died Jan- 
uary 17, 1872; Judith A., born September 3, 1865, 
and died December 1, 1866; Theodore, born 
March 31, 1867; and Julia A., born January 18, 
1872. Mrs. Popp died December 1, 1874. Mr. 
P. owns seventy acres of land, worth $40 an 
acre. He had good educational advantages, hav- 
ing attended the higher schools in the old coun- 
try, and the English schools after arriving here; 
he belongs to the German Lutheran Chui-ch. 

James T. liape, post oflice, New City, is a son 
of John and Elizabeth Rape, whose children 
were as follows: Joseph, born January 25, 1840; 
John, born December 16, 1843; James, born 
September 27, 1845; Mary, born October 18, 
1848; Samuel, born January 20, 1852; Nancy 
Eveline, born April 27, 1856; and Emily Jane, 
who died at the age of nineteen. James T., the 
subject of this sketch, was born in this county, 
September 27, 1845, and always lived on the 
farm now occupied by him. On January 10, 
1866, he was married to Miss Mary West, 
who was born in Vermilion county, In- 
diana, and of German ancestry. They have had 
five children, four of whom are living: Delia 
M., born May 22, 1868; Florence R., born De- 
cember 15, 1869, and died at the age of nine 
months; Fred R., born September 28, 1871; 
Izora R., born March 31, 1875, and Pearl, born 
March 9, 1878. Mr. Rape owns seventy-five 
acres of land, and has held several township 
oftices. In politics they are Democrats. The 
family are generally Methodists, 

Andrew Milslagle, post office. New City, was 
born in Virginia, March 25, 1801; his parents 
were Jacob and Elizabeth (Cooper) Mislagle, the 
former born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
They had eleven children, five sons and six 
daughters. Andrew was the first son and came 
to this county in 1834. In 1832, he married 
Miss Mary Martin, in Virginia. They had six 
children, two of whom died in infancy, and two 
after arriving at mature age. The living are: 



Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Mopin, and now liv- 
ing in Kansas; and Jacob M., who married 
Elizabeth Peek, and resides on the homestead 
with his parents. When Mr. Milslagle first came 
here, he entered land and commenced farming, 
and has continued that occupation ever since. 
He owns one hundred and fifty acres of land, 
eighty of which is under cultivation. He be- 
longs to the U. P. Church. His son, William, 
was in the army, a member of the One Hundred 
and Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, 
Infantry, and died at home in July, 1863, from 
diseases contracted in the army. Mr. Milslagle 
has been married twice. His first wife died in 
1837, and his second in 1845, and he is now a 
widower, 

William B. Smith, M. D., post office, New 
City, was born in Williamsburg, Claremont 
county, Ohio, March 15, 1846; son of Robert D., 
and Margaret (Burkitt) Smith, the former of 
Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. They lived 
and died in Claremont county, Ohio, the mother 
on July 10, 1849, of cholera, the father, January 
15, 1862. William B., attended the higher 
schools of Ohio and Kentucky, until he was 
twenty-one years of age, when he commenced 
the study of medicine in Dover, Kentucky, with 
his uncle, and was with him three years; after- 
ward studied with Samuel Burkitt, and H. Clay 
Lassing, of Boone county, in the winter of 1869— 
70. He attended lectures at Ann Arbor, Michi- 
gan, and at Keokuk, Iowa, in the spring of 1878. 
where he graduated with honors. He practiced 
three years in Kentucky and seven years in this 
State. He mai-ried Alice E., daughter of J. M., 
and Myra O. Haines, of Cotton Hill township, 
where she was born. They have two children, 
Robert M., born March 9, 1880, and Newell Jay, 
born September 13, 1881. The doctor has a 
good practice in the county; is at the present 
time town treasurer, and has been two years. 
He was elected justice of the peace, but declined 
to serve. He laid out the village of New City, 
and gave it the name, and was the first postmas- 
ter in it. 

Hartman Spengler, post office, New City, was 
born in Baden Baden, Germany, February 10, 
1840. His parents were Michael and Catharine 
Spengler and were natives of Germany. The 
father was born April 1, 1812; the mother's birth- 
day unknown; they were married in Germany in 
March, 1837; they had five children, of whom 
three are living, and all in the United States. 
Hartman was the first child, and came to this 
country with his parents in 1843, when four 
years of age. On May 16, 1867, he married Miss 



882 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Malinda Moyer, who was born in Pennsylvania, 
November 5, IS 43, daughter of Abraham Moyer, 
who was born also in Pennsylvania, and of Ger- 
man parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Spengler have 
had eight children, seven of \vhom are living: 
Thomas M., born March 14, 1868; Samuel H., 
born October 11, 1869; Winnie L., born Novem- 
ber 6, 1870 and died November 21, 1879; Arte- 
mus L., born September 9, 1872; Mary M., born 
November 1, 1874; Alice J., born January 21, 
1877; Rose A., born November 23, 1878; and 
Gilbert, born March 24, 1880, and an infant son 
born November 4, 1881. Mr. S. owns forty 
acres of land, valued at |40 an acre. He has 
been supervisor of Cotton Hill, two terms. Mr. 
S. is a Presbyterian and she a Lutheran. 

Alfred Vigal, of Cotton Hill township, sec- 
tion twenty, son of John T. Vigal, was born in 
this township, April 28, 1835, where he has since 
resided, and married, December 17, 1857, to 
Dianna Carpenter, who was born in Delaware 
county, Ohio, February 6, 1831. She came to 
Shelby county, Illinois, when eight years old, 
and thence, in 1839, to Sangamon, where she 
married and had eight children — Clara J., born 
October 2, 1858, and married October 20,1880, 
to Charles C. Jones, and resides in this town- 
ship ; John F., born January 30, 1860 ; an in- 
fant, born January 29, 1861, and died February 
20, 1861 ; Adaline, born February 11, 1862, and 
died January 19,1875; Tonia, born June 19, 
1863; an infant, born February 10, 1865, and 
died same day; Edwin, born Novembers, 1867, 
and Mary, born August 26, 1870. Mr. Vigal's 
father, John T. Vigal, was born near Louisville, 
Kentucky, April 8, 1808, and married March 10, 
1830, in Clark county, Indiana, to Hannah 
Coble, who was also born there. May 20, 1811. 
They came to Sangamon county the same year 
of their marriage, and settled in Cotton Hill 
township, where he has continued to reside since 
that time, and had nine children — five sons and 
four daughters. Three sons and one daughter 
(Mrs. W. H. Boyd) are yet living, all in this 
township. Mrs. John T. Vigal died May 12, 
1853. Mr. Alfred Vigal has always been a 
farmer, and owns ninety acres of valuable land, 
well cultivated. 

William H. Vigal, farmer, on section twenty- 
one, post cfiice, New City, is a brother of the 
preceding, and was born January 22, 1833. He 
was raised on a farm and received a common 
school education. He married Miss Sarah Wil- 
lian, daughter of Thomas Willian, of Kentucky, 
and was born in Cotton Hill township, August 
29, 1833; they have had six children, as follows: 



Martha A., born September 3, 1857, now Mrs. 
Chester G. Willaims; Everett A., born Novem- 
ber 6, 1859; Metta E., born December 2, 1865^ 
William M., born February 2, 1869; Ermen 
C, born October 17, 1873; Freddie H., born 
May 16, 1871, and died December 22, 1879. Mr. 
V. has held the office of supervisor for several 
years, and also other local offices of trust. He 
owns three hundred and sixty acres of land, 
under good cultivation, worth $40 an acre; he 
raises corn, and is largely engaged in feeding 
cattle. Mr. V. is a self-made man, and has 
earned his propeity by hard work, industry and 
economy. He has a fine residence; his wife 
and oldest daughter are members of the M. E. 
Church, In politics. Republican. 

Jonathan Weaver, post office. New City, is the 
seventh son of Jacob and Susan Weaver, natives 
of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and of Ger- 
man ancestry. They had fourteen children, 
most of whom grew to maturity. Jonathan was 
born December 20, 1816. Becoming an orphan 
at the age of six years, he was put on a farm 
until he was eighteen years of age, and then 
was apprenticed to carpentry and cabinet-mak- 
ing. In February, 1842, he married Miss Mary 
Ruth, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Ruth, 
of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, who was of 
English descent. She died the following year, 
in January, and on May 14, 1846, Mr. W. mar- 
ried Mary Hammer, of Washington county, 
Maryland, who was born July 7, 1818. By this 
marriage there were five sons: George H., born 
July 1, 1847; Willie H., February 1, 1850; Sam- 
uel R., April 24, 1853; Jonathan L , March 16, 
1856; and James B., October 15, 1863. Mrs.W, 
died November 21, 1872, and was buried at Oak 
Ridge Cemetery. Mr. Weaver's farm comprises 
one hundred and twenty acres, which is valued 
at $35 an acre. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and politically a Republican. 

Richard White, post office. Pawnee, was born 
in Tennessee, October 15,1830. His father, Craig 
White, was born in January, 1800, in Tennessee. 
At the age of eighteen, he married Sally Lane, 
of North Carolina, and they had thirteen chil- 
dren. They came to this country in 1830. They 
had but little money, and bought land at second 
hand. Richard was but a few weeks old when 
his parents settled here. In March, 1866, 
he married Hannah Ward, who was born in 
Virginia, March 20, 1845. They had two chil- 
dren: William, who died in infancy, and Lilly 
Elizabeth, born October 16,1869. Mr. White 
owns one thousand acres of land, valued at $40 
an acre, and is engaged in general farming. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



883 



Chapter XXXVL 



TOWNSHIP OF CURRAN. 



The township of Curran is situated in the sec- 
ond tier of townships from the west and the 
third from the south, and comprises township 
fifteen, range six west. 

TOPO GRAPHICAL. 

The township or Curran is chiefly rolling 
prairie, having but little timber, and that along 
the banks of Lick creek and Spring creek. The 
soil is of good quality and the farms second to 
none. 

WATER COURSES. 

The township is watered by Lick creek and 
Big Spring creek, and their tributaries. Lick 
creek waters nearly the entire southern tier of 
sections entering Woodside township, from sec- 
tion twenty-five. Spring creek heads on section 
nineteen, and leaves the township from section 
four. Plenty of water is found for the stock. 

RAILROAD. 

The Wabash railroad passes through the 
center of the township, entering from Spring- 
field on section twelve, and passes out from sec- 
tion nineteen. It has two stations in the town- 
ship — Curran and San station. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The first settlement was made in this town- 
ship in 1819. Among the early settlers were 
Joshua Brown, Jacob Earnest, Thomas Earnest, 
William Archer, David Cloyd, Thomas Cloyd, 
Samuel Cloyd, Stephen Shelton, William T. 
Brawnes, Ivins Fostei*, James Parkinson, John 
Smith, Thomas McKee, Elisha McKomas, Mr. 
Lamb, John Kelly, James McKee, Barney Van- 
deren, Henry Alsbury, Thomas Hilliard, Thomas 
Foster, William Withrow, and others. 

The first settlers of the township were from 
the south, Kentucky furnishing the greater num- 

103— 



ber. The "Yankees" now inhabiting the town- 
ship came at a later day. 

Joshua Brown was born May 20, 1V92, in 
Davis county, Kentucky. Nancy Wilcher was 
born December, 1789, in the same county. 
They were there married, early in 1812, and in 
November, 1818, moved to St.^ Clair county, 
Illinois, and from there to what became Sanga- 
mon county, arriving April 18, 1819, in what is 
now Curran township, east of Archer's creek, 
and south of Spring creek, and later, entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of land south of Spring 
creek, in Gardner township. 

Jacob Earnest was born April 24, 1799, in 
South Carolina, was married there to Elizabeth 
Sims, who was born April 26, 1798. She was a 
sister of James and William Sims, one of whom 
was older and the other younger than herself. 
They moved to that part of Simpson which later 
became Logan county, Kentucky. In 1817, the 
family moved to St. Clair county, Illinois, and 
they moved to what became Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in the fail of 1819, on Spring 
creek, in what is now Curran township, 

Thomas Earnest was born June 3, 1792, in 
South Carolina. His parents moved, when he 
was a boy, to Simpson county, Kentucky. In 
the autumn of 1819, he came to Sangamon 
county, and joined his brother Jacob, who had 
previously arrived with his family. Thomas 
Earnest commenced improvements south of 
Spring creek, eight miles west of Springfield, 
and entered land when it came into market. He 
was married October 15, 1822, to Alletta Lan- 
terraan. 

William Archer was born July 30, 1793, in 
North Carolina, and in 1807 his parents moved 
to Tennessee, where he was married to Eliza- 
beth Jackson; moved to Madison county, lUi- 



884 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



nois, where Mrs. A. died, and he married Eliza- 
beth Holt, December 20, 1818. She was born 
December 3, 11 93, in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, 
and, losing her parents when quite young, she 
was taken by an uncle, Robert White, to Madi- 
son county, Illinois, in 1811. Wm. and Elizabeth 
Archer had twins in Madison county, and moved 
to Sangamon county, arriving April 80, 1820, in 
what is now Curran township. 

William Archer died August 31, 1867, from 
the effects of being thrown from a horse, and his 
widow resides at the farm where they settled in 
1820. 

In the fall of 1873, Mrs. Elizabeth Archer, 
then eighty years of age, gave to the writer a 
piece of a dress made with her own hands more 
than sixty years before. The family of her 
uncle, with whom she moved from Georgia, to 
St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1811, brought some 
cotton in the bolls, for the purpose of using the 
seed in growing cotton in their new home. Miss 
Holt, as her name then was, obtained the consent 
of her uncle to apply the coiton to her own use. 
She picked it from the bolls and separated the 
cotton from the seed with her fingers, and spun 
it on a wheel, borrowed from a neighbor more 
than thirty miles distant. She had a rude loom 
constructed for the purpose, and had just com- 
menced weaving, when the first assassination 
among the white settlers, by the Indians took 
place, as the beginning there of the war with 
England. That occurred in June, 1812. She, 
with her uncle's family, fled to Fort Bradsby, a 
rude wooden fortification near by. Appealing to 
the Lieutenant in command for protection, he 
reported the case to Governor Edwards, who 
authorized him to grant her request. A guai'd 
was accordingly placed around the cabin, and 
kept there until the weaving was completed. 
The design was unique and beautiful. The cloth 
was carefully preserved, some of it bleached to 
snowy whiteness and made into a dress. She 
wore it for the first time to a quarterly meeting 
in 1818, just after the close of the war, and at- 
tracted universal attention as the finest dressed 
lady in all that region of country. 

David Cloyd was born about 1766, in Bote- 
tourt county, Virginia. He was married there, 
moved to Culpeper county, and from there to 
Washington county, Kentucky, about 1815. He 
moved in company with his sons, Thomas and 
Samuel, and his daughter Polly — who married 
Henry Lucas — to Sangamon county, arriving 
October, 1825, in what is now Curran township. 
David Cloyd died about 1839, and his widow in 
1844 or '5, both in Sangamon county. 



Thomas Cloyd, son of David, was born Jan- 
uary 14, 1798, in Botetourt county, Virginia, 
and went with his parents to Washington county, 
Kentucky, in 1815. He was married there April 
27, 1820, to Ann Withrow. They had three 
children in Kentucky, and in 1824 moved to 
Fayette county, Illinois, where they had one 
child, and from there to Sangamon county, ar- 
riving Oc'ober, 1825, in what is now Curran 
township, north of Lick creek, where they had 
two children. Of their six children — Samuel 
Cloyd, brother to Thomas, was born November 
20, 1802, in Culpeper county, Virginia. He was 
taken by his parents to Washington county in 
1815, and to Sangamon county, in 1825. He was 
married May 1, 1832, in Sangamon county to 
Eliza Clements. They had but one child. 

Stephen Shelton was born 1777, in North 
Carolina, married there to Lydia Heath, and at 
once moved to Ohio, near the mouth of Sciota 
river; the family moved across the Ohio river 
into Cabel county. West Virginia. He was a 
soldier from Virginia in the War of 1812, and 
from there moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in May, 1826, in what is now Curran 
township. He died in 1859. 

William T. Brawner, was born August 9, 1799, 
in Maryland. His father died when he was 
seven years old, and his mother moved to Madi- 
son county, Kentucky, when he was eighteen 
years old. He was there married, December 25, 
1822, to Elizabeth Ball; the family moved to 
Sangamon county Illinois, arriving in October, 
18 29, in what is now Curran township. 

Ivins Foster, was born November 23, 1794, in 
Harrison county, Kentucky. Margaret McKee 
was born January 24, 1796, in the same county. 
They were there married, February 26, 1819; 
then moved to Gallatin county; they then moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in Novem- 
ber, 1829, in what is now Curran township, north 
of Lick creek. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The early settlers, as a general thing, looked 
well to the educational interests of their children. 
A settlement was no sooner founded with 
children enough to form a school, than a teacher 
was employed. The first schools attended by 
children from this township, were over the line 
in Chatham. A school house was erected on 
section thirty-two, just before the deep snow, 
which is supposed by the old settlers of to-day 
to be the first in the township. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The first religious services held in the town 
ship are unknown, but it is thought to have been 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



held by William Sims. The first generally- 
remembered were conducted by Rev. Mr. Rice, 
in the summer of 1823, at the house of Thomas 
Smith. For many years all services were held 
either in the cabin of the pioneers or in the 
school houses. There are now three church 
edifices in the township — two Methodist Epis- 
copal and one Presbyterian. 

A class was formed in the southeast part of 
the township, of those belonging to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church at an early day, which met at 
a school house in the neighborhood. Under 
the ministerial care of men who feared God and 
loved their fellow man, it grew until it became 
so large the school house was too small and in- 
convenient to hold the number who desired to 
attend the services. The project of building 
was discussed, and on its location the class 
split, forming two classes, one of whom proceed- 
ed at once to the work of the erection of a 
building on the northeast quarter of section 
thirty-three. The building known as Wesley 
Chapel was erected in 1866, at a cost of $2,600. 
Mount Zion Chapel was erected in 1868, at 
a cost of $3,000. Both edifices are neat frame 
buildings and are an honor to the citizens of the 
township. 

WAR RECORD. 

The war record of the township is good, every 
call of the Government being promptly re- 
sponded to, thus avoiding the necessity of the 
draft. 

MILLS. 

The first water-mill in the township was 
erected in 1842, by Abraham Foster, on Lick 
creek. It had one run of stone. 

CHBESE FACTORY, 

A cheese factory was started in the township 
in 1878, which is doing a fair business, and is 
the property of John Workman. 

RAILROAD STATION. 

The Railroad company has had a flag station, 
known as San station, on the northwest quarter 
of section thirteen. A large amount of grain is 
annually shipped from the station by the farm- 
ers of the neighborhood, for whose benefit the 
8tation was made. 

FIRST THINGS. 

The first frame and plastered house in the town- 
ship was built by Ebenezer Dove, on section 
twenty-six, in 1889. It was called the White 
House, on account of its being painted that 
color. 



The first settlers were from the South. Thomas 
McKee started a blacksmith shop in 1821. Mr. 
McKee was also a gunsmith, and an excellent 
one. The repairing of guns was the principal 
part of his business. 

VILLAGE OF CURRAN. 

Thomas Moffett and A. J. VanDeren, had sur- 
veyed and platted the north part of the west 
half of the northeast quarter of section twenty- 
one, township fifteen noi-th, range six west, the 
plat bearing date September 19, 1857. To the 
village thus platted was given the name "Cur- 
ran," in honor of one of the leading citizens of 
the county. 

Shortly after the village was laid out, a Mr. 
Fox commenced the sale of merchandise in the 
place, being the first to engage in the mercantile 
trade. Mr. Fox also received the appointment 
of postmaster, being the first to occupy that po- 
sition. He was succeeded as postmaster by 
James W. Gibson, Noah Richards, Mr. French, 
and O. S. Hotchkins, the present postmaster. 

The village has made a slow growth, and has 
never numbered many inhabitants. Its near- 
ness to Springfield has tended to retard its 
growth. At present the business of the place is 
represented by the following: O. S. Hotchkins, 
dealer in drugs and groceries; Nicholas Powers, 
groceries; J. W. Hammond, drugs and perfum- 
ery; Joseph Dickerson, blacksmith; William 
Search, wagon maker; Nicholas Powers, dealer 
in grain. 

An elevator was erected in 1877, by Patterson 

& Rickard, with a capacity of bushels. 

Another was erected a year later by Isaac 
French. 

ORGANIC. 

The township was organized in 1861. The 
following comprise the principal township offi- 
cers from 1861 to 1881, inclusive: 

SUPERVISORS. 

James Parkinson 1861-3 

M S. Patteson 1863 

James Parkinson 1864 

M. S. Patteson 1865 

Robert Perkins 1866 

Daniel Taylor 1867 

William French 1868 

William H. Parkinson 1869 

R. L. Perkins 1870 

Thomas Smith 1871 

R. L. Perkins 1872-3 

Thomas Smith 1874 

Peter Vredenburg 1875 

David Paulen 1876-7 

B. F. Caldwell 1878 

Joseph Dickerson 1879 

G. M. Davis 1880 

A. Frey 1881 



886 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



M. S. Patterson 1861-2 

James A. Poor 1863-5 

M. S. Patterson 1866 

Chas. A. Jackson 1867-8 

J. E. Bradley 1869 

C. A. Jackson 1870 

John Bulger 1871 

J.H. Taylor 1872-3 

N. M. Rickard 1874-5 

N. Powers , 1876-8 

J. C . French 1879-80 

Thos. G. Springall 1881 

ASSESSORS. 

A. R. Washburn 1861-2 

Peter Vredenburg 1863 

Daniel Taylor 1864 

Wm. H. Parkinson 1865 

Wm. C. Caldwell 1866 

James A. Poor 1867 

James Young 1868 

H. Gibson 1869-70-71 

Chas. Beerup 1872 

T. L. Bradley 1873 

H. Gibson 1874-5 

James McCasland 1876-7 

R. M. Foster 1878 

J. E Barbee 1879 

G. W. Blewitt 1880-1 

COLLECTORS. 

Wm. C. Smith 1861-3 

Joseph Cloyd 1864 

David Miller 1865-6 

Wm. C. Caldwell * 1867 

H. Gibson 1868 

C. A Jackson 1869-70 

A. L Patteson 1871 

T. M. Perkins 1872 

H. Gibson 1873 

R. P. Smith 1874 

C. P. Vanderen 1875 

A. L. Patteson , 1876 

J. S . Smith 1877 

Ed. Patterson 1878 

A. Alsou 1879 

R. M. Foster 1880 

J. F. Smith ; 1881 



: JUSTICES OP THE PEACE. 



R. C. Smith.. 

Daniel Taylor 

James Parkenson. 
Wm. C. Smith.... 

A. C. Gaines 

Jos. Dickerson. . . , 

Daniel Taylor 

James McCasland. 

David Paulen 

Jos. Dickerson 

W. J. Hammond. . 

Jos. Dickerson 

M. S. Patterson. . . 



•1861 

1865 
ie66 
1869 

.1871 

.1874 

■1877 
1881 



COMMISSIONERS OP HIGHWAY. 

George Trimble 

Wm. French Y 1861 

Thos. Smith 

George Trimble . . '.1862 



J. C. Cloyd 1863 

Wm. French 1864 

George Trimble 1865 

J. C. Cloyd 1866 

Thos. Smith 1867 

M. S. Patterson 1868 

Peter Vredenburg 1869 

M. S. Patterson 1870-72 

J. D. McMurray 1875 

P. Murray 1876 

David Miller 1877 

J. B. Gardner 1878 

P. Murray 1879 

David Miller 1880 

J. P. Gardner 1881 

SCHOOL TRUSTEES. 

A. A. Patterson 1874 

S. L. Foster 1875 

B . F. Caldwell 1876 

R . L. Perkins 1877 

S. L. Foster 1878 

G. M. D. Davis 1878-79 

A. L. Patterson 1880 

R. L. Perkins 1881 

Reminiscenes of James Parkinson. — *' I was 
born in Ohio, near Wheeling, W. Va., Dec. 22, 
1805. My parents removed from there when I 
was an infant to Washington county, Pennsylva- 
nia, and remained there till I was ten or twelve 
years old, then moved into Green county and 
lived there several years, and while there my 
father made the first printing press that was 
ever used in that county, he also invented a 
machine for rifeling gun barrels, and put one 
up at Harper's Ferry for the United States Gov- 
ernment, which proved a great success for the 
government, and some government officials lied 
and swindled him out of it. That same machine 
is used in a manner in rifeling gnu barrels to 
this day. That machine was put up in about 
from 1815 to 1820. My grandfather (Parkinson) 
was a British soldier in the Revolutionary War 
with England, and did not return to England at 
the close of the war. He married a woman of 
Irish descent who lived to be nearly ninety 
years old. What little education I got, I re- 
ceived in the common schools of Pennsylvania. 
I have worked for five and eight dollars per 
month. My parents raised twelve children to 
be men and women. From Green county, Penn- 
sylvania, we moved to what is now Marshal 
county. West Virginia, and the family remained 
there until my father died, August 11, 1848. 
Some time after that my mother removed to this 
State with one of her daughters, Mrs. Craig, 
near Oquawka, and died there October 24, 1853. 
In the fall of 1830, my elder brother and I 
started from home in Virginia for Illinois, on 
horseback, with a model of a mill that our 
father had invented, which would do the work 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



887 



of a four foot stone with a two foot one. We 
carried that model behind us on our horses to 
Sangamon county, and stopped at David Mc- 
Coy's, (who had a mill, and lived aboutten miles 
west of Springfield), and there started one of our 
mills and stayed there all winter, that was the 
winter of the deep snow. We went deer hunt- 
ing before the snow got over two feet deep one 
day, and caught two deer on our horses, but 
when the snow got to its greatest depth, there 
was no such thing as getting about on the 
prairies. 

"We were happily situated to what most of the 
people were, for we had a mill and plenty to 
grind and eat, while a great many had to live on 
hominy. It was about the last of February 
before people could crop the prairies, for the 
snow. That winter we sold our interest in the 
mill business in Illinois, and went back to Vir- 
ginia in the spring of 1831, and remained there 
till the next fall, and then returned to Illinois, 
and stopped at the same place that I did at first. 
That fall the cold weather set in very early, and 
had frosts and freezing weather so soon that it 
spoiled all the corn from seed, so in the spring 
of 1882 we had to send south for seed corn, and 
pay $2 per bushel, and that did not grow well, 
so we had a very poor show for a crop that year, 
but made a light crop. In January, 1833, I 
went to Arkansas and stopped near Little Rock, 
and started a mill there, sold out, and came 
back to Illinois, making my home at David Mc- 
Coy's. I then began to think I was old enough 
to marry, and thought that the first girl I found, 
that I thought enough of and would have me, I 
would marry. I had formed an acquaintance 
with a Miss Mahala Earnest previously, and had 
become somewhat smitten with her, and the 
longer I knew her the better I liked ber, and so 
on November 7, 1833, Mahala Earnest, who was 
born December 18, 1811, in Kentucky, and was 
the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Sims) 
Earnest, and I, were married. We have raised 
three girls and two boys, viz: Mary Jane, born 
November 1, 1834, and married William Bald- 
win; Grizella Ann, born March 22, 1836, and 
married W. T. Bradford; Clarinda Adeline, 
born Jannary 22, 1838, married Thomas B. Pete- 
fish; John. J., born January 23, 1840, married Au- 
gusta Patteson, and William H., born October 
•51, 1842, mai-ried Sarah Jane Bradford. Mr. 
Petefish and family live in Kansas. William H. 
and family live in Missouri. My son, John J., 
served three years in the war and was honorably 
discharged, and my son, William H., aided the 
cause by sending a substitute. I had the first 



scouring ])low ever used on Spring creek, in- 
vented and made by William Sprouse, of Rock 
creek. I became quite interested in the success 
of Mr. Sprouse and furnished the money to aid 
him in procuring the patent. I have served 
twelve years as justice of the peace, before this 
county adopted township organization, and was 
elected first and second supervisor of the town. 
I reside one mile from where we were married. 
Own two hundred and fifty acres of land, on the 
road leading from Springfield to Jacksonville, 
eight miles from Springfield, under a fair state 
of cultivation. My wife and I are supporters of 
the Methodist Church." 

We have thought best to give as a part of the 
history of Curran township, a number of brief 
memoirs of the best known residents, together 
with many who have lived here in an earlier day 
and are now deceased. 

Carroll Archer, farmer, was born in St. Clair 
county, September 30, 1819, and is the son of 
William and Elizabeth (Holt) Archer. His 
father was a native of North Carolina, and born 
December 3, 1793, and his mother in Oglethorpe 
county, Georgia, in December 1791. They 
moved from Madison county, Illinois, in April, 
1820, to Sangamon county, in what is now Cur- 
ran township, where they resided until their 
death. His father died August 31, 1867, from 
the effects of being thrown from a horse. His 
mother died in March 1878. 

Carroll Archer came to the county when quite 
young, and his educational advantages were 
limited, which has been a great trial to him all 
through life. He was brought up on a Tarm and 
might be termed one of Sangamon county's 
early settlers. He remained with his father un- 
til he was married, November 24, 1842, to Deli- 
lah Eenshaw, who was born in St. Clair county, 
Illinois, in 1822. They have three children, 
Martha T., now Mrs. Lorenzo Stillman, and re- 
sides in Curran township; Ann E., now Mrs. Ed- 
ward Robinson, and resides in Linden, Kansas; 
Sarah C, now Mrs. Henry Gaines, and resides 
near Odell, Illinois. His wife died May 31, 
1865, and he again married September 4, 1866, 
Elizabeth Houton, who was born October 25, 
1 830, in Menard county. They have two chil- 
dren, Edwin, and Maria Belle. He owns one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he 
resides. He cast his first vote for General Har- 
rison, in 1840, for President, and he is an ardent 
supporter of the Republican party. 

William Barbre, farmer, Curran township, 
was boi'n November 10, 1822; second son of 
Eli Barbre, who was born July 26, 1798, in Ken- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tucky. He was married about 1819, in Posey 
county, Indiana, to Nancy Wilkinson, a native 
of Kentucky, also. Mrs. Barbre died there, in 
1828. Mr. Barbre moved to Edgar county, Illi- 
nois, and was married there January 17, 1829, to 
Anna Wilson. They moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1835, in what is 
now Island Grove township, where they con- 
tinued to reside on a farm until his death, which 
occurred at Waverly, Illinois, in the fall of 184t>. 
His mother afterwards married William With- 
row, and died in the fall of 1871. The subject 
of this sketch was brought up on a farm and was 
deprived of the school privileges on account of 
having to help support the remainder of the 
family. 

He came to this county with his parents, and 
was first married January 15, 1845, to Rebecca 
Smith, born October 21, 1828. She was the 
daughter of John and Jane (Drennan) Smith, 
who now reside in Curran township. They had 
two children — Nancy and Jane — the latter now 
Mrs. James McKee. He lost his wife October 
18, 1847, and was again married, February 6, 
1849, to Lucy M. Smith, sister to his first wife, 
who was born April 17, 18 23. They had a 
family of nine children, six of whom are now 
living — Mary A , Johnnie E., James W. Richard 
S., Samuel M., and Martha C. — three dead. Came 
to the township soon after marriage, and has con- 
tinued to reside in the same ever since. He en- 
listed in the late war, September, 1861, in com- 
pany B, Tenth Illinois Cavalry, for three years. 
He was wagon-master and veterinary surgeon, 
and underwent many trials ; was in several 
skirmishes in Missouri, and received a sunstroke 
at the battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, in 1862, 
and was disabled on account of same. He was 
honorably discharged, in June, 1863. He is 
now the owner of four hundred and forty acres 
of land in Curran township ; is well improved, 
and worth $60 per acre. In politics, is a Demo- 
crat. 

Caldwell. — The origin of the Caldwell family, 
now living in the town of Curran, can be traced 
back to the fourth generation removed. Thomas 
Caldwell, the great-grandfather, was born in Ire- 
land, but emigrated to America prior to the Rev- 
olutionary War. The name is Scotch, and it is 
quite probable there was a union of Scotch and 
Irish blood in the family. Thomas Caldwell 
married in Ireland, Betsy Harris, a Welsh lady, 
and the couple decided to remove to the New 
World, where they would have a better oppor- 
tunity of making for themselves and family, a 
borne. They landed at Charleston, South Caro- 



lina, where they remained a short time, and then 
moved to Virginia. Here they remained a few 
years, and here William Caldwell was born, De- 
cember 15, 1779. When the latter was but a 
youth, his parents removed to Jessamine county, 
Kentucky, where they subsequently died, at the 
house of their son, William. William Caldwell 
was a man of more than ordinary ability, and 
while living in Kentucky held several important 
public positions, being elected and serving as 
sheriff of Jessamine county, and representing 
the county several terms in the State legislature. 
William Caldwell was married in Jessamine 
county, Kentucky, to Nancy Robards, a native of 
Virginia. Six children were born unto them: 
George L., John, Jane R., Elizabeth, Charles 
H., and William, Jr., all of whom are now dead. 

William Caldwell moved from Kentucky to 
Greene county, Illinois, in 1831, and to Sanga- 
mon county in 1836, locating in Auburn town- 
ship. Subsequently he moved to Curran town- 
ship, where he died, August 1, 1844, his widow 
surviving him something over fourteen years. 
When he moved to Curran township, there was 
near him no place for holding public worship. 
In order to afford temporary accommodations, he 
constructed his residence in such a manner that 
it could be used for that purpose. It consisted 
of a large central room, with three other large 
rooms opening into it. Plans were laid, before 
his death, for building a church, and on his 
death bed he requested that it be calkd Bethel, 
which was done. He was a man of great public 
spirit, and was Captain of a company from Jes- 
samine county, Kentucky, in the War of 1812, 
After his removal to Sangamon county he served 
one term in the legislature. 

John Caldwell, the second son, was born Janu- 
ary 21, 1807, in Kentucky, and came to Carroll- 
ton, Illinois, in 1827. He was there married, 
January 23, 1834, to Mary J. Davis, likewise a 
native of Kentucky, who was born near Danville, 
in that State, January 16, 1816. Five children 
was the result of this union; William C, Jane, 
Betsy, Henry C, and Ben. F., three of whom 
are now dead — Jane, Betsy, and Henry C. 
John Caldwell and family came to Sangamon 
county in April 1853, and located on the farm 
purchased by his father some years previous, on 
section thirty-six, Curran township, one and a 
half miles from the village of Chatham, and 
eight miles from Springfield. This farm Mr. 
Caldwell further improved, and here died after a 
painful illness, August 1, 1863. His widow and 
youngest son, yet reside upon the farm. Mrs. 
Caldwell when a young lady took a journey that 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



889 



few in this year, 1881, w^ould care to take. She 
Tode on horseback from Danville, Kentucky, to 
Tallahasse, Florida, returned the same way, and 
after a short stay, continued on to Carrollton, 
Illinois, a distance of about two thousand miles. 

William C, first son of John and Mary J. 
Caldwell, was born in Greene county, Illinois, 
March 15, 1835, and came with his parents to 
Sangamon county, in 1853. He was raised on a 
farm, and attended the common schools of the 
county at intervals, obtaining the rudiments of 
an English education, and subsequently from 
Shurtlelf College, Upper Alton, Illinois. He has 
been twice married, and now resides in Chatham 
township. No children came from either union. 

Benjamin F., fifth child of John and Mary L. 
Caldwell, was born August 2, 1848, in Greene 
county, Illinois, and came with his parents to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1853. In the 
common schools of the neighborhood in which 
he was raised and in the graded schools of Chat- 
ham, he laid the foundation of a thorough busi- 
ness education, which in later years has served 
him in good stead. On the 27th of May, 1873, 
Benjamin F. Caldwell, and Julia F., daughter of 
Matthew Cloyd, an old citizen of the county, 
were married, and immediately started upon a 
wedding trip which occupied several months and 
traveling a distance of fourteen thousand miles, 
going and returning. They first went to New 
York by way of Detroit and Suspension Bridge, 
where, on the 4th of June, they took steamer for 
Queenstown, Ireland, where they landed June 
14. Passing through Ireland to Belfast; thence 
to Scotland; down through the center of England 
to London; from there through Holland, Bel- 
gium and the smaller German States to Berlin; 
thence to Vienna, where they took in the great 
World's Exposition; across the Alps to Italy, 
meeting with the unexpected pleasure of an 
audience with Pius the IX. Returning, they 
passed through Mount Cenis tunnel; thence by 
Geneva to Paris; from Paris back to London; 
thence to Liverpool, wJ ere they took steamer for 
Boston, arriving October G, of the same year. 
Two children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Caldwell— Mary Jane, born March 20, 1874, and 
John Harvey, born September 9, 1877. 

Mr. Caldwell, since arriving at man's estate, 
has been an active business man. Securing 
quite a competency from the estate of his father, 
by careful and judicious management he has 
added largely to his possessions. For some 
years after the death of his father, he personally 
managed the large farm, but since 1871 he has 
rented the land and turned his attention to other 



business, principally the loaning; of money, and 
dealing in western unimproved lauds, lie has 
bought and sold many hundreds of acres of land 
in Kansas and Missouri. 

In January, 1878, he began the mercantile 
business in Chatham, and the same unvarying 
good fortune has attended him in this line of 
trade. In 1879, he set about the organization of 
a bank in the village of Chatham, for the ac- 
commodation of the villagers and neighboring 
farmers. On the election of its first officers 
he was elected president of the institution, and 
in 1881 was re-elected to the same position. 

Politically, Mr. Caldwell is a Democrat, and 
has been an earnest worker in that party. He 
has served a term and a half as a member of the 
board of supervisors, and was selected by that 
body as its chairman, notwithstanding he was 
one of the youngest members on the board, and 
had no previous experience — an honor seldom 
conferred. In 1874, he was nominated as a 
reform candidate for the legislature, but was 
defeated. 

Mr. Caldwell, on arriving at his majority, 
united with both the Masonic and Odd Fellow 
lodges of Chatham and Springfield, and has 
since been an active worker in these truly 
benevolent orders, having filled the chair of 
W. M., in the Masonic lodge, and N. G., in the 
Odd Fellows. 

In 1876, Mr. Caldwell and mother erected 
upon their farm a dwelling house, at a cost of 
120,000. It is conceded to be the best farm 
house in the county, and is furnished with every 
modern convenience, being lighted with gas, 
the rooms all supplied with water and heated 
with steam. Few houses, even in the larger 
cities, are so well or conveniently constructed or 
elegantly furnished. Here with his family and 
mother he lives and enjoys life, and where he 
entertains in a royal manner friends as they call. 

E. D. Canfield, broom manufacturer, was born 
in the Geneseo Valley, New York, April 17, 
1837, Son of John and Mary Ann (Blair) Can- 
field. His parents moved to Ohio and thence to 
Cambridge City, Indiana, where he resided until 
his death. His mother afterwards moved to 
Minnesota Avhere she resided previous to her 
death. The subject of this sketch received only 
a common education in the common schools of 
Indiana, and moved to Minnesota with his 
mother with whom he resided until twenty-two 
years of age. He then came to Illinois and en- 
listed in the Thirty-fifth Illinois Infantry, in 
August, 1861, and served three years and five 
months. After he received his discharfife he 



»90 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



returned to Minnesota and followed farming. 
In 1866, he married Harriet Kelley, who was 
from Sangamon county, Illinois, and daughter of 
Jonathan and Sarah Kelley, who were residents 
of Sangamon county in 18*73. He moved to 
this county where he resides, and carries on the 
business of growing broom corn, which consists 
of fifteen acres each year. His family consists 
of two children, Jonathan and Wellington. His 
first wife died in 1878, and he was a second time 
married to Elizabeth Rogers, who was born in 
Ohio. They own a small farm of twenty-five 
acres of land on which they reside. In politics 
he is Republican. 

Charles W. Canfield, farmer, Curran town- 
ship, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb- 
ruary 22, 1826; son of Robert and Helen Can- 
field, who were natives of New Jersey. In 1815, 
they moved to New Orleans, where he engaged 
in the dry goods business, in which position he 
continued until his death. Both he and his 
mother are now dead. The latter died with 
cholera, while on a steamboat. 

Charles W. Cantield received a common school 
education, and worked in the store until the 
breaking out of the Mexican war. He volun- 
teered under General Taylor and served until the 
close of the war, after which he entered the New 
Orleans Custom House, which position he held 
three years, and then concluded to come to Illi- 
nois, and engage in farming. The people of New 
Orleans feeling that they were losing a faithful 
servant and companion, presented to him a silver 
pitcher in token of their respect toward him 
which he still holds as an emblem of gratitude 
to them. He was married in 1864, in Sangamon 
county, to Mary Ann Parker, who was born in 
New Orleans. Their family consists of twelve 
children, now living. He is now the owner of 
four hundred and fifty acres of land, on which 
he resides. Politically, he is a Democrat. 

John C. Cloyd was born September 6, 1821, 
in Washington county, Kentucky. When he 
was four years old, came with his parents to 
reside in Vandalia, Illinois, and in the spring of 
1826, removed to Sangamon county. He was 
employed on a farm, in Woodside township, 
about five years. At the expirat.on of that 
time, his father purchased a farm in Curran 
township, where he settled with his family. 
John C. remained with his father on the farm 
until his marriage with Miss America Clements, 
which event occurred in Sangamon county, 
March 25, 1841. They now have two child- 
ren, the eldest, Thomas, born June 2, 1844, and 
died May 7, 1848. Dicey Ann Cloyd was born 



October 16, 1846, and married James H. Jones, 
and now resides in Plenry county, Illinois. Mrs. 
America Cloyd died, and J. C. Cloyd was mar- 
ried, September, 1848, to Sophia L. Lanterman, 
They have eight children, viz : Charles, mar- 
ried to Elizabeth J. Brauham ; they have one 
child — Eliza M. — and are residents of Curran 
township ; Eleanor, was married to Ashbury M. 
Branham. They have three children — William 
C, Cord F. and a daughter, and live in Curran 
township. Nancy J., Cordelia, Wallace E.., Gor- 
don, Amanda M. and John C, Jr., live with their 
parents, three miles southeast of Curran. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and a member of the 
Baptist Church. His wife is a Methodist. 

John Davis, farmer, post office, Curran. 

Joseph Dickersoji, blacksmith and justice of 
the peace, Curran, was born in Madison county, 
Ohio, April 30, 1838, son of Wells and Cina 
(Bessett) Dickerson. His father, was a native 
of Delaware, and mother of German descent, 
both of whom are now dead. Joseph Dicker- 
son was educated in the common schools, and 
raised on a farm, until seventeen years of age. 
He then commenced to learn his trade in the 
town of Newtonsville, Muskingum county, 
Ohio, and served three years under G. J. Keyes, 
for whom he continued to work for one year. 
He then started for a new field of labor, and lo- 
cated, first at Keokuk, Iowa, where he continued 
to work at his trade six months, and from there 
to Carthage, Illinois, where he remained six 
months, and from there to Springfield in search 
of a better location. Failing to find employ- 
ment there, he took the train for Indianapolis, 
then Richmond, Indiana, thence to Newark, 
Ohio, and from there to Hanover, Ohio, where 
he spent the winter of 1858. From there he 
made several trips to New Orleans, by steam- 
boat, after which he again returned to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, in January, 1860, where he 
engaged as a hand on a farm during the sum- 
mer, and in the vv'inter worked at his trade for 
Elias Babcock, and in August, 1861, he came to 
the village of Curran, and commenced his trade, 
which he has continued, building up a large 
business. He first married in November, 1861, 
Jennette Sims, who was born in Muskingum 
county, Ohio, in 1839, and the daughter of Jef- 
ferson and Julia (Babcock) Sims. By this mar- 
riage they had six children. Only two are living, 
Lewis G. and Walter B. He lost his wife in 
1872, and in 1873, married Alice Sims, a sister 
of his first wife, who was also born in the same 
county and State, in 1847. She died in 1877, 
and in 1878 he was again married to Clara A. 



mi 




Ly 



/??, 




^l/^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



893 



Ralston (Conkling,) who was born in 1849, in 
Butler county, Ohio, and was the daughter of 
John and Mary Burch. They have two children, 
Charles and John Leroy. He was elected to the 
office of Justice of the Peace in the spring of 
1869, which office he has continued to hold since, 
and also school treasurer in the spring of 1875, 
which he still holds, and served the township as 
supervisor in 1879. He is the owner of eighty 
acres of good land, beside town property in 
Curran. In politics he is Republican. 

S. W. Dunn, farmer, was born in Harrison 
county, Kentucky, December 10, 1821; son of 
Elijah and Sarah (Foster) Dunn, who were 
natives of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. 
His father's occupation was that of a farmer, 
which he continued up to his death, in Kentucky, 
His mother died in Illinois, while on a visit to 
her son. The subject of this sketch received 
only a common school education in the schools 
of Kentucky, and was raised on a farm and re- 
mained with his father until twenty-one years of 
age. He then came in 1845 to Sangamon county, 
and engaged in farming. He was married in 
April, 1848, to Mary Jane Foster, who was born 
in Harrison county, Kentucky, December 8, 
1821, and the daughter of Evans and Margaret 
(McKee) Foster, who also was born in Kentucky, 
and came to Sangamon county in the fall of 
1829, and located in what is now Curran town- 
ship, where he resided until their death. After 
their marriage they at once began to farm in 
Curran township. His family consisted of seven 
children, only one of whom is now living — 
Narcissa, who was born October 11,1860 — the 
other six died in infancy. He has accumulated 
since coming to the county, four hundred and 
fifty acres of land in Curran township, and eight 
hundred in Christian county. They are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. D. is a 
Republican. 

Isaac L. Ewell, farmer, was born in Pecham, 
Vermont, April 29, 1819; son of Isaac W., and 
Lileous (Sanderland) Ewell. His father was a 
native of New Hampshire, and born June 10, 
1763; mother of New York, born August 22, 
1794, and of Scotch descent. His father was a 
miller by occupation, which he followed until 
his death, April 11, 1863. His mother still 
resides on the old homestead, at which place 
Isaac L., was born. His education was obtained 
in the common schools of Vermont, and he was 
brought up as a miller. He resided with his 
father until he was twenty-one years of age, 
after which he started out to do for himself, and 
secure a new home in the West. He traveled 

104— 



through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, 
thence back to Illinois, where he located in 
Springfield in 1837. He engaged in a mill as 
miller, which place he continued in for two 
years, after which he returned to his native 
home in Vermont, where he again took charge 
of his father's mill, and for five years remained 
with him, when he returned to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in the winter of 1845, where he 
again worked at the milling business, and in 
September 3, 1846, of same year, he married 
Louise E. Kelley, with whom he had previously 
formed an acquaintance on his first settling in 
the county in 1837. She was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, December 4, 1824, was the 
daughter of Elisha and Nancy (Sims) Kelley, 
who came to Sangamon county in 1819, both of 
whom are now deceased. Immediately after 
their marriage, they moved to Vermont, where 
he again entered the mill with his father, in 
which he continued for three years, when he 
sold out and returned to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, in 1851, and located on the present 
place, and erected a mill on the creek, in which 
he made use of water power to, do his grinding 
and sawing, and for twenty years he carried on 
both branches of the same. At the present 
time he only does sawing. For the last few 
years he has been engaged in farming. He is 
now the owner of one hundred and thirty acres 
of land, which is under a fair state of cultiva- 
tion, and worth 175 per acre. His family con- 
sisted of three children, two of whom are now 
living, Charles, and Emma, now Mrs. Dr. Fos- 
ter; one deceased, Horace. In politics, he is and 
always has been a Republican. 

John Foster, farmer, was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, January 29, 1833, son of Ivins 
Foster, who was born November 23, 1794. in 
Harrison county, Kentucky, Margaret McKee 
was born January 24, 1796, in the same county. 
They were there married, February 26, 1819, in 
Harrison county, and then moved to Gallatin 
county. They then moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in November, 1829, in what is 
now Curran township, north of Lick creek, where 
they continued to reside. His father died Janu- 
ary 4, 1866, and his mother, April, 1880. The 
subject of this sketch received his education in 
the common schools of Sangamon county, and 
has always followed farming. He is now the 
owner of four hundred acres of land, which is 
under a fair state of cultivation, and worth $60 
per acre. Politically, he is a Republican. 

Armer T. Gunnett, farmer, was born at Frank- 
fort Springs, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, 



894 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



June 3, 1850, first son of Joseph and Caroline 
(Harford) Gunnett, who were natives of Beaver 
county, Pennsylvania, where he resided on a 
farm previous to moving to Sangamon county, 
in 1872, and located in Buffalo Hart township, 
where they now reside. Armer G. received his 
education in the common schools of Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, and afterwards spent two years in the 
Pikerton Normal school of Ohio. He came to 
Sangamon county in the spring of 1872, and 
engaged in farming; was married December 25, 
1878, to Nannie E. Riddle, who was born in 
Sangamon county, Febuary 20, 1852, and the 
daughter of John and Martha (Archer) Riddle. 
Her father was a native of Ohio. Previous to 
coming to this county he died, November 6, 
1878; her mother was born in Bond county, Illi- 
nois; she now resides with them on the farm. 
They own two hundred acres of land in Curran 
and Gardner townships, which is under a fair 
state of cultivation, and worth |60 per acre. 
His wife was educated in the common schools 
of this county; she attended the Female Semi- 
nary at Jacksonville two terras. They are both 
members of the M. E. Church at New Salem, 
and politically he is Republican. 

0. S. Hotchkins., merchant, postmaster, sta- 
tion agent, Curran, was born in Madison county. 
New York, June 9, 1849, son of Herman and 
Mary (Hitchcock) Hotchkins, who were natives 
of New York. He was a farmer by occupation. 
His mother died in 1869, and his father still 
lives in Niagara county. New York. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was raised on a farm and edu- 
cated in the common schools of Madison county. 
New York; remained on the farm with his 
father until twenty-one years of age, after which 
he came to Sangamon county in 1876, where he 
first engaged in farming, which occupation he 
continued in for four years. He then sold out 
and engaged in merchandising in Curran. He 
was married in February, 1876, to Clara C. Brad- 
ley, who was born in Sangamon county in 1852, 
and was the daughter of Louis and Amanda 
(Ransom) Bradley. His family consists of one 
child, Albert L. He received his appointment 
as postmaster, in 1 880, and also ticket agent and 
express agent, which offices he holds in connec- 
tion with his store. 

James Parkinson. — An interesting reminis- 
cence of James Parkinson, including a sketch of 
his life, will be found in the history of this 
township. 

Alexander A. Patteson, M. 2)., was born in 
what now is Appomatox county, Virginia, April 
13, 1818. He was the second son of Alexander 



and Mary (Jarrett) Patteson. His father was a 
native of Campbell county, Virginia, and his 
mother a native of Goochland county, Virginia. 
His father's occupation was that of staging and 
United States mail contractor, which business 
he followed for twenty-five years. He died June 
23, 1836. After his father's death his mother 
removed to Franklin county, Kentucky, where 
she resided until her death, which occurred Oc- 
tober 23, 1845. The subject of this sketch re- 
ceived his early education in the common 
schools of his native county; later he attended 
the Academy of Buckingham county, Virginia, 
for three years, and the State University of Vir- 
ginia, one year. In 1835 he began the study of 
medicine with William D. Christian as his pre- 
ceptor. He afterwards attended the Medical 
College at Cincinnati, Ohio, during the years of 
'36, '37, '38. Upon leaving this school he im- 
mediately began his practice in Kentucky. In 
1839 and 1840 he attended the University of 
Transylvania, at Lexington, Kentucky, and 
graduated from the same, March 14, 1840. After 
which he commenced practicing at the Forks of 
Elkhorn, Franklin county, Kentucky. While 
there he was married to Jean Wood Lewis, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1841. Mrs. Patteson was born in 
Spottsylvania county, Virginia, September 22, 
1822. She was a descendant of Jean Louis, of 
a protestant family who fled from France to 
England about the time of the revocation of the 
edict of Nantes, in 1665, Jean Louis at this time 
joined the English army, and for his gallantry 
and valued services was made Field Marshal, 
Earl Lizonier and Baron Inniskillen. He was 
with Marlborough in all his campaigns, and at 
Fontenoy the chief honor was due to him for 
the intrepidity with which he led the British in- 
fantry. He was in nineteen pitched battles, and 
twenty-three sieges. Jean Louis was a lawyer, 
and had three sons who followed that profession. 
The youngest son settled in Wales and after- 
ward came to Virginia. Mrs. Patteson has in 
her possession a complete genealogical and 
historical record of her family, and has a just 
pride in their record. Dr. Patteson continued 
his practice at the Fork of Elkhorn, for three 
years; after which he moved to Fayette county, 
Kentucky. He remained here until 1858, then 
removed to Curran township, Sangamon county, 
Illinois, where he practiced twenty years. He 
has now given up the practice of medicine and 
turned h.is attention to farming. He owns a farm 
of one hundred and twenty acres of land, under 
a fair state of cultivation. His family consists 
of nine children, viz: Augusta, now Mrs. Park- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



805 



inson; Jean Frances, now Mrs. Dr. J. L. Wilcox; 
Alexander Lilbourn, who married Helen Robin- 
son; Suean Archer, now Mrs. Hampton Gibson; 
Marion Elizabeth, now Mrs, R. P. Smith; Lucy 
Devereaux, Walter Lewis, Robert Mills, and 
Richmond Cadwallader. Dr. Patteson and 
wite are members of the Presbyterian church at 
Bates. 

Nicholas Power, grain dealer and merchant, 
Curran, was born in Kilkenny county, Ireland, 
and is the son of William and Fanny (Gorman) 
Power, both of whom are deceased. They came 
to America in 1849, and located in St. Louis, 
where they soon after died. 

Nicholas Power came to America with his 
parents. His education was received in the 
common schools of Ireland, and he was raised 
on a farm. He came to Sangamon county in 
1854, and engaged as a farm hand for four 
years; he was then employed on the old Wabash 
Railroad, in which place he soon obtained the 
confidence of the company, and remained in 
their employ a number of years. He then came 
to Cuiran, and engaged in the grocery and grain 
bixsiness, which occupation he has continued to 
carry on ever since. He was married, in 1851, 
to Bessie O'Brien, who was born in Cork county, 
Ireland, and is the daughter of Dennis O'Brien. 
His family consists of two children, James and 
Maggie. He shipped, during 1880, seventeen 
thousand four hundred bushels corn, twenty-one 
thousand three hundred and forty-one bushels of 
wheat, two thousand one hundred bushels of oats, 
and nine hundred bushels of rye. He has a splen- 
did elevator, with capacity of shelling two thous- 
and five hundred bushels per day. 

Mather Redmond, farmer, was born May 1, 
1828, in Wexford county, Ireland. He came to 
Sangamon county in 1859, and married in 1868, 
Mrs. Mary (Archer) Penney, who was born May 
:^4, 1822, and daughter of William and Elizabeth 
(Holt) Archer. She had by her first marriage 
one child — William — born November 3, 1844. 
He enlisted August 14, 1862, for three years, in 
Company F, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Illi- 
nois Infantry ; was captured at the battle of Gun- 
town, Mississippi, June, 1864, and died in Ander- 
sonville prison, February 24, 1865. Alex. Penny 
died in 1868. They are the owners of one hun- 
dred and forty acres of land, on which they re- 
side, and which is under a good state of cultiva- 
tion, and worth |50 per acre. 

They now have in their possession a dress of 
their mother's, which she made with her own 
hands more than sixty years before. The family 



of her uncle, with whom she moved from Georgia 
to St. Clair county, Illinois, in 18ll, brought 
some cotton in the bolls, for the purpose of using 
the seed in growing cotton in their new home. 
Miss Holt, as her name then was, obtained the 
consent of her uncle to apply the cotton to her 
own use. She picked it from the bolls and sep- 
arated the cotton from the seed with her fingers, 
and spun it on a wheel, borrowed from a neigh- 
bor more than thirty miles distant. She had a 
rude loom consti'ucted for the purpose, and had 
just commenced weaving, when the first assas- 
sination among the white settlers by Indians 
took place, as the beginning there of the war 
with England. That occurred in June, 1812. 
She, with her uncle's family, fled to Fort Bradsby, 
a rude, wooden fortification near by. Appealing 
to the Lieutenant in command for protection, he 
reported the case to Governor Edward , who 
authorized him to grant her request. A guard 
was accordingly placed around the cabin, and 
kept there until the weaving was completed. 
The design was unique and beautiful. The 
cloth was carefully preserved, some of it bleached 
to snowy whiteness, and made into a dress. She 
wore it the first time to a quarterly meeting, in 
1815, just after the close of the war, and attracted 
universal attention as the finest dressed lady in 
all that region of country. 

Geo. Trimble, one of Sangamon county's 
early pioneers, was born April 22, 1812, in 
Montgomery county, Kentucky, and emigrated 
to this State with his father in the year 1835, 
locating in Morgan county, where Mr. Trimble 
resided a few years and then moved to Adams 
county, where he resided until his death . George 
returned to Kentucky after a few months stay, 
and married Miss Nettie Shumake, August 23, 
1836. Miss S. was born in Bath county, Ken- 
tucky. Mr. T. started for this State the next 
morning after their marriage, and located in 
Morgan county, where they lived two years, and 
then located in this county, where he has resided 
since, except five years. He has been a resident 
of this township twenty-six years. Mr. T. has 
by his own exertions acquired considerable prop- 
erty. He now owns three hundred and fifty 
acres of good lands. They had six children, 
namely: Hughey T., born December 31, 1839, 
was married October, 1864, to Nancy A. Gibson. 
They had two children, one of whom survives. 
Eliza F., born March 28,1840; Elizabeth, born 
April 27, 1842; James A., born July 27, 1846; 
George C, born September 28, 1849. Mrs. 
Lydia Trimble died December 3, 1866, and Mr, 
Trimble was again married December 5, 1867, 



896 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to Rebecca Drennan. They reside two miles 
south-east of Curran, Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois. 

Wm. H. Trimble, farmer, was born in Sanga- 
mon county, January 1, 1838; son of George and 
Lydia (Sumat) Trimble, whose sketch appears 
in this book. Wm. H., was raised on a farm 
and educated in the common schools, and has 
never yet been farther west than Jacksonville 
or east than Decatur, north or south, always re- 
mained on the farm with his father, until 
twenty-five years of age, in 1864. He was first 
married to Nancy Gibson, who was born in 
Sangamon county, and the daughter of Preston 



H., and Anna Gibson, who were natives of Ken- 
tucky, and came to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
in an early day. They had one child. Anna 
E., his wife, died February 19, 1866. He 
married for his second wife, October 14, 1869, 
Helen J. McGraw, who was also born in Sanga- 
mon county, September 24, 1847. By this 
marriage they have two children, Dora Bell and 
Harry. His farm consists of one hundred and 
thirty-six and one-half acres of land, which is 
under a fair state of improvement, and worth 
$50 per acre. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church, and politically he is a Demo- 
crat. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



897 



Chapter XXXVII. 



TOWNSHIP OF FANCY CREEK. 



This township when originally organized in 
1861, was named Power township, in honor of 
George Power, one of the oldest and most in- 
fluential citizens residing in it. Objections were 
raised to its being thus named for one who was 
still living, and a petition was circulated pray- 
ing the Board of Supervisors to change the 
name and suggesting Fancy Creek as a proper 
name, after its principal creek. The name was 
thus given it. 

The soil of the township is a deep black loam, 
especially along the banks of the Sangamon 
river, Fancy and French creeks, by which it is 
watered. The surface of the country is gener- 
■ally rolling, and timber in large quantities can 
be found on the banks of the streams. Origi- 
nally the township was one-half timber, much of 
which has been cleared away, though the quanti- 
ty is as great as ever. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The date of the first settlement in what is 
now Fancy Creek township, was 1819. Among 
the earliest settlers were Stephen England and 
his son David, William Higgins, John Cline, 
Robert McClelland, Levi, Wyatt and William 
G. Cantrall, Thomas Constant, John Strode, 
George Power, EliphaletHawley, John Bracson, 
Aquilla Davis, Thomas Hargis, Thomas Straw- 
bridge, Garrett Elkin, William F. Elkin, Thomas 
Brown and Andrew Clamo. 

Stephen England was born June 12, IV^S, in 
Virginia. His pai'ents removed to Bath county, 
Kentucky. Stephen was there married about 
1Y91, to Anna Harper. In 1813, the family 
moved to Ohio, and in the fall of 1818, to Madi- 
son county, Illinois. The following winter 
Stephen England, with two of his sons-in-laAv, 
came up to the San-ga-ma country to explore it. 
The nearest habitation to where Springfield 
now stands, was on the south bank of the San- 



gamon river, near Avheie the Chicago and Alton 
railroad crosses. They found a man named 
William Higgins living in a cabin there, which 
he had built in January, 1819. They remained 
over night with Mr. Higgins, and crossed to the 
north side of the river, each selecting a spot on 
which to make a home. In order to prevent 
others who might come after from choosing the 
same ground, they cut a few logs, laid them 
across each other in three piles, and each man 
cut his initials on a tree near by, as evidence thai 
the land was claimed. That was near what was 
soon called Higgins' creek, but is now called 
Cantrall's creek. They returned to their fami- 
lies, and early in March, 1819, Stephen England, 
his son David, his sons-in-law, Andrew Cline and 
Wyatt Cantrall, returned to their claims for the 
purpose of commencing improvements. The 
night after their arrival snow, fell about one foot 
deep, and the weather was colder than it had 
been at any time during the winter. They com- 
menced work, and Mr. England and his son soon 
had their house up, roofed, and the door and 
chimney place cut out. The other two men had 
their materials on the ground. By that time the 
melting snow warned them that they must 
cross the river at once, or they might be delayed 
several weeks. They returned to their families, 
and attempted to move them, but the ground 
was so soft from melting snow that their teams 
were unequal to the task of drawing the wagons 
with their heavy loads, and they again left their 
families. The same men returned, accompanied 
by two of the daughters of Mr. England. They 
then completed their houses, cleared land, 
planted their crops, and returned to Madison 
county for their families, bringing them to their 
new homes about the first of June, 1819. 

Stephen England died September 26, 1823. 
He preached the Gospel as long as he could 
stand, and delivered his last sermon sitting. He 



898 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



solemnized quite a number of marriages in that 
early day, one of whom was Philo Beers and 
Martha Stillman, November 2. 1820, which was 
for a long time supposed to have been the first 
in Sangamon county. A couple once came to 
him from Fort Clark, now Peoria, to get mar- 
ried, and as they did not care to go to Edwai'ds- 
ville for a license, their intentions were adver- 
tised for ten days, when Mr. England performed 
the ceremony. 

William Higgins was born in Barren county, 
Kentucky, in 1774, and in 1817, moved with his 
family to St. Clair county, Illinois. He started 
with his lamily, in the fall of 1818, to the San- 
ga-ma country. They stopped on Sugar creek, with 
the Drennans, until January or February, 1819, 
when they moved about fifteen miles north, and 
built a cabin on the south side of the Sangamon 
river, above where the Chicago & Alton rail- 
road now crosses. While he was living in camp, 
before his cabin was completed, himself and 
wife crossed to the north side of the river on 
horseback. They were belated, and spent one 
night in the river bottom, near the mouth of 
Fancy creek. A few days later, Mr. Higgins 
went to the north side alone, found five bee 
trees, and killed a panther which measured nine 
feet from tip to tip. He went over soon after, 
accompanied by his wife and two daughters, one 
of whom is now (1876) the wife of David Eng- 
land. These three are believed to have been 
the first white women who ever crossed to the 
north of the river, in what is now Sangamon 
county. Stephen England and his two sons-in- 
law came on their exploring expedition, and 
stopped with Mr. Higgins, who accompanied 
them to the north side, and led the way to the 
vicinity of where Cantrall now stands, and all 
four selected sites for improvement. 

John Cline was from Ohio, though a Virginian 
by birth. In 1819, he prepared to visit the 
western country on horseback. Levi Cantrall 
was about moving to Illinois, and Mr. Cline 
engaged to drive his four-horse team, and they 
arrived in the American bottom in November. 
Mr. Cantrall purchased a supply of corn there, 
and moved to what became Sangamon county, 
arriving in December, 1819, in what is now 
Fancy Creek township. Mr. Cline drove the 
team, and arrived at the same time. He intended 
returning to Ohio in the spring, but when the 
time came he decided to raite a crop, and while 
thus engaged he was married, July 20, 1820, to 
Mrs. Lucy Scott, whose maiden name was Eng- 
Jand. 



Levi Cantrall was born October 1, 1787, in 
Botetourt county, Virginia. He was taken by 
his parents in 1789 to that part of Mercer 
which afterwards became Bath county, Ken- 
tucky. He was there married November 30, 
1809, to Fanny England. They moved to Madi- 
son county, Illinois, in October, 1819; moved on 
and arrived where Springfield now stands, De- 
cember 4, 1819, and reached the north side of 
the river, in what is now Fancy Creek township, 
on the fifth, made the selection of a location on 
the seventh, and commenced building a cabin 
December 8, 1819. 

Thomas Constant, a Virginian by birth, resided 
in Kentucky for many years, and was there mar- 
ried to Margery Edmonson. They subsequently 
moved to Ohio, and in the fall of 1820, to what 
is now Fancy Creek township. 

Jerry Smith came in the spring of 1819, but 
subsequently left for some point in the Military 
Tract, and there died. , 

Jonathan Hodge settled on section twenty-two, 
and soon after sold out, moved north, and there 
died. 

James Sayles came in the spring of 1819, set- 
tled near the present village of Sherman, and 
died on the place. 

Alex. Crawford lived here for a time at 
an early day, moved to Petersburg, and there 
died. 

The first winter that any white men spent in 
the township was unusually severe. Levi Can- 
trail, before his death, stated that the cabin he 
commenced December 8, 1819, about half a mile 
west of the present town of Cantrall, the mortar 
froze so that he could not plaster it. December 
24, 1819, snow began to fall, and continued one 
snow after another until it was two feet deep on 
a level. The weather continued intensely cold, 
and a company of seven men started to the 
American Bottom, for provisions. They were 
Levi and Wyatt Cantrall, Alexander and Henry 
Crawford, M. Holland, a Mr. Kellogg and John 
Dixon, who afterward founded the city of Dixon, 
Illinois. They loaded their wagons with flour 
and meal, and started home on the 18th, and on 
the 20th rain commenced falling. The rain and 
melting snow set the whole country afloat, and 
when they reached the Sangamon river it was 
too full to cross. They sent back to Kelly's — 
where Springfield now stands — for tools, and 
obtained an axe and grubbing hoe. With these 
they made a canoe, and reached home twenty-one 
days from the time of starting. On the 6th of 
May, 1820, the frost killed the growing corn. 
The settlers thought of moving back south, but 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



899 



they hauled up provisions before the next winter 
and lived through it. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The early settlers of Fancy Creek did not 
wait long before they secured the services of a 
schoolmaster. In the winter of 1820-21, the 
men living within a radius of several miles 
gathered together and erected a log school 
house. It required but little time to finish the 
building, as the cracks only required to be 
•" chinked," greased paper being used for window 
lights, and no plastering was required. James 
Bellows was the first teacher. The house was 
located on section sixteen, a short distance east 
of the graveyard known as Britton's. Sixty 
years have since passed and improvements have 
been made in the educational facilities of the 
settlers in Fancy Creek township. The old log 
school house has long since given place to the 
modern frame building, and the subscription 
school where the teacher "boarded 'round" 
among the scholars is now unknown. The 
present free school system now furnishes a good 
English education to rich and poor alike — to all 
who will avail themselves of its advantages. 
There are now in the township seven school 
houses, valued at |5,800. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The religious element in the life of a pioneer 
bas often been commented upon by the historian 
and essayist. There is something grand about 
it. The great, rough man, who feared no one 
save his God, with simple, child-like faith, toil- 
ing early and late, making many and great sac- 
rifices for the sake of his family, and yet trust- 
ing implicitly in the pi'omise of an all-wise God. 
Stephen England was a Baptist minister in Ken- 
tucky, and when he brought his family to the 
new settlement, the people having planted their 
crops, wished to have religious services, so Mr. 
England announced that he would preach at his 
own house late in June, or early in July, 1819. 
Everybody in the entire settlement came. Two 
women walked five miles through the grass, 
wnich was almost as high as their heads. The 
husband of one of them walked and carried 
their babe. That was the first sermon ever 
preached north of the Sangamon river in this 
county, and probably in Central Illinois. Mr. 
England organized a church May 15, 1820, at 
his own house. There were eight members be- 
sides himself. The names of the persons con 
stituting the church were Stephen England and 
Anna, his wife; .Techoniah Langston and Nancy, 



his wife; Levi Cantrall and Fannie, his wife; 
Mrs. Adelphia Wood, Mrs. Sarah Cantrall, the 
wife of Wyatt Cantrall, Mrs. Lucy Scott 
(daughter of Mr. England,) afterwards Mrs. 
Cline. That was the first church organized in 
Sangamon county, and the organization has 
never been broken It is now known as Anti- 
och Christian Church, and composed at present 
of about ninety members. It is occupying its 
third house of worship, which is a handsome 
wooden edifice situated within the limits of 
Cantrall. Elder Stephen England was pastor of 
the church until his death, in 1823. 

There are now in the township five church or- 
ganizations — one Christian, one Baptist, one 
Methodist Episcopal, one Southern Methodist 
Episcopal, 

The Antioch Christian Church was organized 
May 15, 1820, a number of professed Christians 
meeting together and signing the following 
agreement: 

"We, the members of the Church of Jesus 
Christ, being Providentially moved from our for- 
mer place of residence from distant parts, and 
being baptised on profession of our faith, and met 
at the house of brother Stephen England, on a 
branch of Higgins' creek, in order to form a 
constitution, having first given ourselves to the 
Lord, and then to one another, agree that our 
constitution shall be on the Holy Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testament, believing them to 
be the only rule of faith and practice." 

The first house of worship was one of logs 
erected in 182R, shortly before the death of 
Stephen England, on land owned by Mr. 
Britton. This church was erected after the 
manner of the first school houses, the neighbors 
gathering and erecting it because of its neces- 
sity. This house was used for a few years, 
when a more pretentious frame building was 
erected, which was used for a number of years. 
In the fall of 1872, the present church edifice 
was erected in the village of Cantrall, at a cost 
of $1,600, but on which several hundred dollars 
were subsequently expended in its improvement. 

Elder Stephen England was the first pastor of 
the church and served until his death, in 1823, 
since which time at intervals the following 
named have served: James Hughes, George 
Sargent, Ebenezer Rhodes, William Snodgrass, 
Rev. Trimble, John Powell, Rev. Balls, Sr., 
John Hughes, Rev. Walter Balls, Rev. Morrow, 
Rev. Sweet, Michael Engle, George. Allkire, 
Robert Foster, Joel Hughes, John England, 
James Scott, AndreAV Scott, William Mallory, 
John Wilson, John Lemon, William Hally, 



900 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Clayborn Hall, F. M. Jacobs, R. E.Dunlap, J. S. 
Rose, Leonard Engle. 

David England was the first elder elected, and 
has served the church for nearly sixty years. 
Carlisle H. Canterberry served for many years, 
until his death. The present active eldership is 
composed of Henry H. England, Carlisle Mitts 
and John J. Stevens. The present membership 
is one hundred and eight. 

BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The church was organized November, 1826, as 
near as can be ascertained from the records. 
It goes to show the original members were 
Michael Mann, Elizabeth Mann, Nicholas Steele, 
Isabella Stelle, Samuel Howe, Mary Howe, 
Charles Allsbury, Jane Allsbury, Margaret 
Stevens and John Crowder. The first pastor is 
supposed to have been Michael Mann. The first 
ordained Deacon was Charles Allsbury, and the 
same year William Keener was also ordained by 
Elders Bowman and Roberts. The first asso- 
ciation held with this church was in the barn of 
John Dunlap. A house of worship thirty-two 
by twenty-six was erected in 1832, at a cost of 
$500 It was a frame building and erected at a 
time when everything was much cheaper than at 
present. The present ofiicers of the church are 
as follow^s: Elder William J. Wheeler, Pastor; 
Henry Nave, Deacon; John R. Dunlap, Clerk. 
The meetings are held the fourth Saturday and 
Sunday in each month. 

The Methodist Episcopal congregation, meet- 
ing at the Strode school house, ha« been in exis- 
tance about a half century. After John Strode 
settled in the neighborhood, his house was a 
preaching place where such men as Cartwright, 
B. Randall, J. G. Barger, and L. C. Kimber 
preached at different times. Since 1 856, the fol- 
lowing named have served as pastors: W. F. 
Bennett, J. Taylor, Joseph Lane, A'. C. McDou- 
gall, G. B. Wolfe, H. C. Wallace, Mr. Demotte, 
S. M. Crags, Peter Stigle, C. Arnold, G. D. 
Furber, G. B. Goldsmitt, W. S. Clark, M. McK. 
Gooding, A. B. McElfresh, M. Finity, W. R. 
Carr, J. M. Eckman, W. W. Curnutt. The 
more recent Presiding Elders have been, W. S. 
Prentice, W. H. Webster, W. McK. McElfresh, 
J. L. Crane, Peter Cartwright, Peter Akers and 
W. H. H. Moore. Regular meetings for preach- 
ing and for class purposes, are held in the Strode 
school house. 

THE FIRST BIRTH. 

The first birth in what is now Fancy Creek 
township, was that of Oliver Perry Higgins, who 
was born July — , 1819. He was the son of 



William and Rosanna Higgins, and was the first 
birth north of the Sangamon river. 

FIRST DEATH, 

A young child of Jechoniah Langston died in 
the fall of 1819, being the first death in the 
township. It was buried near w^here Stephen 
England settled, and around its grave others 
were afterwards interred, and being near the resi- 
dence of Mr. Britton, it was given the name of 
Britton's Graveyard. 

MILLS. 

Levi Cantrall built a horse mill in the fall of 
1820. It was a band mill, with a wheel forty- 
feet in diameter. It was the first mill ever built 
north of the Sangamon river, and people came 
thirty miles or more to mill. Mr. Cantrall, sub- 
sequently built a water mill on Cantrall's creek, 
near the present town of Cantrall. It did sawing 
and grinding. 

TRUE TO THEIR COUNTRY. 

In the War of the Rebellion Fancy Creek 
township nobly did its duty without resorting to 
draft, or even levying a tax to pay a special 
bounty in order to secure enlistments. 

TANNERY. 

Levi Cantrall, shortly after coming to the 
county, established a tannery, which he ran for 
about forty years, until his death. 

ORCHARDS. 

One of the first, if not the first orchards 
planted in the township, was by George Power, 
shortly after his arrival. On his place there is 
now an apple tree about eleven feet in circum- 
ference which was planted in 1824. From limb 
to limb it is sixty feet. It is, doubtless, the larg- 
est and jjrobably the oldest tree in the county, 

ORGANIC. 

Fancy Creek township was organized at the 
same time the county adopted the township or- 
ganization law, and its first election was held 
the first Monday in April 1861. 

REMINISCENCE. 

In 1870, David England, now the oldest citi- 
zen in Fancy Creek township, delivered an ad- 
dress at the Old Settlers' meeting, at Clear Lake, 
in which he expressed his gratitude that he had 
been able to attend the meeting, and to meet so 
many of his old acquaintances again. They had 
all met to talk over old and new times and things, 
and he would go further back than his own time. 
His father came to St. Louis at an early day and 
from thence to Edwardsville, where he wintered. 



HISTORY OF SANUAMON COUNTY. 



901 



Not liking the country he came to what is now 
Sangamon county, after having received a glow- 
ing description from a man who had visited it. 
This was in 1818. His father came and ex- 
amined the country in the vicinity of Cantrall's 
creek, and was pleased with all he saw. When 
his father came through where Springfield now 
is, there were no signs of inhabitants, and no 
tracks except those of wild beasts. His father 
built a log house sixteen by eighteen feet, and 
then returned to Edwardsville for his family. 
Not being able to move them, he returned and 
put in a crop. His father's family afterwards 
came in July. His father plowed the first corn 
north of the Sangamon river. Indians were their 
only neighbors at this time. About 1819,8everal 
neighbors came in and took up land. When 
they first came to this country the price of salt 
was 86 per bushel, and pork |o to |6 per hundred 
pounds, while shortly after this pork would not 
bring $1.50 per hundred, for really they had no 
market for their produce. They had an abund- 
ance of everything to eat, but were obliged to 
raise their own cotton and make their own cloth- 
ing. His father preached the first sermon on 
that side of the river, and a woman walked six 
miles and brought a child the entire distance. 
His father was a good gunner and they had 
plenty to eat. It was one of the best countries 
in the world until 1831. Previous to that time 
they raised plenty of cotton without cultivation 
— all they wanted — but after the deep snow, 
which all the old men remembered, there was a 
change in the climate, and it has not been the 
same since, as every old settler can testify. His 
father had to go to mill at a place about four 
miles this side of St. Louis, but soon after a man 
put up a mill near by, which was a "band mill" 
and driven by horse power. They ground their 
grain with their own horse. In this connection 
he referred to the fact that his father had fixed 
np a cotton gin, which consisted of two rollers 
which were turned by hand. After the deep 
snow there was a great change and corn did not 
grow well, and it was the same with cotton; in 
fact, other crops did not grow as well as before 
that noted event. The first butter made in his 
father's family was made with a churn which 
was cut from a log, the bottom of the churn 
being nailed in. It was made from a buckeye 
log. The first wheat they sent in was in 1819, 
and they got one bushel per day for a day's work. 
He once worked, reaping, three days, and got three 
bushels of wheat in payment. In cultivating 
the ground they used the old-fashioned shovel 
plow, and the first year they got about half a 
105— 



crop, but the next year the yield was nearly sixty 
bushels per acre. At this time the flies would 
sometimes so trouble the horses and the oxen that 
the animals had to be driven to the timi er, and 
sometimes a fire had to be kindled to drive the 
flies away. In those days when people wanted 
to get married they either had to go to Edwards- 
ville for a marriage license, or have their inten- 
tions posted in a public place ten days before the 
event. 

VILLAGE OF CANTRALL. 

The village of Cantrall is an outgrowth of 
the Springfield & Northwestern Railroad, and 
was laid out on its completion to that point, its 
plat being recorded under date of October, 1872. 
Joseph Cantrall, Oliver Canterbury, W. H. H. 
Holland, Thomas Glasscock, Thomas Claypool, 
B. F. Holland, John T. Canterbury, and James M. 
Sewell were the original proprietors, in whose 
names the plat was recorded. It embraced the 
whole of the northeast quarter of the southeast 
quarter, part of the west half of the north part 
of the southeast quarter of the southeast quar- 
ter, the south part of the southeast quarter of 
the northeast quarter, and the southeast part of 
the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter 
of section eight; also the southwest part of the 
northwest quartei", and part of the west half of 
the southwest quarter of section nine, township 
seventeen, range five. 

The village is pleasantly situated, but its 
proximity to Springfield has tended to prevent 
its growth to any great extent. It has now two 
church edifices, a school house, four business 
houses, and a number of dwelling houses. 

VILLAGE OP SHERMAN. 

The extension of the Springfield & Alton, 
now the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, 
from Springfield to Chicago, caused a number of 
villages to spring into existance, among the 
number being that of Sherman, so named in 
honor of Mr. Sherman, of Sangamon county. 
The village w^as platted in September, 1858, and 
comprised the north part of the east half of the 
southeast quarter of section twenty-five, town- 
ship seventeen, range five. 

The history of Fancy Creek township is con- 
tinued by short biographical mention of a large 
number of the best known residents, including 
their ancestors, many of whom have passed 
away. 

JIar7no7ias AlMre, farmer, post office, Sher- 
man, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 
180-i, son of Adam and Margaret (Hornbeck) 
Alkire. By their marriage there were eleven 



902 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



children, six sons and five daughters, viz: Mich- 
ael, Samuel, John, David, Adam, Harraonas, 
Betsy, Dolly, Sarah, Margaret, Judy; mother 
died in 1812, and Adam married Miss Bar- 
bara Cherry, by whom he had three children, 
Lydia, Simon and Isaac; father moved to Ohio 
where he died. Harmonas left Ohio in 1828, 
and went to Indiana and remained one year, 
when he came to Springfield, where he married 
Miss Martha M. McLemore, and then returned 
to Indiana, where he remained until 1832, when 
he moved to Fancy Creek township, where he 
has followed farming since. Mr. and Mrs. Al- 
kire were parents to fifteen children, nine of 
whom are living, viz: Mary, James Y., Daniel, 
William, Albert, Margaret, Caroline, Percilla and 
Martha. Mr. Alkire has been identified with the 
county nearly fifty years, and has lived on the 
same place; has seen the county from its infancy 
to one of the finest counties in the State. Mr. 
Alkire has been one of the large farmers of the 
county, owning twelve hundred acres of land, 
which he has distributed among his children. 
The family are members of the M. E. Church. 
Benjamin Bancroft^ post oftice, Cantrali, sec- 
tion nineteen; was born in St. Lawrence county, 
New York, March 3, 1821. Son of Isaac Ban- 
croft, who was born April 29, 17*76, and Mercy 
Coburn who was born March 12, 1781. Native 
of Massachusetts, where they were married 
March 5, 1799, when two children was born, 
Mercy and Betsy. In 1803, his parents emi- 
grated to St. Lawrence county. New York, being 
the first man that paid for his land in the county, 
where ten children were born, Jonathan C, 
Prudence, Lucinda, Alma S., Isaac, Joseph, 
Timothy, Benjamin and Harmon H., all of 
which lived to be men and women, with the 
exception of one, who died in infancy. In 1839, 
left his home in St. Lawrence county, New 
York, coming through with teams and making 
the trip in six weeks, and located in Springfield, 
where they remained until 1844, when he died. 
Previous to his death he purchased the land 
where Benjamin now resides. Mother oied 
February 10, 1868. The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm and recived a common 
school education. He spent two years in Platt- 
ville, Wisconsin, where he saved money enough 
to purchase seventy acres of land. September 
19, 1854, married Miss Elizabeth C. Cass, daugh- 
ter of John Cass, of Ohio, who was born March, 
1830. There were five children, two of whom 
are living, Martha L., Edward T., Maggie, Lu- 
cinda C, one of which died in infancy, Edward 
and Lucinda, of which are living. Mrs. Ban- 



croft died February 3, 187 1. Has one hundred 
and sixty acres of land valued at $50 per acre. 
Raises forty acres of corn, fifteen acres of wheat, 
turns ofl" twenty head of hogs. In politics is a 
Republican, and a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Michael JBarry, farmer, post ofl&'-e, Spring- 
field, was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 
1843, son of Michael and Honnorah Barry, who 
came to this country in 1845, and located at St. 
Louis, where they remained a couple of years; 
thence to Alton and to Springfield, coming over 
the Alton Railroad — the first train that ever 
came over the road. His father died some years 
since; mother is still living, in Springfield. 

The subject of this sketch married Miss Hon- 
norah Couners; she was born in Ireland, in 1845. 
There are two children — Catharine and William. 
Has one hundred and seventy-one acres of land, 
all of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
valued at $40 per acre; raises forty-five acres of 
corn, thirty-five acres of wheat, turns off forty- 
five head of hogs, ten of stock, four horses and 
two mules. Mr. Barry came to the county a 
poor boy, commenced at the lower round of the 
ladder, and by hard work and good judgment 
has accumulated a fine property and home. 

Captain John T. Canterbu7y, retired, Cantrali, 
Fancy Creek township, Illinois, was born in 
Fleming county, Kentucky, on the 27th day of 
August, 1819; son of Asa and Margaret (Horn- 
back) Canterbury; father a native of Virginia 
and mother of Kentucky. They were married 
in Ohio, but commenced their early life in Ken- 
tucky, where seven children were born: Isaac, 
Maria, Carlisle H., Valentine, John, Eliza J., 
Oliver P. In 1826, his father left his home in 
Kentucky for the Sangamo country, arriving in 
the fall, in a wagon and a five-horse team, and 
located in Fancy Creek township, one mile west 
of Cantrali, where he entered land and built him- 
self a story and a half log cabin, being one of 
the finest strnctures on the prairies at that time, 
where he remained until his death, which oc- 
curred October 16, 1856; mother died July 8, 
1857. There were four children born in Fancy 
Creek, as follows: Martha, Margaret, Julia and 
Abraham Mr. and Mrs. C. were members of 
the Christian Church, and took an active interest 
in building it up. The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm, receiving a limited educa- 
tion. February 22, 1842, married Miss Maranda 
Brittain. She was born in Fancy Creek township 
December 12, 1823. By this union there were six 
children, four of whom are living: John, born 
March 24, 1843, died March 10, 1864; Asa M., 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



903 



born November 15, 1844; Mary J., born August 
1, 1846; Margaret A., born January 10, 1849; 
Evans E., born August 10, 1851; Wm. II., born 
September 7, 1853, and died in infancy. Cap- 
tain C. was commissioned as Captain under 
Governor Ford. Mrs. Maranda M. died in 1853. 
He afterwards married Harriet E. Perkins. She 
was born in 1833. Mr. and Mrs. Canterbury are 
members of the Christian Church, at Cantrall. 
Mr. C. has been identified with the councy nearly 
all his life; has seen it from its wild and unculti- 
vated state, to one of the finest countries in the 
world; came here a poor boy, but by hard work 
and fair dealing has made a comfortable prop- 
erty and home; has two hundred and forty-five 
acres of land, valued at $65 per acre; raises fifty 
acres of corn and fifty acres of wheat. Pie is 
one of the staunch Republicans of the county. 

Oliver P. Canterbury, farmer and stock raiser, 
Fancy Creek township, post oi33ce, Cantrall, was 
born in Fleming county, Kentucky, July 21, 
1824. He came to this county with his parents 
when two years of age, where he was raised on 
a farm. March 9, 1848, he married Miss Eliza- 
beth Council, a daughter of William Council, a 
native of North Carolina, who came to Sanga- 
mon county, and located north of Springfield, in 
1821 . She was born in Sangamon county, April 
3, 1830. The fruits of this marriage was eleven 
children, Mary E., born April 10, 1849; Margaret 
J., born June 14, 1850; Maria, born September 
17, 1852; Malissa, born October 12, 1856; Car- 
lisle E., born October 10, 1858, died in infancy; 
John H., born in 1860; Annie F., born 
June 4, 1862; Etta J., born July 5, 1864; Wm. 
R., born July 15, 1868; Nellie, born October 4, 
1871; Mertie, born October 31, 1873. Mr. Can- 
terbury is extensively engaged in farming, has 
thirteen hundred acres of land, all of which is 
under a high state of cultivation, valued at $60 
per acre, on which he raises six hundred acres of 
corn, three hundred acres of wheat, turns off 
fifty head of hogs, yeai'ly. Mr. Canterbury 
came to this county a poor boy, but by hard 
work and good management has accumulated a 
fine property and home and is one of the large 
and well-to-do farmers of the county. He is at 
present engaged in the mercantile business in 
Cantrall, in company with his son-in-law, Wil- 
liam Vandergrift, where they carry a general 
stock. Mr. C. in politics is a Republican. 
Mr. and Mrs. C. are members of the Christian 
Church at Cantrall, Illinois. 

Joshua M. Cantrall, retired. Fancy Creek 
township, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on 
the l7th day of December, 1810; son of William 



G., and Deborah (Mitts) Cantrall, natives of 
Virginia, who emigrated to Owensville, Bath 
county, Kentucky, where they were married and 
where one child was born — Doratha. In the 
year 1805-6, he moved to Ohio, where there 
were nine children born, viz: Ann, Elizabeth, 
Joshua M., Thirza, Adam M., Deborah, Mahala, 
Susannah, William M. 

In 1824, he came to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
and located in Fancy Creek township, where he 
took up one hundred and sixty acres ot land, 
built a log cabin, sixteen by eighteen, where 
there was a family of twelve persons lived. 
After coming to the county, two children were 
born, Maranda and Andrew J. Mr. William G. 
Cantrall died March 6, 1868; mother died in 
1855. Mr. and Mrs. Cantrall were members of 
the Christian Church. He held several local 
oflices of trust; was one of the county commis- 
sioners at the time the State government was 
moved from Vandalia. The subject of this 
sketch married Sarah Cantrall, a daughter of 
Zebulon Cantrall, of Clark county, Ohio, where 
she was born March 14, 1812. The fruits of 
this marriage were ten children, viz: Zebulon 
G., William G., Matilda, Isaac, Jacob M., Joshua 
G., Mahala E., now Mrs. Geo. W. Baily; SaVah, 
George A.; four of which are living. Mr. 
Cantrall came to the county a young man, and 
has been identified with Sangamon county over 
a half century, and has seen the wild and uncul- 
tivated prairies, broke and brought under a high 
state of cultivation; has lived on the same farm 
over forty-six years. Mr. C. owned a farm of 
three hundred and twenty acres of land which 
he has distributed among his children. Mr. and 
Mrs. C. are members of the Christian Church. 

Samuel Carpenter, farmer, post office, Sher- 
man, was born in Fancy Creek, Sangamon 
county, on the 12th day of November, 1824, son 
of William and Margaret Carpenter, who emi- 
grated to the county in 1819. The subject of 
this sketch married Miss Ellen M. J. Kerns, 
daughter of Abner and Sarah A. Kerns, of Ohio, 
where she was born April 1, 1827. She died 
March 16, 1853. He again married Martha J. 
Black, daughter of Rev. Daniel and Diana Short, 
of Ohio. She was born September 25, 1831. 
She died July 17, 1873, leaving a family of six 
children, viz.: Annie S., now Mrs. F. P. Dunlap, 
born October 3, 1859; William D., born Novem- 
ber 27, 1867; Carrie E., now the wife of James 
H. Reynolds, born October 10, 1863; Martha J., 
born February 25, 1866; Lena L., born October 
23,1870; Mary M., born August 2, 1868. His 
present wife is Mary E. H. Meriweather, a 



904 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



widow of E. L. M. Johnson, by whom there 
was one child, Jennie H., born February 22, 
1867. She died May 6, 1873. Mrs. C.was born 
in Springfield, Ohio, November 15, 1835, daugh- 
ter of J. H. and Elizabeth J. (Hummel) Meri- 
weather, who emigrated to Sangamon in 1838, 
where he embarked in general merchandising. 
He died October 15, 1863; mother died August 
18, 1868. 

Mr. Carpenter is one of the prominent farmers 
in the township; has nine hundred acres of 
land, six hundred and forty of which is under 
cultivation, valued at $50 per acre; raises one 
hundred and fifty acres of corn, twenty-five 
acres of wheat; turns out one hundred head of 
hogs and sixty head of cattle yearly. In politics, 
is a Democrat. He and family are members of 
the M. E. Church. 

Thomas R. Clay pool, was born on a farm, in 
Champaign county, Ohio, February 19, 1826. 
His jDarents moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
and settled in Athens precinct, when he was 
eighteen months old. He remained here on a 
farm with his father until 1857, when he struck 
out for himself. He went to Menard county, 
Illinois, and improved a farm three miles north 
of Sweetwater, where he remained eight years, 
when he sold out and returned to Sangamon 
county and settled on the farm where he now 
lives, just north of Cantrall. He was married 
to Miss Fannie Holland, October 8, 1854. She 
was born in Sangamon county. She was a 
daughter of Turner Holland, and Nancy Can- 
trall. They were both members of the Christian 
Church. Mr. and Mrs. Claypool have had six 
children, five living, viz: Ida M., now Mrs. 
Van Meter, residing in Fancy Creek; Clara B., 
Levi B., Chloe, and Fred. Charley H. Claypool 
died in infancy. The father of Thomas R., 
Levi Claypool, was born in Greenbriar county, 
Virginia. He was a farmer, and died in Febru- 
ary, 1867. His wife, Melinda Rollins, was born 
in Fleming county, Kentucky. She and hus- 
band were both members of the M. E. Church. 
She is still living at Athens, Menard county, 
Illinois. The subject of this sketch, Mr. T. R. 
Claypool, has a farm of four hundred and forty 
acres in Cantrall township, all under good culti- 
vation and well stocked, growing grain, and 
raises stock for the market. In politics he is a 
strong supporter of the Republican party, and 
cast his first vote in 1847, for a Whig President. 

John S. Council, farmer and stock raiser, 
post ofiice, Sherman, was born in Sangamon 
county, on the 19th day of May, 1822. Son of 
Hardy, born September 20, 1793, near Tarboro, 



North Carolina, was taken by his parents to 
Tennessee, thence to Barren county, Kentucky, 
and thence to White county, near Carmi, Illi- 
nois. He was married in 1818, to Jane Hanna, 
who was born February 25, 1795, in Kentucky. 
They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriv- 
ing in August, 1819, in what is now Fancy 
Creek township, preceding his brother William 
two years. Mrs. Council carried a sack of 
wheat on the horse she rode besides many house- 
hold implements. Mr. Council carried all he 
could in the way of tools and other articles 
necessary to farming. He commenced improve- 
ments by building a camp or rough cabin. He 
was unable to obtain a plow, but be ing anxious 
to raise some wheat for a beginning, he took a 
grubbing hoe or old fashioned mattock, and dug 
up about one acre and a half near the junction 
between the prairie and timber, and on the 
ground thus prepared sowed the wheat brought 
by his wife, and raised a good crop. When the 
land was surveyed and brought into market 
there was a line between his cabin and where he 
raised his crop of wlieat. He could only enter 
one piece, and he chose that with the house on 
it. The land where the wheat grew was entered 
by another person who never cultivated it, but 
allowed a growth of young cottonwood trees to 
start on it, which has made quite a grove that 
can be seen for several miles, many of the trees 
are more than two feet in diameter. Mr. Coun- 
cil came in company with Robert McClelland 
and they cut an ample supply of grass and 
stacked it for their horses and cattle. They 
knew nothing of the prairie fires, and before 
they were aware of the importance of protecting 
it, their hay was all burned. They kept their 
stock alive by cutting down elm trees so they 
could eat the buds. Mr. and Mrs. Council had 
seven children, two of which died in infancy. 
The living are as follows: John H., Wesley, 
William F., Robert and George. Robei't died 
September, 1881. Mr. Council came to the 
county a poor man but by hard work and good 
management accumulated a large property, 
owning 2,100 acres of land. Previous to his 
death he gave his land to his children. He died 
July 26, 1873. Mrs. Jane Council died March 
30, 1863. The subject of this sketch was reared -s7 
on a farm and received a common school educa- / 1 
tion. Married Misa^^ dna Lak e, a daughter of 
Bayliss Lake. She was born on June 7, 1831. 
The fruits of this marriage is five children, four 
sons and one daughter, viz: James H., Charles 
F., George R., John W. and Annie F. Mr. 
Council is one of the large and extensive far- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



905 



iners of the couuty, owning one thousand one 
hundred and forty acres of land, one thousand 
and eighty of which is under cultivation, and 
valued at -$65 per acre. IVIr. C. has been identi- 
fied with the county all his life, and has seen it 
from its infancy to one of the best counties in 
the State. In politics he is a Republican. 

Hardy F. M. Council, farmer, Fancy Creek 
township, was born in Fancy Creek township, 
on the place where he now resides, February 10, 
1841. Son of William Council, who was born 
in Tarboro, North Carolina, October 1, 1790, and 
Mary Growes, of East Tennessee, born June 15, 
1802. They were married in White county, 
Illinois, in 1819, where one child was born, and 
moved to Sangamon county in 1821, and located 
north of Springfield, and kept the ferry on the 
Sangamon river, near where Carpenter's mill 
now stands. There was a family of twelve 
children, nine of whom lived to be adults. 
Shortly after coming to the county, he bought a 
claim of Jack Cline, which had ten acres broke, 
and built a cabin, beginning at the lowest round 
of the ladder, worked up, until he had accumu- 
lated a fine property, where he remained until 
his death, which occurred July 8, 1846. 

Mother viied January 95, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. 
Council were members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. The subject of this sketch was 
reared on a farm and received academic school 
education. In 1870, married Miss Charity Ray, 
daughter of James and Susannah Ray, natives of 
Ohio, born January 22, 1849. There were 
three children, one of whom is living — Mary 
Frances, born November 9, 1879. In li62, enlisted 
in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment, 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After breaking camp 
at Springfield, they went to Memphis, where they 
remained a short time. He participated in the 
battle of Jackson, Miss., Vicksburg, Black River, 
second battle of Jackson, and was on all of the 
marches and fights of the regiment, with the 
exception of Guntown ; at that time was in the 
hospital at Memphis. Mustered out at Vicks- 
burg and discharged and paid off at Springfield. 
Mr. Council has two hundred acres of land, one 
hundred and sixty under cultivation, valued at 
$75 per acre. 

John Ray Dunlap, farmer, was born in Carter 
county, East Tennessee, on the 24tb day of 
April, 1821; son of John and Catharine (Tipton) 
Dnnlap, natives of Tennessee, where they were 
married and raised a family of nine children, 
viz: Isaic, Margaret, Sarah, Tennessee, Ruth, 
James T., Susannah, Mary Ann. In 1828, his 
parents emigrated to Sangamon county, and 



located in Fancy Creek township, whorp J. R. 
now resides; moved into a log cabin sixteen by 
eighteen feet, where they remained one winter, 
where one child was born, Edna M. 

He entered land, and made a home and re- 
mained until his death, which occurred in 185G; 
mother died in 1857. They were members of 
the Baptist church. The subject of this sketch 
came to the county when seven years of age, 
and has lived on the same farm for fifty-three 
years. He married Miss Emily A. Brown; she 
was the daughter of James L. and Jane Brown, 
natives of Kentucky, and emigrated to Sanga- 
mon county, about 1824; she was born on May 
12, 1824. The fruits of this marriage was ten 
children, eight of which are living, Almira, now 
the wife of Theodore Allen, of Missouri; James 
A., a practicing physician of Sullivan, Illinois; 
Robert, now a theological student, at Lexington, 
Kentucky; Franklin P., a farmer of Fancy Creek; 
Eliza Jane, now the wife of George D. Power, 
of Sangamon county; John, who is attending 
school at Bloomington; Clarence P., and Olive 
L., at home. 

Mr. Dunlap has been identified with the 
county all his life, is one of the large and well-to- 
do farmers of the county; has five hundred and 
forty acres of land, valueil at $60 per acre. Mr. 
Dunlap has held several locil offices of trust, 
having represented the township as supervisor 
two terms. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap are members 
of the Baptist Church. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat. 

William L. England, M. D., Cantrall, Illi- 
nois, was born in Bath county, Kentucky on the 
first day of October, 1822, son of Jesse and 
Hannah (Mei'shon) England, father of English 
descent, and born in Virginia; mother a native of 
New Jersey, married about 1798 or 1799. There 
was a family of nine children all of which lived 
to be adults; Cornelius M., who died July IS, 
1833; Martha, a wife of Charles Bailey, and 
located in Bath county, Kentucky; Nancy, wife 
of Martin Honaker, of Bath county, Kentucky; 
Cath arine, wife of P. B. Hord, of Carter county, 
Kentucky; Sarah, wife of Chas. W. Honaker, of 
Lewis county, Kentucky; Eliza, now Mrs. Dun- 
lavy; Annie L., wife of Chas. N. Lewis, a repre- 
sentative of the State Senate, of Kentucky; 
Stephen J., of Kansas. Father was a farmer, who 
died in Carter county, Kentucky, October 12, 
1859. The Doctor was reared on a farm, his 
mother, who Avas an intelligent woman and kept 
medical books to which the Doctor had access, 
got to reading and fitted himself. In 1843 and 
1844, attended lectures at the Cincinnati Eclec- 



906 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



tic Medical College, where he graduated in 1844 
with honors In March, 1851, married Miss 
Sarah R. Everman, she was born April 14, 
1828. The fruits of this marriage was eight 
children, three of whom are living, Laura C, 
now Mrs. Geo. E. Williams; Annie L., and Wil- 
liam L. Dr. England followed his profession in 
Kentucky for twenty years, when he came to 
Macoupin county, Illinois, where he remained 
three years, he thence went to Athens in Me- 
nard county, where he remained four years, 
when he came toCantrall, wherehe has remained 
since 1873. In politics he is a Democrat. He 
owns a residence and six lots in Cantrall, Illi- 
nois. 

John Moore Fisk, farmer, post office, Cantrall, 
section nineteen, was born in Indiana county, 
Pennsylvania, September 17, 1822, son of Eli 
and Margaret (Moore) Fisk, natives of Tolland 
county, Connecticut, where they were married. 
They commenced their early life in Massachusetts, 
where one daughter was born — Esther L. In 
about 1817 or '18, they left Massachusetts, and 
emigrated to Indiana county, Pennsylvania, 
where the subject of this sketch was born, where 
they lived for some years, when they removed 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, where another son was born 
— Eli C. — now of Mason county, Illinois. In 
1835, came to what is now Mason county, 
Illinois, where he took up land and made a farm 
where he remained until his death, which oc- 
curred about 1862; mother died in 1859. In 
politics, he was an old line Whig. The subject 
of this sketch received a common school educa- 
tion. The country was sparsely settled, there 
being only seven votes polled in what is Mason 
county. On the 27th day of February, 1845, 
married Miss Sarah Ann McReynolds,of Colum- 
bia county, Pennsylvania, where she was born 
July 24, 1823. By this union there were seven 
children, six of whom are living — Lucinda F., 
now Mrs. A. M. Canterbery; Warren C, of St. 
Louis; Margaret J., Willis E., Esther E., who 
were born in Mason county, Illinois, and Elmer 
McReynolds, of this couLty. In March, 1865, 
moved to Sangamon county, and located on the 
place where he now resides; has two hundred 
and twenty acres of land valued at |50 per acre; 
raises fifty acres of corn, fifty acres of wheat, 
twelve acres of oats, and turns out forty head of 
hogs. Mr. Fisk has held several local offices of 
trust in the township; has represented the town 
in the board of supervisors. Himself and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Cornelius Flagg, farmer and railroad con- 
tractor, Fancy Creek township, was born in Ox- 



ford, Butler county, Ohio, on the 17th day of 
May, 1831, son of Abraham, who was born 
March 2, 1805, and Sarah Hoffman. She was 
born January 23, 1801, and was married October 
11, 1823. There was a family of nine children, 
four sons and five daughters, viz. : Anne, William, 
Albert, Maria, Cornelius, Jacob, Sarah, Char- 
lotte, and Ellen, who were born in Illinois. In 
1841, he left his home in Ohio, with his family, 
coming through with teams, stopping at Moses 
Hoffman's, where he remained a portion of the 
winter. The following spring, moved to German 
Prairie, where he rented a farm, which his boy 
carried on, and himself working at his trade of 
blacksmithing, where they remained two years, 
when he moved to Rochester township, where 
they remained two years. He then moved to 
what was known as the Beck neighborhood, 
where they remained until 1850, when he pur- 
chased land in Williamsville, where he made a 
farm, and laid off a portion of it into what is 
now Williamsville, where he lived until his 
death, which occurred February 17, 1858; mother 
died April 24, 1872, The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm, and received an element- 
ary school education. October 8, 1860, married 
Miss Sarah Kerns, a daughter of Abner and 
Sarah E. W. Kerns, natives of Ohio, where she 
was born, December 8, 1828. By this union, 
there were five children, viz.: John B., born 
December 18, 1865, died August 26, 1866; 
Allie, born February 5, 1869; Kerns Abraham, 
born October 2, 1861; Franklin, born September 
28, 1863; Sarah J., born January 80, 1867. Mrs. 
Flagg died March 14, 1874. 

He again married Jane M. Kerns, a sister of 
his former wife. She was born in Ohio, August 
1, 1838. Mr. Flagg has always been an active 
business man. In his early life, he embarked in 
farming, which he followed for some years with- 
out success, when he engaged in railroading, 
supplying the Chicago & Alton Railroad with 
ties, timbers, and wood between Pontiac and 
Alton, and afterwards followed up the road into 
Missouri. 

Mr. Flagg has three hundred acres of 
land, all of which is under a high state of culti- 
vation, and valued at 111 5 per acre. He came 
to the county a poor boy, but by his own exer- 
tions has accumulated a fine property, and has 
one of the finest residences and best barns in 
the county. He owns, all together, about eight 
hundred acres of land in Fancy Creek, Williams 
and Salisbury townships. He also owns 
property in Sherman, Illinois, and Armstrong, 
Missouri. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



907 



Christopher Gearity, farmer, post office, 
Springfield, Illinois, was born in Meath county, 
Ireland, December 31, 1812, son of Patrick and 
Bridget (Ward) Gearity, who were married in 
Ireland, where eight children were born — four 
sous and four daughters — viz: Thomas, Jane, 
Christopher, Margaret, Julia, Hugh, Mary and 
James. 

The subject of this sketch came to the United 
States in a sailing vessel, and landed in New 
York, where he remained a few days, and then 
went to Oswego, New York, where he was em- 
ployed in Kingsford & Son's starch factory, and 
remained three years. He then removed to Buf- 
falo, New York, where he worked on the lakes, 
working at odd jobs through the winter, where 
he remained two years. In 1851, he came to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, where he worked on 
a farm by the month for about two years. He 
then rented a farm. In 183S, he married Miss 
Catharine Mathews. She was born in Ireland in 
1815. The fruits of this marriage were eight 
children. They left four children in Ireland with 
his wife's father, viz: Thomas, James, Patrick 
and Bridget. The children who were born in 
America are: Martha, Mary, Catharine and 
Hugh. Mary died in infancy. In 1857 became 
to his present farm, where he has resided since. 
He has eighty acres of land, sixty-eight under 
cultivation, valued at $45 per acre; raises thirty 
acres of corn, sixteen acres of wheat and turns 
off eighteen head of hogs. Mr. Gearity came to 
the country a poor man, but has, through good 
judgment, accumulated a fine property and home. 

Leiois F. Hoffman, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Sherman was born in Ross county, 
Ohio, September 21, 1829, son of Moses Hoff- 
man, who was born in Greenbriar county, Vir- 
ginia, November 24, 1798, and Rhoda Turman, 
born February 14, 1806, a widow of Richard 
Winn. By this marriage there were nine 
children, seven of which lived to be adults, while 
two died in infancy. In 1829, he left his home 
in Ohio, in a wagon, to which were hitched 
three yoke of oxen, for Sangamon county, camp- 
ing out on the way, doing their own cooking, 
and located on the place where they now live. 
Their first dwelling place was a camp made out 
of logs, with three sides, one end being left 
out, where they built a fire in front, and re- 
mained there a portion of the winter. In 1830, 
he broke thirty acres of prairie and planted corn, 
which supplied them with breadstuff. The fol- 
lowing winter came on the big snow, and the 
only way that he could gather his corn was to 
make snow-shoes out of clapboards which he tied 



to his feet and hauled it in on a band-slod, and, as 
Mrs. H. said, stowed it under her bed. Mr. 
Hoffman was an enterprising business man, and 
at his death had accumulated a property of seven 
hundred and forty acres of land. He died June 
8, 1842. Was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, 
under Colonel W. F. Elkin, and was commis- 
sioned as Captain in the State militia. Mrs. 
Hoft'man again married Solomon Wood, in 1847. 
One child blessed this union, Solomon. Mr. 
Wood died April 18, 1848. Mrs. Wood is still 
living with her son on the old homestead, where 
she has lived nearly fifty-two years. 

The subject of this sketch married Miss Han- 
nah Ann Gamble, January 17, 1861, the daugh- 
ter of James and Nancy Gamble, of Holmes 
county, Ohio, where she was born, November 10, 
1838. There were three children, two of whom 
are living: Leora, born February 21, 1864; 
Elmer, born June 5, 1868. One died in infancy. 
Has four hundred and seventy-six acres of land, 
valued at $60 per acre; raises one hundred and 
twenty acres of corn; turns one hundred and 
fifty head of hogs; has on his place three hun- 
dred and forty-six head of hogs, fifty head of 
cattle, eleven head of horses. Mr. Hoffman is 
one of the large and well-to-do farmei's of the 
county, and has been identified with it all his 
life, and has seen its various changes. In poli- 
tics, he is a Repiablican, and cast his first vote 
for Taylor for President of the United States. 
His father was an old-line Whig. 

John S. Lake, farmer, post office, Cantrall, 
section sixteen, was born in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, January 9, 1840, a son of Bayliss 
G. and Eliza Lake. The subject of this sketch 
married Miss Mary C. Brittan ; she was born in 
Fancy Creek township in 1848. The fruits of 
this marriage is three living children, Dora, 
James, and Edith May. Mr. Lake enlisted in 
the army in 1862, in the One Hundredth and 
Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
try, Company G; was in the Fifteenth Army 
Corps, under General Sherman, The first gen- 
eral engagement was at Jackson, Mississippi; 
then at the siege of Vicksburg, and capture; 
then to Black River, where they went into camp 
on Bear creek, from thei'e went to Memphis, 
where they were put on guard duty, where they 
remained until the spring of 1863. From there 
went to Guntown under General Sturgis, where 
they participated in the fight, when he was 
wounded and taken prisoner, and taken to 
Mobile, where he laid in the hospital two 
months, where he had to dress his own wounds 
for some time, when the wounded had to wash 



908 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



their own bandages, scattering gangrene through 
the whole hospital. From there were removed to 
Cahaba, Ala., three hundred miles up the river, 
where they received better treatment, where 
they were kept a couple of months. Mr. Lake, 
with others, was sent to Vicksburg, where he was 
exchanged, October 24, 1864. He received 
thirty days' furlough, after which he was ordered 
to report to Camp Butler, Springfield, where he 
remained until the spring of 1865, when he 
was discharged. He has one hundred and sixty- 
three acres of land, all of which is under a high 
state of cultivation, valued at $60 per acre. 
Raises seventy-five acres of corn, thirty acres of 
wheat; turns off twelve head of hogs; keeps 
twenty cattle. In politics he is a Republican. 

Uriah T. Lawrence^ farmer, post office, Sher- 
man, was born in Morgan county, Missouri, 
August 5, 1848, son of Walter and Charlotte 
(Watkins) Lawrence; he was born in Wales, she 
in Pennsylvania. They were married in Ohio, 
and two children were boin — Julia and Jane. 
About 1840, his parents emigrated to Iowa, 
where he remained three years. He then re- 
moved to Morgan county, Missouri, where he 
remained seven years, when he came to Wil- 
liams township, where he rented land and 
afterward purchased a farm and lived a few 
years, when he sold out and purchased the prop- 
erty where Mr. Lawrence now lives, and re- 
mained until his death, which occurred in 1873; 
mother died the same year. Mr. L. has one 
hundred and twenty acres of land, eighty acres 
of which is under cultivation, valued at $50 per 
acre. Raises fifty acres of corn, ten acres of 
wheat, and turns off fifty head of hogs. The 
children of Charlotte and Walter were as fol- 
lows: Julia Ann, born April 18, 1838; E. Jane, 
born September 27, 1840; William IL, born July 
14, 1843; Walter P., born December 15,. 1845; 
Uriah T., born August 5, 1848; John J., born 
September 18, 1852; Albert D., born February 
16, 1855; Mary K., born May 1, 1857; Joanna 
B., born August 19, 1859. E. Jane, died April 
20, 1873. The family are members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Re 
publican. His father wa** an old line Whig. 
He was a member of the Masonic and I. O. O. 
F. lodges. 

George McClelland^ farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Cantrall, was born on the place 
where he now resides, on the 27th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1832; father a native of Ohio, and mother 
of North Carolina. His father, Robert, was 
born in 1780. His mother died when he was 
quite young, and his father died a few years 



later. He went to White county, Illinois, when 
he was a young man. Charlotte Council, his 
mother, was born about 1797, and was taken to- 
White county, Illinois, where they were married 
and two children were born. They moved to 
Sangamon county, arriving August, 1819, and 
locating in Fancy Creek township, where he took 
up land and made a farm, where there were 
thirteen children born, twelve of whom lived to 
be adults. 

Mr. McClelland came to the county a poor 
man and lived in a log cabin, and by good 
judgment accumulated a fine property, on which 
he remained until his death, which occurred 
October 31, 1858. In politics, was an old line 
Whig, and afterwards joined the Republi- 
can party. Mother died May 15, 1868. Mr. 
and Mrs. McClelland was among the earliest 
settlers of the county. George McClelland was 
reared on a farm, where he now resides. 
Married Miss Mary C. Brown, a daughter of 
Benjamin F. Brown, of Kentucky. She was 
born in Fancy Creek township, July 20, 1837. 
There were six sons, Fred, Frank, Paul, Arthur, 
Melvin and Roy. 

Has two hundred and thirty acres of land 
under a high state of cultivation, valued at $65 
per acre. Raises one hundred acres of corn, 
ninety acres of wheat, and has on his place two 
hundred head of hogs. 

Mr. McClelland is one of the large and well- 
to-do farmers of the county and has been 
identified with its interests all his life; has seen 
the prairies from their wild, uncultured state to 
one of the finest farming countries in the world. 

Martin McCoy ^ farmer, was barn in Licking 
county, Ohio, Jannary 4, 1848, son of Mathew 
and Margaret (Yates) McCoy, natives of Penn- 
sylvania, where they were married, and three 
children were born, George, Robert and Eliza. 
His parents emigrated to Ohio about 1836, where 
six more children were born; Mary, Lucinda. 
Martha, Roenna, Catharine and Martin. In the 
spring of 1835, he removed to Sangamon county. 
Shortly after arriving he returned to Ohio on 
business, when he died. Mrs. Margaret died 
some years before. They were members of the 
M. E. church. Martin married Miss Annie F. 
Brown, a daughter of Benjamin F, Brown. She 
was born in Fancy Creek township, June 17, 
1853. By this union there were two children 
living, Walter O. and Irena. Mr. McCoy has 
one hundred and twenty-one acres of land, 
valued at $75 per acre. Raises fifty acres of 
corn, twenty acres of wheat, twenty-eight head 
of stock, eleven head of horses. In the fall of 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON^ COUNTY 



909 



1862, enlisted in the Seventy-seventh Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, Company C,and participated 
in the battles of Fort Donalson, Shiloh, Jack- 
son, Mississippi, siege of Vicksburg, and was on 
the march to the sea, and march to Washington 
and review, was mustered out at Louisville, Ken 
tucky, and discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio; 
was in the service nearly three years. 

David McRoherts, merchant and farmer, was 
born in Williams township. May 19, 18£3, 
son of John and Sarah (Gibson) McRoberts, 
natives of Ireland, who came to this country 
in 1849 or 1850, and located in Springfield 
where they remained a short time, when they 
moved to Fancy Creek township, where he 
rented a few years and then purchased property 
in Sherman and embarked in the merchandising 
of goods, which occupation he followed until his 
death, which occurred in 1869. Mother still 
living in Sherman. There was a family of 
twelve children, five of whom are living, four 
sons and one daughter, viz: John, Samuel, Hugh, 
David and Mary. The subject of this sketch 
embarked in the mercantile business in 1869, 
and carries a line of dry goods, groceries, boots 
and shoes, and everything that is usually kept in 
a country store; carries a stock of $2,500 and does 
a business of $10,000 per year. Mr. McRoberts 
has a farm of one hundred and ten acres of laud 
tinder a high state of cultivation valued at $V5 
per acre. Raises twenty-five acres of corn, 
twenty acres of wheat, ten acres of oats. In 
politics is a Democrat. 

Samuel Millenger, farmer. Fancy Creek, post 
office, Cantrall. Son of Henry and Polly 
(Mickel) Millenger, natives of Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania, where he was born January 27, 
1832. There was eleven children of his father's 
family, five sons and six daughters, ten of whom 
lived to be adults, Susannah, Polly, Nancy, 
William, Elizabeth, Jacob, Henry, Sarah, Harry, 
Samuel and Catharine. His father died in Frank- 
lin county about 1860, at the age of one hundred 
and one. In 1851, Samuel left Pennsylvania and 
came to Ohio where he remained one year, and 
in 1852, came to Sangamon county, where he 
married Miss Almira Cantrall. She died in 
1857, leaving one son, Samuel I. He again 
married Maranda Cantrall, a widow of Wm. 
Snelson, by whom one child was born, Chas. H. 
Mrs. Millenger was born in Fancy Creek town- 
ship. May 12, 1826. There was four children, 
viz: Wm. C, Mahala, Debbie and Lucy E. In 
1869, enlisted in the One Hundred and Four- 
teenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
Company C. His first engagement was at the 

106— 



battle of Jackson, Mississippi, siege and capture 
of Vicksburg, battle of Guntown, Tupelo, Span- 
ish Fort, Ft. Blakely — and served three years — 
and was honorably discharged at Camp Butler. 
Has eighty acres of land valued at $50 per acre. 
Raises twenty acres of corn, twenty-five acres of 
wheat, turns off twenty-five head of hogs. 

Carlisle Mitts, farmer and stock raiser, post 
office, Cantrall, was born in Sangamon, Fancy 
Creek township, on the 12th day of March, 1830, 
son of Cyrus and Martha (Burbridge) Mitts, 
who emigrated to Sangamon county from Ohio, 
in 1828; father a native of Pennsylvania and 
mother of Kentucky, where they were married, 
where there were two children born, James M. 
and Jesse. He afterwards moved to Ohio, 
where tvv'o daughters and one son were born, 
Jane, Roland, and Elizabeth. In 1829, came 
to Sangamon county, where there was six chil- 
dren born, viz: Cyrus, Robert, John, Joseph, 
Martha and Mary. Mr. Mitts purchased land 
and made a farm in Fancy Creek township. In 
August, 1852, was accidentally killed a short dis- 
tance from his home, by a runaway team, by the 
tongue of the wagon striking him in the back. 
Mr. Mitts was an elder in the Christian church, 
and done much in building up the same; mother 
died in 1862. 

The subject of this sketch married Miss 
Margaret Hall, of Athens, Menard county, Illi- 
nois, June 7, 1863. The fruits of this marriage 
was three children, all of which died in infancy. 
Mr. Mitts has ninety-eight acres of land, all of 
which is under a high state of cultivation, 
valued at $65 per acre. Mr. Mitts was born 
here and has seen the county from its infancy to 
one of the best cultivated counties in the State; 
can remember when there was not a family liv- 
ing between here and Elkhart. Mr. Mitts has a 
fine farm and beautiful home, and is one of the 
well-to-do farmers of the township. 

Henry Nave, retired, Cantrall, Illinois, was 
born in Carter county, East Tennessee, on the 
22d day of December, 1812; son of William and 
Martha (Williams) Nave, natives of East 
Tennessee, where they were married, and twelve 
children were born, with the exception of one, 
which was born in Sangamon county. The 
children were as follows: Eliza, wife of James 
Jenkins, of Tennessee; Abraham, married Eliza 
Bowars, and settled in Missouri; W^illiam, 
married Jane Crow, and settled in Illinois in 
1839; Mary, now Mrs. Godfrey Crow, of 
Tennessee; Catharine, married Henry Harden 
and came to Illinois in 1843; Vina, married Eli 
Fletcher and resides in Tennessee; Delilah, 



910 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



married Eli Underwood, of Missouri; Sarah, 
married Madison Johnson, and settled in Illinois 
in 1844; John, of Missouri, who was wounded 
and died in the Union army; Margaret, now 
Mrs. Lipps, of Tennessee; Elizabeth, married 
Leonard Bowars. Mr. William Nave emigrated 
to Sangamon county in 1843, where he died. 
Shortly after, mother returned to Tennessee, 
■where' she died about 1878. Henry Nave 
married May 29, 1830, Miss Margaret Bowars, a 
daughter of John L. and Rebecca Bowars, of 
East Tennessee, where she was born September 
12, 1812. They have lived together as man 
and wife over a half century. There were two 
children, Martha R., born February 28, 1831, 
Elizabeth, born March lY, 1836, both of whom 
died in infancy. In 1832, he left his home in 
Tennessee, and went to Washington county, 
Indiana, where he remained seven years, when 
he removed to Sangamon county, and located in 
Fancy Creek township, where he purchased 
eighty acres of land and built a cabin, which 
stands at the present writing, where he remained 
until 1876, when he came to Cantrall. Mr. 
Nave left Tennessee with $20 in his pocket, got 
as far as Indiana when his means gave out and 
he had to stop and go to work. 

He split rails for 25 cents per hundred and 
boarded himself. While in Indiana he accumu- 
lated about $1,100. Previous to coming, he sold 
out, taking notes, and by reason of the bankrupt 
law he lost nearly all he had, again being 
compelled to commence at the bottom. Mr. 
Nave was not the kind of a man to set down 
and fold his arms, but went to work with a good 
will and accumulated a fine property and home. 
In politics, he is a Democrat. He and wife are 
members of the Baptist Church. 

Michael Nolan, farmer, post office, Spring- 
field, was born in Springfield, Illinois, May 20, 
1856, son of Patrick and Ann (Grimes) Nolan, 
natives of Ireland, who emigrated to the States 
some years ago. They were married in Spring- 
field, about 1827. There was a family of two 
children, viz: Matilda and Michael. In 1861, 
came to Fancy Creek, where he purchased land 
and opened up a farm, where he remained until 
1879, when he moved to Springfield, when he 
embarked in the grocery business. Has two 
hundred and ten acres of land, valued at $35 
per acre; raises thirty-five acres of corn, twenty- 
five acres of wheat, turns out twenty head of 
hogs. Michael Nolan married Miss Ellen Mad- 
den, daughter of John Madden, of Springfield, 
in 1828. There is one child, Johnny, born 
March 6, 1881. 



George Power, retired farmer, residence on 
section four. Fancy Creek township, town seven- 
teen, range five, was born in Fayette county, 
Kentucky, on February 18, 1798, and is the son 
of James Power and Eleanor Dedman. When 
he was ten years of age his parents moved to 
Bath county, where his father died three years 
later. Owing to this and other causes George's 
educational privileges were YQvy meager. On 
February 10, 1820, he united in marriage with 
Nancy Wilcockson, who was born in Bath 
county, Kentucky, January 13, 1804. In the 
fall of 1821, they came to Illinois and settled on 
the farm where they now reside, having occupied 
it over sixty years. Mr. Power's efl^ects when 
he landed in the then wild prairie State, con- 
sisted of a wife, one son, William, a pair of 
horses, a half interest in a wagon, and $5.00 in 
cash. His father-in-law, William W^ilcockson, 
and family accompanied them, and settled on 
section nine of the same township. They erected 
a cabin, and both families occupied it the first 
winter. When the land came into market, Mr. 
Power bought sixty-six and two-third acres. 
This purchase compelled him to part from his 
last horse and to borrow $16 besides. In the 
year 1829, he erected the first frame dwelling 
north of the Sangamon river, in the county, 
locating it on the southeast quarter of section 
four. About two years after making his first 
purchase he borrowed the money to buy the 
eighty aci'es on which his present house stands. 
Other tracts were bought from time to time as 
means and opportunity offered, until the home 
farm contains two thousand acres, and he owns 
some four hundred acres elsewhere, as the re- 
ward of business energy and persevering toil. 
The present family residence he built about 
twenty-five years ago; and it with the other 
buildings comprising the homestead improve- 
ments cost $10,000. Thehomefarmis estimated 
worth $75 per acre. Besides the twenty-four 
hundred acres of farming land, he owns pro- 
perty in the village of Cantrall valued at $6,000. 
Mr. Power served as Second Lieutenant in the 
Black Hawk war, and held the office of Major 
many years in the militia organization. He 
filled the office of justice of the peace nineteen 
years, during which he never had a decision 
reversed in the higher courts. Abraham Lin- 
coln tried his first case in law and made his first 
plea before him. He has always been a pro- 
nounced Democrat; voted three times for i^n- 
drew Jackson. Mr. Power was conscientiously 
opposed to the late war, but in favor of the pres- 
ervation of the Union, and contributed liberally 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



911 



to the support of war widows and soldiers' fam- 
ilies. Having instructed Mr. Irvin, proprietor 
of a flouring mill, to let soldiers families have 
breadstuffs whenever they applied and charge 
the price to him, he paid him at one lime $600, 
besides smaller amounts on other occasions. 
His donations to the cause aggregated $2,000. 
Mr. and Mrs. Power are the parents of two sons, 
namely, William D. and James E. Power. 
William enjoyed the advantages of the primi- 
tive schools, in the log school house, and en- 
gaged in farming in early life. He read law in 
Springfield and practiced a number of years. He 
was elected County Judge in 1857, and^re-elected 
in 1861. While serving his second term he died 
with typhoid fever, March 2, 1863, at the age 
of 42 years, having been born in May, 1821. He 
was very active during early years of the war in 
raising recruits for the army. He married 
Nancy J. Barnett, January 6, 1843, in Sangamon 
county; they had five children, two of each sex 
survive. James E. Power has always farmed 
with his father, and for years dealt considerably 
in live stock. He was born December 1, 1824, 
and married Laura Chord, November 9, 1878. 
She is a native of Menard county, Illinois, born 
in 1850. They have a son, James W^illiam, born 
October 16, 1879. The subject of this memoir 
has made provision for his son James to have 
one thousand acres of land, and the children of 
William to have two hundred and sixty each at 
his decease. In 1879 he constructed a beautiful 
family vault, on section nine, of his premises. 
It is built of Joliet stone, at a cost of $3,000, 
and is the finest sepulchre in Sangamon county. 
G. G. Seifert, M. D., Cantrall, Illinois, was 
born in Saxony, Germany, on the 22d day of 
August, 1846, son of John C. and Christina 
Seifert. They were married in Germany where 
two sons and three daughters were born. In 
1849 his parents emigrated to the United States 
and located in Sheboyagan county, Wisconsin, 
where he bought a farm and made a home. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and 
received an academic education, and prepared 
himself for teaching, which he followed two 
years in Wisconsin and three years in Spring- 
field. When twenty-one years of age he com- 
menced reading medicine, under William Hope 
Davis, M. D., at Springfield, where he remained 
about three years, when he attended the Eclectic 
Medical College, at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he 
graduated in May, 1871, with honors. After 
graduating, he returned to Springfield, where he 
remained a short time, when he went to Athens, 
where he located and remained two and a half 



years. The Doctor then went to Springfield, 
where he followed his profession until he came 
to Cantrall. Married Miss Jennie Beckeraeyer, 
who was born in Springfield, November 30, 1853. 
There were four children, two of whom are liv- 
ing, viz: Emily, born May 25, 1876; Otto H., 
born April 16, 1880. The Doctor is a member 
of the Eclectic State Medical Association. He 
is a member of the Christian Church, at Spring- 
field, and Mrs. Seifert is a member of the German 
Lutheran Church. 

James IT. Thaxton, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Sherman, was born in Allen county, 
I\entucky, on the 28th day of November, 1823, 
son of Thomas and Hannah (Williamson) Thax- 
ton; natives of South Carolina. They were 
married in Allen county, Kentucky, where twelve 
children were born — six sons and six daughters 
— seven of whom lived to be men and women, viz: 
Williamson, George, Matilda, Millie, Thomas, 
Sarah and J. H., who is the only one living. 
His father died in Kentucky about 1826. The 
subject of this sketch came to Sangamon county, 
in about 1840, being out of the State but one 
day since. April 10, 1845, married Miss Margaret 
Hoifman, a daughter of Moses and Rhoda Hoff- 
man. She was born in Clark county, Ohio, 
January 2, 1827. There were nine children, six 
of whom are living, viz: Arminda, now Mrs. 
O. F. Shepard; Clarinda, Mary A., now Mrs. J. 
B. Van Meter, of Fancy creek; Rhoda Caroline, 
now Mrs. James Pittman, of Springfield, and 
Lewis. Mr. Thaxton came to the county when 
a young man, and worked for $10 per month. 
In after years, he bought his present farm, 
and has one hundred and twenty-four acres of 
land, all of which is under a high state of culti- 
vation, valued at $75 per acre. Raises forty 
acres of corn, fifteen acres of wheat, ten acres of 
oats; turns off fifty head of hogs yearly. In 
politics, he is a Republican. 

Johii R. Van Meter, farmer and stock raiser, 
postoflice, Cantrall, was born on the farm where 
he now lives, on the 15thday of December, 1837; 
son of S. R. and Catharine ( Bishop) Van Meter,who 
were natives of Ohio, where they married, August 
5, 1834, and immediately started for Illinois, 
with his young wife, and located in Fancy creek 
township. His father gave him eighty acres of 
land, and afterwards he entered two hundred and 
forty acres, making in all three hundred and 
twenty acres of land, which he owned at his 
death, which occurred, September 6, 1866; he 
aga-n married, April 3, 1860, Mrs. Mary A. E. 
Whitmore, whose maiden name was Kaiser. Mr. 
Van Meter was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, 



913 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



of 1831 and '32; was an old line Whig, up to 
the time of the organization of the Republican 
party, with which he afterward affiliated; at the 
time that the Know Nothing party was oi'ganized, 
he with others took an active interest, holding 
meetings at his house. J. R. was raised on a 
farm, and received an academic education, Janu- 
ary 22, 1872, he married Miss Eliza J. Cressee, 
daughter of John and Sarah Cressee, now of 
Springfield, and came to Sangamon county in 
1837; she was born in Menard county, Illinois, 
October 12, 1845. There are two children, 
Seymour, born October 29, 1872; William F., 
born October 31, 187.5. Mr. Van Meter is one 
of the large and well-to-do farmers of the county; 
has three hundred and twenty acres of land under 
a high state of cultivation, valued at $65 per 
acre; raises forty acres of corn; twenty acres of 
wheat; turns out one car load of cattle, one car 
of hogs, yearly. Mr. Van Meter makes a spec- 
ialty of Cotswold and South Downs, and turns 
his attention to this branch of stock; has three 
hundred head on his place, and turns out one 
hundred head per year. In politics, is a Repub- 
lican, and has represented his township in the 
board of supervisors, a number of years. 

William T. Vandergrift, merchant, Cantrall, 
Illinois, was born in Athens, Menard county, 
Illinois, June 27, 1843; son of A. J. and Arminta 
(Barnett) Vandergrift; father a native of Vir- 
ginia, and mother of Kentucky; were married in 
Sangamon county, about 1842, where a family of 
five children was born, four of which lived to be 
men and women, Anna Bell, now the wife of F. 
C. Sherwood, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Thos. J., 
of Shellsburg, Wisconsin; John S., of Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa; William T., enlisted in the Ninety- 
second Regiment, Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, 
Company I., in 1862, and participated in all the 
engagements of the regiment, some of the prin- 
cipals being the battle of Chickamauga, Atlanta 
campaign; with Sherman to the sea; was mus- 
tered out at Concord, North Carolina, and dis- 
charged at Chicago. In 1805, he married Miss 
Margaret Canterbury, a daughter of O. P. Can- 



terbury, of Cantrall, Illinois; she was born June 
14, 1851. By this union there are three children, 
Emory C, Arminta and Hardy M, Mr. Vander- 
grift is at present engaged in merchandising in 
Cantrall; carries a stock of dry goods, groceries, 
boots and shoes, and everything that is usually 
carried in a country store; handles a stock of 
12,000. 

In politics, he is a Republican, and cast 
his first vote for TJ. S. Grant, first term, for 
President of the United States. 

William F. Wolf, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Sherman, was born in Mansfield, 
Ohio, on the 11th day of April, 1851, son of 
John W. and Rebecca (Wirtz) Wolf, natives of 
Ohio, where they were married, August 25, 1848. 
The fruits of this marriage was a family of five 
children, two sons and three daughters, two of 
which lived to be adults. Mary J., born Janu- 
ary 8, 1850, and the subject of this sketch. The 
family came to Sangamon county in 1857, and 
located one-half mile west of Sherman, Sep- 
tember 8, 1877, he died; mother still living with 
her son William F, The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm and received a common 
school education. When seventeen years of age 
went to w^ork in the Chicago &> Alton Railroad 
wood yard. In 1870, ifiarried Miss Sarah E. 
Cox. She was born in Marion county, Ken- 
tucky, November 17, 1847. After marrying, 
Mr. Wolf embarked in farming, which he fol- 
lowed for six years, when he commenced selling 
goods in Sherman. The first store was kept by 
John W. Wolf as early as 1860, which he fol- 
lowed until his death September 8, 1877. Wil- 
liam F. run the store until March, 1881, when 
he sold to Mr. McRoberts. The last year being 
in company with S. E. Prather, since which time 
he has followed farming. His property in Sher- 
man is valued at $2,000. Mr. Wolf affiliates 
with the Republican parly, and was elected Con- 
stable, which office he held for eight years. Mr. 
Wolf has twenty-four acres of corn, which will 
average sixty bushels to the acre. Mrs. W. F. 
Wolf is a member of the Baptist Church. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9]fi 



Chapter XXXVIII. 



TOWNSHIP OF GARDNER. 



The township of Gardner comprises township 
sixteen north, range six west, and is bounded on 
the east by Springfield, on the west by Cart- 
wright, north by Salisbury, and south by Curran 
townsliip, and was so named in honor of John 
Gardner, who was for many years, and until his 
death, one of the principal citizens of the town- 
ship, and one of the three commissioners ap- 
pointed by the Board of Justices to divide the 
county into townships. The surface of the 
country is mostly rolling prairie, though there 
is much timber in the southern part. The town- 
ship is watered by Spring creek and other 
smaller streams. The soil is extremely well 
adapted to the raising of all cereals, especially 



corn. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 



In 1819, the first settlement was made by 
Samuel Newhouse, A. Inyard, B. Davis, David 
McCoy, George Knox Hamilton, and Abraham 
Duff. Among other settlers were Edmond Tay- 
lor, Edward Robinson, Mrs. Elizabeth McMur- 
ray, David McCoy, Joshua Short, James Short, 
Edward Williams, Mrs. Elizabeth Hall, John 
Gardner, Hiram Gardner, William and Thomas 
Kirkpatrick, John Kendall, William Sims. 

George Knox Hamilton was born August 17, 
1798, in Davidson county, Tennessee. He came, 
in company with his father, four brothers and 
two sisters, to Sangamon county, arriving in the 
fall of 1819, and settled near what is now Brad- 
ford Station. He was married March 5, 1823, 
to Jane Coleman. They had three children. 

Abraham Duff was born May 15, 1777, in 
South Carolina. Virlinda Combs was born in 
South Carolina also, August 6, 1781. Their 
parents moved on pack horses to the vicinity of 
Bowling Green, Kentucky. A. Duff and Ver 
linda Combs were married and moved to St. 
Clair county, Illinois, and from there moved, in 



company with his son-in-law, John Sims ; ar 
rived April, 1819, on Spring creek, at a point 
six miles west of where Springfield now stands. 

Edmond Taylor was born October 22, 1785, in 
Christian county, Kentucky ; married there lo 
Mary Pugh. She died, and he married Constant 
Blakey, who was born June 22, 1791, in Georgia, 
They moved to what became Sangamon county, 
arriving in the fall of 1819, on Sugar creek, 
and in 1822 or '23 moved to the south side of 
Spring creek, four and a half miles west of 
Springfield. 

Edward Williams was born June 3, 1789, in 
Hardin county, Kentucky. Margaret Neal was 
born April, 1788, in Nelson county, Kentucky. 
The places of their birth were only about six 
miles apart, and the parents of both moved, 
when they were children, to Ohio county, where 
they were married about 1806. They moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving December, 
1826, in what is now Gardner township. He 
died in 1871. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Hall, whose maiden name was 
Foster, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, 
and married there to John Hall, and moved to 
Adair county, Kentucky, and Mr. Hall died 
there. His widow and children moved to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 
1830, north of Spring creek, and six miles west 
of Springfield. Mrs. Hall was married there to 
Samuel Willis, and in 1844 or '45, moved to 
DeWitt county, where Mr. Willis died. She 
now lives with her son. 

John Gardner was born June 21, 1805, in 
that part of Gallatin that is now Trimble county, 
Kentucky. Mary C. Duncan was born March 
27, 1810, in the same county. They were 
married there June 13, 1830, moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, arriving April 17, 1833, two 
miles west of Springfield, and early in 1834 



914 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



moved to what is now Gardner township, two 
miles north of Farmin.scdale. 

VILLAGE OF SANGAMO. 

The village of Sangamo at one time was a 
very flourishing little place, and narrowly es- 
caped being the county seat when the commis- 
sioners were appointed to permanently locate it, 
in 1825. It is said the commissioners, if not a 
majority of the people, were favorably disposed 
toward the place, but there being no road lead- 
ing to it, at least that was known to the commis- 
sioners, they employed Andrew Elliott to pilot 
them to the place. Mr. Elliott, being interested 
in Springfield, took them by a round about way, 
through swamps, and so made the commission- 
ers believe the place was too difficult to be 
reached, and they, therefore, decided in favor of 
Springfield. The location of the village was on 
the northwest quarter section two, township six- 
teen, range six, in the present township of Gard- 
ner. Moses Broadwell was the proprietor. A 
steam mill was erected in the village by Mr. 
Broadwell, one or two stores were opened, a 
blacksmith shop was placed in operation, and the 
foundation of a flourishing village was laid. But 
"the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft 
aglee." To-day there is no evidence that such a 
village ever existed, a fine farm taking its place. 

RELIGIOUS, 

There are, in 1881, three church edifices in 
the township, in which assemble for worship rep- 
resentatives of three denominations. The Pres- 
byterians have a house of worship on section sev- 
enteen, in the southwest corner, near the village 
of Farmingdale. The Baptists worship in their 
own house, on section thirty-two, while the 
United Brethren meet on section thirty-four. 

FARMINGTON PRESBYTEBIAN CHURCH. 

The Fai'mington Presbyterian Church was or- 
ganized at Old Sangamon, on the second Sab- 
bath of January, 1834, with the following per- 
sons as constituent members: Azel Lyman, and 
Mary P., his wife; Azel S. Lyman, Roxana Ly- 
man; Alvin Lyman and Lucy, his wife; Ezra 
Lyman and Mercy, his wife; Ezra C. Lyman; 
Mary L. Lyman; Azabel Stone and Laura, his 
wife; William Robb and Mary, his wife; Phebe 
Robb, Elizabeth W. Robb, Jay Slater, Stephen 
Childs and Hannah, his wife; Luther N. Ransom 
and Zerviah, his wife; Heraldus Esterbrook and 
Abigal, his wife; Abel Esterbrook, Amanda 
Ransom, Oliver Bates and Charity, his wiie; 
Chancy D. Colton, Francis L. Stone and Laura 
A. Stone. Almott all of these persons were 



members of a colony that came a short time 
previous, from Northern New York. Henry P, 
Lyman and Mercy, his wife, united soon after- 
wards, members also of the colony. 

The first officers in the church were, Azel Ly- 
man, Heraldus Esterbrook and Luther N. Ran- 
som. Since then the following persons have 
been officers in the church, Joel Buckman, Jay 
Slater, Henry P. Lyman, William B. Brown, 
Samuel H. Jameson, James E. Hopper, Aaron 
VanPatton, Ezra C. Lyman, David Brainard 
Pond, James A. Stone, Henry C. Miner. 

The first minister in the church, and the 
man who organized it was Rev. J. G. Bergen, 
who was succeeded by the following persons, in 
their order: Revs. Whitney, Gault, Porter^ 
Plummer, Barton, Blood, Watson, Wood, Kerr, 
McFarland, Peck and Leard. 

The church has always kept up an active Sab- 
bath school. The total membership since the 
organization, has been about three hundred and 
twenty-five. The present house of worship was 
built in 1859. There is now a very fine parson- 
age, and ten acres of land added to the church 
property, principally through the munificent be- 
quest of Dr. Lyman, who, during his life, was 
one of the church's sti'ongest pillars. The 
church has enjoyed many seasons of revival, and 
is to-day, as it has been since its organization, a 
great power for good in the community. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The earliest settlers united with those of Cur- 
ran in school privileges, which, of course, were 
none of the best. Gardner township, to-day, is 
one of the best in the county in this respect. 
There are now ten good frame school-houses, val- 
ued at $6, "700, school being held on an average 
of eight months in the year in each. 

NOTED MEN. 

In 1850, James H. Slater moved from this 
county and township to Oregon. He was then 
comparatively unknown, audit was not supposed 
that be would ever become eminent. His father 
was poor, and he only obtained the educational 
advantages of the common school. He now rep- 
resents the State of Oregon in the United States 
Senate. 

James M. Bradford was a member of the legis- 
lature fram this county, in 1840 and 1841, and 
served with credit to himself and the county. 

RAILROAD. 

The Ohio & Mississippi Railroad passes 
through the township from east to west, almost 
on a direct line, entering from Springfield, on 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



915 



section twenty-four, and entering Cartwright 
from section nineteen. It has two stations in 
the township — Farraingdale and Bradfordton. 

POST OFFICES. 

Cross Plains post office was established in 
1871, with J. M. Slater as postmaster. Richland 
post office was established at an early day, on 
the west line of the township, with Constantine 
Foster as postmaster. On the completion of the 
Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, it was removed 
over the line into Cartwright township, at Rich- 
land station. In 1876, an office was established 
at Bradfordton, with George Shaw as postmaster. 
The present postmaster is Lewis Tomlinson. 
The office is at Bradfordton station, on the Ohio 
-<fc Mississippi Railroad. In addition to these, 
Farmingdale has an office. 

ORGANIC. 

Gardner township was organized in 1861. The 
annual elections are held the first Monday in 
April, of each year. 

George Gregory, post office, Bradfordton; 
son of Benjamin and Catharine Gregory, who 
were both natives of England, where they both 
died. They had eight children, viz: Hannah, 
born 1806; George, born 1808; Bessie, born 1810; 
Joseph born 1812; May, Catharine and Emma, 
d te unknown. The subject ot this sketch was 
the second child, and was born January 8, 1808, 
and was apprenticed to the machinist trade. 
After becoming free, he came to America in 
1836, and followed his trade in the city of 
Springfield, having purchased a shop, and carried 
on the business until 1840, when he began to run 
on the Northern Cross Railroad from the Illinois 
river to Springfield; continued that business 
until it was sold to Dunlap and Lamb and be- 
came the Great Western. He spent two winters 
in Louisiana, making sugar. He purchased land 
where he now lives, and in 1830, married Miss 
Sarah Nohls, daughter of John and Sarah Nobis. 
She was born in England in 1810. They have 
ten children, viz: George I., born February 
2, 1832; Isaac, November 6, 1834; Samuel, 
September 30, 1836; Jacob, September 23, 1838; 
Benjamin, January 12, 1842; Elizabeth, January 
25, 1844; Mary, April 24, 1848; Emma, April 
13, 1852; Eliza, January 6, 1854; George J., 
December 28, 1856. George was killed by a 
horse running away with him, January 1, 1842; 
Samuel was killed by being thrown from a horse 
January 11, 1868; Benjamin died in his fifth 
year. The subject of this memoir owns three 
hundred acres of land, worth $100 an acre. Mr. 



Gregory ran the first engine that brought a train 
of cars to Springfield. 

Daniel Humphrey, son of John and Mary 
Humphrey; father born in Kentucky, October 2, 
1809; mother same State, October 2, 1806. They 
were married March 8, 1832, in Sangamon 
county and had two children. Miranda, born 
August 1, 1833, died December 6, 1835; David, 
born December 4, 1834; father died July 28, 
1835. The subject of this sketch was the only 
son, and was raised on a farm. June 9, 1857, 
married Miss Mary H. Chapman, daughter of 
Joseph and Mary Chapman, and was born 
in Devonshire, England, and came with her 
parents to this country and settled in Sangamon 
county, where her mother died September 22, 
1856. Her father died June, 1881, aged ninety- 
one years. They have three children, John J., 
born May 5, 1858; Mary A., November 21, 1860; 
Minnie E.. September 13, 1862; owns a fine 
residence in Farmingdale, where he resides, and 
is the postmaster and the principal business man 
of the place, doing general merchandising and 
grain commission business. 

Samuel H. Jameson, son of Samuel and Mar 
garet Jameson; father born in county Derry, 
Ireland, about 1765; when about eighteen years 
of age, came to Ohio county, Virginia; was a 
farmer, and died in 1818. Mother was born in 
New Jersey, 1772. She was a lineal descendant 
of Sir William Wallace, of Scottish fame. They 
were married about 1800, and had seven chil- 
dren. 

The subject of this sketch was married May 
5, 1839, to Miss Laura A. Wells, of Licking 
county, Ohio. She was the daughter of Chester 
and Laura A. Wells, and was born in 1818. 
They had three children. 

Samuel H. Jameson came to this county from 
Virginia in 1850, and settled on the farm he now 
owns, of four hundred and fifty acres, valued at 
SSi) per acre. Mr. Jameson was one of six who 
built the first Presbyterian Church in Gardner 
township. 

Henry P. Lyman, post office, Farmingdale, 
son of John and Martha Lyman. Father born 
in New Hampshire, April 2, 1780 ; mother born 
in same place, in August, 1780 ; father studied 
medicine with Dr. Nathaniel Smith, of Dart- 
mouth. In 1832, in company with his brother, 
Azael, visited the western country, returning in 
1833, raised a colony of fifty persons, and the 
same year came west in wagons, being eight 
weeks on the way, holding divine service 
each Sunday on the route. The organization of 
the colony was kept up after coming to Sanga- 



1)]6 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



mon county, and a house of worship was soon 
after built. The subject of this sketch was born 
August 10, 1805, and in August, 1833, married 
Mary Saunders, of Rutland, Veinaont, born 
December 4, 1806. They had six children, viz : 
Celesta, born July 4, 1834, was married March 
6, 1862, to Ralph A. Curtis, of "Wa^erly, Morgan 
county ; Martha S., born October 29, 1836, died 
September 13, 1838; John S., born July 31, 
1841, married Carrie M. Hapjer, September 13, 
1870 ; Sarah A., born Jaruaiy 16, 1844, married 
Eev. J. D. Kerr, August 15,1865, now resides in 
Erie, Pennsylvania ; Laura A., born February 8, 
1848, died December 2*7, 1848 ; George H., born 
October 4, 1850. Mr. Ljman has been a success- 
ful business man, but now retired. He still 
takes an active interest in the moral and relig- 
ious improvement of the community in which 
he live^. His son, George H., graduated at the 
Champaign university in the class of 1872, of 
the civil engineering department, and is now 
located at Cairo, Illinois. 

Hexiheoi 3IcDa')mald, post office, Springfield, 
son of John and Elizabeth McDannald. Father 
born November 9, 1795, mother born December 
15, 1802; mother's maiden name Elizabeth lies. 
Married October 8, 1822, and had five children. 

The subject of this sketch came to Illinois 
with his mother at an early day, and married 
Miss Ann E. Dillon, October 20, 1853. Shewas 
born October 7, 1833. She was the daughter of 
John and Elizabeth Dillon, and came with her 
parents to Sangamon county about 1833. They 
have nine children, to-wit: John Ellis, Partbena 
L., Maiy A., James, Robert, Thomas J., Emma 
J., Fannie and Edward R. James died Novem- 
ber 4, 1861; Robert died June 22, 1862; Fannie 
died August 17, 1871. His advantages of early 
education were such as the subscription schools 
afforded in his day, and his wife had about the 
same. Owns one hundred and sixty acres of 
land, valued at $60 per acre. 

Logan Mc][htrray, post office, Farmingdale, 
son of Robert and Elizabeth MoMurray. Father 
born in Virginia; mother born in Virginia; 
Irish and Scotch extraction. They moved from 
Virginia to Kentucky about 1801, and from Ken- 
tucky to St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1811. 
There the father died, and the family returned 
to Kentucky, remaining there seven years, and 
then came to Sangamon county, and settled in 
what is now Curran township. They had seven 
children, viz: William, Samuel, James, Lewis, 
Hester, Arthur D. and Logan. All are dead 
excp'pt the subject of this sketch, who was born 
in Kentucky, March 22, 1810. He was married 



December 22, 1831, to Miss Melissa Eobinson, 
daughter of Edward and Jane (Henly) Robinson, 
Shewas born November 11, 1813, in Caldwell 
county, Kentucky. Her parents came to Sanga- 
mon county in 1821. They came from Ken- 
tucky with horse teams. The fruits of this mar- 
riage were ten children, to-wit: Edward S., 
born November 13, 1832; John L., Mary E. and 
Martha J., twins; Angeline, Elihu J., George F., 
Sarah A., Emily F., Rczella. Join L. and An- 
geline died. He owns two hundred and fifty- 
five acres of land, valued at $75 per acre. Ad- 
vantages of early education of both were not 
very good. His son Elihu was in Company B, 
Tenth Illinois Cavalry. 

JifatMas MiUtr was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
many, on the Rhine river, April 11, 1819, where 
he remained, working on the farm and at the 
stone-mason's trade, until twenty-one years of 
age, when he came to the United States. He 
landed at New Orleans, and came to St. Lcuis, 
Missouri, and to Springfield, in 1842. In 1844^ 
went to the pineries of Wisconsin, where he 
and one other man made twenty-four thousand 
shingles. He then returned to Springfield, and 
e>n May 17, 1846, married Miss Martha (Ross) 
Miller. She was born in Kentucky, and was a 
daughter of Wm. Ross, who was a farmer, and 
diecl in 1864; and his wife, Maria (Morrison) 
Ross was born in Kentucky. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mathias Miller are both mem- 
bers of the church. She is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and he a member 
of the Catholic Church. They have had ten 
children, four living: Mrs. Sarah E. Gards, Mrs. 
Florence Campbell, Alfred F. and Virginia Mil- 
ler. The father of Mathias Miller, Peter Miller, 
was born in Germany. He Avas a farmer, an el 
died in Germany in 1845 or 1846; and his wife, 
Margaret Derzapf, was born in Germany. She 
died at Lincoln, Illinois, in 1868, and was buried 
in Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield. She 
came to the United States with her son, Peter 
Miller, in 1848. The subject of this sketch has 
a farm of four hundred and fifty acres in Gard- 
ner township, where he resides. He also owns 
a house and two lots in Monticello, Illinois. In 
politics, he has been a Democrat, but in future 
will vote for the best man. He cast his first 
vote for Jfmes K. Polk for President of the 
United States. 

Michael Pffer, post office. Cross Plains, eon 
of John and Christina Pfifer; father born in 
Germany in 1791; mother born in Germany in 
1795. They were married about 1814, and had 
nine children. Father died in 1861; mother 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



917 



died in 1869. Michael Pfifer was born in 1825. 
He was the sixth child, and came to America in 
1841; landed at New York; came to Springfield, 
then to California, returning in 1857. He was 
married November 28, 1857, to Miss Anna Rans- 
lear, daughter of David and Anna M. Ranslear. 
There were sixteen children in her father's 
family. The fruits of this marriage was eight 
children, to-wit: Mary, born September 15, 
1859; John, born March 19, 1861; Rosina, 
born September 8, 1862; Julia, born June 14, 
1864; George, born August 12, 1866; Barnhardt, 
born May 25, 1869; Michael, born March 10, 
1873. George was drowned in the Sangamon 
river in 1877. Mr. Pfifer owns two hundred 
and five acres of land, valued at $50 per acre. 
Advantages of education, such as the common 
schools of Germany afforded. 

Henry W. Mickard, post office box 699, Spring- 
field; son of Peter and Elizabeth Rickard; father 
born in Loudon county, Virginia, 1787; mother 
born in Hardin county, Virginia; mother's maiden 
name was Elizabeth Everhart. They had ten 
children, viz: Lewis, born October 13, 1806; 
Elizabeth, April 1, 1809; Catharine, July 24, 
1811; Susan, August 26, 1813; Noah M., March 
20, 1817; John G., October 16, 1819; Simon P., 
October 16, 1821; Sarah A., March 2, 1824; Mary 
L., March 16, 1827; Henry W., January 1, 1830; 
all born in Virginia; Elizabeth and Noah, de- 
ceased. 

The subject of this sketch was the tenth child 
and April 4, 1852, married Miss Sarah A. Simms, 
daughter of John and Lucinda Simms; born 
November 15, 1830, They have six children, 
viz: Elizabeth L., Minnie A., Lewis F., Wash- 
ington M,, Robert L, George E.; wife died 
December 21, 1864; married again June 7, 1866 
to Miss Henrietta Earnest, daughter of Thomas 
and Aletro Earnest, and born January 10, 1831. 
They have two children — Catharine Jane, born 
August 26, 1870; Thomas E., born October 13, 
1872; are of German extraction; owns three 
hundred acres of land, valued at $80 per acre. 
The advantages of early education of both were 
Buch as the schools of the country afforded. 

James A. Stone, post office, Bradfordton, son 
of Ossi^n L. and Abigal C. Stone. Father born 
in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, New York, 
May 24, 1804. Came to Sangamon county with 
his parents in November, 1831. Mother born in 
Senaca county. New York, May 16, 1811. (See 
biography of James Stewart, in Williams 
township.) They were married October 29, 1885, 
in Sangamon county. They had six children, to- 
wit: Frances M., born November 13, 1836, died 

107— 



August 11, 1839; Henry W., born November 29, 
18.J8, died August 26, 1839; Laura L., born June 
7, 1840; James A., born May 6,1842; Henry A., 
born April 3, 1844, died April 21, 1861; Charles 
O., born May 4, 1847. Father died June 29, 
1850; mother died February 15, 1875. 

The subject of this sketch was the fourth 
child, and was raised on the farm where he now 
resides. September 26, 1866, he married, in 
Morgan county, Miss Eliza Allen, daughter of 
Henry and Emily Allen. She was born July 7, 
1844, Miss Allen was a lineal descendant of 
Colonel Ethan Allen, the first in commard at 
the battle of Crown Point, and James A. Stone 
is a descendant of Colonel Philip Stone, second 
in command at the same battle. They had three 
children, to-wit: Jessie, born August 16, 1868, 
died April 5, 1879; Percy A., born June 22, 1871; 
James Roy, born September 26, 1875, died 
April 3, 1879. He owns one hundred and sixty- 
five acres of land, valued at $75 per acre. At 
present he is town treasurer. Was in the One 
Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment Volunteer 
Infantry. Educational advantages of himself 
and wife were both good, having availed them- 
selves of high schools and seminaries. His wife 
took drawing lessons as a specialty. 

Tliomas Talbot, post office, Springfield. 
Father born in Baltimore county, Maryland; 
mother born in Baltimore county, Maryland. 
They were married in Kentucky, and had twelve 
children, of whom the subject of this sketch "was 
the sixth child, and born in Kentucky, February 
21, 1816, and came with his parents to Sanga- 
mon county, in 1835. Father purchased land 
and commenced farming where this son now re- 
sides. March 13, 1877, married Miss Elizabeth 
A. Parkinson, in West Virginia. She was the 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Parkinson, and 
was born June 13, 1845; her father was born in 
Pennsylvania, and mother in West Virginia. 
Both her parents are living, ard if they live until 
November 6, 1881, will celebrate their golden 
wedding. Owns eighty-five acres of land, valued 
at $65 per acre. Early advantages of education 
notgood, from scarcity of books and inferiority 
of teachers; wife's advantages were good, having 
graduated at the Waynesburg College in the class 
of 1865, and taught about eight years after- 
ward. 

David Talbot, son of David and Harriet Tal- 
bot; father born in Maryland in 17S6, mother 
in same State in 1788. She was the daughter of 
Nathan and Rebecca Harding, who were married 
in Maryland, and had twelve children. They 
moved to Kentucky about 1796, where all their 



918 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



children were born, and came to Sangamon 
county in 1835. 

Tlie subject of this sketch was the fourth 
child, and born July 22, 1813. October 22, 1850, 
married Susan T. Richard, daughter of Peter 
and Elizabeth Richard. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot 
have had one child, Ella Bell, born July 5, 1855, 
and died August 20, 1875. Father died October, 
1867, mother died December, 1867. Mr. T., 
owns one hundred and thirty acres of land, 
valued at |65 per acre. His advantages of early 
education were such as the schools of the county 
afforded in his day; was supervisor of the town- 
ship in 1875. The brothers and sisters were: 
Lucinda, Fletcher, Elizabeth, David, Oreenith, 
Thomas, Harriet, Luther, Mary R., Emily, Car- 
oline, Sarah. 

Peter Zhnmer^ post office. Cross Plains, son of 
Daniel and Margaret Zimmer, father born in 
Germany, in 17G3; mother also born in Germany. 
They had seven children, to-wit: Catharine, 
Susan, Mary, Barbara, Margaret, Michael, and 



Peter. All dead except Margaret and Peter. 
The subject of this sketch was born in Germany, 
April 9, 1825, and came to America in 1847, 
landing at New York, and from there to Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, where he remained seven years, 
working at the tailoring business; came to San- 
gamon county in 1855, married Miss Christina 
Hartman, by whom he had two children, viz.: 
Jacob, born October 11, 1851, died August 2, 
1872; Amelia, born April 28, 1853. Wife died 
August 28, 1853. Again married Miss Rosena 
B. Pfifer, December 19, 1854, had eight children, 
Christina, born September 19, 1855; Peter, born 
October 6, 1856; Rosena, born March 13, 1857; 
Elizabeth, born January 4, 1861; Anna C, born 
July 9, 1864; John, born January 20, 1860; 
Charles and George, born September 28, 1869; 
Peter died October 5, 1873; John and George 
were drowned in Sangamon river, in 1877, in an 
effort to save the life of George Pfifer. Was 
naturalized in Springfield, 1854. Owns two hun- 
dred acres of land, valued at $50 per acre. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



919 



Chapter XXXIX. 



TOWNSHIP OF ILLIOPOLIS. 



The township of Illiopolis is in the eastern 
part of the county, and is bounded on the east 
by Macon county, on the west by Wheatfield 
township, on the north by Logan county, and on 
the south by Christian. From the peculiar 
shape of the county, the old settlers used to call 
the territory comprising the township the coon's 
tail. 

This is almost an exclusively prairie town- 
ship, but along the Sangamon river, which forms 
the boundary line of the township, it is densely 
wooded, the timber varying in width from one 
to three miles. 

The township is five miles wide from east to 
west, and its mean length from north to south 
about eight miles. The soil of the township is 
a heavy black loam, and is especially adapted to 
all kinds of cereals. 

The Waba&h, St. Louis & Pacific Railway 
passes through the township from east to west, 
entering on section eight, township sixteen, 
north, range one, west, and passing into Wheat- 
field township from section ten, township six- 
teen, range two, with one station — Illiopolis. 

The name Illiopolis, which is given the town- 
ship, is derived from a city of that name laid 
out, but never built upon, near the present 
village of the same name. 

The first settlement made in what is now 
Illiopolis township was in 1826, by Mrs. Ander- 
son, a widow lady, who settled on section thirty- 
four. Soon after, Mr. Allen, Joel Watkins, 
Chesley Dickerson, William Gregg, James 
Hampton, John Churchill, John and James 
Hunter, Josiah Kent, William Bridges, and 
others came. All these settled in or near the 
Sangamon river timber. The township being 
mostly prairie, prevented its rapid settlement, 
and consequently it did not develop like some 



others, and it was not until some time after the 
railroad was built that the prairie began to be 
improved to any great extent. Now some of 
the finest and most highly cultivated farms in 
the county, are the prairie farms of Illiopolis. 

The sparse settlement here for so many years 
prevented the employment of a school teacher, 
and it was not until 1840 that a public school 
was taught, and not until 1845 that a school 
house was erected. The township will now com- 
pare favorably in her schools with any in the 
county. There are now seven school houses, 
valued at $13,800. 

The first death in the township was that of 
John Sanders. 

The first religious services, where and by 
whom held, are unknown, but it was probably 
not until quite a late day, for the same reason that 
schools were not held. There are now four 
churches in the township, including those in the 
village. 

FIRST VILLAGE OF ILLIOPOLIS. 

In 1834, when the question of the removal of 
the State capital began to be agitated, a beauti- 
ful city was laid out by John Taylor, Eli Blank- 
enship and Governor Duncan, about a half mile 
south of the present village of Illiopolis, on the 
northwest quarter of section eighteen, to which 
was given the same name — Illiopolis, the City of 
Illinois. The location of the village wau de- 
scribed as the geographical center of the State, 
and as such was entitled to the State capital 
when it should be removed from Vandalia. 
Beautiful lithographic maps were issued, in 
which all the glories of the "future great city" 
were revealed, and the lots were placed upon the 
market, and a number were sold. A neat hotel 
was erected by the company, and Jesse Kent was 



920 



r HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



placed in charge. Whether Mr. Kent got rich 
upon the proceeds of the hotel, or that his clerks 
all wore diamond pins, parted their hair in the 
middle and treated guests according as he was 
well or poorly dressed, history and tradition are 
both silent. The hotel was subsequently burned 
down, and never rebuilt. The Long Nine being 
successful in their efforts to have the capital re- 
moved to Springfield, the project of building up 
a great city was abandoned by the proprietors. 
A traveler, in 1837, thus speaks of the place: 

" We were reminded, as we were plodding our 
way over a muddy road, four or five miles dis- 
tant from Median icsburg, that Ave were approach- 
ing the town of liliopolis, a town of no mean 
pretensions, and which has made quite a figure 
— upon paper. The most prominent object that 
met our eye upon the site of liliopolis was a 
wolf trap, the location of which was most hap- 
pily chosen, as being far away from common in- 
trusion by the biped race; but we apprehend 
that the number of bipeds which have been 
caught by the liliopolis trap will far outnumber 
the quadrupeds taken in that designed for their 
especial benefit." 

ORGANIC. 

The township was organized in 1861, and from 
that, annual township elections have been held 
the first Monday in April. The following were 
the principal officers of the township from 1861 
to 1881, inclusive: 

CLERKS. 

Ruben Smith 1861-64 

Wm. Boring 1865-6 

Jas T Kent 1867-8 

A. C. Derry 1869 

J. S. Hampton 1870 

J. T. McElfresh 1871-2 

J. H. Myers 1873 

Peter A . Wilcox 1874 

A. C. Derry 1875 

H. P. Haukins 1876-79 

W. W. Ishmael , 1880 

W H. Fait 1881 

COLLECTORS. 

Jesse A. Pickrell 1861 

A. 0. Ford 1862 

John C. Perry 1863-4 

John Canps 1865-6 

W. N. Strecter 1^67 

J. S. Hampton 1868 

A. S. Capps 1 869 

Jas. W. McGuffiu 1870-1 

Chas. S. Cantrall 1872 

John Churchill 1873 

Chas. S. Cantrall 1874-5 

Wm. Boring 1876 

J T. Pcden 1877 

J. P. Cowdin 1878-9 

Geo. W. Richardson 1880-1 



ASSESSOnS. 

Chas. M. Turner 1861 

Chas. K. Capps 1863 

Henry Boughton 1863 

John C. Peiry 1864 

V. S. Ruby..* 1865 

W. N. Streeter 1866 

Chas. R. Ciipps 1867 

W. N. Streeter 1868 

A. Houghton 1869 

S . P. Fiillenwider 1870-72 

H. P. Hampton 1873 

S. P. Fullenwider 1874 

\V. N. Streeter 1875 

J. S. Hampton 1876 

G. W. Constant 1877 

W. N. Streeter 1878-80 

C. M. Turner 1881 

StrPERVISOES. 

William Short 1861 

Wesley Bullard , _ 1862-64 

Jesse A. Pickrell 1865-67 

Weslev Bullard 1868 

V. S. Ruby 1869 

Miles H. Wilmot 1870-74 

Geo. Pickrell 1875 

V. S. Ruby 1876 

J. M. Pearson, appointed August 28, 1876, served 
seven mouths, the unexpired term of V. S. Ruby. 

D. W. Pcden, elected in 1877, served five years, and 
is the present incumbent. He is also the present Chair- 
man of the Board of Supervisors of Sangamon county. 

VILLAGE OF ILLIOPOLIS. 

The present Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Rail- 
road Company having here established a station, 
around which several houses were built, it was 
thought proper to lay out a village. Accord- 
ingly William Wilson, Timothy J. Carter and 
Thomas S. Mather laid out and platted the cen- 
ter of section seven, township sixteen, range 
one, and the plat was recorded under date Octo- 
ber 15, 1856. 

The first house built within the limits of the 
present village was in 1854, by a Mr. Ganson, 
who was the station agent of the railroad com- 
pany. The building was designed and used by 
Mr. Ganson as a store, the first in the village. 

This was t^^e beginning of the village, and 
from this beginning is now seen the flouri^hing 
village of liliopolis, which wa^ first given the 
name of Wilson, after the chief justice by that 
name, one of its proprietors. The village grew 
quite rapidly for a time. A local writer in 
1866 thus speaks of it : 

" Wilson is a town laid out adjoining liliopolis 
station, and contains about four hundred inliabi 
tants. Its original owners were Colonel Thomas 
S. Mather, of Springfield, Timothy J. Carter, 
now one of the Vice Presidents of the Union 
Pacific Railroad, and the late Chief Justice Wil- 
son. Colonel Mather, laid out the town and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



921 



named it in honor of Judge Wilson; it is twenty- 
three miles east of Springfield, and sixteen miles 
west of Decatur, being the central point on the 
railroad between these cities; it is about six 
miles north of Mt. Aubui*n, in Christian county, 
and ten miles south of Mount Pulaski, in Logan 
county; it is connected with these two points by 
good roads, Lake Fork and the Sangamon river 
being well bridged. A mail route extends from 
here through Mt. Auburn to Buck Hart Grove, 
in Christian county. At this point the railroad 
company have established a tank for furnishing 
water to trains, into which the water is raised by 
means of a wind-mill of the most approved style, 
and as this is the only watei'ing station between 
the Sangamon river, near Springfield, and Deca- 
tur, all trains in passing stop here for the pur- 
pose of taking water. At this point, too, the 
Sangamon river timber is at less distance from 
the railroad than at any other between James- 
town, near Springfield, and Stevens' creek, near 
Decatur, being only a mile distant. 

" Wilson is a regularly incorporated town. It 
contains three dry goods stores, two grocery and 
confectionery establishments, one drug store, 
one wagon manufactory, two blacksmith shops, 
one tin shop, one shoe shop, one broom 
factory, two carpenter shops, one saddle and 
harness shop, one paint shop, one carriage 
factory, two hotels, two grain warehouses, 
one lumber yard, two sorghum factories and 
a commodious school house, which is con- 
ducted under the common school system. 
There are two physicians in town. The Metho- 
dist denomination have a church building, 
erected during 1865, at a cost of $4,000. The 
Christian denomination hold their meetings 
regularly in the Methodist building or in the 
school house, and the Catholics have a church 
building in process of erection. 

" The Good Templars have a lodge here. No. 
785, consisting of about one hundred and seven- 
teen members, and its regular time of meeting 
is every Saturday night, and to the credit of the 
town, be it said, not a drop of ardent spirits is 
sold, except by the drug stores, for medical pur- 
poses. The Free Masons have a lodge in process 
of organization here, and during the present sea- 
son a large and commodious hall has been erected 
for the accommodation of these lodges, public 
exhibitions, lectures, etc. At this station are 
shipped yearly, averaging the last three or four 
years, about eighty thousand bushels of corn; 
twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat; ten 
thousand bushels of oats; two thousand head of 
beef cattle, and five thousand head of hogs. 



Wilson is the headquarters for transncting all 
township business; all elections are held bere, 
and here reside the town clerk and police magis- 
trate. What this point has not, and what it 
needs most, is a flouring mill, the nearest estab- 
lishment of this kind being from nine to twelve 
miles distant. Decatur, Mechanicsburg and Mt. 
Pulaski furnish most of the flour and meal for 
this township. The post office, at Wilson, is 
'lUiopolis Station.' Hard lumber is procured 
from the mills in the Sangamon timber; pine, 
through the lumber yard, from Chicago and To- 
ledo." 

The village retained the name of Wilson 
until 1809, when it was changed to lUiopolis. 

SCHOOLS. 

In the winter of 1861-2, the first school house 
was erected in the place. It was a frame build- 
ing and was used for school purposes and tor 
religious services for some time. The growth 
of the village being such as to demand it in 
186V, an addition was built to the first house, 
which was a great deal larger than the original 
building. The addition, which was built in 
front of the old building, was thirty-two feet 
square, two stories in height, and was a brick 
building. In the fall of 1880, the frame was 
torn away and a brick building was erected the 
same size of the brick front, with an addition in 
front for hall and stairway, of fifteen by twenty 
feet. In this building, which is an honor to the 
place, are four large school rooms. There are 
now four teachers employed. The school was 
graded in 1867. 

RELIGIOUS. 

There are three church edifices in the village 
— the Methodist, Catholic and Christian. 

MEDICAL. 

The first physician in the village was Dr. 
Bernard Stuve, who came shortly after it was 
laid out and remained about eight years, when 
he removed to Springfield, and soon began the 
practice of laAv. The following named comprise 
the present resident physicians of the place: W. 
R. Van Hook, Dr. Wm. Maxwell, J. P. Cowdin, 
and Joe Lawrence. 

The following comprise the town council of 
lUiopolis since its organization: 

1869. — David Binkley, John S. Hampton, John 
Blain, Miles II. Wilniot, Peter Rasar, charter 
members, organized March, 1869. 

1870. — A. C. Derry, John L. Lindsey, A. D. 
Gilbert, John P. Cowdin, V. S. Rubey. 

1871. — A. D. Gilbert, John L. Lindsey, H. P. 
Hankins, J. T. McElfresh, V. S. Rubey. 



922 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1872.— John H. Kendall, Peter Rasar, J. T. 
Pedeu, D. L. Davis, W. E. Hill. 

1873. — A. C. Derry, A. S. Capps, A. Guyton, 
J. T. Peden, W. G. Tinker. 

1874. — A. Guyton, A. S. Capps, John P. Cow- 
din, J. H. Grubb. Henry Baker. 

1875. — Reuben Smith, Charles M. Turner, 
Charles H. Bridges, J. JVJ. Wise, A. C. Derry. 

1876.— C. H. Bridges. Charles M. Turner, A. 
S. Capps, J. H. Kendall, Sr., W. G. Tinker. 

1877. — Same as 1876. 

1878.— John M. Hamilton, Peter Rasar, A. C. 
Ford, A. S. Capps, H. P. Hankins. 

1879.— A. S. Capps, J. T. Peden, Chas. Dan- 
forth, John H. Kendall, Jr., A. A. Shartzar. 

1880. — W. N. Streetor, Thomas Palmer, A. A. 
Shartzar, J. H. Kendall, Jr., A. S. Capps. 

1881. — Reuben Smith, J. H. Kendall, Sr.,Thos. 
Palmer, Chas. M. Turner, W. J. Miller. 

Marti?i E. Baker. — James leaker the father of 
Martin E., was born in Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky, in the year 1788, a time so remote that the 
beautiful territory now comprising the great 
blue grass State, was little less than a hunting 
ground, and while George Washington was 
serving his first term as President of the United 
States. Nancy Squires, the chosen life compan- 
ion of James Baker, and the mother of our sub- 
ject, was born six years later, 1794, in Fauquier 
county, Virginia. Martin E. Baker is a native 
of Nicholas county, Kentucky, born January 27, 
1820. He was but eight years of age when his 
parents brought him to Sangamon county, and 
1828 was an early period in Sangamon's history. 
Mr. Baker's life was crowded until the years 
of manhood by the stirring events of the 
pioneer, but little time being given to men- 
tal drill in the schools. His education, however, 
was not entirely neglected, as we find him in 
1850, in Christian county, teaching school, in 
which he must have been very successful as he 
was not allowed to decline an earnest request to 
teach the same school the following year. Mr. 
Baker was married March 4, lo52, to Mary C. S. 
Williams, of Springfield, Illinois. She was born 
in Montgomery county, Maryland, February .3, 
1826, and came to Springfield in 1839. They 
settled on their present farm in Illiopolis town- 
ship, in 1856, where all of their eight cliildren 
(except one) were born. In 1856, Mr. \^. was 
elected school trustee, which he held three years, 
when he was elected school director, serving- 
nine years, and again elected trustee, which 
oftice he still holds, and is now president of the 
board. February 16, ISSO, IVIr. Baker was visited 
by a sad affliction in the death of his wife. 



Ca][}t. Henry >iS'/<reugjB^<:«>,postoffice, Illiopolis; 
father and mother both born in Pennsylvaniay 
were of Scotch origin. The subject of this sketch 
was born May 21, 1818, and married in 1844 to 
Miss Catharine A. Read. She was the daughter 
of Robert and Margaret Read, but was raited by 
her uncle, William Read, of Louisville, Kentucky, 
and the dwelling house then occupied by them 
is now converted into what is known as the Fifth 
Avenue Hotel. In 1834, he went to St. Louis, 
and entered as clerk in the employ of Vairin & 
Reel, extensive steamboat owners and wholesale 
grocers. In 1842, Capt. John W. Russell received 
his commission as superintendent of western 
river improvements, was instructed to employ 
the subject of this sketch, as chief clerk, with 
headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky. He ac- 
cepted the position, and reported for duty at 
once; in 1846 and '4 7, was steamboating between 
Louisville and New Orleans, on the boats Diana 
and Mohawk. 

In 1853, '55 and '57, was elected city treasurer, 
of Louisville; resigned the third term, to enter 
mercantile business; moved to Illinois, in 1S64, 
purchasing the property where he now resides. 
He follows farming and stock raising, giving 
especial attention to raising roadster horses, of 
the "Gold Dust" stock. The children of Capt. 
Blair and wife were six in number; two daugh- 
ters died in Kentucky, named Katie M. and 
Harriet L., and one son, Morris B.; three sons 
are still living, William Read Blair, of Bunker 
Hill, Macoupin county, Illinois; Henry A. Blair, 
lives adjoining the homestead; and George L., 
who lives at home, and is devoted to the impi'ove- 
ment in horses. 

Note. — While on the floor being married, it 
was announced that New York State had given 
her electoral vote for James K.Polk, for Presi- 
dent, causingquite a commotion, as that defeated 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky. 

Archibald Boyd was born November 15, 1813, 
at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. His father, 
John Boyd, was born in same county, and emi- 
grated to Christian county, Kentucky, when 
Archibald was a small boy ; died when about 
forty years old. Mother died when he was quite 
young, in Kentucky. Archibald emigrated to 
Illinois in 1833, at the close of the Black Hawk 
war, and settled in Morgan county ; went to Cali- 
fornia in 1850, and returned December, 1852; 
was engaged in mining while in California, at 
Moquelumne Hill, Caleveras county. When he 
returned from California he came to Mason 
county, Illinois, and in 1860 settled in Sangamon 
county. He was married to Miss Eliza F. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



923 



Hampton, of Illiopolis, December 14, 1875, to 
whom have been born four children, viz : John, 
William, Anna and Helen ; owns seven hundred 
and twenty acres excellent prairie land, under 
high state of improvement. Mr. Boyd also 
owns a nice residence in Illiopolis, where he now 
resides, surrounded by shrubbery that a Shen- 
stone might envy, and music in a lovely family, 
a contented and happy wife, and beautiful chil- 
dren. 

Joshua Cantralh post office, Illiopolis; son of 
Levi and Fanny Cantrall; fither born in Vir- 
ginia, October 1, 1787; mother born in Kentucky, 
October 2, 1792; father served in the French and 
Indian wars under General Harrison; mother's 
maiden name was Fannie England, and was the 
daughter of Stephen and Anna England. They 
were married in Virginia, November 30, 18(j9, 
and had thirteen children — seven sons and six 
daughters. The subject of this sketch was the 
tenth child, and born in Sangamon county, July 
28, 182&; October 6, 1847, married Miss Rebecca 
Hedrick, daughter of Jonathan and Julia Hedrick. 
She was born in Fleming county, Kentucky. 
They had thirteen children, viz: Lafayette, 
born January 16, 1849; Fannie S., September 9, 
1850; Carlisle, May 26, 1852; Charles, December 
27, 1853; Barton, April 26, 1856; Parthena, May 
30, 1858; Julia A., April 11, 1860; McDonald, 
January 1, 1862; Laura E., June 3, 1864; Clara 
P., September 8, 1866; Levi, April 20, 1868; 
Benjamin F., August 25, 1870; Jennie, June 3, 
1872; Charles died January 9, 1854; Parthena, 
March 20, 1860; Fannie, October 8, 1869; Jennie, 
June 20, 1872; of Welsh exti'action on father's 
side; owns three hundred and thirty acres of land, 
valned at $60 per acre; farms mixed crops; raises 
and feeds stock for market purposes. His advan- 
tages of early education were moderate; attended 
subscription schools. His wife had the same 
advantages. 

Charles S. Cantrall, post office, Illiopolis. 
Great grand-parents came from Wales; grand- 
father, Joshua Cantrall, born 1748, in Virginia, 
and died September 9, 1800. Served in the 
Revolutionary War, on the side of the colonists. 
Married Ann Graham, who was born May 3, 
1751, died September 19, 1819. They had nine 
children, all sons. 

Levi Cantrall, the father of the subject of this 
sketch, was the seventh son, and was born in 
Virginia, October 1, 1787, died February 20, 
1860. Married Fanny England, who was born 
October 2, 1792, and died September 10, 1835. 
They had thiiteen children, twelve grew to ma- 
turity and had families. Second marriage was 



to Miss Ann Barnett, May 27, 18.36. They had 
five children, three died in infancy. Father was 
in the War of 1812. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Sanga- 
mon county, .January 6, 1826, married January 
7, 1845, to Emily Varidegrift, who was born 
October 6, 1830. Had two children, Mary 
Eleanor, born June 13, 1848, married January 25, 
1866, to S. O. Price. Had two children, Emma 
and William, who reside in Logan county, 
Illinois; McDonald Cantrall was born August 
20, 1851; married Margaret Peden. Have four 
children: Maud, Augustus, Bruce, and Joseph. 
Mrs. Emily M. Cantrall died January 29, 1852. 
Again he married June 20, 1853, Lucy A. Swear- 
engen, who was born Oct. 15,1828. They had one 
child, Minerva A., born March 25, 1853, and 
died August 20, 1853. Mrs. Lucy A. Cantrall 
died April 14, 1853. C. S. Cantrall married a 
third time April 26, 1855, to Harriet A. Giaham, 
who was born February 17, 1836, in Athens. 
They have ten children, to-wit: Charles H., 
Thomas D., Alice, John W., Levi G., William 
H., Fanny A., Homer E., Ida May, and Ira — all 
living except Ida M., who died in infancy. 

Mr. Cantrall has been an advocate of the tem- 
perance reform, for the past forty years, the 
effect of the same has been one to be seen for 
many miles in every direction in the county, and 
for two years after the township organization he 
was assessor of Fancy Creek township, and 
since coming to Illiopolis township has held the 
office of collector three terms in this township, 
and for many years township trustee of Fancy 
Creek township and Illiopolis township, and has 
been one of the members of the Christian 
Church for thirty-eight years. 

John S. Clinkinheard was born the 8th of 
December, 1822, in Clarke county, Kentucky. 
His father, John Clinkinheard, was born in the 
same county, and died there. W^m. Clinkin- 
heard, grandfather, emigrated from Virginia to 
Kentucky at an early day, and settled in Clarke 
county. John S. Clinkinbeard has five brothers 
and two sisters sti'l living in Kentucky, viz.: 
Wm. A., Mary Jane, married to Robert Dods- 
worth ; Jonathan N., James G., Thomas B., Sim- 
eon H., and Sallie, married to W. B. Scott. 

John S. Clinkinbeard emigrated to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in 1850, and settled first in Buf- 
falo Hart grove, and moved to Illiopolis town- 
ship in 1867. Mr. Clinkinbeard married his 
first wife. Miss Louisa Bryant, of Buffalo Hart, 
in 1859, to whom were born three children, viz.: 
John W., Mary E., and infant, which died when 
three days old. Married second wife, Miss 



924 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Martha E. Constant, of Buffalo Hart, December 
V, 1869, to whom have been born four children, 
viz.: Isaac, Nancy Ellen, who died at the age of 
three years; Sarah Jane, and youngest child, 
now ten months old, not named as yet. 

S. J)a/ce, born February 26, ]&34, in Cattarau- 
gus county, New York. His father, Erastus 
Dake, was born September 8, 1801, near Roches- 
ter, New York, now resides in Cattaraugus 
county. New York, engaged in the dairy busi- 
ness. 

S. Dake emigrated to Illinois in 1856, and en- 
gaged in railroad business as engineer on the 
road; first for Chicago & Alton, afterwards on 
the Wabash railroad. Took the station at Illi- 
opolis, 1859, and remained in that capacity till 
1864. Afterwards engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness. lUiopolis consisted of only one or two 
houses when Mr. Dake came. He erected the 
first out door scales. Mr. Dake was married to 
Miss Sarah Hunter, of Illiopolis tcwns'bip, Illi- 
nois, April 18, 1861, to whom have been born 
three children, of whom two are living, viz: 
Oscar H.,born December 1*7, 1666, and Cornelia 
Frank, born Septtmber 16, 18 63; one deceased, 
Julia. Mr. Dake is quite extensively engsgt d in 
the lumber business, at present, in Illiopolis. 
Mrs. Dake's grandlather, Jas. Hunter, was 
among the first settlers of Sangamon county, 
having emigrated from Kentucky to the county 
in 1828; lived to a good old age, and died in Illi- 
opolis at Mr. Dake's, aged eighty-nine years. 

Aaron C Ford was born in Marshall county, 
Kentucky, January 13, 1827. His father, Bcze 
Ford, was born March 4, 1804, in South Carolina; 
his mother, Susan Ford, was a native of Ken- 
tucky. Mr. Ford, the father of the subject of 
this biography, has been engaged in farming all 
his life; emigrated from Marshall county, Ken- 
tucky, to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1851; is 
now living in Illiopolis, Illinois, and a member 
of the C hristian Church, and has led an exemp- 
lary life as a Christian. Aaron C. Ford left the 
parential roof in his old Kentucky home at the 
age of sixteen to seek his fortune in the Avest, 
and settled first in Moigan county, Illinois, and 
worked first for $8 per month, and remained in 
Morgan county until 1850. The last work Mr. 
Ford done in Morgan county was to maul two 
thousand rails for Samuel French, at seventy-five 
cents per hundred. AVhile in Morgan ccunly, 
Mr. Ford availed himself of the advantages 
afforded by the common schools; went to school 
in the winter and worked in the summei — at- 
tended select school one term. Settled near 
Illiopolis, Sangamon county, in 1850. Broke the 



first prairie land in Big Prairie, outside of the 
old timber settlement of the county. Mr. Ford 
was married to Miss Rebecca J. Averitt, of 
Macon county, Illinois, Dtcember 19, 1852. Mrs. 
Ford was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, May 
13, 1832. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Ford thirteen children, of whom eight are living, 
three boys and five girls, viz: eldest, Emma C, 
was born September 24, 1853, is now teaching 
school in Illiopolis with marked success; has 
taught five terms, and holds a first grade certifi- 
cate; Eva F., born September 10, 1856, and was 
married March 1, 1877, to David Johnson, near 
Illiopolis; George E , born December 28, 1858, 
is at home with his parents, and engaged in grain 
business, Illiopolis; Aleff C.,born September 18, 
1865; Abner M., born December 9, 1867; Charles 
C, born December 13, 1868; Minnie M., born 
December 4, 1870; Gertie W,, born September 
16, 1876. 

Mr. Ford owns five hundred and sixty acres of 
land in Illiopolis township, nearly all in one 
body, and is said to be as good a tract of land as 
can be found in the State, worth $70 per acre. 
Mr. Ford has held the office of justice of the 
peace in the township; now resides in Illiopolis, 
one and a half miles from his farm, and owns a 
good residence; exercises supervision over his 
farm, and is taking an interest in the education 
of his children, having moved from his larm for 
that purpose. Mr. Ford has been a member of 
the Christian Church thirty-one years, and his 
life is justly regarded by all who know him, as 
exemplary in a high degree; has been a fearless 
worker from his youth in the cause of temper- 
ance, and every good cause that enter in as con- 
comitants to build up society, and elevate man 
in the scale of being. 

James D. Foster, born in Crawford county, 
Pennsylvania, June 8, 1824. His father, David 
Foster, was born in Maryland, 1776, died in 
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, September 10, 
1840. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
all his life, and had five children, viz: Mary, 
William, Alexander, Johnston, James D. and 
Wilson. James D. is the only one residing in 
Illinois. He emigrated to Illinois in 1857, and 
settled in Sangamon county, near Mechanics- 
burg, and remained there nine years, and then 
removed to Illiopolis township in 1863. He was 
married to Miss Malinda Haskett, of Guernsey 
county, Ohio, January 1, 1855, to whom have 
been born nine children, of whom seven are liv- 
ing viz: David L., married, and living in Illi- 
opolis township; Rebecca R., married to Web- 
ster Burch, and living in Wheatfield township; 



^^^^ ^Ssa 




^ .* 




d;^ 6 




HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



927 



James W., married, and living in Illiopolis town- 
ship; Grant, Jane, Benjamin, Johnston and 
Sarah are single, and living at home. Mr. Fos- 
ter was married to his first wife, Miss Catharine 
Kerrh, of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, July 
4, 1842, to whom were born five children; of 
these three are living, viz: Mary, married to 
Robert Donaldson, and living in Elizabeth, 
Pennsylvania; Wm. A., married, and living in 
Decatur, Illinois, and is a conductor on the I., 
D. & S. Railroad; George M., not married, and 
is living in Decatur, and is a conductor on the 
same road. Mr. James D. Foster is a blacksmith 
by trade. Carried on the trade extensively in 
former years in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Built 
the first blacksmith shop in Buffalo, Sangamon 
county. He now owns a very fine tract of land 
in Illiopolis township of four hundred and forty 
acres, equal to any in the county, and under a 
high state of improvement. Mr. Foster is now 
farming very successfully. 

Wm. F. Garvey, was born in Owen county, 
Kentucky, August 22, 1829; his father, Samuel 
Garvey, emigrated to Kentucky from Virginia, 
when a young man, and engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, and cleared out a farm in Kentucky; 
emigrated to Illinois, the fall before the great 
snow, 1830, and settled near Mechanicsburg, 
Sangamon county, Illinois, and improved two 
farms. He was the father of thirteen children, 
eight sons and five daughters, seven now living, 
viz: Mrs. Mary Hampton, Samuel Garvey, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Jack, Mrs. Nancy Hampton, Wra. F. 
Garvey Mrs. Jane Peden, and John Garvey. 
Mrs. Jack resides in Knox county, Missouri; 
Mrs, Jane Peden resides in Lovington, Illinois; 
the others reside near, Mechanicsburg, Sangamon 
county, Illinois, 

Wm. F. Garvey, the subject of this biography, 
was married February 2, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth 
Ann Williams, of Springfield, Illinois, who was 
born in Maryland, in 1829, November 29th. The 
family consists of six children, of whom four 
are now living, viz: Horace Overton Garvey, 
Clara Garvey, Wm. Henry Garvey, and Samuel 
Garvey. 

Mr. Wm. F. Garvey has been always engaged 
in farming; has three hundred and thirty-six 
acres of land, in Illiopolis township — a very valu- 
able farm" and under a high state of cultivation; 
could get 175 per acre; not for sale. Besides 
farming, Mr. Garvey is now turning his atten- 
tion to breeding fine stock, of Norman horses. 

James Johnston, Illiopolis, son of James and 
Mary Johnston. His parents were born in Dum- 
freeshire, Scotland; father May 10, 1805, and 

108— 



mother. August 21, 1808. They were married 
March 26, 1835; mother's maiden name, Mary 
Rodgerson. She was the daughter of James 
Rodgerson, also born in Scotland. They had 
eight children, six sons, and two daughters: 
James, born February 26, 1836; Janet, born June 
22, 1840; John, born June 4, 1842; i:iizabeth, 
born January 19, 1844; George, born March 18, 
1846; William, born September 4, 1848; David, 
born September 25, 1850, All born in Scotland, 
and Thomas, born in Sangamon county, Illinois, 
June 9, 1853; father died August 4, 1853; 
mother died September 3, 1871. The subject of 
this sketch was the first child, and came from 
Scotland with his parents in 1851, settling in 
this county, where he now resides. On April 2, 
1872, he married Miss Mary Jane Scroggin, 
daughter of Alfred Scroggin, of Logan county, 
Illinois. They had one child, Hugh, born De- 
cember 21, 1872, who died April 10, 1873. His 
wife died March 2, 1874, On December 35, 
1879, he married Miss Ruth Emeline Morgan, 
who was born July 10, 1854, in Sangamon 
county. Her father, John C. Morgan, was born 
May 19, 1812, in Fleming county, Kentucky, 
and her mother, Elizabeth Bridges, November 
9, 1819, in the State of Indiana, His advantages 
of early education was such as the parish schools 
of Scotland afforded, and his wife's opportuni- 
ties were the common schools of Sangamon 
county. His farm, of two hundred and forty 
acres, on w^hich he resides, is valued at $50 per 
acre. He follows mixed husbandry, raising and 
feeding stock for market purposes, 

John H. Kendall, Sr., was born February 28, 
1824, in Nelson coimty, Kentucky. His father, 
Benjamin, was born July 3, 1797, in Nelson 
county, Kentucky. William Kendall, grand- 
father, emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky at 
an early day ; died in Kentucky in 1835. Mrs, 
Kendall's maiden name was Matilda Ilobbs, 
mother of John H,, died September 4, 1867, 
in Illiopolis, Illinois, John H. Kendall spent 
his boyhood days in Kentucky, with his mother, 
and followed farming. Emigrated to Mason 
county, Illinois, 1853, and remained there one 
year, and removed to Sangamon county, Illinois; 
was married to Miss Laura Brown, of Nelson 
county, Kentucky, October 1, 1848, to whom 
have been born four children, of whom three 
are living, viz: John H., Jr., born October 1, 
1849; Alexander M., born October 1, 1849, 
(twins); George W,,born June 26, 1851, died 
July 17,1872; Burn H, born May 21,1853. 
All the children born in Nelson county, Ken- 
tucky, Mr. Kendall has followed farming in 



928 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Illinois up to ]S0o, since which time he has 
carried on the livery business in lUiopolis, and 
has as few enemies as any man in Illiopolis. 

Isaac Loose, Sr., was born in 1808, in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania; his father, Conrad Loose, 
was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, about 
the year 1769; of German extraction; his mother, 
Christina, maiden name Brindle, was born about 
1*781. Conrad Loose, died 1829, in Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Christina Loose, 
died in same couaty, 1826. The subject of this 
biography was three years old when his father 
moved to FrankHn county, Pennsylvania; was 
married to Miss Eliza M. Scholl, dauo^hter of 
Rev. F. A. Scholl, of Greencastle, Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, to whom have been born 
ten children, of whom eight are living — five sons 
and three daughters, viz: Elizabeth M., Fred- 
erick Augustus, dead; Oscar C, Arthur H., 
Amanda, Mary, Joseph S., David A., Almira 
Virginia, and Jacob L. Benjamin died when 
quite young — 1852. Mrs. Loose, wife of Isaac 
Loose, Sr., died July 14, 1878, aged sixty-two 
years. Mr. Loose emigrated to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, in 1857, and three years afterwards 
brought his family; settled near Illiopolis, and 
owns a fine tract of land, under a .high state of 
cultivation, consisting of one thousand and forty- 
one acres, surrounded by everything that is 
beautiful in farm life, and the result of his own 
labor. There was but one building, and that 
unfinished, on his arrival in Illiopolis, owned by 
Ganson, and afterward used for a grocery build- 
ing. Mr. Loose drove the first hitching-post in 
Illiopolis to hitch his horse; is among the most 
wealthy of Sangamon county. 

Wm. P. Roberts was born January 23, 1831, 
in Schuyler county, Illinois; his father, Norman 
Roberts, was born October 19, 1800, in South 
Carolina, and emigrated to Georgia, when quite 
a boy, from Georgia to Kentucky, and from 
Kentucky to Indiana, and from thence to Schuy- 
ler county, Illinois, in 1830, and removed to 
Sangamon county 1853; engaged mostly in 
farming, but traded some on Ohio river from 
Newbery, Indiana, to New Orleans; is now living 
with his son, Wm. P. Roberts; was acquainted 
with Abraham Lincoln when a boy. Mother's 
name before marriage was Temperance Lockhart, 
born in Washington county, Kentucky, Novem- 
ber 17, 1796, died September 28, 1839. Grand- 
father Joseph Roberts was born in Virginia, and 
died in Gibson county, Indiana; accidental death 
by gunshot. Norman Roberts was twice mar- 
ried; by his first wife were born seven children, 
(married June 13, 1821,) viz : Mary Ann, 



Betsy Monroe, Amanda Jane, Martha Ellen, 
Win. P., Hannah and Joseph; Mary Ann and 
Joseph are dead. Norman Roberts was married 
second time to Mrs. Lockhart, September 18, 
1840, to whom were born four children, viz: 
John W., Norman B., Thomas J. and Madeline; 
all of whom are now living. Wm. P., the sub- 
ject of this biography, in early life lived with 
his father, and followed farming; was educated 
in the common schools of Warwick county, 
Indiana, school house built of logs, and ground 
floor; emigrated to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
February 12, 1852; was married January 28, 
1858 to Miss Nancy E. Boyd, of Macon county, 
Illinois. The family consists of nine children, 
viz: Joseph D., born July 14, 1859, and 
died July 11, 1864; Mary Ann born May 
17, 1861; Emma F., born April 27, 1863, 
died August 20, 1879; Martha E., born 
October 9, 1864; Tempa Florence, born March 
19, 1867; Ida Belle, born November 16, 1868; 
George IL, born February 26, 1871; Harvey C, 
born May 4, 1873; an infant died December 19, 
1880. Mr. Roberts has two hundred and ten 
acres of land adjoining Illiopolis under a high 
state of cidtivation, is regarded as a first class 
farmer; has a nice residence; his family are tak- 
ing an interest in education and music; has 
been a member of the Christian Church twenty- 
seven years; his motto in religion as, in every- 
thing else, is, "go slow, but sure." 

TF! N. Streeter, grain dealer, was born in 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, November 1, 
1836, son of William and Diana (Wilcox) 
Streeter, who were natives of Massachusetts. 
His father was a farmer by occupation; he came 
to Pike county, Illinois, where he resided until 
his death, which occurred in the fall of 1838, 
while he was on his way to the Mississippi river, 
where he anticipated engaging in the milling 
business. His mother, in a few months after, 
moved back to Exeter, Scott county, Illinois, 
where she resided for many years. She became 
deranged, and after fruitless attempts on the part 
of physicians to cure her, she was pronounced 
hopelessly insane, and sent to the Jacksonville 
Asylum, where she spent four years, but was re- 
moved by her son, and is now in the County 
Poor House for safe keeping. W. H. Streeter 
received his education in the common schools, 
attending school three months during the winter. 
He worked for Wm. Lowry, in whose charge he 
was placed by his mother, and with whom he 
remained until he was eighteen years of age. 
He then engaged in carpentei-ing, in company 
with his brother, one year; then worked as a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



929 



farm laborer until 18(51. He was married March 
4, 1858, to Mary Jane Hobson, who was born 
October, 1833, in Scott county, Illinois. Of a 
family of eight children six are living, viz: Wil- 
liam O., Richard A., John H., Mary Ada, Chas. 
E. and Henry; George and Louis, deceased. In 
1860, he moved to Sangamon county, and en- 
gaged in farming. In 1861, he enlisted in the 
One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, 
Company E, and served two years. He was ap- 
pointed Fourth Sergeant, then promoted to First 
Sergeant, in which capacity he acted until he 
was commissioned First Lieutenant. He held 
that position until he resigned on account of 
sickness contracted on the Mississippi river, near 
Vicksburg, while cutting the canal under the 
supervision of General Grant. He was dis- 
charged May, 1863. He again returned to San- 
gamon county and engaged in farming, in con- 
nection with the grain business, which he has 
followed since. He ships from 150,000 to 160,- 
000 bushels of grain each year, and has an ele- 
vator with a capacity for handling 600,000 bush- 
els. He has held many offices of trust in the 
township, and is a member of the Christian 
Church. 

John W. G. Turpin^ post office, Illiopolis, 
son of Robinson and Rachel Turpin. Father 
born in Bourbon coxmty, Kentucky, April, 1805; 
mother born in Owen county, Kentucky, 1807. 
They were married in Kentucky about 1827, and 
had three children born there. About 1834, 
moved to Hendricks county, Indiana, bought 
land and commenced farming. The names 
of their children are: Melinda E.,John W. G., 
born March 13, 1830; Anderson, Henry, Harvey, 
Harrison, Doctor, Martha, Jacob. Harrison 
died January, 1865; mother died July 31, 1880; 
father died August 31, 1880. 

The subject of this sketch was the second 
child, and was married in Hendricks county, 



Indiana, February 24, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth 
B. Swain, daughter of John and Matilda Swain. 
Her father was born in Fleming county, Ken- 
tucky, April, 1812; her mother born in Mont- 
gomery county, Kentucky, April, 1810. Mrs. 
Turpin was born in Hendricks county, Septem- 
ber 17, 1834. Commenced farming in Indiana, 
and remained there until 1865, when they came 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, and purchased the 
place where they now live. They have seven 
children, to-wit: John R., born August 16, 
1855; James H., born May 20, 1857; Ann E., 
born December 11, 1859; William M., born April 
29, 1861; Bennett N., born July 25,1864;Lucella 
W., born Jan. 21, 1869; Tillman A. H., born 
July 21, 1871. 

Owns three hundred acres of land, secured by 
the industry of himself and family, valued at 
$50 per acre; farms mixed crops, raises cattle 
and hogs for market purposes. Subscription 
schools were the only advantages of education 
for himself and wife. 

Henry Wilcox, born November 10, 1815, in 
Schoharie county. New York, in the town of 
Scobelkill. His father, Nathan Wilcox, born 
in Middlesex county, Connecticut, in the town 
of Guilford, 1778, and died 1852, in Lee county, 
Illinois. Henry Wilcox emigrated to Illinois 
in 1851, and settled in Lee county, and removed 
to Sangamon county in 1857. Married Febru- 
ary 7, 1841, to Miss Artemissee Luce, to whom 
were born ten children, of whom six are living, 
viz: Elizabeth, married to P. P. Lucas, of 
Illiopolis, Illinois; Lucy, married to John 
Pontzious; Sylvester, married and living in 
Texas; Henry and Aaron. Olive married to John 
Underwood, and living in Minnesota. Mr. Wil- 
cox owns a good farm of one hundred and 
twelve acres. His son, Sylvester, formerly in 
the railroad business in Chicago, is now in the 
railroad business in Texas. 



930 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XL. 



TOWNSHIP OF ISLAND GROVE. 



Island Grove is one of the western tier of 
townships, and is bounded on the east by Curran 
township, on the west by Morgan county, on the 
north by Cartwright, and on the south by New 
Berlin. It has twenty-seven square miles of 
land in the township. It is mostly prairie and 
quite level. Island grove, which gives the name 
to the township, is an irregular shaped grove, 
about eight miles long, and averaging one mile 
in width, extending along one branch of Spring 
creek in the northwestern part of the town- 
ship. There is also some timber along Skillet 
fork of Spring creek, in the eastern part, other- 
wise it is all prairie. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

John Roberts, from Tennessee, first settled 
here in 1818, at the foot of the grove, in the 
northeastern part. He was followed, about a 
year afterwards, by his son, Jerry Roberts, and 
by David Troxell, Fred. Troxell, Thomas Evans, 
Andrew Scott, William Hart and Josiah Hedges. 
At this time there were two Indian villages in 
the township — one on Skillet fork, and the 
other at the head of the grove, near the west 
line. There were about three hundred Indians 
in each village. They were of the Pottowata- 
mie and Delaware tribes, but were peaceable, 
and soon moved west. Among other early 
settlers may be mentioned the names of McCoy, 
Douglass, Rhea, Foutch, Smith, Brown, Hursley, 
Gibson, Yates, Ellis, Campbell, Harmon, Weger, 
Wyekoff, and others, whose descendants and 
relatives now form a large proportion of the 
present inhabitants. The first whites here were 
mostly of a wandering character, and soon 
moved away. Those mentioned came a few 
years later and made permanent homes here. 

Simon Hensley was born February 26, 1785, 
in Washington county, Virginia. He was mar- 



ried February 2, 1820, near Dayton, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, to Mary Arnold, who was born 
August 24, 1792, in Ohio. They moved to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 
1823, in what is now Island Grove township, 
north of Spring creek. 

Josiah Hedges was born about 1788, in Mary- 
land, and was taken to Virginia, and from there 
to Grayson county, Kentucky, when he was 
about twelve years old. Anna Brown was born 
December 25, 1798, in Davis county, Kentucky. 
Josiah Hedges and Anna Brown were there 
married, and made Grayson county their home 
until they moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in the fall of 1826, at the north side of 
Island Grove, two and a half miles noi'thwest of 
the present town of Berlin. 

Mr. Hedges moved from Kentucky with an 
ox team. One of his oxen was trained to 
work in shafts. He made a light wagon, all of 
wood, and with that ox did all his marketing 
after coming to the county. When he came, 
he brought money to enter forty acres of land. 
By industry aud economy, he became the owner 
of nine hundred acres of the richest land in the 
county. He died in 1872. 

Henry ElHsi, was born November 17, 1786, near 
Lexington, Kentucky. His father, John Ellis, 
was born January 20, 1749, and married October 
2, 1770, to Sarah Parrish, who was born April 
20, 1757. They moved from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky. The family is of Welch extraction. The 
father of John Ellis is said to have been with the 
second supply of emigrants from England to 
America. Martha Marshall Yates was born (after 
the death of her father) in Woodford county, 
Kentucky, September 13, 1791, and was a sister 
of Henry Yates, Sr. Henry Ellis and Martha Yates 
were married January 29, 1807, in Warsaw 
Kentucky, and had ten children, two of whom 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



931 



died in infancy. The family moved to San- 
gamon county, Illinois, arriving in September, 
1825, in Island Grove, two miles northeast of 
Bei'lin. 

John Foutch was born May, I'/VG, in Loudon 
county, Virginia. Three brothers by the name 
of Foutch came from France and settled in 
Loudon county, Virginia, before the American 
Kevolution. Two of them were soldiers in that 
war, and one of them was Abraham, the father 
of John, whose name heads this sketch. John 
Foutch WQnt to Fayette county, Kentucky, when 
he was a young man, and was there married, in 
1796, to Nancy A. Wherrett, w'ho was born 
March 8, 1778, in St. Mary's county, Maryland. 
They lived in Fayette county, near Lexington, 
and the family moved to Dearborn county, near 
Harrison, Indiana; they then moved to Franklin 
county, thence to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in the fall of 1825, at the south side of 
Richland creek, east of where Pleasant Plains 
now stands, and in the spring of 1826, moved to 
Island Grove, Sangamon county. 

James Rhea, was born in 1780, in Greenbrier 
county, Virginia, and when a young man, went 
to Barren county, Kentucky, where he was mar- 
ried November 20, 1801, to Rachel Joliff, who 
was born October 16, 1783. They had ten chil- 
dren in Kentucky, and the family moved to Jef- 
ferson county, Illinois, where one child was 
born, and moved to Sangamon county, arriving 
in 1827, in what is now Island Grove town- 
ship. 

James Rhea died February 12, 1843, and his 
widow died October 28, 1851, both in Sangamon 
county. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, 
from Kentucky, under General Harrison; was 
on Lake Erie, and saw the British vessels 
brought in after Perry's victory. 

Mrs. Catharine Harmon, whose maiden name 
was Sears, was born about 1775, in North Caro- 
lina. She was married to George W. Harmon 
and had three children in North Carolina; and 
then they moved to Simpson county, Ken- 
tucky. Mr. Harmon died there about 1825. 
Mrs. Harmon, with eight of her children, moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the 
fall of 1827, in Island Grove. 

David McGinnis, w<^s born in 1798, in Mercer 
county, Kentucky. He Avas married December 
24, 1820, in Boone county, to Eliza Gibson, 
a native of that county. Mr. McGinnis visited 
Sangamon county in the fall of 1826, selected a 
location for a home, returned to Kentucky, and 
brought his family, accompanied by his brother, 
G. Dawson, arriving November 18, 1827, in 



what is now Island Grove township. David and 
William McGinnis were the inventors of a de- 
vice for guiding prairie plows by wheels and a 
lever. They put it in operation in the summer 
of 1829. It was adopted throughout the prairie 
country, and might have made them a large 
amount of money, but it was never patented. 

Henry Yates was born October 29, 1786, in 
Caroline county, Virginia. Dr. Michael Yates, 
a native of England, emigrated to America before 
the Revolution, and settled in Caroline county, 
Virginia. He there married Martha Marshall, a 
sister of John Marshall, afterwards Chief Justice 
of the United States. Their son, Abner, born 
in Caroline county, married Mollie Hawes, 
daughter of Thomas Hawes and Elizabeth Fisher, 
his wife. They had two children, Henry, whose 
name heads this sketch, and Martha, who married 
Henry Ellis. Henry Yates was taken by his 
parents, in 1788, from Caroline county, Virginia, 
to Fayette county, Kentucky, where his father 
died. The family moved to Woodford, thence 
to Scott, and from there to Gallatin county, in 
the same State, in ] 804. Henry Yates, Henry 
Ellis, and Colonel Robert Johnson laid out a 
town on the Ohio river, and Colonel Johnson 
named it Fredericksburg, in honor of his native 
city of that name in Virginia. It was at a later 
period changed to Warsaw, and is the county 
seat of Gallatin county. Henry Yates returned 
to Caroline county, Virginia, and was there mar- 
ried, July 11, 1809, to his cousin, Millicent Yates, 
who was born May 15, 1791. They went to 
Gallatin county, Kentucky; Mrs. Millicent Yates 
died April 19, 1830. Henry Yates married Mary 
A. Shuff, and moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, arriving in May, 1831, at Springfield. In 
November, 1832, they moved to Island Grove, 
where Berlin now stands. Mrs. Mary A. Yates 
died May 11, 1835. Henry Yates was married 
September 28, 1835, to Elizabeth McMillan. 

Joel Maxcy was born about 1759, in Rocking- 
ham county, Virginia. He was a soldier in a 
Virginia regiment in time of the Revolution, 
and was in the battle of Guilford Court House. 
He remembered having seen Generals Marion, 
Morgan, DeKalb, and Gates. He was married 
after the war, in Prince Edward county, to Mrs. 
Susan Hill, whose maiden name was Davis. She 
had five children by her first marriage. Mr. and 
Mrs. Maxcy had three children in Virginia, and 
in 1798 moved to Warren county, near Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, where one child was born. 
Mrs. Susan Maxcy died there August 27, 1812. 
Of her four children, one only ever came to San- 
gamon county. 



932 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Mr. Maxcy was again mairied to Mrs. Betsy 
A. Howard, whose maiden name was Brown. 
They came to Sangamon county in 1827, and 
settled in Island Grove, where Mr. Maxcy died 
December 27, of the same year. 

Jesse Roberts was from Tennessee, and came 
about 1822, but soon afterwards moved to Han- 
cock county, Illinois. 

Mr. Glenn was from Kentucky. He eame in 
1823; subsequently moved to DeWitt county, 
Illinois. 

Thomas Evans was from Kentucky, and came 
in 1823 Now deceased. 

E. Jones, also from Kentucky, came in 1824; 
subsequently moved to Henderson county, Illi- 
nois.Si 

Willis Bledsoe, from Kentucky, came in 1825; 
returned to his native State. 

John Underwood, from Tennessee. Now de- 
ceased. 

The following named were each here previous 
to the deep snow, but the date of their arrival is 
unknown. 

Ludlow Maxwell, from Ohio; subsequently 
moved to Oregon. 

Elias Maxwell, also from Ohio; now deceased; 
was a member of the Christian Church. 

William Tilford, from Kentucky; moved to 
Iowa. 

Abram Foutch, from Kentucky; a Baptist; 
moved to Iowa. 

Thomas Moore, from Kentucky. Now de- 
ceased. 

M. Publer, from Kentucky; a German Bap- 
tist, or Dunkard; moved to Iowa. 

G. May, from Kentucky; a Baptist. 

A. Scott, from Tennessee; a minister of ^ the 
Christian Church; now deceased. 

James Cordell, from Teanessee; a German 
Baptist; moved to Oregon. 

William Fleharty, from Tennessee; a Metho- 
dist. 

Absalom Hadmone, from Kentucky; a German 
Baptist; moved to Iowa. 

H. M. Hadmone, from Kentucky; a Christian; 
now deceased. 

FIEST EVENTS. 

The first couple married were Nelson Roberts 
and Miss Tabor, at the house of Rev. Andrew 
Scott, the first and, for many years, the only res» 
ideiit minister in the township. 

The first death was William Hart, Jr., who 
died in 1822, aged twenty-one years. 

The first store was at the head of the grove 
in 1830, by Pruett & Co. 



The first births were probably the twin]chil- 
dren of Jerry Roberts, born in 1822. 

The first mill was a horse mill by John Roberts 
in 1821. 

BELIGIOUS. 

The first services held in this township by a 
regular minister of any of the religious denomi- 
nations are unknown. As early as 1825, the 
Methodists had appointments in the settlements 
of the present township, and Andrew Scott, a 
minister of the Christian Church was here prior 
to the deep snow. The religious welfare of the 
people of the township was never neglected by 
any of the religious teachers, and the township 
has ever been noted for the quiet and orderly- 
habits of the people. There are now six churches 
in the township, three in the village and three 
in the country — one on section eleven, township 
fifteen, range eight west, and another on section 
eleven, township fifteen, range seven west, the 
third on section one, township fifteen, range 
seven west. 

SCHOOLSi 

Abner Ellis taught the first school in the town- 
ship in 1826. Since that day the improvement 
made in the means of obtaining an education 
has been great indeed. There are now six good 
school houses in the township outside of the 
village of Berlin, and school is held in each dis- 
trict an average of eight months in the year. 

organic] 

Island Grove was organized in 1861, by the 
Board of Justices and then contained all its 
present territory and that of New Berlin town- 
ship. The first election was held in April, 1861. 

VILLAGE OF BERLIN. 

The village of Berlin is located on the State 
road, from Springfield to Jacksonville, and was 
laid out and platted by Henry and Thomas 
Yates, on " part of the east half of the northwest 
quarter of section seventeen, township fifteen, 
range seven west," the plat being recorded De- 
cember 12, 1836. 

In 1832, Henry Yates opened a stock of goods 
in a log cabin erected as a dwelling house, and 
situated where the village was afterwards located. 
Around this store a settlement was effected, 
other business was started, and the village of 
Berlin had an actual existence. The store of 
Mr. Yates' continued in existence, and operated 
by himself and son Thomas, until 1857. 

A post office was established at the lower end 
of the grove, two and a half miles east of the 
present village, in 1828, and Henry Ellis was ap- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



933 



pointed postmaster, and discharged the duties 
of the office. The office was continued at this 
point until the village was laid out, under the 
name of Island Grove post office. When it was 
changed to the village, its name was changed to 
Berlin. Mr. Ellis was succeeded by William 
Underwood. Since his term the following 
named have held the office: S. Wood, H. M. 
Havenon, S. Wood (second time), A. Yates, O. 
H. Rush, R. Ballay, G. W. Havenon, T. Kerlin, 
T. Pollock^ P. Price, James Ward, W. Whele- 
hand, Scott Price, and W. B. Price; the last 
named being the present postmaster. 

Charles Parker started the first blacksmith 
shop in the village, in 1836. 

The first wagon shop was not put in operation 
until 1860. Thomas Elliott was the pioneer in 
this branch of trade. 

The religious and moral condition of the place 
IS represented by four churches — Baptist, Metho- 
dist Episcopal, Christian, and United Presby- 
terian, each of whom have houses of worship. 
The Bsptist Church was built in 1865, at a cost 
of 16,000. It is forty by sixty feet. The Metho- 
dist Church, built in 1861, at a cost of $4,000; 
the Presbyterian, in 1857, at a cost of $2,000; 
and the Christian, the same year, at a cost of 
$2,500. 

Jacob Ade, farmer, Berlin, Island Grove town- 
ship, was born in Kingdom of Werttenberg, 
Germany, on the 31st day of December, 1817. 
He came to the United States in 1853, coming 
by steam, being seventeen days on the water; 
landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he 
remained four weeks, then went to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where he worked on a farm, and through 
the winter he worked at his trade as baker, re- 
maining there one and one-half years. From 
there he came to Island Grove township, where 
he worked on a farm by the month for three 
years, then bought property in town and started 
a bakery, which he followed up to 1864, when 
he embarked in the grocery business, which he 
followed up to 1870, when he purchased a farm 
of fifty-six acres, ?11 of which is under a high 
state of cultivation, and valued at !j!65 per acre. 
Mr. Ade married Elizabeth Scholl, in Island 
Grove, December, 1857, born also in Germany. 
They had three children, two are living, viz: 
Frederick, who is in partnership with his father 
in a store of groceries and general merchandise 
at Berlin; they carry a stock of $2,000, and 
Charles, who resides on the farm with his 
father. Jacob Ade and wife are both members 
of the German Lutheran Church at Berlin. In 
politics, he is a Republican. 



Charles F. Dam^^ harness maker, Island 
Grove township, post oflice, Berliii, was b )rn in 
Scott county, Illinois, on the fifth day of Feb- 
ruary, 1840; son of Jerome and Sarah (Curry) 
Davis, who were natives of Kentucky, where 
tbey were married and where three children 
were born, Susie, Napoleon and James. He 
emigrated to Illinois, in 1834, and located in 
Naples, Scott county, Illinois, where he followed 
the occupation of pork dealer, until his death, 
which occurred in the fall of 1840; his mother 
dying the same year. Charles F., when twelve 
years of age, commenced to learn the trade of a 
saddler. In 1875, married Miss Annie Carson, 
who was born in Sangamon county, 1846. The 
fruits of this marriage was two children, one of 
which is living, Maud. Mrs. Annie Davis died 
October, 1877. For his second wife married 
Edna Pease, in 1879. She was born in Sanga- 
mon county, July 1860. Mr. Davis has held 
several local offices of trust; is a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

William J. Douglass, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office, Berlin, was born in Island Grove 
township, on the 12th day of March, 1841; son 
of Milton and Sarah A. Casselberry. His father 
emigrated to Sangamon county in the fall of 1833, 
coming through with an ox team. Previous to 
his coming to the county, he had worked on a 
farm for $8 per month, on the place where Mr. 
Douglass now lives; afterwards purchased the 
same place, came poor, and by good management 
has accumulated a fine property of five hundred 
and twenty acres of land. Mr. Douglass was 
married three times; by his first wife there was 
four children, three of whom lived to be adults, 
Mary, William J. andjChristiana. Mrs. D. died 
about 1843; for his second wife, he married 
Louisa M. Underwood, by which there was one 
child, who died in infancy. She died, and he 
afterwards married Miss Francis M. Rude, by 
whom he had seven children, five of whom are 
living, Sarah A., Caroline, Margaret, Ellen, and 
Stephen A. In politics, is a Democrat, and a 
member of the M. E. Church, and one of the 
original membei's of Simms Chapel. He came 
in limited circumstances, in company with two 
others, and the amount of their ca^^h was twenty- 
five cents, all told. The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm; in 1865, he married Miss 
Adeline Rawlings, of Ohio; she was born in 
Lawrence county, Illinois, January 3, 1841. The 
fruits of this marriage were eight children, seven 
of whom are living, viz: William H., Milton, 
Fannie M., George, Eddie, and Harvey, and a 
babe. 



«34 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



He has one hundred and ten acres of land, all 
of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
valued at $60 per acre. Mr. D. has been a resi- 
dent of the county all his life, and has lived to 
see its various changes. 

John F. Elliott, was born in Upper San- 
dusky, Ohio, on the 14th day of April, 1823, son 
of Charles and Phoebe (Leach) Elliott, father 
of Irish descent, and mother a native of Vir- 
ginia. They were married about 1821, in Penn- 
sylvania, and immediately left for Urbana, Ohio, 
where he was engaged in the missionary cause 
among the Wyandotte Indians. From thence 
went to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he held 
a professorship in a college, where he resided a 
few years. He died in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1870. 
His mother is still living at Mt. Pleasant at the 
age of eighty-two. John F., when twenty-five, 
years of age, left his home in Cincinnati, and 
came to Sangamon county, and located in what 
is now Cartwright township, where he embarked 
in faiming, on what was known as the "Lone 
Trees," where he rtmained three years, when he 
Bold out, and bought his present place. 

Mr. Elliott is one of the large and extensive 
farmers of Sangamon county, owning five hun- 
dred and twenty acres of land, all of which is 
under a high state of cultivation, and valued at 
$65 per acre. In politics, is a Republican, and 
has served the people as magistrate for a number 
of years, and also held the ofiice of supervisor. 
In 1843, he married Miss Jane Yates, a daughter 
of Htnry Yates, of this township. She was born 
in Warsaw, Kentucky, in 1825. The fruits of 
this marriage weie five children, four of whom 
are living: Phoebe, Charles Y., Henry, and John 
F., Jr. 

Bryant Fay, Berlin, Island Grove township, 
was born in Springfield, Illinois, April 25, 1848. 
When about three years of age, his father died. 
He lived in Springfield with bis mother attend- 
ing the ward schools until twelve years of age, 
when he struck out for himself. Hefirstworked 
for John Keltch, in Champaign county. He 
then returned to Berlin a short time, when he 
went to Lincoln, Morgan county, Illinois, and 
worked on a farm for Dr. Joe Sims, and for the 
Chicago & Alton Railroad some two and a half 
years, when he came to Island Grove township. 
He married Nannie Skeen February IV, 1869. 
She was a daughter of James and Lidia A. 
(Mooie) Skeen, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Fay is a member of the Christian Church, and 
Mx's. F. of the Baptist. They have three chil- 
dren, viz: Elizabeth E., Lidia H., and Ann 
Eliza Fay. 



John Fay, father of Bryant, was born in 
Ireland, and came to America when a young 
man. He enlisted in the Mexican War, where 
he remained until its close. He died in 1851. 
His wife, Eliza (Doty) Fay, is a native of 
Indiana. She and her husband had two chil- 
dren, Bryant and Mary E. Fay, now Mrs, 
Lercher, who reside at Dawson. He and the 
mother still resides in Berlin. Bryant Fay has 
held several local ofllces of trust in the town- 
ship; was town clerk two terms and was elected 
supervisor of this township April, 1880, and re- 
elected in 1881. In politics, he is a Democrat, 
and cast his first vote for Seymour, for President 
of the United States. 

Thomvs Fontch, retired farmer, Island Grove 
township, post office, New Berlin, was born in 
Fayette county, Kentucky, on the 25th day of 
November, 1799, son of John Foutch, who was 
born in Loudon county, Virginia, May, 1776, and 
Nancy A. Wherritt, who was born March 8, 
1778, in St. Mary's county,Maryland. They had 
five children born in Fayette county, near Lex- 
ington; then the family moved to Dearborn 
county, near Harrison, Indiana, where they had 
four children; thence to Franklin county, where 
one child was born; thence to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, in the fall of 1825, at the south side of 
Richland creek, east of where Pleasant Plains 
now stands, and in the spring of 1826 moved to 
Island Grove township. The subject of this 
sketch was married December 21, 1820, in Fay- 
ette county, Indiana, to Miss Sarah Wherrett, 
daughter of Wm. Wherritt, of Kentucky, who 
moved, in 1817, to Jessamine county, Indiana, 
and from there to Fayette county. She was born 
in Fayette county, Kentucky, November 20, 1800. 
There was a family of six children, four of whom 
are living, viz: Elizabeth, Nancy, John, now of 
Butler county, Kansas, who has held several 
offices of trust in the gift of the people, having 
represented his people in the legislature, was 
one of the deacons in the Baptist Church and 
one of its leading spirits; and Hugh. Mr. and 
Mrs. Foutch have been identified with the county 
over fifty years, and have lived together as hus- 
band and wife nearly sixty-one years, and at this 
writing Mrs. F. can see without spectacles, and 
can read the finest print; she is hale and healthy 
and bids fair to live a number of years. Mr. 
Foutch is also living, and is able to be around 
and enjoy his hard-earned money. 

John W. Fugate, farmer. Island Grove town- 
ship, was born on a farm in Grant county, Ken- 
tucky, January 13, 1841. When some fourteen 
years of age, came with his parents to Illinois 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



935 



and settled on a farm in Island Grove township, 
where he remained until the war broke out, when 
he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-Sixth Illinois 
Infantry Volunteers, and was shot through the 
face with a minnie ball at the battle of Atlanta, 
Georgia. At the close of the war, he returned to 
the old homestead, in Island Grove township, and 
November 30, 1865, married Miss Mary C. Clark. 
She was born in Sangamon county, and was a 
daughter of Irwin and Permelia (Boynton) Clark; 
natives of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Fugate are 
members of the Christian Church, and have five 
children, viz: William E., George, Ada, Horace 
C, and Mary Fugate. Soon after his marriage, 
Mr. John W. Fugate went to Madison county, 
and from 1870 to 1877, ran a wholesale and retail 
store at Edwardsville. He then returned to Island 
Grove township, where he now resides. The 
parents of John W., are William and Miranda 
(Order) Fugate, who reside on the old home- 
stead, in Island Grove. They are members of 
the Christian Church, and have had four children, 
viz: John W., Eunice, who married E. M. Pike, 
and resides at Chenoa, Illinois; Mary E., wife of 
William Hoag, and Thomas H., married and 
living on his farm near Danville, Illinois. 

John W. Fugate, the subject of this sketch, has 
a fine farm of eighty acres, in section eight. Island 
Grove township, where he resides. The farm is 
under good cultivation and well stocked. He is 
a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 28, at 
Edwardsville, Illinois. In politics, is rather in- 
dependent, and votes for the best man. He cast 
his first vote for A. Lincoln, for President of the 
United States. 

James H. Gibson, M. D. (deceased), Island 
Grove township, Sangamon county, was born in 
Gallatin county, near Warsaw, on the 9th day of 
September, 1 809 ; was the son of David and 
Mary (Marrow) Gibson. Mr. David Gibson was 
a man of influence, and represented his district 
in the legislature for several terms. The family 
consisted of four sons and one daughter. The 
subject of this sketch came to Beardstown, and 
first engaged in the practice of medicine, in 
company with Dr. Chandler. In 1840 came to 
Berlin, Sangamon county, where he followed his 
profession for more than thirty years. He died 
in Berlin, November 22, 1873, leaving a widow 
and one daughter. He married Miss Catharine 
Maison, a daughter of Peter and Catharine 
(Miller) Maison, of Philadelphia county, Penn- 
sylvania, where she was born. May 23, 1813. 
Dr. Gibson attended lectures in Cincinnati 
medical college, where he graduated with honors. 
Dr. G., at his death, had accumulated a fine 

109— 



property, and owned four hundred and forty 
acres of valuable land, valued at $75 per acre. 
The Doctor was a member of the Baptist Church 
for over thirty years. As husband, father, 
brother, he was a true Christian man, of the 
noblest and truest type. A large and sorrowing 
concourse attested his worth at his funeral at 
Berlin. 

Peter Knepler, farmer and stock raiser, post 
ofiice, Berlin, section nine, was born in Loraine, 
France, on the third day of February, 1816, 
where he worked at farming until he was thirty 
years old, when he came to the United States, 
landing in New Orleans, thence by river to St. 
Louis, where he remained a few days, then came 
via. Beardstown to Springfield, where he was 
employed in a ham factory for Cox & Billeys, 
and remained a short time. In 1848, came to 
Island Grove township, where he worked for 
Captain Brown on a farm and remained with him 
four yeai's. The first land that he bought was 
forty acres, in 1856. He now owns a beautiful 
farm of one hundred and seventy-six acres under 
a high state of cultivation, valued at $60 per 
acre. Married Miss Catharine Kannople, she was 
born in France, August 10, 1809. The fruits of 
this marriage was seven children four of whom 
are living, Catharine, John, Charley and Mary; 
members of the Catholic Church of New Berlin. 
Mr, K. came to the United States a poor man, 
but by hard work and economy, has made a good 
home and property. 

S. O. Maxcy, farmer and stock raiser, post 
office, Farmingdale, Island Grove township, was , 
born in Logan county, Kentucky, about 1820; 
son of Joel and Betsy Ann (Brown) Maxcy, who 
were natives of Virginia. He was a soldier in 
a Virginia regiment in the time of the Revolu- 
tion, and was in the battle of Guilford Court 
House. He remembered having seen Generals 
Marion, Morgan, DeKalb and Yates. He was 
married after the war in Prince Edwards county, 
to Miss Susan Hill, whose maiden name was 
Davis. 

Mr. and Mrs. Maxcy had three children in 
Virginia, and in 1798 moved to Warren county, 
near Bowling Green, Kentucky, where one 
child was born. Mrs. Susan Maxcy died August 
27, 1812. For his second wife married Mrs, 
Betsy A. Howard, whose maiden name was 
Brown. By this marriage there were five chil- 
dren. 

The family moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving November, 1827, in Spring- 
field, and soon after moved to Island Grove 
township, north of Spring Creek, coming through 



936 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



with teams and camping out; moved into a log 
cabin sixteen by sixteen, there being six in the 
family. He took up two hundred acres of land 
and made a home, where he remained until his 
death, which occurred on the Vth day of Decem- 
ber, 1847. Mrs. Maxcy died in Shelby county, 
Illinois, in 1856. In politics, was an old line 
Whig of the Henry Clay stripe. Mr. and Mrs. 
Maxcy were among the early members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and were leading 
spirits in the organization of the church. S. O. 
Maxcy came to this county when he was a boy 
five years of age, and was reared on a farm. 
November 16, 1848, married Miss Nancy Archer,- 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Archer. 
She was born in Spring Creek township, No- 
vember 13, 1825. The fruits of this marriage 
are two children, James H., born in Island 
Grove township September 18, 1849, whomarried 
Miss Alice Jameson, a daughter of Samuel 
Jameson, of Ohio. They have a family of 
four children: Lee F., Catharine, Nancy and 
Charles; William J., born October 13, 1856. He 
married Miss Ida Reed. There is one child, 
Beulah. Mr. Maxcy is one of the large and 
extensive farmers of the county, ovvning four 
hundred and forty acres of land, valued at |65 
per acre. In politics, Mr. Maxcy is a Demo- 
crat. 

W. £. Price, M. D., Berlin, was born in Is- 
land Grove, Sangamon county, Illinois, on the 
10th day of August, 1835, son of Charles W, 
and Rebecca (Brown) Price, who emigrated to 
Jacksonville, Morgan county, Illinois, from Ken- 
tucky, about 1832, where he remained a short 
time, then removed to this county, where he 
purchased land and made a home, remaining 
here until his death. Dr. W. B. Price was 
reared on a farm, and received a scientific edu- 
cation at Illinois College, at Jacksonville. When 
eighteen years of age he commenced reading 
medicine with Drs. Gibson & Brown, where he 
prosecuted his studies one year, when he at- 
tended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, at 
Philadelphia, and graduated in 1857. In 1862 
was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon, and 
afterwards promoted to Surgeon of the Fourth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry, where he remained until 
the close of the war. After leaving the service, 
returned to Berlin, where he has followed his 
profession since. Married Miss Eliza C. O'Ban- 
non. May 17, 1873. She was born in Kentucky. 
The Doctor is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and a member of the Jacksonville Chap- 
ter. In politics, a Republican, and cast his first 
vote for Stephen A. Douglas, for President of 



the United States. Mr. Price is a member of 
the Christian Church, in Berlin. 

James D. Smith, farmer and stock dealer. 
Island Grove township, post office. New Berlin, 
was born in Island Grove township, Sangamon 
county, Illinois, oa the 20th day of December, 
1837, son of James D. and Ruth (Brown) Smithy 
natives of Harrison county, Kentucky, where 
they were married in 1829, where one child was 
born — William. In 1833, he came to Sangamon 
county with his father-in-law, Colonel William 
Brown, moving his family in the fall of 1833 to 
Island Grove, where nine children were born, 
three of whom died in infancy. He purchased a. 
large tract of land, where he remained until his^ 
death, which occurred November 7, 1871, as fol 
lows: 

" On the afternoon of Tuesday, November 7, 
1871, James D. Smith, an old and honored resi- 
dent of Island Grove, Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, was thrown from his buggy and killed, 
whilst returning alone to his home from the town 
of Berlin. On the afternoon of the Thursday 
following, the large concourse of people, from 
town and country for miles around, which gath- 
ered at his grave, spoke impressively of the high 
esteem in which he was held by all who knew 
him. Dying, he has left a strickened family a 
treasure more precious than his ample fortune 
— the priceless heritage of a well-spent life." 

His widow, Mrs. Ruth A. Smith, survived her 
husband exactly ten months, and died Septem- 
ber 7, 1872. The remains were both interred in 
Wood Wreath Cemetery, near where they spent 
so many years of their lives. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on a 
farm, receiving a classical education, graduating 
at the Illinois College in his eighteenth year. 
In 1864, he married Miss Elizabeth Brown, a 
daughter of Elisha Brown, of Boonsville, 
Cooper county, Missouri. She was born April 
2, 1842. By this union there were seven chil- 
dren, six of whom are living: Elisha B., James 
D., Mary B., Harriet D., Elizabeth and Annie. 

Mr. Smith in company with his brother, Lloyd 
are among the large and enterprising farmers of 
the central portion of the State, and make a 
specialty of raising blooded stock, short-horned 
cattle and Norman horses, of which he has on 
his place, three beautiful imported stallions, viz: 
St. Louis, weighing one thousand eight hundred 
pounds; Chicago, one thousand nine hundred 
pounds, and Grand Duke, a very promising colt 
weighing one thousand five hundred pounds. 
The brothers have in company one thousand 
eight hundred acres of land, and raise seven 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



937 



hundred acres of corn, which will average the 
present year seventy-five bushels per acre, or 
fifty thousand bushels. 

They are the most extensive cattle dealers in 
the State. 

Asa JR. Washburn, (deceased), Island Grove 
township, was born in Randolph, Vermont, on 
the 14th day of July, 1824, married Miss Barbara 
Craig, October IV, 1852. She was a daughter of 
George and Rebecca (Painter) Craig, natives of 
Virginia, who emigrated to this State in 1840 
and located in Morgan county, four miles east 
of Jacksonville. She was born in Shenandoah 
county, Virginia, December 2, 1826. There was 
a family of seven children, three of whom are 
living, Aurelia, now Mrs. Erastus Clark, of Mor- 
gan county; Arthur E. and George. Mr. Wash- 
burn was a member of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, and at the time of his death was 
one of the elders, and was respected by all who 
knew him. In politics he was a strong Demo- 
crat. He died in Vermont, September 12, 1868, 
aged forty-three years, one month and twenty- 
nine days. 

William B Warren, M. D., post office, Berlin, 
Illinois, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on the 
8th day of July, 1852; son of William M. and 
Percilla (Hitt) Warren. When eighteen years 
of age he went to Texas, with Colonel S. H. Hill, 
where they dealt in cattle, until 1875, when he 



returned t) tliis Slate. Ho imnu'iliate'v com- 
menced the study of medicine in the Missouri 
Medical College, at St. Louis, where he remained 
two years, when he gi-aduated, in 1877. From 
there he returned to New Berlin, where he em- 
barked in the drug business, which he is still 
pursuing. In the spring of 1880, he came to 
Berlin, and formed a partnership with Dr. W 
B. Price, and has followed his profession since. 
He married Miss Virginia L. Rutledge, a 
daughter of Dr. Rev. Wm. J. Rutledge, appointed 
chaplain, at Joliet. She was born in Jackson- 
ville, September 21, 1860; they were married 
June 3, 1880. 

Thomas Yates, Island Grove township, one of 
its large and extensive farmers, was born March 
14, 1811, in Gallatin county, Kentucky; was mar- 
ried March 29, 1837, atBerlin, Sangamon county, 
Illinois, to Nancy Higgins, who was born May 
23, 1816, in Cumberland county, Kentucky, and 
came with her parents to Sangamon county, in 
1836. Thomas and Mary Yates had ten living 
children, six of which lived to be adults. Mrs. 
Nancy Yates died December 15, 1860. Thomas 
Yates is a farmer, has six hundred acres of land, 
valued at |65 per acre. Mr. Yates came to the 
county in an early day, and has been identified 
with its interest over fifty years, and has seen 
the prairies from their wild uncultivated state, to 
one of the finest cultivated counties in the State. 



938 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XLL 



TOWNSHIP OF LOAMI. 



The township of Loami is located in the first 
tier of townships on the west, and the second 
tier from the southern boundary. The general 
surface of the country is level, and it is watered 
by Lick creek and its branches. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settler of Loami township was Henry 
Brown and family, including William Huft'- 
master and his sister Lucinda, step-children of 
Mr. Brown. They arrived in March, 1819, and 
settled on the north side of Lick creek. While 
Mr, Brown went back after another load of 
goods, Huifmaster cut logs, built a cabin, and 
had it ready for the family when Mr. Brown re- 
turned. He had also made a trough, placed it 
in the cabin, cut down bee trees, and filled the 
trough with honey. When John Campbell came 
and settled on the south side of Lick creek, in 
what is now Chatham township, he thought he 
was the first settler; but hearing the sound of an 
axe, he went over and found Hufi^master had 
been there before him. HufPmaster's power of 
endurance was remarkable. He has been known 
to have split seven hundred rails in one day. 
His courage was undisputable, also. On one 
occasion he was in the woods with Samuel Har- 
bour, when they discovered a panther up a tree. 
While Harbour went for a gun the panther came 
down. Huffmaster urged on the dogs that were 
with him, and securing a large club, went to 
their assistance. When Harbour returned, much 
to his surprise he found the panther stretched 
out dead, and Huffmaster and the dogs standing 
around it. Mr. Huffmaster died October 19, 
1861. 

After Brown and Huffmaster, the township 
gradually filled up in succeeding years. Among 
the first settlers were Willis Coley, Pane, Wil- 



liam and Ebenezer Coleman, Daniel Dorr an ce 
Isom Folley, William Morris, John Morris, 
Henry Brown, John Johnson, E. A. Meacham, 
Adam Barger, Achilles Morris, John Hudson, 
Zaza Bowen, Seth R. Cutter, Stephen and Wil- 
liam Workman. 

Paul Colburn, one of the first permanent set- 
tlers of Loami, was born about 1761, in Hills- 
boro county, New Hampshire. He subsequently 
moved to Massachusetts, where he was united 
in marriage with Mehitable Ball. In 1809, the 
family moved to Grafton county, New Hamp- 
shire, where they remained until September, 
1815; went from there to Ohio. 

In March, 1821, Paul Colburn, his daughter 
Isabel, William Colburn, wife and three chil- 
dren, the four orphan children of Isaac Colburn, 
and a Mr. Harris, started in a wagon drawn by 
four oxen for Morgan county. They traveled 
through rain, mud and unbridged streams for about 
five weeks, which brought them to the south 
side of Lick creek, on what is now Loami town- 
ship, where they found an empty cabin. From 
sheer weariness, they decided to stop, and Mr. 
Harris, the owner of the wagon and oxen, went 
on to Morgan county. 

Soon after their arrival, Wm. Colburn gave a- 
rifle gun for a crop of corn just planted, and in 
that way began to provide food. He secured a. 
team and went after his brother Ebenezer, and 
brought him and his wife to the settlement, 
arriving in October, 1821. 

Having succeeded in bringing so many of his 
descendants to the new country, and witnessed 
their struggles to gain a foothold and provide 
themselves with homes, Paul Colburn died Feb- 
ruary 27, 1825, near the present town of Loami. 
The other membeisof the family lived for many 
years. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9:i9 



Adam Barger was born in Botetourt county, 
Virginia, April 8, 1784, and when a young man 
moved to Kanawha county, now in West Vir- 
ginia, where be married Lucinda Nolan. Subse- 
quently he moved to Shawneetown, Illinois, and 
there secured conveyance and moved to this 
county, arriving in Loami, October, 1826. Mr. 
Barger died in 1864. 

Zaza Bowen arrived in Loami township 
December 4, 1827. Mr. Bowen was born in 
North Carolina. 

Henry Hall is a native of Maryland, and was 
born near Hagerstown, in 1774. He moved 
from there to Virginia, and then to Martin 
county, Indiana, in 1816. From Martin councy 
he moved to Loami, in 1828. 

After 1830, settlers came into the township 
too rapidly and in too great numbers to be 
noticed in this connection. Further along in 
this chapter will be found biographical sketches 
of quite a number of pioneers or their descend- 
ants. 

KELIGIOUS. 

The first religious services held in Loami 
township wei'e held by Rev. Simon Lindley, a 
good old Baptist minister, who toiled hard, like 
Paul, working with his own hands that he 
might not be a burden to any, and preaching the 
gospel upon the Lord's Day, to those who would 
give him a hearing. In his religious services, 
Mr. Lindley had no regard for style, often be- 
ginning his sermon with coat and vest on, 
with collar and necktie, but, warming up with his 
subject, he would first remove his coat, and if 
still burdened with the heat, then his vest; then 
he would untie and remove his nectie, and, 
lastly, his collar, and with bare throat he would 
continue to plead with sinners to "flee from the 
wrath to come." Since Lindley's day, many 
preachers have proclaimed the "unsearchable 
riches of Chx-ist." The church spire now'points 
Heavenward, and the township is represented by 
seven religious denominations, who have organ- 
ized bodies, including three Methodist, Baptist, 
Regular Baptist, two Presbyterian, with five 
church edifices. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The church and the school house are said to 
ibe evidences of civilization. The first settle- 
ment of the township of Loami being along 
Lick creek, near the line dividing it from 
Chatham township, and township lines, then 
being unknown, the first school house in the 
Lick creek settlement was placed over the line, 
in the latter township, on section nineteen, and 



here the pupils of this township were first sent 
to school. The "Yankee settlement " was with- 
out its school house until about 1824, when one 
was erected, about a mile and a half east of the 
present village. This was the typical pioneer 
school house, built of logs, with clapboard roof, 
puncheon floor, and slab seats. Theophilus 
Sweet was one of the first, if not the first, to 
"teach the young idea how to shoot," in this 
school house. The house was also used for 
religious services until other and better arrange- 
ments were made. The old log school house 
has long since given place to the more elegant, 
if not more substantial, frame house, with such 
modern conveniences as are demanded by the 
times. There are now in the township twelve 
school houses, valued at 1X5,000, with six hun- 
dred children of school age. 

FIRST EVENTS. 

Todd & Jackson, from Jacksonville, in the 
fall of 1831, opened out a small store, about a 
mile and a half east of the present village of 
Loami. This was the first store in the township. 

Colburn & Smith sold the first goods in the 
village. 

Mark Briggins was the first blacksmith, about 
a mile southwest of the village. 

A piano was brought to the township in 1834, 
by a Mr. Goshorn, the first in this section. 

Simon Lindley, a Baptist minister, preached 
the first sermon in 1820. 

Calvin Goodell taught a singing school in 
1827, which was the first in the township. 

Jonathan Jarrett came in 1826, and started a 
tan-yard, a mile and a quarter south of the vil- 
lage in 1831, which he continued about five 
years, making nearly all the leather used in the 
neighborhood. 

The first death was that of William Hughes, 
an Indian ranger, killed by the Indians, and 
buried by his comrades, near the Sulphur 
Springs. His remains was the first interred in 
Sulphur Springs Cemetery. 

The first school house was erected in 1824, 
about one mile and a half east of the village. 
Theophilus Priest was one of the first, if not 
the first teacher. 

MILLS. 

In a new country, deprived of quick and rapid 
communication with the more densely populated 
and better provided one, the saw and the grist 
mill, however poor, are considered a great bless- 
ing, and the man who erects either, receives the 
thanks of every settler within reach. The Col- 
burns and Herediths were thus regarded as pub- 



940 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



lie benefactors, and their mills were well pat- 
ronized. 

MILLVILLE. 

Andrew Ileredith came from Cincinnati, in 
1834, and settled upon Lick creek, a mile and a 
half west of the present village of Loami, where 
he erected a large saw-mill, and at once proceded 
to get out lumber for a grist-rail), which was 
soon afterwards erected. It was a large, well- 
built mill, and supplied with all the improved 
machinery then known, having four runs of stone. 
The mill soon secured a lai'ge custom, farmers 
coming a distance of one hundred miles with 
their wheat and other grain to be ground. Quite 
a village grew up around this mill which was 
given the name of Millville, The mill and vil- 
lage both flourished for awhile, but the hard 
times of 183V, caused the failure of the propri- 
etor of the mill, and as a consequence, the village 
ceased to exist. To-day, there is little evidence 
of the existence of either. 

FOURIER SOCIETY. 

In 1845, a Fourier Society of about twenty 
families was organized, and purchased a large 
quantity of land in the township. For about 
three years the society was in an apparently 
flourishing condition. A large building was in 
process of erection for its use, when dissension 
arose and it was disbanded, the property being 
divided among its members. 

ORGANIC. 

The county voting for township organization, 
it was divided into townships, and township four- 
teen, ranges seven and eight, was set off and 
named Loami. The first election was held on 
the first Monday in April, 1861, and has since 
been held upon the same Monday in each year. 

CLEVELAND. 

A village was laid out about 1832, on a part 
of the present village of Loami, and about a half 
dozen houses, a blacksmith shop and a cooper 
shop were ei'ected. The village disappeared 
long before the present village of Loami was 
laid out. 

VILLAGE OF LOAMI. 

William and Ebenezer Colburn built a small 
horse mill upon their place shortly after their 
arrival, and for some years ground the grain of 
the neighboring farmers by that slow process; 
subsequently they built a water-mill, having an 
over-shot wheel, which proved a failure. They 
then erected a steam saw and grist-mill, in 1836. 
Around this mill grew up the village of Loami. 



The first name given the village was that of 
Lebanon, which was soon after changed to Loami. 

The village was laid out and platted in August, 
1854, by O. B. Kidder, H. D. Gibson and others, 
and comprised the northwest part of the east 
half of the southwest quarter of section eleven, 
township fourteen, range seven. Prior to this 
time quite a settlement had been effected, as 
already stated, which grew up around Colburn's 
mill. 

Colburn & Smith were the first merchants in 
the village, and opened a general stock of mer- 
chandise in 1858. Other firms have commenced 
business, flourished for a time, and passed away, 

POST OFFICE. 

A post office was established about half a mile 
northeast of the village in 1839, known as Lick 
Creek post office. John Johnson was the first 
postmaster, and carried the mail from Springs 
field. In 1856, the office was changed to Loami, 
and removed to the village. William Colburn 
succeeded Mr. Johnson, and served until his 
death in 1869. W. S. Colburn then received the 
appointment. Subsequently J. W. Wood was 
appointed, and was succeeded by Joseph .Jones, 
June, 1878. 

CHURCHES. 

The religious element of the place is repre- 
sented by one church, the Methodist Episcopal, 
which was organized and known as the Sulphur 
Springs Methodist Episcopal Church. 

colburn's mill. 

The most noted institution in the place is Col- 
burn's Mill. The first mill was erected by 
Ebenezer and William Colburn, in 1836. It had 
two runs of stone and was regarded as an excel- 
lent mill, and a great improvement on the old 
horse-mill that had served the purpose of the 
neighborhood for many years. This mill was 
burned and another erected on or near the same 
spot; this met with like fate. Another was im- 
mediately rebuilt, and strange to say, it too was 
burnt. Phoenix-like the fourth one arose from 
its ashes, the present structure, which was erected 
in 1873. This mill is provided with modern im- 
proved machinery, and has two runs of stone 
with a capacity of fifty barrels in a twenty-four 
hours' run. No mill in the county has probably 
had a better run of custom than the Loami 
Mill, its reputation has always been maintained. 

RAILROAD. 

The village of Loami was without railroad 
communication until the summer of 1881, when 
the St. Louis, Jerseyville & Springfield Railroad 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



941 



was completed to the place. The advent of the 
cars was celebrated by the citizens in a public 
and very becoming manner. 

MASONIC. 

Loami Lodge, No. 4.50, A. F. and A. M., was 

organized October 4, 1865, with the following 
named charter members: James E. Dodds, E. 
D. Sanborn, H. S. Coley, J. M. Turpin, James A. 
Jacobs, A. M. Browning, Daniel Kinney, J. L. 
Short, R. R. Roberts, Charles Dodds. The first 
elective officers were: J. E. Dodds, W. M.; 
J. D. Sanborn, S. W.; W. E. Joy, J. W. The 
following named have served as W. M.: J. D. 
Sanborn, H. S. Coley, J. Jones, S. P. Colburn, 
Thomas Jarrett, David Van Deren. The Lodge 
is now in a flourishing condition, with forty- 
three members, and the following named officers: 
Joseph Jones, W. M.; W. E. Joy, S. W.; J. C. 
Stansbury, J. W.; L. O. Coieburn, Secretary; 
R E. Short, Treasurer; David Staley, S. D.; R. 
D. Campbell, J. D.; J. B. Davis. Tyler. 

Jesse Brown^ was born in Eaton, Madison 
county, New York, February 2, 1804, on a farm 
where he lived with his father until twenty-three 
years of age. He then married Miss Rhoda 
Barber, August 16, 1827, who was born in Eaton 
township. New York, November 28, 1803. She 
was a daughter of Eliel Barber, born in Massa- 
chusetts, who was in the War of 1812, and a 
member of the Congregational Church; he died 
May 13, 1838. His wife, Sophia Ellis, was also 
born in Massachusetts, and a member of the 
Congregational Church. She was the mother of 
nine children. The following are living: Eliel 
Barber, Jr.; Sophia Davis, Marriette Morton, 
Samuel D. and Rhoda. Mrs. Barber died in 
1848. After Mr. Brown was married he farmed 
in Eaton, New York, until May, 1851, when he 
came to Illinois, and bought two hundred acres 
of land in section thirty-three, where he now re- 
sides. His father, Peleg Brown, was born in 
Massachusetts. He was in the War of 1812, and 
died September 20, 1840. His first wife, Han- 
nah Mason, was born in New York; was a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and the 
mother of five children; one living — the subject 
of this sketch. She died July 22, 1814, Her 
husband then married Martha A. Hewes, also 
born in New York, and a member of the Con- 
gregational Church. She was the mother of 
nine children, five living, viz: James, George, 
Samuel, Sarah Wilcox and Willis. She died in 
February, 18 70. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brown have had nine children, 
five living, viz: Peleg, Morrison, Mary Holmes, 



Daniel and Louisa. Mason and Daniel enlisted 
in Company B, Thirtieth Illinois Infantry Vol- 
unteei's, in the late Rebellion. Mason contracted 
a fever at the battle of Fort Donelson, of which 
he died June 6, 1862. Daniel was wounded in a 
skirmish at Big Shanty. He returned to his 
company soon after, and was mustered out at 
the close of the war. Mr. Brown has a farm of 
two hundred acres, all under good cultivation 
and well stocked. In politics he is a Republi- 
can, and a strong supporter of that cause; cast 
his first vote for John Quincy Adams for Presi- 
dent. 

Addison M. Browning^ M. D., was born in 
Clark county, Kentucky, April 13, 1821, on a 
farm, where he remained until fifteen years of 
age; he then went to Lexington, Kentucky, and 
attended school and medical college. He grad- 
uated at the medical department of the Transyl- 
vania University in March, 1842, then came to 
Illinois and practiced medicine in Old Berlin 
seven years; was a partner of J. H. Gibson; he 
then came to Loami, where he still practices. 
He was married to Miss Mary J. Starr, July 2, 
1851, who died the same year. James Brown- 
ing, the father of Doctor Browning, was born in 
Culpeper, Virginia, and was in the War of 1812; 
he was a member of the Baptist Church, and in 
politics, an old-line Whig; he died in 1825. 
His wife, Jane Morrow, born in Clark county, 
Kentucky, and was of Scotch descent; was 
also a member of the Baptist Church, and 
mother of thirteen children; three are living. 
Dr. Browning is an Episcopalian, and in politics 
a Republican. He belongs to the regular school, 
and is the oldest physician of Loami. He enlist- 
ed in Company C, Eleventh Missouri Volunteers; 
in July, 1861, and was the Surgeon of his regi- 
ment. 

David S. Burton, was born on a farm in Law- 
rence county, Ohio, August 22, 1822, where he 
remained until seventeen years of age; then ran 
on the river from Pittsburg to New Orleans as a 
hand and second mate until 1839; went into the 
swamps of Louisiana, where he followed rafting, 
boating, and'running saw-mills, until 1841; then 
he returned to Lawrence county, and farmed 
until October 12, 1843, at which time he married. 
He then went to St. Louis, Missouri, remaining 
a short time, then to Brookline, Illinois, (now 
called East St. Louis) where he chopped cord- 
word until 1844. His house was washed away 
by the overflow of the Mississippi river, and he 
placed his family on an island fifteen or twenty 
feet square; stayed there two days, when he found 
he must swim to the shore. He obtained a boat. 



1)42 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



went back for his family, and took them to St. 
Louis; then went to Alton, Illinois. He walked 
from Alton to Lick creek, hired an ox team and 
sent for his family at Alton. He lived in a house 
of William Shelton, on Lick creek, six months, 
then followed farming one year, moving to Cal- 
houn county, and settled on the river bank, where 
he sold cord-wood to steamboats, and made two 
hundred and twenty-five thousand staves. He 
then came to Sangamon county. On August 22, 
1862, he entered in Company I, Seventy-third 
Illinois Infantry Volunteers, and served as Cor- 
poral and wagon-master, and was made brigade 
wagon-master in Sheridan's Division. He made 
his first trip to Mission Ridge with supplies and 
ammunition just as Bragg left. He saw Joe 
Hooker go up the mountain, also saw the big 
siege gun thrown over the bluff, and the sur- 
render. He was captured at Stephenson, Ala- 
bama, where he was kept on short rations five 
days, then ran over the mountain to McMenville 
and was there paroled; he reported to the Union 
army at Nashville, where be was kept in the 
Zollicoffer House eighteen days. He was sent to 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he took three hun- 
dred sick mules up the valley and kept them one 
winter; was then discharged on account of sick- 
ness. He returned to Sangamon county, where 
he remained until 1869, then sold his farm of 
two hundred and five acres. He is at present 
living on his farm of two hundred and forty acres. 

His wife was born in Cabell county, Virginia; 
daughter of James Tharp, of the same State. 
He is a farmer and was in the War of 1812 ; he 
is in his ninety-first year, a lively old gentleman. 
His wife, Elizabeth Jenkins, was the mother of 
ten children. She was a member of the M. E. 
Church, and died in 1875. 

Isaac Burton, father of D. S,, was born in 
Giles county, Virginia. He was a member of the 
Baptist Church, and was in the War of 1812; was 
a farmer, and died February 4, 18*73. His wife, 
Ruth Sirten, was born also in Giles county, Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Burton is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and in politics, a Democrat. 
He and his wife have had ten children, five of 
whom are living, viz: Mrs. J. A. McCartney, 
J. W., John D., Louis B., Reuben andE. Burton. 
Wm P. Carson, was born on a farm near 
Chatham, Sangamon county, Illinois, December 
25, 1830; moved to Fayette county, Bowling 
Green, in 1835; lived there until 1844, when his 
father died. He remained with his mother until 
1847, when he came to this county, and worked 
by the month for William P. Campbell; worked 
nine months for $6 per month, and took as part 



pay a filly for $25; he traded this filly for a three- 
year-old horse, then gave the horse and a months' 
pay for a span of mules, and sold the mules for 
$150. This was the first $100 he ever owned. 
April 5, 1855, he married Miss Minerva Work- 
man, born near Loarai, October 23, 1833; she 
was a daughter of David Workman, who was a 
farmer, a member of the Christian Church; he 
died in March, 1865. His wife, Lydia Ballou, 
was born in Overton county, Tennessee; she was 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and mother of fourteen children, nine of whom 
are living. He bought a farm of eighty-six 
acres in section twenty-nine, Loami, for 1 1,800, 
paying down $600. In 1857, he had his farm 
paid for; he is still living on this farm. He and 
his wife had nine children, seven living, viz: 
David, Sarah, John C, Elizabeth, Lydia A., 
Lee and Amanda. Mrs. Carson is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. John Carson, father 
of William P., was born in South Carolina, 
August 8, 1794. He was in the war of 1812, 
also in the Black Hawk War; he followed farm- 
ing, and died November 19, 1844. His wife 
was Margery Parkerson, born in Carter county, 
Tennessee, October 19, 1799. 'She was a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and mother of nine 
children; five are living — three boys and two 
girls. Mr. Carson has now two hundred and 
ninety-three acres of land, all under good culti- 
vation, in Loami; he also has forty acres in 
Effingham county. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and cast his first vote for Frank Pierce in 1852. 
His father came to Illinois in 1814, and settled 
on Shoal creek, in Madison county. 

Piatt S. Carter, Sr., was born in Warren, 
Litchfield county, Connecticut, June 29, 1815. 
He worked on a farm and attended school until 
twenty-one years of age, then came to Waverly, 
Morgan county, Illinois. In the fall of 1836, he 
worked in Waverly, Illinois, one year, then went 
to Sangamon county, and entered a farm of two 
hundred and forty acres, three-fourtbs of a mile 
west of Auburn; lived on that farm twelve 
years, then bought a farm of five hundred and 
sixty acres in Loami township, where he now 
resides. Was married to Flora M. Carter, who 
was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Con- 
necticut, July 25, 1815. She was a daughter of 
Adoniram, born in Warren, Connecticut. He 
was a member of the Congregational Church, a 
farmer, and in politics an old-line Whig. Died 
September, 1842. His wife,Arilla Sackett, born 
in Warren, Connecticut, was a member of the 
Congregational Church, and was the mother of 
five children, three living, viz.: Flora M., Patty, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



943 



and Homer S. Carter. The father of Piatt S. 
Carter, Colonel Dan Carter, was born in Warren, 
Connecticut. He was in the War of 1812. His 
wife, Lncinda Starr, born in Warren, Connecti- 
cut, was a descendant of a family who emigrated 
to the United States in 1G68. She was a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and mother 
of twelve children, viz. : Mrs. Emily Hopkins, 
Geo. Carter, Mrs. Jane Starr, Mrs. Lucy Tanner, 
Piatt S. Carter, Dan S. Carter, Darius Carter, 
Miles Carter, Mrs. Arza Wetton, Fredrick S. 
Carter, Sarah Carter, and Samuel W. Carter. 
Mr. and Mrs. Piatt S. Carter are members of the 
Congregational Church, at Waverly, Illinois, 
and have a family of four children, viz.: Adoni- 
ram, Darius, Lucinda A., and Piatt S., Jr. Mr. 
and Mrs. Piatt S. Carter were married at War- 
ren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, July 25, 
1839. Mr. Carter has a farm of five hundred 
and sixty acres. He was in the standing militia 
of the country from 1833 to 1836; has been su- 
pervisor four years and school director eighteen 
or twenty years. In politics, he is a Republican. 
tiainuel P. Colhurn, was born near where 
Loami now is, September 15, 1823. He worked 
in his father's mill until seventeen years of age, 
when his father sold his mill to David Phelps 
and Adna Colburn, when he began to work for 
himself; worked in this mill until October 23, 
1845, when he was married to his cousin. Miss 
Malinda Colburn, October 23, 1845, at Spring- 
field, Illinois, by Wm. Lavely, Esq.; she was a 
daughter of Abel Colburn, who was born in 
Sterling, Massachusetts, September 20, 1790; his 
wife, Debora Phelps, was born in Hebron, New 
Hampshire, July 1*794; they were married at 
Hebron, in 181 L After Mr. S. P. Colburn was 
married, he worked in the mill some two years, 
then worked for his brother-in-law, Lewis Cotter- 
man, until February, 1849, when he bought a 
stone quarry and forty acres of land, a quarter 
of a mile west of Springfield, Illinois. He sold 
out and returned to Loami, in 1856, and worked 
at the carpenter trade some two years, then began 
to work in a mill for his brother, Daniel W. 
Colburn, and H. S. Coley worked in this mill, as 
miller, for twelve years. Plis wife, Malinda 
Colburn, died December 25, 1865; she was the 
mother of one child, that died in infancy. Mr. 
Colburn was married to his wife's sister, Mrs. 
Isabella Lucas, November 14,1866. Mr. Colburn 
owns sixteen acres of land, a store-house, and a 
nice residence in Loami, where he resides. He 
was appointed treasurer of Loami, in 1 857, and has 
held the office since. In politics, he is a Repub- 
lican, and cast his first vote for Winfield Scott. 

110— 



He is a Royal Arch Mason, member of Loami 
Lodge, A. F. and A. M.; was a delegate to the 
Grand Lodge at Springfield, in 1869, and to 
Chicago, in 1870. 

Ehenezer Colburn was born in Loami, Illinois, 
April 9, 1833. He worked in his father's mill 
in this place until twenty years of age, when he 
married Nancy A. Huffmaster, August 10, 1854. 
She was a daughter of William Huffmaster ; 
born in North Carolina, who died in 1861. His 
wife, Clarissa Smith, born in Kentucky ; a 
member of the old school Baptist Church, and 
mother of eleven children, four boys and two 
girls living. She died in 1869. The father of 
Ebenezer Colburn, William Colburn, was born 
in Sterling, Massachusetts, June >3,'1783. He 
was a member of the Christian Church ; died 
June 10, 1869. His wife, Achsa Phelps, was 
born in Hebron, New Hampshire, July 9, 1796. 
She was a member of the Christian Church, and 
the mother of fourteen children. She died 
January 31, 1878. The first wife of Ebenezer, 
Nancy Huffmaster, died August 10, 1859. She 
was the mother of two children, viz : Adna P. 
and Clarissa A. Ebenezer Colbuin was married 
to his present wife, Elizabeth (Davis) Colburn, 
August, 1861. She was born near Salisbury, 
Illinois, and was a daughter of Henry Davis, 
born in Kentucky. He is living near Loami. 
His wife, Lucy McGlasson, was born in Ken- 
tucky. The old lady is still hale and hearty. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Colburn have seven child- 
ren, viz : Alpha D., Julia A., David W., Henry, 
Ina, Melvin O. and Ora I. Mrs. Colburn is a 
member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Ebenezer 
Colburn ran a saw-mill from 1854 until s'x years 
ago; since that time has run his grist-mill, in 
Loami. In jDolitics, he is a Republican. 

Isaac Colburn, was born near the place where 
Loami is located, February 22, 1827; he worked 
in his father's mill and at the carpenter trade 
until twenty-seven years of age, when he mar- 
ried Miss Julia A. Ensley, August 17, 1854; she 
was born in Ohio, June 21, 1834, and was the 
mother of three children, two are living, Chloe 
E., and Charles E. She died December 25, 1859. 
September 20, 1863, Mr. Colburn was married to 
Miss Maudana Phelps, who was born in East 
Lebanon, New Hampshire, August 12, 1835; 
she was a daughter of Adna Phelps, born in 
Hebron, New Hampshire, April 30, 1792, and 
Elizabeth Gold, he was a stone-cutter by trade, 
and died March 6, 1852. His wife, Mary (Col- 
burn) Phelps, born in Sterling, Massachusetts, 
February 23, 1792; she died in 1859. William 
Colburn was born in Sterling, Massachusetts, 



944 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Juue 3, 1793; he was a member of the Christian 
Church; he died June 10, 1869. His wife, Achsa 
Phelps, born in Hebron, N^w Hampshire, July 
9, 1796, was also a member of the Christian 
Church, and mother of fourteen children; she 
died January 31, 1878. Mr. Isaac Colburn and 
wife have had three children, all now dead. Mr. 
C. has held the offices of city trustee and school 
director. He has four acres of land and his resi- 
dence in the southwest part of Loami, where he 
now resides. 

William Craig was born in Williamson 
county, Tennessee, August 24, 1824. In 1832, 
he came with his father to Illinois, and settled 
on Spring creek, Berlin; remained until August 
15, 1862, then enlisted in Company A, One 
Hundred and Sixth, Illinois Infantry Volun- 
teers; remained in the service three years. He 
then returned to the old homestead. His father, 
William Craig, was born in Fayette county, 
Kentucky, in 1790; w^as married to Mary P. 
Swope, April 20, 1821, who was born near Stan- 
ford, Kentucky, June 20, 1794. They moved to 
Williamson county, near Franklin, Tennessee, 
where they had five children. The family 
moved to this county, and settled in what is now 
called Island Grove, south of Spring creek; had 
seven children, three living, viz: William Craig, 
Jr., Margaret and Mary Chever. William Craig, 
Sr., was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, 
Colonel in the War of 1812, and died the fall of 
1856. His wife died December 25, 1871. 

Charles Harris was born on a farm in Morgan 
county, Illinois, four miles southwest of Jack- 
sonville, August 25, 1836. When he was thirteen 
years of age, he moved with his father upon a 
farm at the head of Indian creek. He lived 
there until 1852, when he came with his father 
to Sangamon county, and settled in Loarai town- 
ship. He was married to Miss Susan McLaugh- 
lin, September 11, 1856; she was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Kentucky, and was a daughter 
of David McLaughlin, also a native of Kentucky, 
who came to Illinois in the fall of 1850. He is 
still living. In politics is a Republican. His 
wife, Elizabeth, nee Mori'is, was born in Ken- 
tucky and during life was a member of the 
Christian Church, and the mother of ten chil- 
dren, six of whom are living. The father of 
Charles Harris, William P. Harris, was born in 
Kentucky. He is a farmer and a member of the 
Baptist Church. In politics is a Republican; he 
is living in Waverly, Illinois; his wife, Malinda 
(Miller) Harris, was born in Tennessee, she was 
a member of the M. E. Church, and the mother 
of nine children; five boys and two girls are 



living, viz: Sarah E. Calvert, Nancy McVeigh, 
Charles, William, Thomas J., James M. and 
Emberson T. 

After Mr. Charles Harris was married he 
bought forty acres of land in section thirty-one, 
to which he has added one hundred and sixty 
acres, on which he now resides. He and wife 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and had a family of seven children, 
has five living, viz: Mary E., Wm. D., Charles 
E., Clara M. and George T. In politics Mr. H. 
is a Republican. Mr. Harris is a Royal Arch 
Mason, a member of Waverly Lodge No. 118; 
is also member of Chapter Lodge A. F. and A. 
M , at Loami. 

James M. Harris was born on a farm near 
Barr's store, Macoupin county, Illinois, May 22, 
11844. When he was seven years of age, he 
came with his father to this county, and settled 
on a farm in section twenty-eight, Loami town- 
ship, where he now lives. When nineteen years 
of age, he enlisted in Company I, Sixteenth Illi- 
nois Cavalry Volunteers, at Springfield, Illinois, 
September 23, 1863; was captured at the battle 
of Jonesville, Virginia, and was a prisoner at 
Andersonville, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia, 
and Florence, South Carolina, eleven months 
and three days; was paroled December 6, 1864, 
and sent to Annapolis, Maryland, and from there 
to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was discharged 
by a surgeon's certificate of disability. May 1 0, 
1865. He married Miss Mary E. Sturgis, August 
24, 1865; she was born in Jackson county, Illi- 
nois, September 23, 1845, and was a daughter of 
Thomas Sturgis, also born in Illinois; he was a 
farmer, and in politics, a Democrat; he died in 
1849. His wife, Margaret (Taylor) Sturgis, was 
born in Kentucky, and was the mother of three 
children; two are living, viz: Mrs. Mary Harris 
and John R. She died March 3, 1854. William 
P. Harris, father of James M., was born in Ken- 
tucky, and is a member of the Baptist Church; 
in politics, he is a Republican. He came to 
Illinois in the winter of the deep snow, in 1830, 
and is living at Waverly, Morgan county, Illi- 
nois, in his seventy-seventh year. His wife, 
Malinda (Miller) Harris, was born in Kentucky, 
and was the mother of twelve children; seven 
are living, viz: Elizabeth Calvert, Nancy McVey, 
Charles, William H. H., Thomas J., James M., 
and Emerson T. She died in 1850. After James 
M. Harris was married, he bought a farm of one 
hundred and twenty acres in section thirty-two, 
Loami township; sold out some two years after, 
and bought the place where he now resides. He 
and his wife have had four children, viz: Josie, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



945 



William A., Thomas C, and Mabel. Mr. and 
Mrs. H. are members of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. He has his farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres all under good cultivation; is a 
member of Masonic Lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 
118, at Waverly, Illinois. In politics, is a Re- 
publican; cast his first vote for A. Lincoln, in the 
Florence, South Carolina, prison. The soldiers 
balloted with black and white beans — black beans 
for Lincoln, and white for McClelland — the re- 
sult was a decided majority for Lincoln. 

William C. Hodgerson., was born on a farm 
near Barbersville, the county seat of Cabell 
county, Virginia, January 22, 1811. When 
fifteen years of age he came with his father to 
Illinois, and settled on a farm in this township. 
He was married to Miss Jane C. Hudson, 
August 31, 1836, then entered a farm of eighty 
acres in section seven; remained there forty-two 
years, then sold his farm and bought the old 
homestead of one hundred and seventy acres 
that his father entered in 1825; sold out soon 
after and bought thirty-three acres in section 
eight, Loami township, where he now lives. 
His farm is all under good cultivation and well 
stocked. Plis wife, Jane C. (Hudson) Hodger- 
son, was a daughter of John Hudson, born in 
Virginia; he was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and was in the War of 1812; 
he died in July, 18*79. His wife, Margaret 
(McCray) Hudson, was born in Virginia, and 
was the mother of eight children; five are living. 
She died some twenty years ago. John 
Hodgerson, father of William C, was born in 
Kildare county, Ireland; came to the United 
States when six years of age and settled in 
Virginia; he died in August, 1851. His wife, 
Elizabeth Martin, was born in Virginia, and 
was the mother of ten children; five are living, 
viz: Mary Osberry, Margaret Meacham, 
Rebecca Buchanan, John and William C; she 
died in November, 1839. Mr. and Mrs. Hodger- 
son have had nine children, eight living, viz: 
Young M., Mary M. Liston, Martha A. Buchan- 
an, Rachael J. Gregory, George W., William 
A., James A., and Nancy G. Mr. Hodgerson is 
a Democrat. 

John T. Suggins, was born near Galliopolis, 
Ohio, April, 16, 1824. In 1841, he came to Illi- 
nois, and settled on a farm in this county. His 
father died in October, 18-^6, and he remained 
on the farm with his mother, until he was mar- 
ried, March 4, 1803, to the daughter of Mr. 
Bartlett, Concord, Morgan county. Her father 
was born in New York; served in the War of 
1812, and died in 1862. His wife, Elain Lozier, 



was born in Ohio; she was the mother of six 
children; she died in 1876. John Huggins, the 
father of John T., was born in New York, and 
died in October, 1846. His wife, Jane Haz- 
lett, was born in North Carolina; she was the 
mother of eight children, five of whom are living. 
John T. Huggins and wife have two children, 
viz: Osee and Valeria. Soon after his mar- 
riage, Mr. H. moved upon his farm in Loami 
township, subsequently sold out, and moved to 
Missouri, where he lived nine years, then re- 
turned and purchased his present farm. His 
wife is a member of the M. E. Church; he of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Joseph Jones was born near Loami, May 5, 
1838. He worked for different parties until 
twenty-two years of age, then began to work for 
himself at the carpenter trade. July 20, 1861, he 
enlisted in what became Company C, Eleventh 
Missouri Infantry Volunteers, for three years; 
was wounded in one knee and hand at the as- 
sault on the rebel fortifications at Vicksburg. 
After recovering, he was detailed as ward-master 
and steward, in the military hospital, at Keokuk, 
Iowa; was honorably discharged, after having 
served a full term, August 5, 1864. He was 
married March 17, 1868, to Miss Laura E. Davis, 
born in Loami, June 6, 1848, daughter of Major 
J. P. Davis, who was born April 17, 1815, in 
Boston, Massachusetts. He was Major of the 
Thirtieth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, in the 
late Rebellion, was in the Mexican war in the 
Springfield company. His wife, Achsa (Col- 
burn) Davis, was born in Hebron, New Hamp- 
shire, was the mother of two children, viz: 
Melissa, now Mrs. Withrow, of Springfield, and 
Mrs. Laura E. Jones. Major Davis and wife are 
members of the Universalist Church. Emanuel 
Jones, the father of Joseph, was born in Flem- 
ing county, Kentucky, and came to this county 
in 1836; was married in 1837 to Miss Eliza 
Shane. Their children are, Joseph, Catharine, 
William, Thomas and Martha. Emanuel Jones 
died in Decatur, August 9, 1858. His wife was 
born in Kentucky, and died in October, 1872. 
Joseph Jones and' wife have had five children, 
three living, viz: Harry, Alice and Don C. 
Mr. Jones is a member of Loami Lodge, A. F. 
and A. M., No. 450, Auburn, Chapter No. 92, 
Royal Arch Masons; has been Master of this 
lodge a number of years, has been a delegate to 
the Grand Lodge, in Chicago. He has held the 
office of justice of the peace five years; has been 
tax collector a number of times, and is at present 
notary public and justice of the peace. Is a 
Republican. 



946 



HTSTORA^ OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



John Lowry was born on a farm in Ireland, 
county of Doron, about thirteen miles from Bel- 
fast, September 15, 1837. At nine or ten years 
of age, he lost his father, who was killed by his 
horse falling on him. He remained on the farm 
with his mother until his twelfth year, when 
they came to America in the sloop, Samuel Law- 
rence, landing at New Orleans in 1851 or 1852. 
From there they ascended the Mississippi river 
to Madison, Indiana, thence to Indianapolis, 
where he worked in a woolen factory for $8 per 
month and boarded himself. He remained in 
Indianapolis and vicinity about five years, when 
he and his brother came to Illinois. They rented 
a farm near Virden, on which they lived about 
two years. He then came to this county, bring- 
ing with him his mother, brothers and sisters, 
November 2, 1868, he married Miss Mary A. Van 
Deren, who was born near Loami. She was a 
daughter of Thomas Baker, who was born in 
Ohio. He was a farmer and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church; died January 5, 
1852. His wife Nancy, 7iee Robinson, was born 
in Virginia, and was also a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. She was the mother 
of eleven children. James Lowry and Rosana 
(Potter) Lowry, father and mother of the subject 
of this sketch, were born in Ireland. They had 
seven children. Mr. John Lowry is a Republi- 
can, and has held the office of county super- 
visor for the past three years; also has been a 
school director in his district for the past eleven 
years; is a member of Masonic Lodge A. F. and 
A. M. No. 450, at Loami. He was a delegate to 
Grand Lodge at Chicago, three or four years 
ago. He has a good common school education. 
In politics, a Republican, and a strong supporter 
of that party; cast his first vote for Lincoln. 

Henry McDevitt, was born in Derry county, 
Ireland, February 9, 1832. When eighteen years 
of age he came to the United States, landed in 
New York, sick and with only three or four 
pounds in money, and very homesick. From 
New York he went to his aunt's in Brooklyn, 
from there to Ohio, and finally settled in Loami, 
where he was married May 31, 1853, to Miss 
Rachel York, who was born in England; her 
mother, Elizabeth Abbott, was boi-n in England; 
father died October 10, 1854, and her mother 
about the same time. Hugh McDevitt, the father 
of Henry, was born in Derry county, Ireland, 
where he died February, 1852. His wife, Jane 
Stuart, was born in the same place, and was the 
mother of ten children, three of whom are now 
living in the United States, viz: Henry, Jane and 
Robert. She died August 1870. Mr. and Mrs. 



DcDevitt are members of the Presbyterian 
Church, and had a family of six children, four 
of wliom are living, viz: John W., Jane, A. 
Mitchell, James H., and Mary E. Mrs, McDevitt 
died February 9, 1865, and Mr. McD. was mar- 
ried to Miss Anna Mitchell, born in England, 
and a daughter of Joseph Mitchell, who came to 
the United States in 1850. His wife, Sarah 
(Panter) Mitchell was born in England. They 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
and reside in Loami; they are the parents of 
nine children. Mr. and Mrs. Henry McDevitt 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and have six children, viz: Sarah B., 
Samuel H., Joseph J., George W., and Robert 
L. Mr, McDevitt has a farm of two hundred 
acres. In politics he is a Republican. 

Stephen M. C. Rohinson was born on a farm 
on Indian creek, fourteen miles northeast of 
Jacksonville, Morgan county, Illinois, February 
1, 1834 ; lived there until thirty-four years of 
age, when he came to Sangamon county, and 
worked three years for John Berry, in this town- 
ship. June 18, 1868, he was married to Miss 
Mary F. Coons ; bought a farm of forty acres, 
in section twelve, where he now resides. Mrs. 
Robinson is a daughter of Geo. M. Coons, born, 
in Morgan county. He is a member of the old 
school Baptist Church, and in politics, a Repub- 
lican ; he is living near Berlin, Sangamon 
county. His wife, Mary (Sturgis) Coons, was 
also born in Morgan county, Illinois ; was a 
member of the M, E. Church, and the mother of 
ten children ; nine are living, viz : James P., 
Mrs. Mary Robinson, John A., Albert J., Martha 
J., Sarah E., George H., Margaret A. Stice, and 
Charles M. She died in September, 1862. Isaac 
Robinson, father of Stephen, was born in Vir- 
ginia; was a member of the Christian Church; 
a farmer; by trade, a blacksmith, and in politics, 
a Whig; died December 24, 1854. His wife, 
Mary (McFeters) Robinson, was born in Ireland. 
She was a member of the Christian Church, and. 
the mother of ten children ; six are living, viz : 
Margaret Gibbs, Margery Berry, Susan Stice, 
Sarah Martin, Stephen M. C, and James L. She 
died the fall of 1862, Mr, and Mrs. Stephen M. 
C. Robinson are members of the Christian 
Church, and have two children — Clara E, and 
George L. Mr. Robinson has his farm of forty 
acres all under good cultivation, and well 
stocked ; grows grain and stock for the market. 
In politics, he is a Republican, and a strong 
supporter of that party. 

Thomas Sowell, was born in Charlotte county, 
Virginia, July 4, 1814, on a farm, near the head 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



94r 



of the Roanoke river; wlien two years of age, he 
went with his faiher, to Rutherford county, 
Tennessee, near Murfreesboro; lived there until 
the spring of 1828; came to Illinois, and settled 
on a farm with his father, in this township; 
lived there with his father until he was about 
twenty years of age, then learned the cooper's 
trade; November 10, 1836, he married Theresa 
Barger, who was born in West Virginia, and 
was a daughter of Adam and Lucinda (Brooks) 
Barger, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Sowell died 
December 4, 1846; she was the mother of three 
children, two living, John H. and Martha A. 
April 20, 1848, Mr. S. was married to Miss Jane 
E. Lansden, who was born near Lebanon, Wilson 
county, Tennessee; she is a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, and mother of 
Abner T. Sowell. She was a daughter of Thomas 
Lansden, who was born in North Carolina; was 
in the War of 1812, and is a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church; died in October, 
1838. His wife, Margaret McLin, was born in 
South Carolina; was a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and the mother of eight children, 
three living, viz: Nancy E. Ashmore, Martha E 
Mitchell, and Jane E. Stephen Sowell, father 
of Thomas, was born in Charlotte county, Vir- 
ginia, near Charlotte court house, on Roanoke 
river. He was a farmer, and in politics an old- 
line Whig; he cast his first vote for Thomas 
Jefferson; died in June, 1862. His wife, Jane 
Hanner, was born in Charlotte county, Virginia; 
she was a member of the Baptist Church, and 
mother of nine children, viz: Martha, wife of 
Wm. Eustes, who was the first settler in Talk- 
ington township; Thomas, Jane Burr, Macky 
Colburn, Malinda Goodell, Sallie Goodell, Nancy 
McElvain, who died November 20, 1879, Ann 
McElvain, and Wm. H.; she died November 18, 
1879, in her eighty-sixth year. In 1836, Mr. 
Thomas Sowell commenced working at the 
cooper's trade; he made the first pork barrels in 
Sangamon county, for Henry Yates, father of 
Governor Yates; he followed his trade until 
1864; has a farm of sixty-five acres in Loami 
township, all under good cultivation, and well 
stocked; has also eighteen acres of land, one 
mill building, and a dwelling house in the town 
of Loami, where he resides; has held the oflice 
of treasurer of Loami, and also trustee; in poli- 
tics, is a Republican, and a strong supporter of 
that party. He is now in his sixty-eighth year, 
a hale, hearty old man, and as lively as a boy. 

William Taylor, was born on a farm in Ox- 
ford, England, July 8, 1827. He lived there 
until he was about twenty-four years of age, 



when he came to the United States. He started 
January 1, 1851, and landed iu New Orleans 
April 6, 1851. From New Orleans he took the 
steamer " Halleck Scott" up the Mississippi 
river to Alton, Illinois, remained one year, then 
came overland to this countj", and began to work 
for George Carter; worked for him five years; 
rented land of him ten years, then bought a farm 
of eighty acres, in section thirty-six, where he 
now resides. He was married, at Alton, Illinois, 
December 19, 1851, to Miss Alice Harris. She 
was born in Oxfoi'd, England, and was a 
daughter of Robert Harris, born in England, who 
came to the United States in 1851. He is now 
living in England. His wife, Elizabeth (Bag- 
ley) Harris, was born in England, and was the 
mother of seven children, five living, two in the 
United States, viz: Thomas and Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Harris) Taylor. She is living in England. 
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had a family of seven chil- 
dren, six of whom are living, viz: Lucy A., Geo. 
IL, Richard E., Wm. A., Fannie J. and Alice E. 
Mr. Taylor has his farm of eighty acres all under 
good cultivation and well stocked. He raises 
grain and stock for the market. In politics, he 
is a Republican, and cast his first vote for A. 
Lincoln for President, His father, Richard Tay- 
lor, was born in England; was a farmer, and a 
member of the M. E. Church; he died in Eng- 
land October 6, 1870. His wife, Ann Barb, was 
also born in England; she was a member of the 
M. E. Church, and had nine children; only one 
is living — the subject of this sketch. When he 
arrived in this county he was without means, but 
by hard work and close application to business 
he has made himself as fine a farm of eighty 
acres as there is in the country. 

James M. Turpin was born near Glasgow, 
Missouri, May 10, 1828, where he lived until 
eleven years of age, when his mother died; he 
then went to live with his grandfather, on a farm, 
near Savannah, Missouri; lived there until six- 
teen years of age, then came to Illinois, and 
worked near Loami. He enlisted in the Mexican 
War, in June, 1846, in Company D, Fourth In- 
fantry under Colonel E. D. Baker, and served 
one year. He was married October 3, 1849, to 
Miss' Charlotte Webb, born near Loami, January 
14, 1830. Woodford Turpin, was born in Ken- 
tucky, in 1796, he died March 5, 1865. The 
second wife of Woodford Turpin, Miss Emmasett 
Campbell, was a daughter of Robert Campbell, 
deceased, and Polly Campbell. Mr. James M. 
Turpin bought a farm of forty acres in Loami 
township, and lived there until 1873; during 
this time, added two hundred and sixty-four acres 



948 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



to the forty acres, making a farm of three hundred 
and four acres. In 1873, he moved to Loami,and 
engagedin the mercantile business, firm of Tuipin 
<fe Joy Mr.Turpin is at present connected with the 
dry goods and grocery stoi'e of L. H. Coleman, at 
Loami. He enlisted in Company I, Sevenly- 
third Infantry, in August 1861, as second Lieu- 
tenant, and was promoted to hrst Lieutenant; is 
a member of Masonic Lodge, No. 450, at Loami. 
Has held the office of justice of the peace four 
years; has also been school director and super- 
visor. He and wife are members of the M. E. 
church. Mr. Turpin has four acres of land 
where he resides. Is vice-president of the Old 
Settlers' Association. 

George J. Walker, y^'Z& born on a faim near 
Murfreesboro, Rutherford county, Tennessee, 
July 2, J 81 8. When twelve years of age, he 
came with his father to Illinois and settled on a 
farm in Sangamon county, where he lived four 
years, then moved on a faim three-quarters of a 
mile southeast of where Loami now is; lived on 
the faim until his father died, then liveol with 
his mother until his marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Back, October 1-2, 1842; she was born in Garret 
county, Kentucky, December 25, 1826; her 
father, Isaih Back, was born in Kentucky; he 
was a Whig, and came to Illinois in the spring 
of 1838. His wife, Nancy (Turpin) Back, was 
a member of the M. E. Church, and the mother 
of ten children; four are living, viz: Elizabeth, 
Mrs. Mary A. Parker, Mrs. Miranda Martin, and 
Caroline Rose; she died July 28, 1872. After 
his marriage, Mr. George J. Walker lived with 
his mother two years, then bought a farm of ten 
acres one-half mile southwest of Loami, and 
lived there ten years; moved on what was called 
the Coley farm, and lived there eight years; 
rented land near Loami fourteen years; then 
bought a house and lot in Loami, where he now 
resides. He and wife are members of the M. E. 
Church, and have had nine children; four are 
living, viz: Amarins Collins, George W., Lou- 
ella Reece, and John. Samuel Walker, father 
of George J., was born in Campbell county, 
Virginia; was a farmer and a member of the 
Batpist Church; in politics an old-line Whig. 
His wife, Martha Hannar, was born in Virginia; 
she was a member of the Baptist Church and 
the mother of nine children; five are living, 
viz: William S., Thomas H., George J., Hiram, 
and Mrs. Rebecca Smith. George J. Walker is 
a Republican in politics, and cast his first vote 
for William H. Harrison, for President. 

Arthur E. 'Washlvrne was born on a farm 
five miles east of Old Berlin, in Island Grove 



township, September 25, 1858. He lived on 
this farm until twenty-one years of age, when he 
was married to Miss Margaret E. Leaverton, 
January 1, 1879; she was born in Illinois, and 
was a daughter of John Leaverton, born in 
Ohio. He was a member of the Baptist Church, 
a farmer-, and in politics a Reprrblican; he died 
in December, 1873. His wife, Mary Smith, was 
born in Bond county, Illinois; was a member of 
the Baptist Church, and had ten children, seven 
of whom are living: John F., Nancy J. Sale, 
Margaret B. Washbur-ne, George W,, Charles 
A., Emma J., and Effie M.; she is still living in 
Cartwright township. Asa R. Washburne, 
father of Arthur E., was born in Vermont; he 
was a member of the Curaberlanol Presbyterian 
Church, a farmer, and in politics a Democrat; he 
died in the fall of 1849. His wife, Barbara C. 
(Craig) Washburne, was born in Virginia, and 
was also a member of the Cumberlanol Presby- 
terian Church; they had five children, three of 
whom are living, viz: Aurelia R. Clark, Arthur 
E., and George C.; she is living in Island Grove 
township on the old homestead. Mr. Arthur E. 
W^ashbur-ne has a farm of eighty-eight acres, 
one and one-fourth miles north of Loami, all 
under good cultivation and well stocked; raises 
grain and stock for the market. In politics he 
is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Han- 
cock. He and wife have one child, Lillie B. 

Hardin Wikocksov, M. D., was born on a 
farm near Tallula, Menard county, Illinois, April 
25, 1851. When seven years old, his father 
moved to Taylorville, Illinois, where he liveci 
and attended school until 1863, when his father 
died. He then lived with his brother-in-law, W. 
T. Hcwdtt, on a farm near Taylorville, Illinois, 
until he was fourteen years of age; then com- 
menced to work for himself, working for differ- 
ent parties, and attending school dur-ing the win- 
ter, until he was some nineteen years of age; 
attended a preparatory school at Tallula, Illinois. 
In the fall, entered college at Eureka, where he 
remained three years; taught school in Christian 
county until 1877; then attended the American 
Medical College, at St. Louis, Missour-i, where 
he graduated and received a diploma, in June, 
1880; then came to Loami, where he is pr-acticing 
medicine. He was married to Miss Emily A. 
Andersotr, November 29, 1879; she was born 
near Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois, Feb- 
ruary 7, 1857, and was a daughter of Josiah An- 
derson, who was born in Litchfield county, Ken- 
tucky, April 15, 1819; he died in 1862. His 
wife, Julia Anderson, was born in Nashville, 
Tennessee, July 9, 1824. John H. Wilcockson, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



949 



father of Hardin, was born in Bath county, Ken- 
tucky, November 6, 1808; he was a member of 
the Christian Church; was in the Black Hawk 
war, and drill-master in the late war; he died 
May 23, 1863. His wife, Emma C. (Spears) 
Wilcockson, was born in Green county, Ken- 
tucky, April 30, 1811; she was a member of the 
Christian Church, and had eleven children, seven 
of whom are living, viz: Mary E. Hewitt, George 
H., William S., Hiram P., Emma C, Chaplin, 
day, and Hai'din. Dr. Wilcockson and wife 
have had two children, one boy living. Homer B. 
Mrs. Wilcockson is a member of the Christian 
Church. The Doctor is a member of Masonic 
Lodge, No. 122, at Taylorville, Illinois. In poli- 
tics, he is a Democrat, and a strong supporter of 
that party. Cast his first vote for Tilden. 

Isaac Workman was born on a farm near Lo- 
ami, August 7, 1834. He remained on the farm 
with his father until twenty-two years of age, 
when he was married to Miss Elizabeth Work- 
man, February, 1856. She was born in Ten- 
nessee, and is a daughter of John B. and Martha 
(Roberts) Workman. Mr. and Mrs. Workman 
were the parents of three children, viz.: Sallie 
Harbour, John D., and Martha. Mrs. W. died 
September 29, 1860. June 30, 1862, Mr. Work- 
man married Martha A. Weddin, who was born 
in Loami town ship, August 9, 1847. Her father's 
name was Weddin, and her mother's was Cyn- 
thia Meacham. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Workman 
have had seven children; six are living, viz.: 
Wm. H., Isaac, Jr., Mayhew, Joseph, Elizabeth, 
and Ada. William Workman, father of Isaac 
Workman, Sr., was born in Allegheny county, 
Maryland, April 8, 1799; went to Kentucky, and 
thence to Tennessee, and came to Illinois, and 
settled in Loami township in 1829; died Janu- 
ary 1, 1877. His wife, Sarah Bilyen, was born 
in Kentucky November 26, 1801. She was a 
member of the Dunkard Church, and the mother 
of eleven children, five of whom are living, viz.: 
Peter, John, Isaac, William B., and Samuel M. 
She is still living in Loami. The subject of this 
sketch, Mr. Isaac Workman, has his farm of one 
hundred and thirty acres all under good cultiva- 
tion and well stocked. In politics, he is a Re- 
publican. He is a member of Masonic Lodge 
A. F. and A. M., at Loami; has also been school 
director for several years. 

William B. ^orJanan, was born on a farm in 
Loami township, near where Loami now is, 
August 14, 1837. He lived on this farm until 
October, 1875, when he bought an interest in a 
store at Loami, the firm of which is Joy & Work- 
man. He was married to Miss Lydia Bilyen, 



May 22, 1857, who was born in Overlon county, 
Tennessee, May 5, 1845. She was a daugh- 
ter of Andrew Bilyen, born in Tennessee; 
he was a member of the Christian Church, and 
in politics a Democrat; he died the fall of 1846. 
His wife, Susan Bilyen, born also in Tennessee, 
was a member of the Christian Church and the 
mother of six children; four are living — one by 
her first husband, (Andrew Bilyen) viz: Mrs. 
Lydia Bilyen, and two children by her second 
husband, (James Cormack) viz: Jessie and 
Millie; one child by Samuel Workman viz: 
Samuel J. She is still living with her son-in- 
law, William B. Workman, father of William 
B. Workman. William Workman, Sr., was born 
in Allegheny county, Maryland, Aprils, 1799. 
He came to Illinois in 1829, and settled in Loami 
township, Sangamon county. He died January 
1, 1877. His wife, Sarah Bilyen, was born in 
Tennessee, November 26, 1801; she is a member 
of the Dunkard Church, and the mother of eleven 
children, five living, viz: Peter, John, Isaac, 
William B., and Sanil M. Workman. She is 
living with her son Sanil Workman in Loami, 
Illinois, in her eightieth year. Mr. William B. 
Workman and his wife are members of the 
Christian Church, and have had ten children; 
two of these are living, viz: William F., and 
Caroline. Mr. Workman carries a $3,500 or 
$4,000 stock of dry goods and groceries; he has 
held the office of commissioner of highways six 
years, and school director six years; in politics, 
is a Republican and strong supporter of that 
party. He is a Royal Arch Mason and member 
of Loami Lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 450. He 
has his farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
section fourteen, all under good cultivation, and 
well stocked, and grows grain and raises stock 
for the market. 

Peter Workman was born in Overton county, 
Tennessee, May 24, 1820. He lived on the farm 
until he was nine years of age, when he came 
with his father to this county, settling in Loami 
township, two miles south of Loami. He "was 
still living with his father on this farm when he 
was married to Miss Sarah J. Taylor, January 
28, 1840. She was born on White river, in 
Indiana, November 26, 1822, and w^as a daughter 
of William and Nancy (Hall) Taylor. Mr. Tay- 
lor was born in Kentucky, and Mrs. Taylor in 
Virginia. The mother was a member of the 
Christian Church, and lives in Christian county. 
Four or five years after his marriage he bought 
a farm of two hundred and sixty acres, in sec- 
tions twenty-six and twenty-seven, where he now 
resides. 



950 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Mr. Workman and his wife are both members 
of the ChrJRtian Church. They have had thir- 
teen children, seven of whom are living, viz: 
Nancy Bilyen, Simon P., Mrs. Louisa J. Hays, 
Mrs. Mary E. Harbour, Mrs. Almira Crawford, 
Stephen and Caroline. He has traveled over 
Iowa, Indian Territory, Missouri, Kansas, Texas 
and Tennessee. In his younger days he was a 



sportsman, being fond of his dog and gun. He 
cast his first vote for Filmore, and is a Republi- 
can in politics, has lived on his farm thirty 
years, and has resided in the county fifty-two 
years; he is know as "Uncle Peter." He is a 
member of Loami Masonic Lodge, A. F. and A. 
M., No. 450, of which he has been a member six- 
teen years. 



fr 




'?? 



^^CyC/i^ yP. '%^t^6^.^o^^',::6^ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



953 



Chapter XLII. 



TOWNSHIP OF MECHANICSBURG. 



The township of Mechanicsburg comprises 
township sixteen, north, range three west, and 
is bounded on the east by Wheatfield, west by 
Clear Lake, north by Buffalo Plart, south by 
Cooper township. The surface of the country is 
rolling, and was originally about three-fourths 
prairie. The principal water course is Clear 
creek, which has several small tributaries. The 
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad passes 
through the township, entering from Springfield 
on section seven, and passing in an air-line east 
enters Wheatfield from section twelve. There 
are in the township three villages — Mechanics- 
burg, Buffalo and Dawson. 

EAKLY SETTLEMENT. 

The first settlement in the toAvnship was in 
1824. Among the early settlers were James 
Newell, Jesse Wilson, William Burch, A. 
Churchill, Samuel Garvey, William Jack, S. 
Cox, Jacob Constant, Charles Morgan, Daniel 
Morgan, David Hall, Jesse Pickrell, Morris Bird, 
Thomas Fortune, William Pickrell, Benjamin 
L. Hall, George Churchill, Samuel Cox, John 
Constant, Josiah Green, J. H. Fullinwider. 

Jacob Constant, brother to John, was the 
grandfather of Rezin H. He was also the 
brother of Isaac and Thomas, and was born 
about 1765, in Virginia. Eleanor Clinkenbeard 
was born about 1769, in Virginia also. They 
were there married, and soon after moved on 
pack horses— that being the only way goods 
could be transported at that time through that 
mountainous country — to Fleming county, Ken- 
tucky. They had fourteen children in that county, 
and in 1814 moved to Clermont county, Ohio, 
where they had two children. The family moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving October 
26, 1826, in what is now Mechanicsburg town- 
ship. He died in 1828. 
Ill— 



Charles Morgan was born September 5, 1*781, 
in Hampshire county, Virginia. His parents 
moved to Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1V93. 
Charles Morgan and Elizabeth Constant were 
there married, in 180*7. The family moved in 
March, 1814, to Clermont county, Ohio, and 
moved to Sangamon county, October, 1826, to 
Mechanicsburg, and died in 1866. 

Josiah Green was born in 1800, in South Car- 
olina. Rebecca Long was born in South Caro- 
lina also. The father of each of them were Bap- 
tist preachers. Josiah Green and Rebecca Long 
were married in Kentucky. The family moved 
to Sangamon county, arriving in 1828, in what 
is now Mechanicsburg township. He died in 
1855. 

Samuel Garvey was born August '51, 1794, in 
Culpepper county, Virginia. His father. Job 
Garvey, was born in Scotland, and brought to 
America when he was quite young. His parents 
both dying early, he was bound to a man who 
proved to be a cruel master. Determined to 
escape the hard servitude, and partly from 
patriotic motives, he enlisted as a soldier in the 
Revolutionary army, and served the whole seven 
years. When Samuel was about one year old, 
his parents moved to Woodford county, Ken- 
tucky, and four or five years later moved to 
Franklin county, about eighteen miles south of 
Frankfort. Samuel volunteered in a regiment of 
dragoons at Frankfort, under Colonel Dick John- 
son, and was in the battle of the river Thames, 
in Canada, in which Colonel Johnson is reputed 
to have killed the Indian chief, Tecumseh. After 
his return, the family moved to that part of 
Gallatin which is now Owen county, Kentucky. 
Samuel Garvey was there married, December 26, 
1816, to Maria EUiston, who was born July 25, 
1800, in Franklin county. They lived in Owen 
county for some time, then, "svith a family of 



954 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



X 



seven children, moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, arriving in the fall of 1830, in the vicinity 
of what became Mechanicsburg. 

David Hall was born December 25, 1799, in 
Shelby county, near Shelbyville, Kentucky. 
David Hall and Juliet Owen were there married, 
December 2:3, 182:i; moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving September 2H, 1834, at Me- 
chanisburg, and soon after settled about four 
miles further west, in the same township. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Jesse Pickrell taught the first school in the 
township in 1828, on section twenty-seven. 
There are now five brick school houses in the 
township, valued at $10,500. 

ORGANIC. 

The township was organized in 1861, and an- 
nual elections foi township officers are held on 
the first Tuesday in April. The following com- 
prise a list of the principal township officers, in 
1861: 

Supervisor — J. Dunnick. 

Town Clerk— Samuel Robins. 

Assessor — Samuel Phesant. 

Collector — Thomas S. Kiser."^ 

Overseer of Poor — William S. Pickrell. 

Justices of the Peace — Wesley Hathaway and 
Miles H. Wilmot. 

Constables — Alf. A. Barnwell and Cyrus Cor- 
rell. 

Commissioners of Highways — Jacob Morgan 
and James H. McDaniel. 

Officers for 1881, are: 

Supervisor — O. P. Hall. 

Town Clerk— A. F. Hollenback. 

Assessor — William G. Jach. 

Collector — Jno. B. Kenney. 

Commissioners — Thomas W. Bracken, H. R. 
Riddle, William J. McCann. 

Justices of the Peace — Lewis Grubb and 
Miles H. Wilmot. 

Constables — L. W. Hicks and R. T. Dunn. 

VILLAGE OF MECHANICSBURG. 

The village of Mechanicsburg is the oldest of 
the three villages in the township, and was laid 
out and platted by William S. Pickrell, Novem- 
ber 12, 1832, and was described as comprising the 
"east half of the southwest quarter of section 
twenty-six, and part of the east half of the north- 
west quarter of section twenty-six, township 
sixteen, range three west." 

The village was very pleasantly situated, and 
gave promise of being one of the most thriving 
villages of the State. A writer in a local paper 



in 18o7 had the following to say of Mechanics- 
burg: 

"Mechanicsburg, fifteen or eighteen miles 
from Springfield, contains some twelve or six- 
teen families, twenty-five buildings, tavern, store, 
and post office. Lots are worth from ten to 
thirty dollars each. As the country is fine and 
well settled in the neighborhood, it seems to be 
reasonable to suppose that, with the start it has 
already attained, it will grow to some import- 
ance." 

Josiah Green had a blacksmith shop about 
one mile west of the village previous to its 
being laid out, but William Parks was among 
the first to carry on the trade in the village. 

Wm. D. Spain was the first wagon-maker. 

The first brick house was built by Sowel Cox. 

John Elkin built the first brick store building 
in 1367, which Avas occupied by J. W. Alvey. 

A Cottonwood tree was planted by Jesse Pick- 
rell in 1835, shortly after his arrival. It is now 
four feet in diameter. 

A POST OFFICE. 

A post office was established in the neighbor- 
hood of the present village in 1830, under the 
name of Clear Creek post office, with Jesse 
Pickrell as postmaster. This name was retained 
until the removal of the office to the village, 
when it was changed to Mechanicsburg. 
Thomas Fortune succeeded Mr. Pickrell, and 
on the l7th day of February, 1848, Morris 
Bird was commissioned, the commission being 
signed by Cave Johnson, Postmaster-General, 
under President Polk. He was continued in 
office by the postmaster-general under each of 
the Presidents up to and including President 
Hayes, till his death, June 11, 1879. Mr. Bird 
was born February 19, 1803, and came to San- 
gamon county in 1 835, and settled in Mechanics- 
burg. He died June 11, 1879; the oldest post- 
master, in point of service, probably, in the 
State. He was succeeded by his son, George 
W. Bird, who was appointed June 24, 1879, his 
commission being signed by Thomas J. Brady, 
Acting Assistant Postmaster-General under 
David M. Key. 

MERCANTILE. 

The first merchants in the place were Craw- 
ford & Peas, in 1835. When they commenced 
business there was no place from which to ob- 
tain merchandise nearer than Springfield. In 
the fall of 1837, William and Upton Radcliff 
also embarked in the business. Thompson 
Brothers commenced business in 1844, and have 
been doing business for tbsrty-seven years. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



055 



SCHOOLS. 

The first school house in the village was a 
frame building, erected in 18o7; the second of 
brick, built in 1842; the third also of brick, 
built in 1854, for the old Mechanicsburg 
Academy. The school is now in a flourishing 
condition, and it is operated under the graded 
system, which was adopted in 1862. 

The Mechanicsburg Academy was incorporat- 
ed and erected a handsome brick building in 
1854, two stories in height, and forty by sixty 
on the ground. The school flourished finely for 
a time under the care, at intervals, of JProfs. 
Loomis, Cummings, Hatch and McNutt. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The first religious services in the township 
were at the house of Jesse Pickrell. There are 
now three churches in the village — Methodist 
Episcopal and Presbyterian. 

STEAM GRIST MILL. 

A steam grist-mill was erected in 1844, by 
Nightingale & Rowell, and subsequently passed 
into the hands of Dunnick Brothers. The mill 
had two runs of burrs. The same parties have 
built a larger and much improved mill on the 
same site, having three runs of burrs, and doing 
a thriving bxisiness. 

BANK. 

In 1873, Thompson Brothers commenced a 
general banking business in the place, buying 
and selling exchange on the principal cities in 
the country, and receiving deposits. The well 
known business integrity of the firm was a suffi- 
cient guaranty to the people of Mechanicsburg 
and vicinity, so the bank has had a good run of 
business. 

A TEMPERANCE TOWN. 

The village has never had a licensed saloon in 
it. A certain man, in 1853, started a saloon in 
connection with his boot and shoe store. The 
ladies secured funds and purchased his stock of 
liquors on condition that he would abandon the 
business. They poured the liquor in the street 
and attempted to set fire to it, but it would not 
burn. But the man did not consider his promise 
to the ladies as being worth much, and therefore 
again commenced the sale of the "liquid fire." 
An agreement was then entered into by the citi- 
zens, neither to buy or sell him anything as long 
as he sold liquor. This was the first case of 
"boycotting" in Mechanicsburg, and the last as 
well. The remedv was effectual. The man left. 



VILLAGE OF BUFFALO. 

Buffalo is a village of about four hundred in- 
habitants, and situated on the line of the 
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad, and 
was laid out and platted in May, 1854, by Charles 
R. Wells, the plat was described as the "south- 
east part of the northeast quarter, and the north- 
east part of the southeast quarter of section ten, 
and southwest part of the northwest quarter, 
and the northwest part of the southwest quarter 
of section eleven, township sixteen, range three 
west." 

The village was platted and recorded under 
the name of Buffalo, the railroad company 
named the station Mechanicsburg; while the 
post office was called Watson. It was only after 
several years of continuous eft'ort that the names 
of the station and post office were changed to 
Buffalo. These several names caused much per- 
plexity and difficulty, as may well be imagined. 

The first house erected in the village was by 
Josiah Green and Harvey Thompson, and a store 
was opened by them under the firm name of 
Thompson, Green & Co. This was in 1854. 

The post office was established immediately 
after, and Harvey Thompson was appointed the 
first postmaster. The present postmaster is A. 
F. Hollenbeck. 

The village has steadily grown until it now 
contains two dry goods stores, three grocery 
stores, one harness shop and hardware store, one 
drug store. There are three practicing physi- 
cians and one retired physician. Those in active 
practice are Dr. Leslie Gillett, Dr. L. P. Rogers, 
and Dr. John C. O'Conner. Dr. Peter T. Leeds 
is an old time practitioner, having been in the 
township about fifty years, and has retired from 
active practice. There are two blacksmiths' and 
one wagon shop, one elevator, and one steam 
flouring mill. 

FLOURING MILL. 

The steam flouring mill was erected in 
1859-60, by Baker & Enlow, at a cost of about 
$5,000. George McDaniel has owned the mill 
since 1866, and it is now run by McDaniel & 
Sons. 

ELEVATOR. 

The building was erected as a warehouse in 
1858, by John Dikeman, and was among the 
first buildings in the place. In 1878, it was re- 
modeled, and an elevator machinery put in. It is 
now operated by E. R. Ulrich, who handles 
here about ninety thousand bushels of grain 
annually. 



956 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



TEMPERANCE. 

The village is now regarded as a temperance 
one. There has not been a saloon tolerated in 
the place siace 1875, and the retail traffic is 
under complete control of the authorities. There 
were, at one time, four saloons in the place, and 
much drunkenness, but none of consequence of 
late years. 

RELIGIOUS. 

There are now two church edifices in Buffalo 
— that of the Methodists and Christians. In 
early times, the station at Buffalo was connected 
with the Mechanicsburg and other churches, 
forming a circuit of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and so continued until the present house 
of worship was erected, in the fall of 1867. 
The place of worship for the society in Buffalo 
previous to occupying the new church, was in 
the school house. The first preacher who did 
regular pastoral work in Buffalo, was Rev. 
Richard Holding, in 1860-01. Mr. Holding re- 
mained one year. About this time, Buffalo 
station was disconnected from Mechanicsburg 
and attached to Dawson. The pulpit was filled 
by several men, successively, until 1866. In the 
fall of that year, Rev. Mr. Colt was appointed 
and entered upon the discharge of his duties. 
He was very efficient in securing funds for build- 
ing the church. Isom Enlow, as one of the 
building committee, was the principal actor in 
the construction of the building. The house 
was dedicated in the spring of 1868, by Rev. 
Hiram Buck. The charge has been fairly pros- 
perous, having been instrumental in breaking up 
the license system and the traffic in liquors in 
the village, and has lent its combined influence 
to prohibit the retail of it, for five or six years 
past. In 1877, the society erected a new frame 
parsonage, at a cost of |! 1,000. The membership 
of the church is about seventy. It has a pros- 
perous Sunday school, with an average attend- 
ance of about eighty scholars. Rev. W. S. 
Calhoun is the present pastor. The present 
trustees are, Isom Enlow, Wesley Hathaway, 
F. W. Herrin, James H. Dawson, B. L. Hall, J. 
C. O'Conner, and Joseph McDaniel. 

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The Church of Christ (or Christian Church) 
of Buffalo, was organized January 3, 1876, by 
Elder Samuel Lowe. The following declaration 
M'as adopted and signed by those entering the 
organization: 

"We, the undersigned disciples of Christ, 
having a sincere desire for our growth in grace 



and in the knowledge of the truth, and wishing 
to observe the divinely instituted worship for 
the children of God, and to hold forth the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ to a perishing world, 
hereby band ourselves together in an organiza- 
tion to be called the 'Church of Christ, at Buffalo, 
Sangamon county, Illinois.' 

" In this organization nothing is to be accepted 
as authorative in all matters of faith and prac- 
tice, but the word of God contained in the Old 
and New Testaments." 

Twenty-six names were appended to this dec- 
laration of faith, and George W. Ellington, 
Thomas J. Underwood and John W. Jacobs 
were chosen elders and Z. T. Greening, Joseph 
Ellington and Thomas Hegerman deacons. May 
21, 1876, and ordained May 26, by Elder G. M. 
Goode. Afterwards Samuel Garvey was ordained 
as an additional elder. 

The first pastor of the church was Elder E. 
T. Brooks, who was called to the charge, Feb- 
ruary 1, 1876, and continued till July, 1878, 
when he was succeeded by Elder John Lemons, 
who continued in charge of the church three 
years, terminating his connection in August, 
1881. Since the organization of the church 
fifty-three additional names have been entered 
on the record. 

SCHOOLS. 

The village school house is a fine two-story 
brick structure, containing three schools, four 
cloak rooms and a hall. The building is thirty- 
four by forty-eight, and was erected in 1870, at a 
cost of about $7,000. William A. Robinson, 
Jonathan Putnam, and one other, were the 
directors, at that time. Four village lots com- 
prise the grounds. The enumeration of the 
district is one hundred and twenty of school age; 
the average attendance is about ninety; the 
amount of money annually appropriated by 
the district now reaches $1,200. The present 
board of directors are, Ezra Gamble, W. F. 
Herrin, and J. C. O'Connor. The present prin- 
cipal is Benjamin F. Wiley; the school is a 
graded one. 

SHIPMENTS. 

As illustrating the amount of business annually 
done by the railroad company at this station, 
the following is given: In 1880 there were 
shipped four hundred and seventy-four cars of 
grain, sixty-six cars of tile, and one hundred and 
twenty-six cai's of live stock. The tickets sold 
amounted to $42,000, for the year. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



957 



IXCOIU'OKATIOX. 

The village was incorporated as a town, in 
1861, and in 1878 it was changed to a village 
government. 

TILE WORKS. 

The Buffalo Tile Works were established in 
the spring of 1877, by Foudy, Eyman & Co. — 
A. J. Fondy, H. H. Eyraan and Samuel Hugen- 
berger. The works manufacture all sizes of til- 
ing, and use a twelve-horse power engine, and 
the tile are made by a Tiffany tile machine. 
The capacity is sixteen hundred to two thousand 
eight-inch tile per day, and four thousand to five 
thousand four-inch and six thousand to eight 
thousand three-inch tile per day. 

VILLAGE OF DAW^SON. 

The village of Dawson is located on the line 
of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad, 
about twelve miles from Springfield. It was 
laid out in May and June, 1854, by Thomas 
Lewis and Joseph Ledlie, on a part of the south- 
west quarter and northwest quarter of section 
eight, township sixteen, range three west. It 
was so named in honor of Hon. John Dawson, 
one of the "Long Nine." The village has now 
two churches, a good brick school-house, an op- 
erating coal shaft, three stores and one physi- 
cian. The coal company has given much im- 
petus to the trade of the village. 

James William Alvey, merchant, Mechanics- 
burg, is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, 
and was born in Springfield, in 1834. William 
Alvey, his father, was a Kentuckian by birth, 
and married Madeline Watson, of the same 
State, in Sangamon county. He learned the 
hatter's trade in his youth; and moving to 
Springfield, Sangamon county in 1835, and mar- 
ried in November, 1825. He then engaged in the 
manufacture of hats by hand, the process then 
in use. Being the pioneer in the business in 
Central Illinois, he opened a small store which 
w^as stocked with his work in addition to that 
made to order. From the product of his skill 
and industry the early settlers of the Sangamo 
country for many miles about Springfield were 
supplied with head gear. In about 1846, he 
moved with his family to Iowa and settled on a 
farm. He died in Marengo, that State, some 
eight years later. 

The subject of the memoir is the fourth of 
their family of six children, three of each sex, 
and commenced his mercantile life in Springfield 
in the grocery of J. W. Bates at twelve years of 
age. After clerking a year or two for him, and 



about the same length of time for Reuben Buch- 
anan, young Alvey went with his parents to 
Iowa, where he continued clerking in a general 
store. Returning to Springfield he was em- 
ployed several years in the store of his brother- 
in-law, S. B. Fisher. In 1867, he embarked in 
the mercantile business as proprietor of a general 
store in Mechanicsburg, and has prosecuted the 
business there since that time. He carries a 
stock of $10,000 to $12,000, and has an annual 
trade of 120,000 to 125,000. 

In May, 1860, Mr. Alvey married Alzina 
Brown, who was born in the State of New York, 
and came with her parents to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, when a small child. Mr. and 
Mrs. Alvey have a family of two":daughters and 
four sons, namely, Melvina, Helen B., James 
William, Jr., Henry Pickrell, Homer Watson, 
and Robert Edwin Alvey. Melvina was educat- 
ed at the Bettie Stuart Institute, and is accom- 
plished in music and has a special talent for por- 
trait work. Helen B. is attending the Spring- 
field High School. Imbibing the political pro- 
clivities of his father, who was a Henry Clay 
Whig, Mr. Alvey has been a firm Republican 
since 1860. 

Corneliics Everett Christiance, railroad agent, 
at Buffalo, was born in Lee county, Illinois, in 
the town of Brooklyn, in 1835, and was the first 
white child born in the town. Abram V. Chris- 
tiance, his father, married Caroline Barkydt. 
They were both natives of Schenectedy, New 
York, and were the parents of sixteen children, 
of whom three sons and two daughters are liv- 
ing. They were the third family to settle in 
Brooklyn, Illinois. Cornelius started at rail- 
roading as a helper, in Buffalo, in 1860. In 
February, 1862, he entered the army as a mem- 
ber of Battery F, First Illinois Light Artillery. 
His regiment was assigned to the Army of the 
Tennessee, and followed its fortunes under the 
command of Generals McPherson and Logan, 
successively. Mr. Christiance participated in 
all the battles of Sherman's army to Altoona. 
He was promoted from private to sergeant, and 
was acting orderly when mustered out, March 7, 
1865. The first Avinter after retiring from the 
service he was employed as night operator at 
Bement, Illinois, and March 1, 1866, returned to 
Buffalo, where he was made station agent, and 
has filled the position to the present time. June 
1, 1865, Mr. Christiance united in marriage with 
Miss Fannie W., daughter of Dr. William Hes- 
ser, of Jerseyville, Illinois. Three sons have 
been born to them, namely: Wilbur, aged thir- 
teen years; Everett, aged eleven, and Harvey, 



958 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



six years old. Mr. C. was made a Mason in Me- 
chanicsLurg Lodge, No. 299, in 1861; is also a 
member of the Dawson Chapter, No. 124. 

Meredith Cooj^er^ son of M. and P. Cooper, 
was born September 11, 1836, in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, apd was married March 18, 
1874. He has one child, Annie L., born March 
7, 1875, in Williams township, Sangamon county, 
Illinois. Mr. Cooper was a farmer and stock 
dealer for a long time, in that township. During 
the railroad riots at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 
1877, he lost a large number ot sheep, which 
were en route to eastern markets, which was an 
entire loss to him, as no settlements were ever 
obtained from the railroad company. He now is 
superintendent of the Sangamon County Poor 
House, which position he has held since March 
18, 1878. Mrs. Cooper is the daughter of Wm. 
and Elizabeth Watson, who came from England 
and settled near Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. , Wat- 
son is still living in Springfield. Mr. Watson 
died there in September, 1873. Mr. Cooper's 
mother is still living, near Williamsville, at the 
age of eighty-seven. 

Sertrand Dawson. — Mr. Dawson was born 
April 10, 1827, in Bracken county, Kentucky, 
and came to Sangamon county with his 
parents in 1827. His father, John Dawson, was 
born in Fairfax county, Virginia, November 24, 
1791, and his mother, Cary Jones, was born in 
Nicholas county, Kentucky, May 22, 1801, 
where they were married October 9, 1817. Mr. 
Dawson and his wife — Katie Rea, daughter of 
David Rea and her mother (Susan Sitz) Rea — 
live adjoining the town of Dawson, it being 
named after his family. Part of the land on 
which the town was built was owned by Mr. D. 
It was entered by Francis Springer and others. 
the land patent dating March 3, 1843. Mr. D. 
has sold ten acres of his land adjoining the 
town to a coal company, who are engaged in 
mining. Coal is found in abundance at a depth 
of about two hundred and fifty feet, and of an 
excellent quality. Mr. D. is engaged in farm- 
ing and stock dealing, and one of the enter- 
prising men of the township. 

Mrs. Margaret Dunniclc, widow of Nicholas 
Dunnick, who was born in Fairfield county, 
Ohio, November 15, 1821. Mrs. Dunnick was 
born in Fayette county, Ohio, December 3, 1826, 
her maiden name being Mantle. They were 
married in Fayette county, Ohio, in October, 
1844. Two years later they moved to Illinois, 
remaining a part of the winter in Springfield, and 
the following four years were spent on a farm 
on Lick creek, north of Chatham. From there 



they moved to Mechanicsburg, where they bought 
the old Mechanicsburg Mill, which was the first 
mill built in the township They have seven 
children, all born in Sangamon county: George 
J., born January 16, 1851; Angie Lee, Decem- 
ber 2, 1852; Fannie, August 4, 1854; Kate, July 
25, 1856; Emma F., June 7, 1858; Lennia, June 
24, 1864; Clyde, August 25, 1866. Twenty-five 
years ago Mr. Dunnick built the present Mechan- 
icsburg Mill, which he afterwards sold, and 
again purchased five years since, and it is now a 
part of the estate. The family live now on their 
farm near the village. Mr. Dunnick died SepJ 
tember 15, 1881, after an illness of but four days, 
and a well spent life of almost sixty years. He 
was an energetic, conscientious business man, 
and his whole life's conduct was marked by the 
strictest integrity and regard for the rights of 
others. During his life he was called upon to 
fill a number of local offices, and he and wife 
were members of the M. E. Church, He was a 
steward in the church of which he was an efii- 
cient and useful member for many years. 

Jatnes H. Freeto, hardw^are and queensware 
merchant mechanicsburg, has been engaged in 
business in the village about twenty years. He 
carries 'a stock of f 4,000 to $5,000, embracing 
hardware, stoves, glass and queensware, and a 
general assortment of tinware, of which he man- 
ufactures a considerable quantity, and also does 
a jobbing business in roofing, spouting, and cor- 
nice work. 

Mr. Freeto was born in the State of New 
York, December 4, 1834, and was reared from 
three years of age in Dupage county, Illinois, 
whence he came to Sangamon county in the 
spring of 1860. He started a tin shop and stove 
store in Mechanicsburg soon after coming, and 
ten years ago added that of hardware. 

James H. Freeto and Hannah M. Brown were 
married in Dupage county, Illinois, in 1858. 
Mrs. Freeto died April 19, 1365, leaving two 
'daughters, Minnie L. and Florence May, and Mr. 
Freeto married Miss Rebecca J. Loughridge, No- 
vember 29, 1867. She is a native of Arkansas, 
from which State her family fied as refugees 
during the war of the Rebellion, being friends 
of the Union. Four children have been born of 
this marriage, namely: Evalena S., born Decem- 
ber 11, 1870; Luella Maud, November 13, 1872; 
Ida Marion, August 4, 1877, and George L.,born 
July 19, 1880. 

Mr. Freeto is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, Globe Lodge, No. 323, 
Mechanicsburg, and in politics is a Republican. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9o9 



Jacob jY. Fullinii'ider, farmer, residence sec- 
tion twenty-five, was born June 5, 1814, in 
Shelby county, Kentucky, and there passed the 
first twenty years of his life on a farm. Henry 
Fullinwider, his father, was a Pennsylvanian by 
nativity; spent a portion of his early life in 
Maryland, and from there went to Kentucky 
when a young man, where he soon after married 
Harriet Neil, who was born in Virginia. Ten 
children were born to them, of whom seven were 
sons, and three daughters. In the autumn of 
1833, Mr. Fullenwider came to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, purchased a tract of land in what is now 
Mechanicsburg township, and returned to Ken- 
tucky for his family; but while there he took 
sick and died, in August, 1834. In the fall of 
that year, the widow and nine children moved to 
the new country of the Sangamon, arriving after 
a thirteen days' journey, on October 11. The 
family settled on land now forming a part of the 
homestead owned by the subject of this article, 
where his mother afterwards died, January 31, 
1867. 

On March 23, 1837, Jacob N. Fullinwider and 
Agnes Bullard were united in marriage. She was 
born March 24, 1814, in Shelby county, Ken- 
tucky, and is the daughter of Reuben Bullard 
and Elizabeth Gill, natives of Virginia. She 
came to Sangamon county, Illinois, in November, 
1835. Mr. and Mrs. Fullinwider first settled in 
town sixteen, range two west, about five miles 
east of the village of Mechanicsburg. Fifteen 
years later they sold that farm and bought a 
farm which forms a part of their present estate, 
and settled on it but a few rods from the splendid 
dwelling they now occupy. This beautiful brick 
residence was .erected by Mr. Fullinwider in 
1862 and '63, at a cost of |10,000. The barns 
and other buildings surrounding it cost $2,500. 
Mr. Fullinwider, being a thorough going, pru- 
dent business man, has been successful in a finan- 
cial way. After having bought the intei'ests of 
the other heirs to the old homestead, he purchased 
other tracts about it, until at one time he owned 
one thousand four hundred acres of fine farming 
lands. He has given each of his six sons and 
two daughters 17,000, and still owns a farm of 
four hundred acres. In early years he voted the 
Whig ticket, and since the birth of the party, 
has been a Republican, though he has not been 
active in politics. He has served Mechanicsburg 
township two terms in the county board of 
supervisors, and' has for many years been a zeal- 
ous and prominent promoter of church and school 
matters. He has been a member and efticient 
worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church forty- 



nine years, and has contributed much, both in 
labor and money, toward its prosperity. Mr. 
and Mrs. FuUinwider's children are all, but one, 
married and comfortably situated in life; and for 
habits of industry, thrift and morality, they are 
an honor to their parents, and an ornament to 
society. They are all members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and all the sons, save one, are 
farmers. Marcus L. graduated from Illinois 
Western University, in 1871, and from Rush 
Medical College in 1876; and has since July, of 
that year, been extensively engaged in the 
practice of medicine in Mechanicsburg, Sanga- 
mon county. 

J. T. Fullimoider, is a son of Jacob N. Full- 
inwider, of Mechanicsburg township, one of 
Sangamon county's best known and most worthy 
farmers, and largest land owners, who came here 
in an early day, and has been prominently 
identified with the growth and development of 
Sangamon county, and Central Illinois. Our 
subject was born in Mechanicsburg townshij), 
this county, November 24, 1853, and is, there- 
fore, twenty-eight years of age. Mr. Fullin- 
wider is essentially a product of Sangamon 
county, having been born, educated and married 
here. He married Miss Laura Thompson, daugh- 
ter of a prominent business man and banker of 
Mechanicsburg, who came to Sangamon county 
in an early day. Mr. Fullinwider owns a farm 
adjoining the village, and is at present engaged 
in the banking house of his father-in-law, Mr. 
Thompson. 

Samuel Garvey, born August 27, 1825, in 
Owen county, Kentucky, son of Samuel and 
Maria (Elliston) Garvey, came to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in 1830. He was married in 
Sangamon county, July 3, 1849, to Sarah 'A. 
Gideon; she was born January 13, 1828, in 
Champaign county, Ohio, and came to Sanga- 
mon county in 1845. They had five children: 
Mary A., born May 21, 1850, married to David 
C. Fletcher, September 9, 1869; Ann M., born 
August 27, 1853, and remains at home; Catharine 
J., born October 17, 1854, and married March 
7, 1877, to Jacob Rogers; Henry C, born 
August 13, 1863, now at home with his parents; 
and Andrew S., born December 27, 1867, and 
died December 6, 1871. Mr. Garvey has eight 
grand-children. The family are all Christians. 

John Gelling, was born November 13, 1805, 
in the city of Douglas, Isle of Mann, and came 
to America in 1830. He landed at New York, 
and went to the vicinity of Morristown, New 
Jersey. Hannah Monson was born in 1797, near 
Morristown, New Jersey. She was of an old 



060 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



French family that was ftmong the earliest set- 
tlers in New Jersey. John Gelling and Hannah 
Monson were married June 23, 1833, near Mor- 
ristown. They moved in 1838, to Vevay, Swit- 
zerland county, Indiana. Mr. Gelling, his wife, 
and a girl living in the family, started from Ye- 
vay in a wagon, and drove through Indianapolis 
to Springfield, arriving in October, 1839. Since 
tliat time he has resided four years in Morgan 
county. With that exception, he has been in 
Sangamon county to the present time. They 
never had any children. Mrs. Hannah Gelling 
died December 30, 18*72, and John Gelling re- 
sides two and a half miles south of Dawson. 

In December, 1839, Mr. Gelling entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of prairie land now ad- 
joining the village of Dawson, and settled on it, 
and soon after traded it for the land he now oc- 
cupies, on section twenty-nine, in this township, 
three and one-half miles west of Mechanicsburg, 
and twelve miles east of Springfield, and two 
and one-half miles south of Dawson. His farm 
contains one hundred and twenty acres of good 
land, and is worth |60 per acre. When he came 
to America he worked at his trade of paper 
making, in New Jersey, as he had done in his 
native Isle of Mann, so that when he came to 
Sangamon county he knew but little in the way 
of farming; but has become, in the last forty 
years, skillful as a tiller of the soil, and has been 
successful. Having been a widower for nine 
years, he has been favored in having his sister, 
Ellen Charlotte, to care for his domestic inter- 
ests. She was also a native of the Isle of Mann, 
where she was born in the year 1818, and came 
to America in 1852, at the request of her brother, 
with whom she has made her home since that 
time. Mr. G. has no other near relatives in 
America, except two nephews and two nieces, 
the children of a brother Robert, who died in 
this township a few years ago. Mr. G. has been 
a member of the M. E. Church for about thirty 
years, and his sister is of the same, first in her 
native Isle, and since, in this country. In 2)oli- 
tics they are Republicans, 

O.P.Hall, born March 11, 1832_, in Shelby 
county, Kentucky, is the son of Benjamin L. and 
Eveline (Pickrell) Hall, and the only one of 
eleven children born out of Sangamon county. 
He came to what is now Mechanicsburg, with 
his parents, in September, 1833; he being about 
one year old. He was married in Sangamon 
county, January 20th, 1855, to Susan M. Short 
who was born October 14, 1833, in Pickaway 
county, Ohio, and came to Sangamon county, in 
1846. They bad six children, five of whom are 



living, Wm. L., Lewis B,, J. Leslie, Rena, and 
Oscar E. Mr. Hall manages a large farm, and is 
extensively engaged in stock-raising. At his 
elegant home, surrounded by his intelligent and 
cultured familv, he enjoys life. 

W. T. IIall',&o\\ of B. L. and E. Hall, lives on 
section thirteen; is a farmer and stock dealer; 
he was born December 21, 1844, in Sangamon 
county, Illinois; married January 9, 1872, in 
Jacksonville, Illinois, to Florence M. AYinn, who 
was born neat Urbana, Ohio, June 12, 1846, and 
died July 6, 1881. Mrs. Hall's parents. Dr. Chas. 
and Nancy (Branson) Winn, are both dead. Her 
father died August 17, 1847, and her 'mother, 
November 4, 1852. W. T. Hall and family- 
moved to Salina, Kansas, in 1872, and remained 
there until 1876, when he returned to Sangamon 
county. He was engaged, while in Kansas, in 
general house furnishing, hardware, undertaker's 
goods, etc., etc. He now has a fine farm, which 
occupies his entire time and attention. 

Wm. F. Herrin, born November 18, 1836, in 
Sangamon county, is the son of James and Mary 
A. (McDaniel) Herrin, who came to Sangamon 
county in November, 1833, and located in what 
is now Clear Lake township. They are both 
dead. Mrs. H. died March 25, 1868, and Mr. H. 
August 6, 1881. Wm, F. married Mary A. 
North, September 10, 1863, the daughter of Rob- 
ert North. They had six children: Belle N., 
James E., Chas. F., Burt Allen, died May 7, 1876 ; 
Carrie F. and Lettie A. Mr. Herrin lives in 
Buffalo; is engaged in farming and stock deal- 
ing. Mr. n. has one brother, David C, now liv- 
ing in Wheatfield township, and one sister, Mrs. 
Harriet F. Hewitt, residing in Menard county. 

Jacob Morgan (deceased), son of Charles Mor- 
gan, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky^ 
May 20, 1808, and came to Sangamon county 
with his parents, in October, 1826, where he 
married Susan Correll, May 17, 1832, by whom 
he had four children: Josephus, born March 30, 
1833, died January 5, 1877; Minerva, born No- 
vember 8, 1834, died July 21, 1837; Caroline, 
born July 21, 1837, and married Geo, W. Hes- 
ser, and lives on a farm in lUiopolis township; 
Rufus, born September 16, 1840, died May 12, 
1843, His wife, Susan, died October 15, 1848, 
and he was married again, November 22, 1855, 
to Mrs, Mary A, Wilson, whose maiden name 
was Stickel, She was born in York county, 
Pennsylvania, April 16, 1825. She, with her 
parents, who were of German descent, had moved 
to Macon county, in 1837, where they died; they 
were John and Mary Stickel. She had one son 
by her former marriage to Jas. J. Wilson, named 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



961 



Acdifcw S. "SVikon, who was Lorn in Macon 
counly, Illinois, and married in Bloomington, to 
Mary idamilton, and had two children. He now 
resides in Washington, county, Kansas, where he 
has represented that county two terms in the leg- 
islature, and is now Judge of the Twelfth Dis- 
trict there. Mrs. Morgan has had by her second 
marriage the following: Luella, horn Septem- 
ber 4, 1856, died October 6, 1877; Selina B., 
born February 4, 1859, is single, and at home; 
Anna M., born March 3, 1861, also at home; 
Charles W., born September 4, 1863, with his 
mother on the farm, and yet single. 

Mr. Jacob Morgan entered the land on which 
he resided for many years to the time of his 
death, October 23, 1877. There he located and 
remained nearly fifty years, being an influential 
and worthy citizen of the community, holding 
various offices of trust, and being a leading and 
useful member of the M. E. Church, and hold- 
ing various offices thei'ein. The homestead is 
located on section twenty-one, about two and a 
half miles west of Mechanicsburg. 

William Norred, was born March 9, 1809, in 
Louden county, Virginia. He was married in 
1834 in that county to Elizabeth E. Dowdall, who 
was born there March 9, 1814. They lived in 
Frederick county, Maryland, until they had two 
children, and moved to Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, arriving November 6, 1838, and settled 
three miles northeast of Rochester, at the mills 
of Darling & Baker, where one child was 
born. 

Charles H., was born January 19, 1842, in San- 
gamon county. He was a medical student, but 
laid aside his books in August, 1862, and enlisted 
in Company — , One Hundred and Fourteenth 
Illinois Infantry. He was placed in charge of a 
medical dispensary for the regiment, and later of 
a hospital; served until the close of the war, 
when he was honorably discharged; attended 
McDowell College, at St. Louis, and graduated 
there. He was married in Logan county to 
Elizabeth Dalbey. They have two children, 
Charles Elmer and William Asbury. Dr. Norred 
commenced i^ractice at Dawson, but removed to 
Lincoln, Logan county, where he now resides, 
and practices his profession. 

Mrs. Elizabeth E. Norred died September 1, 
1843, in Sangamon county, and William Norred 
was married in 1845, in Loudon county, Vir- 
ginia, to Mary Ann Daneil, who was born in 
that county, April 22, 1820. She died October 
21, 1851, leaving one child, John W., born June 
17, 1847, in Sangamon county,and married Mary 
Richardson, and lives in Middletown, Logan 

112— 



county, Illinois. William Norred was n arried 
December ]8, 1853, in Sangamon county, to Mrs. 
Martha Dowdall, whose maiden name was Enlow, 
a native of W^ashington county, Pennsylvania. 
She has one child by her first marriage, Silas R. 
Dowdall. Mr. ard Mrs. Norred had four chil- 
dren: Fenton M., Lauretta, Mary E., and Eliza- 
beth C. 

Nelson H. Phmiwer, harness manufacturer 
and dealer in hardware and stoves, Buffalo; 
opened business in that village in the fall of 
1867, as a harness manufacturer. Seven years 
ago he put in a general assortment of hardware, 
and has since carried a stock in that line. He 
makes all grades of harness, and keeps in stock 
a variety of styles of saddles, whips and horse 
clothing. His annual sales aggregate from 85,- 
000 to 86,000. 

Mr. Plummerwas born in 1833, in Champaign 
county, Ohio; came to Illinois in 1856 and 
located a few years in Clinton, then moved to 
Decatur, and six years later came to Buffalo. In 
1876, Mr. Plummer, married Miss Clay Cassity, 
who was born in Kentucky, and is the daughter 
of Allen Cassity, now a resident of Missouri, 
formerly railroad agent at W^heatfield, Sangamon 
county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer have 
two children, Mattie E. and Lee Plummer. 

Leonard P. JRogtrs, M. J)., Buffalo village, is 
the third of a family of ten children, nine living, 
of Uriah, and Hettie A. Rogers nee Myers, and 
was born April 20, 1852, in Fairfield county, 
Ohio. His parents w'ho were both natives of 
Burks counly, Pennsylvania, were married in 
1845. Mr. Rogers learned the carpenter trade 
in youth and pursued it up to the time of his 
marriage, but has since devoted his attention to 
farming. In the autumn of 1854, he moved 
with his family to Illinois, and settled in Me- 
chanicsburg township, Sangamon county, where 
they still reside two and a half miles east of 
Buffalo. The subject of this memoir was 
educated chiefly in ]>urlingtOB, Vermont; read 
medicine in Mechanicsburg, Illinois, and attend- 
ed lectures in Rush Medical College, Chicago, 
from which he graduated with the degree of 
M. D., February 15, 1876. On March 10th 
following, he opened an office and commenced 
practice in Buffalo. In June, 1877, he was 
elected county physician, and has filled that 
office continually to the present time, by annual 
re-elections. Dr. Rogers has enjoyed a large 
and lucrative practice from the first, and now 
has all he can do. He is a member of the San- 
gamon county. Medical Association. His father 
was born in 1818, his mother, in 1827. 



962 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Josiah M. Thompson, dry goods merchant, 
Mechanicsburg, is one of a family of nine chil- 
dren, five sons and four daughters, of John 
Thompson and Elizabeth Ferguson, who married 
and settled in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where 
he was born October 11, 1824, and was brought 
by his parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, at 
the age of eleven years. His father being a 
farmer, he was brought up to, and followed that 
avocation until 1857, then sold his farm, moved 
to Mechanicsburg, and in partnership with his 
elder brother, Harvey Thompson, engaged in 
the mercantile business, which they have pursued 
to the present time, under the firm title of H. & 
J. M. Thompson. 

Harvey c% A. T. Thompson commenced selling 
goods in the burg, m the fall of 1849, and the 
firm continued till about 1857, when A. T. sold 
his part to J. M., and the firm of H. & J. M. 
Thompson has continued since that time. In 
the year 1837, William and Upton Radcliff had 
built the old house in which the Thompson firm 
opened, and continued till 1875, when the pres- 
ent firm built their present large brick house — 
forty-four by seventy-two, in which they deal in 
a general line of merchandise, suited to supply 
all needs of the community in these lines, of 
which their annual sales have been from $18,000 
to $20,000. Politically, the brothers are staunch 
Republicans. 

Josiah M. Thompson and Maggie Munce 
united in marriage in 1860. She was born in 
Indiana, in 1837. Her parents emigrated from 
county Down, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Thomp- 
son have three smwiving and two deceased chil- 
dren. The living are : Eliza, John A., and 
Thomas M. Mr. Thompson is a Mason, and 
member of Mechanicsburg Lodge, 229. 

John Thompson was born March 28, 1783, in 
Pennsylvania ; went to Kentucky at twenty 
years of age, and there married Elizabeth Fergu- 
son, who was born in Kentucky, June 18, 1791. 
They moved from Montgomery county, Ken- 
tucky, in the autumn of 1836, and settled one 
mile west of the village of Mechanicsburg. Of 
their nine children, four sons and two daughters 
are living. Mr. Thompson died in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, October 14, 1855. Mrs. Thomp- 
son died November 22, 1868, also in Sangamon 
county. He had previously been married, and 
had two children, both of whom, with the 
mother, are dead. The mother died when the 



children were quite young, and James died in 
Indiana, in 1835, and John, the youngest, in 
1837, in Sangamon county, Illinois. 

Andrew T. Thompson, banker, of the firm of 
Thompson & Brother, has been a resident of 
Sangamon county, Illinois, since the fall of 
1836, and engaged in the banking business in 
Mechanicsburg, in company with his elder 
brother, Harvey Thompson, sijice December 1, 
1873. The banking house is a private partner- 
ship, established under the laws of Illinois, and 
does a general banking, loan and deposit busi- 
ness. The deposits range from $25,000 to 
$80,000. The building occupied was erected for 
the purpose by the Thompson Brothers, in the 
summer of 1873, and is a-most substantial brick 
structure. 

Andrew T. Thompson is the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Furguson) Thompson, and was born 
in Bourbon county, Kentucky, January 30, 1827. 
At the age of nine years he was brought by his 
parents to what is now Mechanicsburg town- 
ship, Sangamon county, Illinois, which has 
since been his home. In 1849, Mr. Thompson 
first started in business, on his own account, as 
a merchant by opening a general store in com- 
pany with his brother and present partner, Har- 
vey, in Mechanicsburg. In 1853, they erected 
the second building built in the city of Buffalo, 
and established a store of the same class there. 
Harvey conducted that store, and Andrew the 
one in Mechanicsburg. In 1858, the firm sold 
out the store at Buffalo, Andrew having sold his 
interest in the Mechanicsburg store to another 
brother a year or two previously. For a num- 
ber of years subsequently, the subject of this 
memoir engaged in dealing in live stock before 
opening the bank. 

In December, 1850, he was united in marriage 
with Elizabeth C, daughter of John R., anrt 
Louisa Groves, of Bath county, Kentucky, 
where she was born in 1833, but brought up 
from early childhood in Sangamon county, 
Illinois. Three children, two daughters and a 
son, are the fruits of their marriage, namely: 
Laura, now the wife of J. T. Fullenwider; 
Maggie and William W. Thompson. Politically, 
Mr. Thompson was a Whig in former years, 
and a Republican since 1856. He is a member 

of the Masonic order, Mechanicsburg Lodge, 

No. 299. 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



963 



Chapter XLIII. 



TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE OF NEW BERLIN. 



The history of this township is identified with 
that of Island Grove until 1869, when it was set 
off as a political townshij), iinder the name of 
New Berlin, the name of its principal village. 

Among the earliest settlers were John and 
Thomas Kay, John Foutch, and a man by the 
name of Johnson. The latter, about 1830, pur- 
chased three thousand three hundred acres of 
land near Bates station. This land now in- 
cludes several large farms owned by the Smiths 
and Browns, and includes most of the town of 
New Berlin. 

The township comprises about thirty-one 
square miles or sections of land, which is en- 
tirely prairie land. This being the case, it will 
be understood by the reader of pioneer history 
that it was not settled at as early a date as other 
townships in the county where timber was in 
abundance. After it became known and realized 
that the prairies were valuable for other pur- 
poses besides grazing purposes, the land was 
quickly taken up and settlements made. 

For many years this township, together with 
Island Grove, was considered the best stock 
raising field in the county, it being said that in 
1865 there were more cattle-feeders and more 
cattle fed within eight miles of Berlin than any 
other point in Illinois. The Browns and Smiths 
especially were noted for their fine herds. 

The first railroad ever built in the State, the 
Northern Cross, now the Wabash, St. Louis and 
Pacific, passes through the township from east 
to west, entering on section twenty -four, town- 
ship fifteen, range seven, and running southwest 
about two miles, it then passes due west, enter- 
ing Morgan county from section twenty-seven. 
There are three stations in the township. Island 
Grove, New Berlin and Bates. 

There is one church in the township outside of 
the village of New Berlin, a Union Church, sit- 
uated on section six, township fourteen, range 



seven, erected jointly by the different denomina- 
tions residing in the neighborhood. 

In schools, outside the village of New Berlin, 
which has one graded public school, and one 
parochial school, by the Catholics, there are now 
two school houses in the township, the three 
valued at 19,000. 

ORGANIC. 

As stated. New Berlin township was cut off 
from Island Grove in 1869, since which time it 
has had an independent existence Annual town- 
ship elections are held the first Monday in April, 
each year. 

VILLAGE OF NEVT BEELIlSr. 

The village of New Berlin was laid out in 
1838, and its plat recorded as the property of 
Thomas Yates, and is described as part of the 
east half of the northeast quarter of section 
thirty, township fifteen, range seven. The date 
of the record is October 26, 1838. 

The first building erected in the place was of 
brick, and built in 1836, and intended for the 
purposes of a general store, which was opened 
by Henry Yates, the* father of Thomas and Rich- 
ard Yates, the latter of whom was subse(j[uently 
Governor of the State. 

The first dwelling house was also built by Mr. 
Yates, and occupied by Phelan Jones. His 
daughter, Mary, and William Ratford were the 
first couple married in the place. In this same 
house the first death occurred — Mrs. Homer 
Starks. 

The village of New Berlin presents a very 
neat and attractive appearance, and is a home- 
like town. It has a population of about four 
hundred. 

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS. 

No better evidence of the well being of a place 
can be given than is shown in its schools and 
churches. New Berlin is behind no village of 



964 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



its size in the State, with respect to both. The 
school house in the village is a large brick struc- 
ture, capable of accommodating one hundred 
and fifty pupils. A graded school has been in 
existence since 1867. In addition, the Catholics 
have a parochial school, of which mention is 
made in the sketch of the Catholic Church; and 
the German Lutherans have, also, a school. 

There are three church buildings in the village, 
owned respectively by the Catholics, German 
Lutherans, and Congregationalists, the latter 
having no organization, although a fairly pros- 
perous church of that denomination existed here 
between the years 1869 and 1876. The Metho- 
dists and Baptists hold services every Sunday 
evening in the Congregational Church, but have 
no regular or formal organization. 

The following is a history of the Eoman 
Catholic Congregation and Church, at New 
Berlin, Sangamon county, Illinois, from 1860 to 
1881, from writings of Rev. F. Schreiber, to-wit: 

Although no written account of the fact has 
been preserved, there is no doubt in the mind 
of the readers of Catholic Missions in the West, 
that divine services were held at the private 
dwellings of early settlers, long before the above 
date, (January 1860). But that is the date Rev. 
F. Schreiber assigns for the organization of a 
Catholic congregation, at this place; he says: 
"The present secretary, (now Vicar General and 
Chancellor) of the Right Rev. Bishop, of Alton, 
(the Bishop of Alton, at that time was Right 
Rev. H. D. Junker, consecrated April 17, 1857, 
died, October 2, 1868; the present Bishop is 
Right Rev. P. J. Baltes, consecrated January 23, 
1870,) Very Rev. J. Janssen, at the time (1860) 
pastor of the German Catholic cougregation, at 
Springfield, being requested by some of the faith- 
ful Catholics, to attend from time to time, to 
their spiritual wants, at Ne^ Berlin, became the 
founder of this congregation. Inspiring the 
people with holy zeal for a church building, he 
had the pleasure of seeing it soon built." 

Some of the oldest settlers still living here at 
th'e present time, (1881,) whose names appear on 
the subscription list, are the following: Theo- 
dore Kunst, Ferdinand Rustemeyer, Frederick 
Ludwig, Peter Kneftier, Joseph Burger, John 
Stork, Ferdinand Stelte, Henry Votzmeier, Bei"- 
nard Freitag, Philip Kress, among the Germans; 
and Martin Ryan, Patrick Murray, Patrick Ryan, 
John Haugh, Richard Barnes, Sr., James Sullivan, 
Thomas Ryan, John Walsh, and others, of Irish 
na'ionality and birth. 

The foundation of the church (now used as a 
school house,) was laid October 26, 1860, and 



before Christmas that year, the church was ready 
for divine service, though it was not plastered 
till 1862. 

Very Rev. J. Janssen was transferred to Alton 
early in 1863, and was succeeded in Springfield 
by Rev. William Busch, who attended at New 
Berlin for the first time, according to the baptis- 
mal register. May 10, 1863. An addition was 
built to the church, during his three years at- 
tendance. He died of consumption. 

The first resident pastor of this congregation, 
was Rev. Gustavus Miettinger, who took charge 
about the beginning of February, 1866. During 
his attendance, the house now occupied by the 
teacher, was bought and furnished. He has 
also died since then. 

The second resident pastor was Rev. Francis 
Schreiber, now located at Bloomington, Illinois, 
who took charge July 18, 1867. In this year 
Theodore Kunst donated two acres of ground, 
three miles northwest of New Berlin, for a 
Catholic graveyard. The bell now in use in the 
steeple of the school house was also bought at 
this time, costing $87. In 1869, the cabinet 
organ still in use in the school was bought. 

In 1870, the congregation had increased to 
such an extent that the church was much too 
small. Hence subscriptions were taken up and 
plans made to build the present elegant brick 
church. Dimensions of main building, forty-five 
by eighty feet; height, twenty-eight feet; height 
of steeple from ground, one hundred and four 
feet; sanctuary and two vestry rooms, eighteen 
by thirty-eight feet. Rev. F. Schreiber deserves 
great credit for his labor and zeal in collecting 
for, and managing the building of this church. 
Its cost up to the time he left (October 6, 1872) 
was about $17,000 of which he succeeded in pay- 
ing about -1!> 11,000, and bought the large bell. 

The third resident priest, who is still in charge, 
is Rev. John F. Mohr, who took charge January 
27, 1873. During the first year (1873) he had 
the church plastered and painted, at an expense 
of near $1,500, and had a pipe organ placed in 
it, and a gothic alter, also a number of ad- 
ditional pews. In the succeeding years three 
Munich statues were placed in the church, 
and other improvements made. In 1879, 
the new pastoral residence was built and 
paid for, costing $1,300. Dimensions of new 
pastoral residence: main building, twenty-eight 
by thirty-two feet; and twenty-two feet high, 
and an L, (the former addition to old church), 
fifteen by eighteen feet, used as a kitchen; one 
front and one side porch, besides a little portico 
at east side of the I'esidence. During the year 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



965 



1880, a picket fence was erected in front of the 
new residence and school, and furniture for the 
new residence bought, besides other improve- 
ments, and at the present time, August 1881, 
new fencing around the church property are in 
the course of erection. 

From the above short sketch it will be seen 
that the Catholics belonging to the New Berlin 
congregation have not been idle, but have, under 
the guidance of their several pastors, accom- 
plished much, during the last twenty one years, 
for the glory of God. Many who formerly lived 
here, and did their share, have removed fi'om 
here further West, and not a few have gone to 
their Eternal reward. The present number of 
families belonging to the congregation, which 
was considerably reduced by the formation of 
new congregations (one at Ashland, north, and 
another at Waverly, south of New Berlin), is 
about one hundred and fifteen, perhaps a few 
less, rather than more. The average number of 
Catholic children attending the parish school is 
sixty to sixty-five, taught by a male teacher. 

INCOEPOBATION. 

For the better government of the village, it 
was thought advisable by many to incorporate. 
Accordingly, on the 12th day of August, 1865, 
an election was held to learn the will of the 
citizens. There were cast at this election, for in- 
corporation, thirty-two votes; against incorpora- 
tion, nine. 

The ordinance describing the boundaries of 
the town of New Berlin is as follows: "That 
the boundaries of the town of New Berlin shall 
commence at the southeast corner of the north 
quai'ter of section nineteen, township fifteen, 
north of range seven west, thence east one mile, 
thence south one mile, thence west one mile, 
thence north one mile to place of beginning." 

The date of the annual election was fixed for 
the first Monday of August in each year. 

The town, by the act of incorporation, was 
given all the authority usually given in such 
cases. 

The following comprises a list of the princi- 
pal officers elected each year since incorporation: 

1865. — Trustees — John Lee, President; L. C. 
Warren, J. D. Batty, John Foutch,T. D. Smith; 
Clerk, Frank P. Gillespie; Treasurer, T. D. 
Smith; Marshal, R. H. Price. 

1866.— Trustees— John Lee, President; T. D. 
Smith, J. A. Haney, Wm. Maxwell, Thos. Bell; 
Clerk, H. S. Trigg. 

1867. — Trustees — John Foutch, President; L. 
C. Warren, Thos. D. Smith, Wm. M. Green, 
Haws Yates; H. S. Trigg, Clerk. 



1868.— Trustees— M. T. Smith, * President; 
John Hough, Y. M. Hudson, A. A. Lakin, Wm, 
M. Green; Clerk, R. W. Price. 

18*70.— Trustees— S. B. Matthews, President; 
T. Berghsnider, Wm. Maxwell, Matt. Ada, Y. M. 
Hudson; Clerk, E. Batty. 

18*71. — Trustees — Same as above, save Max- 
well, President. 

1872— Trustees— Wm. Maxwell, President; Y. 
M. Hudson, J. R. Gregory, Matt. Ada, S. B. 
Matthews; Clerk, Frank M. Brown. 

1873.— Trustees— Wm. Maxwell, President; 
Matthew Ada, Y. M. Hudson, John Foutch, 
Theodore Berghsnider; Clerk, J. D. Rearick. 

1874. — Trustees — Wm. Maxwell, President; 
John Foutch, William Gregory, Haws Yates, 
L. C. Warren; Clerk, J. D. Rearick. 

1875.— Trustees— Wm. Maxwell, President; 
John Foutch, Matt. Ada, Y. M. Hudson, Wil- 
lim Gregory; Clerk, George Lee. 

1876. — Trustees — Wm. Maxwell, President; 
George Jarrett, J, V. Thon, Y. M. Hudson, J. 
C. Farlow; Clerk, George Lee. 

1877.— Trustees— Wm. Maxwell, President; 
George Jarrett, J. V. Thon, Y. M. Hudson, 
William Gregory; Clerk, George Lee. 

1878.— Trustees— Wm. Maxwell, President; 
William Gregory, George Jarrett, Fidel Detrick, 
Haws Yates; Clerk, George Lee. 

1879. — Trustees — Wm. Gregory, President; 
Y. M. Hudson, W. M. Warren, L. W. Fulton, 
Haws Yates; Clerk, George Lee. 

1880. — Trustees — Wm. Maxwell, President; 
William Gregory, John Wagonsetter, Patrick 
O'Neil, Y. M. Hudson; Clerk, George Lee.f 

Thomas F. Bevans, merchant, residence, New 
Berlin, was born in Island Grove township, June 
19, 1843; son of John D. Bevans. who was born 
in Maryland, October 5, 1 81 3, and Nancy (Foutch) 
Bevans, born January 23, 1824. They came to 
this County in 1828, and were married at Island 
Grove, January 2, 1842. They had eight chil- 
dren, three sons and five daughters, viz: Thomas 
F., the subject of this sketch; Mary R., now Mrs. 
Hawes Yates, of New Berlin; John, of Island 
Grove; Martha, Rachel, now Mrs. Rev. L. M. 
Goff, of Morris, Illinois; John D. died January 
13, 1858, in Wapello county, Iowa. In an early 
day they lived in Springfield, where he followed 
clerking, and remained there until 1837; came 
to Island Grove after the death of his father 
and remained there until 1844, then moved to 
Wapello county, Iowa, where he purchased land 

* Resigned, and R. H. Price elected to fill vacancy, 
f Resigned, andW. E. Gregory elected to fill vacanc}'. 



966 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and made a farm and remained until his death. 
In politics, he was an old line Whig, of the Henry 
Clay stripe; was a member of the M. E. Church, 
and also a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm 
and received a common school education. When 
nineteen years old he commenced clerking for 
A. W. Cook, of Berlin, and remained with him 
one and a half years; from there went to New 
Berlin, where he formed a partnership with Mr. 
Cook, under the firm name of Cook & Bevans; 
remained together till 1865, when the partner- 
ship was dissolved; he then clerked for him until 
he sold out to Ross, Thon ifc Co. In 1866, he 
formed a partnership at Old Berlin with J. D. 
Batty; remained for eleven and a half years, sold 
out to W. B. Price & Co., then engaged to 
Hammon, Merrian & Co., wholesale grocers of 
Chicago, for a short time. He married Miss 
Caroline L. Collins, March 27, 1870, at Carbon- 
dale, daughter of Rev. N. G. Collins, a Baptist 
clergyman. She was born in Wheeling, Vir- 
ginia, October 2, 1850. They had one child — 
Edwin F., born September 12, 1871. 

Henry Boston^ farmer, post office, New Ber- 
lin, w^as born in Hanover, Germany, 1816. In 
1844, he left his native country, coming to 
America in a sailing vessel, being nine weeks in 
making the trip; landed in New Orleans, and 
from there went to St. Louis, by steamer, arriv- 
ing January 6, 1845, where he engaged to drive 
team. The following March he came to Island 
Grove township, where he worked on a farm for 
Captain James Brown, and remained with him 
four years; rented land of a man by the name of 
Staley two years; after renting three years of 
Dr. Brown he purchased eighty acres where he 
now resides; since that he has bought adjoining 
land, that he has now in one body six hundred 
and fifty-six acres, which is valued at $50 per 
acre. For his first wife he married Miss Char- 
lotte Vondi, who was born in Germany. They 
had four children, three of whom are living: 
Louisa, Ilammon H. and Sarah Jane. Mrs. 
Boston died June 27, 1861, and for his second 
wife Mr. B. married Mrs. Minnie Salie, October 
5, 1871. She was born in Frankfort-on-the- 
Rhine, Germany, in 182.3. In politics, he is a 
Republican, and a member of the German 
Lutheran Church. Mr. Boston came to the 
country a poor man, but by hard work and econ- 
omy has accumulated a fine property, and is one 
of the large and well-to-do farmers of the town- 
ship. 

J. IE. Coons, farmer and stock-raiser, post 
office, New Berlin ; was born in Woodford county. 



Kentucky, November 21, 1818; son of Martin 
and Margaret (Grirasly) Coons, natives of Ken- 
tucky. They had five sons and three daughters, 
five of whom are living. In the fall of 1826, 
his father became dissatisfied with the institii- 
tion of slavery, and left Kentucky with his 
family for the far west; came with a spike team, 
camping out on the way, and arrived in Morgan 
county about the first of December, locating 
eight miles north of Jacksonville, on Indian 
creek. He moved into a log cabin, twelve by 
fourteen feet, where they remained one year. 
Thei'e were ten in the family. He made a claim, 
and afterwards sold out and bought one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, made a home, and re- 
mained imtil his death, which occurred in 1863. 
In an early day he used to go to St. Louis for 
his groceries, taking grain which he exchanged 
for his goods. Mr. C. came to this country in 
limited circumstances, having but $17 in his 
pocket, with a large family, and in a strange 
country; but with a strong arm and good con- 
stitution, he pulled through, and accumulated a 
fine property at his death. In 1844, J. E. mar- 
ried Miss Lacy Hays, daughter of John Hays, 
of Ohio; they had two children, John M., and 
Lucinda. Mrs. Coons died in May, 1847. For 
his second wife, Mr. C. married Miss Clarissa 
McDaughlin, who was born in Kentucky, De- 
cember 18, 1828. There are six children: Mary 
E., Susan C, Henrietta, William G., David and 
Edward. In 1847, Mr. Coons came to this county 
where he rented for one year, then purchased 
his present home, where they havei'esided since; 
has two hundred acres of land, all of which is 
under a high state of cultivation, valued at $60 
per acre. 

L. W. Fulton, M. D., New Berlin, was born 
in Loudon county, Virginia, on March 6, 1837; 
son of William and Mary (Elgin) Fulton. He 
was twice married; by his first wife there were 
two children: Lee M., and Mary E., who was 
married to Robert Lynn, of Virginia; she died 
in 1879. By his second marriage there were 
three children, viz: William, a physician; 
Robert, a professor of elocution, of Kansas 
City, and Arthur. His father was an old line 
Whig, and at the time of the Democrat organi- 
zation joined the Democrat party and affilliated 
with them until his death, which occurred July 
17, 1864. In early life Dr. L. W., attended 
school until he v^^as seventeen years of age, 
then left his native place and came to Paris, 
Illinois, where he became acquainted wath Dr. 
Shubal York, and commenced reading medicine; 
he remained two years, then went to Kentucky, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9(j7 



where he remained until 1863 or '04; then he 
attended a course of lectures at Ohio Medical 
College. The following fall commenced the 
practice of medicine in New Haven, Kentuckj^, 
in company with Dr. J. Gore, where he remained 
until he came to this State; still pursuing his 
practice until 1869, when he attended a course 
of lectures at Rush Medical College at Chicago. 
He graduated there, since which time he has 
followed his profession in New Berlin. He 
married Miss Annie E. King, a daughter of 
David and Sarah King; she was born in Illinois, 
and they have three children: Annie Lee, 
Charles R., and Percy K. In politics the 
Doctor is a Democrat, and Mrs. Fulton is a 
member of the Baptist Church in New Berlin. 

Siginuiid Gibhart, farmer and stock raiser; 
post office. New Berlin; was born in the State of 
Baden, Germany, April 13, 1836. In 1854, he 
left his native country and came to America in 
a sailing vessel, being on the water forty days; 
landed in New York, where he remained two 
days; from thei-e he went to Rah way. New Jer- 
sey, where he worked on a farm and in a black- 
smith shop. Hearing favorable reports from 
Illinois, he concluded to try his fortune on its 
prairies; came to Island Grove township, where 
he worked by the month most of the time, for 
Dr. Gibson. In February, 1862, he married Miss 
Jennie Fisher, born in Germany, in 1843; there 
were eight children, three of whom are living: 
John, Martha, and Jacob. 

Mr. G. rented land until 1866, when he pur- 
chased the place where he now lives; has one 
hundred and twenty acres of land, all under a 
good state of cultivation; it is valued at |50 per 
acre; raises about seventy acres of corn, seven- 
teen acres of wheat, and fourteen acres of oats. 
In politics, he is a Republican, and is a member 
of the Roman Catholic Church, of New Berlin. 

John M. Gregory, liveryman, New Berlin, 
was born in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, on 
the 15th day of October, 1837. Son of William 
and Sarah (Pierce) Gregory ; father a native of 
Virginia, and mother of North Carolina. They 
emigrated to Sangamon county in 1848, where 
they stopped on the head of Lick creek a short 
time. Thence went to McDonough county, Illi- 
nois, where they spent two years, then removed 
to Sangamon county, wnere they bought land; 
is at present living in New Berlin. Mrs. 
Gregory died May, 1869. The subject of this 
sketch married Miss Minerva L. Reynolds, a 
daughter of Joseph Reynolds, of New Berlin. 
She was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, in 
1838. The fruits of this marriage was one 



child — Wiliam E. Mrs. Minerva L. Gregory 
died in 1867. He again married Miss Rachel 
J. Hodgerson, a daughter of William and Jane 
Hodgerson, of Sangamon county, where she w^as 
born, in 1844. By this union there were four 
children, viz : Lee A., Sarah J., Nellie and 
Maud. In politics, he is a Democrat. His 
property in New Berlin is valued at §2,500. Mrs. 
Gregory is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. Mr. Gregory has fourteen livery horses, 
and one carriage, one hack, and seven buggies. 

George Hart, farmer and stock raiser, section 
thirty-three, post office New Berlin, was born in 
Prussia, Germany, April 1, 1821, Avhere he 
worked on a farm until 1853; then left his native 
country and came to the United States. He 
landed in New Orleans; thence by steamer, up 
the river to St. Louis; then to Jacksonville, where 
he worked by the month, on a farm, for a man 
by the name of Richards, one year; rented land 
until 1865. Bought a farm in Morgan county, 
where he remained until 1879; then bought his 
present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all 
under a high state of cultivation, and valued at 
$50 per acre; has a fine orchard of five acres; 
raises sixty acres of corn, sixty acres of wheat, 
and five acres of oats; has one hundred hogs, 
fifteen cows, and six horses. 

Ferdinand Keller, farmer and stock raiser, 
post office. New Berlin, was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, May 29, 1831. He followed farming until 
1854, when he left his native country for the 
United States, coming in a sailing vessel; was 
caught in a storm, and forced to run into Portu- 
gal for repairs; remained one week; was one 
hundred and eighteen days in reaching New 
Yoi'k. From there he went to Easton, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was employed in a foundry; 
remained six weeks, then went to Toledo, Ohio, 
for a few months, where he was employed by a 
railroad company in building a depot and track; 
then came to this township, where he worked six 
years, by the month. In 1859, he married Miss 
Frances Deitrich, who was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, in 1838. They have had seven children, 
viz.: Thomas, Agnes, Mary, Rosa, Maggie, Jo- 
sephine, and Annie. After marrying, Mr. K. 
rented near Old Berlin, where he remained four 
years; then, in 1863, bought his present place of 
forty acres, which he has increased, until now he 
owns two hundred acres, all of which is under a 
high state of cultivation, and valued at 860 per 
acre. He came to this country in limited cir- 
cumstances, commenced at the lower round of 
the ladder, and by good judgment has accumu- 
lated a fine property and home, and is one of the 



968 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



prosperous farmers of the county. He is a mem- 
ber of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Maurice Lee, farmer and stock raiser, was horn 
in county Limerick, Ireland, in April, 1842. He 
came to the United States in 1855; landed in 
New York, where he remained a short time; 
from there went to New Jersey, where he at- 
tended school, and remained five years. In 
August, 1860, he came to Morgan county, Illi- 
nois, and lived two years; in 1862, came to New 
Berlin, where he rented until 1865; then pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land on 
the wild prairie, which he has succeeded in 
bringing under a high state of cultivation. He 
married Miss Emeline Campbell, who was born 
in this county, November V, 1848. They have 
had ten children, seven of whom are living, viz: 
Johnny, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, Barbara E., 
Annie, and Maurice. In politics, Mr. Lee is a 
Republican, and was once the nominee of the 
party for supervisor. He raises one hundred 
acres of wheat and thirty acres of corn ; has fifty 
hogs, ninety-seven head of stock, and nine horses. 
Mr. Lee came to the county a poor man, but by 
hard work and good management, has accummu- 
lated a fine property. 

John Martin, f aimer, section thirty-one, post 
ofKce, New Berlin, was born in Cambridgeshire, 
England, March 25, 1819; was a son of Thomas 
M. and Mary (Harrison) Martin, natives of Eng- 
land, They had eight children, seven of which 
are living. In 1850, Mr. Martin came to the 
United States and stopped in Morgan county, 
where he worked by the month. In 1856, bought 
his present place, where he has resided ever 
since; has forty acres of land under a high state 
of cultivation, valued at |i60 per acre. In 1859, 
he married Miss Nancy Jackson, a native of 
Indiana; her parents came to the State in 1823, 
and located in Morgan county; she was born 
March 25, 1820. They have one child, John 
William, born in this county, April 1, 1860. 

Mrs. Martin died and Mr. Martin married Miss 
Eliza Wonderlick, born in Germany, January 31, 
1819; they have had eight children, four of 
whom are living, Christ., William, Caroline, and 
George. 

In politics Mr. M. is a Democrat, and a mem- 
ber of the German Lutheran Church. 

John Mc Ginnis, farmer and stock raiser, post 
otiice. New Berlin, was born in County Clare, 
Ireland, June 24, J 824; came to the United 
States in May 1847, in a sailing vessel; after 
leaving Liverpool was caught in a storm, and 
was driven onto the northern part of Ireland, 
where they were detained one week; then started 



cut and made the trip in eighteen days, landing; 
in New York, where he remained a short time; 
then went to Monmouth county, New Jersey, 
and worked for Dr. Arthur V. Conover about 
four years on a farm ; then came to Jacksonville, 
Morgan county, Illinois, where he worked on a 
farm for six months; was next employed at Mor- 
gan Mills for six months; afterwards was em- 
ployed on the farm of Stephen Dunlap; worked 
for Theodore Stout for two years; rented land 
until 1863; then bought his first eighty acres of 
land. He afterwards bought ten acres of tim- 
ber; in 1806 bought an adjoining eighty, and in 
1876, bought his place where he lives, of one 
hundred and forty-two acres, making in all three 
hundred and twelve acres, nearly all of which is 
under a high state of cultivation, valued at $55 
per acre. He raises two hundred acres of corn, 
forty acres of wheat, thirty acres of oats. Has 
forty hogs, eleven cows and sixteen horses and 
mules. In 1850, he married Miss Ann Cain. 
She was born in Kings county, Ireland, in 1824. 
There were nine children born, seven of whom 
are living, viz: Cornelius, Daniel, Mary A., 
John, Patrick Henry, James and Rosie Ellen. 
They are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. 
McGinnis came to the country without money, 
but with a strong arm and good constitution, and 
a willingness to work, started at the bottom, and 
by hard work and good management accumu- 
lated a fine property. 

Hev. John F. Mohr, New Berlin, was born 
in Ohio, February 2, 1839; son of John and Mary 
A. Mohr, natives of Bavaria, Germany; father 
came to this country in 1830, and mother in 
1833; they were married in Munster, Ohio, in 
1834. There were four children, two sons and 
two daughters, all of whom have passed away 
except the subject of this sketch. His father 
died in 1847, and his mother died in 1864. 
When Rev. John F. Mohr was thirteen years 
of age, he attended St. Mary's Seminary at the 
Barrens for two years, then went to St. Thomas'^ 
Seminary, Nelson county, Kentucky, where he 
spent three years, then to St. Frances Seminary, 
near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he finished 
his course of studies; was ordained at Alton, 
Illinois, November 24, 1861, by Bishop H. D. 
Junker. His first charge as pastor was at 
Prairie Du Long, Illinois, where he remained a 
short time, then to Red Bud, Randolj^h county, 
where he remained six years. During the last 
eighteen months of that period was Vice-Presi- 
dent of St. Patrick's College at Ruma; also was 
President of the same institution for a short 
time. From there he was transferred to St. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9(59 



Peler's and St. Pi.urs Cathedral at Alton, where 
he remained three years, then to New Berlin, 
where he is pursuing his pastoral labors up to 
the present time. 

James R. Morrison, merchant and grain 
dealer, Bates, Illinois, was born in Butler 
county, Ohio, November 28, 1827. Son of Wil- 
liam and Martha (Mathers) Morrison, also 
natives of Butler county, Ohio, where they were 
married, about 1824. The family consisted of 
two sons and two daughters, two of whom are 
living — James R. and Martha Ann; Mary died 
in 1852, and William P. in 1848. In 1853, his 
father came to Sangamon county, and stopped 
one year in New Berlin ; bought a farm, upon 
which he lived until his death, which occurred 
in 1878. Mother died in 1876. In 1852, Mr. 
Morrison married Miss Sarah V. Auld, daughter 
of Thomas and Elizabeth (Walton) Auld, of Ohio. 
She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 27, 1833. 
They had six children, five of whom are living, 
viz : James F., William A., Mary M., Martha 
V. and Sarah C. B. After coming to this 
coimty, he followed farming four years, then 
was employed as agent, by the Wabash railroad 
company, at Bates, which position he held up to 
1881. In the meantime he handled grain, and 
various branches of business. In 1879, he 
handled one hundred and two thousand bushels 
of corn and twenty thousand bushels of wheat; 
since that time has shipped about sixty thou- 
sand bushels per year. Mr. M. says he never 
cast but two votes in his life, and one of them 
w^as for Abraham Lincoln. He has one hundred 
acres of land, all under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, valued at %h^ per acre. He has just com- 
menced in the grain business, and carries a 
stock of $2,000. 

Joseph Reynolds^ retired, farmer. New Berlin, 
was born in White county, Tennessee, April 20, 
1810; son of Joseph and Mary (Sorrels) Re3- 
nolds; parents left Tennessee in 1810 for the far 
West, coming on three packed horses, on which 
they brought all their worldly goods, wife and 
two children, and located near Edwardsville. 
There was only one log cabin north of them in 
the territory, where a man by the name of 
Starkey lived. They remained in Madison county 
but a short time, then went to Greene county, 
built a cabin north of Macoupin creek, one mile 
north of wheie Carrolton now stands; remained 
nine years; made a farm; sold out and moved to 
Madison county, one mile west of Franklin ; took 
up government land and made a home, where he 
remained until his death, which occurred in Sep- 
tember, 1862. His wife si;rvived him about four 

113— 



years. Mr. R. was a member of the Dunkard 
Church, and Mrs. R. of the Baptist. They had 
six children, five sons and one daughter, viz: 
Joseph, Samuel, Lewis, Minerva, Abraham — 
Levi, Joseph and Minerva, now living. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on a farm and 
received a good education. He remained there 
until he was twenty -four years of age, when he 
married Miss Mary W. Clark, September 17, 1833. 
She was born in December, 1815. They had six 
sons and three daughters, of whom three are 
living, viz: Elzina J., James A. and Lewis C. 
Mrs. Mary Reynolds died January 27, 1854. For 
his second wife Mr. R. married Mrs. Nancy M. 
Lankston; she was born in Scott county in 1828. 
They had six children, only one of whom is 
living — Jacob T. Mr. R. has been a farmer till 
1871, when he retired. He has held several local 
ofiices and has represented the people as their 
supervisor two terms. He has about tix hundred 
acies of land, which is valued at |30 per acre. 

John Rhea, farmer and stock raiser, post office 
New Berlin, was born in Barren county, Ken- 
tucky, July 14, 1817; son of James and Rachel 
(Jolleff) Rhea. Was reared on a farm and re- 
ceived his education in a log cabin, attending 
about three months in the winter. He married 
Miss Julia A. Starks, November 14, 1839; she was 
born in Rutland county, Vermont, June"21, 1821; 
was baptized into the fellowship of the Berlin 
Baptist Church in 1842, and retained her mem- 
bership in the same church until her death. She 
was deeply interested in the benevolence of the 
church, in ministerial education, home and for- 
eign missions; she was a true Christian woman 
of the noblest type. A large concourse of peo- 
ple attested her worth at her funeral, at Berlin, 
Rev. J. Bulkley, of Alton, officiating. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rhea had seven children, four of whom are 
living, viz: James B., Stephen E., Thomas T., 
and Martha E. Mr. R. has been identified with 
the interests of the county all his life; has seen 
the broad prairies change from their wild and 
uncultivated state, to one of the best cultivated 
counties in the State. He can remember when 
there was but one house in Waverly, and at the 
time it was called Shurtleff Point. He is a 
member of the Baptist Church, and has been 
since its organization. He has a fine farm of 
three hundred acres near New Berlin, where he 
resides. 

Thomas F. Rhea, farmer and stock-raiser, 
post office. New Berlin, is a brother of the pre- 
ceding, and was born in Jefferson county, Illi- 
nois, July 27, 1824; son of James Rhea, born 
June 3, 1780, and Rachel (Jolleff) Rhea, born 



970 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



November 16, 1783; were married in Virginia, 
November 20, 1801, and in an early day emi- 
grated to Boone county, Kentucky. In 1812, he 
enlisted in the war and was with Commodore 
Perry, at the battle of Lake Erie. After the 
close of the war he returned to Kentucky, where 
he remained until 1820, when he left his Ken- 
tucky home for the lar west, or the Sangamo 
country, as it was called at that time. He lo- 
cated in what is now Jefferson county, Illinois, 
where he remained until 1827, when he came to 
Sangamon county, where he bought and im- 
proved eighty acres of land, with a log cabin 
into which the family moved, and remained 
until he could build a more commodious one. 
He remained here until his death, which oc- 
curred February 12, 1843. They were members 
of the Emancipation Baptist Church, and were 
instrumental in organizing the first Sabbath 
school in Berlin township. They died as they 
had lived, sincere Christians. The subject of 
this sketch came to this county when he was 
three years old; was reared on a farm, and re- 
ceived his education in the pioneer school 
house. He married Miss Lucinda Wilcox. She 
was the daughter of Ellis Wilcox, a native of 
Kentucky, and was born February 15, 1825. 
They had five children, viz: Annie L., born 
August 17, 1845; Clarinda, born August 1, 1850; 
Eliza E., born April 3, 1852, and died in child- 
hood; Rebecca, born December 2, 1856, and 
died December 20, 1865; Lou, born December 
1, 1869. Mrs. Lucinda Rhea died December 7, 
1877, a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church; was respected by all who knew her. 
For his second wife Mr. Rhea married Mrs. 
Louisa Yates, a widow of Henry Yates, deceased, 
who died October 3, 1871, leaving four children: 
Henrietta, Minnie L., Grace, who died July 20, 
1872, and Laura. Mrs. Rhea was the daughter 
of Francis Arnz, who figured prominently in 
the political arena, in Cass county; held several 
local offices in the gift of the people, represent- 
ing his district in the legislature; also was ap- 
pointed Minister to Austria and Germany. Mr. 
Rhea came to the county in an early day; has 
seen it from its infancy to one of the most flour- 
ishing counties in the State. He has five hundred 
and five acres of beautiful land, all under a high 
state of cultivation, valued at -$50 per acre, and 
is one of the large and prosperous farmers of 
the county; has held several local offices, and 
represented his people as supervisor. 

Josejyh S. Smith, farmer and stock-raiser, post 
office. Bates, is the father of the j^receding, and 
was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, July 21, 1827; 



son of Joseph Smith, who was born in Loudon 
county, Virginia, October 3, 1794. His parents 
moved to Harrison county, Ky., when he was 
seven or eight years old. At the age of fifteen 
he entered a store in Paris, Kentucky, as clerk, 
and afterwards became a merchant in Frankfort. 
He was married April 9, 1822, in Franklin 
county, to Sally Taylor, who was born Novem- 
ber 22, 1807, in that part of Gallatin that after- 
wards became Trimble county, Kentucky. The 
family residence, at the time, was on a very 
elevated site opposite the city of Madison, In- 
diana, and was called Mount Bird. Joseph 
Smith and wife had four children in Franklin 
county, Kentucky, and moved to this count)' in 
October, 1834; he settled on Richland creek, in 
what is now Cartwright township, where two 
children were born. The father of Mr. Smith 
followed farming, and at the same time was in 
the mercantile business in Springfield, in connec- 
tion with James F. Bradford. He represented 
Sangamon county in the State Legislature; died 
in August 1862, on the farm where he settled in 
1834. His widow, Mrs. Sally Smith, resides with 
her son Joseph S., at Bates, in this county. 

Major Smith the subject of this sketch, re- 
mained on the farm until the fall of 1861, when 
he enlisted in the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, and 
was commissioned as Captain of Company B; 
before leaving Springfield he was promoted to 
Major, serving his country nearly three years; 
previous to the expiration of the term of service, 
they vetei'anized and the Major resigned. 

In the spring of 1865, he went to California, 
at that time he was handling corn, hauling it 
with mules from the Missouri river to Salt Lake, 
and receiving twenty-five cents per pound, or 
$14 per bushel. In 1867 he went to Abilene, 
Kansas, where he engaged in the traffic of 
Texas cattle; since 1875, he has been buying 
and driving them into Colorado and other parts, 
and handles ten thousand head a year. He has 
four hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, 
which is located near Bates Station, on the 
Wabash Railroad, valued at $60 per acre. 

JJeuritt W. Smith, farmer and fine stock 
breeaer, is a son of Joseph and Sally Smith, 
who emigrated to this county from Franklin 
county, Kentucky, and he was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, December 13, 1844. He re- 
ceived an academic education, besides attending 
Bryant & Stratton's Business College, in Chi- 
cago and St. Louis. In September, 1864, he 
married Miss Adelia McConnell, a daughter' of 
Andrew B. and Augusta McConnell. She was 
1 born in this county, February 22, 1845. They 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



971 



had four children: Sidney, Eliza, Temple, and 
Augusta. Mr. Smith is one of the large and ex- 
tensive farmers of the county; has under his im- 
mediate supei'vision one thousand eight hundred 
acres of land; raises one thousand one hundred 
acres of corn; is also an extensive breeder of 
fine blooded stock, of which he has some sev- 
enty-five head of shorthorns on his place, and 
feeds. His corn crop averages from three thous- 
and five hundred to five thousand bushels yearly. 

In the years of 18*76 and 1880, he represented 
his district in the legislature, and in 1879, was 
elected supervisor of the township; was also 
elected chairman of the board. In politics, is 
Democratic. 

John P. Stephens, farmer, post office. New 
Berlin, was born in Huntingdon county, Penn- 
sylvania, October 14, 1842; son of George W., 
and Martha (Patterson) Stephens. The family 
consisted of seven children, four sons and three 
daughters. In 1 848, his parents emigrated to 
Exeter, Scott county, Illinois, where they re- 
mained until the fall of 1875, when his mother 
died; they then came to this county. In August, 
1861, he enlisted in the Twenty-eighth Regi- 
ment Illinois Volunteer Infantiy, and served 
three years. Participated in the battles of 
Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, siege of Corinth, 
Vicksburg and at Jackson, Mississippi. After 
the war he returned to Scott county, where he 
followed farming. November 3, 1864, he mar- 
ried Miss Eliza Anderson, of Morgan county, 
Illinois, where she was born in April, 1843. 
They have had six children, five of whom are 
living: Laura B., Mary A., Ava L., Charles 
and Nellie. Mrs. Stephens died June 22, 1879, 
in this county. February 18, 1881, Mr. S. mar- 
ried Mrs. Harbour, widow of Levi Harbour, 
who was among the early settlers of Sangamon 
county. She was the daughter of Robert and 
Sarah Young, natives of Kentucky. Robert 
Young married Miss Elizabeth Breeding, in 
1818, by whom he had three children: John, 
Jane and Louisa. John died while on his way 
home from the Mexican War; Mrs. Young died 
in 1825. For his second wife, Robert married 
Miss Sarah Vigus, in 1828; she was boi-n in 
Kentucky in 1808. They had nine children, 
seven of whom are living, viz: Joan, Sarah, 
Nathan M., William A., George W., Robert G., 
and Viola. In 1830, Mr. Young left Kentucky 
for Illinois, coming through with a team, Mrs. 
Young riding on horse-back on appck and carry- 
ing her infant. They camped out on the prairies 
and did their cooking by camp-fires. He located 



in what is now Scott county, near Winchester, 
where they remained one year, then went to 
Greene county, where Mrs. Young remained. 
Mr. Y. went to the Black Hawk War; was on 
the battle-field with General Stillman, and helped 
to bury the dead. After the war he returned to 
Greene county, and in the fall of 1832 to Ken- 
tucky, on account of sickness in that county. 
He remained until ] 853, when he thought he 
would again try his fortune in Illinois. He re- 
mained until his death, which occurred in Logan 
county, in 1876. Mrs. Stephens owns one hun- 
dred and eighty-seven acres of land underagood 
state of cultivation, valued at |5o per acre. 

Ferdinand Stelte, farmer and stock raiser; 
post office, New Berlin; was born in Prussia, 
Germany, May 15, 1830. In 1857, he emigrated 
to the United States in a sailing vessel, and was 
seven weeks and four days on the water. He 
landed in New Orleans; thence, via steamer, to 
St. Louis, from there to Alton, then to Spring- 
field, where he engaged to work by the mouth. 
In 1863, he married Elizabeth Knust, who came 
to this State one year previous; she was born 
October 24, 1845. There are seven children: 
Mary, born January 31, 1864; Gertrude, May 
14, 1866; Francis, October 8, 1869; Minnie A., 
September 13,1872; Ann M., September 27, 1875; 
Maria C, April 16, 1878; August J., March 13, 
1880. After his marriage, Mr. S. rented for four 
years, then bought his present place, of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, valued at $60 per acre. 
He is a member of the Catholic Church. 

Francis Taylor, farmer and merchant. New 
Berlin; was born in Fairfield, county, Connecti- 
cut, on the 27th day of November, 1821; son of 
Daniel and Sally Taylor, natives of Fairfield 
county, Connecticut, where they were married, 
and eight children, were born, four sons and four 
daughters, three of whom are living: Edward W,, 
now of Fairfield, county, Connecticut; William 
H., now a resident of Boston, and Francis. His 
father was a boot and shoe manufacturer and 
farmer. In politics, was an old-line Whig; his 
parents died in Connecticut, after living together 
more than a half century. 

Francis was raised on a farm, and received an 
academic education. In 1845, he married Miss 
Henrietta B. Morehouse, a daughter of Samuel 
T. Morehouse; she was born in Connecticut, in 
1827. By this union there were four children, 
viz: Mary C, Albert J., Frank I., and Edward 
H.; Mrs. Taylor died in 1862. He was again 
married, to Harriet R. Rumsey, a daughter of 
Aaron B.; she was born in Fairfield county, 



972 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Connecticut, in 1839; by this marriage there were 
four children, viz: Charles R., William F., Har- 
riet S., and Frederick D. Mr. Taylor came to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1851; the imme- 
diate vicinity of New Berlin was sparsely settled, 
there being but one store building in the village 
when he located and made a farm, and afterwards 
engaged in the real estate business; has nine 
hundred acres of land in Sangamon county, all 
of which is under cultivation, valued at $65 per 
acre; the present season he has four hundred and 
fifty acres of corn on his place. In 1881, he 
embarked in the mercantile business, in company 
with his son, where they carry a stock of dry 
goods, boots and shoes, and everything that is 
usually carried in a village store; carries a stock 
of 110,000. Mr. Taylor is a large dealer in 
western land, owning between two and three 
thousand acres. 

Mr. Taylor has been identified with the county 
thirty years, and has seen the various changes. 
By good management he has accumulated a tine 
property, and is one of the large and well-to-do 
business men of the county. In politics, he is a 
Republican. 

J. V. Thon, furniture, tin-ware and stove 
dealer, Berlin Illinois, was born in Prussia, 
Germany, December 12, 1833. When twenty- 
four years of age he came to the United States 
in a sailing vessel, and was forty-nine days in 
making the trip, landing in New Orleans. The 
vessel, having cholera on board, he had to re- 
main on board for several days. He remained 
but a short time in New Orleans, then went to 
St. Louis, where he worked a short time, then 
came to Jacksonville, where he worked at any- 
thing he could get to do. He married Miss Eva 
Rodenheber, who was born in Hesse Darmstadt, 
Germany, July 29, 1845; they have two children 
John, born January 10, 1867, and Katie, born 
June 22, 1868. He is a member of the Catholic 
Church of New Berlin, and in politics is a Dem- 
ocrat. Mr. Thon has a property valued at |3,000. 
Carries a stock of ii^3,000, of furniture, stoves and 
tin-ware. 

William 31. Warren, banker. New Berlin, 
Illinois, was born May 27, 1828. Son of Wil- 
liam B., who was born in 1802, and Ann (Price) 
Warren, born in 1811. They were married in 
Scott county, Kentucky, in 1827. They had 
five sons and seven daughters, five of whom are 
living, viz : William M., Phil., now of Spring- 
field, a farmer and stock dealer; Maria A., now 
Mrs. William A. Turney, of Springfield; Louisa, 
now Mrs. Thomas Booth, of St. Louis ; Agnes, 



now Mrs. V. M. Kenney, of this county. In 
1833, the parents of Mr. Warren left their Ken- 
tucky home, in wagons, and located in Jackson- 
ville, Morgan county, Illinois. Mr. Warren was 
an attorney at law, but, on account of poor 
health, never followed his profession. 

Major Warren was a man of action as well as 
words, and at the time of the breaking out of the 
Mexican war, was one among the first to give his 
services. Colonel Hardin, W. B. Weathertield and 
Major Warren organized the First Illinois Regi- 
ment. Colonel Hardin was to have command of 
the regiment, W. B. Weatherfield Lieutenant- 
Colonel and Mr. Warren Major. Mr. Warren 
participated in the Mormon war, and acted as 
Assistant Adjutant General. After the Mexican 
war was over he was elected Clerk of the Supreme 
Court, which oflice he held six years. He returned 
to Jacksonville where he dealt in real estate, and 
remained until his death, which occurred April 
12, 1865. 

The subject of this stetch attended school in 
Jacksonville until he was seventeen years old; in 
the meantime had fitted himself for surveying, 
which he followed from 1845 to 1866, being 
employed most of the time in Sangamon, Morgan 
and Cass counties. In 1849, he married Miss 
Prescilla A. Hitt, daughter of Samuel Hitt, of 
Kentucky, who came to Morgan county in 1832. 
She was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, 
October 19, 1829. They had eleven children, six 
of whom are living, viz: William B., a prac- 
ticing physician of Old Berlin; Sally, Robert H., 
John F., Maggie and Agnes. In 1854, Mr. 
W. left Morgan county and came to Sangamon 
county, where he located on a farm, in the mean- 
time, following surveying. In 1865, he was 
admitted to the bar, practiced in the circuit 
courts, and still follows his profession. In 1877, 
he embarked in the banking business, in New 
Berlin. In politics, he is a Democrat, and has 
held several local ofiices of trust in the gift of 
the people; has been supervisor eleven years, and 
five of those was chairman of the board. Mr. 
Warren has fifteen hundred acres of land in this 
county, all of which is under cultivation, valued 
at $50 per acre. 

Lieutenant James H. Yates, farmer. New Ber- 
lin township, was born in Island Grove town- 
ship, this county, son of Thomas and Nancy 
(Higgins) Yates, natives of Kentucky. He was 
reared on a farm, and received a good business 
education. In 1861, he enlisted in the Twenty- 
sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
Company D, and participated in the battles of 
Island No. 10, siege aud battle of Corinth, Jack- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



9V3 



sonville, Mississippi, and Mission Ridge. At 
the expiration of his term of service, he re-en- 
listed in the Sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, Company C, and was commissioned as 
First Lieutenant. On the 22d day of July, he 
was struck by a musket ball in the wrist; re- 
turned home on a furlough; while returning to 
his regiment, was detailed at Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, to take through a thousand head of cattle 
to Sherman's army, making him too late to go 



with Sherman to the sea, but later he joined him 
at Hilton Head, North Carolina; afterwards 
made a raid through the State, and at the termi- 
nus of the war, was mustered out in North Car- 
olina, being discharged and paid off in Spring- 
field. He married, in 1868, Miss Barbara Dei- 
bert. She was born in Germany in 1845. They 
had six children, four of whom are living: 
Frederick, Philip, Hawes, and Mattie. In poli- 
tics, he is a Republican. 



974 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XLIV. 



TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE OF PAWNEE. 



Pawnee township is located in the extreme 
southeastern part of the county, and was one of 
the earliest settled townships in the county. 
The soil is a deep black loam, well adapted to 
the raising of corn. The township is watered 
by Brush, Horse and Clear creeks, the former 
entering the township on section twenty-one, 
township thirteen, range five west, and passing 
in a northeast direction emerges on section two, 
same township and range. This creek was so 
named on account of the brush along its banks, 
which was so thick in the early day as to make 
traveling quite dilhcult. One branch of Horse 
creek enters upon section thirty-five, township 
thirteen, range five west, and the other upon sec- 
tion thirty-two, township thirteen, range four 
west, uniting on section twenty, the latter town- 
ship and range, runs almost due north, emerging 
on section six, township thirteen, range four west. 
Tradition says the creek was so named from 
the fact that the dead body of a man was found 
on its banks at a very early day in the winter, 
and the next spring the horse was found upon 
its banks which the dead man had ridden. 

Justus Henkle was the first settler in the 
township. He was born about 17*7 5', in Vir- 
ginia. Elizabeth Judy was born about 1778, in 
Randolph county. They wei'e married in Ran- 
dolph county, Virginia, and had eleven children 
in Virginia, and moved from there to Belleville, 
Illinois, in the fall of 1817. They moved from 
there to the San-ga-ma country, arriving about 
the middle of March, 1818, at the west side of 
Horse creek, in what is now Pawnee township, 
about one mile north of Pawnee. Mr. Henkle 
made improvements there, ard entered the land 
when it came into market. Mr. Henkle died in 
1842. His son, Jacob, now owns the old home- 
stead, and lives near by. 



Martin Baker was the next settler after Henkle, 
and came the same year. He settled on the 
southeast quarter of section nine. Mr. Baker 
was from Tennessee. He only remained here 
about three years, when he returned to his native 
State. 

William Baker came next, and settled upon 
the same quarter with Martin. He subsequently 
moved to what is now Rochester township, 
where he remained a few years, and then moved 
to Texas, where he died. 

George Dixon was among the number who 
came in 1820. He subsequently moved to 
Buck Hart, where he died. 

Joseph Dixon was among the earliest settlers 
on Horse creek. He was the principal mover 
in establishing Zion Chapel, in Cotton Hill 
township, to which he afterwards deeded five 
acres of land for church and cemetery purposes. 
His family are buried there, buthedied in 1844, 
at the house of a daughter, near Franklin, Mor- 
gan county, Illinois, and was buried there. 

Elisha Sanders was also among the early 
settlers. He was born January 16, 1804, in 
Green county, Kentucky. He was married Jan- 
uary 17, 1824, in the same county, to Jane 
haucett. They had three children there, and 
moved to Sangamon county, December 16,1829, 
and stopped two miles west of Springfield. 
Elisha Sanders was for many years a licensed 
preacher, previous to May, 1863, when he was 
ordained, at Horse creek regular Predestinarian 
Baptist Church. 

Joseph Durbin was born about 1776, in what 
afterwards became Madison county, KentxTcky, 
He was married there to Elizabeth Logsdon, and 
moved his family to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
arriving in 1829, and settled in what is now 
Pawnee township. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



The south half of Pawnee was entirely un- 
settled up to 1850, but is now thickly settled 
and under a high state of improvement. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The township of Pawnee was settled some 
six years before the school-master came, the 
first school being held in an upper room or loft 
of the log cabin of Justus Henkle, in 1824. John 
Johnson in the summer of that year succeeded 
in gathering some ten or twelve children to- 
gether, and in»the room mentioned, endeavored 
to instil into their mind the difference between 
A and B. From this loft the next step was the 
old log school house, a description of which has 
been so often given, where are slab seats so high 
their feet could not touch the floor, without 
backs, and on one side the house a small opening 
covered with greased paper for window light, 
the old fire place, almost large enough to hold a 
quarter of a cord of wood, which the older 
scholars were often required to furnish, here 
they were instructed in the three R's — readin', 
'ritin', and rithmetic. In reading it mattered 
not what book was pi'ovided, anything would do; 
in wi'iting the teacher who occasionally could 
scarcely write his own name, made pot-hooks 
and other symbols for those who were desirous 
of learning how to write. No arithmetic was 
required, the teacher having the only copy nec- 
essary, and he would give out the "sums" for 
one to figure and instruct the scholars "how to 
do them." All this has been changed in the last 
quarter of a century. The old log school house 
has given place to the more modern frame or 
brick, and the modern appliances for the school 
room has been provided in nearly all the school 
houses. Outside of the village in district num- 
ber one, there is a graded school worthy of 
almost any town. Within the limits of this dis- 
trict, in Pawnee township, in 184*7, there were 
but two dwelling houses, one by William Brad- 
ley, on the north side of the creek, and the other 
by Elisha Sanders, on the south side. Between 
these two men there was a competition for the 
custom of the stage line from Springfield to 
Vandalia, by way of Seward's Point. In 1850, 
J. J. Megredy and Colby Smith, settled lower 
down on Brush creek. Smith on the land now 
occupied by Alfred W. Curtis and Megredy near 
his present location. In 1851, a log house was 
purchased on Lick creek, removed to and erected 
on a lot on the northeast corner of the northeast 
quarter of the southeast quarter of section three, 
for a school house. The school section remain- 
ing unsold, and there being no money in the 



township for school purposes, it w^as necessary 
the school should be taught gratuitously. The 
first term was taught by J. J. Megredy in the 
winter of 1851-2. He had some twelve or fifteen 
scholars on his roll. The spring and summer 
following, school was taught iDy Miss M. A. 
Thompson, a niece of the present Judge Matli- 
eny, the principal part of the salary being paid 
by Mr. Megredy and Mr. Smith. The second 
winter term was taught by B. F, Fox, Jr., and 
the summer term by Mr. Smith. 

In 1852, the school section having been sold, 
the township was laid out into districts, [and the 
settlement around Brush creek became the first 
district. Megredy, Smith and Courtney were the 
first directors of the district. 

A tax was assessed, by order of the directors 
of District No. 1, of thirteen or fifteen, for 
the purpose of raising means for the erection of 
a new and better school house. An effort was 
made by certain speculators to stay the collec- 
tion, but without avail. A house eighteen by 
twenty-two feet was framed and placed upon the 
location agreed upon by the citizens interested, 
when by some means a special act of the legis- 
lature was secured, providing for the removal of 
the house to the prairie, beyond the reach of any 
family living in the district. The provisions of 
the act were carried out, and the house was re- 
moved. Those interested in having a school at 
once took steps to secure the passage of an act 
by the legislature empowering the directors to 
sell the house, which was accordingly done, it 
being purchased by J. J. Megredy, and by the 
district removed to the present location of the 
school building, on the northwest corner of sec- 
tion two, township thirteen, range five. 

In 1856, the district was named Oak Ridge, 
and the school house then erected and occupied 
became known as the Oak Ridge school house. 
It was used until 1873, when it was sold at pub- 
lic sale, and purchased by Charles H. Lamb, for 
•1^34, and a new and more substantial edifice Avas 
erected, which was enlarged in 1879, to meet the 
increasing demands for school room. From 
1879, the school has been classed as a graded 
school, Thomas McElvain being employed as 
principal, and occupying the position at the 
present time. There are one hundred and 
twenty-eight children in the district, eighty-five 
of proper school age. The school in its grade is 
reported by the County Superintendent as first 
class. 

The township is now well supplied with good 
school buildings, and in educational progress is 
equal to any in the county. 



976 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



KELIGIOUS. 

The first religious services ever held in Pawnee 
township was in 1819. The well known eccen- 
tric divine, Lorenzo Dow, while traveling in the 
west, and on a visit to Fort Clark, now Peoria, 
came to this neighborhood and preached one of 
his characteristic sermons. Revs. Rivers Cor- 
niack, William Sims, Peter Cartwright and other 
Methodist divines often visited the township in 
the early day, and preached the word of God in 
the cabins of the settlers before even school 
houses were known. There are two church 
edifices in the township, and over twenty in a 
radius of eight miles of Oak Ridge; and two re- 
ligious denominations represented — the Metho- 
dist Episcopal and Presbyterian, each having a 
bouse of worship. 

The first regular preaching appointment in the 
Oak Ridge or Brush creek neighborhood was in 
1854, at the house of J. J. Megredy. A class 
was soon organized, embracing the following 
named: Charles Nuckolls, Daniel Megredy and 
Katie, his wife; Mrs. Lucinda Megredy, J. J. 
Megredy and A. R., his wife; Jacob J. Weber 
and Elizabeth, his wife; Colby Smith aud Eliza, 
his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of the class, were 
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. Previous to 1857, the meetings were 
held at the house of Mr. Megredy, when the ap- 
pointment was removed to the school house and 
continued until 1869, when a church was built 
nearly opposite, on the southwest corner of sec- 
tion thirty-five; in size, thirty-four by forty-six 
feet, at a cost of $2,300. The following named 
have served as pastors since 1855: Elder Peter 
Cartwright, A. Bradshaw, Jay R. Bird, William 
Pallett, R. Clark, J. S. Barger, W. P. Paxton, 
Elder W. S. Prentice, John Burgess, A. C. Ar- 
mentrout, S. S. McGinnis, George Stearn, Henry 
C. Wallace, W. Y. Hickox, J. B. Wolf, S. W. 
Druegan, G. B. Wolf, B. F. Hyde, and J. Q. 
Roberts, the present incumbent. The following 
named are the stewards of the church: P. W. 
Weber, J. H. Colean, W. R. Lockridge, Daniel 
Jones, W. R. Ford, T. B. Shepherd, and Hiram 
Walker. 

A Sunday school was organized in connection 
with this church about 1855, and has continued 
to the present time. For several years it has 
held sessions during the entire year. G. P. 
Weber is the present Superintendent. 

The Brush Creek Presbyterian Church was 
organized Decmber 31, 1870, by Rev. W. D. 
Saunders, of Springfield Presbytery. Those 
composing the membership on organization 



were, R. S. Brown, Sarah A. Brown, Charles G. 
Brown, Virginia A. Brown; John Brown, Mary 
A. Brown, William Poe, Margaret Ann Poe, 
Annie PI. Poe, James Clark, Jane Clark, Mary 
A. Clark, Horace Wells, Ellen Wells, Charles 
H. Wellfi, Job Fletcher, Francis Fletcher. R. 
S. Brown and Job Fletcher were electsd elders. 
A house of worship was completed in 1870, at a 
cost of 12,900. It is a frame structure, thirty- 
two by forty-eight feet. The following named 
have served as pastors : Revs. William T. 
Tarbet, Aaron Thompson, Jones Herbut, and G. 
Pollock. Rev. W. A. Dunning is the present 
supply. The present membership is forty-four. 
A revival of great power was held in Novem- 
ber and December, 1871, resixlting in about 
sixty conversions, some of whom united with 
the Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Pres- 
byterians. A Sunday school has been in opera- 
tion since April, 1871. Its average attendance 
is forty-five. Charles H. Wells is the superin- 
tendent ; John Brown, secretary and treasurer. 
The first church edifice was destroyed by fire, 
July 11, 1872. A second house of worship was 
erected the following fall, and completed January 
1, 1873, at a cost of |2,700. It stands on the 
same foundation as the first building. 

PAWNEE CIRCUIT, ILLINOIS CONFERENCE, M. E. 
CHURCH. 

Pawnee circuit was formed of the eastern 
portion of Chatham, Sangamon county, and the 
southwest of Bethel circuits. Christian county, 
in the year 1867, including Zion Chapel on 
Horse creek (an appointment of about fifty 
years standing, and at one time the eastern 
boundary of the old Sangamon circuit,) Oak 
Ridge, on Brush creek, and Pawnee Church, at 
the village of Pawnee. 

Pawnee Church is the outgrowth of a revival 
held in the winter of 1864-5, conducted by Rev. 
W. M. Reed, of the Chatham circuit, and was 
commenced by Rev. James Guner, of Bethany 
circuit, and completed in 1865. Mr. Guner was 
succeeded by Rev. A. Orr, in 1866. These ap- 
pointments were in the district of which Rev. 
Peter Cartwright was the presiding elder. 

On the organization of the circuit. Rev. 
George Stevens was appointed as pastor. The 
first quarterly meeting was held at the McMur- 
ray chapel, November 16, 1867, and was in the 
circuit of Rev. J. L. Crane, presiding elder. 

I'he first oflicial board of the circuit was. Rev. 
J. L. Crane, P. E.; George Stevens, Pastor; 
James J. Megredy, Secretary and Recording 
Steward; P. W. Weber, William H. Veatch, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



911 



Samuel Ridgeway, Wesley Iludgen, Hiram W. 
Walker, James t. Scott, J. J. Megredy, T. B. 
Shepherd, Stewards; W. Scott Matthew, local 
preacher. 

In 1868, Rev. W. S. Prentice was the presid- 
ing elder, and Henry C. Wallace, pastor. Mem- 
bership, two hundred and fifty. 

In 1869, John B. Wolfe was pastor, and Oak 
Ridge Church was built. 

In 1871, A. C. Armentrout, pastor. The 
value of the church property this year was esti- 
mated as follows: Four churches, $9,800; pas- 
torage, Si, 800; total, $11,600. 

In 1872, Rev. W. McElfresh was appointed 
presiding elder, with G. W. Dungan, pastor, and 
W. S. Matthew, local pi-eacher. 

In 1875, George B. Wolfe was pastor; James 
Scott and William Winters, exhorters. 

In 1876, Rev. W. II. H. Webster was ap- 
pointed presiding elder, with George B. Wolfe, 
pastor. 

In 1878, B. F. Hyde was pastor; membership, 
two hundred and five. 

In 1879, J. T. Roberts, pastor. 

In 1880, Rev. W. S. Prentice, presiding elder; 
J. T. Roberts, pastor. 

In 1881, the appointments were continued. 
Number of members, tAvo hundred and eleven. 

Present board of stewards: P. W. Weber, 
W. Weber, W. R. Ford, T. B. Shepherd, A. P. 
Curtis, W. R. Lockridge, D. G. Jones, J. H. Co- 
lean, W. Stickel, William Winter. 

MORAL. 

In the early history of the western part of the 
township at Oak Ridge, on Brush creek, whisky 
was sold in any quantity by Jacob Greenwalt, 
whose house was a place of public resort, and 
the prominent characteristic of the people was 
whisky drinking, which continued until subdued 
by the steady, moral influence of those who 
atterward became citizens of the neighborhood. 
At the present time not one of the permanent 
citizens of Oak Ridge school district is in the 
habit of using spirituous liquors as a beverage. 

OAK RIDGE POLICE. 

During the war the farmers of Sangamon and 
neighboring counties suffered much from what 
was supposed to be an organized gang of horse- 
thieves. The citizens of Ball and Pawnee 
townships living near Brush creek, organized 
the Oak Ridge police force June 14, 1864, 
having for its object the suppression of theft, 
the recovery of stolen property, and to secure 
the immediate protection of the laws. Among 
those taking an active part in its organization 

114— 



were J. J. Megredy, Joseph J. Weber, .Tosiah 
Lard, Samuel Davidson and J. Campbell. The 
follow^ing named were elected officers: Jacob 
J. Weber, Chief of Police; Thomas B. Sliep- 
herd, Rape Funderburk, Samuel Davidson, John 
P. Crocker, Assistants; Josiah Lard, Treasurer; 
J. J. Megredy, Secretary. The organization 
continued to exist and held its meetings with 
more or less regularity until September 25, 1876. 
Between Auburn and Oak Ridge fourteen per- 
sons Vi^ere arrested for stealing horses during the 
time of its active existence, and much good 
was done. 

DARK DEEDS. 

Pawnee township has been disgraced by two 
foul murders since its settlement, that of John 
Baker and John H. Sanders, an account of 
which is given in chapter XX, imder the head of 
"Dark Deeds." 

MILLS. 

Justus Henkle built a small water grist-mill on 
section five, town thirteen north, range four 
west, on Horse creek, in 1822, with one run of 
stone. The stone was one picked up on the 
prairie, and was chipped with an axe. This was 
the first water-mill in Sangamon county. Mr. 
Henkle subsequently built two horse-mills for 
the purpose of supplying the demand. 

ORGANIC. 

Pawnee township was organized in 1861, and 
was composed of the west half of township thir- 
teen, range four west, and all of township thir- 
teen, range five west. In 1869, some twelve sec- 
tions on the west were taken from it and given 
to Auburn. The following named have served 
in the offices and for the time mentioned. 

1861. — A. S. Davenport, Supervisor; James J. 
Megredy, Town Clerk; James Campbell, Asses- 
sor; Edwin Doolittle, Collector; Wm. Humphrey, 
C. M. Campbell, Justices of the Peace; Edwin 
Doolittle, John W. Nuckolls, Constables; W. B. 
Fox, Overseer of Poor; Garred Young, T. J. 
Nuckolls, Wm. Speak, Commissioners of High- 
ways. 

1862. — A. S. Davenport, Supervisor; James J. 
Megredy, Town Clerk; James Campbell, Asses- 
sor; Edwin Doolittle, Collector; James Benning- 
ton, Constable; Wm. Speak, Commissioner of 
Highways. 

1863. — A. S. Davenport, Supervisor; James J. 
Megredy, Town Clerk; James Campbell, Asses- 
sor; W. H. H. Bennington, Collector; Thomas 
Kenney, Constable; Garred Young, Commis- 



978 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



sioner of Highways; C. D. Nuckolls, Overseer of 
Poor. 

1864. — Elisha Sanders, Supervisor; J, J. Me- 
gredy, Clerk; James Campbell, Assessor; R. E. 
Sanders, Collector; F. M. Ogden, Constable; Dr. 
W. C. Johnson, Overseer of Poor; James Ben- 
nington, Commissioner of Highways. 

1865. — J. W. Lochridge, Supervisor; J. J. Me- 
gredy. Clerk; James Campbell, Assessor; W. H. 
H. Bennington, Collector; Edwin Doolittle, H. 
C. Barnes, Justices of the Peace; J. J. Warren, 
John McKain, Constables; Dr. John Wheeler, 
Overseer of Poor; James A. Able, Commis- 
sioner of Highways. 

1866. — James Campbell, Supervisor; J. J. Me- 
gredy. Clerk; S. C. Pioctor, Assessor; W. H. 
H. Bennington, Collector; Dr. W. C. Johnson, 
Overseer of Poor; John McKain, Constable; 
Garred Young, Commissioner of Highways. 

1867. — H. R. Davis, Supervisor; James Camp- 
bell, Clerk; S. C. Proctor, Assessor; Geo. Hart- 
sock, Collector; J. C. Griffith, Overseer of Poor; 
M. A. Davis, Commissioner of Highways. 

1868. — Garred Young, Supervisor; James 
Campbell, Clerk; Philemon Stout, Assessor; 
James A. Able, Collector; W. D. Patton, Com- 
missioner of Highways. 

1869. — J. J. Megredy, Supervisor; S. C. 
Proctor, Clerk; Edwin Doolittle, Assessor; W. 
T. McClure, Collector; Edwin Doolittle, J. L. 
Stephens, Justices of the Peace; J. J. Warren, 
Chas. L. Megredy, Constables; J, B. Ogden, 
Commissioner of Highways. 

18*70. — Garred Young, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Town Clerk; S. C. Proctor, Assessor; 
W. J. Wheeler, Collector; H. R. Davis, Com- 
missioner of Highways. 

18V 1. — W. K. Campbell, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Clerk; James Campbell, Assessor; I. 
W. Porter, Collector; W. D, Patlon, Commis- 
sioner of Highways. 

1872. — W. K, Campbell, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Clerk; J. B. Ogden, Assessor; M. A. 
Davis, Collector, W. H. Jones, Commissioner of 
Highways. 

1873. — Garred Young, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Clerk; J. B. Ogden, Assessor; Turner 
Saunders, Collector; J. L. Stephens, Wm. J. 
Wheeler, Justices of the Peace; J. J. Warren, 
Constable; H. R. Davis, R E. Sanders, Com- 
missioner of Highways. 

1874. — Garred Young, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Clerk; D. M. Hamlin, Assessor; J. J. 
Warren, Collector; H. R. Davis, Commissioner 
of Highways. 



1875. — J. L. Stephens, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey Clerk; James A. Able, Assessor; Joseph 
Christopher, Collector; James Burt, Commis- 
sioner of Highways. 

1876.— D. W. Porter, Supervisor; J. W. 
Blakey, Clerk; James Able, Assessor; Joseph 
Christopher, Collector; Wm. H. Jones, D. H. 
Starkweather, Commissioners of Highways. 

1877. — H. R. Davis, Supervisor; J. W. Blakey, 
Clerk; James A. Able, Assessor; C. W. Nuck- 
olls, Collector; Wm. J. Wheeler, C. I. Pulliam, 
Justices of the Peace; J. J. Warren, Constable; 
W. W. Scott, Constable; R. E. Sanders, Com- 
missioner of Highways. 

1878. — H.R. Davis, Supervisor; J. W. Blakey, 
Clerk; Wm. K. Campbell, Assessor; Wm. L. 
Keisacker, Collector; Wm. H. Jones, Commis- 
sioner of Highways. 

1879.— H. R. Davis, Supervisor; J. W. Blakey, 
Clerk; William K. Campbell, Assessor; L. A. 
Seely, Collector; John Dozier, Commissioner of 
Highways; J. B. Weber, Justice of the Peace. 

May 20, 1879, M. A. Bridges was elected 
Justice of the Peace in place of J. B. Weber, 
refusing to serve. 

September 25, 1879, J. R. Barnes was elected 
constable, in place of J. J. Warren, resigned; 
George Young was elected Commissioner of 
Highways, in place of John Dozier, deceased. 

1880. — H. R. Davis, Supervisor; J. W. Blakey, 
Clerk; William K, Campbell, Assessor; Michael 
Martin, Collector; Joseph Dodds, Commissioner 
of Highways. 

1881.— H. R. Davis, Supervisor; J. W. Blakey, 
Clerk; William K. Campbell, Assessor; Michael 
Martin, Collector; William H. Nichols, Justice 
of the Peace; Green A. Call, Constable; Dunean 
McTaggart, D. H. Starkweather, Commissioners 
of Highways. 

VILLAGE OF PAWNEE. 

The village of Pawnee originally comprised, 
according to the plat, the south part of the 
northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of 
section seven, township thirteen, range four 
west, and is pleasantly situated, and surrounded 
by a good country. Being several miles from 
any market, and the country being well settled, 
Samuel Fullinwider commenced here the sale of 
merchandise, in 1854, the store being under 
charge of J. R. Mengel, Mr. Fullinwider resid- 
ing at Chatham. The neighborhood, at this 
time, was known as the Horse creek precinct, 
and its school house as the Horse creek school 
house. The next thing after starting a store 
here, was to have a post office. The post office 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



979 



depailmtnt was accordingly pelilioncd for tbe 
esiablifehment here of an office, to be known 
as the Horse creek post office. For some cause, 
the department objected to the name, and wrote 
to James W. Keyes, tben postmaster at Spring- 
field, asking his opinion as to the advisability of 
establishing an office here, and asking him to 
suggest a name. He suggested Pawnee, and 
thus it Mas named. Isaac Mengel was made 
postmaster, and held the office until the spring 
of 1866, when he was succeeded by J. W. 
Blakey, who continued to serve until October, 
1869, when he w^as succeeded by J. F. Smith, 
who served until 1876, when James A. Abel was 
appointed, Mr. Abel was succeeded, December 
1, 1877, by W. E. Purcell, who discharged the 
duties of the office to September 1, 1878, when 
Dr. Charles Kerr was appointed, and served till 
in February, 1881, and was succeeded by John 
W. McClure. The office was made a money 
order office in August, 1881, and Gilbert C. 
Drennan secured the first order, in favor of the 
Journal Printing Company, Springfield. 

A blacksmith shop, by Newton Rape, was the 
next addition to the village, followed by a 
wagon shop, by Isaac R. Mengel. 

SCHOOLS. 

A log school house was built here at an early 
day, and succeeded in a few years by a frame 
building. The school here was known as the 
Horse creek school. The house was used by the 
various religious denominations who desired to 
hold services therein. The district was organized 
in 1853, since which time free public schools 
have been held. The present school house was 
built at a later day, and the school was graded 
upon opening in the new house, into two grades. 

BELIGIOUS. 

The religious element of the place is repre- 
sented by the Methodist Episcopal Church, a 
sketch of which is given in connection with the 
township, as part of Pawnee circuit. 

POST OFFICE. 

The post office was established here sbortly 
after Mr. Fullinwider started his store, and 
Isaac R. Mengel was appointed postmaster. He 
was succeeded by J. W. Blakey, who served 
from the spring of 1866 to October, 1869. J. F. 
Smith was then appointed, and served until 1876, 
and was succeeded by James A. Able, who per- 
formed the duties of the office until the appoint- 
ment of W. E. Purcell, December 1, 1877. Mr. 
Purcell retained the office until September 1, 
1878, when Dr. Charles Kerr, the incumbent. 



was appointed. The office was made a money 
order office, in August, 1881. 

Henry C\ Barnes, post office, Virden, iNIa- 
coupin county, was born in Devonshire, England, 
March 18, 1835; his father, Arthur Barnes, was 
also a native cf Devonshire, England, and was 
born in 1792; he served under Wellington in the 
battle of Waterloo, as a commissioned officer; 
his mother, Mary (Clark) Barnes, was born in 
1608, in the same place; she belonged to the 
same family of Adams as did John and John 
Quincy Adams; they were married in England, 
in 1822, and had six children, as follows: Wil- 
liam C, John C, Mary J., James, Henry C. and 
Emily. Henry C. came to this country in 1846; 
landed at Quebec; came to Chicago, and from 
there to Grafton, Jersey county; thence to Jack- 
sonville, where he engaged in the marble busi- 
ness, attending school a part of the time; then 
went to Shurtleff College, where he took a class- 
ical course, and afterwards taught school at 
Alton, and elsewhere, April 11,1861. Remar- 
ried Miss E. J. Dobbs, daughter of John W. and 
Martha Dobbs, and their six children were: 
John L., born February 16, 1862; Annie E., 
March 5, 1865; Arthur E., August 24, 1866; 
Mary Jane, July 4, 1868; George W., September 
21, 1870, and Bertha R., February 14, 1873. 
Mrs. Barnes died June 5, 1878, and February 2, 
1879, Mr. Barnes married Elizabeth Dayton, nee 
Brockman, daughter of Zurrath and Isaac 
Brockman; they have one child, Emily H., born 
March 8, 1880, Mr. B. owns three hundred and 
twenty acres of valuable land, and is engaged in 
general farming and feeding cattle and hogs for 
market, 

John W. Blakey, post office, Pawnee, was 
born December 30, 1S41; his parents were John 
M, and Frances Blakey, natives of Culpepper 
county, Virginia; they were married and moved 
to Missouri about 1839; they had seven children, 
four sons and three daughters, all living, one of 
whom was a physician, two merchants, and one 
farmer. John W, was the sixth child, and was 
born in Howard county, Missouri; he remained 
there until July, 1864, then went to St. Louis to 
attend Commercial College; he graduated in 
October, 1864, having previously attended Cen- 
tral College, and was within six months of grad- 
uating when the war broke up the college. In 
1865, he came to this county and settled at Paw- 
nee, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits; 
this he has continued to the present time. May 7, 
1867, he married Amanda E., daughter of Philip 
W, and Amanda E. Weber, who was born in 
this county March 3, 1846, and was educated at 



980 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Pawnee. They have had three children, Annie 
May, born April 22, 1808, and died September 
5, 1868; Edgar L., born April 16, 1871, and 
Charles L., born May 4, 1875. Mr. B. was 
elected town clerk in 1870, and at each succeed- 
ing election since. 

William K. Campbell, post office. Pawnee, 
is a son of Charles M. and Agnes (Shank) 
Campbell, natives of Princeton, New Jersey. 
The father was born in September, 1796. The 
date of the mother's birth is unknown. Their 
children were John, born in New Jersey about 
1820; James, 1822; William K., 1824; Charles 
M., 1828, and Cornelia, 1833, The subject of 
this sketch was the third child, and came to 
Jersey county, Illinois, about 1840; remained 
there until about 1853, w^hen he came to this 
county, bought land, and made a farm. Mr. 
Campbell has been three times married. His 
first wife was Miss Abbie Minier, who died May 
5, 1847, leaving one child, Agnes, born April 15, 
1847. The second wife was Mary E. Noble, who 
died July 12, 1859, leaving five children, viz.: 
Julia P. Agnes K., Charles A., William H., and 
John S. Mr. C. married Miss Clara E. Gale, 
July 12, 1860. She was the daughter of Gard- 
ner and Sophronia Gale, natives of Vermont. 
The father was born in 1804, and the mother in 
1806. The children of Mr. Campbell's third 
marriage are: Archibald A., born February 9, 
1861; Mary S., August 3, 1863; Gardner G., 
April 1, 1865; Gardner W., March 21, 1867; 
Walter E., January 31, 1869; Philip W., March 
21, 1871; Clara Lorena, December 13, 1873. 
Agnes died April 6, 1849; Mary S., January 19, 
1866; Gardner G., January 29, 1866; Gardner 
W., August 25, 1872, and Julia, September 1, 
1874. Mr. Campbell is of Scotch and German 
origin, and Mrs. C. of English. She had good 
educational advantages, having attended the Bor- 
dentown academy. His son, Archie, attends 
mostly to the farm. Mr. C. was supervisor of 
Pawnee township for two years, and is at pres- 
ent filling his third term as assessor. 

Randolph M. Calliss, post office, Virden, is a 
son of Randolph W. and Hester Calliss, the for- 
mer born in Virginia, March 16, 1817, and the 
latter in Pennsylvania, September 4, 1820; they 
were married in Ohio in 1838, and had seven 
children, as follows: Randolph M., born August 
30, 1839; Joseph J., born June 30, 1841, and died 
April 8, 1868; Elizabeth E., born April 18, 1844, 
died July 4, 1874; Margaret M., born August 30, 
1846, died April 26, 1874; Robert S.,born March 
20, 1849; John V., born June 13, 1851; James 
W., born October 2, 1853. They came to Jersey 



county, Illinois, in 1846. The father died Januaiy 
25, 1855, and the mother October 9, 187o. Ran 
dolph M., was the first child and came with his 
mother to this county November 15, 1858, where 
he married Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and 
Honor Orr, February 6, 1868, the former born in 
Virginia May 29, 1814, and the latter in Ten- 
nessee, May 7, 1815. They had five children, 
viz: Cora*^H., born March 4, 1869; Honor E., 
born October 13, 1871, died June 7, 1880; Fred- 
die, born March 26, 1874, died April 12, 1874; 
Edwin J., born August 26, 1875, died May 13, 
1880, and Maggie A., born January 23, 1878, died 
April 24, 1880. Mr. Calliss is of English and 
Scotch origin, and Mrs. Calliss of Welch and 
German. He owns eighty acres of land, valued 
at |50 an acre. Mr. C. was in the One Hundred 
and Twenty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
during the war. 

James Clark, post office, Virden, was the only 
child of John and Janet (Garrow) Clark, natives 
of Scotland; the mother was bora about 1783. 
He came to America with his mother, in 1853, 
and landed at New York; went to New Jersey 
for three years; came to Jersey county, this 
State, in 1856, and in 1857, came to this county, 
where he has since resided. June 20, 1843, he 
married Miss Jane Whyte, in Scotland, daughter 
of David and Jane Whyte. They have had f our 
children, namely: James W., born July 26, 1844; 
Jane, March 7, 1847; Mary A., August 8, 1851; 
Lizzie, July 31, 1859, died, August 24, 1866. Mr. 
Clark was naturalized in 1860, and cast his first 
vote for Abraham Lincoln. He owns two hun- 
dred and eighty acres of valuable land; buildings 
large and commodious; makes a specialty of 
raising and feeding cattle for market; also deals 
in stock on speculation; both himself and wife 
had good educational advantages. 

Moses A. Davis, post office Pawnee, son of 
Luther and Annie M. Davis, the former born in 
Vermont, the latter in New York. Moses A. 
was the fifth child, and born in Erie county, 
Pennsylvania, from there came to Indiana, 
thence to Tazewell county, thence to Jersey 
county, finally locating in Sangamon county, in 
1854, in Pawnee township. He was married in 
February, 1861, to Miss Emma Lough of Jersey 
county; they are of English extraction. Their 
children are, Frederick, born October 20, 1862; 
Charles, born September 25, 1864; Addie E., 
born November 26, 1869; Fannie, born Decem- 
ber 26, 1871; Mary, born May 5^6, 1876. He 
owns three hundred and twenty acres of land, 
worth '1i>50 an acre. The advantages of edu- 
cation of himself and wife were limited. 



HTSTORr OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



981 



Henry R. Davis, post office, Pawnee, was 
born in St. Lawrence county, New York, Octo- 
ber 14, 1832. His parents were Luthe r and 
Anna M. Davis; the father born in Chittenden 
county, Vellnoiit, and the mother in Herkimer 
county, New York. They were married in St. 
Lawrence county. New York, and had eight 
children, six sons and two daughters. They 
came to Tazewell county, this State, in 1841, re- 
mained there three years, then moved to Jersey 
county, residing there ten years, and in 1854 
came to this county, where they entered land 
and made the farm adjoining where the son now 
resides. November 10, 1859, Henry R. married 
Miss Susan Williamson, who was born in Ohio, 
February 1, 1837. She was a daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Catharine S. Williamson, natives of 
Pennsylvania. Children, Luther K., born Janu- 
ary 8, 1863; Olive J., November 19, 1865; Flor- 
ence N., February 9, 1868; Ida Mary, July 14, 
1871; Benjamin F., February 1, 1875;^ and Edna, 
January 26, 1880; Benjamin F. died March 21, 
1877. Mr. Davis is supervisor of his township, 
and has been for several terms. He owns six 
hundred and fifty acres of land, valued at $40 
an acre. Mrs. Davis, and infant son, died Au- 
gust 18, 1881, and are buried in Horse Creek 
Cemetery. 

Samuel Davidson, post office, Pawnee, is a 
son of John and Elizabeth (Hall) Davidson, the 
father born in South Carolina in 1778; date of 
mother's birth unknown. They bad nine 
children, Lunnie, Samuel, Letitia, Elizabeth, 
William, Martha, John, Rachel and Elisha. 
Samuel was the second child, and born in 
Tennessee, October 19, 1821. He moved with 
his parents to Macon county in 1826, where his 
father rented ■ land and commenced farming; 
remained there a short time, then moved to 
Macoupin county. In 1850, Samuel married 
Amanda Nuckolls, daughter of John and Ann 
Nuckolls, who came from Virginia to this State 
and settled in this county. Mr. and Mrs. D. 
have had nine children, as follows: Ann E., 
born April 25, 1851; John D., January 25, 1853; 
George W., March 12, 1855; Emma A., March 
25, 1858, married to Samuel J. Stout August 31, 
1881 ; Samuel M., September 5, 1861 ; Thomas J., 
March 4, 1864; Amanda, May 26, 1869; Miriam 
M., October 5, 1868; Charles C, June 5, 1872; 
John Douglas, died November 26, 1869. Mr. 
D. owns two hundred and forty acres of land, 
valued at. §50 an acre. Himself and wife have 
had very good educational advantages. 

David A. Drennan, M. D., post office Pawnee, 
was born in this county, February 2, 1851. His 



parents were John L. and Nancy J. (Dodds) 
Drennan, who were natives of Caldwell county, 
Kentucky, and of Irish descent; father was born 
February 18, 1808; mother was born January 
30, 1819; they were married in this county, De- 
cember 15, 1842 and had six children, all sons, 
viz: George L., Benjamin F., Gilbert C, Charles, 
David A., and Alfred L. David A. was the fifth 
child, and was brought up on a farm. September 
6, 1876, he married AJiss Fannie White, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth White, of Christian 
county, who was born February 21, 1853. They 
have one child, Arthur Ray, born March 27, 1881. 
Mr. Drennan attended the district schools until 
he was seventeen years of age, then Lincoln 
University until the end of his sophomore year; he 
commenced reading medicine at Pawnee; studied 
one and a half years, and then attended Rush 
Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois, during the 
winters of 18 72, '73, '74 and '75, where he gradu- 
ated, February 16, 1875; since which time he has 
practiced at Pawnee. His system of practice is 
known as the " regular," or alopathic, and he is 
meeting with good success as a practitioner. 

Joseph Gattan, post office. Pawnee, son of 
John A. and Annie E. Gattan, born in Kentucky, 
married about 1821. The fruits of this marriage 
was eight children three sons and five daugh- 
ters, two deceased. The subject of this sketch 
was the third child and born in Sangamon coun- 
ty, June 12, 1829, and was raised on a farm. He 
married Miss Mary E. Harper, daughter of 
James Harper, born in Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois. The fruits of this marriage was five chil- 
dren, two sons and three daughters, all living, 
Martha J., Ann E., Sylvester O., John H., Etha 
A. Occupation, farmer. First wife died, and 
he was again married to Miss Rebecca McNeally, 
now deceased. 

Mrs. Charlotte Griggs was born in New Jer- 
sey, April 22, 1821; daughter of John C. and 
Dorotha Hamilton; the former born at New 
Jersey, July 17, 1788, and the mother of the 
same place, in 1795. They had ten children, 
namely, Alexander, Martin V., John, James, 
Elizabeth, Charlotte, Jane, Ann, Mary, and 
Phoebe; James died at the age of nine months, 
Jane and Ann after arriving at maturity; Alex- 
ander died in 1865, and John, about 1850. Char- 
lotte was married in Madison county, Illinois, 
March 4, 1846, to Mr. Samuel Griggs, son of 
Samuel and Sarah Griggs, who were born in 
Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and they have 
had six children. John, born in Jersey county, 
Illinois, January 2, 1848; George A., September 
4, 1850; Edward D., February 22, 1853; Samuel 



982 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



H., September 28, ISr.O; Nellie A., in 1862 and 
died in August, 1864; and Jerome T. born in this 
county, December 20, 1865. Samuel Griggs, Sr., 
died March 17, 1867. Mrs. Griggs was of Scotch 
and French ancestry. They settled in this 
county in March, 1865, having purchased the 
farm where they now live. She owns one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, and is connected 
with the Baptist Church. 

Jacob Henkle is the eleventh born and fifth son 
of Justus Henkle and Elizabeth (Judy) Henkle, 
who were natives of Virginia, from whence they 
removed to Belleville, Illinois, in the fall of 1817, 
and in the middle of the following March, moved 
to Sangamon county, locating on the west side of 
the court house, in what is now Pawnee town- 
ship. Here Mr. Henkle made improvements and 
when the land came into market, entered a tract 
and opened up a farm. Jacob Henkle was born 
in Randolph county, Virginia, July 25, 1812, and 
was therefore but six years of age when his father 
landed in the then uninhabited wilds of Sanga- 
mon county. At the age of nineteen young 
Jacob enlisted in the Black Hawk war, serving 
three months, from March 1831 . Something over 
five years later, November 20, 1836, he was united 
in marriage to Nancy Hatchett. They have had 
ten children, all born in Sangamon county, whose 
names, in the order of their birth, are as follows: 
Dicey E., John Y., Diana F., Martin V., Sarah 
J., Elvira, Harrison H., Mary A., Amanda and 
Laura A. Mr. Henkle is the oldest resident of 
Sangamon county, having lived here for over 
sixty-three years, and is classed with the county's 
most successful and wealthy farmers. He is the 
rightful owner of five hundred and five broad 
acres, well improved, and spread out over as fine 
an agricultural belt as can be found in the great 
grain producing State of Illinois. Mr. Henkle's 
first tchool days were spent at a school held in 
the loft of his father's house. Soon after this a 
school house was erected, the material of which 
was obtained by each parent contributing logs in 
proportion to the number of children in the 
family, of school age. 

Andrevi J Hiner, postoflice, Pawnee, was born 
in Virginia, May 23, 1816, and is a son of Anthony 
and Mary M. Hiner, natives of Pennsylvania; 
the former was born in 1781; the grandparents 
moved from Pennsylvania, about 1788; their 
children were, Elizabeth, Mary, Joel, Andrew J., 
Samuel, Rebecca, Catharine, Lucinda, and Betsy; 
Mary, Betsy and Samuel are deceased. Anthony 
Hiner moved to Indiana in 1831, and died there 
in 1837. Andrew J. came to Scott county, Illi- 
nois, and worked as a farm hand; died the same 



year. In 1843, hemarried Miss Margaret, daugh- 
ter of William and Elizabeth Jackson, who came 
from Tennessee in 1828 or '29; they were of 
German and Irish extraction. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hiner had one child, James, who was born 
March 28, 1845, and died November 2, 1876, 
aged thirty-one years. Mr. Hine>r owns four 
hundred acres of land, the accumulation of his 
own and his wife's industry and economy; he 
came to this county in 1845, purchased land, and 
entered more on the prairie; he is of German 
extraction. 

Daniel T. Soppin, post ofiice. White Oak, 
Montgomery county, w^as born in Lebanon, 
Madison county, New York, in 1819; his father, 
Curtis Iloppin, was born in Guilford, Connecti- 
cut, July 12, 1785; his mother, Mary P. Hoppin, 
was born in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, Feb- 
ruary 11, 1787; they were married about 1807, 
and had 10 children, namely: Chandler C, Eliza- 
beth A., Siley M., Franklin B., CharUs T., 
Daniel T., Ann M., Louisa M., Mary. P., Ebene- 
zer B. Daniel was the sixth child. In 1844 he 
collected three hundred and sixty-five head of 
sheep in New York, and drove them to this 
county in ninety days, with a loss of only three 
head. In March, 1848, he married Miss Cordelia 
Bradley. Her parents came from New York to 
this county; they are of English extraction. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hoppin have had three children: Ann 
E., born February 13, 1852; George B., born 
March 29, 1862; and Chester B., born April 17, 
1867; Ann E., died January 19, 1874. Is a 
farmer; makes a specialty of sheep raising; his 
two brothers were with him and they were 
among the largest sheep raisers in the Slate. 

Patrick Howard, post office. Pawnee, was born 
about 1824; his parents were natives of Ireland; 
mother was the daughter of Martin and Mary 
Long; they had six children: Margaret, Pat- 
rick, Michael, John, Alice and Jeremiah; John 
and Jeremiah died in Ireland; Alice died in 
Ohio; Patrick came to America, landing at New 
Orleans October 28, 1851; came to Ohio, and 
lived about four years; then to this county, 
working as a farm hand for Robert North. In 
1863, he purchased land in Pawnee township, 
and commenced farming for himself. In 1 858, 
he married Miss Mary McCue, daughter of John 
and Catharine McCue, natives of Ireland. They 
had five children, viz: John, born November 
18, 1858, died July 6, 1859; Jeremiah, born No- 
vember 24, 1860, died September 24, 1861; Pat- 
rick, born November 9, 1862; Mary, March 6, 
1864; Michael, October 13, 1867. Mr. Howard 
was naturalized about 1856. He owns eight 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



983 



hundred and ninety-four acres of land, known as 
Beaver Dam — Joe Ledlie's old farm, the result 
of his own industry; feeds cattle and hogs for 
market; is quite extensively engaged in raising 
sheep for wool and mutton. Mr. Howard has 
been engaged in business for twenty-three years, 
and during all this time has never had a law-suit 
in any court in the United States. 

W-illicun C. Johnson, M. Z>., post office, 
Pawnee, was born in Callaway county, Missouri, 
December 30, 1838; his father, Thornton John- 
sun, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia. Feb- 
ruary 16, 1801, and was of English descent; his 
mother, Mildred H. (Lanham) Johnson, was of 
English descent; they were married in Fairfax 
county, Virginia, September 20, 1821. They 
had thirteen children, namely: Emily P., born 
August 12, 1822; Charles E., September 22, 
1826; Edward L., December 14, 1828; Thomas 
G., August 25, 1830; John H., March 15, 1833; 
Emeline F., May 15, 1836; William C, Decem- 
ber 30, 1838; Benjamin F., July 17, 1841; Sarah 
E., November 24, 1843; Joseph L., June 22, 
1846; Mildred H., September 11, 1849; Samuel 
F., born August 28, 1850; Edward and Samuel 
are deceased. William C, came to this county 
in the winter of 1858-59; worked on the farm 
for John C. Whitcraft, at $16 a month; com- 
menced studying medicine with William H. 
Veatch, M. D., and in 1860-61 attended Rush 
Medical College, Chicago, then returned to 
Auburn, where he married Miss Mary J. Ham, 
February 13, 1861, daughter of Roland and 
Dina Ham, the former a native of Kentucky and 
the latter of Illinois. They have had three 
children: Alice B., born May 15, 1862, in 
Montgomery county, Illinois; Minnie H., born 
September 22, 1865, and died August 2, 1866; 
Carrie G., born April 11, 1872. Dr. Johnson 
commenced the practice of medicine in Mont- 
gomery county, and removed to Pawnee in 
August, 1862; he graduated February 3, 1869. 
The Doctor has had good success as a practi- 
tioner and is devoted to his profession. He is a 
member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 620. 

Willimn H. Jones, post office Pawnee, was 
born November 24, 1824. His father, Samuel 
Jones, was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey; 
and his mother, Charlotte (Hendricks) Jones, 
was a native of the same State. They had twelve 
children: Susan, Hannah, William H., Agnes C, 
John, Sarah Ann, Louisa, Austin, Samuel, Caro- 
line, George H , Benjamin F.; Samuel died in 
1863. They came to this county in 1856; the 
father was a tailor. In 1854, William H. married 
Mrs. Julietta (Noble) Turner, daughter of James 



and Sarah Turner, who was born July 28, 1833. 
They had five children, namely: Elwood S., 
born November 1, 1855; Lewis T., October 11, 
1857; Charles H., January 28, 1859; William D., 
December 24, 1860; and Sarah J., March 21,1863, 
and died July 28, 1865. Mrs. Jones died Janu- 
ary 13, 1865. The family are of Scotch and 
French descent. Mr. Jones owns one hundred 
and fifty-two acres of land, acquired by the ex- 
ertions of himself and family. His land origi- 
nally cost seventy-five cents an acre; it now has 
first-class improvements. He has held several 
township offices. 

Albert Lorenzo Kuhisch, post office. Auburn, 
is a son of John and Agnes Kubisch ; the 
former, born in Poland Province, at Posen, Vil- 
lage of Neutasch, Kries Czarmikan, Kingdom 
of Prussia, May 7, 1787 The mother, a native 
of the same place, born October 6, 1790. They 
were married in their native place, and had 
eight children, viz : George, born April 24, 
1812; Jacob, born January 7, 1814; Kristine, 
born March 12, 1819 ; Valentin, born February 
11, 1822; Thomas, born January 24, 1823 Justin, 
born July 23, 1825 ; Peter, born April 11, 1828 ; 
Albert L, born July 30, 1831. All now dead, 
except Justin and Albert L. Father, John 
Kubisch, died November 19, 1843 ; mother, 
Hedivig Kubisch, died March 21, 1851 ; Jacob, 
March 1, 1817; Valentin, March 3, 1822; 
Thomas, July 22, 1842 ; Peter, March 20, 1851 ; 
Kristine, April 5, 1869 ; George, July l^, 1871. 
The subject of this biography was the eighth 
child, and left Poland in September, 1855 ; 
landed at New York ; from there came to Chi- 
cago, thence to Wisconsin, where he remained 
two years. In 1857, went to St. Louis ; started 
for New Orleans, and was detained at Grand 
Gulf, on account of yellow fever ; while there, 
was taken sick and sent to the hospital ; after 
being dismissed, traveled about a year through 
the Southern States, then came to this county, 
in the fall of 1860, and worked for Reuben 
Brown a year, then went to Humphrey, and 
stayed until March, 1862, when he enlisted in the 
Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and was taken prisoner, 
with part of his regiment, at Harper's Ferry ; 
was paroled, and sent, first to Annapolis, Mary- 
land, and then to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where 
he was discharged. He returned to this county, 
bought one hundred acres of land, where he 
now lives a bachelor's life. The farm is well 
improved. Mr. K. is intelligent, and especially 
well informed in ancient history; reads in the 
Polish, German and English languages, and is 
very liberal in his views of religion. Before he 



984 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



was a soldier, had traveled extensively in Russia. 
After living in this country twenty-one years, he 
returned to his native land, and visited the scenes 
of his childhood, but found so great a change 
that he felt like a stranger. Mr.K. is a member 
of the Masonic lodge, and belongs to Blue 
Lodge, No. 354, Auburn township, and also be- 
longs to Royal Lodge, No. 92. 

James M. Lewis^ son of Edden and Winnefred 
Lewis, both natives of Caldwell county, Kentucky. 
They were married in Kentucky ; mother's maiden 
name Winnefred Easley, daughter of Daniel and 
Elizabeth Easley. They had eight children: 
William R., died in 1849, James M., John W., 
died in 1860, Margaret E., Sarah, Martha A., 
Samuel, Mary, died in 1865; parents moved to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1829; bought a 
small farm, and entered other lands; mother 
died in 1835; father in 1850. 

The subject of this sketch was married four 
times, first, to Miss BarrillaM.Lockridge, March 
6, 1851, by whom he had two children: Cyrus E., 
born November, 1852; James W., 1857; ^ife 
died, May 4, 1857. Married Mrs. Emily C. Ricks, 
[nee Simpson,) August 30, 1860; had two chil- 
dren: Belle, born 1861; son died in infancy; 
wife died, April 24, 1864. Married Miss Mary 
A. Clayton in 1860; had two children:' Julia, 
born January 5, 1866; Manfred S., born 1868, 
died in March, 1877; wife died, June 20, 1868; 

He married for his present wife, Miss Malissa 
Jane Burris, and by this marriage four children 
have been born: Alice, born February 10, 1878. 
John R., June 30, 1873; Samuel B., March 15, 
1875; Adella M, February 25, 1877, died March 
24, 1880. Mr. L. owns three hundred and twenty 
acres of valuable land. 

Mrx. Jennette McTaggart, post office. Pawnee, 
is a daughter of Thomas and Jane Carsevell, 
natives of Scotland. They were married in 
18 29, and had seven children- — one son and six 
daughters, all living. Two are married and liv- 
ing in Scotland. Alexander McTaggart was born 
in Scotland, about 1834; came to this country 
with his parents. He married the subject of this 
sketch in September, 1859, and they have had 
six children: N. L., born November 26, 1861; 
Jane, October 16, 1863; Margaret R., December 
19, 1868; Amanda, October 11, 1870; John 
Thomas, July 10, 1873. Margaret died Septem- 
ber 22, 1S67; Jane, October 1, same yaar. Mr. 
McTaggart died April 15, 1874, of typhoid 
pneumonia. Mrs. McT. owns three hundred 
acres of land, valued at ^60 an acre. Ttiere are 
good improvements. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Taggart are well educated. 



J^noch Megredy, father of James Megredy, 
was born in 1794, in Cecil county, Mary- 
land; of English and Scotch ancestry; and was 
married August 20, 1816, to Mary S. Jones, who 
was born April 7, 1798, in Cecil county, Mary- 
land; of English parentage. He engaged in 
merchandising, and about the year 1823, moved 
into an adjoining county in Pennsylvania and 
continued the mercantile business until 1832, 
when he returned to his farm in Cecil county, 
Maryland, (located on the original Nottingham 
survey), with the intention of removing to Illi- 
nois at an early date, but through the influence 
of his father, was induced to postpone the trip 
for a time. His father died in 1836, and on April 
15, 1837, started for Illinois, and landed in San- 
gamon county June 16, 1837, where part of the 
family have resided to this time (1881), on land 
purchased of Z. Peter, who was one of the com- 
missioners appointed to locate the present Capi- 
tal of the State. The farm is on section four, 
township fourteen, range five, at the confluence 
of Lick and Sugar creeks. 

James J. Megredy, son of Enoch Megredy, was 
born in Cecil county, Maryland, February 2, 
1819. Came to Illinois with his father, and was 
married December 30, 1841, in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, to Anna R. Hall, who was born in Rock- 
ingham county, Virginia, October 7, 1822. They 
had ten children. Moved from the present 
Woodside to Brush creek, (Oak Ridge), and 
settled on the present location, section two, 
township thirteen, range five, in 1851. This part 
of Sangamon county being at that time very 
sparsely settled, and some of the land unentered, 
a quarter section was entered and improved, and 
an eighty acre tract added, upon which the house 
was built in 1867, where the family now reside, 
surrounded by an intelligent and prosperous 
community. In 1856 and '57, J. J. Megredy 
was elected, with S. M. Cullom, present Gov- 
ernor, representative of Sangamon county to the 
State Legislature; and subsequently, to the board 
of supervisors; and has been continuously con- 
nected with the educational interests of the 
township since 1857. Post office, Pawnee, San- 
gamon county. 

Christian liichert, post office, W^hite Oak, 
Montgomery county, is the son of Christopher F. 
and Magdalene Richert, natives of Germany, 
the former born in 1791 and died in 1861, and 
the later born in 1793 and died in 1833. Their 
five children were: Christopher S., born Decem- 
ber 21, 1821, Gottlieb R., in 1823; Christian, the 
subject of this sketch, January 6, 1825; Fred- 
erick in 1827; Benjamin, in 1829. Gottlieb and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



985 



Frederick died in 1849. Christian came to this 
country in 1854, and after a year spent at Auburn, 
New York, came to Jersey county, this State and 
thence to this county, working first as a farm 
hand, and subsequently renting land until he 
bought where he now lives. February 2, 1853, 
he married Miss Catharine Mower, at Jerseyville, 
also a native of Germany. They had seven 
children, viz: John, born March 10, 1859; Wil- 
helmina P., born December 22, 1860, and died 
the 12th of April, of the same year; Carl Wil- 
helm, born November 17, 1862; Louisa M., July 
24, 1864; Pauline S., June 8, 1867; Edward H., 
May 9, 1872; Emma, June 22, 1874'. Mrs. K 
was born October 3, 1832 and died January 10, 
1878. Mr. R. was naturalized about 1861. His 
early educational advantages were good. He 
now owns two hundred and eighty acres of val- 
uable land, the accumulation of himself and 
family. He takes great interest in the improve- 
ment of his live stock. 

Daniel H. Starkweather, post office. Auburn, 
is a son of Asa and Louisa (Harvey) Stark- 
weather, natives of Vermont, the former born 
Jahiiafy 7, 1807, and mother, August 7, 1812. 
They were married September 4, 1834, and came 
to Morgan county, Illinois, in wagons. After 
four years' residence they removed to Jersey 
county, where they resided until their death; the 
former in September, 1845, and the latter in 
1856. They had five children, two sons and 
three daughters: Daniel H., born November 13, 
1888; Mary L., May 9, 1841; Emily, July 2, 
1843; Asa and Louisa, May 26, 1846; Louisa 
died the same year. The father entered land in 
Morgan county and improved a farm, Daniel 
H. was brought up on a farm. August 21, 1862, 
he married Lucinda Kirkpatrick, by whom he 
had two children: Emily W., born May 28, 
1863, and Amanda C, December 22, 1864, and 
died April 23, 1865. Mrs. S. died April 3, 1865, 
February 25, 1866, Mr. S. married Sarah A. Utt, 
who was born in (ireene county, Illinois. Their 
children were: Walter U., born February 28, 
1867, and died November 12, 1868; Asa E., 
March 9, 1869; Charles, November 24, 1871, and 
died December 3, following; Harry, February 
18, 1873, and died the 24th of that month; 
James, born December 30, 1876; Bessie, De- 
cember 5, 1880. Mr. S. owns one hundred and 
sixty acres of land, worth $50 an acre. He and 
his wife are members of the Baptist Church. 

Erminia M. Valentine, postottice. Pawnee, is 
a daughter of John and Mary Maddy,the former 
born in Virginia, in 1812, and the latter in Ohio; 
in the latter State, in 1835, they were married, 

115— 



and they had two children: Erminii, the subject 
of this notice, born in Gallia county, Ohio, in 
1836; and Hudson, born in the same State, in 
1838, September 20, 1855, Erminia married 
Alfred Leonard, whose parents were born in 
Virginia; they immediately came to this county, 
purchased school land and improved the land 
where she now lives. They had eight children: 
Mary E., born July 30, 1856; Charles W., born 
October 15, 1857, and died August 31, 1858; 
George A,, born November 26, 1858, and died 
September 1, 1860; Sarah F., born August 28, 
1861; James E., born July 8, 1863; Efiie L,, and 
Emma J., born September 6, 1865; and Olive 
B., August 25, 1872. Mr, Leonard died March 
21, 1873, aged 53 years, and Olive B. Leonard 
died October 7, 1881, aged nine years, one 
month and twelve days. In March, 1880, Mrs. 
L, married Isaac Valentine, who was born in 
Ohio, in 1827, She owns twohundred and forty 
acres, valued at $50 an acre, well improved, and 
everything denotes prosperity, 

John B. Weber, post oflSce, pawnee, son of 
John B. and Elizabeth Weber; father was born 
at or near Nuremburg, Germany, in 1778, and 
his mother born in Shepherd stown, Jefferson 
county, Virginia, December 30, 1790; father 
came to the United States about 1800, settling 
in Virginia; in 1805, he married Miss Elizabeth, 
daughter of Philip Shutt, and by that marriage 
there were six children, all sons, who grew to 
maturity, viz: William, born in 1807; George 
E., John B., April 7, 1810; Philip W,, Jacob J. 
and Peter S.; the two latter are deceased. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Jeffer- 
son county, Virginia, and came to this county in 
April 16, 1836, locating in Springfield; Septem- 
ber 23, 1832, in Shepherdstown, Virginia, he 
married Sarah Ann Waltz, and of his ten chil- 
dren, seven lived to years of maturity, viz: 
George William, Sarah Elizabeth, Virginia, An- 
drew J., George P., James W., Amanda M., 
Cornelia E., Benjamin R. and Charles E.; the 
two first mentioned died in Virginia in their sec- 
ond year, and Virginia died in Springfield, also 
in her second year; Andrew J. was killed at 
Vicksburg, June 30, 1863, he was Colonel of the 
Eleventh Missouri Infantry; James W. was a 
member of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, was hon- 
orably discharged, and on his way home was 
assassinated. John B., the father, learned cabi- 
net making in Maryland; followed the business 
two years in New York City, six years at Shep- 
herdstown, Virginia, and five years in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, where he was disabled by the 
loss of a hand by a buzz saw, after which he was 



986 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



elected copyist of the land records of the State; 
after following this business six years he went to 
California, in 1849; returning in the fall of 1851, 
he purchased a farm in Pawnee township, where 
he has since continued to reside, and where he 
has one of the best farms in the county; has 
been sheriff and collector — 1854-6; was Quarter- 
master and Commissary during the Mormon 
War, under Governor Ford, in the fall of 1846. 
His first wife died August 5, 1866, and Novem- 
ber 28, 1867, he married Mrs. Nancy J. Drennan, 
nee Dodds. 

George P. Weber, post office, Pawnee, is a 
son of John B. and Sarah A, Weber, and was 
born in this country, December 2, 1842; his 
parents settled in Pawnee township, where he 
remained until 1861, when he enlisted in the 
First United States Rifle Regiment, afterwards 
called Eleventh Missouri Infantry. On return- 
ing home, he married Miss Vienna Meader, 
daughter of Timothy E., and Miriam H. Meader; 
she was born in this county April 21, 1842. 
They have had five children: Mary A., born 
October 5, 1864, Sarah A., January 31, 1866; 
Timothy, June 16, 1869; Eli, April 26, 1871; 
and Eva, November 25, 1880. Mr. W. is one of 
the number of successful farmers of south San- 
gamon. He has the only herd of Holstein cattle 
in the county; he also raises Cotswold sheep and 
Berkshire swine. 

Philip W. Weber, post office. Pawnee, brother 
of the preceding, was born in Jefferson county, 
Virginia, January 28, 1812, and came to this 



county in 1837. He married Miss Amanda M. 
Shepherd, who also was born in the same county 
as he, November 8, 1811. Their five children 
are all living, viz: John P., born March 19, 
1840; Mary E., January 8, 1842; William S., 
March 11, 1844; Amanda E., March 3, 1846; 
Sarah C, February 19, 1848; Emma S., Novem- 
ber 26, 1851, Mr. Weber was at first a carpenter 
and millwright; was in California in 1849-50. In 
1851, he purchased his present farm, and he 
now owns two hundred and fifty-seven acres, 
valued at |50 per acre. Raises stock for mar- 
ket. His son, William S., served in the late 
war. Mr. and Mrs. W. are members of the M. 
E. Church, also all their children. 

John Wetizler was born December 25, 1840, 
the son of Joseph and Monicha Wenzler, natives 
of Germany, the father born January 5, 1805, 
and the mother in 1811; they were married 
about 1830, and had eight children, Christian, 
Polly, Catharine, Lewis, John, Bertie, Lena and 
Mary; Polly and Lewis are deceased. John 
emigrated to this county in 1854, and worked as 
a farm hand. March 7, 1871 he married Eliza- 
beth Clouse, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth 
Clouse, father a native of Germany, and mother 
from Ireland. They have had three children, 
John Franklin, born July 10, 1878; two died in 
infancy. Mr. W. owns two hundred acres of 
valuable land, acquired by his own industry and 
economy. He received a good education in Ger- 
many, and two terms of country school in this 
county, and is a member of the Masonic lodge 
at Pawnee. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



987 



Chapter XLV. 



TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE OF ROCHESTER. 



The township of Rochester was first settled in 
1818, It comprises township fifteen, north of 
range four west. Among the early settlers were 
James McCoy, Archibald Sattley, Robert Satt- 
ley, Oliver Stafford, William Roberts, James 
Bowling, John T. Benham, James Gregory, 
Fields Jarvis, John Warrick, Daniel Parkinson, 
Isaac Keys, Levi Gooden, Philip Clark, Ed- 
ward Clark, Andrew Jones, Andrew St. John, 
William Woods, Christopher Payne, Levi 
Locker, the Sheltons, and others. 

William Roberts was from Pennsylvania, and 
moved here in the spring of 1819. He subse 
quently moved to Adams county, Illinois, and 
there died. 

William Shelton was from Tennessee, and also 
came in the spring of 1819. He went from here 
to the lead mines at Galena, and there died. 

James McCoy was born July 25, 1791, in 
Nicholas county, Kentucky. He was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, from Kentucky, in the dra- 
goons under Colonel Dick Johnson, and was in 
the battle where Tecumseh was killed. He re- 
turned to Kentucky, and was married in Nicho- 
las county, September 15, 1814, to Jane Murphy. 
They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriv- 
ing in the fall of 1818, on Horse creek, in what 
is now Cotton Hill township. Mr. McCoy and 
Levi W. Goodan owned a wagon together, and 
each had a horse, a wife and two children, and 
both families moved from Kentucky in that 
wagon together. Their wives were two of the 
six women who came to Sangamon county that 
year, the wives of the two Drennans, Joseph 
Dodds, and Mr. Yancil being the other four. 
Mr. and Mrs. McCoy had twins there. One of 
them died in infancy. In the spring of 1819, 
they moved to what is now Rochester township. 



James McCoy died March 25, 1844, and Mrs. 
Jane McCoy died January 22, 1852, both on the 
farm where they settled in 1819, adjoining 
Rochester on the east. 

James McCoy bought the first full sack of salt 
ever sold in Springfield. He paid for it in coon 
skins. Salt was brought in sacks of about four 
bushels. His brother, Joseph E., says that he 
assisted in catching the coons, and it took all 
winter to procure enough to buy that sack of 
salt. This occurred in 1821 or 1822. 

Jabez Capps, born September 9, 1796, in the 
city of London, England, came to America in 
the summer of 1817, arriving near what is now 
Springfield, Illinois, in the spring of 1819, and 
is believed to have been the first school teacher 
in Sangamon county. He was married in 1828, 
near Rochester, to Prudence A. Stafford, who 
was born in Vermont. Mrs. Capps died May 13, 
1836. Jabez Capps was again married near 
Rochester, Illinois, September, 1836, to Elizabeth 
Baker. 

Mr. Capps was a merchant in Springfield from 
1827 to 1830, when he formed a company and 
laid out the town of Mt. Pulaski; bought his 
goods from Springfield, and continued in busi- 
ness until 1870. Mr. Capps was postmaster at 
Mt. Pulaski for fifteen years, and county recorder 
four years. He and his family reside in Mt. 
Pulaski. 

John Capps was born December 16, 1810, in 
London, England. Came to America with his 
mother, brothers and sisters, arriving in Spring- 
field, lUfnois, in November, 1830. He was 
married there September 5, 1833, to Nancy 
Clements, who was born October 2, 1817, in 
Lincoln county, Kentucky. (She is a cousin of 
Mrs. Mathew Cloyd); in 1844, moved to Mt. 



988 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Pulaski; about 1850, moved to Decatur, thence 
to Illiopolis, Sangamon county, 

Christopher B. StaflEord, was born July 22, 1797, 
at Coventry, Kent county, Rhode Island. He 
was married in Essex county, New York, in 1820 
to Laura Eggleston, who died within one year, 
and he married her sister, Sophronia Eggleston, 
and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriv- 
ing July 25, 1824, at Rochester. Mrs. Sophronia 
Stafford died, and he was twice married after 
that. His last two wives were sisters, by the 
name of Shelton. Christopher B. Stafford was 
an ordained preacher in the Baptist Church more 
than forty years. Thirty years of that time he 
was a justice of the peace, or rather a peace- 
maker, as it is said of him that he used his office 
to settle difficulties without law, although by that 
way of doing business he generally deprived 
himself of fees. He died March 17, 187u, near 
Rochester, Illinois. 

Jewett Stafford, was born January 13, 1795, at 
Coventry, Kent county, Rhode Island, was taken 
by his pai'ents in 1804, to Essex county. New 
York. In 1812, he went as a soldier from that 
county in the war with England, was in the bat- 
tle of Plattsburg, Boquet river, near Willsboro, 
his home. Jewett was married in 1818 to Har- 
riet Eggleston, in Essex county, New York. 
She was born there March 4, 1802. They moved 
to Sangamon county, arriving July, 1825, where 
Rochester now stands. Mr. Stafford died in 
1862. 

Nathaniel Graham, was born in Pennsylva- 
nia. When a young man he went to Columbus, 
Ohio, and a few years later to Fleming county, 
Kentucky, where he was married to Sarah Har- 
bor. They had eight children in Fleming 
county, and the family moved to Springfield, 
Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1826. In the 
spring of 1827, they moved three and a half 
miles east of Springfield, betwen Sugar creek 
and the south fork of Sangamon river. 

John Delay, was born in Virginia, taken by 
his parents to Bath county, Kentucky, and was 
there married to Elizabeth Branch, a sister to 
Edward Branch. She was born November 25, 
1785, near Lynchburg, A^irginia. They moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1829, and set- 
tled near Rochester. 

John Lock was born January 10, 1799, in the 
town of Farrisburg, Addison county, Vermont. 
Maria Jaquays was born August 31, 1802, in the 
same county. They were there married, January 
5, 1820, and after the lapse of a few years, moved 
to Essex county, New York. The family moved 



to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving May 2, 
1832, at Rochester. 

Daniel Parkinson came in 1820, but left about 
the time lead was discovered at Galena, for the 
lead mines, and there died. 

John and Jacob Warrick were from Kentucky, 
and were large raw-boned men, one of them 
weighing two hundred and eighty pounds. They 
were as strong as they were large. They moved 
to Adams county. 

Fields Jarvis came from the neighborhood of 
Edwardsville. He was a giant in height, being 
six feet eleven inches in height. He went north 
about the time of the lead mine excitement. 

Elias Williams, Sr., was from Vermont, and 
came to Sangamon county in 1821; and died in 
1823; aged fifty-three years. 

FIRST BORN. 

Joseph E. McCoy, son of James and Jane Mc- 
Coy, was born March 1, 1819, and was the first 
born in the township, and in the entire county 
of Sangamon. He now resides in Beloit, 
Mitchell county, Kansas. 

FIRST DEATH. 

The first death in the township was that of 
George Simpson, who died in 1820, and was the 
first person buried in the cemetery at Rochester 
village. 

FIRST ENTRIES. 

The public lands of Sangamon county were 
first surveyed in 1821, and the first sales made 
by the general government were on the 6th of 
November, 1823, at which time Isaac Keys, Sr., 
entered the northwest quarter and the west half 
of the southwest quarter of section thirty-one, 
township fifteen, range four west; this being the 
first entry in the township, if not in the county. 
November 17, Philip Clark entered the east half 
of the northeast quarter and the east half of the 
southeast quarter of section seventeen, and Ed- 
ward Clark the east half of the northwest quarter 
of the same section; and William Chilton the 
west half of the southwest quarter of section 
four. These were the only government sales in 
the township prior to 1824. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The first school in Rochester township Avas 
held in 1823, Samuel Williams being the 
teacher. A description of the school house 
where this school was kept, is given by Mr. 
Williams in his reminiscences in this chapter. 

In the year 1824, the county commissioners' 
court at the March term, in pursuance of the 
State laws, organized the township for school 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



989 



purposes by appointing Isaac Keys, Edward 
Clark and James Bowling trustees for school 
lands for township ten, range four west. 

A petition, duly signed by seventy-three legal 
voters of the township, was presented to Wm. 
F. Elkin, the Sangamon county agent of school 
lands, ordering the^teenth section to be offered 
at public sale at the court house in Springfield, 
on the fourth Monday in April, 1832, in con- 
formity with the law — the law being that the 
section could not be sold unless petitioned by 
three-fourths of the qualified voters of any town- 
ship containing not less than fifty legal votes. 
This petition was sworn to and subscribed before 
Z. Peters, Justice of the Peace. 

The proceeds of the sale of the sixteenth sec- 
tion amounted to $1,160. This fund was loaned 
at twelve per cent, till 1846, and from then till 
1850 at eight per cent, and afterwards at ten per 
cent. The interest was distributed by the com- 
missioners to the treasurers of the school dis- 
tricts, organized under the act of 1825, until 
1833, when he distributed the interest direct to 
the teachers. This method of distribution was 
continued u»til the act of 1845, when the com- 
missioner paid the interest to the township 
treasurer, and finally the fund was passed over 
to the care of the township. 

The first township trustees in office under the 
act of 1845, were Samuel Williams, Robert Bell 
and James Bashaw. Mr. Williams was appoint- 
ed township treasurer September 17, 1845, and 
was by virtue of his office, superintendent of 
schools in the township. 

There has been great improvement in educa- 
tional work since Samuel Williams taught school 
in the old log house, so aptly described by him. 
There are now in the township nine districts and 
nine school-houses, valued at 812,300. 

RELIGIOUS. 

Where and by whom the first religious exer- 
cises in the township were held is unknown,* but 
it is well-known the Methodist circuit rider, and 
itinerant preacher was here at a very early day. 
The first now remembered was a Rev. Mr. Hale. 
He was a rough man, and feared not to tell men 
they were sinners, and preach to them the con- 
demnation. He told them upon one occasion that 
he " did not come to plaster them over with un- 
tempered mortar, and he would tell them that if 
they did not repent they would all go to hell." 
Rice and Miller were also early ministers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

*Joha Cooper's house, seventeen miles north of 
Rochester; self and wife, etc. See M. D. ]\[cCov. 



There are now, including those in the village 
of Rochester, four churches in the townshij), 
represented by the following denominations, 
Methodist Episcopal, Christian and Universalist. 

HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
IN ROCHESTER TOWSHIP, 

By D. G. Kalb, from notes by M. D. Mc Coy. 

"As has very often been the case, so in regard 
to this section of our country, Methodism 
was introduced here by local preachers. As 
early as 1821, Rev. James Sims located near the 
spot where the village of Rochester now stands, 
and preached the gospel to the few early settlers 
round about, some of whom came from many 
miles distant to hear the word; and soon this 
earnest herald of Christianity formed a society 
of like faith with himself; when the Indiana 
Conference, learning of his success, sent them a 
traveling preacher, by the name of Rice, the 
first one sent among them. In 1822, he was fol- 
lowed by Rev. John Miller, and he by Rev. Har- 
grave, in 1823, and Glenville Phelps in 1824. 
In 1825, Rev. Peter Cartwright came as supply; 
then came James House, in 1827, and Rev. 
Tarken and John Sinclaire, in 1828. Then in 

1830, we find Revs. French and Lopas; and in 

1831, Rev. Sabastian; and in '32 Christopher J. 
Houts. Then from this date to 1848 we find the 
names of Moses Shunk, Peter Akers, David 
Mott, Henry Frank, Rev. Lucket, and Peter 
Ketchum (a. local); John T. Stamper, as pre- 
siding elder, and C. W. Lewis. About this time, 
before and after, these early preachers supplied 
the scattered population of territory which now 
forms contiguous counties, and parts of the 
States of Indiana and Illinois. At an early day 
we also find the names of Richard Bird, Isiah 
Haines, and George Fairbanks, as circuit preach- 
ers, perhaps on what was then called Decatur 
Circuit, and afterwards Sangamon; for in those 
days church organizations were few and far be- 
tween; and Mr. M. D. McCoy, of Rochester, in- 
forms us that the first Quarterly Conference that 
he attended as a steward from that place, was at 
a distance of forty miles and was held at Deca- 
tur. Since then hundreds of Methodist Churches 
have been erected in the territory then constitut- 
ing but one circuit, embracing all the cities, 
towns, and villages therein; and we find along 
the line, down to the present time the names of 
many well-known earnest and successful ministers 
who have at various times preached in and about 
Rochester, and organized and ministered to so- 
cieties thus constituted, in circuits of various 
names, which, at different times, embraced the 



990 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



township, or parts thereof, siicli is Methodism at 
work — as it has always been, everywhere. Most 
of the names we shall mention are found else- 
where, perhaps, in this volume; but our township 
has a claim upon their record: H. Buck, Wm. 
Travis, Mobley, Sloan, Semple, Lane, Hopkins. 
Wm. Prentis, J. C. Kimber, S. H. Clark, D. P. 
Lyon, Jonas Dimit, Newton Cloud, J. L. Crane, 
Wm, T. Bennett, John Nottingham, Wm. Mur- 
phey, Leonard Smith, T. M. Dillon, J. C. Daily, 
Wm. Curnut, G. W. Dungan; and the present 
resident pastor is Rev. J. M. Dunavan. Several 
of those named were here only as presiding 
elders, and preached at their quarterly meetings. 

"One not yet named in this connection de- 
serves special mention as a long resident pioneer 
of this part of Sangamon county, who labored 
faithfully and successfully as a local preacher, 
and has left many seals to his ministry and 
monuments of his philanthropic benevolence. 
We allude to Rev. John Cooper, who married 
many couples, and baptized more persons than 
any other one man of his day, and lived to see 
vast numbers converted and gathered into the 
Church of Christ. His record is found also in 
connection w'ith the history of Cooper township, 
as his residence was in that part of the county; 
but his Christian field was much wider in ex- 
tent. 

"The first society, or class at Rochester, of 
the M. E. Church, was formed by him and of 
which he was leader in 1821; and the first M. E. 
preacher had but four members, John Cooper 
and his wife, Nancy Giger, and one other not 
recollected, and was the nucleus around which 
grew a circuit, now composing five presiding 
elders' districts. Till the year 1827, preaching 
in and about Rochester, was done only in pri- 
vate houses, when a log school house was elected, 
and thence on till 1852, that served the purpose 
of a church. In that year the small brick one 
was built by means of general contribution, but 
under the auspices of the Universalists of the 
lilace, yet used by consent by other ministers, 
till 18V5, when the present neat and convenient 
frame house was erected at a cost of -|2,350. 
The work of Christianity among them seems to 
be permanently established in the community, 
and many of the best and influential citizens 
are its supporters. One of the earliest class 
leaders was Joseph E. McCoy, who is yet a resi- 
dent of the vicinity, and is known as 'Uncle 
Joe,' now quite old, yet hale and active, at d 
waiting to be called home. He held the office 
of leader thirty-three years, from 1821 to 1854, 
when his nephew, M. D. McCoy, was appointed, 



and has thus continued to the present time, 
thirty-two years. 

"The Sunday school was organized at Roches- 
ter in 1828, and continued for many years 
during the summer, and for the last twenty years 
during the whole year, being superintended 
most of the time by Mr. M. D. McCoy. Dr. E. 
R. Babcock, of the village, held the position 
two years, and Mrs. G. W. Dungan, the pastor's 
wife, was a very efficient superintendent one 
year. For the last thirty years this school has 
been known as the M. E. Sunday School of 
Rochester. 

"At present there are four church buildings 
owned by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
the township, and two others jnst over the line 
in adjoining ones, supported by one-half their 
membership, residing in Rochester township. 
Round Prairie, in the northwest quarter of the 
township, has long been a point of some note in 
the Christian work of Methodism, and although 
at times embraced in the work of Rochester 
circuit, it has for many years been one of the 
appointments in the Springfield circuit, and is 
at present served by Rev. A. H. Gunnett, as 
pastor. At a very early day a society was 
formed here and preaching and other religious 
services were held in a small brick school-house 
erected on an acre of ground presented by Mr. 
B. S. Edwards, of Springfield, and afterwards in 
a larger frame house, taking the place of the 
former one, removed. About the year 1860, a 
good frame house was erected upon an acre of 
ground adjoining the school-house lot, presented 
by A. H. Kalb, for that use, in accord wnth the 
will and precious purpose and desire of the for- 
mer owner, Absalom Kalb, now deceased. This 
church is known as Round Prairie Chapel. It 
cost about $1,000. The house is deeded to 
trustees agreeably to the rules of the M. E. 
Church, but ministers of various other denomi- 
nations of Christians have preached in it at 
times and the venerable Father Albert Hale, of 
the Presbyterian Church, had a stated appoint- 
ment there for a number of years, and received 
the cordial welcome and liberal support of the 
whole community, and only increasing feeble- 
ness by age caused him to discontinue his min- 
isterial services at the place. 

"Such, then, has been the history of Methodism 
in this new field, as in all others where it has 
gone in this and other lands, first on foot and 
horse-back by the early pioneers, then in gigs 
and buggies, and now more extensively by rail- 
way and steamboats. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



991 



"Its founder said, 'The world is my parish,' 
and his followers are now in all parts of the 
earth, numbered by many millions in the church 
militant, and the church triumphant. 

" 'And may her triumphs ne'er grow less, 
Nor her grand virtues ever waue; 
With sister churches onward press, 

Till they, for Christ, the world shall gain.' " 

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF ROCHESTER. 

By Elder Samuel Williams. 

"In the fall of 1831, Elder Hugh Bowles, from 
Kentucky, with his family, arrived in Sangamon 
county. During the ensuing winter, and some 
months after, he abode with his old friend, Isaac 
Baker, Sr. While remaining in this vicinity. 
Elder Bowles devoted much of his time to preach- 
ing the gospel, in different neighborhoods. 
Among the early settlers in the county, were 
many isolated members of the Church of Christ, 
of the denomination called Christians, who, since 
their arrival, had remained un-united, in a church 
capacity. After consultation with the brethren, 
and due reilection, Elder Bowles resolved to 
organize a church in this vicinity 'founded on 
the Bible, and the Bible alone, as the all suf- 
ficient and only infallible rule of religious faith 
and practice.' 

This resolution he proceeded to carry into 
effect, at a public meeting, held at the residence 
of Thomas Baker, about one and a half miles 
south of west from Rochester, on the 5th day of 
April, 1832. At the close of the meeting, Thomas 
Baker and Samuel Williams were chosen as 
Deacons of the congregation. 

"The names of those who originally united in 
the organization, were as follows: Elder Hugh 
Bowles and Mrs. Bowles, Anderson Bowles and 
his wife, Joseph, Walter and Elizabeth Bowles, 
Annie Payne, Isaac Baker, Sr., and Mrs. Baker, 
Joseph Baker and his wife, Thomas Baker and 
his wife, James Baker and his wife, Andrew 
Richards and his wife, Isaac Martin and his wife, 
William Ruddell and his wife, William Poor, 
Sr., and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Delay, Mrs. 
Deborah Stokes, Mrs. Levi Gooden, Mrs. Mary 
Williams, Sr., and Samuel Williams, and per- 
haps others whose names are not now recollected, 
after a period of more than forty-nine years, 
and the original record having been lost. Near 
the time of Elder Bowles' removal to his future 
home in Logan county, Illinois, he committed 
the care and general oversight of the church to 
Elder Isaac Martin, who, not many months 
after, with the approbation of the members, or- 
dained Andrew Richards and Samuel Williams 



as elders of the congregation. By the services 
of Elder Martin and the frequent visits of Elder 
Bowles and his zealous son Walter, and the occa- 
sional aid of several pioneer preachers of the 
Gospel, members were frequently added to the 
church, not only in its near vicinity, but also 
from distant neighborhoods. Under these cir- 
cumstances, meetings were frequently held on 
the same Sunday in Rochester, on the south fork 
of the Sangamon river, and in the Richardson 
settlement on the south side of the river. 

"At a meeting held by Elder Bowles in the sum- 
mer of 1837, near the residence of Isaac Bell, in 
the grove, he informed the brethren that after 
due consideration and counsel with the brethren 
and advised by himself and many other persons, 
Brother Williams had resolved to take part in 
preaching the Gospel; and there being no objec- 
tions, he was authorized to do so. About that 
time, as my memory serves me, Robert Bell and 
John Stokes, Sen., were set apart as additional 
elders in the church. In the summer of 1851, 
Elder P. Vawter visited the church and held a 
meeting four or five days, which resulted in 
about thirty additions. During several years 
the meetings were in private dwellings, in small 
school houses, in groves, and frequently in latter 
years, in the large and commodious barn of 
Robert Bell. In the summer of 1852 our new 
meeting house was ready for use, and on the first 
Sunday in June, as my record shows, the first 
public discourse was made in that edifice, which 
was situated just over the line, in Cotton Hill 
township ; but a majority of the members have 
always resided in Rochester township, there 
being but two members residing in Cotton Hill 
when organized. 

"In the fall of 1852, William M. Brown held a 
protracted meeting in this house, which resulted 
in more than fifty additions to the church. The 
names of those who have been employed by the 
church as preachers, since the year 1852, are as 
follows: William A. Mallory, in the year 1853; 
A. McCollom, 1854; A. Johnson, in 1855; Wick- 
lif Taylor, monthly visits, free of charge, from 
1855 to 1860; Elder Dunkinson, in 1864. In De- 
cember, 1864. Alfred Lewis, Lawson H. Smith, 
and John Stokes, Jr., were ordained as elders; 
Benjamin Auxier and J. A. Waddle, as deacons. 
In the fall of 1867, E. C. Weekly and Elder 
Moppin held a protracted meeting, resulting in 
about seventy additions. After that. Elder 
Weekly preached during the year 1868; Elder 
John Wilson, in 1870; Samuel Lowe, in 1871-72; 
E. C. Weekly, in 1873; and A. J. Kane, from 
1874 to 1881; since then, Elder W. W. Weeden. 



992 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



During the last forty years, the number of mem- 
bers in the church has ranged from one hundred 
to one hundred and lorty. Its present number 
is one hundred and thirty. The elders are John 
Johnson and I. B. Williams; and its present 
deacons are Benjamin Auxier and Mr. Hunter. 

FIRST ROCHESER CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

"As the first Rochester church formed an inte- 
gral part of the old South Fork Church, its 
early history is included in the record of that 
church. Its territory included the Round Prairie, 
Rochester, and thence south one and a half 
miles to the sectional line running east and west 
across the township. After the year 1841, the 
Rochester chui'ch was considered as an inde- 
pendent organization, its elders being Andrew 
Richards and Samuel Williams, and after 1842, 
its deacons were Samuel West and William S. 
Bashaw. In August, 1842, Elder William Brown 
held a five days' meeting in Rochester, which 
resulted in about twenty-four additions to the 
church, among whom were Benjamin West, Sam- 
uel West, Dr. B. F. Dickerson, James McCune, 
and others. Our meetings were usually held 
either in Rochester or a school house in the 
northeast corner of the township. During about 
twenty years, the church continued to prosper, 
being sustained by its own public services and 
the occasional aid of Elder William M. Brown, 
A. J. Kane, Walter Bow^les, William A. Mal- 
lory, and several other preachers. But about 
the year 1862, Elder Richards and other leading 
members having died, and I being no longer 
ab'e to preach, in consequence of failure of 
health, and the members not being able to build 
a house in Rochester, it was thought best for 
those who could be thus better accommodated to 
unite with the brethren in the German Prairie, 
and others over the Sangamon river. A good 
lueeting house was there built and a prosperous 
church organized. It may be proper to add that 
the first Rochester church was seldom disturbed, 
either by internal strife, or by contentions with 
other religious organizations. It usually con- 
tained from fifty to eighty members. 

SECOND ROCHESTER CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

" Near the close of the year 1874, there were 
some members in the South Fork Christian 
Church, who thought it advisable to sustain 
preaching in Rochester, and by the contribution 
of church members and other persons favorable 
to the effort, the services of Eider A. J. Kane, of 
Springfield, were procured one Sunday in each 
month. In this manner he served the brethren 
in Rochester four years. Near the close of De- 



cember, 1875^ he continued his meetings several 
evenings and during the last two, five persons 
obeyed the Gospel. But instead of continuing 
the interesting meeting he was under the neces- 
sity of leaving to attend a protracted meeting of 
his own appointing in Fulton county. In order 
to continue the meeting the services of James 
Logan, of California, were obtained. During a 
meeting of four weeks continuance, many per- 
sons professed faith in Christ, and were baptized. 
Before the close of the meeting Elder Kane re- 
turned, and before the departure of Elder Logan 
most of the new converts and other old members 
residing within two or three miles united together 
as a church of Christ. 

"In September, 1877, our new meeting house, 
thirty-six by fifty-six feet was ready for use, and 
the dedication sermon was preached by Elder 
W. W. Everest, President of Eureka College. 
In December, 1877, Elder P. Vawter held a pro- 
tracted meeting, which resulted in sixteen or 
twenty additions to the church. In 1878, Henry 
P. Clark and James McCune, were chosen as 
elders, and William Windsor and Samuel WolJ 
ford, deacons of the church. Elder Burton suc- 
ceeded Elder Kane as preacher for several 
months, in the year 1879, and perhaps some 
longer, and after a few months vacation. Elder 
W. A. Mallory !^ucceeded him and still continues 
to serve the church as pastor. Since the organi- 
zation of the church, nine or ten members have 
died, and many have moved to distant localities, 
while others, choosing to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season, have abandoned their religious 
profession; yet there still remains thirty-six or 
forty members faithful to Christ. The church 
is now out of debt, and the present indications 
are, that it will survive some of the degrading 
vices of the present day." 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

By D. G. halb. 

By special request of the publishers, Mr. K. 
visited a mineral spring, located in the south- 
west corner of section twenty-one, township fif- 
teen, range four, about eight miles southeast of 
Springfield, and writes of it as follows: 

"No special attention has been given to pre- 
paring the spring for public use, but the present 
owner had it walled up with brick a few years 
ago, and enclosed it with a board fence within a 
space of twelve feet square, allowing any who 
so wished to come and take water from it as they 
might desire. 

"On the 1.5tli day of October, 1881, the writer 
visited the place for observation and inquiry, in 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



995 



company with Rev. A. H. Gunnett, and was hos- 
pitably entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Olcott, who 
furnished every facility to aid him in his re- 
search. The spring is about one-third of a mile 
from the family residence, in a narrow ravine, 
through which passes a small rill heading in the 
prairie, a few hundred yards north of the spot, 
which unites with another similar stream a few 
yards south. 

"The water within the brick wall was four 
feet in diameter, and about five feet in depth at 
the time of the visit; but subsequently a small 
vein of water which seems to be of the same 
kind as that in the spring is found issuing from 
the side of the ravine, a short distance below 
the junction of the two mentioned, and, as is 
supposed, has lessened the amount that issues 
at the spring above. On making further obser- 
vations at the spot, the writer calculated that the 
level of the water in the spring is about fifty feet 
lower than the general level of the prairie a 
short distance north of the place, the lard slop- 
ing off toward the south fork of the Sangamon 
river, which is pi'obably not more than one- 
eighth of a mile distant, southward. 

" There have been numerous instances of the 
effiicacious uses of the water producing satisfac- 
tory results. Dr. Shields, of Ball township, was 
the owner of this spring many years ago, and re- 
lates that he at times, before the country was 
settled up, saw many wagon loads of persons 
from the southern part of the State, and else- 
where, that came to the spring and camped there 
for the benefit of the medical qualities of the 
water; so that more than fifty years ago it was 
renowned as valuable. But many remarkable 
cures therefrom have been known of later times, 
and numerous witnesses can be obtained to testify 
thereto. Mr. Olcott is also now using the water 
with good effect, upon himself. He further says 
that though he has fed a great many hogs, he has 
never had any cases of cholera among them, and 
he ascribes it to the fact that they have always 
had access to the water issuing from the spring. 
A similar testimony is given by his neighbor, 
Mr. Dickerson, through whose feed-lots the water 
passes. 

"The following is the testimony of the State 
Assayer and Chemist, of Massachusetts: 

'Office of S. Dana Hayes, 
State Assayer and Chemist, 
20th Street, Boston, Mass., May 8, 1869. 

To James H. Olcott, Esq., Springfield, Illinois: 

Sir — The sample of mineral water received fremyou 
has been as thoroughly analyzed as the small quantity 
would permit, with the following results: It is trans- 

116— 



parent and clear, with a sulphuretted odor and taste. 
One United States standard gallon contains 72 lo-lOO 
grains of solid mineral water, consisting of potash, 
soda, lime, magnesia, carbonic and sulphuric arids, 
chlorine and sulphur. It is a valuable and unusual 
mineral water, belonging to the class known as sul- 
phuretted saline waters, and it is certainly worthy of 
an exhaustive analysis. Respectfully, 

S. Dana Hayes, 
State Assayer of Massachusetts.' " 

REMINISCENCES, 

Jiy /Samuel Williams. 
The following incidents the writer, Rev. 
Samuel Williams, gives as facts connected with 
the early history of Rochester townuhip: 

"In the fall of 1821, in company with Elias 
Thompson, Orange Babbitt and Samuel Draper, 
with their families and some stock, we crossed 
the Wabash river near Terre Haute, and after 
traveling a few miles through heavy timber, we 
came to the eastern edge of the great Illinois 
prairie. There we saw a patch of cotton and a 
small log house, but we did not see another 
house until after traveling several days, when 
we arrived at the house of Titus Gragg, near 
what is now called Campbellsburg, in Christian 
county. 

"In March, 1822, my father and the family 
having arrived, he rented a part of Fields Jarvis' 
farm, situated in the southeast part of the town- 
ship, on the farm now owned by Benjamin 
Auxier. Further north, there was another farm, 
which was also rented in 1822, by Elias Thomp- 
son. At the north edge of the timber were the 
residences of John Warrick and Daniel Parkin- 
son, and across the prairie, further north, lived 
James McCoy, with whom his brother Joseph 
usually resided, Archibald Sattley, Robert 
Sattley, Oliver Stafford, William Roberts, James 
Bowland, John T. Benham asd James Gregory, 
Sr. Further west, Isaac Keys,Sr., Levi Gooden, 
James Vaughn, the large blacksmith, and Philip 
Clark, Sr. And in the Round Prairie, Edward 
Clark, Andrew" Jones, Andrew St. John, Wm. 
Woods, Christopher Paine, some of the Sheltons, 
Levi Locker, and a family in a house near the 
present residence of Joshua Graham. Andrew 
Johnson, the father of John and Samuel John- 
son, was a millwright by occupation, and he 
came from Scotland at an early date, and he and 
James Gregory, Sr., were the principal architects 
in the erection of Mr. Clark's mills. Besides 
these, there may have been other settlers in the 
tow^nship whom I did not know, or whose 
names 1 cannot recollect after a lapse of more 
than fifty years. 



(tOf) 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



" In those early times, there were many wild 
wild bees, wild deer, turkeys, raccoons, minks, 
muskrats, and some others, still hunted in many 
places by small parties of Indians. 

" There were also many patches of cotton and 
flax in Sangamon county. The women spun and 
wove the raw material into cloth, from which 
substantial clothing for both men and women 
was made. But cloth of a finer texture, mostly 
white, but delicately striped with bright colors, 
was also made, which was chiefly designed for 
women and children's fine dresses. When 
clothed with such dresses, the young women ap- 
peared, not only modest, but very attractive. 

" In the year 1822, there was a military com- 
pany muster in the township, at which many 
persons were present, some of whom lived many 
miles distant. Elias Thompson was captain. 
Some of the men had guns, others used various 
substitutes. Before proceeding with the exer- 
cises, there was some debating with reference to 
the choice of military tactics, some preferring 
those of Scott, and others Duane's. The per- 
formance was awkward and in some respects 
comical. After the drill was ended, the captain, 
as was customary in those days, treated the com- 
pany to two or three gallons of whisky. Soon 
after, some of the men became very boisterous, 
and several of them stripped to the pants for a 
fistic fight, but finally wiser counsels prevailed, 
and all went home peaceably. 

"There being much rain in those early days, 
there was much ague in the country. Drs. Dar- 
ling and Jayne were the first physicians, and in 
later times were Dr. James P. Kipper, and Dr. 
Todd, of Springfield. 

"In the year 1822, Rivers Cormack, a local 
Methodist preacher, and William Roberts, of 
the Baptist persuasion, were the only preachers. 
Mr. Roberts was rather eccentric, and manifested 
considerable antipathy against preachers, who 
received money as pay for their labors. He is 
said to have given it as his opinion, that ' the 
Gospel cannot be carried on silver wheels. ' 

"In the summer of 1823, I taught my first 
school, the first in the township, in a log cabin, 
located on the open prairie, on the land now 
owned by Robert Billings. In 1824, there was 
a school taught in the Sattley settlement, by 
Richard E. Barker. In 1824-5, there was a 
school taught on the south side of the river, near 
Mr. Clark's mills, by Jabez Capps, a worthy 
man, and an excellent scholar, but, as reported, 
so easy and indulgent with children in regard to 
his discipline, that his school was considered by 
some as very defective. The first school house 



on Round Prairie was built in the year 1827 or 
1828. William Jones was the first employed as 
teacher, and taught one day, when the house 
was burned down at night, supposed to be mali- 
ciously, as there had been some contention be- 
fore it was built, as to its location. 

" The following is a description of a school 
house on Sugar creek, in which I taught school 
in the year 1824: It was built of logs; was about 
fourteen by sixteen feet in size, very low; had a 
clapboard roof, kept down by poles; the chim- 
ney was made of wood and clay, with stone 
back-wall, and jambs; the size of the fire-plaee 
was about three feet by six; the house was 
daubed, both inside and out, with clay mortar, 
up to the roof. If I remember correctly, it had 
a puncheon floor below, but none above; the 
door shutter, was made of clapboards fastened 
together with wooden pins, and hung on heavy 
wooden hinges. When raising the house the 
upper and lower half of two logs, in the south 
end and west side, were cut out for window 
spaces, in which, strips of wood were placed up 
and down, on which paper was pasted, and after- 
wards greased, in order to admit the light; in 
the lower logs two-inch augur holes were bored, 
in which strong pins were inserted, as a basis for 
the puncheon writing desks or tables. The seats 
or benches, were made of split logs. There 
were two or three clapboard shelves, on which 
spare books and the childrens' dinner-baskets 
were usually placed. There was a small pun- 
cheon table and a split bottomed chair, for the 
use of the teacher. This completed the furniture 
of the room. Now all was ready for the admis- 
sion of teacher and pupils, who in those early 
times enjoyed much pleasure, and seemed proud 
when meeting together in this very modest and 
humble school house. 

" During fifty-six years, great changes have 
occurred. Then the Government had not sold 
any land in the township; now it is all owned 
by individuals. Then there were no bridges 
across the large streams and canoes supplied the 
place of ferry-boats. Then there were no mills, 
except two second-rate horse-mills; now there is 
one good steam flouring mill, four substantial 
meeting houses, nine school districts furnished 
with commodious school houses. There are now 
two drug stores, one dry goods store, two gro- 
cery stores, one good livery stable and a first- 
class flouring mill." 

ORGANIC. 

At the general election in November, 1860, 
the question was submitted to a vote of the peo. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



997 



pie, as to whether the county should organize 
under the Township Organization Law. The 
vote being favorable, Rochester, in connection 
with other townships in the county, was organ- 
ized in April, 1861. 

VILLAGE OF ROCHESTER. 

The village of Rochester is one of the oldest 
in the county. The lands on which the village 
was located were entered by Archibald and Rob- 
ert Sattley, and transferred by them to L. V. 
Ilollenbeck, one of four brothers — Lawrence V., 
Andrew F., William Henry and Henry William 
— who came to what is now Rochester township 
in 1829 or 1830. 

Shortly after arriving here L. V. Hollenbeck 
erected a carding and corn-mill and distillery, 
run by a tread wheel, and located on the small 
branch just at the north end of Water street. 

The town of Rochester was surveyed and 
platted by James Gregory, Esq., December 16, 
1831. L. Y. Hollenbeck was proprietor of all 
north of Main street. A. F. Hollenbeck, ad- 
ministrator, acknowledged the plat before C. B. 
Stafford, justice of the peace, which is recorded 
in book H, page 141 of records. 

C. B. Stafford built a two-story log cabin, 
where he kept the post office and stage stand. 
It stood on the corner of Main and Water 
streets, east of the Iron Bridge. Robert Sattley 
built his rude cabin a ehort distance to the west- 
waid of this, and near the spot where stands the 
Rochester House. A third log cabin was built by 
Micas Johnson, on the lot just west of the rail- 
road depot. Several of the primitive cabins of 
these hardy pioneers may yet be seen. 

These buildings were erected before the plat 
was made, yet were the beginning of the village. 

INCORPORATION. 

The town of Rochester was incorporated Feb- 
ruary 1, 1869, under the provision of the general 
town incorporation laws of the State, passed in 
1831, which were afterwards amended from 
time to time, and elections have been regularly 
held since that time. 

On the 3d day of June, 1873, under a provis- 
ion of the general incorporation act of 1872, en- 
titled " An act to provide for the incorporation 
of cities and villages, approved April 10, 1872 ; 
in force July 1st, 1872," the organization of the 
Town of Rochester was changed to that of the 
Village of Rochester undt r said act. The certi- 
ficate required by law was filed in the office of 
the recorder of deeds, of Sangamon county, and 
one copy with the Secretary of State. 



EDUCATIONAL. 

The first school in the territory now compris- 
ing the village and vicinity of Rochester, was in 
the winter of 1823- '4 and was taught by Richard 
E. Barker, in a log house built for another pur- 
pose, and transformed into a school house, in 
which religious services might be held. In 1826, 
this house was burnt down, and for a time the 
people had no place of meeting, and the children 
were without a school house. 

The first public school building, proper, was 
also a log cabin, built late in the fall of 1831, 
eighteen by twenty feet in size, in the most im- 
proved style of those times, having greased paper 
for window lights and one whole end of the 
house for a fire-place. However, it could boast 
of a fair quality of seats and desks made of 
sawed walnut boards. The lumber of the house 
was donated by Edward Clark, then running a 
saw-mill. The condition of the gift was that 
the house should be used as a school house, and 
if used for any other purpose, he should have pay 
for the lumber, at customary prices. But, to 
whatever uses the house was put to, no pay was 
ever given to Mr. C. for his lumber 

This house was replaced by another and more 
improved one in 1837, and the first teacher who 
occupied it was Samuel Williams, who had a 
short time before taught school in a private house. 
Several succeeding school houses were erected on 
the same site, and for some years this was the 
only school for miles around, and the little house 
was crowded, at times, with sixty and seventy 
children. 

"The second school house in the village of 
Rochester was of stone obtained at Samuel Wil- 
liams' quary on the south fork of the Sangamon 
river. In the same year this was built, one of 
frame was also built, about two miles west of the 
village, near the present south fork bridge, and 
a few rods west of the residence of John Clark, 
son of Edward, and now constitutes a part of 
John's residence. The stone house above men- 
tioned, was twenty by twenty-four feet, and was 
equal to that of any other village anywhere about. 

In the autumn of 1865, the old stone house 
was removed, and a two-story frame one put in 
its place, being twenty-six by forty feet, and 
costing $3,600. From that time the school was 
graded, and taught by a principal and assistant. 
The following have been the principals: 
Everett, Hasbrouck, Stephen Goldsmith, A. O. 
Houston, I, K. Bradley, J. J. Berry, D. W. 
Binns, W. T, Crow, Robert Bradbury, Wm. R. 
Corey, Miss L. D. Burroughs, C. P. Johnson, 
Timothy McGrath, and S. A. Tobin. 



HISTOKY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



On Friday, September, 10, 1880, the house 
took fire from a defective flue, and was con- 
sumed. School had commenced on the previous 
Monday. No other place being attainable for 
the school, preparations were immediately begun 
for the erection of another upon the same site, 
which was near enough finished by the spring 
of 1881, to resume the school. 

The house is built of brick, and contains four 
rooms; but at present only two of these are 
needed. It is thirty-two by fifty feet, and sit- 
uated on the west side of Main street, in the 
central part of the village, and presents a com- 
manding appearance, being a creditable orna- 
ment to the village. It cost |5,000, which was 
procured by issuing bonds. 

Dr. E. R. Babcock is a physician and surgeon 
in the village of Rochester, and was born in 
Lewis county, New York, March 21, 1826, the 
son of Job and Sarah (Williams) Babcock. 

His father was a farmer on the banks of St. 
Lawrence river till his death in 1834. His 
mother died in Michigan, 1862. Dr. B. was ed- 
ucated in the common schools of his native 
county, and at the academy there. At the ago 
of twenty-four, he began the study of medicine 
under Dr. Bruster, of Jefferson county. New 
York, and in 1851 attended the State University 
at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and for some years 
practiced medicine in New York, and then grad- 
uated at Burlington University, in Vermont, 
1861. In 1863, he came to Sangamon, and soon 
was placed in charge of Post Hospital at Camp 
Yates, near Springfield, as surgeon, eighteen 
months, when he resigned (January 1, 1865), 
and accepted an appointment on the Board of 
Examining Surgeons for the Eighth District of 
the State, which he held till the close of the late 
war. He spent the summer of 1866 in the East, 
and returned in the fall to the village of Roch- 
ester, where he has continued the practice of 
medicine to the present time. He was married 
in 185*7 to Martha Bruster, who was born in New 
York, the daughter of Dr. Bruster, his former 
preceptor, and has had two children: O. B., who 
was born March 26, 185*7, in Jefferson county. 
New York, and married to Emma Merriam, also 
born in Jefferson county. New York, but at the 
time of marriage resided in Romeo, Michigan. 
Young Dr. O. B. Babcock graduated in the 
study of inedicine, and is now practicing with 
his father. A younger son, born September 2, 
1872, died March 1, 18'73. 

Dr. Babcock has been a very skillful physician 
and surgeon, and now, in partnership with his 



son, has a large share of patronage in, and many 
miles around the villages in which they reside, 
enjoying the confidence of all who know them, 
both being good and influential citizens of the 
county, while the Doctor and his intelligent and 
amiable wife are useful members of the M. E. 
Church. Politically, they are all active Repub- 
licans. 

Jamea M. Sell, a farmer in Rochester, was 
born August 6, 1856, in Sangamon county, the 
son of James and Milla (Dotson) Bell, whose 
sketch appears in this book. He was raised on 
a farm, and educated in the common schools till 
1872. He then attended the schools of the First 
Ward, in Sj)ringfield, Illinois, and in 1875, he 
entered upon the study of medicine, under the 
direction of Dr. H. O. Bolles, of Springfield, 
and afterwards graduated in the State Uni- 
versity, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the year 
1879, after which he practiced medicine at the 
village of Blackburn, in Christian county, Illi- 
nois, during one year. He was married April 
29, 1880, to Laura F. North, who was born in 
Sangamon county, Noveml)er 7, 1859, the 
daughter of Robert North, who was born Octo- 
ber, 1814, in Buckingham county, Virginia, and 
taken by his parents to Jefferson county, Ten- 
nessee, when he was a boy. He came 
to Sangamon county with his brother, 
John North, who had been back to Ten- 
nessee. They arrived in September, 1832, in 
what is now Cooper township. Robert North 
was married in Sangamon county March 29, 
1838, to America Schmick. She was born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1816, in Lincoln county, Kentucky, and 
came to Sangamon county in company with her 
mother, brother-in-law — John Clemons, one 
brother, two sisters and two nephews, arriving 
in the fall of 1829, and settled three miles south 
of Springfield. Robert North and wife had six 
children living in Sangamon county. He was 
one of the most successful farmers in Sangamon 
county, and was a resident of Cooper township 
till his death, September 24, 1880. The widow 
is yet living at the old homestead. Since their 
marriage they have moved to the farm now sit- 
uated in Rochester township, and now own nine 
hundred and twelve acres of land in Rochester, 
Buck Hart and Cooper townships, which is under 
a good state of cultivation, and worth $40 per 
acre. His wife is a member of the M. E. 
Church. Politically, they are Democratic. 

James II. Bell was born November 30, 1822, 
in Nicholas county, Kentucky, the son of Robert 
Bell, who was born March 8, 1795, in Bourbon 
county, Kentucky. His father was born in Ire- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



999 



land, and had but four children, Robert, and three 
sisters. After his sisters were mairied, he had 
no knowledge of any relative in America, bear- 
ing his family name. He was a soldier from 
Bourbon county in the War of 1812. Robert 
Bell and Susannah Baker were married February 
12, 1818, in that county, and moved to Nicholas 
county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1830, and 
settled four miles south of the present town of 
Rochester, where he continued farming to the 
time of his death on June 25, 1872, near lUiopo- 
lis, from injuries caused by a runaway team, four 
days previous. Mrs. Susannah Bell was made a 
cripple for life by the same accident. They had 
lived more than fifty-four years as man and wife, 
and she survived him till February 29, 1876. 

The subject of this sketch came to Spring- 
field, Illinois, with his father, and was married 
in Sangamon county, Illinois, May 7, 1843, to 
Miss Milla Dotson, who was born November, 
1822, in Loudon county, Virginia; they had four 
children: Eliza A., born February 25, 1844, and 
married September 4, 1864, to Benjamin C. Gray, 
who was born August 12, 1832, near Hopkins- 
vllle, Kentucky; Mrs. Gray died December, 1874; 
John W., the second child, died under two years 
of age; Hiram F., born December 17, 1852; he 
spent two years in California, and traveled over 
the greater portion of the State, then returned 
home; he is now unmarried, and lives with his 
brother, one and a half miles west of Berry sta- 
tion, on the 0. & M. Railroad; James M., born 
August 6, 1856; studied medicine in Springfield, 
and attended the Medical College at Ann Arbor, 
Michigan; after graduating he returned home, 
and was married to Laura F. North, daughter of 
Robert North, and resides one and a half miles 
west of Berry station. Mr. James H. Bell has 
resided in this county fifty-one years, and re- 
members well the hardships and privations of 
the early settler. There were but few schools in 
his early days, consequently his education was 
limited. His summers were spent at work on 
the farm, and the winter time in making rails. 
To pay for the first land he bought, he made 
rails at fifty cents per hundred, to raise the first 
payment. He lived on the farm from the time 
he was married until four years after the death 
of his wife, then sold off his stock and moved 
to Springfield for the purpose of schooling his 
youngest son, and remained in Springfield three 
years, and then returned to the farm and con- 
tinued farming until the present season, and has 
spent a part of this summer on a trip to Mis- 
souri, Kansas and Colorado, and has been twice 
to the mountains, traveling on different roads in 



going and coming, for the purpose of making 
himself acquainted with the west; he has also 
made several trips to the South, with stock, trav- 
eling by rail and boat, and at times by land. At 
one time, in company with a partner, he pur- 
chased a flat-boat at Peoria, and loaded it with 
pi'oduce, went down the river as far as Vicks- 
burg, remained there three weeks before dispos 
ing of the boat and cargo, and while there went 
and viewed the battle-field, and stood under the 
shade of the tree that was said to be General 
Grant's headquarters, and near by was the tree 
where he tied his horse, the ring and staple still 
remaining as he left it; after disposing of the 
boat he returned home by rail. He is now liv- 
ing a retired life with his youngest brother, two 
miles west of Berry station. 

Melvin Bell, was born in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, February 9, 1843; the son of Robert and 
Susannah Bell, who came to Sangamon county 
in the fall of 1830, where they resided until 
their death. The subject of this sketch received 
a common school education, at South Fork, 
under the instruction of now Doctor, H. O. 
Bolles, of Springfield, and was mai'ried October 
12, 1865, to Rachel Martin, who was born in San- 
gamon county, now Cotton Hill, September 4, 
1845. About two years after they were married, 
Melvin was thrown under a wagon returning 
from Springfield, and had his right leg broken, 
which crippled him for life. They have had four 
children, William J., Alice N., Otis A., and a 
son who died in infancy. He owns two hundred 
and seventy acres of land, which is a part of the 
old homestead, and is in a good state of cnltiva- 
tion, and worth $50 per acre. In politics he is 
energetic, and is always found in the Democratic 
ranks. 

Preston Breckenridge, a miller at Rochester, 
was born December 2, 1858, a son of Joseph and 
Sarah (Matthews) Breckenridge, and grand-son 
of Hon. Preston Breckenridge. His father en- 
listed in the One Hundred and Fourteenth 
Illinois Infantry for a term of three years, and 
was taken sick at Camp Butler, and died at 
home November 29, 1862. His mother after- 
wards married Thomas Pike, and they reside in 
Christian county, Illinois, two miles west of 
Edinburg. The subject of this sketch received 
a common school education. He also attended 
the high school at Taylorville for two years. 
He then went to Iowa where he engaged as a 
clerk in a store for about one year. He then 
came back to Breckenridge, Sangamon county, 
Illinois, December, 1880. In July, 1881, he, 
with Wm. B. Hicks, leased the Rochester mill 



1000 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



for a term of one year. At the expiration of 
eaid one year, they bought the Rcchester mill, 
and also leased the Athens mill for a term of 
three years. They are now prepared to do a 
milling business which demands the patronage 
of the county, and are supplying the neighboring 
towns with flour not to be excelled by any 
other mills. He is also a member of the Good 
Ttmplars at Rcchester, and in politics a Re- 
publican. 

Henry P. Clark was born November 2, 1823, 
in Sangamon county, Illinois, was the son of 
Edward and Nancy Clark whose sketch appears 
in the township history of Rochester. He was 
mairied December 15, 1853, to Nancy T. Wil- 
liams, who was born February 26. 1833. Their 
family consists of four children, Mary J., Sarah 
v., Edward S. and William T, He now owns 
four hundred acres of land which is under a good 
state of cultivation and worth $50 per acre. 
Himself and wife are members of the Christian 
Church. In politics they are Republican. 

Ebenezer Coe was born August 25, 1812, in 
Louden county, Virginia, son of Horatio and 
Catharine (Grubb) Coe, who were natives of 
Loudon county, Virginia. His mother died in 
1837, and his father in 1841. Jn 1839, he came 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, with George M. 
Green, where he remained until the fall of 1843, 
and then returned to Loudon county Virginia, 
and was married September 17, 1844, to Jane 
Grubb, a native of that county. He i-eturned to 
Sangamon county in 1851, and engaged in farm- 
ing near Rochester, where his wife died May 10, 
1860, and he again married March 26, 1861, in 
Loudon county to Mrs. Julia A. Edwards, whose 
maiden name was Conrad. They came soon after 
to Sangamon county, where they have had five 
children, Joseph H., Samuel ]?., William C. and 
Mary C, and John Ebie, who died at eight 
months of age, August 0, 1870. His second wife 
died December 25, 1869, and he was again mar- 
ried December 13, 1870, to Harriet Lanham, 
who was bom in Sangamon county, Illinois, July 
18, 1829. He now owns four hundred and six- 
teen acres of land which is under a fair state of 
cultivation and worth $50 per acre. Politically, 
he is a Democrat. 

John C. Coe, a retired farmer in Rochester 
township, was born in Loudon county, Virginia, 
January 5, 1825; son of Hoiatio and Catharine 
(Giubb) Coe, who were natives of Virginia, and 
farmers by occupation. The father, Horatio, 
died July 24, 1841, in Virginia, and the mother 
in September of 1836, in the same State. 



The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education in Virginia, and was raised a 
farmer in Loudon county, Virginia. In the 
spring of 1842, he came to Sangamon county, 
when but seventeen years of age, and worked as 
a farm hand near Mechanicsburg one year, and 
in the spring of 1843, came to Rochester and 
worked by the day and month till the spring of 
1849, when, in company with Thomas Rucker, 
Abraham Clark and Henry Sims, be started for 
the gold regions of California, by the overland 
route, with ox teams, taking a large quantity of 
provisions, and was six months on the way, 
arriving at their destination September 1. 

For a short time they engaged in raining, 
after which Mr. Coe engaged in teaming from 
Sacramento to the mines north and east, until 
1851, when he returned to his home in Roches- 
ter. Abraham Clark died in California, and the 
others came back to Illinois. Mr. Coe thinks he 
was well paid for the trip. He was married 
August 11, 1853, to Charity Grubb, who was 
also born in Loudon county, Virginia, October 
1, 1820, the daughter of Richard and Charity 
(Morrison) Grubb, both of whom have died. 

Mr. Coe has haci two sons, Richard Horatio, 
born February 2], 1855, and now resides on his 
father's farm; and Theodore Curtis Lincoln, 
born July 13, 1859, and died June 14, 1870. Mr. 
Coe now owns six hundred acres of land in the 
township, which he deems worth $75 per acre, 
and also one-third of two hundred and forty- 
eight acres in the State of Missouri. He and 
his wife are members of the M. E. Church at 
Rochester, and politically he is a Republican. 

William J. Cooper, a farmer of Rochester 
township, was born in Sangamon county, Janu- 
ary 4, 1844, the son of Jacob and .Jane (Kelley) 
Cooper. His father was a Tennesseean, and his 
brother of North Carolina. They came to San- 
gamon county, Rochester township, in 1819, 
where he located and farmed until the time of his 
death, August 22, 1864. His mother died Au- 
gust 24, 1864. Her death was caused by a run- 
away team two days after, and both buried at 
the old Cooper grave yard. 

The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education in Rochester township. 

He was married first in 1865 to Mattie West, 
who was born in Sangamon county, February 
22, 1849, the daughter of Samuel and Lucetta 
West. By this marriage, they had two children, 
Nora Belle, and Mattie. His wife died April 
25, 1873. He was again married December 31, 
1874, to Leonora O'Leera, of East St. Louis. 
She was born in England in 1852, and was but a 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1001 



child when her folks came to Illinois. Her 
father died about 1854, and her mother still I'e- 
sides at East St. Louis. By this marriage they 
have three children: Josephus, Guy L,, and 
Arthur J. He now owns the old homestead of 
his father, on which he resides, consisting of 
one hundred and sixty-five acres of land, which 
is worth $60 per acre. The wife is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, he is a 
Democrat. 

Robert Dawson, of Rochester township, was 
born in Albemarle county, Virginia, January 8, 
1800; son of William and Sarah (Joblin) Dawson, 
who were also natives of Virginia, and farmers 
by occupation. His father moved to Kentucky, 
where he resided until his death, in 1828, and his 
mother died in Virginia about 1811. The sub- 
ject of this sketch received a common school 
education, and was raised on a farm. He was 
married in Kentucky in 1832 to Cynthia Luny, 
who was born in Kentucky. He has had three 
children, Louis, Robert and William. His wife 
died in Kentucky in 1840, and in 1844, he came 
to Sangamon county, and settled in Rochester 
township, where he now resides, with his son, 
Lewis. Their farm consists of eighty acres 
which is worth |60 per acre. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 
politics is Republican. 

George Deyo, was born in the town of New 
Paltz (now Lloyd), Ulster county. New York, 
February 26, 1822, the son of Joseph Henry 
and Jane (Deyo) Deyo. He is a descendant, 
both on his father's and mother's side, from the 
French Huguenots, by that name, who were 
among the twelve original patentees of New 
Paltz. His father had four sons and four 
daughters, Enis,Noah, Sallie, George, Catharine, 
Harriet, Phoebe Jane, and William Henry. 
Harriet died at the homestead, September 1, 
1851, Ulster county. New York. All the rest 
are now living and have families, and reside in 
the town of Lloyd and Plattkill, except Noah 
and George, who live near Springfield, Illinois. 
His grandfather, Henry Deyo, was a miller, and 
owned and carried on a grist-mill at Shadigee 
Pond, in Lloyd. His father, Joseph H., was 
born in Lloyd, June 26,1783, inheriting from 
his father about one hundred acres of land on 
Vineyard avenue, about one mile south of the 
village of Highland, to which he afterwards 
added two hundred acres after his marriage, 
which occurred May 28, 1812. He settled on 
the place now owned by his son, William H., 
where all his children were born. His wife died 
June 7, 1847. He died July 1, 1858. Both are 



buried in the old Highland burial ground. The 
subject of this sketch received a common school 
education, and was raised on a farm, and was 
married first, April 30, 1845, to Rachel Delphina 
Deyo, who also was born in Lloyd, March 19, 
1823. By this marriage they had two living 
children, Ellen, who married Charles J. Craft, 
and died in May, 1873, and Anna H., who mar- 
ried William Cora, and now reside in Sangamon 
county, Illinois. His wife died March 12, 1853, 
and he was again married in 1855, to Mary Ann 
V\ Deyo, who was born in Ulster county, New 
York, October 26, 1829, and they have had five 
children, Adison J., who married Jerry S. Grub, 
of Sangamon county, and Sarah A., Irwin R., 
and Levi J., live near by, and one, John Wil- 
liam, died November 10, 1862. He came to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, February 26, 1856, 
and located in Rochester township, where he 
has continued to live, where his children were 
born. He now owns two hundred and sixty 
acres of land, which is under a fair state of cul- 
tivation, and worth |50 per acre. Politically, 
he is Democratic. 

William J). Derry, a farmer in Rochester 
township, was born in Loudon county, Virginia, 
November 9, 1826; son of Christian and Susan 
(Cams) Derry. His father was born in Loudon 
county, Virginia, and his mother in Frederick 
county, Maryland. They were farmers by oc- 
cupation, and he so continued until his death, 
May 19, 1858. His mother still resides on the 
farm in Loudon county, Virginia. His father 
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his mother 
still draws his pension which he I'eceives from 
the government. The subject of this sketch 
received a common school education, and was 
raised on a farm. He was married February 5, 

1862, to Mary A. Rhodes, who was born in 
Frederick county, Maryland, March ll, 1827, and 
was the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Feas- 
ter) Rhodes, who came to Sangamon county in 

1863. He died in November of that year. The 
fruits of this marriage were seven children, of 
whom five are now living: Elizabeth, now Mrs. 
William Cantrall; Charles M., Nora A., Mary 
D., and Jessie Gertrude. Two, John W., and 
James E., have died. He came to Sangamon 
county in 1853, and located in Rochester town- 
ship. He bought land and began farming. He 
now owns four hundred and thirty acres, which 
is situated in Rochester, Clear Lake and Cooper 
townships, the home farm consisting of four hun- 
dred acres, situated in Rochester township, is in a 
good state of cultivation and well improved, and 
worth about $60 per acre. He and his wife have 



1002 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



been members of the M. E. Church since 1846, 
and he is one of the ardent supporters of the 
Republican party and its interests. 

John S. Uickerson, post office, Berry, was born 
in Nicholas county, Kentucky, April 2, 1824, son 
of Isaac and Sally (Smith) Dickerson, who were 
natives of Maryland. They moved to Shelby 
county, Illinois, in 1836, then removed to Davis 
county, Indiana. His mother died in 1836, his 
father in 1877. John S. received a common 
school education. In 1847, he came to Sanga- 
mon county, and married Mary Jane Bell, born 
in Nicholas coimty, Kentucky, June 6, 1828, the 
daughter of Robert Bell. Soon after his mar- 
riage, he moved to Indiana, but in 1851 returned 
to Sangamon county, and located in Rochester 
township, where he now resides, on his farm of 
two hundred and eighty acres. Mr. and Mrs. 
Dickerson have had six children, viz : James H., 
born June 24, 1848, is a practicing physician 
near Taylorville, Illinois, married Miss Jane 
Humphreys in 1875; Isaac S., born August 28, 
1850, married Miss Mary E. BornhofF, who was 
born September 20, 1868, they have two chil- 
dren, Sinae and Emma; Robert P., born De- 
cember 4, 1852; Sarah E., born November 14, 
1854, married Alexander Allen; Mary S. born 
November 2, 1856; Almarinda, born January 29, 
1859, married Jno. Allen, who died in 1876; she 
was again married to Dr. A. F. Hammer, and 
resides at Berry. Mrs. Dickerson is a member 
of the Christian Church. 

Charles Fairchild^ a farmer, of Rochester 
township, was born in Essex county. New York, 
September 25, 1822, the son of Moses and Adah 
(llolbert) Fairchild; father born in New York, 
August, 1793, and the mother in Vermont, July, 
1793. They moved to Sangamon county in 1833, 
and there resided till death. 

The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education and was raised a farmer. He 
was married January 31, 1848, to Lovina Sattley, 
by whom he had eight children: Belle E, 
IViary E., Benjamin S ,Adah E., Charles, Robert, 
Ralph S. and Winfield S. MaryE. died August 
22, 1853, in early infancy; Adah E. died August 
22, 1853, at the age of two years. Mr. F. owns 
two hundred and eighty acres of good land, well 
improved, and worth $75 per acre. In politics, 
he is a Republican. 

Joshua Graham, a farmer of Rochester town- 
ship, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, 
January 6, 1820; son of Nathaniel and Sarah 
( Harbor) Graham. His father was born in Penn- 
sylvania, and when a young man went to Colum- 



bus, Ohio, and a few years later to Fleming 
county Kentucky, where he was married to 
Sarah Harbor, who was born in Kentucky. He 
moved to Sangamon county in the fall of 1826; 
and in the spring of 1827 moved to a farm three 
and a half miles east of Springfield, between 
Sugar creek and South Fork of the Sangamon 
river, and there continued to farm until his 
death, which occurred on this farm. His 
mother died in Springfield, this county. The 
subject of this sketch received but a common 
school education while residing with his parents 
upon the farm. He was married September 25, 
1848, to Elizabeth A. Branch, by whom he had 
eight children, five of which died under the age 
of five years. Those now living are Nancy E., 
now married to Isaac Troxell, George E., and 
Rebecca E., unmarried. After the marriage of 
Mr. G. he lived on the farm on Fork Prairie, 
and then moved to the old homestead, where he 
at present lives, and owns four hundred and 
forty acres of land, which is under a good state 
of cultivation, and worth $75 per acre, besides 
one hundred and forty acres in Christian county, 
Illinois, which is w^orth $45 per acre. His wife 
is a member of the Christian Church. Politically 
he is a Democrat. Has lived longer on this 
j)rairie than any other man. 

Nicholas Haynes, was born in Chilicothe, Ross 
county, Ohio, March 7, 1815; son of Henry 
and Priscilla (Mclntire) Haynes. His father was 
a native of Little York, Pennsylvania, and his 
mother of Virginia; both died in Ross county, 
Ohio. The subject of this sketch received only 
a common school education in the old-fashioned 
log school house, and was raised on a farm. He 
was married in 1840 to Elizabeth McCarty, who 
was born in Ross county, Ohio. They have had 
ten children, viz: Henry, Charlotte, (now Mrs. 
Reynolds) William, Emily, Nicholas, Asbury, 
Mary, Ellen, Isabella and John. A son, Lewis, 
died from injuries received by a runaway horse 
while raking hay. la the fall of 1865, he moved 
to Sangamon county and located on German 
Prairie, where he lived two years, and then to 
Round Prairie, where he resided for about six 
years, then to the present farm where he now 
owns two hundred and forty acres of land which 
is under good cultivation, well improved, and 
worth about $75 per acre. His farm is situated 
on the banks of the Sangamon river, and for 
water facilities can not be excelled. He had one 
son in the late war, in the One^ Hundred and 
Fourteenth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, 
who served three years. In politics, he is a Re- 
publican. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1003 



Wm. li. Hicks, a miller, in Rochester, was 
born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 
1849, son of Jciui ui.d Eliziibtth (Sptck) Hicks. 
His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
his mother of Maryland. He was a merchant, 
but the latter part of his life was spent as a clerk 
in Washington county, Maryland, and died No- 
vember 28, 1869. His mother yet resides in 
Maryland. 

The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education in Maryland, and was raised a 
farmer until seventeen years of age, working as 
a farm hand; he then entered a mill as an ap- 
prentice, in which he served three years, after 
which he continued in the same occupation in 
Maryland for about ore year. He was married 
November 2, 1871, to Maria Ruthrauff, who was 
born in Pennsylvania, in 1851, and in the spring 
of 1852, he came to Sangamon county and en- 
gaged in milling in the city of Springfield; from 
there he went to the town of Breckenridge, 
where he engaged in the same business, running 
the water-mill and steam- mill both at the same 
time. Here he carried on milling until July 1, 
1880, when he came to Rochester village, where 
he and a Mr. Breckenridge formed a partnership 
in the milling business, running the mill there 
and also one in the town of Athens, Menard 
county, niinois, purchasing wheat of the farmers 
around about. Their mills have a capacity of 
fifty barrels of flour per day. He has three 
children: Harvey E., Wm. R. and Grace M. 
He is a member of the Lutheran Church, in the 
city of Springfield. Politically, he is a Demo- 
crat. 

Charles F. Jlimiphreys, son of Alexander B. 
V. and Nancy R. Humphreys, was born Febru- 
ary 3, 1833, in Woodside township, Sangamon 
county, three and a half miles southeast of 
Sj^ringfield, on the farm now owned by Joseph 
Shepherd. His school advantages were very 
limited, but every opportunity was used to a 
good advantage. On March 20, 1850, he, with 
his parents moved to what afterwards became 
South Fork township, Chr-istian county. On 
August 5, 1861, he enlisted as private in Battery 
C, Second Regiment, Illinois Light Artillery. 
He passed thi'ough all the grades of promotion 
up to Senior First Lieutenant, and was commis- 
sioned for that oflice June 25, 1864, but was not 
mustered as First Lieutenant. Was detached 
as acting ordnance oiRcer of Fort Donelson, 
Tennessee, serving about one year. Was relieved 
about the first of April, 1865, and appointed 
Adjutant of the regiment, which position he 
filled with marked ability until mustered out 

117— 



August 5, 1865. After being honornbly dis- 
charged from the service Im- rfturned to his home 
in Chiittiau county, where he reniaimil \\v\\\ 
January 19, 18*75, at which time he was married 
to Miss Jane L. Williams, daughter of Samuel 
Williams, who was born in Sangamon county, 
June 1, 1835, After his marriage, he bought a 
part of the farm of Samuel Williams, his father- 
in-law, containing the homestead and lying two 
miles southeast of Rochester, Sangamon county. 
He moved on this farm immediately after his 
marriage, and has lived with his father-in-law 
and his sister-in-law, and has since bought the 
remainder of the two hundred acres on which 
they live. Mr. Humphreys has been a member 
of the Christian Church nearly four years. In 
politics, he is a Republican, and cast his first 
Presidential vote for John C. Fremont, the fij'st 
Republican candidate for President. During 
his residence in Christian county, he held several 
important township offices, and is now one of the 
school trustees of Rochester township. Mr. 
Humphreys is six feet two and a half inches tall 
and is well proportioned; his standing weight is 
two hundred and fifteen pc unds. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, holding his mem- 
bership at the present time in Taylorville, in the 
Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council. 

Frank G. Horning, born in Baden, Germany, 
August 15, 1830; son of Jacob and Christena 
(Borrell) Horning, who were natives of Baden, 
Germany, and both are dead. The subject of 
this sketch received a common school education 
in Germany, and was raised on a farm. At the 
age of twenty-two he emigrated to America, and 
landed in New Orleans. From thence he went 
to St. Louis, and thence to Morgan county, 
Illinois, where he engaged as a faim hand for 
Samuel Westfield. Thence he came to Sanga- 
mon county, and located in the town of R*^ Ches- 
ter, where he engaged as farm hand for Samuel 
Jones and John Higlimore. He was married in 
1856 to Frances Mitchell, who was born in Ken- 
tucky in 1837. They have had thirteen children, 
eleven of whom are now living: Christena A., 
James F., Laura A., Frank J., John S., Lucinda 
C, Wm. Riley, George I., Otto, Bessie M. 
Robert and Viola have died. He now owns one 
hundred and six acres of land in Rochester 
township, which is under a fair state of cultiva- 
tion, and worth $50 per acre. Politically he is 
Democratic. 

John Johnson, a farmer, of Rochester, was 
born in Rochester township, Sangamon county, 
October 23, 1828, a son of Andrew and Maiy 
(Williams) Johnson. His father was from Scot- 



1004 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



land, and his mother of Vermont. His father 
died wlien he was but three years of age, and his 
mother when he was fourteen. 

The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education, and was raised on a farm; left 
to his own resources at an early day, he labored 
by the day and month, as employment offered, 
putting forth an unusual amount of energetic 
industry to maintain himself, and also to lay by 
something for future need. He devoted his time 
industriously to farm labor, and in March, 1849, 
mai-ried Phoebe Bell, born November 1, 1830, the 
daughter of Robert and Susannah (Baker) Bell. 
By this marriage they had five children: Isaiah 
B., John A., Minnie S., Lovina J. and Robert S., 
who died in infancy. His wife died February 
17, 1871, and for his second wife he married 
Teresa Taff, June 1.3, 1873, Avho was born Octo- 
ber 21, 1846, near Mechanicsburg. He is now 
the owner of three hundred and eighty acres of 
land, which is under good cultivation, and worth 
$50 per acre. He and his family are members of 
the Christian Chm'ch, at South Fork. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican. 

Mr. Johnson's son, I. B., was married to Anna 
Loveless, in April, 1871, and his father gave him 
a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, one-half 
mile distant, worth $50 per acre. His daughter, 
Laura, married Henry Hedrick, in December, 
1870, and he also gave her eighty acres of land, 
two miles distant; she had five children, all of 
whom yet live, but Laura died August 20, 1881. 

Samuel Johnson, farmer, in Rochester, was 
born September 18, 1831, in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, the son of Andrew Johnson, who was 
born in Dumfreeshire, Scotland, and came to 
America when he was a young man, and to San- 
gamon county as early as 1826 or '27. He was a 
millwright, and built a mill on the South Fork 
of the Sangamon river for Edward Clark. An- 
drew Johnson was married about 1827 to Mrs. 
Mary Barker, whose maiden name was Wil- 
liams. He died in Sangamon county, Illinois. 
His mother afterwards married Greenbury 
Baker, and died May 12, 1842, and he died 
March 4, 1873. 

The subject of this sketch received a common 
school education, and was raised principally on 
a farm. He was first married in 1852, to Lovina 
J. Baker; who was born in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and died March 24, 1856, aged twenty- 
three years, six months, and one day; the daugh- 
ter of Esquire and Margaret Baker. By this 
marriage he had two children, Jennette F., now 
Mrs. Joseph Sharp, and one who died in infancy 
June 20, 1853. His wife died March 24, 1856, 



and he married again to Louisa Taff, who 
was born in Sangamon county, the daughter 
of William and Teresa Taff, both residents of 
Sangamon county. They have had nine children, 
eight of whom are now at home with their 
parents, Mary E., Teresa A., James E., Ida F., 
Flora A., Martha C, Arthur, and Ira; Dora, de- 
ceeased. Mr. Johnson began life in moderate 
circumstances, and has by industry and close at- 
tention to farming, obtained two hundred and 
eighty acres of land, which is situated in 
Cooper, Rochester and Cotton Hill townships, 
under a fair state of cultivation, and worth $50 
per acre. He is also one of the strong supporters 
of the Republican party, and its interests. Mrs. 
Johnson and three daughters are members of 
the Christian Church. 

Andrew H. Kalb, son of Absalom and Susannah 
(Larkin) Kalb, was born in the city of Frederick, 
in the county of Frederick, Maryland, to which 
place his father moved soon after his marriage 
in 1809, and where the subject of this sketch 
was born January 20, 1812, from whence he 
moved with his parents and three brothers, in 
the spring of 1817, to Loudon county, Virginia, 
and in 1819, to Smithsburg, in Washington 
county, Maryland, and thence to Trough Creek 
Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 
the fall of 1822, and thence, in 1827, to Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, and thence back to Loudon 
county, Virginia, in the spring of 1830, remain- 
ing with his parents and brothers, assisting in 
farm operations, and received a common school 
education, as the winter seasons gave him op- 
portunity, till abont the age of nineteen. He 
learned the business of saddlery and harness- 
making, at which he continued for eleven years. 
He was married in Loudon county, Virginia, in 
the year 1836, to Ann James, daughter of Elijah 
James, and was born in the same county March 
17, 1811, after which he changed his occupation 
and engaged in farming in the same county till 
the year 1850, when he moved with his family 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, whither his 
father and mother, with four brothers and one 
sister, had preceded him in the previous fall. 
Here the subject of this sketch tilled a part of a 
large tract of land owned by his father on the 
south fork of the Sangamon river, about five 
miles south of east of the city of Springfield, 
till about the year 1855. He purchased one 
hundred and thirty acres of the land, upon 
which he now resides, and an additional pur- 
chase of the original tract has increased his farm 
to two hundred and fifty acres, worth about $70 
per acre, while he also owns one hundred and 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1005 



fifty-eight acres in Christian county, of this 
State. Mr. A. H. K. has had twelve children, 
of whom George K , Mary A., now the wife of 
George Waters, of this county; Elton A., and 
Edwin M., are living, while the following are 
dead: John R., James William, (who was 
killed in the Union service of the late war), 
Sarah C, Asbury R., Edgar F., Charles C, Supan 
R., and Emma Jane. For fifty-iive years Mr. 
K., has been a member of the M. E. Church, and 
in politics is a Republican. 

I). G. Kalh^ the siibject of the following 
memoir, was born on the morning of the 4th 
day of December, 1815, in the city of Frederick, 
Frederick county, Maryland. His father, Absa- 
lom Kalb, born March 23, 1787, was a native of 
the same county; yet, being born in a house 
through which the State line of Pennsylvania 
and Maryland passed, there were but about ten 
feet of the latter that claim him as a native of 
the State. Absalom's father, John Kalb, was 
born November 12, 1761, in the eastern part of 
Pennsylvania, in what is now the county of 
Berks, at or near a place then called Bottsgrove, 
not far from what is now Reading, on the 
Schuylkill river. Here his father, also named 
John Kalb, settled at an early day, before the 
Revolutionary war, having emigrated from his 
native country, that of Polish Germany, where 
he imbibed the theory and spirit of freedom 
from political oppression, and left it to join the 
struggles then engaged in by the British colonies 
of North America. John Kalb, Sr., was born 
in the year 1733, and hence was in the prime of 
young manhood "when the struggle in the colo- 
nies commenced, and found him in their midst, 
imbued with the same spirit of freedom, where 
he was rearing a family of four sons and two 
daughters of like minds and spirits; and,M'hether 
the elder Kalb enlisted personally in the battles 
of the Revolution or not, it is certain that others 
of his household did, as numerous anecdotes of 
them go to show. And, no doubt, he had some- 
thing in inducing his cousin, the Baron DeKalb, 
to cast in his fortunes with the people who, like 
their noble countrymen, the Polish Germans, 
were oppressed by stronger powders, and offer 
his gratuitous services, in company with that 
distinguished soldier and patriot, La Fayette, in 
freeing the oppressed Americans. Perhaps the 
readers of this sketch will allow a digression, in 
order to connect the history of Sangamon county 
with so brave and philanthropic a man as the 
Baron DeKalb, from whose ancestors came at 
least six of his name, who went out from San- 
gamon county as soldiers in the late war, where 



they joined a score or more of others of the 
same name and lineage, from this and other 
States of our Union, to fight and die, if need be, 
to maintain what their ancestors procured by 
treasure and blood, in company with the brave 
Baron DeKalb, during the struggle for Ameri- 
can freedom; but we shall be brief on this point. 
He died from the effects of numerous wounds, 
while fighting at his post on the field of battle 
at Camden, South Carolina, August 19, 1780; 
and when the British ofticer came to condole 
with him, as he lay prostrate, DeKalb extended 
to him his hand, saying, '•! thank you for your 
generous sympathy, but I die the death I always 
prayed for — the death of a soldier fighting for 
the rights of man." 

Many years after his death. General Washing- 
ton, when at Camden, inquired for his grave; 
and after gazing upon it for some time, he 
breathed a sigh, and exclaimed: " So, there lies 
the brave DeKalb, the generous stranger who 
came from a distant land to fight our battles, 
and to water with his blood the tree of liberty. 
Would to God he had lived to share its fruits." 

We find that there went out from the county 
of Sangamon, no less than a half dozen men of 
the name of Kalb, as true Union soldiers, in the 
late war of the Rebellion, all of whom came in 
the same direct line of ancestry, whose blood 
flowed in the veins of the brave Kalb of Revo- 
lutionary fame. The names of the six alluded to 
are: D. G. Kalb, the special subject of this 
sketch, and his two sons, already mentioned, 
also three of his nephews — John William, son 
of his brother Ezekiel L., and James William, 
son of another brother, A. H., both in the One 
Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, and 
William A,, son of Jesse D., in the One Hun- 
dred and Thirtieth Regiment. James William 
and William A., were killed in battle. 

The great grandfather of D, G. Kalb, moved 
from Maryland to the wilds of Ohio in 1805, 
with his youngest son, George, from whom a 
numerous progeny have come, and many of whom 
are yet residing in Ohio, and in the late war 
there were quite a number of chaplains and 
soldiers of that name from that State. 

In the autumn of 1849, the subject of this sketch 
came to Sangamon county in company wiih his 
father and mother, and several brothers. The 
father, Absalom Kalb, was favorably known in 
this county and city of Springfield, for the time 
of over sixteen years, to the day of his death, 
January 7, 1865, for his zealous adherence to the 
cause of the Union, as also for his fervency in 
the church of his early choice. The M. E. Church 



1006 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



always found in him a true friend and liberal 
supporter, for more than sixty years. After his 
death his widow, Mrs. Susannah (Larkin) Kalb, 
made her home with the youngest living son. Dr. 
A. J. Kalb, in the city of Quincy, Illinois, and 
died there, April In, 1873. 

D. G. Kalb was engaged in teaching about 
seventeen years of his life, from September 22, 
1837, till 1854, and for about as long a time, from 
1847 to 1864, he was a local preacher in the M. 
E. Church, of which he has been a member 
nearly fifty-five years. He enlisted as a soldier 
in the war of the late Rebellion, in Company G, 
One Hundred and Fourteen ch Illinois Infantry 
Regiment and served to the close of the war, a 
term of three years. 

Mr. K. was married in 1841, to the widow of 
George W. Shutt, of Virginia, who, after the 
death of Mr. Shutt, came to Sangamon county 
in 1836, residiog in Springfield till 1841, and 
thus became an old settler of the county, and on 
her return to Virginia, on a transient visit, she 
was married a second time, thus connecting her 
husband, D. G. K., with the Old Settlers' his- 
tory, till, by a residence of thirty-two years, now 
he is a bona fide old settler. Mrs. D. G. Kalb died 
at their residence at Willow Dale Farm, on 
Round Prairie, Rochester township, February 3, 
1881. She had one child by the first marriage, 
who is now the wife of Philip Shutt, till lately, 
the publisher and editor of the Edgar county 
Times, in the town of Paris. By his marriage 
with the widow, Mrs. Eliza S. (Bennett) Shutt, 
Mr. K. had three sons, Ethelbert, William Ed- 
ward B., and George B., and two daughters, 
Mary Abner and Julia Maria. The son, Ethel- 
bert, enlisted in the Thirty-third Regiment, Illi- 
nois Volunteers, August 20, 1861, and served 
nearly four years, and was honorably discharged 
at the close of the wa'r. William Edward B., 
enlisted in the company and regiment with his 
father, March 26, 1864, and was killed in the 
battle of Guntown, Mississippi, June 10, 1864. 
George B,, and his brother, Ethelbert, yet live, 
as also the daughter, Mary Abner, who remains 
single, and resides with her father, at Willow 
Dale. The youngest child, Julia Maria, died 
January 10, 1859, at the age of four years. Mr. 
K. respectfully declines to be further inter- 
viewed, and refers to numerous older, and, as he 
modestly says, more worthy and prominent citi- 
zens of the city and county, with whom he has 
had a pleasant and profitable social acquaintance 
for more than thirty-two years. 

Stephen T. Laidey, was born November 23, 
1836, in Sangamon county, the son of William 



B. and Amy (Meredith) Lawley. His father 
was born in Smith county, Tennesee, June 24, 
1811, and came to Sangamon county in 1828. 
He remained one year near Springfield, and in 
the spring of 1829, moved to what is now Ball 
township, where he farmed until his death, in 
March 23, 1876. The subject of this sketch re- 
ceived a common school education in Sangamon 
county, and was raised on the farm. He was 
married in 1859 to Mary A. Gaines, who was 
born in Indiana June 26, 1842. They have had 
eight children, Sarah E., Amy J., Mary M., Mar- 
gaiet L., Albert W., Charles A., Laura H. and 
Willie I. Willie died December 23, 1879, when 
an infant. Mr. Lawley moved to the present 
farm in 1878, and owns eighty acres of land sit- 
uated in Rochester township, which is worth 
$50 per acre. Himself and wife are members of 
the Christian Church and politically they are Re- 
publicans. 

Milton I). McCoy, an old farmer and highly 
respected citizen, adjoining the village of Roch- 
ester, was born on the spot where he now resides, 
from which he has never moved his place of res- 
idence; his father settled upon it in the year 
1818, and here Milton was born October 16, 1823. 
The land has never been transferred to any other 
owner than from his father to himself, as heir. 
His father, James McCoy, was born in Nicholas 
county, Kentucky, July 25, 1791, but his grand- 
parents, John and Mary (Ebermen) McCoy, were 
born and raised in Pennsylvania, and were there 
married, and raised a large family, being the de- 
scendants of one of three brothers, who came at 
an early day, in the time of the American Colo- 
nies, from Scotland, two of whom settled in the 
South and one in Pennsylvania, and from whom 
all now known to be of kin in these jjarts have 
descended. John, the grandfather of him who 
is the leading subject of this sketch, was born 
July 11, 1763, and died October 26, 1823, and 
his first son was the father of Milton D. McCoy, 
and was born July* 25, 1791, as before stated; 
the next born was Polly, October 13, 1793, who 
died October 3, 1855; Elizabeth, born November 
3, 1795; next Joseph E., born October 5, 1797; 
John A., born September 13, 1799, died July 14, 
1835; Nancy, born November 16, 1801; Pru- 
dence, born March 10, 1804; Zillah, born March 
5, 1806; Sophia, born October 5, 1809; Andrew 
T., born November 26, 1811; Jessie C, bora Oc- 
tober 9, 1815. 

James McCoy was married in 1814, to Jane 
Murphy, who was born of German parents, and 
raised ten children: Caroline M., born in Ken- 
lucky, July 16, 1815, and married L. A Grims- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1007 



ley, August IV, 1834; Sylvester G., born in Ken- 
tucky, April 28, 1817, married Mary Robinson, 
raised two children — James B. and Caroline M. 
— and died in 1844; Joseph E., born in Sanga- 
mon county, March 6, 1819, was the first white 
child born within what is now Sangamon county; 
Isaiah T., born in Sangamon county, May 16, 
1821; Milton D., born October 16, 1823, on the 
farm on which he has ever since resided — fifty- 
eight years — and claims that no other man in the 
county has lived so many consecutive years on 
the spot where he was born. 

On the farm is a mineral spring, of considera- 
ble notoriety, known as the Sulphur Spring, and 
gives name to the farm. A further account of 
this spring, by D. G. Kalb, is found in the his- 
tory of the township. Mr. M. D. McCoy mir- 
ried Melcina A. Cooper, in Sangamon county, 
March 29, 1848, by whom he has had seven chil- 
dren; the fourth one, Valmore, born July 31, 
1855, and died September 25, 1857. Of the 
other six: Sylvester J., born May 3, 1849, was 
married January 8, 1874, to Pauline Abel, and 
reside in Rochester. They have had four chil- 
dren: Milton A., died in his third year; Jay, 
born March 6, 1876; Eddie A., born December 
29, 1878; Nina, born December 17, 1880. J. cob 
C, born October 19, 1850, resides near Cawker 
City, Mitchell county, Kansas; Louvilta Jane, 
born December 1, 1852, and married O. C. St. 
Clair, December 12, 1876, and has two children: 
Nannie M. and Milton N., and lives in Spring- 
field, Illinois. Jesse K., born May 7, 1858; 
Mary M., born May 3, 1861, and Lillie C, born 
May 9, 1865; the last three are single, and re- 
side with their parent. 

Mr. McCoy has been an efficient and valued 
member of the M. E. Church since 1840, having 
been a steward thirty-eight years, and a class 
leader about the same time. His first experience 
as a member of a Quarterly Conference was 
forty-three miles from home, when Methodist 
preachers' circuits were much larger than at 
present. Having been recording steward and 
Sunday school superintendent for many years, it 
was his special duty to attend these quarterly 
gatherings of the official members of his church, 
and he was punctual in his duties. In politics 
he has been a Democrat, and as his party have 
been predominant in his township he has held, 
creditably and efficiently, many of the offices 
therein, and has been an advocate of education 
and tempei'ance. 

The father of Mrs. McCoy was Jacob Cooper, 
and she was the oldest daughter by a second 
marriage. He was born in Jefferson county, 



Tennessee, December 18, 1800, and married 
Anna Burnett, by whom one child was born in 
Tennessee, named John Wesley, and they came 
to Sangamon with his brother. Rev. John 
Cooper, in 1819, where a second child was born. 
One child died, and the mother died February 
22, 1824, (not 1830, as the Old Settlers' book 
states,) Jacob Cooper was married again, to Jane 
Kelly, of Springfield, and they had five children, 
Melcina A., Melvina C, Elzirah C, Almarida, 
and Wm. J. Jacob Cooper died August 22, 
1864, and his widow, Jane Cooper, died August 
24, 1864,both in Sangamon. Mr. M. D. McCoy's 
home farm consists of two hundred and forty- 
five acres, and he owns some land in Macon and 
Logan counties; making a total of three hundred 
acres. 

Mr. McCoy tells how they did in early times 
when they raided fiax and cotton, and worked 
them into clothing without machinery, and that 
not until the year after he was twenty-one did he 
ever wear a coat bought from a store. To sup- 
ply themselves with meat in the summer time, 
they would stop their plow a little while before 
sunset and go to the woods and kill a deer, and 
if they failed in that by night, then they would 
easily find a wild turkey roost and get a load of 
that kind of game. To obtain bread they would 
take a sack of corn on each of two horses and 
trudge off to a horse-mill and grind with their 
own team; or, perchance he, when quite a small 
lad, would mount "Old Ben," the white ox, 
loaded with sacks of corn, and proudly wend his 
way to the same mill, and, with the bovine 
slowly turn the creaking mill as the corn fell 
from the hopper into the eye of the upper rough 
mill-stone, and when ground, again wend his 
way homeward with the coarse meal, whistling 
merrily as he proceeded over the prairie and 
through the woods. Often they were compelled, 
by reason of high waters, and impassable roads, 
to use a hominy-mortar and pestle, to convert 
their corn into something' like meal and hominy 
mixed, and use a punctured sheepskin to sepa- 
rate the coarse from the fine. Thus at night 
they prepared bread for the day following, and 
this for weeks at a time. 

They attended meetings and Sunday school in 
their bare feet and without coats in summer 
time. The men and boys too, and often the 
women, would go eight or ten miles to house or 
cabin raisings, which were occasions of glee 
and gladness to old and young. Mrs. McCoy's 
grand-father, John Cooper, served in the Revo- 
lutionary war and also in the War of 1812, 
under General Jackson, atid her father, Jacob 



1008 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Cooper, served in the Black Hawk war from 
Sangamon county. James McCoy, Mr. D.'s 
father, was in the War of 1812, and was one of 
the two who captured General Proctor's carriage, 
the General making his escape by cutting the 
harness loose and he and his driver mounting 
the team. He was also in many Indian 
skirmishes in those early days, and was the first 
constable elected in this, then a part of St. Clair 
county, and often then being obliged to leave 
Mrs. McCoy alone with the children. She was 
brave, and kept her gun, axe and other imple- 
ments ready for use as occasion might offer, but 
as she treated the Indians kindly when they 
would occasionally come to the cabin to trade 
with her, giving them food to eat, she was sel- 
dom molested by them. She was a good marks- 
man, and would now and then shoot a wild 
turkey as it carelessly came near her door, but 
did not go into the woods to hunt. She had a 
large family to clothe by means of the cotton 
and flax goods she manufactured by her own 
hands, yet she had skill, and found time to make 
horse-collars, back-bands, baskets, &c., of corn- 
husks and hickory bark. 

Edmond Miller was born in Sangamon county, 
February 1, 1843, son of John C. Miller, who 
was born October 19, 1812, in Loudon county, 
Virginia, and came to Sangamon county in 1835, 
where he married Melvina Satley, who was born 
September 3, 1819, in Sangamon county. John 
C. Miller inherited a part of his father's estate 
of land in this township and went to farming, 
which he continued till his death, January 13, 
1853. His widowed mother is living in the vil- 
lage of Rochester. Edmond's grand-father, 
Christian Miller, died September 14, 1842, and 
his grandmother August 20, 1864, both in Sang- 
amon county. 

Daniel Ott, livery, feed and sale stable keeper, 
in Rochester, was born in Champaign county, 
Ohio, November 22, 1839, a son of Abraham and 
Nancy (Shamblin) Ott, who was born in Vir- 
ginia, and moved to Ohio, where he engaged in 
farming, until his death, February 1859. His 
mother still resides in the same county, in the 
town of Mechanicsburg.- The subject of this 
sketch received a common school education in 
the schools of Ohio, and was raised on a farm. 
In 1856, he came to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
and worked as a farm hand for two years, and 
then engaged in farming on his own account. 
He was married April 20, 1861, to Elvina Betts, 
who was born in Sandusky county, Ohio. They 
have had nine children, of whom six are now 
living: Mamie, Hermon, Elmer, Dan B. and 



Bruce and Ashbury Olen. He continued farm- 
ing in Rochester township till the fall f>f 18 72, 
when he sold out his farm and engaged in the 
livery business in Rochester, where he now is 
pi'epared to do all kinds of work in his line of 
business, having from seven to ten buggies, and 
an equal number of horses to meet the demands, 
and bas, beside, some of the finest stock in the 
county, which he has lately brought from the 
State of Kentucky. In politics he is, and always 
has been, a Democrat. His wife is a member of 
the Christian Church. 

Homer D. Parker, merchant and postmaster, 
the only child of Darius Smith and Jane (Stagg) 
Parker, was born in Warren, Washington county, 
Vermont, May 4, 1853. His father was born in 
Springfield, Vermont, November 10,1810, and his 
mother in Panton, Vermont, September 21, 1823. 
They were married July 23, 1845; his father's 
occupation was that of a miller. In May, 1855, 
he came to Sangamon county, Illinois, and located 
at Rochester, where he was employed as miller 
and clerk in the Rochester mills and store. He 
woi'ked in the mill when it was running and in 
the store when the mill was idle, until his death, 
December 6, 1857. The widowed mother now 
lives with her son. He was raised in Rochester 
and obtained a common school education by 
working for his board and going to school of 
winters, and working out by the month on the 
farm during the summer, from his tenth to his 
seventeenth year, at which time he began teach- 
ing school for a livelihood. He taught school for 
three and one half years, and in the fall of 1873, 
engaged as clerk for C. Carter & Co., with whom 
he remained one and a half years, removing from 
Rochester at that time to engage in business for 
R.' Kimball, at Mount Auburn, Illinois, with 
whom he remained until the 29th of March, 1876, 
when he opened a drug and grocery store, at 
Mount Auburn, Illinois, on his own account. He 
was appointed deputy postmaster there shortly 
after and held the post oflice in that capacity 
until March 17, 1879, when he was commissioned 
postmaster. He was married September 26, 1877, 
to Margaret Elizabeth Lawrence, who was born 
in Catawba, Clark county, Ohio, September 24, 
1853. She is the daughter of Doctor John Heis- 
kill, and Sarah Ann (Morris) Lawrence. Her 
father was born March 1, 1830, and her mother 
February 22, 1835, in Springfield, Ohio. They 
came to Christian county, Illinois, in July, 1854, 
and located at Mount Auburn, where the Doctor 
has since been engaged in the practice of medi- 
cine. H. D. and M. E. Parker have two children 
— Annie J., born August 16, 1878, and Ruth L.,. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1009 



born June 28, 1881. In April, 1880, James M. 
Firey and H. D. Parker purchased the old stock 
in the store formerly occupied by C. Carter & Co. 
Parker carried on business at both places until 
July, 1880, when he removed the stock from his 
Mount Auburn store, to the store in Rochester, 
where they (Parker & Firey) are now engaged 
in selling drugs, groceries, hardware, queensware, 
etc., and have a large and lucrative business. In 
politics he is a Republican. 

George IV. Poffenberger^ Sen., a farmer of 
Rochester, was born in Washington county, 
Maryland, October 16, 181 7, the son of Christian 
and Mary (Brantner) Poffenberger. His father 
was born in Maryland and his mother in Virginia. 
In 1826, they moved to Franklin county, Ohio, 
and thence to Sangamon county, arriving Octo- 
ber 28, 1839, and located in Rochester township, 
where he resided until 1846. He then moved to 
Jefferson county, Iowa, where he resided on a 
farm. His wife died in February, 1853, and he 
died in October, 1857. The subject of this 
sketch received a common school education, and 
was raised on a farm. He came to this county 
with his father and worked on a farm. He was 
married February 9, 1841, to Rachel Jones, who 
was born io Kentucky, September 16, 1814, the 
daughter of Andrew and Elenor (Goodwin) 
Jones, who came to Sangamon county in 1824, 
from Kentucky, and located in Rochester town- 
ship, where they resided until their deaths. Mr. 
Poffenberger has had six children, of whom five 
are now living; John A., Mary E., George W., 
Eliza A. (now wife of Luther Osborn Meredith) 
and Edwin. He is now the owner of two hun- 
dred acres of fine farming land which is under 
good cultivation and worth $60 per acre. His 
wife and son Edwin are members of the Metho- 
dist Church. He is in politics, a Democrat. 

George P. Sidener, Jr., a farmer, was born 
in Bourbon county, Kentucky, December 10, 
1833, and came with his father, George P. 
Sidener, Sr., to Sangamon county in March, 
1852, and settled near his present residence in 
Rochester township, where his father died in 
1865, and his mother in 1866. George P., Jr., 
married Miss Hannah R, Eider, daughter of 
Samuel and Pha^be (Clinkenbeard) Elder, Feb- 
ruary 10, 1858, and has continued to reside in 
the same township ever since, farming his own 
tract of forty acres, worth $70 per acre, and at 
times renting other lands. He has had eight 
children, six of whom are alive: Charles 
Lincoln, Ada A., James G., Edward B., William 
A., and Freddie E., with two deaths, Phoebe, 
died in 18G0, at two years of age, and one in 



early infancy. Mr. S. and his wife are members 
of the Christian Church and are Republicans. 

Thomas C. Smith, was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, March 31, 1848; son of Samuel 
B. and Mary E. (Shephard) Smith. His father 
was born iu Virginia, June 9, 1810, and died 
January 22, 1880. His mother was born in Shep- 
hardstown, Virginia, October 31, 1813. They 
came to Sangamon county in the spring of 1845, 
and located near Chatham, on Lick creek, and 
about 1867, to Rochester township. The subject 
of this sketch received a common school educa- 
tion in this county, and was raised on a farm. 
He was married in 1876, to Anna Craig, who 
was born in Scotland, September 27, 1853, a 
daughter of William and Mary (McL.iughlin) 
Craig, who came to Sangamon county in 1856. 
They have had three children, Mary E., born 
October 11, 1876; Samuel B., May 24, 1878; and 
Louella, born January 21, 1880. He resides on 
the home farm, consisting of two hundred and 
fifty-two and a half acres, which is under a fair 
state of cultivation, and worth $50 per acre. 
His mother resides with him, and has been a 
member of the Methodist Church fifty-three 
years. Mrs. T. C. Smith is a member of Christ- 
ian Church. In politics they are Republicans. 

LaxDson H. Smith (deceased), was born in 
Nicholas county, Kentucky, February 20, 1831; 
sou of William and Elizabeth (Henderson) 
Smith, who also were born in Kentucky, and 
both are dead. The subject of this sketch went 
to Missouri at seven years of age, in 1838, where 
he resided for seven years, and from there went 
to Shelby county, Illinois, when he was twice 
seven years old, where he remained seven years, 
thence to Jackson county, Oregon, where he 
also remained seven years. He returned to 
Shelby county, where he engaged in farming in 
1859, and in March, 1860, he was married to 
Caroline M. Bell, the daughter of Isaac and 
Susan (Stokes) Bell, who came to Sangamon 
county in 1831. Her mother died April 26, 
1877, and her father in June 18, 1880. After 
their marriage they moved to the farm where 
she now resides. Mr. Smith died December 11, 
1876, leaving a widow and four children, Alice, 
Riley, Anna and Susie. Their farm consists of 
two hundred and eighty acres of land, which is 
under good cultivation, and worth $00 per acre. 
She and her daughter Alice are members of the 
Christian Church at South Fork, and he was an 
elder in the same, fourteen years, to the time of 
his death. 

Robert H. Sattley, Jr., a farmer in Rochester, 
was born in Sangamon county, September 18, 



lOlO 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1837, the son of Robert Sattley, Sen., who was 
Toovn in the vicinity of Vergennes, Vermont, 
October 21, 1788. He and his brother Archibald 
Avent with the family of Mrs. Lovina Hawley, a 
widow lady with two daughters and three sons 
to White county, near Carmi, Hlinois, in the fall 
of 1818. He was there married in February 1819, 
to Eliza Hawley, who was born March 7, 
180J, near Vergennes, Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sattley moved to what now is Sangamon county, 
in June 1819, and settled about a half mile noith 
of where Rochester now stands, and then moved 
to the place where he lived until his death, March 
27, 1842. His mother died June 13, 1800. The 
subject of this sketch received a common school 
education in Rochester township and was raised 
on a farm. He was married November 7, 1860, 
to Margaret J. Green, who was born in Virginia, 
May 10, 1839, the daughter of George M. and 
Mary (Miller) Green, who were natives of Vir- 
ginia, and now of Sangamon county, Illinois, 
where her father now resides. His mother died 
in 1879. They have had four children, two of 
which, Robert and Ralph, died in infancy, and 
Mary E., Emma J. and Louann A. yet living. 
He is now the owner of two hundred acres of 
fine farming land, which is under a good state of 
cultivation and worth |50 per acre. In politics, 
Mr. Sattley is a Republican. 

Asa Sterling, a farmer, Rochester, was born 
in County Down, Ireland, April 15, 1816; son of 
William and Agnes (Irving) Sterling, who also 
was born in County Down, Ireland, and emi- 
grated to America in 1824, and located at New- 
l)urg. New York, where they resided until 
their death. The father of A. Sterling was a 
merchant, from early life to the day of his 
death, which occurred about the year 1845. The 
mother died in 1824, soon after they came to 
America. The subject of this sketch received a 
common school education in New York, and at 
the age of sixteen learned carriage-making, 
Avhich he followed until twenty-one years of age, 
when he entered the store, and continued in the 
furnishing trade with his father till the death of 
the latter, and afterwards for a term of twenty- 
two yt ars. He was married in 1839, to Pha'be E. 
Carpenter, who was born in Newburg, New York, 
October 23, 1813, and was the daughter of 
James C. and Jane (McVeigh) Carpenter, both 
of whom are now dead. They have had four 
children, William J., and Edmond H. yet live, 
while two named Edmond and Mary Irving, are 
dead. On account of failing health Mr. S. quit 
merchandising and engaged in farming in New 
York, until the year 1868, when he moved to 



Sangamon county, Illinois, where he pnrchased 
two hundred and fifty acres of land and ei'o^aged 
in farming. His land is in good cuudiiiwn and 
worth 175 per acre, being well and successfully 
cultivated. His two sons, now reside with him 
on the farm. He and his wife are members of 
the Second Presbyterian Church, in Springfield. 
Politically he is a Republican. 

William A. Whitesides, farmer, Rochester 
township, was born in Fayette county, Ken- 
tucky, November 5, 1815, son of Charles and 
Elizabeth (Graves) Whitesides. His father, 
Charles Whitesides, was born in 1785, in Virginia, 
and taken by his parents to Fayette county, Ken- 
tucky. They traveled in boats from Pittsburg 
down the Ohio river to Limestone — now Mays- 
ville — Kentucky. Charles Whitesides was mar- 
ried in 1810, in Fayette county, Kentucky, to 
Elizabeth Graves, who was born in 1788, in that 
county. They had five children in Fayette 
county, and in 1819, moved to Cumberland 
county, same State, where five children were 
born, and the family moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving June 30, 1831, in Springfield. 
In 1833, they moved to the vicinity of Williams- 
ville, and in 1835 moved to German Prairie, 
northeast of Springfield, where he farmed until 
his death, March 31, 1836. His mother died 
June 25, 1855, in Logan county, Illinois. The 
subject of this sketch received a common school 
education in the State of Kentucky, and was 
raised on a farm. He came to this county with 
^is parents, where he has continued to ret-ide 
^ver since. He was married February 19, 1846, 
to Honor A. Branch, born in Nicholas county, 
Kentucky, March 24, 1827, the daughter of Ed- 
ward and Rebecca (Cassity) Branch, natives of 
Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county in the 
fall of 1830, and resided in Rochester till the 
death of Mr. Branch, after which the widow 
made her home at the house of her son-in-law, 
and daughter for sixteen years, prior to her 
death, July 25, 1876, They have had twa 
children, Albert, born December 27, 1846, and 
died December 7, 1860, and Louisiana, born 
September 11,1849, who was married October 
13, 1870, to Edward Miller, and died November 
23, 1871. Mr. Whitesides has been an active 
farmer, and one of Rochester's best citizens. 
He is the owner of one hundred and forty acres 
of fine farming land, which is under good culti- 
vation, and worth $50 per acre. He has given 
up farming on account of failing health, and now 
rents his farm, while he retires from active life, 
having recently purchased a good residence in 
I the village of Rochester. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1011 



Chapter XLVI. 



TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE OF SALISBURY. 



The township of Salisbury is one of the 
northern tier of townships, and is the smallest 
in the county, being three square miles less than 
half a Congressional township. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlement in Salisbury township was 
made in 1820. Among the early settlers were 
Solomon Miller, Marshal Duncan, Mrs. Abigail 
Coleman, William Yoakum, Fielding Harrison, 
William Kirkpatrick, Amos Batterton, Rev. 
John Antle, Christoi^her Mosteller, Job Ratcliff, 
Jacob Miller, James Fisher, John Duncan, Aaron 
Miller, Isaac Carlock, John Goodman, John 
Davis, Tobias Goodman, V. Crite, George Mil- 
ler, and Clawson Lacy. 

Solomon Miller was born about 1796, in Adair 
county, Kentucky. He was married there to 
Nancy A. Antle. They moved to St. Clair 
county, Illinois, and from there to Sangamon 
county, arriving in the spring of 1820, at what is 
now Salisbury. He died in ]858. 

Marshal Duncan was born in 1783, or 1784, in 
North Carolina. He was brother to Rice and 
John. He went, when young, Avith his parents 
to Cumberland county, Kentucky. He left Ken- 
tucky with three children, and came to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois; arrived in 1820 or I82I, in 
Salisbury township. He was there married to 
Hannah Miller, a daughter of John Miller. 
Died in 1858. 

Mrs. Abigail Coleman, whose maiden name 
was Robertson, was born in Surry county. North 
Carolina, and was married there to Theophilus 
Coleman, who was born in Virginia. They had 
four children in North Carolina. Mr. Coleman 
became a soldier in the war with England in 
1812. He never returned, and his family never 

118— 



knew his fate. Mrs. Coleman, with her four 
children, moved, in 1815, to Cumberland county, 
Kentucky, and to Sangamon county, Illinois; ar- 
rived in the fall of 1820, on Richland creek, in 
what is now Salisbury township. 

William Yoakum was born in 1791, in Vir- 
ginia, and when he was an infant his parents 
moved to Claiborne county, Tennessee, where his 
father died His mother moved her family about 
1810, to Madison county, near Edwardsville, 
Illinois. They moved next to Montgomery 
county, and then to Sangamon county, arriving 
June 10, 1819, at the north side of Richland 
creek, in what is now Salisbury township. Wil- 
liam Yoakum was married in 1821 to Sarah 
Simmons. 

Fielding Harrison was born about 1777, in 
Rockingham county, Virginia. Anna Quinnwas 
born about 1779, in Culpepper county, Virginia. 
They were married in Culpepper, and made their 
home in Rockingham county, until they had one 
child. They moved about 1805 to Christian 
county, Kentucky; from there moved to Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, arriving November, 1822, 
at the north side of Richland creek, in what is 
now Salisbury township. Died in 1829 or ':50. 

Amos Batterton was born May 3, 1772, in 
Loudon county, Virginia. Nancy Guthrie was 
born about 1776, in North Carolina, and her 
parents moved, when she was a child, to Madison 
county, Kentucky. They were there married and 
had one child, who was drowned in Kentucky 
river. They moved to Adair county and then 
moved to Madison county, Illinois, in 1818, and 
from there to Rock creek, in what is now Menard 
county, in 1820, thence to what is now Salisbury 
township, Sangamon county, in the spring of 
1822, and settled one and a quarter miles north- 



1012 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



west of where Salisbury now stands. He died 
August 4, 1835, 

Rev. John Antle was born April 15, 1789, in 
Cumberland county, Ky. Elizabeth Buchanan 
was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. 
Her parents moved to Lincoln county, Ken- 
tucky, when she was seven years old. Her 
father died in that county, and she went to live 
with a married sister in Cumberland county. 
John Antle and Elizabeth Buchanan were there 
married. The family then moved to Morgan 
county, Illinois, in 1829, and from there to San- 
gamon county, arriving January 9, 1830, in what 
is now Salisbury township. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Antle died September, 1844, and John Antle 
died August 30, 18(54; she in Menard county 
and he in Salisbury. 

Rev. John Antle preached to five churches, 
called Separate Baptists. One each at Salisbury 
and McKinnie Settlement, in Sangamon county; 
Baker's Prairie and Sand Ridge, in Menard 
county, and one in Morgan county. The only 
pay he received or expected was the hope of a 
reward in a better world. 

Christopher Mosteller was born in Buncombe 
county. North Carolina; went to Butler county, 
Ohio, when a young man, and was there married 
to Phoebe Sackett. They moved to Union 
county, Indiana; returned to Butler county, 
Ohio, and from there came to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, arriving in the spring of 1830, in 
what is now Salisbury township. He died in 
1834. 

Jacob Miller came in 1820, and settled on sec- 
tion twenty. Moved to Iowa in 1845, and after- 
wards died in 1852. 

James Fisher settled on the farm now owned 
by widow Sirames and Mr. Hover Hess; went to 
Arkansas from here. 

Aaron Miller settled on farm now owned by 
Mr. W. H. Rhodes. Moved to Iowa and died 
there in 1858. 

Isaac Carlock settled on farm now owned by 
the widow Marshall. Moved away and his 
whereabouts are unknown. 

John Goodman bought Carlock's place and 
died on the farm in 1843. 

John Davis came in 1827, and died in the vil- 
lage in 1881. 

Tobias Goodman came and settled on the 
creek on the farm now owned by Mr. E.Walker. 
Moved to Iowa and from thence to Oregon where 
he died. 

V. Crite settled on the Rhodes farm and died 
Ihere about 1851. 



George Miller came about the same time with 
the rest of the family and died in 1880, died at 
Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school house was of logs and erected 
in 1823, on the place now owned by Mr. Bat- 
terton. Cassell Harrison was the first teacher; 
John F. Harrison was the next teacher. There 
are now three school houses in the township, 
valued at $4,000. 

RELIGIOUS. 

Rev. James Sims has the honor of being the 
first to proclaim the gospel in this township. 
The exact date is unknown, but it was as early 
as 1822. Rev. John Antle was -probably the 
next. The first church building was erected by 
the Baptists, in the village. There is now one 
churcli building in the township, represented 
by three denominations, Methodist Episcopal, 
United Baptists and Christians. 

MILLS. 

William Kirkpatrick built a horse-mill on his 
place in 1821, which was the first mill of any 
description in the township. Robert Fielding 
and Reuben Harrison built a water-mill, for saw- 
ing lumber, on Richland creek, about a mile and 
a quarter from the village, at a very early date, 
which was of great convenience to the settlers. 
In 1833, Milas Goodman, John Sackett, and a 
man by the name of Holmes, built a saw and 
grist-mill on the creek, about a mile east of the 
village. After undergoing several changes in 
ownership, it is now owned and run by John 
Miller. The grist-mill has one run of burrs. In 
the winter of 1839, Thomas Kirkpatrick built a 
water-mill on Richland creek, half a mile south 
of the village, and sawed lumber. He abandoned 
it about five years after. 

ORGANIC. 

The township was organized in 1861, at the 
time the county adopted the township organiza- 
tion law. It was first given the name of Sackett, 
in honor of one of the leading citizens of the 
county, but subsequently changed to that of 
Salisbury, from the village of the same name. 

VILLAGE OF SALISBURY. 

The village of Salisbury was originally owned 
by Solomon Miller, who had it surveyed and 
platted January 9, 1832. Previous to this time 
a settlement had been formd here, and as it was 
several miles to any other village, it was thought 
a good place in which to build one up. 

A public sale of town lots was held shortly 
atter it was laid out, which resulted in the dis- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1013 



posal of a lair number, and a free fight by some 
who had indulsjed a little too freely in the 
spirits provided on the occasion. 

Simeon Clark erected a building for a dwelling 
and store in the spring of 1832, and here sold the 
first mei'chandise in the place. 

George Davis, in 1825, started a blacksmith 
shop about three-fourths of a mile from the 
present village, and was the first in the township 
to engage in blacksmithing. In the fall of 1832, 
he removed his shop inside the village limits 
and became the first of his trade in the village 
as well as in the township. 

Henry Davis, a brother of George, commenced 
the manufacture and repair of wagons in 1832, 
and was the first of that occupation in the village. 

Mathew Morehead came to the village in 
1833, and opened a cabinet shop, the first here. 
At this time nearly all the furniture used by the 
settlers was made by hand, and according to 
order. The modern style of running a furniture 
store was then unknown. Henry Shepherd 
was the second cabinet maker in the place. 

POST OFFICE. 

A village without its post oflUce is like the 
play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet 
omitted. On petition of a large number of the 
citizens living in the vicinity of the village, the 
postoffice department established here an office, 
in 1833. David McMurphy was the first post- 
master. Among those who have since held the 
office are George McMurphy, Marion Duncan, 
Jason Miller, G. W. Miller, George Brahm and 
Thomas Yoakman, the latter being the present 
incumbent. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The villagers early set about the erection of a 
school house, which was built the first year after 
the platting of the village. The building was 
of logs, and served the purpose for several years. 
The second building was of brick. It was used 
until it became too small to meet the wants of 
the district, when it was torn down and a larger 
one erected of like material. The building has 
two rooms, and has been graded since 1868. 

RELIGIOUS. 

There is now but one church building in the 
village, and three organizations — United Bap- 
tist, Methodist Episcopal, and Christian. 

The Baptists organized a congregation in the 
fall of 1831, composed of the following named 
members: Solomon Miller and wife, Catharine 
Davis, Mollie Miller, Sallie Duncan, George 
Miller, Henry Miller, James Miller, Elizabeth 



Miller, and Polly Miller. In 1835, the congre- 
gation erected a house of worship, in which they 
continued to worship for many years. They 
now meet in the Christian Church building, 
holding services. 

A class of Methodists was organized in 1837, 
by Rev. Mr, Knoll, since which time they have 
continued to meet with more or less frequency. 
Salisbury is now in Athens circuit, and preach- 
ing services are held here once a month. A class 
meeting is held each Sunday. Rev. Kennett is 
the present pastor. The congregation worships 
in the Christian Church building. 

BUSINESS OF SALISBURY. 

Salisbury is represented in business as fol- 
lows: General merchandise, T. S. Duncan, J. 
Keltner, D. Stevenson; blacksmith, J. K. Mc- 
Murphy, John Stroh; carpenter, S. T. Duncan; 
physicians, J. B. Wescott, A. F. Purvines. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Geo. W. Bailey was born on a farm near 
Rogersville, Hawkins county, Tennessee, March 
12,1823. He lived therewith his father until 
nearly twenty-one years of age, when he was 
married to Miss Louisa A. Jones, in 1841. She 
was born in Tennessee, and was a daughter of 
Elisha Jones and Nancy Harmon. Mrs. Bailey 
died in 1851. When twenty-two years of age, 
Mr. Bailey enlisted in the Mexican War, under 
Colonel McClernand, in the Fifth Tennessee In- 
fantry, and at the close of the war, in 1848, he 
came to Illinois, and settled in Rochester town- 
ship, Sangamon county, where he remained 
twelve years, when he moved on the farm where 
he now resides in Salisbury township. In 1860, 
he built a saw-mill here on the creek, which he 
ran fifteen years. He then ran a portable mill 
three years, farmed two years. In 1879, took 
charge as a partner and superintendent of 
Primm's saw and grist-mill in Menard county, 
where he is still engaged. He was married to 
Eliza E. Sexton, August 21, 1852. She was born 
in North Carolina, and was a daughter of Thos. 
Sexton and Rena Sykes. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey 
had six children, five living, viz.: Thos. I)., John 
J., Mary E., Chas. W.,and Vashti Bailey. Mrs. 
Bailey was a member of the United Brethren 
Church. She died October, 1871. Mr. Bailey 
was married to his present wife. Miss Haley E. 
Cantrall, October 9, 1872. She was born in San- 
gamon county, Illinois, and was a daughter of 
Joshua M. Cantrall and Sallie Cantrall. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bailey have one child, viz., Sarah A. Bailey. 
Mr. Geo. Bailey raised Company H, One Hun- 
dred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry Volun- 



1014 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY". 



teers, in 1862; was appointed captain of this 
company. He has held the position of justice 
of the peace since 1861, a position he still re- 
tains. He has held many other township offices. 
He is at present school director in his township. 
In politics, he is a Democrat. Mr. Bailey has 
his farm of one hundred and two acres, on which 
he resides, all under good cultivation. His 
father, Thomas Bailey, was born in Hawkins 
county, Tennessee. He was a farmer, and died 
in 1831. His wife, Melvina Moore, was born in 
Tennessee. She was a member of the Baptist 
Church and the mother of six children, three 
living. She died in 1862. 

William Batterton, post office, Salisbury, was 
born in Kentucky December 14, 1801. His 
father, Amos Batterton, was born in Loudon 
county, Virginia, 1781. His mother, Nancy 
Batterton, was born in North Carolina, 1784. 
They were married in Kentucky, and were the 
parents of the following named children: David, 
Nelson, Anderson, William, Polly, Levi, Susan, 
Priscilla and Enoch George. Of whom David, 
Nelson, Polly, Anderson, Susan and Priscilla 
are now deceased. Father and mother both 
died in 1834. 

Wm. Batterton came to Sangamon county in 
1818, and was married January 1, 1833, to Eliza 
Gaines, daughter of Richard and Amy Gaines, 
who came from Virginia to this county in 1822. 
They had thirteen children, viz: Madison, born 
October 20, 1833; John, born January 8, 1835, 
died September 7, 1835; Richard, born July 19, 
1836; Amy, born February 19, 1838; Robert, 
born August 4, 1839, died August 13, 1868; 
May, born February 27, 1841, died July 6, 1844; 
Henry C, born November 6, 1843; Mildred P., 
born May 4, 1846; Maria, born October 3, 1848; 
Sarah Eliza, born March 19, 1851; Charlotte, 
born January 29, 1853; George M., born May 
19, 1854. Mr. B. owns two hundred acres of 
land, valued at $50 an acre. His sons, Robert 
and Madison, were members of the One Hun- 
dred and Fourteenth Regiment Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry. His educational advantages were 
such as the subscription schools of his day 
afforded. 

Joseph S. Cantrall, was born on Cantrall creek, 
near Cantrall, Sangamon county, Illinois, Octo- 
ber 16, 1841, where he remained until twenty 
years of age, when he went into the cattle trade, 
feeding and shipping until 1872, when he and 
two others laid out the town of Cantrall, Illinois. 
He then furnished ties and lumber for the S. & 
N. W. Railroad, from Petersburg to Springfield, 
and, in 1874, built the Cantrall Elevator, and 



went into the grain trade, his present occupation. 
He is now building a large corn-crib, at Can- 
trail, with a capacity of 75,000 bushels of ear 
corn; it is two hundred feet long and thirty-five 
feet wide. J. S. Cantrall was married to Miss 
Margaret A. Canterbury, January 16, 1868; the 
fruits of this marriage are two children: Daisy 
and Hattie. Mr. and Mrs. Cantrall are members 
of the Christian Church. In politics, he is a 
Republican; having cast his first vote for A. 
Lincoln. Mrs. Cantrall was born in Sangamon 
county, and is a daughter of John F. Canterbury, 
born in Fleming county, Kentucky, August 27, 
1820; he was married in Sangamon county, 
February 22, 1842, to Miranda M. Brittin, who 
was the mother of six children. 

The father of Joseph S., Levi Cantrall, was 
born in Botetourt county, Virginia. He was 
taken by his parents to Bath county, Kentucky, 
in 1789, where he was married to Miss Fannie 
England, November 30, 1809, and in 1811, 
moved to Madison county, Ohio, and to Madi- 
son county, Illinois, October, 1819, and Decem- 
ber 4, 1819, moved where the city of Springfield 
now stands; on the oth he selected a location, 
and commenced building a cabin December 8, 
1810; they had seven children; he died Febru- 
ary 22, 1860, and she resides with her son, 
Joseph S., who is a Mason, and a member of 
Lavely Lodge, at Williamsville, Illinois. 

Francis M. Duncan, was born on a farm in 
Menard county, Illinois, two miles northwest of 
Salisbury, Illinois, October 1, 1831. He lived 
there and in Hancock county until eighteen 
years of age, when he moved with his parents to 
the head of Richland creek, in Cartwright town- 
ship, Sangamon county, where he remained two 
years. December 30, 1852, he married Miss 
Martha J. Yoakum; she was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and was a daughter of William 
Yoakum, born in West Virginia. He was a 
farmer. He died April 26, 1880. His wife, 
Sarah (Simmons) Yoakum, born in Kentucky. 
She was the mother of ten children; she died 
December 5, 1865. Some time after Mr. and 
Mrs. F. ^M. Duncan were married he bought a 
farm of one hundred and eighteen acres in sec- 
tion seventeen, where he resides. He and wife 
are members of the United Brethren Church and 
have had eight children, viz.: Charles U., Laura 
H., William R., and James F., (who are twins) 
Jenetta A., George PI., Louisa E. and Mary J. 
Duncan. Mr. F. M. Duncan was a son of James 
T. Duncan, born in Kentucky, who came to Illi- 
nois at an early day and was one of the first 
settlers in Salisbury township. He was a farmer 



HISTORY" OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1015 



and died on July 9, 1856, and bis wife was 
Miss Polly (Penny) Duncan, who was born near 
Beardstown; sbe was a daughter of Robert Pen- 
ny, who came down the Ohio river in a dug-out, 
and landed in Illinois in 1807. She was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church, and is still living 
in Salisbury, She was born in 1809, and was 
the mother of eleven children. F. M. Duncan 
has his farm of one hundred and eighteen acres 
all fenced and seventy acres under good cultiva- 
tion and well stocked. In politics he is a Dem- 
ocrat and he cast his first vote for Buchanan 
for President. 

Marion M. Duncan was born on a farm near 
Salisbury, in Menard county, Illinois, Decem- 
ber 17, 1832. When he was twenty-three years 
of age he was married to Martha McMurphy, 
April 16, 1855; she was born in New York, and 
was the daughter of Archie H. McMurphy, born 
in New York. He died in 1877. His wife, 
Elizabeth White, was born in New York, and 
was the mother of eleven children. She is living 
at Salisbury, Illinois, with her son, Joseph 
McMurphy. Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Duncan are 
members of the Christian Church and have had 
six children, five living, viz: Mrs. Lucy C. Davis, 
Laura A., Margaret V., Omer L. and Elizabeth 
E. Duucan. The father of M. M. Duncan and 
W. T. H. Duncan, was born near Louisville, 
Kentucky, May 18, 1812; when a young man, 
learned the hatter's trade; he came to Sangamon 
county and settled in Salisbury township, in 1831; 
died in October, 1864. His wife, Eva (Miller) 
Duncan, was born in Kentucky, and was the 
mother of twelve children. She is still living 
and resides with her son, Thomas Duncan, at 
Salisbury, Illinois. Mr. M. M. Duncan has a farm 
of ten acres, in section thirty-two where he re- 
sides. In politics, he is a Democrat and cast his 
first vote for Harrison for President. His father, 
■ W. T. H. Duncan, was a Democrat, and for nine- 
teen years justice of the peace, and held that 
office at the time of his death. Mr. M. M. Duncan 
has been town clerk eight or nine years, and was 
elected justice of the peace and resigned six 
months after and went to Springfield, and was 
engaged in the grocery business one year, when 
he clerked for Smith & Hay two years; then ran 
the Junction House, one mile below Springfie'd, 
two years, when he returned to Salisbury. 

Balthus Faith, (deceased) was born in Ger- 
many July 28, 1811. He came to the United 
States with his mother, brothers and sisters 
when a young man, and settled in Maryland, 
and was married there to Miss Emily Gordon, 
August 16, 1851. She was born in Maryland, 



and was a daughter of George Gordon, born and 
died in Maryland. His wife was Miss Nancy 
(Crozier) Gordon, born in Loudon county, Vir- 
ginia. She died in Iowa. Mr. F., came to 
Illinois in the fall of 1857, and settled on a 
farm in Fancy Creek township, Sangamon 
county, where he remained nine years, then, in 
1867, bought the present homestead in section 
thirty-six, Salisbury township, where he died 
and where his wife and family now reside. His 
father was born in Germany, where he died. His 
mother's maiden name was Mary A. Gable; she 
died in Maryland some ten years ago. She was 
a member of the Catholic Church, and was the 
mother of seven children, five living, viz: 
Joseph, who married Miss Mary A. Galligan, 
daughter of Barclay Galligan, resides in Fancy 
Creek township; and John F., Rosa A., George 
H., and Margaret L. The mother of Mrs. B. 
Faith lives on the old homestead with four of 
her children, and has a farm of one hundred and 
fifty acres in section thirty-five. Mrs. Faith is a 
member of the Catholic Church, as was her hus- 
band until his death, which occurred April 14, 
1848. In politics he was a Democrat. 

George Gillen, tile manufacturer, Cantrall, 
Illinois, was born in York county, Pennsylva- 
nia, June 11, 1849; son of Jacob and Susan 
(Shenberger) Gillen, natives of Pennsylvania, 
where they were married, and eight children 
were born to them, four of whom are living, viz: 
Augustus, Noah, George and Lucy. In 1876, 
George left Pennsylvania and came to Illinois, 
locating at Kirkwood, where he was engaged in 
the post office department, and remained one 
year. He then went to Decatur where he em- 
barked in the tile business, in company with a 
relative of his by the same name. They own 
two factories, one in Decatur, where they do a 
business of $12,000 a year, and one in Cantrall, 
where they do a business of $10,000 a year, em- 
ploying ten men. This property, at Cantrall, is 
valued at $4,000, and was built in 1876, by the 
Cantrall Drain Tile Company. In 1879, it wag 
purchased by the present owner, George Gillen. 
It is the largest manufactory in the county; is 
four hundred by twenty-five feet, with drying 
capacity six hundred by twenty-five feet. It is 
run by a twenty-horse power engine, averaging 
three thousand tile a day, of all sizes. They 
are enlarging the factory, and it is furnished 
with the latest improved machinery, has two 
kilns, thirty thousand tile capacity, and he is 
now erecting two more with thirty thousand ca- 
pacity. In politics, Mr. Gillen is a Republican, 
and a member of the Lutheran Church. 



1016 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



William I/. Gorden was born on a farm, in 
Menard county, Illinois, two miles north of 
Salisbury, December 8, 1836, where he lived un- 
til 1874, when he moved on a farm one half mile 
east of the old homestead, in Menard county, 
where he now resides. Mr. Gorden was married 
to Mrs. Elizabeth Gunterman whose maiden 
name was Grant, married August 12, 18*74. She 
was a daughter of Thomas Grant, and Mahala 
(Prater) Grant, she was a member of the United 
Brethren Church, and died Januai*y 18, 1872. 
Mr. M. and Mrs. W. H. Gorden have three chil- 
dren, viz: Viola E., William W., and Leslie A. 
Gorden. Mrs. Gorden had three children by her 
first husband, viz: Melissa B., Alice, and Mary. 
In politics Mr. Gorden is a Democrat, and cast 
bis first vote for James Buchanan. He owns a 
fine farm of eight hundred acres. 

John Hale, was born on a farm, near Chander- 
ville, Ohio, March 1, 1818. When eighteen 
years of age he hired to Thomas Phillips, to 
make wheat fans; followed that business until 
March 19, 1848, when he was married to Miss 
Sarah M. Lacy. She was born in New Jersey, 
and was a daughter of Clawson and Phebe 
(Force) Lacy; in 1850, bought one hundred and 
twenty acres of land, in section thirty-three, in 
Salisbury township, on which he still lives. He 
and wife are members of the Christian Church, 
and have had five children, three living, viz: 
Oscar A., Ellis A., and Elmore E. Hale. In 
politics he is a Republican. 

His father, John Hale, was born in Germany, 
his wife Kalista Hale was also born in Germany. 
They have three children living, viz.: John J., 
the i^ubject of this sketch, Alexander Hale, living 
in Athens, Illinois, Joseph, who went to Califor- 
nia, and Oscar Hale, living in Peoria. 

Marsden Hopwood, was born in Acruigton 
Lancashire, England, September 20, 1840, where 
he worked in the print works until seventeen 
years of age, when he come with his brother 
William to America, landed at New Orleans and 
thence to Morgan county, Illinois, finally coming 
t ) J*angamon county, in the spring of 1859. In 
1858, his father, mother and family came to 
America and came to Salisbury township, Illi- 
nois, and his father, brother and himself bought 
a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, section 
twenty-two. Mr. Marsden Hopwood now owns 
one hundred and forty-four acres mostly under 
cultivation. His father, Rushton Hopwood was 
born in England, came to the United States and 
settled in Sangamon county, in 1859, he died in 
January 1870; his wife, Margaret Cock, was born 
in England. They had nine children. She died 



October, 1868. Marsden Hopwood married Car- 
oline E. Jordan March 22, 1872. She v as born 
in Athens, Menard county, Illinois, an<i was a 
daughter of John and Ellen (Cantrall) Jordan. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hopwood have three children, viz. 
Mary E., Rosa M. and Henry Hopwood. Mrs. 
Hopwood is a member of the Christian Church, 
and politically, Mr. Hopwood is a Republican and 
cast his first vote for A. Lincoln. 

Williatn Ilopicood, was born in Lancashire, 
England, April 15, 1831. In 1857, he came to 
the United States. Moving about some few 
years he finally settled in Salisbury township, 
where he now I'esides. He was married to Miss 
Mary Doonin, January, 1864; she was born in 
Ireland, and was a daughter of Ned and Bridget 
(Blake) Doonin. The father of William Hop- 
wood, Rushton Hopwood, was born in England; 
he came to the United States, and settled in 
Sangamon county; in 1858 he died here. His 
wife, Margaret Cock, was born in England; they 
were members of the Christian Church. Wm. 
Hopwood and wife have had five children, one 
living, Margaret A. Mr. Hopwood has a farm 
of one hundred and six acres, in sections twenty- 
two and twenty-three, where he resides. 

William F. Irxiiin, was born in Menard county, 
two miles south of Salisbury, Sangamon county, 
October 21, 1837, where he remained until 
March, 1854, when he came with his parents to 
Sangamon county, and settled on a farm in sec- 
tion twenty-three, Salisbury township, on the 
east side of the river, and where he has remained 
since. He was married to Miss Ellen J. 
Williams, May 23, 1872. She was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, August 18, 1852. She was 
a daughter of James M. Williams. He was 
born in North Carolina, and settled in Spring- 
field in 1835, and his wife, Mary Repherd, born 
in Pennsylvania, July 6, 1819. William F. 
Irwin was a son of Robert S. Irwin, born in 
North Carolina. He came to Illinois in 1827, 
settled in Menard county, and in 1854 came to 
Sangamon county, and bought an interest in a 
water-power grist and sawmill on Sangamon 
river. He afterwards owned this mill himself, 
and ran it until February, 1867, when it was 
torn down by the ice. At the time of his death. 
May 3, 1874, he had accumulated a farm of three 
hundred and twenty acres in Salisbury town- 
ship. His wife was Cynthia (Duncan) Irwin, 
born in Kentucky; was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and died April 6, 1872. Wm. F. Irwin 
and wife have had five children, four living: 
Warren H., Ruth A., and two children not 
named. Mr, W. F. Irwin owns a farm of one 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



loir 



hundred and twelve acres in sections twenty- 
three, twenty-six and twenty-seven, where he 
resides. He also owns twenty acres in section 
sixteen, Springfield township. He has held the 
offices of supervisor, assessor, town clerk, school 
director and treasurer in his township for a 
number of years, and is at present supervisor 
and school treasurer. 

John M. Keltner, was born near Jacksonville, 
Illinois, July 24, 1830, and seven years after 
moved with his parents to Salem, Illinois; at 
that time it was the county seat of Menard 
county. His father kept the New Salem Hotel, 
and Abraham Lincoln boarded with him two 
years, and Lincoln painted the sign board of this 
hotel. During this time Mr. Lincoln kept a 
grocery store in Salem. John M. Keltner re- 
mained in Salem three years. When he was 
twenty-one years of age he went to work for 
himself; he worked in the stone quarries on 
Rock creek, in partnership with a man named 
Thompson one year, when he married Miss 
Nancy C. Keltner, August 20, 1852; she was born 
in Morgan county, Illinois, January 4, 1835; she 
was the daughter of Andrew Keltner, who was 
born in Kentucky, where he died in 1845, and 
Opha (Self) Keltner, who was born in Kentucky, 
and died in 1847; she was the mother of six 
children. After Mr. and Mrs. Keltner were 
mariied he ran a circular saw and grist-mill on 
Rock creek, eleven years, when he sold out and 
bought pi'operty in Salisbury, Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and opened a store of groceries and gen- 
eral merchandise, which he still runs. He is the 
present acting postmaster. His father, Michael 
Keltner, was born in Pennsylvania, and died 
August, 1876; his wife was Elizabeth (Rogers) 
Keltner, who was born in Adair county, Ken- 
tucky, and the mother of nine children; she died 
December 25, 1851. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Keltner 
have had eight children, two living: Chas. H. 
and Eva M. In politics, Mr. Keltner is a Dem- 
ocrat, and cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce. 

Frank Mayer, was born in Wedenberg, Ger- 
many, July 12, 1831, lived there on the farm 
until twenty-seven years of age, then he came to 
the United States and landed in New York, and 
came direct to Springfield, Illinois, arriving 
here February 2, 1857. He worked in the brew- 
ery now owned by Frank Reisch, nine years; 
kept a saloon nine years, when he bought a farm 
of forty acres, in section thirty-five, Salisbury 
township, where he now resides. He married 
Miss Mary (Nowak) Mayer, October 17, 1863, 
at Springfield, Illinois. She was born in Bohemia, 
Austria. She was a diuojhter of Peter Nowak 



and Kate Laischky, born in Bohemia, Austria. 
The fruits of this marriage was six children, five 
living, viz: Minnie M., Albert. Lucy J., Lena, 
Sand, Frank, Jr. The father of Frank Mayer, 
was Frank Mayer, Sr., born in Wedenburg, Ger- 
many. He was a weaver, and died in 1835. 
His wife. Elector (Munding) Mayer, born in 
Germany. They had six children. F. Mayer 
has forty acres of land, all under good cultiva- 
tion. In politics, he is a Democrat, and cast his 
first vote for Seymour. 

John A. Miller was born in Salisbury town- 
ship, April 8, 1823, where he remained on a 
farm until his marriage to Miss Hannah J. Jack- 
son, February 10, 184S. She was born in Ware- 
ham, Massachusetts, February 25, 1829; she was 
a daughter of Hosea Jackson, he was born in 
Massachusetts, in 1800, and a descendant of the 
old Puritan stock; he came to Illinois and set- 
tled in Gardner township, Sangamon county, in 
1839; he was a miller and machinist; he died 
January 15, 1849; his wife. Silence Harvey, born 
in Massachusetts, she was the mother of one 
child, Mrs. J. A. Miller, she died February 12, 
1865. After Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Miller were 
married they moved to Salisbury, Sangamon 
county, where he now resides. They are both 
members of the Christian Church, and have had 
a family of six children, four living, viz: Allen 
A., Reuben M., Harvey J., and Calista A Miller. 
The father of J. A. Miller, Solomon Miller, was 
born in Kentucky, he was a farmer and a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. His wife was Nancy 
Antle, born in Kentucky; she was a member of 
the Baptist Church, and the mother of twelve 
children. 

John A. Miller has one hundred and twenty 
acres of land, one half mile north of Salisbury, 
Illinois, where he resides, and owns two hundred 
acres in Gardner township; he owns and runs a 
saw and grist-mill on Richland creek, in Salis- 
bury township. In politics Mr. Miller is a Demo- 
crat. 

Johanna Mulcahy, widow of Daniel Mulcahy, 
was born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, De- 
cember 18, 1834. She came with her sister 
Bridget to the United States in 1858. They 
landed at New Orleans, and came direct to 
Springfield, where their brothers, John and Ed. 
Flynn, were. Mrs. Johanna (Flynn) Mulcahy 
was married here to Daniel Mulcahy, April 14, 
1857. They were married in the old Catholic 
Church, on the corner of Seventh and Monroe 
streets. Some fourteen months after, they moved 
on Mr. Mulcahy''8 farm, in Salisbury township, 
section twenty-four, where he iiad one hundred 



1018 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and seventy-five acres of land, where she now 
remains with her family, and where he died, No- 
vember 11, 1880. He was born in Limerick, Ire- 
land, in 1812, and came to the United States in 
1847. He was a son of William Mulcahy, born 
in Ireland, where he died, and Bridget Mulcahy, 
who died in Ireland. Mrs. Johanna Mulcahy 
has had eight children, seven living, viz.: Wil- 
liam, Patrick, Miss Mary E., Daniel, John, and 
Honora, She was a daughter of Patrick Flynn 
and Mrs. Margaret (Mulcahy) Flynn, who were 
born in County Limerick, Ireland, where they 
died. They had eleven children, five living in 
the United States: John Flynn and Mrs. Bridget 
O'Brien living in Springfield, Mrs. Johanna Mul- 
cahy and Edward Flynn, who reside in Decatur, 
Illinois. 

Nelson Olson was born on a farm twenty miles 
west of Christiana, Norway, June 22, 1833, When 
twenty-one years of age he came to the United 
States, landed at Quebec, Canada, and came 
thence to Springfield, arriving here in 1854; 
worked here in the Great Western Railroad 
Machine Shops, and for different parties, until 
the spring of 1858. In about 1865, came to San- 
gamon county and bought a farm of eighty acres, 
in section twenty-three, Salisbury township, where 
he now lives. He was married to Mrs. Mary A. 
Newbrew, whose maiden name was Johnson, 
May 9, 1855. She was born in County Tyron, 
Ireland, October 29, 1827. She was a daughter 
of Robert and A. M. Hamilton Johnson. Mr. 
and Mrs. Olson have had five children — four 
living — viz: Oliver R., Mrs. Emma J. Hopwood, 
Thomas H. and Newt N. Hopwood. The parents 
of Mrs. Nelson Olson were natives of Ireland. 
She died in Norway in 1S45. Mr. and Mrs. Olson 
are members of the Lutheran church. He has his 
farm of eighty acres, all under a high state of 
cultivation. In politics, is a Democrat. 

Conrad Pfoffenhach, was born on a farm near 
the town of Woldcoppel, Germany, May 18, 1836, 
and when twenty years of age he came to the 
United States. He landed at New Orleans and 
came direct to Sangamon county, and worked 
for different parties in Salisbury township three 
years, when he bought a farm of forty acres, 
where he lived two years, when he sold this farm 
and bought fifty acres in Menard county, where 
he now resides. He was married to Miss Caro- 
line Bosey, October, 1861; she was born in 
Prussia, Germany; she was a daughter of Ferdi- 
nand Bosey, born in Germany; he was a wagon- 
maker, and his wife was Miss Shaver, born in 
Germany; she and her husband reside in Salis- 



bury township. The father of Conrad Pfoffen- 
bach, Joseph Pfoffenbach, was born in Germany; 
he was a farmer, and died in Germany; bis wile, 
Mary Coufman, was born in Germany, where she 
died; she was the mother of eight children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Pfoffenbach have had 
eleven children, ten living, viz: Mary, Henry, 
William, Joseph, Ella, Anna, Louisa, Francis, 
Carrie and Minnie. Mrs. Pfoffenbach is a merar 
ber of the Catholic Church, and Mr. P. is a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church. In politics, he is a 
Democrat, and cast his first vote for Douglas. 

Elisha Primm^ was born in Monroe county, 
Illinois, fifteen miles below East St. Louis, near 
the banks of the Mississippi river, October 24, 
1814. He remained here on a farm until some 
five or six years of age, when he came with his 
parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving 
here May 1, 1820. The family settled on the 
farm now owned by William Cline. Mr. Elisha 
Primm lived there on the farm until twenty-three 
years of age, when he struck out for himself. 
He was soon after married to Miss Lucinda C. 
Glasscock, September 19, 1837. She was born 
in Fauquier county, Virginia, August 12,1819. 
She was a daughter of Daniel M. Glasscock, 
born in Virginia. He was a farmer, and died 
March 4, 1840, and his wife. Miss Mary (Lake) 
Glasscock, was born in Virginia. She and hus 
band were members of the M. E. Church, and 
had a family of ten children, six living. She 
died April 4, 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Primm have 
had one child — Susan J. Primm — now the wife 
of William L. Rankin. He was a son of James 
and Anna Rankin. He and wife had eight 
children, six living, viz: Anna M., George M., 
William L., Louis T., Lucinda P. and Herman 
Primm, Rankins. The father of Elisha Primm, 
John Primm, was born in Stafford county, Vir- 
ginia. He came to Illinois about 1806 or 1807, 
and settled in Monroe county, fifteen miles south 
of East St. Louis, on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi river, and his father settled near Belleville, 
St. Clair county, in 1805. John Primm, lather of 
Elisha, was justice of the peace for many years; 
was also deputy sheriff. He died August 9, 
1848, and his wife, Ruth (Cox) Primm, born in 
the State of Delaware. She and husband were 
members of the M. E. Church, and had seven 
children, five living. She died February 3, 1856. 
Mr. Primm owns a fine farm of four hundred and 
ninety-two acres, all under fence, three hundred 
and ninety-two acres of which is under a high 
state of cultivation. The farm is valued at $55 
or $60 an acre. Mr. Primm also owns the Primm 
grist and saw-mills, which was built in 1869, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1019 



and has been rumiing ever since. In politics, 
Mr. Primm is a Republican, and cast his first vote 
for Henry Clay. Mr. Primm is of English and 
Welch descent, and Mrs. Primm is a member of 
^he M. E. Church. Mr. and Mrs. Primm have a 
clock that was bought and set up in 1831, in 
Virginia, and has been running steadily for fifty 
years, and has never been out of order or had a 
tinker. It is a weight clock, and was invented 
by Eli Terry, and manufactured at Bristol, Con- 
necticut, by George Mitchell. 

A. F. Purimies, M. D., at Salisbury, Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, was born on a farm near 
Pleasant Plains, June 11, 1839. The Doctor 
lived on this farm with his father until 1864, 
when he began to study medicine with Dr. J. B. 
Cloud, at Pleasant Plains, Illinois, and three 
years later attended the Rush Medical College, 
at Chicago. He then came direct to Salisbury, 
Sangamon county, Illinois, where he still re- 
mains, the leading physician of bis town. He 
was married to Miss Margaret S. Duncan, May 
7, 1868. They have one child, Gilbert C. Pur- 
vines. Mrs. Dr. Purvines was born near Salis- 
bury, Sangamon county, Illinois, and was a 
daughter of Squire W. H. Duncan, born in Ken- 
tucky. He was a farmer, and one of the first 
settlers of Salisbury township. He died in 
1862, and his wife, Eva (Miller) Duncan, born 
in Kentucky. She and husband were members 
of the Baptist Church, and had a family of 
eleven children — all living. The father of 
Dr. Purvines, John G. Purvines, was born in 
Cabarras county, North Carolina. He was a 
farmer, and came to Cartwright township, San- 
gamon county, Illinois, in 1820, and in 1822, 
settled in this township, where he died on Janu- 
ary 1, 1863. He was the first school teacher in 
Cartwright township. He also followed farm- 
ing. His wife was Elizabeth (Coleman) Pur- 
vines, born in Noi'th Carolina. She and hus- 
band were membeis of the Baptist Church, and 
had a family of eleven children, seven living. 
She is still living in Pleasant Plains. Dr. A. b. 
Purvines owns a nice residence in the east part 
of Salisbury, where he resides. In politics he 
is a Democrat. 

William U. Mhodes was born on a farm near 
Petersville, Maryland, September 23, 1828. He 
went with his parents to Knoxville, Maryland, 
where he attended school snd worked with his 
father at the carpenter's trade until twenty-three 
years of age. He then went to West Virginia, 
and helped timber the " Board-tree " and King- 
wood Tunnels, on the B. & O Railroad. In Jan- 
uary, 1854, went to Springfield, then worked for 

119— 



Hannon & Ragsdale. He was married February 
21, 1856, to Miss Anna V. Green. She was born 
in Virginia, and was a daughter of Geo, 
M. and Mary (Miller) Green, natives of Vir- 
ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, in 1856, went to 
Rochester township, where they had six chil- 
dren, viz.: John D., Chas. W., Geo. W., Minnie 
B., Hattie E., and Mary O. Rhodes. Mrs. Rhodes 
died here, September 17, i8'70. Mr, Rhodes 
was married to his present wife. Miss Mary J, 
Marshall, May 25, 1871. She was born in Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, ami was a daughter of John Mar- 
shall, born in Loudon county, Virginia, and died 
August 21, 1880. His wife. Miss Jane A. Wyatt, 
born in Virginia, the mother of eight children. 
She is still living on the old homestead in Salis- 
bury township, Sangamon county, Illinois, where 
she and husband settled in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. 
Rhodes have three children, viz.: Clarence M., 
Archibald F., and Laura A. Rhodes. In 1877, 
Mr. Rhodes moved on the farm where he now 
resides, in section thirty-two, Salisbury town- 
ship. 

The father of W. H. Rhodes, Peter 
Rhodes, Anas born in Maryland. He came to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1864. He died 
November, 1876. His wife, Miss Elizabeth 
Feaster, was born in Montgomery county, Mary- 
land. She was the mother of ten children, nine 
living, five girls and four boys. Mr. W. H. 
Rhodes has his farm of two himdred and forty 
acres under good cultivation, Mrs. Rhodes is a 
member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Rhodes, in 
politics, is a Democrat. 

Frederick W. Shaferfwsis born in Prussia, Ger- 
many, December 31, 1834, where he lived until 
the fall of 1856, when he came to the United 
States, and landed in New Orleans. In 1865, 
came to Salisbury township and bought a farm 
of one hundred and five acres in section twenty- 
two, where he now resides. He was married to 
Miss Fredolina Schelble, February 15, 1866; she 
was born in Baden, Germany, she was a daughter 
of Benedict Schelble and Noi-thburg Spitznagel. 
who were born in Germany; he died in Germany, 
she died in Salisbury township, October 15, 1880, 
The father of Frederick W, Shaferf, John D., was 
born in Germany, where he died, September 13, 
1854, his wife, Mary A., was born in Ger- 
many, she was the mother of eight children, two 
living, in America, viz: the subject of this sketch, 
and Mrs. Ferdina Boose. Mr. and Mrs. Shaferf 
have three children, viz. Frederick J., Frederick 
W., and Mary T. Shaferf. In politics he is a 
Democrat. He and wife are members of the 
Catholic Church. 



1U20 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



George Sharp, was born in Ogdensburg, New 
York, December 29, 1830. He remained here 
on his father's farm, and attended school until 
seventeen years of age, when he came with his 
parents to Illinois, and settled in Salisbury town- 
ship. He was married to Miss Ellen Duncan, 
December 9, 1854; she was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and was a daughter of John 
Duncan, Sr., who was a farmer, and died in 1864 
or '65. His wife, Sallie Miller, was born in 
Kentucky; she was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and the mother of twelve children; she 
died in 1850. In the spring of 1857, Mr. Sharp 
moved to California, where he remained until 
the fall of 1866, when he returned with his fam- 
ily to Salisbury. In April 1*7, 1874, he bought a 
farm of thirty acres in Salisbury township, west 
of the village, where he now resides; when he 
moved on this farm it was covered with timber; 
he selected a spot, built a house and moved his 
family into it; he now has it all cleared and 
under good cultivation and well stocked. His 
father, George Sharp, Sr., was born in Scotland, 
and was taken to Canada when small, where he 
remained until 1827, when he went to New York 
State; he settled in Sangamon county, in 1848, 
and died in 1852, with cholera, at Beardstown, 
Illinois, on his way from Cincinnati, Ohio; his 
wife, Mary A. Woods, was born in England, and 
was raised in Canada; she was a member of the 
Episcopal Church, and was the mother of eleven 
children, seven living. Mr. and Mrs. George 
Sharp, Jr , are members of the M. E. Church, 
and have had six children, four living, viz: Wm. 
A., George R., Kate and Daisy. In politics, he 
is a Republican. 

Enoch Walker was born in Lowden, Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1820. When twelve 
years of age moved with his parents on a farm 
in Wayne, (now Ashland county) Ohio, where he 
married Miss Elizabeth M. Wilson, June 22, 
1847. She was born in Ashland county, Ohio, 
and was a daughter of Charles Wilson and Mary 
Anderson. In 1849, Mr. Walker moved on a 
farm in Indiana, where he remained ten months, 
when he came to Illinois and settled in Salisbury 
township, Sangamon county, the fall of 1850. 
Six months after he went to Gardner township 
and lived two years, when he bought and moved 
on the farm where he now lives, in section twenty- 
eight, Salisbury township. His wife, Elizabeth 
M. Walker died April, 1853. She was a member 
of the Presbyterian Church, and the mother of 
three children, viz: Mrs. Mary E. Mock, Mrs. 
Sarah J. Campbell and Miss Harriet Walker. 
Mr. Walker was again married November 30, 



1853, to Miss Jane Hall. She was born in Ohio, 
and was a daughter of Margaret Rawlston. Mrs. 
Walker was a member of the Presbyterian Church 
and died July 13, 1854, Mr. Walker was married 
to his present wife. Miss Caroline P. Craig, 
December 4, 1854. She was born in Franklin, 
county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of 
William Craig. His wife, Lillian S. Skinner, 
was born in Pennsylvania. She was a member 
of the Presbyterian Church and has had six 
children — four living — viz: Lillian, John W., 
Annie E. and Enoch "W. Walker. The father of 
Mr. Enoch Walker, John Walker, was born in 
Pennsylvania. He was a farmer, and by trade 
a tanner. He settled in Gardner township, San- 
gamon county, Illinois, in 184'J. He died Sep- 
tember 21, 1859; he was a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. His wife. Elizabeth Skinner, 
was born in Pennsylvania; she was also a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church and mother of 
ten children — eight living — six boys and two 
girls. Mr. Enoch Walker has a farm of one 
hundred and two acres in Salisbury township, 
under good cultivation. 

James H. Wells was born on a farm in Clark 
country, Indiana, May 31, 1834. July 8, 1852, 
he was married near Salisbury, Sangamon coun- 
ty, to Miss Margaret J. Sackett, he lived on a 
farm in Menard county, until the spring of 1853, 
when he moved on a farm two miles south of 
Salisbury, where he lived four years then lived 
on a farm in the same neighborhood until 1860, 
when he bought a farm of eighty acres in sec- 
tions twenty-seven, thirty-three, thirty-four and 
thirty-five, where he still resides. He now owns 
a farm of one thousand acres of fine land under 
a high state of cultivation. Mr. Wells began a 
poor boy, but by hard work and close application 
to business has gained a position he may well be 
proud of. He and wife have had a family of six 
children, five living, viz. Levi M., Harriett E., 
Harry R., Lelia and Richard Wells. James H. 
died when seven years of age. Mrs. J. H. Wells 
was born in Illinois, she was a daughter of 
Thomas Sackett and Polly Sackett. J. H. Wells 
was a son of James Wells and Balinda (Owens) 
Wells, the former born in Kentucky, the latter in 
Indiana. They had a family of five children and 
both parents died when Mr. J. H. Wells was a 
child. In politics Mr, Wells is a Democrat, and 
cast his first vote for Buchanan for President of 
the United States. 

George H. Yoakum was born on a farm three 
miles northwest of Salisbury in what is now 
Menard county, then Sangimon county. June 
27, 1829, when four years of age, he moved on 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1021 



the farm where he now resides. His parents were 
William Yoakum, born in Virginia, a farmer 
who died April, 1880, and Sallie (Simmons) 
Yoakum, born in North Carolina. She was the 
mother of ten children, seven living, viz. Mrs. 
Mary A. Penny, George H. Yoakum, Martha 
Duncan, James C. Yoakum, Milton B., Isaac R. 
and Jesse J. Yoakum; she died on December 5, 
1865. Mr. George Yoakum owns a tine farm of 
one hundred and five acres in section thirty, 
seventy acres of which is under good cultivation 
and valued at $40 an acre. He is a Republican, 
Philo Beers was born in 1793, in Woodbury, 
Connecticut. When he was about fifteen years 
old he was put to live with an elder brother, 
probably on account of the death of his parents. 
They could not agree, and he ran away, and was 
gone twelve or thirteen years, without his rela- 
tives hearing from him. During his ramblings 
he become acquainted with Dr. Joseph Bennett 
Stillman, who introduced him to his mother and 
sisters, at Morganfield, Kentucky. Mr. Beers 
always said that he made up his mind, on their 
first acquaintance, to have Miss Martha Stillman 
for a wife. The Stillman family moved to San- 



gamon county, Illinois, and Mr. Beers went to 
Carlyle, Clinton county, same State. He was 
first elected a justice of the peace, and after 
serving for a time, was elected to represent 
Clinton county in the legislature of Illinois, 
when it assembled in Yandalia. While residing 
at Carlyle he was married in Sangamon county, 
on the farm of John Poorman. In response to 
a letter of inquiry, the author of this book re- 
ceived from the clerk of Madison county, Illi- 
nois, a reply, in which it is stated that a license 
was issued at Edwardsville, October 27, 1820, 
for the marriage of Philo Beers and Martha 
Stillman; that it was returned, endorsed by 
Elder Stephen England, with the statement that 
he had solemnized the marriage, November 2, 
1820. The clerk also stated that it was the two 
hundred and seventy-ninth license issued from 
that office. They are believed to have been the 
first couple married north of the Sangamon 
river in the State of Illinois; certainly the first 
in what is now Sangamon county. The first 
marriage under a license from Sangamon county 
was between Wm. Moss and Margaret Sims, 
April, 1821. . 



l()2-2 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XLVII. 



SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



The history of Springfield township is identi- 
fied with that of the city, so much so that a his- 
tory of the latter is virtually a history of the 
former, and the reader's attention is directed to 
the latter for many facts and incidents that 
might be related in this connection. 

The township of Springfield comprises town- 
ship sixteen, range five west, with the exception 
of that part comprising the city of Springfield. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

Originally Springfield township, was about 
equally divided between timber and prairie. The 
surface of the county is rolling, especially where 
in close proximity to its principal streams of 
water. The soil is generally the same as in 
other parts of the county, and is particularly 
adapted to the raising of all kinds of cereals. 

WATER COURSES. \ 

Springfield township is well supplied with 
natural streams of water, the principal of which 
is the Sangamon river, which enters the town- 
ship on section one, and pursuing its usual tortu- 
ous course passes through the entire tier of sec- 
tions on the north, passing into Gardner town- 
ship from section six. Spring creek enters the 
township on section thirty, and running north- 
east empties into the Sangamon river on section 
three . 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The early settlers of this township settled in 
what is now the city of Springfield, and in its 
immediate neighborhood. Among the early set- 
tlers in what is now Springfield township, out- 
side the city limits of Springfield, were Andrew 
Elliott, Arthur Watson, Elijah Dunn, Lewis Mc- 
Kinnie, William L. Fowkes, David Newsom, 
George Donner, Jacob Donner. 



George Donner, was born about 1786, in 
Rowan county. North Carolina, came with his 
parents to Jessamine county, Kentucky, and 
from there to Decatur county, Indiana. He was 
there married and had five children. Mrs. Don- 
ner died there, and Mr. D., with his family, 
came to Sangamon county, Illinois, in the au- 
tumn of 1828, settling about three miles north- 
east of Springfield. George Donner was mar- 
ried in Sangamon county to Mary Blue. Mrs. 
Mary Donner died in Sangamon county. Mr. 
Donner's five eldest children married in the lat- 
ter coiinty, and in 1838 he took his two children 
by the second marriage, and, in company with 
bis son William and family, and his brother 
Jacob and family, moved to Texas. They raised 
one crop fifty miles south of Houston. Not lik- 
ing the country, they all returned in 1839, and 
George Donner moved on the farm he left. 
About two years afterwards he married Mrs. 
Tarasen Dozier, whose maiden name was Eus- 
tace. George Donner was a good man. It is 
said, by his former neighbors in Sangamon 
county, that it appeared to be a pleasiire for him 
to do a kind act. For an account of the sad fate 
of himself and wife, see sketch of the Reed and 
Donner emigrant party. 

Jacob Donner, about the year 1790, was born 
near Salem, Rowan county, N. C, accompa- 
nied the family to Jessamine county, Kentucky, 
thence to Decatur county, Indiana, and from 
there (in 1828) to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
where he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Hook, 
whose maiden name was Blue, a sister of his 
brother George's second wife. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The first schools of the township were in that 
part now comprising the city of Springfield. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1023 



Since the era of free schools and the adoption 
of the present system of public schools by the 
State, much has been done by the citizens of the 
township to promote the interests of its schools. 
In 1881, there were five brick and three frame 
school-houses, valued at $14,000. Considering 
its proximity to the city of Springfield, and the 
advantages afforded for a common and high 
school education in that city, this may be re- 
garded as a splendid showing. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The people of Springfield township usually 
worship in the city. There is but one church, 
situated on section eighteen, the property of 
Pascal En OS. 

ORGANIC. 

The township was organized in 1861. Since 
that year annual elections have been held. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

George Bergen^ born at Madison, Morris 
county. New Jersey, April 5, 1824, was reared 
in Springfield, Illinois; is unmarried, and resides 
one mile east of Springfield. 

James W. Brooks was born in West Cam- 
bridge, now^ Islington county, Massachusetts, Jan- 
uary 26, 1822, the son of Ebenezer and Sarah M. 
Brook«, 7iee Dunklee, both natives of that State; 
father died in Massachusetts in 1848, andmother 
in 1869. James was brought up on a farm, and 
in 1843, he was married to Belvina Crosby, who 
was also born in the Bay State in 1818. The 
children in this family are Emma C, Ella M., 
now Mrs. William B. Jones) Frank, Linda and 
histe. In 1856, Mr. Brooks moved to this 
county, locating in Woodside township, where 
he resided ten years. He lost his wife in 1858, 
and the next year he married Martha Ricker, 
who was born in 1825, and by this marriage the 
children are Freddie, Alletta, Elizabeth and Ida; 
Mattie is deceased. Mr. Brooks owns four hun- 
dred acres of land in this county, most of which 
is very valuable. He and his wife are members 
of the Baptist Church, and in politics, he is a 
Republican. 

tienry Converse, retired farmer, Springfield, 
Illinois, was born in Lyme, Grafton county. New 
Hampshire, on June 7, 1806. Oti« and Clarisa 
(Porter) Converse were his parents, and were 
natives of Connecticut. Henry enjoyed the 
district school advantages, common to the far- 
mers' boys of that day. Previous to his seven- 
teenth birthday, he moved with his parents to 
St. Lawrence county, New York, where his 
father died in 1828, at the age of forty-seven 



% 



years. In 1830, the subject of this article 
united in marriage with Nianna Priest, born in 
Pomfret, Vermont, November 27, 1810, and the 
daughter of Frank and Mary Priest, natives of 
Massachusetts. Three sons were born to them, 
two of whom still survive. Henry Franklin, 
the eldest, was born during their three years* 
residence in St. Lawrence county. In 1833, 
they moved to Montgomery, Alabama, con- 
suming seven weeks in the trip, and there Mr. 
Converse carried on the manufacture of tinware 
about four years. The climate not proving 
agreeable to his health, they removed to Paines- 
ville. Lake county, O. At the end of seven 
years of farmer life there, Mr. Converse decided 
to seek the broader and more fertile fields of 
the Prairie State, and landed in Springfield, 
Sangamon county, in June, 1846. He brought a 
quantity of flax seed with him, and induced the 
farmers to engage in the culture of flax, of whom 
he bought the seed, and for three years engaged 
in the manufacture of linseed oil from it, which 
business proved fairly remunerative. In 1849, 
Mr. Converse purchased three hundred and 
twenty acres of land in what is now the north 
part of Springfield, and a portion of which is 
now occupied by the Springfield Iron Works, 
the watch factory and the city water-works. A 
part of the tract was sold for |300, and a part 
for $500 per acre. He and his two sons still 
owns one hundred and seventy acres of it, on 
which the homestead stands. In March, 1850, 
he and Mr. Mace, Capt. Saunders and others 
organized the first school district in Springfield 
township, and erected a small frame school 
house near the site of the present brick one, 
near the fair grounds. Besides other local 
offices, Mr. Converse has served his township — 
Springfield — ten years on the county board of 
supervisors. Mr. and Mrs. Converse celebrated 
the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding — their 
golden wedding — on the 4th of February, 1880. 
During the California gold excitement, in 1850, 
their eldest son, Henry F., sought that Eldorado 
in search of a fortune. In less than a year after 
his arrival on the Pacific Coast he was treacher- 
ously murdered by a pretended friendly Indian, 
being shot with his own gun while stooping to 
drink from a brook. William Otis and Albert 
Luther, the remaining sons, are married, and 
both reside in Springfield township. William 
O. married Miss Ellen Little, of Sangamon 
county; they have a family of three daughters: 
Nina, Elsie and ElUn; he has always devoted 
his life to agricultural pursuits. Dr. Albert L. 
Converse read medicine, graduated in the same, 



1024 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



and for a time engaged actively in the praetice 
of his profession, but has recently turned his 
attention chiefly to farming; he married Henri- 
etta Thompson, of Louisville, Kentucky; they 
have three children alive, and two deceased — 
Florence, aged sixteen, died September 27, 1881, 
and Olive, February, 1872. All of the family 
are members of the Central Baptist Church, at 
Springfield, Illinois. 

Mr. C. has raised several children, one from 
childhood, Charles H. Erickson, who is now lo- 
cated in Kansas, and married. 

Thomas J. Curry was born in Springfield, 
Illinois, October 20, 1 853, and is the son of Robert 
J. and Mary (Brooker) Curry, both of whom are 
deceased. He was brought up on a farm, and 
in 1876 married Ann S. Phillips, who also was 
born in Springfield, in 1856, and their children 
are Robert F. and Normand D., besides one 
deceased, Emma S. Mr. Curry now owns one 
hundred and two acres of land, northeast of 
Springfield. Politically, he is a Democrat. 

John W. jDalby, was born in Frederick county, 
Virginia, January 14, 1826, the son of Joseph 
and Emeline E. (Keizer) Dalby, natives also of 
that State; father died September 4, 1877, and 
mother in January, 1874, in Kentucky. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was brought up on a farm and 
educated in the old-time schools. He came to 
this county, where he clerked several years in a 
store, and then engaged with his brother in the 
stock business. In I 863, he married Hannah E. 
Kincaid, who was born in Menard county, Illi- 
nois, December, 1840. The children now living 
are: James W., John E., Frank N., Joseph K, 
and Alice E; the deceased one was Ruth E. Mr. 
D. is now engaged in the stock business, on the 
old homestead, where he annually fattens about 
two hundred head of cattle, one hundred sheep 
and three hundred hogs. He also owns a fine 
farm in Logan and Menard counties. He is an 
elder in the First Presbyterian Church at Spring- 
field, and in politics, is a Republican. 

John A. Doerfler was born in Germany, Feb- 
ruary 7, 1811, son of John A. and Cumgunda 
i(tiee Fuche) Doerfler, both of whom are deceased. 
In 1852, the subject of this sketch arrived in this 
county, and has followed brick-making ever 
since, on his own accountsince 1867. In 1838, he 
married Cumgunda Fuchs, who was also born in 
Germany, February 17, 1817, and they have 
seven children, namely: John, Conrad, Fredrick, 
Edd, Katie, now Mrs. Ford; Maggie, now Mrs. 
Becis. George, another child, died in 1873. He 
and his son Edd are now engaged in the brick 
business, under the name of John A. Doerfler & 



Son. They are members of the German Luth- 
eran Church, and Democratic in politics. 

Frederick Hockevjos was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, September 12, 1828, son of George H. 
and Lena [nee Ziph) Hockenjos, both of whom 
died in Germany. In 1853, he came to America, 
and located in Pennsylvania, where he worked 
on a farm. In the spring of 1854, he came to 
Springfield, where he continued to work on a 
farm. In 1855, he married Mrs. KateTresmann, 
who was born in Hesse, Germany, October 1 7, 
1833, and was the mother of two children. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hockenjos have had six children, five 
of whom are living. They are members of the 
Lutheran Church. Mr. II. owns twenty-seven 
acres of well-improved land, and is a Democrat. 

Jonathan F. Jones^ was born in Caroline 
county, Virginia, July 21, 1833, son of Henry 
and Mary F. (Childs) Jones. He remained 
with his father until twenty-five years of age. 
He then married Martha E. Marshall, who was 
born in Columbus, Ohio, November 12, 1842, 
and daughter of John and Jane (Wyatt) Mar- 
shall, who came to this country in 1860, where 
they resided until the father's death, in 1880; 
her mother still resides in Salisbury township. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had four children: 
Charles H. and John Frederick are living; Jen- 
nie Bell and Herbert F. are deceased. In 1862, 
Mr. Jones purchased eighty-three acres of land, 
situated on the Sangamon river; this land he 
still owns. Politically, he is a Republican, and 
both are members of the Baptist Church at 
Bethel. 

Joseph W. Jones, a brother of the preceding, 
was born in Virginia, September 14, 1825. He 
came to this county with his father when he was 
eleven years of age, and remained until he was 
twenty-one years of age, when he began to work 
for himself. October 26, 1854, he married Miss 
Ransdell, who was born in Kentucky July 17, 
1827, and was the daughter of John and Mary 
(Lamly) Ransdell. They have had seven 
children, five of whom are living: Richard N., 
John H., Elijah A., William E. and George. 
The deceased were Augusta Ann and Joseph 
A. Mr. Jones owns thirty acres of land, which 
is a part of his father's old homestead. Polit- 
ically, he is a Republican, 

William -B. Jones, another brother of Jona- 
than F., was born in Caroline county, Virginia, 
July 4, 1821; he went with his parents to Ken- 
tucky, and in the fall of 1834, moved to this 
county, where they located and entered land in 
the northwest corner of Springfield township, 
at.d remained until their death; his father died 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1025 



January 1, 1848, and his mother in 1876. Wil- 
liam B. was thirteen years of age when he came 
to this county, and was principally self-educated. 
At the age of sixteen he united with the Baptist 
Church; he afterward began to preach, and has 
continued in that vocation up to the present 
time. For many years he was pastor of the 
Bethel Church, but on account of failing health 
has given up his labors, to some extent. In 1834, 
he was married to Elizabeth A. McKinnie, who 
was born in Kentucky, in 1823, and they had one 
child — Maria L. — born in December, 1846, and 
died December 12, 1850. April 12, 18l5, Mrs. 
Jones died, and August 29, 1877, Mr. Jones mar- 
ried Ella M. Brooks, born March 19, 1849. He 
owns thirty-seven aci'es of land, which is a part 
of the land entered by his father in 1834. He 
is a Republican. 

Mary W. Jbhnso?i was born in Boone county, 
Kentucky, April 27, 1825, and is the daughter of 
David and Sybilla (Allen) Johnson, who were 
natives of Kentucky, and both deceased. In 
1851, she married William Carter, who was born 
in Lincoln county, Kentucky, in November, 1826, 
and died in October, 1853, leaving two children 
Elizabeth, now Mrs. Baxter, and William S. In 
1860, Mrs. Carter married Mr. J. J. Johnson, 
who was also born in Boone county, Kentucky, 
in November, 1808. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had 
five children: Anna Eliza, Lincoln D., Sybilla 
S. and Benjamin (twins), and John Quincy. 
They came to this county in the spring of 1877, 
and Mr. Johnson died in April of the same year. 
Mrs. Johnson owns eighty acres of land west of 
Springfield, worth $60 an acre, and is a member 
of the Baptist Church, at Bethel. 

Jaraes W. Keyes was born in Monroe county, 
Virginia, November 1, 1805, son of Humphrey 
and Sarah (Hanley) Keyes. His father came to 
this county November 10, 1830, and located 
east of Springfield on a farm, where he died in 
October, 1833, in his seventieth year. His mother 
started for California in 1846 with her daughter 
and son-in-law, James F. Reed, and died on the 
way. She was buried on the water of the Big 
Blue river. James W. received a common 
school education, and learned the tailoi''s trade, 
which occupation he followed thirty years. He 
was married January 9, 1827, in Botetourt coun- 
ty, Vermont, to Lydia Spickard, who was born 
June 17, 1807, in the county. They have had 
nine children, namely: Charles A., Mary C, 
now Mrs. William H. Vandoren; Edward L., 
Henrietta M., now Mrs. Henson Robinson; 
Thomas R, Susan F., now Mrs. Silas W. Uickox; 
Margaret E., now Mrs. William Day; ,^[a^ll)a J., 



now Mrs. Douglas Hickox. The two deceased 
are James L., born May 10, 1829, and died No- 
vember 13, 1830, in Virginia, and Ellen, born 
August 5, 1844, and died May 10, 1846. Mr. 
Keyes moved to Springfield in April, 1831, 
where he continued to work at his trade, and in 
1836, he entered his present farm, and in 
1861 moved onto the same. He is now the 
owner of a nice farm situated north of Spring- 
field, consisting now of two hundred and thirty- 
four acres. In 1872, he was afliicted with a par- 
alytic stroke, which disabled him to such an ex- 
tent that he was obliged to retire from business. 
His first vote was cast in 1828, for Andrew Jack- 
son. He was postmaster in Springfield, first 
under Van Buren, and then under Buchanan; 
was justice of the peace in Springfield fourteen 
years, and was also supervisor. Politically, he 
is a Democrat. 

Goodrich Ziightfoot, was born April 19, 1817, 
in Adair county, Kentucky; son of Henry F., 
and Mary L. (Jones) Lightfoot, also born in 
Kentucky. They afterwards moved to Warren 
county, Kentucky, thence to this county, arriving 
October 23, 1830, and locating one and one-half 
miles west of Springfield, M^iere his father com- 
menced farming, and in 1833 moved to his 
present farm, where he resided until his death, 
which occurred in Kentucky while on a visit to 
that State; his mother died November 2, 1857. 
The subject of this sketch was married Decem- 
ber 1, 1842, to Nancy Callerman, who was born 
in this county March 3, 1826. Children: 
Elizabeth I., now Mrs. Richard T. Lewis; James 
R , Susan M., now Mrs. John L. Callerman, Jr.; 
John L., Judith L., Alice B., and Julia Ann. 
Mary E., is deceased, and one died in infancy. 
Mr. L. has held the oflice of supervisor two 
years, and township trustee ten years. He owns 
one hundred and twenty acres of land worth $50 
an acre. Mr. and Mrs. L. are members of the 
Methodist Church, and Mr. L. is a Republican. 

Harrison J). Lyon was born May 17, 1815, in 
Shelbyville, Kentucky, and is the son of Henson 
and Nancy Lyon, nee McCann. His father was 
born .luly 28, 1790, in Loudon county, Virginia, 
and was taken, about 1800, to Clarke county, 
Kentucky. His mother was Nancy McCann, 
born January 8, 1795, in Clarke county, Ken- 
tucky, and they were there married, August 10, 
1814. They moved to Shelbyville, where they 
had a family of nine children, and from there 
they moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriv- 
ing October, 1834, in what was then called Port- 
land, south of the Sangamon river, and seven 
miles northeast of Spriiit^fii'lil, where one cl)il(i 



1026 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



was born. In March, 1835, they moved to a farm 
two and one-half miles east of Springfield, where 
they resided until their death. His mother died 
December 5, 1845, and his father, September 29, 
1867. The subject of this sketch received a 
common school education, and was raised on a 
farm; came to this county with his father, and 
was married, April 6, 1843, to Mary E. Hick- 
man. Their family consists of four children: 
Mary E., William H., married March 12,1874, 
to Sarah A. Day, who was born in New York; 
Euclid F. and James F. 

William H. Marsh was born December 15, 
1804, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania; son of 
Reuben and Ann (Benjamin) Marsh, both of 
whom died in Pennsylvania. He was married 
in the city of Lancaster, May 14, 18 29, to Lydia 
Brady, who was born April V, 1810, in Chester 
county Pennsylvania, and they had two children, 
Lucy A., now Mrs. Mitchell Graham, and De- 
Witt C. Mrs. Marsh died July 24, 183:3, and 
April 9, 1835, Mr. Marsh man-led Mary Lytle, in 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who was born March 
IV, 1808. Their four children are Lydia C, 
Martha A., now Mrs. Charles Reed; Isabel and 
Delia, now Mrs. Albert Gennings. Mr. Marsh 
moved his family to this county, arriving May 
15, 1837, and was engaged by the State House 
Commissioners, as foreman in the erection of 
that edifice, under the direction of the architect. 
He occupied this position a part of 183Y, all of 
1838, and a portion of 1839. He was next em- 
ployed as foreman on the abutments of the 
bridge at the Sangamon river for the Northern 
Cross Railroad, now the Wabash and Pacific 
road, at Riverton. When gold was discovered 
on the Pacific coast, Mr. Marsh attempted to go 
to California, but became disabled at the Rocky 
Mountains and returned. He was keeper of the 
Sangamon County Poor House two years, ter- 
Biinating the fall of 1859; then moved upon his 
farm, situated two and one-half miles north of 
Springfield; the farm consists of eighty acres, 
worth ^150 an acre. He has for many years 
been an active member of the school board, and 
a strong supporter of the free-school system; he 
is also a member of the First Presbyterian 
Church at Springfield, and politically is a Re- 
publican. 

Thomas L. McKinnie was born in Fleming 
county, Kentucky, February 4, 1808; son of 
Lewis and Nancy (Saunders) McKinnie. He 
came to this county with his parents in Novem- 
ber, 1826, and located on the farm where he has 
since resided. He was married August 27, 
1840, to Sarah A. M. Jones, who was born in 



Virginia October 16, 1819. They have five 
children: Mary E., now Mrs. W. F. Helvety; 
William L., Henry IL, Columbia A., Julia F. 
Mr. McK. owns one hundred and seventy-five 
acres of Land which is worth $75 an acre. He is 
a member of the Baptist Church at Bethel, and 
is a Republican. 

William P. McKinnie^ brother of the preced- 
ing, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, May 
20, 1810; came to this county November 15, 
1826; commenced at once to build a house four 
miles northwest of Springfield, and moved into 
it in February, 1827, where he continued to 
reside until his death, October 7, 1841; and his 
wife October 8, 1843. William P., the subject 
of this sketch, was brought up on a farm, obtain- 
ing his education in the common subscription 
schools. He was married. May 12, 1839, to Sarah 
J. Threlkeld, who was born October 16, 1817, in 
Shelby county, Kentucky, and came to this 
county in 1832. They have had ten children: 
Mary A., now Mrs. William A. Montgomery; 
Thomas L. S., Lucy J., now Mrs. Charles H. 
Judd; Sarah E., now Mrs. Joseph E. Corbin; 
William A., Virgil W., Nancy E., now Mrs, 
John W. Taylor; Harriet M., now Mrs. Isaac 
Hazlett, and Charles E. Mr. McKinnie com- 
menced plowing at the age of ten years, and has 
followed farming all his life; has done plowing 
every season since he commenced till this season 
(1881). He also writes and reads easily, with- 
out glasses. He now owns eighty acres of land, 
besides having given some three hundred acres 
of land to his children, and aided them in estab- 
lishing homes for themselves. He and his wife 
are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a 
Republican in politics. 

Samuel H. Meid, Jr.^ (deceased) was born 
May 20, 1818, in Warren county, Kentucky, and 
came with his father to this county. Was mar- 
ried October 20, 1846, to Elizabeth Davis, and 
their family consisted of three children. His 
occupation was a farmer, which he continued up 
to his death. His widow still resides on the 
home farm, three miles west of Springfield, 
Illinois, on the old farm settled by his father in 
1827. 

Samuel H. lleid, Sr., (deceased) was born in 
1781, near Richmond, Virginia. His parents 
moved, when he was a young man, to Davidson 
county, Tennessee, near President Jackson's 
country seat, the Hermitage; and from there to 
Warren county, Kentucky. While visiting his 
brother. Judge Alexander Reid, at Shelbyville, 
Samuel H., became acquainted with Elizabeth 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1027 



Roberts. They were there married, and lived 
near Bowling Green, Warren county, until six 
children were born. Mrs. Reid and three of the 
children died there. Mr. Reid was married in 
Warren county to Jane Gott, and moved at once 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in Sep- 
tember, 1827, and settled on a farm he had pre- 
viously purchased, three miles west of Spring- 
field, where they had four children, seven in all, 
viz: Samuel H., Sarah T., (twins), David A., 
Adaline, William M., Lucinda and James. 

Samuel H. Reid, Sr., was a ruling elder in the 
church organized by Rev. John G. Bergen, the 
first ever organized in Springfield, now the First 
Presbyterian Church. He afterwards became a 
ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian Church, 
and continued to the end of his life. He died 
September, 1836, and his widow died sixteen 
days later, both in Sangamon county. 

ShnonP. JRickard was born in Fauquier county, 
Virginia, October 16, 1821, son of Peter and 
Elizabeth (Everhart) Rickard, natives also of 
Virginia, who, in the fall of 1830, moved to this 
county, settling in what is now the southeast 
corner of Gardner township, where they con- 
tinued on a farm until their death, the latter in 
January, 1858, and the former September 17, 
1860. The subject of this sketch was eight years 
old when he came to this county; was raised on 
a farm and received his education in the common 
schools. November 12, 1846, he married Sophia 
J. Ernst, who was born August 24, 1823, in Vir- 
.ginia. They have had seven children, of whom 
four are now living, viz: Laura E., now Mrs. 
Edwin Watts; HeTen M., now Mrs. Sidney 
French; Thomas E., and Alletta E. The three 
deceased are George E., Anna J. and Susan C. 
Mr. R. owns seven hundred acres of land, in 
good condition, worth 175 an acre. HeisaPi'es- 
byterian and a Republican. 

Charles F. Watson was born in the town of 
Cannon, Connecticut, October 23, 1827; son of 
William and Julia E, (Elmoie) Watson, natives 
also of Connecticut, and both deceased; mother 
died in 1830. Charles attended common school, 
and two years at the Berkshire county ( Ccnnec- 
ticut) academy; he was brought up on a farm; 
at the age of seventeen he taught school; then 
clerked in a store; in 1852 he went with ox-teams 
to California. He returned in 1854, when he re- 
entered railroad business, on the Illinois Central 
line; two years afterward he bought three hun- 
dred and eighty acres of land near Springfield, 
and began farming. In 1876, he married Saman- 
tha A. White, who was born in Piqua county, 
Ohio, the daughter of Wellington and Mary Ann 

120— 



( Primmer) White. Mr. and Mrs. Watson's chil- 
dren are Georgia May, Alice C, Charles W., and 
Douglas. Mr. W. has held the township offices 
of supervisor and road commissioner, and is a 
Democrat. 

0. L. Whitcomb, of the firm of Tisdale & 
Whitcorab, was born at Stockbridge, Windsor 
county, Vermont, June ]8, 1827, where he at- 
tended school and worked on his father's farm 
until twenty-one years of age, when he went 
into the mercantile business for himself at 
Brookfield, Orange county, Vermont. On Feb- 
ruary 5, 1856, he married Miss MarcellaKilburn. 
She was born in Union Village, Vermont. She 
was a daughter of Nathaniel Kilburn, born near 
Union Village, Vermont. He was a farmer, and 
died about 1835. His wife, Sophia Powers, was 
born also in Vermont. She was a member of 
the M. E. Church, and is still living at Union 
Village, Vermont. In the spring of 1857, C. L. 
Whitcomb came to Illinois and settled near 
Maroa, where he farmed six years, then in 1865, 
came to Springfield and bought property on 
Monroe street, between Eleventh and Twelfth; 
remained here two years, then moved to Wil- 
mington, Illinois, and opened the Braidwood coal 
mine, now owned by the Chicago and Wilming- 
ton Coal Company. He was director and super- 
intendent for that company. In the spring of 
1877, he came to Springfield and entered into a 
partnership with H. T. Tisdale, in the Sanga- 
mon County Dairy. They bought out H. H. 
Hawley, and now have their dairy just outside 
the city limits, southeast of the city, where they 
have the largest and most complete dairy in the 
county. They are farming over eight hundred 
acres, on which they keep a hundred cows for 
milking, and where they raise horses, cattle and 
hogs. They raise and keep the Short Horn 
grade of cows for dairy purposes. Mr. and 
Mrs. Whitcomb have five children, viz: Nellie, 
Belle, Louie, Harry and Natty. Mr. Whitcomb 
resides on the dairy farm. In politics he is a 
Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. 
Polk, for President. The father of C. L. Whit- 
comb, Chamberlain Whitcomb, was born in 
Stockbridge, Vermont. He was a farmer. He 
held many offices in his township. In politics 
he was a Democrat, and died January, 1873. His 
wife, Eliza Taggard, was born in Stockbridge, 
Vermont. She is the mother of six children, 
four living. Mr. Whitcomb's mother is now in 
her seventy-seventh year, a hale and hearty old 
lady. Mr. C. L. Whitcomb is the present treas- 
surer of Commissioners of Highways, in Wood- 
side township. 



1028 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XLVIII. 



TOWNSHIP OF TALKINGTON AND VILLAGE OF LOWDER. 



The township of Talkingtou is situated in the 
southwestern part of the county, and was so 
named in honor of Job Talkington, one of the 
earliest settlers. The township comprises town- 
ship thirteen, lying in ranges seven and eight, 
and has thirty-six whole and three fractional sec- 
tions. The township was not generally so early 
settled as other parts of the county for the reason 
that the greater part of it is prairie, and from 
the further fact that speculators and others were 
deceived in regard to the location of the land. 
Being in Sangamon county the idea was that the 
lands would be subject to entry from the Spring- 
field Land Office, whereas the record was in the 
land office at Edwardsville. The township now 
is regarded as one of the best in the county, was 
long considered by the early settlers as worth- 
less, except for grazing purposes. The vast 
prairie would be fine for herding cattle, but being 
so far from timber it could never be settled. So 
reasoned all the early settlers, many of whom 
settled upon the poorest land to be found because 
it was in the timber. The rich prairies of Sang- 
amon county for many years were uncultivated, 
save a few acres immediately adjoining a piece 
of timber. Many amusing incidents are related 
of how the early settlers avoided the prairie. 

One of the first settlers of the township was 
William Eustace, who settled in the northwest- 
ern part about the year 1835. From 1838 to 
1840, a settlement was made near the central 
part, by Abijah Pete, Theodore Watson, Asahel 
Coe and Hezekiah S. Gold. John AUsbury, 
Jacob Leonard, Daniel Leach, Debt Calhoun and 
a man by the name of Broady, made a settlement 
on John's creek, somewhere between 1840 and 
1845. After this the township continued to set- 
tle up slowly, until after the Mexican War, when 



a number of land warrants were laid. About 
this time came in Elisha Tanner, Ephriam Wem- 
ple, Wm. T. Blaney, Amerious Blaney, Joseph 
Talkington, Michael Summer, James A. Sum- 
mer, Henry Summer, Richard Fisher, David 
Haddix, Geo. W. Lowder, Enoch Haddix, Wm. 
L. Deatherage, Wm. Post and others. 

From this time forward the township settled 
up rapidly, until at the present time it is about 
all under fence, and under a high state of culti- 
vation. No better body of land can be found, 
and no farms are in a better state of cultivation, 
than those in Talkington. The land is high and 
rolling, giving a splendid drainage without being 
much broken. John's creek heads near the cen- 
ter of the township, and runs a little east of 
north. The soil of this township is exceedingly 
rich, averaging about three feet in depth. The 
greater part of the land is included in a kind of 
elevated plateau^ lyiog between Sugar and Apple 
creeks. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The township of Talkington was settled at 
too late a day to boast much of the traditional 
log school houses, dimly lighted and well venti- 
lated, but primitively rude buildings, though the 
first building for school purposes was of that 
material, and erected in 1851, but at the time at 
which it was built, glass window lights had 
taken the place of greased j^aper. 

The first school in what is now Talkington 
township was in the upper story of the dwelling 
house of Charles Hoppins, and was taught by 
Miss Parsons. There are now six good school 
houses in the township. 

RELIGIOUS. - 

The first minister of the gospel to preach 
"Christ and Him crucified" in Talkington town- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1029 



ebip, is unknown. Several ministers of different 
denominations came in about the same time. 
Among the first was John Allsbury, and services 
were first held in private dwellings and then in 
the school house. The brethren of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church were the first to 
organize and erect a house of worship, which 
they did in 186Y. It was located on the north- 
west corner of section twenty-one, about two 
and a half miles from the present village of 
Lowder. There are now two churches in the 
township. Living within convenient distance of 
the village of Virden, in Macoupin county, 
Waverly, in Morgan county, and Auburn, in 
Sangamon, the people have church privileges in 
abundance, and at their liking. 

ORGANIC. 

Talkington township, as an organic body, was 
set apart by a commission appointed by the Board 
of Justices of Sangamon county in 1861, and its 
first election for township officers was held in 
April of that year. The following named served 
in the several oflices given, and for the time 
mentioned: James E. Dodd, Supervisor; Ben- 
jamin F. Workman, Assessor; William P. Camp- 
bell, Collector; Robert D. Smith, Clerk; John R. 
Spires and J. W. Lowder, Justices of the Peace. 

VILLAGE OF LOWDEB. 

George W. Lowder purchased a tract of land 
in and became a citizen of Sangamon county, 
and what is now Talkington township, in 1850. 
A sketch of Mr. Lowder will appear in connec- 
tion with this chapter. In March, 1872, Mr. 
Lowder had surveyed and platted a new village, 
comprising a portion of the northwestern quarter 
of section twenty-six, township thirteen, range 
seven west. To this village was given the name 
of Lowder, in honor of its founder. It is sit- 
uated on the line of the Jacksonville and South- 
eastern Railroad, and is tAventy-five miles from 
Jacksonville. 

The location of the village is an excellent one, 
and it is surrounded by as fine a country as can 
be found in Sangamon county, or the State. 

The first building erected here was in the 
summer of 1872, when James McCormick erected 
a store-room and dwelling combined. 

The first stores were occupied in the fall of 
1872, by George W. Cox and William White, 
and in June, 1873, Mathew Lowder opened a 
store. Sanford Peck succeeded Cox & White. 
He sold to John W. Gray, and Mr. Lowder sold 
to Howard & Co. 

In the same year the village was laid out, a 
petition was unanimously signed and forwarded 



to the post office department for the establish- 
ment of an office at this point. The application 
was favorably received, the office established and 
Charles Cowan was appointed postmaster. Mr. 
Cowan subsequently died and Sanford Peck was 
appointed to fill the vacancy. John W. Gray 
was next appointed and served for a short time, 
and was succeeded by William H. Beatty, the 
present incumbent. 

The village of Lowder has now about two 
hundred inhabitants, and has a flourishing Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, two blacksmith shops, a 
wagon shop and a store for the sale of general 
merchandise and two groceries. 

At the depot is a large elevator for grain, of 
which a large quantity, two hundred and twenty- 
five cars), is annually shipped. W. H, Beatty is 
now, and has been for years, the resident buyer 
and shipper of grain. Mr. Beatty was also the 
first agent of the railroad company up to October 
1, 1881. W. S. Warner is now agent. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church building was 
erected in 1874, and is a neat frame house of 
worship, thirty by fifty feet. The class was organ- 
ized in the winter of 1873-4. The regular services 
are held every two weeks, with Rev. A. C. Byerly 
as pastor. A prosperous Sunday school is held 
during the summer of each year. 

Williain H. lieatty, Lowder, Illinois, was born 
in New York, December 28, 1837. When about 
eleven years old, he came to Illinois and lived on 
a farm in Jersey county some nine years, when 
he came to this county, in the fall of 1857, and 
settled on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
his father had entered in 1849, for $120. In 
1866, the subject of this sketch bought a farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres near Prospect, 
and M'ent to farming for himself. In March, 
1872, he sold his farm, and came to Lowder, 
built an elevator, and has bought and shipped 
grain since; has been postmaster since May 15, 
J 879; is agent for the Jacksonville & Southeast- 
ern Railroad and the United States Express 
Company; is a member of the I. O. O. F., Au- 
burn Lodge, No. 543. In politics, he is a Re- 
publican. He was married to Mary J. Chris- 
topher, March 8, 1866. She was born in Jersey 
county, Illinois, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah 
(Fisher) Christopher, natives of Ohio. The 
father of Wm. H. Beatty was Francis Beatty, 
who was born in Ireland, County of Cavan. He 
came to America in 1837, and settled in New 
York City. His wife, S.arah, nee Argue, was 
also a native of Ireland, County of Monaghan. 
They were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which denomination William H. 



1030 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Beatty and wife were also members. They have 
a family of three sons, viz.: Francis, William, 
and Edward S. Mr. Beatty owns a blacksmith 
shop, six lots, and a nice dwelling in Loami, 
where he resides. He has held numerous offices 
in his township; was justice of the peace four 
years. 

William W. Brian was born October 13, 1827, 
near Waverly, Illinois. Ho remained on the 
farm with his father until he was eighteen years 
of age, when he bought an interest in a saw-mill, 
located in Macoupin county, four miles southeast 
of Palmyra, on Day's Prairie. June 25, 1856, 
he was married to Miss Ellen Duncan, who was 
born April 1, 1838, daughter of William Duncan, 
born in Kentucky, and who was in the Black 
Hawk war. Her mother was Clementine French, 
born in Kentucky. The father of William W. 
Brian, James Brian was born in Kentucky and 
came to Illinois in the fall of 1832. He was in 
the Black Hawk war. In politics, he was a Dem- 
ocrat. He died August 3, 1858. His wife, Eliz- 
abeth Stanley, was also born in Kentucky. Mrs. 
and Mr. W. H. Brian have had twelve children, 
eleven of whom are living, eight boys and four 
girls, viz: Adelia, Authur, Archie, Alvin, Al- 
fred, Athen, Alvardo, Anderson, William, Nora, 
Eva and Lucy. Mrs. William Brian is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church at Prospect. Mr. 
Brian has his farm of five hundred and sixty 
acres under a high state of cultivation. 

Leander M. Sumgarner, deceased, was born 
in North Carolina, November 14, 1819, where he 
was married to Elizabeth (Lowdermilk) Bum- 
garner, April 14, 1848; she was born in North 
Carolina January 30, 1824. She was a daughter 
of William Lowdermilk and Lavina (Robnet) 
Lowdermilk, who were natives of N^rth Caro- 
lina. In the fall of 1850, Mr. Bumgarner came 
with his young wife to Illinois, and settled in 
Morgan county, and in 1858 came to Sangamon 
county, and settled in Talkington township; he 
came to Illinois with only limited means but by 
hard work and close application to business had 
accumulated at his death, which occurred March 
17, 1881, a fine farm of three hundred and ten 
acres, in section thirteen, Talkington township, 
where his wife and children reside; he was a 
member of the board of supervisors for two 
yearf, and respected by all who knew him, he 
and his wife had a family of twelve children, 
viz: Michael L., who married and resides on 
Lick creek; William T. born in Illinois, Novem- 
ber 27, 1846, married Miss Mary Loveless, 
December 30, 1869; she was a daughter of Wil- 
liam and Mar}^ A. (Bel.) Loveless, and was born 



in Macoupin county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wm. T. Bumgarner are members of the Baptist 
Church, and have had four children, two living, 
viz: Maria A,, and Samuel L. Mr. Wm. Bum- 
garner is a member of the Masonic lodge at Vir- 
den, Illinois; after William was Winfield S., 
who married Jennie, daughter of Anions and 
Atha J. (Organ) West; Amanda J., Augustus, 
Leander M., Jane J., Moliie E., now the wife of 
James Clayton; Libbie E., Thomas S., and 
Leafy S. The family are members of the Bap- 
tist Church. 

William P. Campbell, Talkington township, 
section eleven, was born April 7, 1846, near 
Loami; lived there until he was twenty-five 
years of age, when he married Miss Sarah Dodd, 
who was born in Bradley county, Tennessee, 
December 11, 1846; he then bought a farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres in Talkington town- 
ship, section eleven, where he now lives. Mr. 
C. and wife have had four children, three 
of whom are living, one boy and two girls. He 
is a member of the Masonic lodge, No. 354, at 
Auburn, Illinois; has been township collector 
since 1879, and school director of the John's 
Creek school for the past nine years. In politics 
he is a Democrat. He and wife are members of 
the South Fork M. E. Church. His father, 
William P. Campbell, Sr.,was of Scotch descent. 
He was sergeant in the Black Hawk war, and 
died August 24, 1868. His wife was Miss 
Elizabeth Carson, born in Sangamon county, 
December 25, 1825, of Scotch descent. She is 
still living on the old homestead in Loami town- 
ship. The father of Mrs. Wm. P. Campbell, 
was Charles Dunn, who was born in Knox 
county, Tennessee, June 19, 1811. He came to 
Sangamon county at aji early day, and settled 
on a farm in Loami township, where he still 
resides; he is a member of the Masonic Lodge, 
No. 354, at Auburn. His wife was Mary T. 
Jones, born in North Carolina February 5, 1816. 
They were married February 24, 1831, and had 
a family of twelve children. 

George Evans Cole, 31. D., at Lowder, Illi- 
nois, was born near Tiffin, Ohio, March 3, 1848. 
He remained on the farm with his father until 
he was of age; he attended college at Tiffin 
until 1873, when he came to Illinois, and taught 
school in Montgomery and Sangamon counties 
until 1876, when he commenced the study of 
medicine under Dr. Spaulding, at Virden, Illi- 
nois; he graduated and received his diploma at 
Cleveland, Ohio, February, 28, 1879. He then 
came to Lowder, Illinois, where he commenced 
the practice of medicine. His father, Elisha 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1031 



Cole, was born November 28, 1801, in Fairfield 
county, Ohio; in politics, he was a Democrat, 
and a member of the M. E. Church; he died in 
February, 1880; his wife, Priscilla (Evans) Cole, 
was born in Virginia; she is still living, in 
Seneca county, Ohio, and is a member of the 
M. E. Church. George Cole is a Mason, being a 
member of Eden Lodge, No. 310, in Eden town- 
ship, Seneca county, Ohio. In politics the Doc- 
tor is a Republican. 

Charles Coicen, was born in New Hampshire, 
November 27, 1829. He was a son of John and 
Mary (Cory) Cowen, of that State. Charles 
Cowen came to Illinois and settled in this 
county in December, 1852, when he bought a 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He was 
married to Miss Cynthia E. Keller, September 
4, 1851, at Jerseyville, Illinois. They had eight 
children. Mr. Cowen was a Republican in poli- 
tics, and the first postmaster at Lowder. He 
was a member of the M. E. Church. He died 
April 6, 1874. Cynthia E. Cowen was born at 
Jerseyville, Illinois, February 8, 1832. She is 
living with her family on the old homestead; has 
her farm well stocked, and all under good culti- 
vation. Her father, William Keller, was born 
in 1801. Mrs. Cowen says when she first came 
to Sangamon county the prairie had a wild ap- 
pearance, the settlers being very far apart. 
They went to Waverly to mill. Their first 
church was at the log school house, which 
was a very small building, door and ceiling very 
low, and the tall people had to bow their heads 
to get inside. Bird England was the first 
preacher. He had about twelve members, of 
different denominations. This church, or log 
school house stood where Prospect now is. 
Their second preacher was Balden, who 
preached there a short time, they having no 
regular preacher in those times. Balden was a 
very tall man, and a loud talker, a regular old 
school Methodist. The room being small, the 
members had no trouble in hearing him. He 
traveled as circuit rider, going from settlement 
to settlement. Mrs. Cowen's family are as fol- 
lows: Mrs. Laura A. Hamel, living in Kansas; 
John C, also in Kansas; Wilburn E., Frank W., 
Kosa J. Minnie E., Lizzie M. and James S. 

fTesse Danlei/, farmer and stock raiser, was born 
near Girard, Macoupin county, on a farm, July 
28, 1842. His father died when he was about 
twelve years old. He remained on the farm 
with his mother some two years, then came to 
Sangamon county and worked out by the month 
until he was nineteen years old, when he enlisted 
as a private in Company I, Third Illinois Cavalry 



Volunteers; was promoted Sergeant, then First 
Lieutenant, in Company H, Third Illinois Vol- 
unteers; was mustered out in October, 1865. He 
then worked by the month and rented laud 
about two years, then married Miss Mary Van 
Wormer, in December, 1867. She was born in 
New York State, August 25, 1841. Mrs. Danley's 
parents were natives of Kentucky. They had 
nine children, five sons and four daughters. 
Three sons and three daughters are yet living. 
Mr. and Mrs Jesse Danley have two sons and 
two daughters. 

John J. Ennis, an agriculturalist and stock 
breeder, of Talkington township, is a native of 
Sangamon county, and was born January 24, 
1824. His grandfather, Jesse C. Ennis, was one 
of the very earliest settlers in this part of Illi- 
nois and died in what is now Jersey county, at 
the advanced age of ninety-five years. The 
parents of our subject were William and Sarah 
(Weyatte) Ennis, who were parents of seven 
children. They moved from Sangamon to Mor- 
gan county, thence to Greene county, and finally 
settled near Burlington, Iowa, where Mr. Ennis 
died when John was nineteen years of age, and 
soon after John J. Ennis returned with his 
mother to Sangamon county; she died soon after 
in Morgan county. Some years later we find 
Mr. Ennis engaged in lumbering and boating on 
the Illinois river, which he continued for about 
twelve years. He was married in Jersey county, 
Illinois, in 1845, to Sarah J. Hughes; after this 
event he engaged in farming, and about twenty- 
five years ago he came to his present farm, in 
Talkington township, then only wild prairie, but 
now one of the most beautiful farms in Sanga- 
mon county; it embraces one hundred and eighty- 
four acres, for which he has declined 870 per 
acre. His wife died about fourteen years ago; 
he has remained unmarried since. Mr. Ennis 
has long been identified with the Old Settlers' 
Association, of Sangamon county, and at pres- 
ent is acting as vice president of that associa- 
tion for Talkington township. For the past 
eighteen years he has been a member of Lodge 
No. 361, of the Masonic Order. Mr. Ennis 
stands high in the Masonic Order, and enjoys 
the confidence and esteem of a large circle of 
friends, and is known by his neighbors as a man 
of uncompromising integrity. In politics, he is 
a Democrat. 

Sedgwic H. Gold was born in Cornwall, Con- 
necticut, September 16, 1807. He was raised on 
a farm until twenty-one years of age, when he 
went to Washington. Connecticut, and taught 
school one winter. He then traveled south two 



1032 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



or three years, during the administration of 
General Jackson, and the time of his trouble 
with the Cherokee Indians. In the spring of 
1830 he went to New York City, wheie he re- 
mained one year, and sold a patent cooking 
apparatus, which his brother had invented while 
attending school at Yale College. From New 
York he returned to his home in Cornwall town- 
ship, Connecticut, where he remained one year, 
and married Chloe Ann Pete, September 6, 1836. 
In 1838, he, with his father-in-law, Abijah Pete, 
Theodore Watson and Asahel Coe (the last two 
mentioned are living in Waverly) came overland 
to Waverly, Illinois. Sedgwic H. Gold left his 
wife at Waverly and came to this county and 
worked with William Eustis, and helped start a 
settlement. The next summer he bought fifty 
acres of Eustis, in section four; he and wife 
moved upon it, and started a farm, on which he 
now lives. His wife was born April 26, 1812; 
she was a daughter of Abijah Pete, who was 
born in Warren county, Connecticut. He came 
to Illinois in 1838, and his wife, Lucy (Curtis) 
was born also in Warren county, Connecticut. 

The father of Sedwic H. was Benjamin Gold, 
who was born in Cornwall, Connecticut. At the 
age of fourteen he started on the march to enlist 
as a soldier in the Revolntionary War. The 
surgeons examined him and found one of his legs 
had been injured by his jumping from a fence on 
a sharp snag, making it weak. He afterwards 
received a commission from the Governor, John 
Cottonsmith, appointing him Major of the Civil 
Grays. He was a Federal, and a deacon in 
the Congregational Church. His wife, Eleanor 
Pierce, was born in Cornwall. Sedgwic H. has 
been a member of the Congregational Church at 
Waverly, Illinois, since 1839. In politics, he 
is a Republican. He enlisted in Company K, 
Second Artillery Illinois Volunteers, and served 
the full term. His son, Henry M. Gold, was in 
Company I, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteers and 
died from a shot received from the accidental 
discharge of a musket. His son, Marion S. Gold, 
enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and First 
Illinois Volunteers. Mr. G. had three sons — 
Herry M., (deceased) born July 25, 1837, Marion 
S., born December 1, 1842, and Ethel E., 
born February 9, 1847. The latter is President 
of the Gold Heating Company, of New York. 
Mr. Gold is now in his seventy-fourth year, a 
hale, hearty old man. 

JoJm iJavis Haggard was born July 5, 1815, 
on a farm in Murry county, Tennessee. When 
seven years of age he came with his parents to 
Illinois and settled in Morgan county, near Wa- 



verly; lived on the farm with his father until he 
was eighteen years of age, when he married Nancy 
J. Clack. He lived with his father one year, 
then broke sod-prairie seven years in Morgan 
and Sangamon counties; rented land two or three 
years, then bought a farm of forty-one acres, 
raw prairie; lived on this farm until 1877, when 
he sold out and opened a grocery store in Rood- 
house, sold his store one year later, and returned 
to this county and bought four lots in Lowder, 
where he still resides. He has been constable 
twenty-seven years, and in politics, he is a Dem- 
ocrat. He was a son of Edmund Haggard, who 
was a Mason, and member of the Christian 
Church. His wife, Elizabeth (Andrews) Hag- 
gard, was a member of Christian Church also, 
and mother of ten children, seven boys and three 
girls. 

Victor M. Kenny was born at Georgetown, 
Kentucky, September 30, 1846. In November, 
1872, he came to New Berlin, Illinois, and 
opened astoreof general merchandise; remained 
there until March 1, 1880, when he came to 
Lowder, and opened a store. His father, Joseph 
B. Kenny, was born near Paris, Bourbon county, 
Kentucky, in 1806. His wife, Lavina Lander, 
was born in 1808, near Paris Kentucky, She and 
husband still live at Georgetown. Victor M. 
Kenny was married to Miss Agnes W. Warren, 
of Jacksonville, Illinois, February 24, 1869. 
They have four children. Mrs. Kenny was a 
daughter of Colonel W. B. and Annis (Price) 
Warren. The former was born March 1, 1802, 
at Georgetown, Scott county, Kentuck^^ He 
was Major in the Hardin regiment in the Mex- 
ican War. Hardin was killed, and Warren was 
made the Colonel of the regiment; was Clerk in 
the Supreme Court at Springfield eighteen years; 
died April 12, 1865, at Jacksonville, Illinois. 
His wife was born February 2, 1811, at George- 
town, Kentucky, and died May 25, 1873. She 
was a member of the Episcopal Church. Victor 
M. Kenny acd wife are both members of the 
Presbyterian Church at Berlin, Illinois, and have 
had four children, viz.: Joseph B., William W., 
Anna, and Lou B. 

Daniel B. Kessler was born in Morgan county, 
Illinois, March 20, 1825; lived there on a farm 
until his father's death, October 1828. His 
mother was again married to John Kosner. 
Daniel B. lived with his mother until he was 
twenty-five years of age; August 8, 1850, he 
married Sarah J, Stuart, who was born in Wythe 
county, Virginia; she was a daughter of Robert 
Stuart, of Irish descent, born in the same county, 
and Catharine (Flora) Stuart, of Scotch descent. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1033 



also of Virginia. D. B. Kessler, was the son of 
Daniel Kessler, born in Baltimore, Maryland, 
who was a farmer and blacksmith. He settled 
in Auburn township in the fall of 1820, and was 
the first blacksmith in Auburn. His wife, 
was Katherine (Black) Kessler. D. B. Kessler 
and wife are members of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church, and had thirteen children, nine 
are living. 

Austin Landon was born on a farm near 
Jersey ville, Illinois, December 23, 1839. He 
remained on this farm with his father until of 
age, when he worked for himself in Jersey 
county some four years, then came to this county 
and bought a farm of one hundred and forty 
acres in Auburn township; lived there one year, 
then bought three hundred and twenty acres in 
Talkington township, section twenty-four, on 
which he now resides. He also owns four 
hundred and eighty acres in Auburn township. 
He was married to Miss Alma Argo, March 27, 
1866. She was born in Fulton county, October 
15, 1845, and was the daughter of William Argo, 
born in Ohio, and died June 1, 1865. His wife 
was Clarisa (Bigelow) Argo, of Ohio, and 
mother of ten children. She died May 5, 1862. 
Father of Austin, Wm. D. Landon, was born in 
Vermont, and died February 11, 1873. His 
wife, Alvira Corry, born also in Vermont, was 
a member of the Baptist Church, and mother of 
ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Austin Landon are 
members of the M. E. Church at Lowdei-, 
Illinois, and have one child, Clara E. Mr. 
Landon has his two farms of eight hundred acres 
all under good cultivation. In politics he is a 
Republican. 

William Lowder Avas born near Jerseyville, 
Illinois, August 22, 1832. He remained on this 
farm until he was nine years of age, when he 
removed with his father to Jerseyville, where he 
attended school and worked on his father's farm 
until he was about twenty years of age, when 
he came with his father to this county, and 
settled in Talkington township. He remained 
with his father until his marriage to Miss Sarah 
J. Vanwormer, April 14, 1858. She was born 
in the city of New York, and was a member of 
the M. E. Church, and died May 4, 1873. Her 
parents were Isaac and Sarah (Vizer) Vanwoi*- 
mer. William Lowder is a son of George W. 
Lowder, Sr., born in Kentucky, and Alpha A. 
Whismon. They had seven children. Mr. 
Lowder had six children, four are living, one 
boy and three girls. He is a farmer and has his 
farm under good cultivation. In politics he is a 
Democrat. 



George Washington Lmoder, son of William, 
and Margaret (Harris) Lowder, was born in 1805, 
in Harlan county, Kentucky. When an infant, 
his father moved into Lee county, Virginia, and 
settled in Powell's Valley. Here, when he was 
about ten years old, Mr. Lowder's mother died, 
upon which event, his father, for the time being, 
broke up housekeeping, and the subject of this 
biography found a temporary home with his 
aunt, Henrietta Kelley, at which place he had a 
kind of general home till of age, spending the 
time of his minority in working as a laborer, 
and in the winter seasons going to such schools 
as were then afforded. So strong were his de- 
sires to obtain an education, that he seized with 
avidity upon every occasion of improving his 
mind and acquiring information. He succeeded 
in obtaining a fair business education and a 
mental training equal to the facilities afforded. 

In the fall of 1825, he came to the American 
Bottom of this State, and engaged in chopping 
wood till the spring of 1826, at which time he 
went to Boone county, Missouri, with the ex- 
pectation of going to Santa Fe; but, failing to 
make suitable arrangements, he remained in 
Boone county till fall, then went to Montgomery 
county, where he spent the winter. In the 
month of March, of 1827, he started back to 
Virginia, via Illinois. He stopped with a friend 
in Greene county (a part now included in Jersey), 
with whom he remained for a time, recuperating 
from a former attack of sickness. While here, 
he abandoned the purpose of returning to Vir- 
ginia, being charmed with the country, as welt 
as one of its fairest daughters. Accordingly, 
in the year 1828, he married Miss Alpha, daugh- 
ter of Michael and Anna Whisman, who was 
ever to him a faithful and loving wife. This 
union was blessed with the birth of eight chil- 
dren, five living: Matthew, born January 17, 
1830; William, August 22, 1832; Mrs. Lavinia 
(John) Squires, October 14, 1834; Mrs. Harriet 
D. (James) Lowder, January 14, 1838, and 
George Washington, February 15, 1840. Clar- 
inda, Gilbert, and Mary A. died in child- 
hood. 

August, 1859, Mr. Lowder moved into Talk- 
ington township, where he had entered a tract of 
land, a part of section twenty-two. He now 
resides in the new and enterprising town of 
Lowder, which he laid off, and after whom it 
was named. 

December 24, 1861, Mr. Lowder had the mis- 
fortune to lose his wife, the companion of his 
youth, a noble, devoted, Christian woman. She 
was a consistent member of the Presbyterian 



1034 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Church. Since her death. Mr. Lowder has con- 
tinued in his widowed state. 

The Lowder tamily is German in original na- 
tionality. The ancestry came to this country 
before the Revolutionary War, and were patriots 
in our struggles for freedom and independence. 
John Lowder, Mr. Lowder's grandfather, was 
a soldier of the "Continental army." After the 
close of the war, he continued to reside in North 
Carolina, where he died. He raised quite a 
family of sons: John, Samuel, Joseph, Joshua, 
William, Caleb, Nathan, and Job. 

William, Mr. Lowder's father, raised the fol- 
lowing children: Matthew, Nathan, George W., 
James, William, and Sarah. Matthew resides 
in Texas, James in Kentucky, and George W. 
in Illinois. The others are dead. 

Mr. Lowder may be put down as one of the 
representative men of his township, both on ac- 
count of the time of his settlement, and as a 
man of enterprise and business. 

He followed farming up to 1843, at which 
time he was elected county clerk for Jersey 
county, and held the office fourteen consecutive 
years. He served, Ave believe, two years as col- 
lector before being elected to the first-mentioned 
office. He has served a number of years as jus- 
tice of the peace. 

Though in his seventy-sixth year, he is hale and 
hearty, his mind clear and vigorous, and he bids 
fair to live a number of years, honored and re- 
spected among his fellow-citizens, and loved by 
his children and relatives. 
" Few men have passed through life more agree- 
ably in associations, or enjoyed to a greater 
degree the confidence and respect of neighbors 
and fellow-citizens. This is to be accounted for 
in part, if not entirely, by living in after-life up 
to a principle of action, adopted in boyhood, 
when thrown upon his own resources, immedi- 
ately after the death of his mother, the resolve 
was, " to be temperate, truthful, true to a trust, 
self-sacrificing rather than contend, and to be 
pleasant and agreeable without yielding aTiy 
principle of conscience." 

William S. McConnaughy was born in Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1836, where he 
attended school and learned the machinist's trade 
until he was twenty years of age ; he then went 
to work as stoker, or third engineer, on steam- 
boats of the Pittsburg and Cincinnati Union 
Lire, worked at this business eight or nine years, 
when he enlisted in Company I, Sixth United 
States Cavalry, this was in the spring of 1861. 
He fought the Indians on the plains under Gen- 
eral Connor; was mustered out in October, 1866, 



when he came to Jersey county, Illinois, and fol-" 
lowed farming some eight or nine years. He is 
now running a grocery and provision store for 
H. C. Cooper, at Lowder. Mr. McConnaughy 
was married to Sarah A. Cooper, July 26, 1868; 
she was born in Carrolton, Greene county, Illi- 
nois, in November, 1850, and was a daughter of 
Thomas Cooper, born in Yorkshire, England, 
July 3, 1811, and came to the United States 
when quite young. He was married lo Mary 
Colwell, a native of Kentucky, and is now living 
in Lowder. Thomas McConnaughy, father of 
William, was born in Pennsylvania ; he was a 
stock dealer. His wife, Mary A. Richardson^ 
was born in Canada, was a member of the Meth- 
odist Church, and the mother of seven children. 
Mr. and Mrs. McConnaughy have four children, 
viz.: John F., William T., Francis E. and Maude 
D. In politics, Mr. McConnaughy is a Republi- 
can. 

Alferd W. Monlton, was born near Columbus, 
Mississippi, December 27, 1832, among the 
Choctaw Indians, his father being a missionary 
in that tribe. When two years old, his father 
went with the Indians as they were moved to» 
the Choctaw reservation in the Indian Nation. 
In 1838, his father came to Bloomington, Illinois, 
a place then of only two hundred inhabitants. 
He lived there five or six years, then came to 
Waverly, Morgan county, where he worked on 
a farm his father had bought in 1848. When 
twenty-one years of age, he rented land in San- 
gamon county, and followed farming for himself 
about three years, then bought one hundred and 
sixty acres of prairie in Macon county, near 
Decatur, Illinois, for which he paid $1,600. He 
broke the prairie and kept it one year, and sold 
it for $2,600. He then came back to Sangamon 
county, and rented a farm of two hundred and 
forty acres of Theo. Curtis for three years, when 
he moved to Christian coirnty and bought a farm 
of one hundred and twenty acres of raw prairie. 
He remained there five years, then sold and 
bought one hundred and sixty acres in Sanga- 
mon county, this township; lived on that farm 
five years, sold out, and bought another farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, also in this town- 
ship. In four years he traded this farm for twa 
hundred and twenty acres, on which he now re 
sides, paying |2,400 difference. 

He was married to Amanda Morgan, April 7, 
1858, and they had one son and two daughters, 
one son and daughter now living: Charles P., 
and Ida M. Mrs. Moulton was a member of the 
M. E. Church; she died in 1864. December 7, 
1866, Mr, Moulton was married to Sarah C. 








/ /--. 



^^r^^^r^ AZ 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1037 



Metcalf, who was born in Morgan county, Illinois, 
September 30, 1842, a daughter of Patterson 
Metcalf, a farmer born near Jacksonville, Illinois, 
and Emily, nee Wilhite, born in Virginia. They 
were both members of the M. E. Church, and 
had a family of five children. Alfred W. Moul- 
ton and his wife Sarah, nee Metcalf, have had 
four sons, one of whom is living — William H. 
Mr. M. has his farm of two hundred and twenty 
acres under good cultivation. 

William Plov:man was born in Sommerset, 
Pennsylvania, November 4, 1828; lived there 
until he was fourteen years of age, when his 
father came to Illinois, and settled on a farm 
nine miles west of Jerseyville, Illinois, where 
he remained until his father's death. He went 
to California in the spring of 1852; worked in 
the mines some six years, then he returned to 
Macoupin county, and bought a farm of eighty 
acres; afterwards improved sixty acres in the 
same county which he sold six years ago, and 
bought eighty acres in Talkington township, 
section thirty-six, on which he now lives. His 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres is divided 
by the county line, eighty acres in Macoupin 
county, and eighty in i^angamon. 

David Plowman, father of William, was born 
in Maryland, was a member of the Christian 
Church; he died in 1849. His wife, Sarah 
(Probst) Plowman, was born in Pennsylvania, 
and was a member of the Christian Church; had 
thirteen children. William Plowman is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F., and in politics a Demo- 
crat. He was married to Miss Charlotte Wil- 
liams, March 24, 1859; she was born in Greene 
county, Illinois, May 8, 1833, and was the 
daughter of James Williams, born in Hawkins 
county, Tennessee. He was in the War of 1812, 
and in the Black Hawk war. He was a farmer 
by occupation. His wife, Lucy (Crittenden) 
Williams; was born in Culpepper county, Vir- 
ginia; was a member of the Christian Church; 
she had twelve children; she died November 15, 
1854. 

Mr. and Mrs. Plowman are members of the 
Christian Cbiirch, and have six children: Sam- 
uel, Ellen, Clara, Harry, Mollie and Chauncey. 

y^illiam M. Jioberts, was born near Jones- 
boro, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1817, where he 
remained until 1832, when he came with his 
parents to Menard county, Illinois, and settled 
near Old Franklin, he remained here until twen- 
ty-one years of age, when he went to Iowa; one 
year after returned home and April 6, 1840, mar- 
ried Miss Jane Seymour. The fruits of this mar- 
riage is eight children; after bis marriage Mr. 

121—^ 



Roberts bought a farm of sixty acres, in Morgan 
county, and in 1868, sold out and bought a farm 
of two hundred and forty acres in Talkington 
township, Sangamon county, where he still re- 
sides. He has been a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church forty-one years. William 
Roberts, father of William H., was born in 1796; 
he was a shoemaker by trade, but owned and run 
a farm; he was a local preacher, and was in the 
War of 1812, under Old Hickory Jackson, and 
died February 26, 1858; his wife, Eva (Euble) 
Roberts, born in Tennessee in 1795, and died 
October 24, 1880; she was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church eighty years, hav- 
ing joined that church when sixteen years of 
age. Mrs. Roberts, wife of W. H., was born 
near Old Franklin, Morgan county, Illinois, in 
1817, she died November 25, 1865; she was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
Roberts on January 16, 1868, married Mrs. Elsie 
Hart, her maiden name was Elsie Cox, she was 
a daughter of Harris and Nancy (McClelland) 
Cox, who were old settlers of Morgan county, 
Illinois. John Roberts, son of W. H. Roberts, 
enlisted in the One Hundred and First Regi- 
ment, Company H, Illinois Volunteers, and was 
shot in the battle at Resaca, Georgia, he died of 
this wound on July 12, 1881. 

John Skehan was born in Tipperary county, 
Ireland, November 22, 1830; worked on a farm 
until twenty-one years of age, when he emigrated 
to this country alone, landing in New Orleans, 
and came to St. Louis on the boat, Illinois. Fol- 
lowed the butcher trade in St. Louis two years. 
The cholera breaking out, he took three butcher- 
men, one Irishman and a Frenchman to Potosi, 
Wisconsin, where they purchased a flat-boat and 
loaded it with potatoes at twenty-five cents per 
bushel, and cabbages at |!2.50 per hundred; took 
the boat to Keokuk, Iowa, and there transferred 
their produce to a steamer, to St. Louis; they 
then sold out, sold their potatoesat $3 per bushel 
and cabl)age8 at $20 per hundred, realizing a 
considerable profit. They then took the flat-boat, 
which had been towed down to St. Louis, to 
Quincy, and boated wood down to that city from 
the bay, some nine miles above, for one year, 
when he returned to St. Louis, worked in ihe 
stone-yard and helped build the old custom 
house; in 1856, he came to Illinois and bought a 
house and two acres of land, at Waverly, Mor- 
gan county, Illinois. He butchered and traded 
until 1865, when he bought a farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Sangamon county, Talk- 
ington township, section seven; lived there two 
years, then sold to Ebenezer Saccad,'and bought 



1038 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



one hundred acres of land from Uliss Lindley, to 
which he has since added one hundred and sixty 
making a farm of three hundred and twenty 
acres, all under cultivation. In politics, he is a 
Democrat. Has been tax collector and com- 
missioner of highways. He is a member of the 
Catholic Church. Was maiTied to Ellen Sweany, 
in St. Louis, in December, 1856. She was born 
in Ireland, Tipperary county, May 20, 1S26. 
They have two daughters. The father of John 
Skehan was Patrick Skehan, born in Ireland, and 
died in September, 1879. His mother was Joanna 
(Toomay) Skehan, born in Ireland and died in 
June, 1849. Timothy Sweany, father of Ellen 
(Sweany) Skehan, and Margaret (Handerhan) 
Sweany, her mother, were born in Ireland. John 
Skehan helped raise Company G, one hundred 
and First Illinois Volunteers. He was a strong 
Union man. He was not in the army, but did 
all he could for t' e cause. 

John R. Spires, son of John and Melinda 
(Sturgis) Spires, was born October 13, 1835, in 
Morgan county, Illinois, where he was raised 
and educated. Here, also, he married, June 9, 
1859, Miss Sarah A., daughter of Rev. Thomas 
J. and Eliza (Weller) Conley, of Macoupin 
county, Illinois, by whom he has three children: 
Thomas J., born April 16, 1860; Melinda J., 
July 31, 1864, and Mary E., May 11, 1868. The 
eldest two were born in Morgan, and the last 
mentioned in Sangamon county, where Mr. 
Spires moved in the spring of 1867. 

While residing in Morgan county, Mr. Spires 
bought his first farm, a tract of one hundred and 
thirty-six acres, which he sold just prior to his 
removal into the county where he now resides. 
He now owns a splendid farm of two hundred 
acres, under good improvements, and in a fine 
state of tillage and well stocked; one hundred 
and sixty acres of this is comprised in Talking- 
ton township, and forty acres lie just across the 
line in Macoupin county. 

Mr. Spires is one of the representative men 
of his township, being a teacher, farmer and 
stock dealer. He is kept pretty busy, but he 
manages to make everything prosper to a com- 
plete success. Though now only thirty-eight 
years old, he has taught seventeen winter terms, 
and has never applied for a single one of them. 
Higher commendations than this would be ex- 
travagant. It could not, indeed, well be given. 
He and his wife are both members of the Bap- 
tist Church, in which denomination they have 
the best religious standing. 

The Spires family is an old one in the history 
of the country. William Spires, Mr. Spires's 



grandfather, was a lad in the Revolutionary War. 
He was also an old settler in Kentucky, where 
he died, and where he raised quite a family of 
children, viz: John, Polly, Nancy, William, 
Catharine, James and Bailey, are the names now 
remembered. 

John, Mr. Spires's father, yet living, is one of 
the old settlers of Morgan county. He came into 
this county, in the year (1832) after the deep 
snow; he yet occupies the old home place on the 
north fork of Apple creek. He raised the fol- 
lowing children: William T., Mrs. Phebe (Allen) 
Conley, deceased; Mrs. Polly (Joseph) Lombard, 
Mrs. Sarah P., present wife of Allen Conley; 
John R., James B., Mrs. Anna W. (Edward) 
Seymour, Henry M., Harvey, and Miss Mary E. 
Of these, WiLiam T., James B., Anna, Harvey, 
and Mary, reside in Morgan, and John R. and 
Sarah in Sangamon county. The others are dead. 

Henry S. Stone was born in Rutherford 
county, Tenn., February 20, 1820; lived there 
until eight or nine years of age, when he came 
with his father to Illinois, and settled in Greene 
county, upon a farm near Carrollton; lived there 
until the fall of 1855, when he moved upon a 
farm in Macoupin coimty; remained there some 
five years, then bought a farm of two hundred 
and fifty acres in this township, where he still 
lives. He is a son of Thomas Stone, who was 
born in Virginia. He was in the War of 1812, 
under Jackson. His wife, Cassie (Owen) Stone, 
was born in North Carolina, and was a member 
of the Baptist Church. She has had twelve chil- 
dren. Henry S. was married to Miss Mary Hall 
in 1855. She is the mother of nine children, 
seven boys and two girls. Mrs. Stone was born 
in Greene county, Illinois, May 19, 1834, a 
daughter of Thomas Hall, who was born in 
North Carolina. He was a member of the Bap- 
tist Church; was in the War of 1812, and died 
March 19, 1855. His wife, Mary (McVeigh) 
Hall, was born in Tennessee; was a member or 
the Baptist Church and the mother of seven 
children. She still lives at Virden, Illinois, 
Mr. Henry Stone is a member of the Baptist 
Church, and in politics is a Democrat. He 
holds the offices of school director and commis- 
sioner of highways. In the spring of 1852, he 
went overland to California, with a party who 
were three months on the road; w^as there three 
years. 

Walter Taylor was born near Whitehall, 

Illinois, January 4, 1836. In 1863, came to this 

county and bought a farm of one hundred and 

sixty acres in Talkington township, which he 

I sold, and in 18*70 he bought a farm of two 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1039 



hundred and forty acres, in section thirty-three, 
where he now lives. He was married to Susan 
Thompson December 14, 1858. She was a 
daughter of Thomas and Eveline (Bowers) 
Thompson, who were members of the Baptist 
Church, and had thirteen children; she died 
October 23, 1862. Mr. Taylor was then married 
August 2*7, 1863, to Rebecca J. Brickey, daughter 
of William and Elizabeth (Rawls) Brickey, 
natives of Virginia. James R. Taylor, father of 
Walter, was born in Anderson county, Ten- 
nessee, in 1810. He was a member of the 
Christian Church, and died June 2, 1880. He 
was married twice. His first wife, Tabitha 
Akers, was born in Tennessee, and died in 1847. 
He was then married to his second wife in 1857. 
She was the mother of four children; two girls 
and one boy are now living. She died January 
1, 1877. Mr. Taylor and wife have two 
daughters. He has his farm ot two hundred 
and forty acres under good cultivation. 

Benjamin F. ^Workman was born near Quincy, 
Illinois, May, 1841. His father dying four years 
after, he went to his uncle in Quincy, and at- 
tended school there until he was twelve years 
old, when his mother married John Irwin, and 
moved on a farm near Jerseyville, Illinois. He 
lived there with his mother until December, 
1869, when he bought a farm in Talkington 
township, section one, where he now resides. He 
is a son of Henry L. Workman, who was born 
in North Carolina; he was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and in politics a Whig; was a member of 
the M. E. Church; he died July 25, 1845; his 
wife, Nancy Brown, was born in Jersey county, 
Illinois, near Jerseyville; she is living at Rock 
Bridge, Greene county. 

Mr. B. F. Workman was married to Miss 
Alice Landon, November 20, 1862; she is the 
daughter of William D. Landon, born in Addi- 
son county, Vermont; he was a farmer, and in 



politics a Republican; he died in February, 1852; 
his wife, Elvira Cory, was born in Vermont, and 
had twelve children — six boys and six girls — she 
is still living, near Jerseyville, Illinois. 

Mr. and Mrs. Workman have had six children, > 
four of whom are living, one boy and three 
girls. He has held the office of road commis- 
sioner and assessor; in politics he is a Demo- 
crat; he is a member of the Second Advent 
Church, at Auburn, Illinois. 

William B. 'Worth was born in Adair county, 
Kentucky, August 4, 1825, near Columbia, on a 
farm; father moved with him to Morgan county, 
near Jacksonville, Illinois, in the fall of 1829. 
He remained on the farm with his father until 
twenty-one years old, then worked for Peter 
Updike two years; was then married to Sarah 
Baldwin, and they had ten children, five of whom 
are living — three sons and two daughters. After 
his marriage he rented a farm of Captain Brown, 
in Sangamon county, near Old Berlin, lived there 
one year, then moved back on his father's farm 
one year, then rented a farm in Macoupin county 
one year. He then entered a farm of eighty 
acres, in Sangamon county, this township; lived 
there some twenty years; sold out and bought a 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in section 
thirty-three, where he still lives. 

His father was John D. Worth, born in Bote- 
tourt county, Virginia, and was in the Black 
Hawk war, and justice of the peace eighteen years 
in Morgan county. He died in 1854, in that 
county. His wife, Elizabeth (Hopkins) Worth, 
was born in Virginia. Mr. Worth has been road 
commissioner seven years. His wife was born in 
Virginia, September 16, 1825, and was the daugh- 
ter of Thomas Baldwin, born in North Carolina, 
March 12, 1796, and died November 26, 1879. 
His wife, Nancy (Brizentine) Worth, was 
born in Virginia and died February 13, 
1881. 



1040 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Chapter XLIX. 



TOWNSHIP OF WHEATFIELD. 



The township of Wheatfield was set off from 
Illiopolis in 1875, and its history is therefore 
identified with it from the beginning, almost to 
the present time. The township of Illiopolis 
being so large, about seventy-two square miles, 
it was thought best for the convenience of all 
concerned, that it should be divided, and accord- 
ingly three and one-half tiers of sections on the 
west was set off and given the name, Wheat- 
field. The township embraces about thirty- 
seven sections. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

The whole of the township, save a small part 
on the south, adjoining the Sangamon river, is a 
beautiful undulating prairie. The soil is a heavy, 
black loam, and is unsurpassed by any in the 
State. The productions of Wheatfield rank 
among the highest of the townships of the 
county. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Wlieattield was among the last townships in 
the county to be settled, for the reason so little 
timber was to be had. The first settlers located 
along the edge of the timber, near the Sanga- 
mon river. Among the first were Reuben Bul- 
lard and his two sons, John and Wesley; James 
Hampton, William Gragg, Samuel Dickerson, 
John Churchill, and others. 

Reuben BuUard was born December 22, 1792, 
in Caroline county, Virginia. He went to Wood- 
ford county, Kentucky, in 1787, and to Shelby 
county in 1790. He was there married in 1803, 
to Elizabeth Gill, who was born October 30, 
1779, near Charlestown, Virginia. They had 
eight children in Kentucky, four of whom, Eliza, 
Lucinda, Richard and Nancy J., died there, be- 
tween the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Bullard died January G, 1835, 



and Reuben Bullard, with three of his children, 
came to Sangamon county, arriving in Novem- 
ber, 1835, in what is now Wheatfield township, 
one son having come before. Reuben Bullard 
died September 6, 1836, in Sangamon county. 

His father's name was Reuben Bullard. He 
was in the Revolutionary army as a non-com- 
batant, and lost his life by drinking too freely 
of cold water while he was overheated. He 
made a gun, which he gave to his son, whose 
name heads this sketch. It is now (1874) in 
possession of a son of John Bullard — Reuben 
S — the fourth generation from the man who 
made it. The brass plate opposite the lock bears 
the inscription, R. B., 1772. It is a smooth 
bore; the barrel is four feet eight inches long, 
and the whole gun is six feet one inch. An an- 
ecdote is related of it, that when the boys of a 
former generation used the gun, they always 
hunted in pairs, one to do the shooting and the 
other to see that the marksman did not get the 
muzzle beyond the game. 

Jesse A. Pickrell was born June 3, 1805, in 
Montgomery county, Kentucky, and came to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the spring 
of 1828, being the first of the family to come to 
the State. He stopped for a time in Mechanics- 
burg township, and then settled on section eight, 
township sixteen, range two west, what is now 
Wheatfield township. Mr. Pickrell was an en- 
terprising man, and was among the first to intro- 
duce improved breeds of cattle, hogs and other 
stock into Sangamon county, and was one of the 
most extensive farmers and stock raisers in the 
county. Mrs. Pickrell died February 2, 1878. 

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS. 

Wheatfield township being an exclusively 
agricultural one, its school houses are somewhat 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1041 



scattered, but its schools will compare favorably 
with any like situated in the county. There are 
five good houses, valued at $5,000. 

Its proximity to several villages make it un- 
necessary for the building of country churches, 
as the inhabitants of the township can each 
select their place of worship with that religious 
denomination that best suits their religious con- 
victions. There is one good church edifice in 
the township, named Bethel, property of the 
Christian denomination. 

WHEATFIELD STATION. 

For the convenience of the inhabitants, a sta- 
tion was located on section eight, by the railroad 
company. Sevei'al houses have been built around 
the station, making a small village. A store was 
opened in 1874, by David O'Conner. It is now 
owned by Jno. T. Sudduth, who carries a fine 
line of staple and fancy dry goods and groceries, 
such as are usually found in a country store. 

A large elevator was erected here in 1878, and 
is now owned and operated by E. R. Ulrich, of 
Springfield, one of the most extensive dealers in 
grain in this section of the State. The annual 
shipments of grain amount to about three hun- 
dred thousand bushels, equal to one thousand 
car loads. 

POST OFFICE. 

In 1861, an office was established at the sta- 
tion, with Jesse A. Pickrell as postmaster. Mr. 
Pickrell kept the office at his house about five 
years. John T. Sudduth is the present post- 
master. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Charles Black is a son of Joseph and Pleasant 
Black; the former was born in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, and the latter, whose maiden name 
was Pleasant Newhouse, was a native of Virginia. 
They were of Irish and English extraction, were 
married in Ohio about 1815, and had seven chil- 
dren, as follows: Mary A., born in 1816; Eliza- 
beth, born in 1818; Charles, the subject of this 
sketch, was born April 20, 1820; Joseph, born in 
1822; Andrew, born in 1824; Sarah, born in 1826; 
Pleasant J., born December 13, 1828; Andrew 
died about 1845; the father and mother died in 
Ohio, mother in 1830. Charles was married 
September 5, 1869, to Alice Sprinkle, daughter 
of Michael and Catharine Spinkle, and was boi-n 
in Arkansas, June 17, 1850, and came with her 
parents to this county in 1860. Their three 
children are, Katie, born October 11, 1870, Char- 
ley A., August 8, 1874 and Oliver, April 24, 
1878. Kate died August 31, 1872. Mrs. Black's 
father died August 13, 1867. Mr. Black owns 



five hundred and twenty acres of land valued at 
$50 an acre. His early educational advantages 
were not so good; but he attended Greenfield 
Academy two years ; wife's educational ad- 
vantages were also good. They are members 
of the United Brethren Church, and in politics 
are Republicans. 

Wesley Bullard is a son of Reuben and Eliz- 
abeth Bullard. The former was born in Caro- 
line county, Virginia, in 1772, and the latter 
in 1778, in Jefferson county, Virginia. The 
mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Gill, the 
daughter of James and Nancy Gill. Mr. Reuben 
Bullard and Elizabeth Gill were married in 
Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1804. They had 
eight children, as follows: John, Eliza, Lucinda, 
Mary A., Richard, Sarah Agnes, Wesley, and 
Nancy J. Eliza died in Kentucky, as also Lu- 
cinda, Richard, and Nancy J., and likewise the 
mother. The subject of this sketch was born in 
Kentucky, July 28, 1816, and came with his 
father to this county in 1835, and bought and 
entered land where he now resides. On March 
23, 1843, he married Sarah Foster, daughter of 
Henry and Jane Foster, who were all born in 
Kentucky, she on July 18, 1824, and came with 
her parents to Putnam county, Indiana, in 1827. 
On a visit to Sangamon county in 1842, she met 
Mr. B. and became his wife, as above stated. 
They had eight children, all sons. Their names 
are as follows: William H., born August 16, 
1844; James R., October 10, 1846; John N., 
October 29, 1848; Francis B., September 19, 
1850; Samuel A., March 25, 1853; George W., 
July 31, 1855; Benjamin F., February 23, 1858, 
and Foster, February 13, 1861. James died July 
13, 1876. Mrs. Sarah B. died February 13, 1861, 
and Mr. B, married Mrs. Elizabeth Holsman, 
daughter of Robert and Julia Kidd, August 6, 
1863. She was born in Virginia, May 7, 1828. 
They have had two children: Julia, born Febru- 
ary 4, 1867, and Robert A., August 3, 1871. Mr. 
B, owns three hundred and fifty acres of land, 
valued at $50 an acre. He has been supervisor 
of lUiopolis and Wheatfield townships five years. 
Mr. B.'s early educational advantages were lim- 
ited. William II., his oldest son, was a member 
of the Seventy-third Regiment Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, during the late war, and served 
three years, to the close of the war. 

They are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and in politics are Republicans. 

Wm. S. Bullard, was born January 7, 1841, 
and was a son of John and Sarah S. (Fallice) 
Bullard, the former born in Shelby county, Ken- 
tucky, October 10, 1805, the latter in St. Louis 



1042 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



county, Missouri, in 1810. They were married 
in Kentucky, and came to Illinois on boiseback, 
making a practical "bridle tour." They were 
the parents of ten children, viz.: George W., 
John W., Nancy F., William S., Reuben S., 
Edna E., Lucinda J., Wilber C, Jacob B., and 
Henry S. William S., was married December 
28, 1871, to Miss Elizabeth S., a native of San- 
gamon county, Illinois. Her father, John Zane, 
was born in New Jersey in 1805; her mother 
born at the same place in 1811. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wm. BuUard have had two children, viz.: 
Leatha Irene, born May 3, 1873, died in 1874, 
and Mary, born March 7, 1875. Mrs. B. died 
November 4, 1877. Mr. B. owns, in partner- 
ship with his brother Reuben, about one thou- 
sand acres of land, valued at $40 an acre. 

John M. Council, post office, Illiopolis, was 
born in this county, June 7, 1851; his father, 
Geo. W. Council, was born in White county, 
Illinois, in 1820. His mother, whose maiden 
name was Jane Mitts, was born in 1822; both 
were of German descent; they were married 
about 1842, and had eleven children, viz: Wil- 
liam C, Mary A., John M., Nelson L., Eliza- 
beth, Charles, Henry, Flora, Emma, George 
Grant and Anna May; Charles is deceased, and 
the mother died in 1878. 

John M. Council, the subject of this sketch, 
was married, September 21, 1871, to Mies Eliza- 
beth E. Hay, daughter of Benjamin and Isabel 
Hay, of Ohio, and was born June 9, 1850; she 
was of German extraction; they have four chil- 
dren: Flora Bell, born in July, 1872; Robert 
Arthur, in November, 1874; Louella Jane, in 
March, 1876; George Walter, in March, 1879, 
and J. E., September 10, 1881. Mrs. Council's 
father died in 1873, and her mother in 1874. 
Mr. C. owns one hundred and fifty-one acres of 
land, valued at $50 an acre. He was elected 
justice of the peace, but declined to serve. 
They are members of the Christian Church. 

Ilvgh JErwin, son of David and Rose Erwin, 
was born in Ireland, and came to America in 
1868, landing at New York, but immediately 
came to Springfield, and has lived in this county 
ever since — mostly on a farm. His father was 
born in Ireland in 1809, and his mother, whose 
maiden name was Rose, was also born in Ireland, 
in 1811. They were married in Ireland, and had 
six children, viz: William John, Betty A., Rose, 
Maria, Samuel and Hngh. The mother died in 
Ireland. In February, Hugh married Miss Mary 
Collins, daughter of Maggie and Michael Collins, 
and was born in this county, September 17, 1859; 
her parents were born in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. 



E! have one child, W^illiam John, born February 
15, 1881. Mr. E. was naturalized about 1877; is 
a farmer by occupation and is prosperous. Post 
office, Illiopolis. They are members of the 
Roman Catholic Church, and politically, are 
Democrats. 

William, A. FxiUenwider, son of J. N. and 
Sarah A. (Bullard) Fullenwider, was born in thi& 
county, November 20, 1842. William was raised 
on a faini, and on March 4, 1875, married Miss 
Alice Elkin, daugher of John and Eveline 
(McNabb) Elkin, who was born in this county, 
February 20, IS 52. They have had two children, 
Eva, born October 10, 1877, and died July 4, 
1879, and William, born January 13, 1879, 'and 
died August 19, 1880. Mrs. Fullenwider's father 
died August 27, 1867. Mr. Fullenwider owns 
two hundred and eighty acres of land valued at 
$50 an acre. Himself and wife had good educa- 
tional advantages in early life and are highly es- 
teemed in their community. Post office, Mechan- 
icsburg. He is a member of the Methodist 
Church and she of the Christian Church, and are 
Republicans. 

Henry T. Fullenwider^ a farmer, post office, 
Mechanicsburg, a son of Jacob and Sarah Agnes 
(Bullard) Fullenwider, was born in this county 
March 1, 1846. He was raised on a farm, and 
on December 28, 1871, married Sarah C. 
Lindsly, daughter of Henry C, and Julia A. 
(Hickman) Lindsly, who was born in Christian 
county, Illinois, October 21, 1849; her father 
was born in New Jersey and her mother in Ken- 
tucky. Mr. and Mrs. Fullenwider have had 
four children, namely: Charley W., born De- 
cember 22, 1872, died February 11, 1873; 
Arthur E., born September 8, 1874; Agnes, born 
December 15, 1876; and Thomas I., born March 
8, 1881. Mr. Fullenwider owns two hundred 
and eighty-three acres of land, valued at |50 an 
acre; raises grain, cattle and hogs, and feeds 
them for market. The farm is well cultivated, 
with fields divided by osage orange hedges. 
Mrs. F. is of English and Scotch extraction, and 
he of German, and both have had good educa- 
tional advantages — Mrs. F. having attended the 
high school at Springfield. Both are Methodists 
and are in politics Republicans. 

Samuel Fullenwider, son of J. N. and Sarah 
A. Fullenwider, was born in this county, June 
21, 1851, and was brought up as a farmer. His 
grandfather (Fullinwider) came from Kentucky, 
entered land near Mechanicsburg, returned to 
bring his family, and was taken sick and died in 
Kentucky July 17, 1834; his wife came the same 
year with her nine children, and improved the 



HISTOEY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1043 



land entered by hei' husband, and this land is 
now occupied by Jacob Fullenwider. On May 
27, 1875, he was married to Miss Luella Elkin, 
daughter of John G. and Eveline (McNabb) El- 
kin, who was born July 6, 1853; her father was 
born in Xenia, Ohio, March 28, 1820, and her 
mother in this county, September 15, 1827. Mr. 
and Mrs. F. have two children : Jesse Arthur, born 
June 29, 1876, and John Elkin, December 26, 
1878. Mr. F. owns two hundred and forty acres 
of land, valued at $50 an acre. He has had ex- 
cellent educational advantages, having graduated 
at the Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, in 
1871. Mrs. F. attended the Female Wesleyan 
College, at Cincinnati, two years, and afterward 
attended the Bettie Stuart, of Springfield. 

William Gragg, fartr.er, post office, Mechan- 
icsburg; son of William and Sophia Gragg, the 
former born in Kentucky, June 10, 1818, and 
mother in Madison county, Kentucky, March 10, 
1815; the mother's maiden name was Sophia Mc- 
Bride, and she was a daughter of James and 
Elizabeth McBride, and of Scotch-Irish descent. 
The parents of Mr. Gragg were married in this 
county, and had five children, namely: Thomas 
J., born January 1, 1845; Jesse, born March 19, 
1846; John Henry, born August 17, 1847; Wil- 
liam, born June 10, 1851; and Harvey, born Jan- 
uary 21, 1853; Jesse died April 10, 1846. The 
father died July 30, 1875, and the mother, 
December 26, 1872. The subject of this sketch 
was born in this county on a farm. On Febru- 
ary 8, 1876, he married Miss Hissey, who was 
born in Baltimore, March 14, 1852, the daughter 
of William and Harriet Hissey. Her father died 
in Baltimore, and her mother came to Sangamon 
county in September, 1875. Mr. Gragg owns 
one hundred and seventy-one acres of land valued 
at $50 per acre. In early life he attended a com- 
mercial college; his wife was educated in the 
high schools of Baltimore, and before marriage 
was a music teacher. In politics. Democratic. 

Harvey Gragg, farmer, post office, Mechan- 
icsburg, is a son of William and Sophia Gragg, 
natives of Kentucky, and was born in this county, 
Jan. 21,1853; has always followed farming. April 
26, 1877, he married Hettie A. Rodgers, who was 
born in this county, March 5, 1856, daughter of 
Uriah and Hettie Rodgers, from Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, and parents of ten children, nine 
of whom are living, one having died in this 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Gragg have two children 
— Georgia Etta, born June 24, 1878, and Bertha 
Ella, born December 20, 1879. Mr. G. owns 
one hundred and forly-five acies of land valued 
at $7,250. The farm is well improved. 



Adam Metcalf, farmer, post office, VVheattield, 
a son of Thomas and Nancy (Linton) Metcalf, 
were natives of Maryland, where they were mar- 
ried about 1820, and had four children: Owen 
Thomas, Adam, Samuel E., and Cora Ann; the 
mother was born about 1798. Adam Metcalf, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Maryland, 
November 15, 1851, and was married to Miss 
Mary J. Hamm, daughter of Uriah C. and Vir- 
ginia Hamm, who was born in Butler county, 
Ohio, July 4, 1828, and came to this county with 
her parents about 1842. Her parents were na- 
tives of Virginia, but came to Ohio at an early 
date. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf have six children: 
Thomas F., born September 26, 1852; Samuel 
E., born March 17, 1854; Albert M., born No- 
vember 19, 1856; Willie U., born October 22, 
1858; Lee G., born May 9, 1861; and Owen A., 
born January 1, 1866. Mr. M. owns two hundred 
and forty acres of land. When he first came 
from Virginia to this State, in November, 1848, 
he had to work very hard as a farm hand, but 
he has now become a successful farmer. His 
early educational advantages were meagre, as 
he was left an orphan and obliged to help sup- 
port the other children. He is road commis- 
sioner of his township. She is a Methodist, and 
in politics they are Democrats. 

Thomas Munce, farmer, post office, Wheat- 
field, was born in Pennsylvania. His father, 
John Munce, was born in County Down, Ireland, 
in 1796, and his mother, Eliza J. Munce, whose 
maiden name was Stockdale, was born in County 
Down, Ireland, in 1806. They were married in 
Washington county, Penn., in 182 7, and had six 
children, viz.: William, born at Natchez, Missis- 
sippi; Thomas, born in Pennsylvania; Hannah, 
Margaret, Isabel, and Eliza, all born in Indiana. 
The father came to America in 1804, and settled 
in Washington county, Pennsylvania. The 
mother also settled there. Both were orphans, 
and came with other families and their older 
brothers. They afterward went to Indiana, 
where they remained till 1846, then came to this 
county. The subject of this sketch was married to 
Miss Mary C. Haak, May 2, 1860. She was a 
daughter of Michael and Sarah Haak, and born 
in Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 
1839. Their three children are: Isabel, John, 
and George, all born in this county. Mr. M. 
was educated in the common schools of Indiana 
and Illinois. His wife attended the ladies' sem- 
inary at Reading, Pennsylvania. He is at pres- 
ent supervisor of his township. He has a large 
farm and every convenience in the way of build- 
ings and other improvements. 



1044 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



George A. PicJcrell, farmer, post office, Wheat- 
field, was born in this county February 19, 1832. 
His father, Jesse A. Pickrell, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Kentucky, June 13, 1805 ; his 
mother, Elizabeth (Churchill) Pickrell, was born 
September 11, 1811. They were married De- 
cember 18, 1828, at Mechanicsburg, Sangamon 
county, Illinois, and they have a family of ten 
children, namely: William O., born February 27, 
1830; George A., the subject of this sketch; 
Willoughby F., born October 12, 1833, and died 
March 29, 1835; Miller H., born March 30, 1835; 
Ann M., born September 14, 1840; Mary V., born 
December 11, 1842; Amanda P., born August 
31, 1844; died June 19, 1872; John C, born Oc- 
tober 27, 1846, died March 25, 1873; Sarah H., 
born March 6, 1855. They are of Welsh extrac- 
tion. George A. Pickrell was married to Miss 
Emma H. Winn, December 27, 1864; daughter 



of Charles L. and Mary Winn, and was born 
December 29, 1842. They have four children, 
Corrilla, born February 11, 1866; Alice, born 
February 25, 1868; Patsey G., born July 9, 1872; 
Jesse C, born November 28, 1876. Mr. P. owns 
two hundred and thirteen acres of land worth 
$60 an acre; raises mixed crops; makesa specialty 
of improving horses for draft purposes, using 
the Clydesdale stock; breeds sheep for wool and 
mutton. On the second call for volunteers dur- 
ing the war, he assisted in raisingtroops, but the 
call being full, was not accepted. He then went 
to Missouri and formed the B and C Company 
of the Eleventh Missouri Regiment; was quarter- 
master with rank of captain. His education 
was obtained in the common schools; his wife 
was a graduate of the class of 1801 at Jackson- 
ville Female Seminary, and was a teacher there 
for some time after graduating. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1045 



Chapter L. 



TOWNSHIP OF WILLIAMS. 



The township of Williams is one of the 
northern tier of townships, and is bounded on 
the north by Logan county, on the south by 
Clear Lake township, on the east by Buffalo 
Hart township and Logan county, and on the 
west by Fancy creek township. The surface of 
the country is level, while the soil is good and 
very fertile, yielding large crops of grain and 
fruit. Fancy creek, Wolf and other smaller 
streams furnish water for the stock raised here. 
Fancy creek waters most of the western tier 
of sections, while W^olf creek and its tributaries 
water the central portion of the township. 

EAELY SETTLERS. 

This township was settled as early as 1820, 
and between that date and the "deep snow" of 
1830-31, many families came in, among whom 
were James Stewart, Mr, Kellogg, Benjamin 
Stillman, Jacob Yocum, Oramel Clark, John 
Dixon, Meredith Cooper, Ambrose Cooper, 
David Riddle, David Clark, Michael Mann, 
W^illiam Proctor, John Simpson, Captain Hath- 
away, Solomon Brundage, the Taylors and Con- 
stants, John Stalings, Samuel Wilson, came 
during that decade. 

John Taylor was born May 1, 1772, in Mary- 
land. Three brothers, Isaac, James and Wil- 
liam Taylor, came from England to America 
long before our Revolution. Where James and 
W^illiam settled is unknown to the decedents of 
Isaac, who settled in Maryland, and who was 
the father of John, whose name heads this 
sketch. The parents of John Taylor emigrated 
when he w^as quite young to Chester district. 
South Carolina, where John was married to 
Susan Mobley. The family moved in 1818, to 
White county, Illinois. In the spring of 1819, 

122— 



they moved to Wayne county, then to Sanga- 
mon county, arriving in May, 1829, on Wolf 
creek, in Williams township. Of all the chil- 
dren of John Taylor, three only settled perma- 
nently in Sangamon county. Simeon, the eldest, 
James, the fifth, and Isaac, the eighth, all by 
the first marriage. 

James Taylor, born November 2, 1801, in 
Chester district, South Carolina, moved with his 
parents to Hart county, Kentucky, and thence 
to Wayne county, Illinois, where he was mar- 
ried to Mary Kelly, who was born in Hart 
county, also, and taken by her parents when 
young to Wayne county. They moved to San- 
gamon county in the spring of 1829, settling in 
what is now Williams township, near Barclay. 

Isaac Taylor, born February 9, 1807, in Hart 
county, Kentucky, came with his father to 
White county, and from there to Wayne county, 
Illinois. He came alone, in 1828, to Sangamon 
county, being the firs-t of the family to arrive. 
He was married February 13, 1834, to Sarah M. 
Elliott, at Springfield, Illinois. 

John Simpson was born September 30, 1801, 
in Tennessee, and when a young man Avent to 
St. Clair county, Illinois. Mary Taylor was born 
August 25, 1803, in Georgia, and when a child 
was taken to Looking-glass Prairie, St. Clair 
county, Illinois. They were married there in 
1821, and moved to Shelby county in the same 
State; from there to Sangamon county, arriving 
in 1824, in what is now Williams townshijD. 

Jacob Yocum was born December 17, 1787, in 
a fort or block-house, in Bourbon county, near 
whtre the city of Lexington, Kentucky, now 
stands. Mary Booth was born February 11, 1791, 
in the same county. They moved to Marion 
county, Illinois, and from there to Sangamon 



1046 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



county, arriving November 2, 1828, in what is 
now Williams township. 

David Clarke was born August 28, 1776, in 
Essex county, New Jersey; came to Kentucky in 
1798, and was there married in 1800, to Rachel 
Rutter. Mrs. Rachel Clarke died in 1804. David 
Clarke moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1805, and 
made brick for the first brick house built in that 
city. He returned to Somerset county, New 
Jersey, in the same year, and was married there 
in February, 1806, to Sally Winans, who was 
born October 25, 1788, in that county. They 
moved to Miami county, Ohio, in 1809, and from 
there to Sangamon county, in 1829, settling on 
Sugar creek. 

Meredith Cooper first settled in Fancy Creek, 
and previous to 1830, settled a mile and a half 
east of the present village of Sherman, and died 
there. His widow lives near there. 

Michael Mann, a Baptist minister, settled on 
Bection twenty-seven, previous to 1830. He sub- 
sequently moved to Logan county, where he 
died. 

Isaac Constant was born in Clarke county, 
Kentucky, April 3, 1789. He was there mar- 
ried July 4, 1811, and in 1830 the family moved 
to Sangamon county, arriving October 7, 1830, 
in what is now Williams township. He died on 
Christmas day, 1854, on the farm where he then 
settled. 

William Proctor was one of the earliest set- 
tlers, arriving here in 1820 or 1821, and settled 
on section seven. He subsequently sold the 
place to Isaac Constant, and moved to Lewiston, 
Fulton county, Illinois, where he died about 
1874. Mr. Proctor, shortly after his arrival, 
planted an orchard, which was bearing in 1830, 
when the place was purchased by Mr. Constant. 
He also established a tannery on the place. 

Captain Hathaway settled on section twenty, 
at an early day. He left for Galena about the 
time lead was first discovered, and there died. 

. WHERE THEY SETTLED. 

The first settlers of the township settled along 
the timber, near Fancy creek. The same fear 
of the prairie, and the same reason that caused 
other early settlers to locate in the timber, gov- 
erned the pioneers of Wiliiaras. It was not 
until 1845 the prairie began to be settled. Some 
of the best and most improved farms are now 
prairie farms. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

"Knowledge is power," and for the purpose 
of disseminating knowledge, the pioneers of 
Williams township early employed the services 



of the school teacher, and in educational pro- 
gress have since kept pace with other sections 
of the county. 

The first school was in the winters of 1822-3, 
in a log cabin on Fancy creek, Patrick Lynch 
being the teacher. One among the first teachers 
here was Erastus Wright, well known in all 
parts of the county, who taught a term of school 
in a small log cabin on section seven, as early 
as 1823. The change made in the mode of 
teaching, and in the conveniences of the school 
room, are great, indeed. There are now, in 
1881, seven school houses in the township. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The minister of the gospel ever keeps pace 
with the western tread of civilization, and a 
settlement is no sooner formed than some zeal- 
ous defender of the Cross begins to plead to 
sinners to obey the word and bring forth fruits 
worthy of repentance. Elder Stephen England 
was probably the first to conduct religious 
exercises with preaching, in the township. Revs. 
James Sims, Rivers Cormack and Peter Cart- 
wright were among the first ministers in the 
township. The first meeting conducted by a 
minister of ihe Methodist Episcopal Church was 
at the house of David Riddle, in 1821. 

MILLS. 

A Mr. Ilarburt settled on section seventeen 
as early as 1820. He built and operated the 
first mill of any description in Williams town- 
ship, and probably north of the Sangamon river. 
It was the old band mill, run by horse power. 
A cabin was erected near the mill for the ac- 
commodation of those bringing their grain to 
be ground. Mr. Harburt left in 1822, taking 
his mill with him. 

David Riddle built a horsp-mill in 1826 with 
which he ground wheat and corn, though he had 
only one run of stone. It could grind about 
twenty bushels a day. 

Thomas Constant built a water-mill on Wolf 
creek, on section twenty-three, in 1825, which 
was the first in the township. The mill was a 
combined saw and grist-mill, and did a large 
business in both branches, having custom for 
many miles around. The mill had two runs of 
burrs, one for corn and the other for wheat. It 
was run until about 1854, and was owned or 
run by the following named: Thomas Con- 
stant, Alexander Edmonds, John Simpson, 
George Fisher and John Johnson, the latter of 
whom tore it down. All that now remains of 
the mill are the stones, which yet lie upon the 
banks of the stream. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1047 



FIKST MARRIAGE. 

As stated in the sketcli of Philo Beers, his 
marriage with Martha Stillman was the first in 
the township, and the first north of Sangamon 
river. Several of the descendants of this couple 
occupy prominent positions in society. 

VILLAGE OF CICERO. 

On the 15th of April, 1836, Archibald E. Con- 
stant had platted and recorded the "northwest 
part of the southeast quarter of section twenty- 
six, township seventeen, range four west," a vil- 
lage under the name of "Cicero." Like hun- 
dreds of others in the West, the village existed 
only in name. 

FIRST MERCHANDISE, 

William Hamilton and Mr. Mack sold goods 
here on section seventeen, in 1821. Myron 
Phelps came in 1822, and purchased their stock, 
and continued the business about two years, 
when he sold out and went to Lewiston, Fulton 
county. The store was in a log cabin, and a 
general assortment, usual for the times, was kept 
for sale. 

CURIOSITIES. 

Charles Miller has in his possession a rifle 
once owned by his father, and brought by him 
from Virginia in 1802. The gun is a hammered 
barrel, full stock, and finished in a neat, work- 
manlike manner, with engraved brass mountings, 
with cap-box apartment in the stock. It was 
originally a flint-lock, but was changed when 
percussion caps began first to be manufactured. 

Mrs. Rebecca Miller has a silver half-dollar 
given to her when a child by her mother, bear- 
ing date 1822, the year in which Mrs. Miller was 
born. In 1846, her husband desired to purchase 
a piece of land, and lacked one-half dollar of 
having the necessary amount to pay for it. The 
coveted half-dollar was given to him, and paid 
out on this purchase. In 1876, the identical 
half-dollar was given to him in change by a 
merchant in Williamsville, and by him returned 
to Mrs. Miller. Thus, after a lapse of thirty 
years, she received back the precious coin, paid 
out in Jackson City, Missouri. 

Mrs. Maria Chenoworth has in her possession 
a wooden chest brought from Europe in a his- 
torical and noted vessel, the Mayflower. Mrs. 
Chenoworth traces the chest back through her 
ancestors to her great, greatgrandfather, and the 
chest, with its history, has been preserved in the 
family. 

Mrs. Chenoworth has also in her possession 
two old-fashioned pewter dishes as large around 



as a flower barrel, which were brought from Vir- 
ginia by her parents. 

George W. Constant has an old-fashioned 
wooden clock, which was purchased by his father 
in 1827, and brought with the family to Illinois, 
in 1830. It has been running fifty-four years 
and is yet a splendid time-keeper. It stands on 
a pedestal some eight feet high, and marks the 
time by seconds. 

Mr. Constant has also ared cedar churn, bought 
by his parents the week after they were married, 
which occurred July 4, 1811, and is in a good 
state of preservation. He also has his grand- 
father Constant's family Bible, one hundred and 
ten years old. 

ORGANIC. 

Williams township was organized at same time 
wnth the remaining townships in the county in 
1861, and was named as was the village in honor 
of Colonel John Williams, a noted pioneer and 
business man of Springfield. The first election 
was held on the first Monday in April of 1861. 
The following named being elected to the 
offices mentioned: Miletus W. Ellis, Super- 
visor; George T. Hickman, Treasurer; George H. 
Brown, Clerk; F. A. Merriman, Assessor; George 
W. Sutton, Collector; Eben M. Douglas, John 
O. Towner, Justices of the Peace; George W. 
Sutton, Meredith Cooper, Constables; James 
Lester, William Yocum and George T. Hick- 
man, Commissioners of Highways. 

VILLAGE OF W^ILLIAMSVILLK. 

The village was laid out in 1853, under the 
name of Benton, so named in honor of Hon. 
Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri. The plat as 
recorded in the ofiice of the Register of Deeds, 
describes it as comprising the " southwest quar- 
ter of section four, township seventeen, range 
four west," and owned by Abraham V. Flagg. 

The first public sale of lots was on the 14th 
day of September, 1853. Quite a number were 
disposed of at satisfactory prices. 

The first house built in the place was a frame 
dwelling, by Jacob Flagg, in the fall of 1853. 

The first merchandise sold here was in the 
spring, of 1854, by Peter L. Earnest, who opened 
a stock of general merchandise, and continued 
in the trade here for some years. 

But little Avas done in the way of building up 
a town until the Chicago & Alton Railroad es- 
tablished a station here in the spring of 1854. 
This gave confidence to interested parties that 
their anticipations would be realized in the 
building up of a town. The growth of the vil- 



1048 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



lage has been slow, but no real backward step 
has been taken. 

A POST OFFICE. 

A petition of the citizens was circulated, pray- 
ing the post office department at Washington, to 
establish here a post office. Their petition was 
granted, and an office established in the spring 
of 1854, named Williamsville Post Office, with 
John George as postmastei*. Mr. George was 
subsequently succeeded by his son, Wesley 
George, who served until 1858, when Jacob Mc- 
Clure was appointed. From 1858 to the present 
time, the[.following named have had charge of 
the office: George Brown, Jacob McClure, 
Charles Elder, R. M. Lawrence, William Stew- 
art, Sarah Stewart, and Jacob McClure, the 
second time, the incumbent. 

MEDICAL. 

No community can exist without the aid of 
the doctor, at least this is the general opinion. 
In 1850, Dr. Connery, of Ohio, moved to the 
township, and commenced here the practice of 
medicine. In 1855, he moved into the new vil- 
lage of Benton, now Williamsville, and con- 
tinued to practice, being the first physician in 
the place. He was a clever man, a good physi- 
cian and enjoyed the respect of the community 
in which he lived. He secured an excellent 
practice, but died in 1857. Since Dr. Connery's 
time there have been a number of physicians 
who have practiced their profession in the place, 
among whom were Drs. Henry VanMeter, J. M. 
West, Thomas M. Helm and J. Y. Winn. The 
present resident physicians of the place are: M. 
Mathus, J. Y. Winn, A. D. Tavlor and K. E. 
McClelland. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The village of Williamsville comprises a por- 
tion of District No. 5, which was organized in 
October, 1855. The first school-house erected 
in the village was that same fall; it was a frame 
building eighteen by twenty, one story in height, 
and only one room. At this time the building 
was amply large enough to the demands of the 
district, but subsequently the addition of an- 
other room was made. In this house the follow- 
ing named were employed at different periods as 
teachers; Erastus W. Mills, Jacob Beck, A. W. 
Botsford, A. J. Leach, Stephen H. Wilbur, 
Homer E. Aylesworth, Francis Springer, George 
P. Carpenter, W. H. Raymond, J. S. McClure, 
Edmund Rogers, C. H. Mitchell and Henry 
Allen. 

In 1867, a large brick school-house was 
erected at a cost of $12,000. It contains four 



school-rooms — three occupied — and is capable of 
accommodating one hundred and sixty pupils. 
The building is neat, tasty and convenient, and 
would be an honor to a much larger place than 
Williamsville. The schools were then graded 
into three grades, that system being in opera- 
tion ever since. The following named have 
served as principals, the year given being that 
in which they commenced their work, and serv- 
ing until their successors were installed: H. A. 
Allen, 1867; B. F. Connor, 1870; B. F. January, 
1871; Charles Howard, 1872;- O. S. Webster, 
1873; C. H. Mitchell, 1875; O. S. Webster, 
1876; E. D. Matheny, 1877; W. L. Perce, 1878; 
Charles F. Wilcott, 1880; Hezekiah Miller, 1881. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The religious element of the place is repre- 
sented by three denominations, each having a 
neat house of worship. Christian, Methodist 
Episcopal, and Presbyterian. 

The Christian Church was organized at the 
house of William T. Jones, November, 1843, 
and was first known as the Fancy Creek Christ- 
ian Church. A large part of the original mem- 
bership were connected with the Wolf creek 
congregation, and on account of the distance 
from the place of worship, it was thought best 
to organize another congregation. The Wolf 
creek congregation consented to so many of its 
members as desired, withdrawing for this pur- 
pose. 

Miletus W. Ellis, Mary A. Ellis, Isaac Con- 
stant, Amy Constant, James Stewart, Roxanna 
Stewart, George W. Constant, Martha B. Con- 
stant, Wm. F. Elkin, Elizabeth Elkin, Thomas 
Elkin, Harriet Elkin, Thomas Branch, Elizabeth 
Branch, Mary M. Constant, Wm. T. Jones, 
Lavina Jones, Lotta McClelland, Nancy Mc- 
Cray, Maiy McClelland, Sarah Forguson, James 
Langston, Harriet Langston, James Stewart. 
Miletus W. Ellis was elected elder, and William 
T. Jones and William F. Elkin, deacon. 

In consequence of Mr. Ellis having gone to 
Oregon, and other officers being needed, in 
March, 1852, an election was held, and William 
T. Jones and James Lester were elected elders, 
and George W. Constant and James Barr, dea- 
cons. 

On the first of March, 1854, James Ban- 
resigned and Andrew Lester was elected to fill 
the vacancy. Subsequently Mr. Ellis returned 
from Oregon, and was still recognized as an 
elder. 

The congregation met from house to house 
for worship until 1849, when the Lake school 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1049 



house was secured for regular services. Here 
they raet until 1858, when a house of worship 
was erected in Williamsville, and the services 
commenced there that fall. The building is 
thirty-six by fifty-six, frame, twenty-feet posts, 
and is valued at $2,500. 

On removal to the village, the name of the 
church was changed from Fancy Creek to 
Williamsville Christian Church. At this time 
J. M. Britton was elected Deacon in place of 
Andrew Lester, deceased. In April, 1866, two 
additional elders were chosen — T. M. Helm and 
A. W. Elder, each of whom were ordained by 
Elder A. J. Kane, of Springfield. At the same 
time F. A. Merriman, Charles Turley and Isaac 
Groves were elected and ordained deacons. 

In June, 1879, in consequence of removals and 
deaths, it became necessary to elect other officers, 
and accordingly A. J. Bronsom, N. R. Taylor, 
G. B. Jones and G. W. Constant were elected 
ciders, and J. B, Taylor, Jr., J. H. Groves, G. F. 
Strawn and W. F. Constant were elected dea- 
cons. On the 5th of October, 1879, they were 
each set apart to the office in which they were 
called. Elders A. J. Kane and M. R. Elder con- 
ducting the ordination. 

The first regular minister who served the 
congregation was A. J. Kane, Joel Ethridge 
and J. H. Hughes also preached for them at an 
early day. As regular pastors, the following 
named have served: A. J. Kane, April, 1858, to 
October, 1859; Alex. Johnson, October, 1859, to 
July, 1861; Charles Berry, July 1861, to Septem- 
ber, 1862; John S. Sweeny, November, 1862, to 
September, 1863; A. H. Rice, September, 1863, 
to September, 1864; A. J. Kane, October, 1864, 
to February, 1867; Thomas W. Ramey, June, 

1867, to October, 1868; Samuel Lowe, October, 

1868, to October, 1869; A. J. Kane, October, 

1869, to March, 1871; A. J. Kane and J. M. 
Allen, March, 1871, to March, 1873; Philemon 
Vawter, July, 187S, to July, 1874; J. W. Spriggs, 
March, 1875, to March,' 1877; M. R. Elder, 
March, 1878, to March, 1881; G K. Berry, 
March, 1881, to September, 1881. 

A number of "revivals" have been experienced 
by the congregation. W. W. Happy held a 
protracted meeting at Lake school house, which 
was continued about three weeks with good 
results. A. H. Rice held a meeting beginning 
November 9, 1863, and closing December 13, 
with eighty additions. L. B. Wilkes and A. J. 
Kane in February, 1867, with a number of ad- 
ditions; Charles Rowe in March, 1868, with 
about sixty; D. R. Lucas in October, 1873, with 



thirty; B. F. Bush in December, 1880, with 
thirteen. 

An interesting discussion was held in this vil- 
lage in March, 1864, between John S. Sweeney, 
of the Church of Christ, and Rev. Davies, of 
the Methodist Episcopal, lasting ten days. 

The present membership of the church is one 
hundred and sixty, and the church is in good 
working order, with a Sunday school numbering 
one hundred members, of which J. H. Groves 
is superintendent. 

The Presbyterian Church, of Williamsville, 
was organized by the Presbytery of Sangamon, 
August 26, 1857. The following named were 
enrolled, and became part of the original con- 
gregation: Bryant Purcell, Dority Purcell, John 
Earnest, Elizabeth Earnest, Elizabeth Fisher, 
Mary Hunter, Eliza I. Munce, Hannah Stock] 
dale. The first ruling elder was Bryant Purcell.' 
After its organization the meetings of the con- 
gregation were held in the Methodist Church 
for a number of years, imtil 1869, when a very 
neat brick house of worship was erected, at a 
cost of $7,000. The following named have 
served as pastors, or stated supplies. Revs. 
George McKinley, D. R. Todd, R. Rudd, A. 
Bartholomew, W. G. Keady, Edward B. Mays, 
M. M. Cooper, Samuel B. Ayres, the last being 
the present pastor, who began his labors in 1880. 
The congregation is now in a fiourishing condi- 
tion, with the following named elders: Richard 
Fulkerson, Thomas J. Shreve, George W. Shep- 
herd, Benjamin Donnan. 

The Williamsville circuit of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church has four appointments and 
two churches. Fancy Creek and Williamsville. 
Fancy Creek was built in 1856, and Williams- 
ville in 1857. The church edifice at Williams- 
ville is a frame, about thirty-five by fifty feet, is 
in very good repair, has a good bell — the only 
one in the village — and is valued at $2,000. The 
society also own a good parsonage, valued at 
$700. The church property embraces half a block, 
with the house of worship on one corner and 
the parsonage on the other. The society num- 
bers ninety members, and is in a healthy, pros- 
perous condition, with no indebtedness. Rev. 
James W. Sin nock is the present pastor. The 
present oflScers are: Stewards, W. L. Perce, W. 
S. Hussey, J. R. Jones, J. P. Mountz, and John 
Nauson; local preacher, Fred Joynt. The 
church has in connection a flourishing Sunday 
echool, of about one hundred members, with 
W. L. Perce as superintendent. 

The first Quarterly Conference of which thei-e 
is any record extant, was held November 27, 



1050 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1858, in Fancy Creek Chapel, The pastor in 
charge was then Rev. W. F. Short; W. S. Pren- 
tice, presiding elder. The board of stewards at 
that time were William Yociim, W. R. Brass- 
iield, and M. M.Ramley. Mr. Short was followed 
by Rev. D. Bardrick in 1860, Rev. J. Slater, suc- 
ceeded him in 1861, before the close of the con- 
ference year. Peter Cartwright w^as appointed 
presiding elder in the fall of 1861. Rev. W. T. 
Bennett became pastor in the fall of 1861. He 
was succeeded in the fall of 1863, by Rev. L. 
Smith; he by Rev. George Stevens, in 1865. At 
the same time J. L. Crane succeeded Peter Cart- 
wright as presiding elder. Rev. W. H. Ray- 
burn, became pastor in 1867, and was followed 
by John S. Barger, in 1868. Rev. O. H. P. Ash 
was next, in 1869, with Rev. M. M. Davison in 
1870. In 1871, Rev. H. C. Adams was sent to 
the charge, and remained until 1874, when Rev. 

C. A. Obenchain was appointed; Rev. W. E. 
Johnson was the next appointed, and remained 
two years, and was succeeded by Rev. J. B. 
Wolfe, in 1878, who remained until the fall of 
1881, when the present pastor was sent to the 
charge. 

INCORPORATION. 

The village of Williamsville was incorporated 
and its first election held May 14, 1866. 

BUSINESS OF WILLIAMSVILLE. 

For the benefit of future generations, and not 
for the present, is the following directory of 
the business of Williamsville here given: Mer- 
chantTailor — Adam Sehy; Wagon-Maker — Urias 
Haines; Blacksmith — A.D.Clark; Tinware and 
Stoves — J. L. Fourmier; Groceries, Tinware and 
Hardware — John McKee; Drugs and Station- 
ery — L. W. Perce; General Merchandise — 
Lemon T. Berryhill, Strawn, Mayo & Co., R.M. 
Lawrence, G. Groves & Sons; Boot and Shoe- 
Maker — Geo. Ketzler; Restaurant — D. C. Dun- 
can; Boots and Shoes — Henry Miller; Groceries 
and Hardware — N. R. Taylor, John B. Zader; 
Harness Maker- — J. B. Kiplinger; Elevator and 
Grain Dealer — Wesley Council; Groceries — J. 
S. McClure; Postmaster — Jacob S. McClure. 

BARCLAY. 

The Barclay Coal Mining Company shipped 
their first coal from Barclay, December 3, 1872. 
The same company built the first house, the first 
store and the first hotel. The first parties em- 
ployed to manage the business were R. D. Law- 
rence, superintendent; Michael Palmer, pit boss; 

D. C. Robbins, coal agent; H. R. Stevenson, 
manager of store; Colonel William Allen, pro- 
prietor hotel; J. Y. Hussey, agent, G. C. & S. R. 



R.; II. R. Stevenson, postmaster. Of the fore- 
going all have left save one — H. E. Stevenson, 
who still remains with the company, and who is 
now acting as manager of the store, coal agent 
and postmaster. The mine has been operated 
steadily since 1872. At present all accounts of 
the business done in the mine is all accounted 
for in the store. From $7,000 to 19,000 per 
month is required to pay the men employed in 
the mines. 

The Barclay Christian Church was organized 
by Elder Robert Foster, September 3, 1837, and 
was known as the Wolf Creek Christian Church, 
The following named composed the original offi- 
cers: Andrew J. Grove, Rezin H. Constant, 
Miletus W. Ellis, elders; Samuel Wilson, James- ■^ 
Taylor, William F. Elkin, deacons; W. W. Ellis, 
clerk. The first meetings were held at the house 
of Isaac H. Constant, in Williamsville township 
and at R. H. Constant's in Clear Lake. After 
the congregation was organized meetings were 
held at Mr. Grove's, about three miles south of 
Williamsville, then at a school house about a 
quarter of a mile from R. H. Constant's, 
then at a school house on southwest cor- 
ner of the southeast quarter of section two. 
They then built a church house at Barclay 
at a cost of |2,700, in size thirty-two by forty- 
four. Since its organization the church has been 
ministered unto by the following named: Elders 
Foster, Powell, Sweet, Kane, Bowles, Peeler, 
Wilson, Vawter, Orcott, Mallory, Lindsley and 
T. J. Burton, ths present pastor. R. H. Constant 
is at present the only elder, with Isaac Taylor, 
John Taylor, William Dunavan deacons. R. H. 
C onstant is clerk. Out of this church has grown 
in part that of Williamsville, Clear Lake and 
Cornland. When it removed to Barclay it took 
upon it the name of that village. The present 
membership is sixty-five. 

George K. Herry, minister of the Christian 
Church, was born in Washington county, Vir- 
ginia, October 24, 1854, and is a son of Nathaniel 
and Isabella (Keys) Berry, natives of Virginia. 
Our subject came from Virginia to Illinois in 
1866 with his parents, who located in McDonough 
county. His early schooling was received in the 
country district schools in Virginia and Illinois; 
began teaching in 1873 in McDonough county, 
and has taught about four terms in the county — 
from 1873 to 1876 — during which time has at- 
tended Abingdon College, Illinois, and Normal 
School for teachers, in Macomb, Illinois, He 
united with the Christian Church, in Macomb, 
Illinois, April 2, 1876, and the following day 
entered Eureka College, Illinois, a pupil for one 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1051 



term. During his vacation, canvassed for raising 
funds for the General Christian Missionary 
Society after which spent two terms in the above 
named college. Mr. Berry preached his first 
sermon November, 1876, in Tazewell county, Illi- 
nois. His first regular employment as a preacher 
was at Antioch, Illinois, during which time he 
taught school three months. In 1878, returned 
to Eui'eka College for a short time; was ordained 
as a minister of the gospel, at Macomb, Illinois, 
the third Sunday in June, 1878, by G. W. Mapes; 
employed at Toulon, Stark county, to preach for 
two years. In 1880, he visited his old home in 
Virginia, which is an event in his life never to 
be forgotten. The same year preached in Indian- 
apolis. Indiana, and attended Butler University. 
The Christian Church at Williamsville employed 
Mr. Berry in 1 881, for their pastor, and for whom 
he is laboring at this writing. His present position 
in life is due to his personal energies and per- 
severance which merits and receives the respect 
of all his acquaintances. 

Mrs. Maria Chenoweth, Williams township, 
widow of the late Gideon Chenoweth, was born 
in Sciota county, Ohio, January 3, 1815. Mrs. 
Chenoweth was married to Gideon Chenoweth 
(deceased), January 27, 1842, who was a native 
of Pike county, Ohio, and born January 1 3, 
1813; Mr. Chenoweth was a son of Abrara and 
Rebecca (Car) Chenoweth, natives of Virginia, 
who came to P/ke county, Ohio, from Kentucky, 
in IT 96, where they remained until their death. 
To them were born fourteen children, viz: Wil- 
liam, Jacob, Ann, Susan, John, Joel, Abram, 
Noah, Gideon, Martha, Hannah, Sarah, Rebecca 
and Mary. Gideon Chenoweth remained on his 
father's farm until he was twenty-two years old; 
taught school several years, and then engaged in 
the mercantile business in Piketon, Pike county, 
Ohio; he was a successful merchant; he re- 
mained in Piketon until his death. Mrs. Cheno- 
weth is a daughter of John W. and Polly 
(Headley) Miller, natives of Virginia; Mrs. 
Chenoweth's education was received in the com- 
mon schools of her native State; she came to 
Sangamon county, in 1876, and located in Wil- 
liams township, where she owns a good farm of 
three hundred and eighty acres, on sections 
nineteen and twenty, and a good residence; she 
is a member of the M. E. Church. 

William F. Constant was born in Williams 
township, February 25, 1838, is the son of 
Nathan E. and Mary M. (Stewart) Constant; the 
former was born in Kentucky, the latter in New 
York, and had five children; William F., and 
Nathan E. the only ones now living. Mr. Con- 



stant has enjoyed good school advantages. After 
attending the common school in his district, he- 
came a student of Berean College, Jacksonville, 
Illinois in 1856. He began to farm for himself 
at the age of nineteen, and has continued to do 
so. Mr. Constant was married in Sangamon 
county, October 15, 1861 to Elizabeth A. Lake, of 
Sangamon county, is the daughter of Thomas 
and Harriet (Dillen) Lake, natives of Virginia, to 
whom were born nine children, Ann E., Bayliss 
E., Susanna, James, John F., Elizabeth A., Agnes 
C, William B., and Mary M. Mr. and Mrs. Con- 
stant had one child, Mary E., who was born 
October 4, 1862, and died February 7, 1879. 
Mrs. Constant died August 7, 1881; she was a 
member of the Christian Church. Mr. Constant 
owns two homesteads; one containing one hund- 
red, the other two hundred acres. Both farms 
ai*e well improved and under cultivation. Mrs. 
Constant is a member of the Christian Church, 
George W. Constant, farmer, was born in 
Kentucky, near Winchester, October 23, 1818, 
and is the son of Isaac and Amy (Dean) Con- 
stant, natives of Kentucky and Virginia respect- 
ively, and came from Kentucky to Sangamon 
county. Illinois, in the fall of 1830, and settled on 
Fancy creek, in Williams township, sction seven. 
They had eight children, all born in Kentucky, 
viz: John, Rebecca, Abigal D., Mary Ann, 
Abery G., Samuel D., James and George W. 
Mr. Constant came to Sangamon county with his 
parents, who were among the early settlers of 
the county, and remained at home on the farm 
until he was twenty-one years old, and then be- 
gan to appropriate his earnings to his own use, 
making rails from a piece of timber-land given 
him by his father. His education was obtained 
in the country schools of his boyhood days. Mr. 
Constant was married in Williams township, 
November 26, 1840, to Martha B. Stewart, 
daughter of James and Roxanna (Stillman) 
Stewart. The former was born at Fort Ann, 
New York, in 1777, and the latter in Massachu- 
setts, March 22, 1786, to whom were born eight 
children: Mary M., Roxanna, Jane C, Benja- 
min H., William A., Abigal C, Martha B., 
James O., and Joseph B., the first two men- 
tioned, Mary M., and Roxanna, are the only 
ones living. Mr. and Mrs. George Constant 
were blessed with three children: William S., 
born October 24, 1841; James H., born Febru- 
ary 23, 1845; Mary A., born December 12, 1847, 
all of whom were born in Williams township, 
and are living. Mrs. Constant was a member 
of the Christian Church, which membership 
lasted till her death in June 1, 1850. She was 



1052 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



born in Illinois March 10, 1821, being in her 
thirtieth year when she died. 

Mr. Constant was married again in the 
city of Springfield, October 7, 1852, to 
Mary W. Stapleford, a native of the State of 
Delaware, came to Illinois in 1836, and spent a 
few months at Salisbury, then went to Spring- 
field. Mrs. Constant has enjoyed good school 
privileges, and in her earlier life was engaged in 
teaching school for several years, in the follow- 
ing places: Springfield, Illinois; St. Louis, Mis- 
souri; Vermont, Illinois, and at Fancy Creek, 
Illinois; became acquainted with Mr. C. while 
teaching at the latter place, Mr. Constant en- 
tered the mercantile business in Williamsville, 
Sangamon county, Illinois, January, 1859, in 
Avhich he remained till January, 1863. After 
closing out his mercantile interests, he gave his 
attention to farming. He is in possession of 
three good prairie farms, one in Logan county, 
the other in Williams township, two of which 
consist of one hundred and sixty acres each, the 
others two hundred and ninety-one acres, all im- 
proved, and all, save one hundred and thirty-five 
acres, under good cultivation. The old home 
farm is partly in timber, and included in the 
above farms mentioned. Mr. Constant has 
served in offices for several years, in Williams- 
ville, serving as a member of the town trustees, 
and president of the same body for several 
years, and has been on the board of education 
in Williamsville for a number of years. Mr. 
and Mrs. C. have been active members of the 
Christian Church for over forty-three years. 

His children: Wm. S. occupies one of his 
farms in Williams township; James H. carries 
on his farm in Logan county; Mary A. is the 
wife of James H. Groves, and resides ^in Wil- 
liamsville. 

George W. Constant thinks the first chinch 
bugs discovered in Illinois was in 1832, by his 
father and his uncle and himself in a low basin 
of prairie land on his father's farm, section 
seven, first discovered in a small number and 
area, while cutting corn, and they so named 
them from their peculiar ofi^ensive odor. It was 
several years befoi'e this pest was much known 
or did any damage to growing crops. 

Wesley Council, grain dealer, Williamsville, 
was born in Fancy Creek township, November 
21, 1824; he is the son of Hardy and Jane 
(Hanna) Council, born in North Carolina, 1*795, 
and Kentucky, 1'79'7, respectively. They were 
married in White county, Illinois, in the spring 
of 1819, and settled in Fancy Creek township, 
Sangamon county, the same year; had seven 



children who lived to be adults; one lately died; 
the living are John H., Wesley, Wm. F., George 
W.; Robert died this fall. Mr. Hardy Council, 
father of Wesley Council, took quite an interest 
in fine stock, and kept some of the best in the 
county, and took the premium on Short-Horn 
Durhams, at the Sangamon County Fair, 1837, 
Mr. Wesley Council's education was received in 
the old-time schools in his early life, and the 
work at home prevented his attending school 
regularly, and his education was obtained out- 
side the school by his own personal efforts; he 
took the control of his father's saw-mill, the 
first portable saw-mill in this region, which he 
managed for five years; this mill was estab- 
lished by his father in 1849, and did the sawing 
for a large area of country. Mr. Council re, 
mained at home until his marriage, April 14,. 
1853, to Martha A. Wigginton, and by this union 
had thirteen children, of whom four are living, 
viz: John W., Willie H., Nellie and Bessie. 
January 1, 1857, Mr. Council moved to Wil- 
liamsville, and soon after began the grain busi- 
ness, acting as agent for Samuel N. Fullinwider; 
before the close of the year 1857, he engaged in 
the same business for himself, in which he is 
still engaged. Mr. Council has one of the best 
elevators of its capacity on the Chicago and 
Alton Railroad; all of its machinery and appa- 
ratus for the unloading and carriage of grain to 
their respective departments are of first-clas& 
modern improvements, thus rendering it conve- 
nient for receiving and shipping grain. Its 
spouting capacity is fifteen thousand bushels; 
crib room for ear corn, four thoixsand bushels. 
He can dump, shell and ship five thousand 
bushel per day. In 1863, he bought out Carlin 
Buffum, who was dealing in grain and lumber in 
Williamsville, and has ever since carried on the 
lumber business also. He has two elevators in 
the building — one for corn on the ear and the 
other for wheat, oats, rye and shelled corn; Mr. 
Council handles two hundred thousand bushels 
of grain each year; has a mill in the elevator 
which will grind fifty bushels of meal or sixty 
bushels of feed j^er hour; the engine is of thirty- 
five-horse power; the original cost of the build- 
ing is $10,000, erected by him in 1877; in con- 
nection with the grain business Mr. Council deals 
in lumber and agricultural implements. He was 
the first president of the board of town trustees 
of Williamsville, Illinois, and has held the office 
of police magistrate, and now holds the office; 
he is also president of the Williamsville Protec- 
tion Association. Mrs. Council is of a family of 
eleven children, viz: William, Samuel, Andrew, 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1053 



James, John, Eliza, Dollie, Martha, Mary, Eliza- 
beth A. and Nancy E., of whom only four are 
living. Mr. and Mrs. Council identified them- 
selves with the Methodist Church in the early 
years of their life, and are zealous believers and 
livers of their early religious faith. 

Mary M. Ellis is the daughter of James and 
Roxana (Stillraan) Stewart. Mrs. Ellis was 
born in New York, April 6, 1813, and is the 
fifth of nine children, viz.: Jane C, Benjamin 
H., William A., Abigal C, Mary M., Roxana, 
Martha B., James O., and Joseph B. Mrs. 
Ellis came to Sangamon county from New York, 
and in 1820 settled in Williams township. Mrs. 
Ellis was married to Nathan E. Constant, 
August 25, 1843, aiad by this union were born 
to them William F.,born February 25, 1838, and 
Nathan E., Jr., born December 19, 1843. Nathan 
E. Jr., enlisted in the late war August, 1862, foi' 
three years, in Company G, One Hundred and 
Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under 
Captain Wilson. Was taken prisoner at the 
battle of Guntown, Mississippi, June, 1864, and 
taken to Andersonville prison, and subsequently 
to other southern prisons, but spending most of 
his prison life, which was nine months, in An- 
dersonville. He w^as liberated at the close of the 
war. Nathan E. Constant, Sr., was born April 
8, ISO*/, in Clark county, Kentucky, and is the 
son of Thomas and Margery (Edmondson) Con- 
stant. He came to Sangamon county in 1820. 
He owned one hundred acres of land in Williams 
township. Enlisted in the Black Hawk war at 
Springfield in the Sangamon county company. 
Mr. Constant was a successful farmer, was a 
member of the Christian Church, and loved by 
all who knew him. His death occurred August 
8, 1843. 

Mrs. Ellis was married to Miletus W. Ellis, 
farmer, and native of Virginia, is the son of Levi 
and Cynthia Ellis, natives of South Carolina and 
Virginia, respectively. Mr. Ellis came to San- 
gamon county, where Springfield now stands, in 
181'7. After they were married moved on his 
farm, which is her present home. Mr. Ellis was 
a member of the trustees of Williamsville. He 
was a member of the Christian Church and 
acted as elder for thirty-eight years. Mrs. Ellis 
is a member of the Christian Church and is faith- 
ful to all her duties, and respected by all who 
know her. 

Frank Hickman was born June 25, 1845, and 
is the son of George T. and Elizabeth (Lyon) 
Hickman, natives of the State of Kentucky and 
moved to Sangamon county in the fall previous 
to the deep snow. Mr. Frank Hickman received 

123— 



his early education in the common schools in his 
county, and subsequently completed the commer- 
cial course in the Springfield Business College in 
1866. He continued to farm at home after his 
return from college until twenty-five year old, 
then began to control his farming interest for 
himself. Mr. Hickman was married on the 2'7th 
of December, 1871, to Sophia Burns, daughter of 
John R. and Lucy Burns, natives of Kentucky, 
and settled in Sangamon county, about 1828, 
were also the first persons married in Buffalo 
Hart township, and to them were born Mary J., 
Thomas, William A., Martha, Armentia, Iva, 
John T., Robert and Sophia. Mr. Hickman has 
six brothers and sisters, viz.: William H. enlist- 
ed in the late war in Company B, One Hundred 
and Thirtieth Illinois Regiment Infantry Volun- 
teers, August 1862, and died January 19, 1863, 
in the hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; Mary 
E., Richard O., Henrietta, Thomas C. Mr. 
Hickman enlisted in the late war in May, 1864, 
in response to the government call for one hun- 
dred day soldiers and was discharged September 
24, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Hickman had one child 
Arthur Franklin, born February 2, 1875, and 
died February 14, 1879. Mr. Hickman has in his 
possession a good farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, all under cultivation. Mr. Hickman is a 
Republican. 

William 8. Hussey was born in Green county, 
Ohio, November 2, 1809; is the son of Nathan 
and Mary (Stewart) Hussey, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, respectively, came from 
Ohio to Sangamon county in 1819, and settled 
on Fancy creek, and this was the first settlement 
on that creek. Here he lived until 1845, when 
he moved to Oregon, and died there in 1858, 
being seventy-three years old. His wife, Mary 
Hussey, was born in 1786, and died 1842. Mr. 
William Hussey came to Sangamon county with 
his parents, in 1819; his education was received 
in the district schools of Sangamon county. At 
the age of twenty-one he commenced farming 
for himself, by improving and cultivating new 
prairie land which his father had given him. By 
his industry and untiring will he added largely to 
his first farm, and in 1851, had accumulated 
twelve hundred acres of land. Mr. Hussey was 
married to Sarah Yocom, in Williams township, 
in 1834. They were the parents of the follow- 
ing named children: Nathan, Jacob Y.,Mary J., 
William F., and Stephen, are living. Mrs. Hus- 
sey was the daughter of Jacob and Mary Yocom. 
Mr. Hussey moved to Oregon in 1851, Avhere he 
remained till 1864, when he returned to this 
county. Mrs. Hussey died the 18th of March, 



1054 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



185-3; she was a member of the Melliodist 
Church. 

Mr. Hussey enlisted in the Black Hawk war, 
in 1832, in Captain Clay well's company. Fourth 
Kegiment, and Third Brigade, and was mus- 
tered out at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien. 
Wisconsin; was in the battle of Wisconsin 
and Bad Ax, on the Mississippi river. 
Mr. Hussey has been supervisor of Williams 
township two terms, and justice of the peace 
and collector of the township. He was married 
the second time to Mrs. Jemiraah Gilbreth, 
daughter of Samuel and Catharine Thompson, 
natives of South Carolina. Mrs. Hussey has 
two children living, by her first husband, Wil- 
liam C. Gilbreth, and by this last marriage two, 
Josephine and Charles A., living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hussey are members of the Methodist Church, 
and respected by all who know them. In poli- 
tics a strong supporter of the Republican party, 
and voted first for President Harrison. 

John R. Jones was born in Louisa county, Vir- 
ginia, December 18, 182'7, is the son of Samuel 
and Lucy (Desper) Jones, natives of Virginia; 
died in the State of Ohio. They had ten children, 
of whom five are living, viz: David G., Samuel 
H., Mary J., John R. and William A. Mr. Jones 
came to Sangamon county in 1854 and located 
on his present home, on section nine; was married 
January 24, 1856, in Pike county, Ohio, to Mary 
A. Talbott, of Ohio, born June 24, 1832. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jones were blessed with six children, 
three of whom are living, viz: Samuel T., Nellie 
M., and Milton E. Mr. Jones received his edu- 
cation in Ohio. He began to work for himself 
at the age of seventeen and followed farming 
and stock driving. He has driven stock to the 
eastern markets of New York and Philadelphia; 
owns one thousand three hundred and sixty acres 
of land of which forty acres are of timber, and 
the remainder prairie land. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and Mrs. Jones of the Foreign Mission Society. 
Mr. Jones is a successful and enterprising farmer. 
Stephen King was born in Bracken county, 
Kentucky, March 29, 1823, and is the son of 
William B., and Anna R. (Geening) King, na- 
tives of Virginia, and settled in Sangamon 
county in the fall of 1830. They had twelve 
children, of whom Thomas, James M., Harry 
J., Stephen, Fielding, John F., Hesther and 
Anna R., are living. Mr. King was married in 
Sangamon county, February 15, 1855, to Eliza- 
beth Hendricks, and by this union were born 
seven children, of whom Nellie, George L., 
Charles H., William, Kate and Eddie are living. 



Mr. King received his education in the common 
schools in Sangamon county. When twenty 
years of age, he began teaching school, which he 
pursued for seven years. After his marriage, 
began farming and raising stock on the farm of 
his wife's former husband, John Smith, which 
comprises two hundred acres of good prairie 
land, well improved, and under cultivation. Mr. 
and Mrs. King are members of the Christian 
Church. 

Ira S. Knights was born February 9, 1833, in 
St. Lawrence county. New York; is the son of 
John and Adeline (Perrin) Knights, natives also 
of the Empire State. To them were born nine 
children, of whom four are living, viz.: Suman, 
William, Charles, and Ira S. Mr. Ira S. Knights 
was educated in the common schools in his place 
of nativity and in Williams township; came to 
Sangamon county September, 1850, at which 
time was in his eighteenth year, and the follow- 
ing year his parents came from New York State, 
and resided in Sangamon county for eighteen 
years, farming, at the end of which time moved 
to Champaign county, Illinois, where they now 
reside. 

Mr. Knights began to farm for himself at the 
age of twenty-one, without any means of com- 
fortable support. He was married in Williams 
township, January 30, 1873, to Roxana Stewart, 
born September 8, 1818, in New York, and is 
the daughter of James and Roxana (Stillman) 
Stewart, the former born September 28, lYVV, at 
Fort Ann, Washington county. New York, the 
latter born March 22, 1786, in Massachusetts, 
and came to Sangamon county 1820, in what is 
now known as Williams township. They had 
nine children. 

Mr. James Stewart died at the age of ninety- 
four past, April 16, 1872, on the farm on which 
he lived for more than fifty years. To his mem- 
ory, his daughter erected a beautiful monument 
in the cemetery near the old homestead. Mr. 
and Mrs. Knights are living on the farm on 
which her father first settled when he came to 
SangatDon county in 1820, of which there are 
three hundred aud twenty acres, one-half prairie 
and one-half timber, Mr. and Mrs. Knights are 
members of the Christian Church. 

Michard M. Lawrence, merchant, Williams- 
ville, was born in Tennessee, July 4, 1827, and is 
a son of David B. and Nancy (Ballenger) Law- 
rence, natives of Tennessee. Mr. L. came to 
Sangamon county, near the time of the "deep 
snow" — 1830 — with his parents. There were 
nine children in the family, of which Richard 
M., William, Allen, Silas, Hannah and Walter 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1055 



are living. Mr. Lawrence's school privileges were 
limited, as he only had opportunity of attending 
the district school a short time. His work on 
the farm was not continued long, as he learned 
the trade of chair-making, which he followed in 
various places. Mr. Lawrence commenced the 
mercantile business in Mountain Grove, Missouri, 
in 1861, and has pursued the same to the present 
time. He started with a small capital and during 
the years of his mercantile life, has added to his 
stock and now owns the building which he occu- 
pies. Has held the office of president of trustees 
of Williamsville two terms; has been a citizen 
for a number of years. In politics, he is a Demo- 
crat. Was postmaster three or four years in 
Williamsville, Illinois. 

Dr. Mahlon K. 3Iathus, Williamsville, was 
boin in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, April 17, 
1824, and son of Samuel S., and Esther Mathus, 
the former born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
the latter in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. They 
had two children, Mahlon K., and Caroline. 
The Doctor came to Sangamon county, Illinois, 
in 1843 with his parents, who located in Spring- 
field, Illinois. His earliest education was re- 
ceived in the common schools of his native 
State. After the death of his father, his mother 
was married to Dr. Patricius Moran, a native 
of Ireland, and a practicing physician in Spring- 
field eleven years. During this time, his step- 
son, Mahlon K., became his pupil. After study- 
ing with his step-father some time, Mahlon 
attended McDowell's Medical College at St. 
Louis, Missouri, in 1854 and 1855, and after re- 
ceiving the honors of a graduate, became a 
partner of Dr. Moran. In 1856, he located in 
Williamsville, where he has practiced success- 
fully a number of years. He has been a faithful 
student in his profession, which is shown by the 
interest manifested in securing the latest and 
best medical publications. 

Dr. Mathus' first marriage was in Fancy Creek 
township, to Miss Rebecca Mount. By this 
marriage there were three children: Carrie R., 
Lulu and Samuel, of which Carrie is the only 
child living. Mrs. Rebecca Mathus died, and 
April 6, 1875, Dr. Mathus married Mrs. Sarah L. 
(Shick) Stewart, widow of William Stewart, and 
daughter of Samuel and Sarah Shick. Mrs. M. 
is a member of the Christian Church. Dr. M. 
has held the ofiice of town trustee, and is 
now treasurer of Williams township, which 
office he has held for twenty-five years. He is a 
member of the Catholic Church, formerly a 
member of the German Reform Church in 
Pennsvlvania. The homestead of his first wife's 



parents is in his possession — a good farm of two 
hundred and forty acres. The Doctor is a 
respected citizen, and by his industry enjoys the 
blessings of a nice home in Williamsville. In 
politics, a Republican, and cast his first vote for 
Taylor, for president. 

liohert M. McClelland., Williams township, 
was born in Fancy Creek township, July 12, 
1841, and son of James and Mary (Brown) Mc- 
Clelland, the former a native of Illinois, the 
latter of Kentucky. The subject of our sketch 
was married to Miss Lydia A. Groves, Decem- 
ber 1, 1870. She is the only living daughter of 
Jacob and Barbara Groves, who are natives 
of Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively. Mr. 
and Mrs. McClelland have two children living: 
Minnie B., born September 15, 1872, and Jacob, 
born October 6, 1873. Mr. M. received his edu- 
cation in the common schools of his native 
State. He is a member of the Masonic Order. 
In connection with farming, he formerly dealt in 
stock, and is now farming one hundred and sixty 
acres of fine prairie land, well improved and 
under cultivation. 

Mr. and Mrs. McC. are members of the Chris- 
tian Church and respected citizens. 

Robert E. Mc Clella^icl, M. J)., was born in 
Williams township, September 1, 1850, and is a 
son of John and Elizabeth A. (Mitts) McClel- 
land, natives of Illinois and Ohio respectively; 
had seven children, of whom John, Martha, 
Charlotte F., Luticia and the Doctor, are living. 
Mr. McClelland has enjoyed good educational 
privileges. He attended the State University at 
Springfield, Illinois, in 1867, and after four years 
of a student's life in the Wesleyan University, 
at Bloomington, Illinois, graduated in the eclec- 
tic scientific course. 

In 187 I, studied medical works under Dr. Van 
Meter, in Williamsville, Illinois; attended his 
first course of lectures in 1872 and lb73, at 
Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, and in 
1874, graduated in the same institution, receiv- 
ing a diploma. He begun the practice of medi- 
cine in Williamsville, and practiced two years 
with Dr. AVinn, of the same town. At present 
Dr. McC. is without a partner, and is reaping 
the reward of his earnest and faithful research 
in his calling; has been a member — secretary — 
of the town trustees, four years. 

Dr. McClelland was married to Miss Sue C. 
Turley, September 8, 1874. She is a daughter 
of Charles and Louisa Turley, old settlers, and 
of their children, Stephen S., Margaret, David 
C, Amanda, Sue C, James P., Marshall, Gen- 
eral Mead and Ina, are living. The Doctor has 



1050 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



two children, Pearl, born August 14, 1876, and 
Ha, born May 13, 1878. Dr. McC and wife are 
members of the Christian Church. He mani- 
fests an interest in all he advocates, and is a 
respected citizen. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican and cast his first vote for U. S. Grant. 

Charles Miller, was born in Scioto county, 
Ohio, July 18, 1820; is a son of John W. and 
Polly (Headley) Miller, natives of Virginia; the 
former born 1781, the latter 1782. Mr. Charles 
Miller came to Williams township, Sangamon 
county, Illinois, October 22, 1854, and took up 
his abode, in a log cabin; afterwards he pur- 
chased four hundred acres of land on which 
he located, and has resided since. To this pos- 
session he has added five hundred acres of land 
in Sangamon county, and four hundred and ten 
acres of land in Menard county, Illinois, all of 
which is under cultivation. Mr. Miller's educa- 
tion was of that character which so many of 
our early settlers experienced, spending only a 
short time in the log school house during the 
winter. 

His marriage took place in Ohio, October 12, 
1843, to Rebecca Miller, daughter of Abraham 
and Rebecca Miller, natives of Virginia, the 
former being born in the historic year of 1776. 
Charles Miller and wife were blessed with eight 
children, W. H., born February 8, 1845, enlisted 
in the Civil War in May, 1864, at Williamsville, 
Sangamon county, in Company I, One Hundred 
and Thirty-third Regiment, Infantry Volunteers, 
with Captain Orendorff in command. Was sent 
to Rock Island, to guard prisoners, and died 
while in camp, August 28, 1864; Franklin R., 
born March 1, 1847, died March 21, 1847; Gideon 
C, born July 9, 1848; Polla H., born December 
20, 1850, died December 7, 1875; Edwin B., 
born July 30, 1853; John A., born March 19, 
1856, died March ] , 1881 ; James T., born Decem- 
ber 28, 18 — ; Oscar H., born December 4, 1859, 
and was killed August 5, 1880, by a railway ac- 
cident, while en route for Chicago, Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

William L. Perce, druggist, Williamsville, is 
a son of John A. and Mary J. (Lilly) Perce, 
natives of Ohio. Mr. Perce was born in Ohio, 
March 7, 1847. His early schooling was obtained 
in the common schools, and at the age of fifteen, 
entered the Springfield University, of which he 
was a student four years. In 1808, Mr. Perce 
graduated in the law department at Ann Arbor, 
Michigan, and the same year was admitted to the 
bar, and at once entered the legal profession and 
practiced in Springfield. Prefering teaching, he 



entered this profession in 1870 and taught five 
years in public schools, part of which time was 
principal of the graded schools in Williamsville. 
In the year 1875, Mr. Perce purchased the drug 
store owned by J. C. Ballow, in Williamsville, 
and has greatly enhanced his stock, and now has 
a first-class drug store and carries a stock of 
$3,000. Mr. Perce has been township supervisor 
two terms and is now president and treasurer of 
the trustees of Williamsville; was a member of 
militia known as Cullom's Guards, for five years, 
in which time he was promoted from First Ser- 
geant to Captain. He is a member of the Masonic 
Order with which he united in 1869. Has passed 
through several gradations. Blue Lodge or 
Master Mason, Chapter, Council and Command- 
ery. Mr. Perce participated it the laying of the 
corner stone of the new State House in Spring- 
field, and the unveiling of Lincoln's monument. 
Mr. Perce and sister Anna are at home with his 
mother, and are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. In politics, be is a Repub- 
lican. 

Isaac D. Poorman was born in Sangamon 
county, December 25, 1851; his parents, John 
M. and Susan (Bush) Poorman, the former a 
native of Pennsylvania, the latter of Ohio. 
Isaac Poorman assisted his father on the farm 
until 1869, when he began to clerk in a whole- 
sale grocery store in lola, Kansas. He continued 
with them until 1874. While clerking, he was 
married to Miss Mary F. Hamblin, in lola, Kan- 
sas, December 25, 1872. She is the daughter of 
Wm. H. and Elenor (Boyd) Hamblin, natives of 
Kentucky, and had ten children, of whom Eliz- 
abeth, Emily, John, William, Henry, and Mary 
F. are living. 

Mr. and Mrs. P. have two children: Susan F., 
born July 18, 1876, and Perry R., born Septem- 
ber 20, 1880. In 1875, Mr. Poorman began 
farming in Williams township, on one hundred 
and sixty acres of good prairie land, of which 
he now is the owner. Mr, Poorman is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is an 
energetic young man, a good citizen and merits 
the respect of all. 

John M. Poorman was born in Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1814, and 
is the son of John and Catharine (Hofi'man) 
Poorman, natives of Pennsylvania. John M. 
Poorman came from Ohio in the fall of 1842, 
and moved to Shelby county, Illinois, and the 
following year came to Sangamon county, and 
located on the farm formerly owned by B. B. 
Branson. The farm is located in the south half 
of section eight, in Williams townshi}), and con- 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY 



1057 



sists of three hundred and twenty acres; two 
hundred and sixty acres are under cultivation. 
Mr. Poorman is of a family of ten children, of 
whom John M., D. L., Joseph L., Anna and Re- 
becca are living. Mr. Poorman was married in 
Fairfield county, Ohio, April 9, ]840, to Martha 
S. Bush, daughter of William IBush, a native of 
Virginia. By this marriage six children were 
born: Mary C, Flora E., Clara S., Lillie D., 
Isaac T>. and John M. Mr. Poorman attended 
school in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and his 
wife in the common schools, of Ohio. In his 
early life he was bound out to serve an appren- 
ticeship to a tanner in Pennsylvania for four 
years, after which time he turned his attention 
to another pursuit in life. He began in the 
struggle of life poor, and his present accumula- 
tion is due to his energy and perseverance. 

John Prather^ Williamsville, is the son of Enos 
and Mary (Sargent) Prather, who were born in 
Virginia and Maryland respectively. John 
Prather was born December 16, 1813. He began 
the business of farming and stock raising with 
his brothers, Enos and William, at the age of fif- 
teen years, and continued with them sixteen 
years, since which he has carried on the business. 
Drove cattle from Ohio to Philadelphia and New 
York before the days of railroad transportation. 
Mr. Prather was married in Pike county, Ohio, 
December 11, 1836, to Mary J. Jones, daughter 
of Samuel and Lucy Jones, of Virginia. Mr. 
and Mrs. Prather were blessed with the follow- 
ing named children: William, John, Samuel E., 
Henry S., John F., and Mary Lucy. Samuel E. 
and John F. are living. Mr. Prather came to 
Springfield in 1867, in which city he lived ten 
years, and then moved to Williamsville, Illinois. 
He owns twenty-two hundred acres of good land 
in Sangamon county, part of which is in Wil- 
liams township; eight hundred and fifty 
acres in Logan county, and twenty-two hundred 
acres in Kansas. Mr. Prather owns the old home 
farm in Pike county, Ohio, purchased by his 
grandfather Sargent about the year 1794, and in 
connection with said farm owns fourteen hun- 
dred acres in Ohio. Mr. Prather was in connec- 
tion with a company which imported short- 
horn cattle from England and brought them to 
Ohio. Was one of the first stockholders in the 
State National Bank in Springfield, Illinois; was 
assistant assessor of the United States Internal 
Revenue for the Twelfth District of Ohio, in 
Waverly, Pike county. His father was one of 
the first circuit judges in Pike county, Ohio. 
Mr. and Mrs. Prather's education was received in 
the common schools. Mrs. Prather is a member 



of the Methodist Church. Both have been active 
in life's affairs and successful in their accumu- 
lations. 

James Ryan Price was hoxn in Ohio, Decem- 
ber 16, 1835, is the son of James and Margaret 
(Ryan) Price, the former born in Plere ford shire, 
England, the latter in Hardy county, Virginia. 
Mr J. R. Price received his education in com- 
mon schools, in his native State. Mr. Price has 
been a resident of Sangamon county for twenty 
years; coming here in 1861, he engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits, and at present may be classed 
among Sangamon county's most extensive stock 
growers. On Mr. Price's beautiful farm of three 
hundred and twenty acres may be seen the only 
herd of Hereford cattle in Sangamon county, 
and the breeders of fine stock in Central Illinois, 
owe much to him for his enterprise in this mat- 
ter of introducing many fine breeds of cattle 
into this section. In 1863, Mr. Price was mar- 
ried to Miss Ellen Flagg, a native of Sangamon 
county, born June 6, 1842; A. V. Flagg and 
Sarah (Hoffman) Flagg were her parents. The 
lives of James and Ellen Price have been 
blessed with eight children: Ned, Lorette, May, 
Robbin, Ella and an infant child, are living, two 
having passed to the better world. Mr. and 
Mrs. Price worship in the faith of the M. E. 
Church. In politics he is a Republican, and 
cast his first vote for Lincoln. 

Ninian R. Taylor^ merchant, Williamsville, 
was born February 13, 1825, in Wayne county, 
Illinois, and is the son of James and Mary 
(Kelley) Taylor, the former born in South Caro- 
lina and the latter in Kentucky. To them were 
born twelve children, of whom five are living: 
Ninian R., Isaac J., Simeon M., Francis K. and 
Martin V. Mr. Taylor was married to Catharine 
Halbert, April 1, 1847. She is the daughter 
of Doctor James and Nancy (Reynolds) Hal- 
bert, born in the State of Virginia. Mr. and 
Mrs. Taylor had born to them eleven children, 
of whom John B., Lewis C, Ellen, Emma and 
Frank H. are living. Lewis C, graduated at 
Bellevue Medical College, New York, March 1, 
1875; practiced in Springfield a short time, then 
located in Auburn five years ago; has an exten- 
sive practice. Mr. Taylor's education was ob- 
tained in the schools of Sangamon county. At 
the age of twenty-one he began to work for him- 
self, by cultivating and improving a farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres of prairie land on sec- 
tion eleven, on which he located after his mar- 
riage and followed farming, raising grain and 
stock till 1866, and then moved to Williams- 
ville. To the farm above mentioned, he has 



1058 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



added one hundred and sixty acres of prairie 
land, ard both farms are well improved and 
under cultivation. He commenced in the mer- 
cantile busiress in "Williamsville shortly after 
he moved there, and in IS^l, formed a partner- 
ship with his son, John B. Taylor, under the 
firm of Taylor & Son. They keep a general 
stock of hardware, cutlery and provisions, and 
have a good trade. Mr. Taylor was elected in 
1870 to represent Sangamon county in the 
Twenty-seventh General Assembly, of Illinois, 
for two years. In Williams township he has 
served as police magistrate for two toms, trustee 
of the township three years, and was re-elected 
in 1881. Mr. Taylor is a Master Mason, and a 
member of Lavely Lodge, No. 203, "Williams- 
ville. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the 
Christian Church, with which religiousbody they 
united at seventeen and. fifteen years, respec- 
tively. Mr. Taylor is an elder, and hisfiist con- 
nection with the church was on Wolf cretk. Mr. 
Taylor is enterprising and eneigetic, and bj his 
integrity has been successful in his business, 
and won the respect of all who know him. 

James Taylor, was born in Chester district, in 
the State of South Carolina, November 2, in the 
first of this century, and moved with his parents 
to Hart county, Kentucky, and thence to Wayne 
county, Illinois, where he was married to Mary 
Kelley, of Kentucky. Mr. Taylor settled in 
Williams township, on section thirty-five, in 
1829, emigrating from Kentucky with his wife 
and four children, over-land, in an ox-cart; en- 
tered eighty acres of prairie and timl>er, to 
which estate he after added two hundred and 
eighty acres of land. He followed farming and 
stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were charter 
members of the Christian Church when organ- 
ized on Wolf creek, of which Mr. Taylor was 
chosen deacon, and contini;ed in that office until 
his death, in 185V. Mrs. Taylor died of cholera, 
July 2*7, 1852. Mrs. and Mr. Taylor were efficient 
members to the church and society, and he an 
energetic business man; were parents of Ninian 
R. and Isaac J. Taylor, whose biographies appear 
in this volume. 

Isaac J. Taylor was born in Williams town- 
ehip, Sangamon county, October 12, 1830, and 



is the son of James and Mary (Kelley) Taylor, 
natives of South Carolina and Kentucky, re- 
spectively. Twelve children were born to them, 
of whom five are living: Ninian R., Isaac J., 
Simeon M., Francis K., and Martin V. Mr. 
Taylor's education was obtained in the district 
schools of Sangamon county, and also by his 
own personal efforts. He began to work for 
himself while a young man ol twenty, in opening 
up a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of 
prairie land in Williams township, which was 
improved and put under cultivation. Mr. Tay- 
lor was married to Margaret Halbert, October 
16, 1851. By this union there were three 
children, two of whom are living, Alexander D., 
and Mary E., both born in Sangamon county. 
The first mentiored is a gi'aduate of Rush Medi- 
cal College, Chicago, Illinois. In 1875, he com- 
menced practice at Cotton Hill, Sangamon 
county; moved to Williamsville in March, 1877. 
Mrs. Margaret Taylor was a native of Ohio, and 
the daughter of Dr. James and Nancy (Rey- 
nolds) Halbert, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Tay- 
lor was a member of the Christian Church until 
her death. May 16, 1863. May 27, 1864, Mr. 
Taylor was married to Mary A. McGinnis, the 
daughter of Thomas McGinnis and Mary Cun- 
ningham, who were born in Ireland. Mr. and 
Mrs. Taylor were blessed with five children, 
four boys and one girl, of whom John E., 
Leonard R., and James T., are living. Mr. 
Taylor began the business of a merchant, by 
forming a partnership with Alexander Fisher 
and opening a general store in Williamsville, in 
January, 1859. This partnership lasted two 
years, and then Mr. Fisher sold out his interest 
to I. J. Taylor and John Rush. This firm con- 
tinued till March, 1862. Mr. Taylor withdrew 
from the mercantile business and returned to 
his former pursuits the next spring — farming — 
which he is still following. He was assessor in 
1862, and commissioner of highways two terms. 
Is a member of the Masonic Order, Lavely Lodge, 
No. 203. 

Mr. Taylor has been actively identified with 
the Old Settlers' Association, and is serving his 
second year ^ as vice-president for Williams 
township. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1059 



Chapter LI 



TOWNSHIP OF WOODSIDE. 



This township is located in the center of the 
county, and is bounded on the east by Rochester, 
west by Curran, north by Springfield, and south 
by Ball township. It is watered by Lick creek 
in the southern part, and Sugar creek in the 
eastern part, besides numerous small tributaries 
of the two sti'eams. Three railroads cross its 
borders — the St. Louis, Wabash & Pacific, the 
Chicago & Alton and Ohio & Mississippi. The 
first named enters the township from Springfield, 
on section three, and passes through that section 
and sections four, nine, eight and seven, from 
which it emerges. The Chicago & Alton enters 
on section four, and emerges on section thirty- 
one, while the Ohio & Mississippi barely touches 
the northeast corner of section two and passes 
southeast through section one into Rochester 
township. 

The first settlement made in this township was 
in the spring of 1819. Zachariah Peter, who 
came to the'county the year previous and remaine d 
till this time in the house of Robert Pulliam 
located a claim on section twenty-seven. Mr. 
Peter was one of the three commissioners ap- 
pointed to locate the county seat of Sangamon 
county, and was for many years one of the county 
commissioners. He was born in Amherst county, 
Virginia, and with his parents moved to Wash- 
ington county, Kentucky, when but two years 
old, remaining there until his removal to this 
State, in 1818. Mr. Peter died August 5, 1864, 
in Springfield, Illinois. 

Among other early settlers were William 
Southwick, Nicholas Pyle, Alfred Pyle, Thomp- 
son Pyle, George Stout, Joseph Insley, William 
Higgins, Thomas Cloyd, William Hawes, Wil- 
liam Jones, Joseph Withrow, Jessie Southwick. 

Nicholas Pyle was from England and settled 
in South Carolina, where he was married during 



the Revolutionary War. He removed subse- 
quently to Kentucky, and then to Illinois, remain- 
ing for a time in St. Clair county, and finally, 
with his aged wife and two youngest sons, 
Thompson and Alfred, settled in 1825 in San- 
gamon county, in what is now Woodside town- 
ship. Mr. Pyle died some four years after. 
Thompson Pyle died in 1870, and his brother, 
Alfred, in 1852, in St. Clair county. 

George Stout came among the first in the 
township, and located on section twenty-eight. 
Subsequently, he moved to Texas, but returned 
and died at his son Cooper's house, in Washing- 
ton county, Illinois. 

Joseph Inslee came in 1819, and settled on 
section twenty-seven. He was a justice of the 
peace for many years, and was a man well re- 
spected in the community. He died in 1867. 

Jesse Southwick was born about 1762, near 
Lebanon, Connecticut; married Nancy Moore 
after arriving at the age of maturity, and moved 
to Oneida county, New York, where they had 
four children. All died of the disease called 
" cold plague." They then moved to Junius, 
Seneca county, in the same State, where they 
had seven children. The family embarked at 
Olean Point, on the Allegheny river, in a fam- 
ily boat, and arrived at Shawneetown, Illinois, 
in December, 1819. He was in company with 
James Stewart, and they moved in wagons from 
Shawneetown to a village called Milton, near 
Alton, where they halted until March, 1820, and 
then moved to Sugar creek and settled in what 
is now Woodside township, six and a half miles 
southeast of Springfield. He died September 25, 
1826, on the old homestead. 

William Higgins came in 1830, and settled on 
section twenty-seven, raised a family, and died 
about 1852. 



1060 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



Thomas Cloyd settled on section twenty-nine, 
in 1820, and died in 1878. He came to the 
country a poor man, and by industry accumu- 
lated a respectable fortune. He has two daugh- 
ters and two sons yet living. 

William Hawes was among the first settlers; 
became converted to the Mormon religion; went 
to Nauvoo, and there died. 

William Jones, another of the first settlers, 
was a good farmer and practical business man. 
He died in 1854. 

Joseph Withrow was born in Pennsylvania, 
lived for a time in Virginia and Kentucky, and 
moved to Woodside, Sangamon county, in 1825. 
He died in 1850. 

Jajihet A. Ball was born July 5, 1800, in Madi- 
son county, Kentucky. When a young man he 
went to Clarksville, Tennessee, where he learned 
the trade of a blacksmith, with his brother, John 
S. From there he went with his brother to 
Eddyville, Caldwell county, Kentucky, and from 
there to Sangamon county, arriving late in De- 
cember, 1825, in what is now Woodside town- 
ship. He was married December 2, 1828, to 
Sarah Henderson. 

Woodside has had its Revolutionary soldier in 
the person of George Bryan, who was born Feb- 
ruary 15, 1758 in North Carolina, He went, or 
may have been taken by his parents; to Virginia, 
and from there to Kentucky with Daniel Boone, 
about 1780. There he either founded, or by his 
bold daring as a leader, gave the name to a 
primative fortification called Bryant's Station, in 
what became Fayette county, Kentucky, a few 
miles from where the city of Lexington was 
afterwards established. It will be observed that 
in applying the name to the fortification a letter 
has been added, making the name Bryant, which 
is erroneous. There is a tradition preserved by 
his descendants, that soon after the fort was es- 
tablished, the young women belonging to the 
families connected with it were washing clothes 
at a stream of running water on the outside of 
the stockade. George Bryan and some of the 
other young men stood guard. Not being appre- 
hensive of danger, they permitted the Indians to 
place themselves between the girls and the fort. 
The guard quickly secured a position between 
the girls and the savages, and a skirmish ensued. 
After making the way clear, Bryan, in a loud 
voice, announced that he would marry the girl 
who would enter the fort first. They all escaped, 
and he, true to his word, after gaining the con- 
sent of the young lady, was married in the fall 
of 1781, to Elizabeth Ragan, who was born in 
1760, in South Carolina. Mr. Bryan always 



claimed that it was the first marriage of a white 
couple in what became the State of Kentucky. 
That was before the era of mills in that region 
of country, and his descendants have handed 
down the statement, in connection with the wed- 
ding festival, that he paid -$10 for a bushel of 
corn meal, to make bread for the occasion. They 
had at least raised one crop, and Mr. Bryan 
rolled pumpkins into the fort as a substitute for 
chairs to seat the guests. They had ten or 
eleven children, four of them sons, and Mrs. 
Bryan died. Mr. Bryan was married in 1829, 
to Mrs. Cassandra Miller, who died in Kentucky, 
in 1833. In 1834, Mr. Bryan came to Sangamon 
county with some of his children and grand- 
children . 

When George Bryan came to Sangamon 
county, in 1834, he was in his seventy-sixth year, 
but he continued visiting Kentucky, riding each 
way on horseback, annually, for eleven years. 
He died November 22, 1845, and was buried near 
Woodside station, Sangamon county. He was 
eighty-seven years, nine months and seven days 
old. 

It seems almost incredible that a man who was 
of suflicient age to have been a soldier in the 
American Revolution, and who took an active 
part in the stirring scenes of the frontier settle- 
ments in the second State admitted to the Amer- 
ican Union, should have become an early settler 
of Sangamon county, and witnessed some of its 
earliest strides towards civilization; but the life 
of George Bryan extended over this long and 
eventful period. His grandson, William T. 
Jones, has a great fund of reminiscences of the 
life of his Grandfather Bryan, as he received 
them from the lips of the venerable patriarch 
while living. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

Originally, two-thirds of the township was 
prairie, which lay principally in the north part 
of the township, the remainder being timber and 
openings. The timber lands lay principally 
along the banks of Lick creek and Sugar creek, 
and is composed of the usual varieties peculiar 
to this section of the county. The county is 
beautifully situated, and has in it some very fine 
farms. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first scnooi was in a log caoin on tne 
north side of Lick creek, previous to the big 
snow. The first free school was near Woodside 
station, in 1845. There are now eight frame 
school buildings in the township, valued at 
$5,400. 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1061 



RELIGIOUS. 

It is unknown who preached the first sermon 
in the township, but it is thought to have been 
Rev. James Sims. His co-laborer, Rev. Peter 
Cartwright, was one of the first in the township, 
and is remembered more than any other minis- 
ter of the Gospel. 

In the fall of 1837, Daniel Megredy, of Port 
Deposit, Cecil county, Maryland, while on a 
visit to his brother Enoch, left with him $20 as 
a nucleus for a subscription for building a church 
edifice. During the next year, 1838, a subscrip- 
tion was started, and in 1839, Old Harmony 
Church was built on the site still occupied as the 
graveyard, near Woodside station. The princi- 
pal part of the subscription was for timber and 
work, as money could not be had.. The frame 
was hewed out, and the weather-boarding was of 
clapboard shaved smooth. This was among the 
first frame church buildings in the county. It 
was twenty-four by thirty feet in size, a very 
commodious building for that day. Although 
used for many years, the seating arrangements 
were never completed. The building has long 
since given place to a more modern building. 
Previous to the biiilding of Old Harmony 
Church, the preaching appointment was at the 
dwelling house of Adam Safley, near by. This 
was a cabin fourteen by sixteen feet, with one 
small window in the west side, near the corner. 
Near this window the preacher stood while con- 
ducting services, thus monopolizing nearly all 
the natural light when the door was shut. On 
one occasion, previous to occupying his position 
by the window, the preacher was engaged in 
placing his saddle-bags securely under the bed, 
when a member of the congregation, who, hav- 
ing just come in, mistaking him for a stool, pro- 
ceeded to seat himself on the preacher's back, 
much to the amusement of the spectators and 
Burprise of the dominie. Mr. Safley was a faith- 
ful, earnest Christian, and by his Christian walk 
exercised a moral influence over those with 
whom he came in contact. 

The Bethel Christian Church was organized 
in 1839, by Elder A. J. Kane, of Springfield, 
with William Caldwell, William Bridges and 
wife, George Trimble and William Shumate 
among the number composing the original mem- 
bership. The congregation met for worship in a 
school-house in the neighborhood until 1861, 
when a house of worship was erected in conjunc- 
tion with the Baptists, who have a claim to one- 
fourth of the building. The house is a frame, 
thirty-two by fifty. Jesse Smith, Gordon Cloyd 
124— 



and Matthew Cloyd are the present Elders, and 
Joseph Cloyd, Montgomery Crane and James A. 
Trimble are the present Deacons. Among the 
ministers who have served the congregation are 
Elders Kane, Sweeney, Vawter, Mallory, Goode, 
Smith and Corwin. 

PATRIOTIC. 

The war record of Woodside is commendable. 
Notwithstanding the frequent calls of the Presi- 
dent, the immense bounties offered elsewhere, 
and the great difficulty experienced in obtaining 
men, the township filled its quota under each 
call, and never had occasion to offer a bounty, 
or to levy a tax for that purpose. 

COAL MINES. 

The discovery of coal by E. P. Howlett, at 
Riverton, in 1865, and the assurance given by 
the State Geologist that underneath, probably, 
the entire county, good working veins of coal 
existed, stimulated further explorations, result- 
ing in the fact being made known that this 
township was rich in " black diamonds." 

The Powers coal mine was first opened in 
1866, but mining was not carried on until the 
following year. A shaft two hundred and fifty 
feet deep was sunk, when a vein of coal from five 
and a half to six feet in thickness was discov- 
ered, which has since been continually worked. 
At the present tmie from eighty to one hundred 
men are worked in the mine, and some ten or 
twelve employed in work on the outside. From 
three hundred and fifty to four hundred tons of 
coal can be taken out each day. They now av- 
erage thirty cars per day of ten tons each. Three 
grades of coal are placed upon the market — 
lump, chestnut and nut, which are supplied to 
the railroad and city trade. The Wabash Coal 
Company are proprietors of the mine at the 
present time, with an office in the Library Build- 
ing in Springfield. Jacob G. Loose sunk the 
first shaft at the Junction soon after the war. 

The Black Diamond Coal Mine is located near 
the Junction, and a shaft two hundred and fifty 
feet deep was commenced June, 1880, and by 
October, coal was being taken out from a six 
foot vein, which now yields three hundred tons 
per day. Every protection is afforded the men 
working in the mines, a heavy fan ventilator be- 
ing used to furnish fresh air and drive out foul 
air when necessary. Speed Butler is the pro- 
prietor of the mines, which cost the sum of 830,- 
000 to commence operations. 

DAIRY. 

The Sangamon County Dairy, operated by 
Tisdale & Wbitcomb, was started in 1876, with 



1062 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.- 



forty-tive cows, ilieir products nelting them 
$4, 700. The number of cows has been incre ised 
from time to time, until they now number one 
hundred and twenty-five. The annual sales foot 
up over $13,000, which includes what is derived 
from the sale of milk, cream and butter. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Beno7ii Bell was born in Virginia July 24, 
1822, the son of Zebulon and Rachel, nee Single, 
Bell, natives also of the same State, who settled 
in this township in 1834; mother died in Decem- 
ber, 1852, but" his father is still living, now 
eighty-two years of age. The subject of this 
sketch came with his parents to this county, and 
in 1847 he married Eliza J. Wills, who was born 
in Kentucky in 1823, and died in 1856. Their 
two children were, Cornelia, now Mrs. Doake; 
and William S., deceased. In 1859, Mr. Bell 
married Anna Taylor, who was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1823; they have five children. Mr. 
B. in 1856, purchased the mill which he now 
owns and forty-five acres of land, which is worth 
$45 an acre. Politically, he is a Republican. 

John L. Bliss was born in Bath county, Ken- 
tucky, August 20, 1 846, the son of Charles A. 
and Mary A. {7iee Badger) Bliss, natives also of 
that State; father died in 1848. John L. at- 
tended the public school in Kentucky, and one 
term at the Commercial School, in Springfield, 
Illinois, in 1860. In 1870, he married Eliza 
Jane Gatton, who was born in this county, Feb- 
ruary 1, 1847; they have four children; Luella 
M., Carrie L., Josephus G. and Charles G. Mr. 
Bliss was engaged in the stock business for a 
number of years, and in 1870, bought his present 
farm of eighty acres, worth |65 an acre. In 
politics he is a Democrat. 

Colonel Speed Butler is the second child and 
eldest son of Hon. William Butler; was born in 
Springfield, Illinois, August 7, 1837. He grad- 
uated from the Lutheran University, at Spring- 
field in 1854, studied law and was admitted to 
the bar in 1860. Upon the inauguration of the late 
civil war in 1861, he was selected by Governor 
Yates to carry a dispatch to Washington City 
asking for an order to remove the United States 
arms from the arsenal at St. Louis to Alton, Illi- 
nois. Railroad and telegraph communication to 
the capital had been cut off, but he made his way 
successfully to the capital, performed his mission 
and returned in safety. The arms were removed 
just in time to save them from falling into the 
hands of the rebels. Soon after completing this 
service, Mr. Butler was appointed commissary 
with the rank of Captain, but was soon after 



assigned to duty on the staff of General Pope, 
and was with that officer during his campaign 
through Northern Missouri, at Island No. 10 
and other points. In September, 1861, he was 
appointed Major of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry. 
In June, 1862, he was promoted to Colonel in 
the regular army for gallantry on the battle-field 
of Farmington, Mississippi, but by permission 
of General Wool, still remained on the staff of 
General Pope, and shared the fortunes of that 
officer in the Virginia campaign, and also in 
Minnesota against the Indians. He was honor- 
ably discharged after the close of the war, in 
1865. On May 26, 1864, Colonel Butler united 
in marriage with Miss Jennie McKenzie, in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was born Septem- 
ber, 4, 1845, in Poughkeepsie, New York. 

David II. Hall was born in the " Corn- 
cracker" State, January 19, 1829; his parents 
were Moses and Elizabeth (Crawford) Hall, na- 
tives also of that State, but now deceased. He 
first married, in Kentucky, Anna E. Delph, who 
died in 1860. In 1866, Mr. Hall emigrated to 
this county, settling near Mechanicsburg, and 
this year he married Maria B. Hall, daughter of 
Benjamin Logan Hall; only two of their six 
children are now living, Evelin L., and Anna B. ; 
the deceased are Robert Lee, Bessie, Franklin, 
and an infant. In 1871, he moved upon his pres- 
ent farm, which consists of four hundred and 
five acres, well improved and worth $75 an acre. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hall are members of the First 
Presbyterian Church, at Springfield, and politi- 
cally he is a Democrat. 

Ulijah F. lies was born in this county Feb- 
ruary 28, 1838; the son of Washington and Ann 
(Foster) lies, natives of Bath county, Kentucky. 
His father first came to this part of the country 
when only eighteen years of age, on business 
for another man, and finding that the soil was 
rich he concluded to settle here, which he did in 
1825, He was married May 4, 1822; his wife 
was born in December, 1804, near Owensville, 
Kentucky. Mr. lies was a soldier in the Black 
Hawk War, and resided in this county until 
his death, July 4, 1871; Mrs. lies died August 
25, 1866. Mr. I. aided in bringing the steamboat 
"Talisman" up the Sangamon river opposite 
Springfield, the only steamboat that ever 
ascended that stream so high. Elijah F., the 
subject of this notice, was raised on a farm and 
was married October 6, 1868, to Mildred Steele, 
who was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1844, and their seven children are 
Lewis W., David S., Elijah F., Frank B., Malcomb 
G., Joseph and Thomas. Mr. lies owns nine 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



IOCS 



hundred and twelve acres of land near Spring- 
field, worth $50 an acre. Mr, and Mrs. I. are 
members of the M. E. Church, and in politics he 
is a Democrat. 

Samuel M. Little visi% born March 1, 1811, in 
Fleming county, Kentucky, and was the son of 
Samuel and Mary Little, nee Newcomb, who was 
born in Virginia, and moved to Kentncky, where 
he raised a family of nine children; then to St. 
Clair county, Illinois, and thence to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in 1820, where he settled two 
and a half miles southwest of the present State 
House, and resided there until his death, Janu- 
ary 1, 1847; his wife died in July, 1823. Samuel 
M. was married January 29, 1843, to Eliza M. 
Morgan; she was born in Fleming county, Ken- 
tucky, August 24, 1824, and is the daughter of 
Daniel and Mary Morgan, nee Woods, who came 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1828; herfather 
died September 6, 1866, at the age of eighty-two, 
and her mother January 20, 1876, in her ninety- 
first year; their family consisted of seven 
children, four of whom are living: Gersbam J., 
Sanford H., Harriet C, now Mrs. John W. 
Crafton, and Fannie Z. William H. was killed 
August 16, 1873, by an accident on the C. & A. 
Railroad, at Sag Bridge, near Chicago; Mary E. 
died October 30, 1855, and Minerva C, August 
1, 1857. They still reside on the farm which his 
father settled in 1819, worth $15,000. Samuel 
M. Little engaged in the livery business, in 1852, 
and carried on the same until he lost his health, 
eince which the business has been conducted by 
his two sons. 

Jacob G. Loose^ one of the early and success- 
ful business men of Springfield, was born De- 
cember 14, 1812, in Washington county, Penn- 
sylvania, and there grew to man's estate on a 
farm. Desiring to obtain a knowledge of, and 
identify himself with, the great and growing 
West, he came to Illinois, and began his busi- 
ness life as a clerk in a dry goods store in 
Springfield, in 1886. Some years later, he be- 
came a proprietor in the business, and was at one 
time, for a year or so, a partner with Colonel 
John Williams, and subsequently, for seven or 
eight years, in partnership with E. B. Hawley. 
Purchasing a tract of land southwest of the city, 
in Woodside township, Mr. Loose withdrew 
from commercial pursuits, and engaged in farm- 
ing. Meantime, on December 18, 1845, he united 
in marriage with Elizabeth lies, daughter of 
Washington lies, one of the pioneers of Sanga- 
mon county. Prosperity attended every step of 
his career, and Mr. Loose added from time to 
time to his farm by purchase, until at his death, 



November 4, 1874, he owned seventeen hundred 
acres of splendid farming land, southeast of and 
adjoining the city of Springfield. 

Becoming satisfied tbat his land contained 
coal, he arranged with P. L. Howlett, who was 
then boring for coal at Riverton, to use his ma- 
chinery, but afterwards decided not to wait, and 
sent to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and ob- 
taining a complete outfit, commenced boring in 
June, 1866. Coal was reached in quantities 
which satisfied him that it would pay to mine it, 
and he began sinking a shaft in September. 
The first coal was taken out from the shaft in 
April, 1867. This was the first shaft within 
fifteen miles of Springfield to supply the market 
with coal, and when the first load of coal was 
mined and hauled to the city great excitement 
and enthusiasm prevailed among the citizens. 
It was decorated with banners and miners, and 
upon reaching the city, was sold and re-sold for 
the benefit of the Home of the Friendless, a 
number of times, some of the philanthropic citi- 
zens paying as high as a hundred dollars for it, 
and re-donatmg it to the Home. The mine is 
two hundred and thirty-seven feet deep, and taps 
a vein of coal five feet, ten inches in thickness. 
The entire cost of opening it, including engine, 
hoisting machinery, and equipments, was eighty 
thousand dollars. It is located two miles south 
of the State Capitol, at the junction of the C. & 
A. and W., St. L. & P. Railways, and is yet 
owned by the heirs of Mr. Loose. This was the 
beginning of the utilization of Nature's under- 
ground treasures, which have become such a rich 
boon to Sangamon county and the Capital City. 

Ten children were born to Mr. aud Mrs. 
Loose, seven of whom survive, namely: Sallie 
C, now the wife of Junius D. Crabb; Jessie V., 
the wife of Dr. Jacob S. Price; Joseph 1., Frank 
E., George P., Robert D., and Elizabeth. Mr. 
Loose was a (jaref ul, energetic business man, and 
was noted for his genial, cheerful disposition and 
social domestic qualities. Mrs. Loose was born 
August 4, 1825, in Flemingsburg, Bath county, 
Kentucky; was the second of a family of nine 
children of Washington lies and Ann Foster, 
who married there and came to Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in 1825. 

Gliomas C. Shejyherd, a native of Jefferson 
county, Virginia, was born June 28, 1806, at the 
village of Shepherdstown, where he passed his 
boyhood days, received his education, and grew 
to manhood, and where he married Miss Ellen 
Miller, on the third day of July, 1834. Miss 
Miller's parents resided at his own native town, 
at which place she was born June 24, 1813. 



1064 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



After their marriage they took up their resi- 
dence at Blackford's Ferry, Maryland, where 
their first child was born. At the death of Mrs. 
Shepherd's father, be assumed the responsi- 
bility of the care of the family, and with that 
well-directed energy and characteristic enterprise 
which has marked his whole life, he determined 
to avail himself of the opportunity of hewing 
out a fortune in the then far West. Animated 
by a desire to better the condition of his family, 
and himself, he left Maryland, in the fall of 
18;i6, for the wilds of Illinois, where he arrived 
after a six weeks' overland journey in wagons, 
accompanied by his family, his mother, sister 
and two brothers, on the l7th day of November, 
1836, at a fax'm purchased some months before 
by Mr. Shepherd, and on which he still resides. 
The Shepherds have always entertained a strong 
preference for the name of Thomas, and for six 
generations the name has been transmitted to the 
first male child, Mr. Shepherd's grandson being 
the sixth child who has received the heritage of 
the name Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd are 
the parents of five children, all natives of San- 
gamon county, except one; their names are, 
Thomas B., John H., William B., Charles M., 
and Mary E. Mr. Shepherd has accumulated 
a fine estate, being the owner of nine hundred 
and thirty-five acres of valuable farm land lying 
about six miles south of Springfield, Mr. Shep- 
herd, at the age of seventy-five years, enjoys 
good health and lives in comparative retirement 
and ease from active business, enjoying the 
fruits of his well-directed efforts, an ample for- 
tune, surrounded by his family and a large circle 
of friends. He and his wife are consistent mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church; their 
children are all married and own farms in this 
county, where they reside. T. Shepherd, grand- 
father of our subject, emigrated to this country 
from Wales, in an early day, the Government 
had no land oflice, and the boundary of lands 
was not made by surveys, but by streams of 
water, ridges of rocks, remarkable trees, etc.; 
lands thus marked were known as " Tomahawk 
Claims." 

The town of Shepherdstown, which bears 
his name, was laid out in half-acre lots, sold at 
very low prices, but of course bearing an annual 
rent of five shillings, which was paid for many 
years, but finally bought off. As might be sup- 
posed, where land could be obtained so cheap 
that large bodies were marked off as individual 
claims. Many of his descendants were made 
rich by his large claims of land laying border- 
ing on the Potomac river; the father of Mr. T. 



C. Shepherd owned a mill in Shepherdstown, 
Virginia, where he died. The subject of this 
sketch, T. C. Shepherd, came to Illinois when it 
was a wild country. He has work through the 
hard times of the early days, and has always 
had good health, and has never regretted com- 
ing to Illinois. In 1848, was elected county 
commissioner, and served in that oflice four 
years, being the last of the county commission- 
ers under the old constitution, the county com- 
missioners at that time doing the same business 
the board of supervisors now transact, in addi- 
tion settling up estates now transacted by the 
county judge. After the revision of the consti- 
tution of the State, the business of the county 
was transacted by a county judge, and two asso- 
ciate judges, until the township organization 
took effect. Mr. Shepherd was elected the first 
supervisor from Woodside township, and re- 
elected to same office the second year, and 
served fourteen years as treasurer of the school 
fund of his township, he turned over to his suc- 
cessor an increased amount of school fund, 
never having lost a debt. 

Josejih Shejiherd was born in Shepherdstown, 
West Virginia, July 11, 1816; son of Thomas 
and Mary (Byers) Shepherd; father died in 1832, 
and Joseph resided with his mother; came to this 
county with the family which consisted of two 
brothers and one sister. He was married March 
16, 1848, to Fanny Smith, who was born October 
25, 1818, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. 
They had seven children, John Thomas, Jane 
H., Salome C, Joseph T., Amanda E., Mary A. 
and Fannie N.; the two latter are deceased. 
February 19, 1803, Mrs. Smith died, and for his 
second wife, Mr. Smith married Mrs. Lydia 
Haggard, nee Byers, who was born in Butler 
county, Virginia, March 31, 1828. She had one 
child by her former marriage — Margaret C. Mr. 
and Mrs. Smith have two children, William A. 
and Lydia. Mr. S. moved upon his present farm 
in 1850, and now owns four hundred and eighty 
acres of well cultivated land, worth |60 an acre. 
Both are members of the Methodist Church, and 
he is a Republican. 

Mev. James Shinn was born in Harrison 
county. West Virginia, August 30, 1823, son of 
George and Sarah (Kirke) Shinn, the latter was 
the daughter of Samuel and Agnes Kirke; her 
father came to Adams county, Illinois, landing 
at Quincy, May 5, 1838, and purchased a farm 
in Fall creek, where he engaged in farming 
until 1850; then moved to Hancock county, 
where he purchased a farm, and resided there 
until his death, in March, 1861; his wife died at 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



1065 



her residence, in Augusta, Illinois, March 25, 
.1872; both were members of the M. E. Church. 

The subject of this notice came to this State 
with his parents, and received his education 
principally in the common schools of Adams 
county; he attended the Institute, near Quincy, 
about one year. After leaving school he bought 
a farm on section thirteen. Fall Creek township, 
and engaged in farming. In 1849, he married 
Elizabeth Reeder, born March 19, 1831; her 
parents were Daniel and Frances Reeder, who 
located near Quincy, in 1831. Mr. and Mrs. 
Shinn had thirteen children, of whom six are 
living, viz: Maxwell Hardin, Wilber, Leroy, 
Horace, Homer and Pettie. Rev. Mr. Shinn 
was licensed a preacher by the M. E. Church, in 
1855, ordained as Deacon in 1859, and Elder in 
1863, since which time he has been actively en- 
gaged in disseminating the Gospel. When he 
commenced life he had very little means, but 
plenty of energy; he improved one of the finest 
farms in the township, raised large quantities of 
fruit, and dealt in fine stock, which proved a 
good investment. He served in various town- 
ship oflices, was justice of the peace ten years, 
and foremost in the advancement of education ; 
he was one of the directors in the Adams 
County Agricultural Society many years, and 
was one of the trustees of the Quincy College. 
His first vote was cast for Henry Clay for Presi- 
dent. He sold his farm in Adams county, in 
1876, and located on his present farm in this 
county, which consists of two hundred and eighty 
acres of land, situated two and a half miles 
southwest of the State House; he is now en- 
gaged in farming, and for three years has made 
butter and cheese. 

J. D. Smith, merchant, postmaster and rail- 
road agent, Woodside, was born in this county, 
September 29, 1845; son of William C. and 
Rebecca (Walker) Smith, natives of Virginia; 
father now resides in Curran township. J. D., 
remained on the farm with his father until he 
was twenty-one years of age. In 1867, he 
married Martha Alsbury, who was born in this 
county, and died in 1875, leaving three children: 
Anna L., Bertha C, and John C. Mr. Smith 
carried on farming till 1879, then sold out and 
bought the store which he now owns, and 
is stocked with goods sufficient to supply the 
demands of his customers. For his second wife, 
Mr. Smith married Mary L. Crane, a native of 
Rush county, Indiana. 

John Smith, son of John and Maria Smith, 
was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 
March 7, 1814, and of German ancestry. His 



mother died in 1846, and his father in 1861, in 
Ohio. John came to this county in 1841, and 
worked by the month for a number of years. 
In 1853, he married Salome Snyder, who was 
born in Pennsylvania, March 16, 1821. He 
moved upon the farm he now owns, in 1850, 
which at that time consisted of one hundred and 
seventy-eight acres; he now owns two hundred 
and fifty-eight acres which is under a fair state 
of cultivation, and worth $50 an acre. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican. 

WilUarn Southioick was born in Seneca county. 
New York, February 9, 1907, and was the son of 
Jesse and Nancy (Moore) Southwick, the former 
born in 1762, near Lebanon, Connecticut, and the 
latter in 1770, also in Connecticut. They moved 
to Oneida county, New York, thence to Seneca 
county, same State, where they resided for a 
number of years, then embarked on the Allegheny 
river at Olean Point in a family boat and arrived 
at Shawneetown, Illinois, in December, 1819. 
James Stewart was in company with them, and 
they moved from Shawneetown to a village called 
Milton, near Alton, where they remained till 
March 20, then moved to Sugar creek and settled 
in what is now Woodside township, six and a 
half miles southeast of Springfield, where they 
commenced farming. His father died Septem- 
ber 25, 1826, and his mother in February, 1845. 
William received only a common school educa- 
tion, and was fifteen years old when his father 
came to this county. He was married in Septem- 
ber, 1831, in this county to Louvicy Proctor, born 
November 23, 1811, at Charleston, Clarke county, 
Indiana. They had seven children, six of whom 
are living, viz: Eunice, now Mrs. Fox, David, 
James W., John H., Philip S., and Laura A., 
now Mrs. Henry A. Stevens; Nancy E., who was 
Mrs. Jerome Duncan, is deceased. Mr. South- 
wick is now situated on the farm where he first 
located in 1820, and owns three hundred and 
fifty-five acres of well improved land worth $50 
an acre. Politically, he is a Republican. 

Thomas Strawbridge, deceased, was born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1798, in county of Donegal, Ireland and 
was the son of Thomas and Jane (Mitchell) 
Strawbridge, also natives of the same place. 
They came to America, landing at Baltimore in 
May, 1810, and went to North Umberland coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1811; they then 
moved to Clark county, Ohio, and from there to 
this county in October, 1823. His mother died 
in May, 1809, in Ireland, and his father died in 
September 24, 1834, in what is now Fancy Creek 
township, in this county, in the eightieth year 
of his age. The subject of this sketch learned 



10G6 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



the saddle and harness trade in Lebanon, Ohio, 
and engaged in that business; came to this coun- 
ty with his father in 1828 and followed his trade, 
it being the first in that line of business in the 
place. He made the first saddle in Sangamon 
county and Central Illinois. He worked at his 
trade many years, but during his latter years he 
turned his attention to farming; he owned six 
hundred and eighty acres of land, and continued 
farming until his death, in June, 1880. His sis- 
ter Mary, born November 30, 1800, in Ireland, 
was married in this county, in April, 1824, to 
David Anderson, a native of York county, Penn- 
sylvania. Mr. A. died July 16, 1825, and in Oc- 
tober, 1839, she married Samuel Lyons, who was 
born near Belfast, Ireland; Mr. Lyons died in 
this county, October 12, 1842, and Mi's. Lyons 
now resides on the farm of her brother, Thomas 
Strawbridge, Jr., situated five miles south of 
Springfield, Illinois; she has no children; Thomas 
never married, and his property was mostly be- 
queathed to the Home of the Friendless, after 
his sister Mary's death. 

Henry /S. Tisdale was born in Windsor county, 
Vermont, June 4, 188Y; the son of James and 
Rhoda (Whitcomb) Tisdale; the former died 
when Henry was only thirteen years of age, and 
the latter came to Illinois when he was in his 
eighteenth year. In August, 1862, he married 
Elizabeth Whitcomb, who was also born in 
"Windsor county, Vermont, in August, 1835. In 
18*76, he came to this county, where he is en- 
gaged in farming with his brother-in-law; they 
also carry .on the dairy business. His mother 
came with him, and died in August, 1862. Mr. 
and Mrs. T. had one child, which died in 
infancy. Mr. T. is a Republican. 

Harness Trumbo, one of the pioneers of 
Woodside township, was born October 9, 1816, 
in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where the first 
twelve years of his life were spent. His father 
was Adam Trumbo, and his mother, Mildred 
(Foster) Trumbo, both natives of Bourbon 
county, Kentucky. In company with his par- 
ents, Harness came to Illinois and settled in 
Woodside township, arriving in November, 
1828. For two years he assisted his father on a 
farm, and in 1831 he returned to Kentucky, 
where he spent one year in a select school. 
From 1831 to 1835 he cheerfully labored upon 
his father's farm, when he again returned to 
Kentucky for the purpose of attending school. 
He remained there one year, which ended his 
school life. Coming back to Sangamon county 
he again resumed his place upon the farm and 
continued with his father until 1838. In July of 



that year he was united in marriage with Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Dr. Samuel Hall, of Virginia, 
The young couple at once commenced house- 
keeping, moving upon the homestead upon 
which they yet reside. Nine children were born 
unto them, one of whom died in infancy. The 
eight that lived were: William, born April 10, 
1840, died September 14, 1862; Sarah C, born 
January 26, 1843; James P., born January 27, 
1845, married December 25, 1870, to Anna 
Staley; Jacob, born July 2, 1848; Maria L., died 
at five years of age; Harness, Jr., born Novem- 
ber 15, 1854; Oscar, born February 7, 1856; An 
drew J., born August 25, 1861, died September 
23, 1875. 

In 1843, Mr. Trumbo united with the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, (North) and continued 
in that relation until 1865, when a class was 
formed in his neighborhood of those favoring 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, (South), with 
which he united. A station was formed in his 
neighborhood and regular preaching services 
were held some four or five years, when it was 
abandoned. Those belonging to the class then 
united with a like class worshiping at Sherman, 
Sangamon county, Mr. Trumbo being among 
the number. 

Mr. Trumbo has been actively engaged in 
farming ever since he was old enough to do the 
work required. He is the possessor of a com- 
fortable homestead of two hundred and sixty 
acres of fine land, and leads a comfortable life, 
having enough of the world's goods to secure 
him from want. 

In August, 1881, he made a visit to his "old 
Kentucky home," his first visit in forty-five 
years. Everything was strange to him. In 
vain he inquired for the friends of his youth, 
his old classmates in school, but all were gone, 
some moving to other States, and some — the 
greater number — having been called to another 
world. Not one, in all that country, recognized 
him, who, forty-five years previous, had gone, a 
young man of twenty years, and returned a man 
with hair whitened by the frosts of many 
winters. But such is life. The youth of to-day 
is the old man of to-morrow 

Frank P. Wiley was born in New Jersey, 
February 22, 1849, son of James and Hannah 
(Pooler) Wiley, natives of New York. In the 
spring of 1865, they moved to Macoupin county, 
Illinois, and now reside in Girard county. At 
the age of fourteen, Frank went into a railroad 
office, and began to learn telegraphy, and in one 
year he took charge of an office. He has been 
transferred to some eighty-three different offices; 



HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY. 



loer 



was for some time engaged in the counting de- 
partment in St. Louis, also the train dispatcher's 
office at Beardstown nine months, and in 1871, 
to Springfield Junction, where he has been en- 
gagfid as operator and agent, also postmaster. 
He was married in 1872 to Emma F. French, 
born in Montgomery county, Illinois. They 
have two children. Frank F. and Harry T. In 
1876, Mr, Wiley was elected township clerk, and 
has served in that capacity ever since. Politi- 
cally, he is a Democrat. 

L. B. Williams y^z.'s, born February 1^, 1844, 
in Pennsylvania, and was the son of John and 
Mary (Caine) Williams, natives also of the Key- 
stone State; father died in 1854. In August, 
1861, at the opening of the war, L. B. enlisted 
in the Forty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volun- 
teers, and served three years and four months; 
was discharged in August, 1864; he was in the 
battle of Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Virginia, and in 
the seven days' fight around Richmond and Mal- 
vern Hill, where he received a wound in his 



right leg, for which he received his discharge; he 
returned to Pennsylvania, and from there went 
to Washington, District of Columbia, where he 
was engaged as wagon-master until the close of 
the war; in the fall of 1865, he came to Spring- 
geld with five hundred government mules, which 
were sold at auction; then returned to Pennsyl- 
vania, and in December of the same year, came 
back and worked as a farm hand for three years, 
after which he carried on farming for himself 
two years. September 28, 1870, he married 
Mary Louisa, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Q. 
(Willis) Insley, who was born in this county, 
August 4, 1850; her father was born October 13, 
1796, in New York, and died January 24, 1868; 
her mother was born August 16, 1812, in Ken- 
tucky, and came to this county in 1829; was 
married to Mr. Insley February 8, 1846, and now 
resides with her daughter, Mrs. Williams, on 
the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Williams 
have two children, namely: Nettie A. and Little 
Dot. 



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